We pay right at 100.00 a year for the Good Sam Roadside Assistance and twice it has let us down. First time it left us stranded at the Arizona Welcome Rest Area when we were having problems with the axels on our 5th wheel. They couldn't find someone to come out on a holiday weekend. (like people don't RV on holiday weekends...) and I used our other vehicle to go the 20 miles back in to Gallup and was able to get the TA truck to come back to help us get back on the road. Then this time was in Tennessee when the starter decided to die at the truck stop during a fuel stop. They again, couldn't find help for us, but I was able to get a tow truck there in 10 minutes and he was able to tow the F350 to the dealer in Jackson 40 minutes away and the Ford dealer (at 4:30 pm on a Friday) was able to get us back on the road by 6:00. I have found that Good Sam is just not worth the value of their membership or their so called roadside assistance.
Sorry to see Good Sams did not work out well for you. We see the write ups all the time on how good they are. We use FMCA and only one time did I need help. In couple mins people in AZ were working the problem. Tow truck was on site in 30 mins. People sent truck that was to small, no problem, tow people were on two way radio, in 30 more mins a four axel truck was ready to tow our motohome away. It would be nice if FMCA Emergency Road Service did more that class A's. I hope you can find one that will work better.
Actually the FMCA roadside assistance as well as Monaco Coach's roadside assistance, and probably a few more are all rebranded http://www.coach-net.com. Coach-net does provide RA for 5th wheels and travel trailers. The downside is that we had a problem in march where our new 2005 coach lost power and I was able to get it off the interstate and to a unused road behind a waffle house. This was on a Saturday afternoon. I called coach-net rebranded as Monaco's RA, but had a heck of a time getting them to send a tow-truck. (Since I was safely off the road, they didn't seem to try very hard.) We were several hours from any service center, and after about 2 hours there still wasn't a tow truck on the way. After about 3 hours, they claimed they had talked to Cummins and had something lined up, but it would be another hour before the truck could head our way. I tried the engine again, and the diagnostic message was clear, it cranked and ran fine all the way home. I called them back to cancel, and they said that the truck still hadn't been sent because they hadn't been able to get me back on the phone to agree that I would pay the charges should it turn out this problem was caused by some fault of mine. First, I wonder if coach-net also handles good sams roadside assistance... I also figure that they are all about the same, and the service you get depends partly on the individual you end up with on the other end of the call. -- Travelguy
Who offers a good roadside assistance prgram? This is something we don't have, mainly because of the cost.
I recently joined the Good Sam Emergency Road Program with the $79.00 new member fee. I was in Dubois, WY when my fuel pump went out. A flatbed wrecker was dispatched from Jackson, WY (2hrs away) to pick me up (F450) and take me to a Landers, WY Ford dealership. While waiting for my truck to be looked at the wrecker driver took the time to show me around town and point out some nice tourist sites. Later that week I was inside Yellowstone when my starter went out. This kind of luck usually follows me around. Because of a contract that Yellowstone has with a wrecker service no outside wreckers can tow inside the park. You have to pay the wrecker fee up front and then submit it to Good Sam for reimbursement. I have no complaints and will continue to be a member of the club.
We have Good Sam Roadside Assistance and have had to use it only once, for a dead battery. They were there within the hour, got us started, and we were only our way. These are the first negative reports we've heard on Good Sam and, frankly, are surprised. But it's good information to have when it comes to considering alternatives at renewal time.
We have had AAA for more years than I can recall. When we bought our motorhome last year, we upgraded to AAA RV Plus. We had a problem with our RV last week when traveling to Mt. Rushmore and had to call for a tow truck. The gentleman arrived within 20 minutes. He told us that he had a similar problem in his motorhome recently and it turned out to be the gas. He said that his had been due to ethanol in the gas when it was so hot outside. Even though our motorhome runs on regular gasoline, as his did, he said that he just put some premium without ethanol in it and it ran great. We were about a block from a gas station and so he followed us there and we filled the tank, which was just below a half, with premium. We were still about a half hour from Rapid CIty and he said he would follow us there. The rv ran great after that - he said that the ethanol in such high heat could make it vapor-lock. As soon as we left the gas station, the problem seemed to be fixed, but he still followed us. That is the only time we have had to call AAA for the RV, but if it is any indication of the service, I am sure we will be as happy with it as we have been with AAA for our autos.
Hopefully you will never need it again. But if you do, hopefully you will get another exceptional person to help. The man that helped you sounds like he is a wonderful human being. If everyone were more like him, the world would be a much better place. :wub:
Cheryl - I share your sentiment, I do hope we neevr need the service again, but it is nice to know it is there. One of the main reasons for updating the service to RV Plus was because my husband never wanted to have to jack that thing up to change a tire. When we bought the RV, the dealer suggested that we get a roadside assistance service for that very reason. He said it was very dangerous and best left to a professional.
That was the reason we joined and it has come in very handy. Have gotten 10% off at every park we have stayed at, except for KOA. You also get a subscription to their magazine "Highways" along with your membership and we really enjoy reading it. It is just for rv'er's (I5th wheels included) and has lots of good information in it. The magazine alone is worth the 19.95 annual membership fee.
Hi. Newbie, here. Had to register just to reply to this topic. I had a major snafu with my motorhome in a remote area in northern AZ. Luckily I had AAA RV-Plus. The closest town was 40 miles away. Took 2 trucks and a highway closure to extricate my rig from a ditch. The service was outstanding and was fully covered. I have no idea what this would have cost without the AAA, but I bet it wasn't cheap. I , too, thought I would only need it for tire changes. It was a life-saver. AAA has never let me down.
In my earlier reply, I said that Highways magazine was for rv's and 15th weels - hope you all figured out I meant 5th wheels. Guess I need to proof read closer!!!
Just for everyones information... AAA road service is not the same every where... AAA RV plus is not available in N. Calif/Nevada... If you have a Motor Home you are out of luck on tow service from AAA... What AAA will do is reimburse up to a preset limit after you submit a claim... Now befor any one thinks that I am putting AAA down, I am not, we have AAA insurance as well as AAA towing coverage. We never new that they wouldn't cover MH's towing untill we traded up from a TT to our MH... Now we have Good Sam and AAA both... cost a little more but worth it to us. Browzin Genoa Nv.
Just joined Good Sam. Got a discount by joining for 3 years instead of one. Total cost for the 3 years - $30.
Cheryl - when you get your card, make sure to call the number listed on the back for the Love's gas discount. Your discount plan isn't activated until you call. Learned that the hard way...
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately our cards won't get here before we leave for vacation. I just have our membership number for the campgrounds. I called Good Sam back and they said they would send me a confirmation email which should work at Love's. Now if we can find any that have diesel and will accomodate our size, we're in business.
My experience with Good Sam Emergency Road Service was a disaster. In May on a Sunday evening just before dark my fuel pump went out on I-40 near Williams AZ. I was able to limp into a campground in Williams. Monday morning I called GSERS and they told me they would tow me to a provider in Williams, there are 3. I requested to be towed to Flagstaff to the Chevrolet dealer as the work required was under warrenty. I was informed they were only responsible to tow my vehical to a local provider. I got my truck started and got to the local provider and paid him $182.70 to tow my truck to Flagstaff. I then called the GSERS office and explained my problem again to them, they sent me a reembursement form to fill out when I returned home. I filled out the form included all the receipts and mailed it. Couple of weeks it is returned and the claim was denied. Reason: They are only responsible to tow me to a local provider where it was no concern of theirs that I would have had to pay for repairs out of pocked when it was under warranty. When I get home I am reading in the June issue of GS Highways magazine pg 71 Wilted in Willows gets his Dodge towed 45 miles to the dealer. Now Willows Ca. is a town of 6,000+ popualtions, I can't hardly believe there isn't a local provider to work on his truck. I now think that the good deal and price from the Good Sam Club is not such a good deal after all. I will take a long look at AAA RV Plus towing, I understand they will at least take you where you want to go if it is within 100 miles. And they will at least reemburse you part of the towing bill if they can not provide the service. All I can say if Good Sam talks the talk, but they don't seem to walk the walk. Buckeye
The most common issue that I've seen with the Good Sam campgrounds is that their standards are so low that basically any camp can become a Good Sam park. Sure - some parks are nice but you never really know. Who cares if you save 10% when the place is a dump??
Glad I joined this group and saw this topic. We didn't have the best experience with Good Sam ERs. We are brand new to RVing and are fulltiming - bound to run into some problems! While trying to hitch up our 5th-wheel, it slid off the blocks and landed on the bed of our truck. Called Good Sam ERS and explained the situation in detail. Explained we needed to get the 5th-wheel lifted so we could drive the truck out from underneath it. Explained we did not need to be towed. They sent a tow truck. Took an hour and a half, which wasn't a big deal, but sending a tow truck that couldn't do the job was a big deal, since we had to pay $95 for them to send the correct truck out. We weren't happy about that since we were clear about the situation. After reading some of the previous posts, I thought I'd go ahead and renew our AAA membership with the RV add-on, but our home base is in N. CA - argggh. Cindy
