So Let's Talk About Good Sam ERS

[MakinSmoke]

On another thread I suggested Good Sam ERS as a solution to a tire issue and two of our members reported bad experience with GS Emergency Road Service. What is your experience. I have been sending them my money for...5 years but have never had to call them so I have NO ACTUAL experience to share. On other forums, I have read pro's and con's but generally I read decent reports. So, what say you?

Have service but never used them?

Needed them and they were acceptable?

OR, Had service and they were not acceptable and why?

In this situation, levels of good or bad don't seem to apply. They either got you going again or they didn't. L O N G response time seems normal but if they got you going, then let's call that acceptable. What is your experience?

[rockintom]

Virg,

I'll try to make this real short! My only experience with GS ERS has been on the trip interruption service part of it. That was enough for me. I called in to initiate a claim, they sent me out a one page-fill-in-the-blank form. I attached associated papers, and then it comes back denied because of inadequate paperwork. Asked for more info and documents (photos, police report, etc.). Resent, and then they asked for more. This went on for...like 4 times. It was apparent they were simply trying to wear me down. As many know I am quite persuant! My claim was small at about $500.00 and change. I'd call the service desk and they'd have me explain my situation and then say..."you have an excellent case, please resubmit to the "appeal committee"! Anyhow, I finally gave up (they got their wish) when they denied the claim, because the object I ran into didn't have a person in it! Oh for goodness sakes! GS ERS "you won" this one, but you don't get another chance at my business again. I wrote to them again, but, of course, never heard back. They sent me my renewal notice and I explained I would NOT be re-upping with them and why. No response. Kinda sad isn't? Wish they'd just turned me down from the start and quit wasting everyone's time. Thanks Virg for listening. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Tom

[Tincup]

I used them a couple of years ago to have the rig towed out of sand on BLM land in the middle of no where Arizona. It took the tow truck an hour to get to me. This truck was a huge two crane double axle job used to tow semis. I was about 80 feet off of a dirt road. He pulled out almost the entire lenght of cable off of one crane. Got me out on to the dirt road, made sure the rig and I were in good shape before he left. The charge was over $600.00 and it didn't cost me a dime. I wouldn't be without my GS ERS it's great.

[depchief]

I have used GS ERS 4 times in the last 3 years. First time was for my classic car that got a flat on 95 south of Fredricksburg VA on a Saturday afternoon. They responded in 35 minutes and changed the tire. My son was driving the car at the time and they did not ask any questions, AAA had refused service because the membership card was not with the vehicle. I was in SC he was in VA.

The second time was 3 hours later when the spare tire blew out, again still on 95. When I called they thought it was for the original call, and I had to explain. They were on the scene in about 45 minutes and towed the car to a tire shop.

The third time was for the Toad, in our driveway with an engine malfunction, again they had the car on the flat bed with in 45 minutes and towed it to the repair shop.

The fourth time was the MH. had a flat at the storage facility and they were there in less the 30 minutes to inflate the tire.

So I have no problems with them and would recommend them based on my experiences. A friend also has them and they were very good for him also.

Of course there are always pro and cons of all services

[CD]

Maybe we were lucky, but we have used GSERS at least 4 times that I can think of now. All were very satisfactory. Since it has been a few years, they may have changed how they do business. 2 times we had truck & TT towed. They set us up in a campground and took PU to a repair shop. 1 time we were already in a campground. The last time our car quit at home and they towed it to our mechanic. I think the longest time we waited was in Nevada. We waited at least 2hrs. but we were 40 miles out. I didn't think that was bad.

[Max1]

I had a lockout call and they where to me in a 1/2 hr. Very easy to contact no hassle service. I have also heard of AAA not covering diesel fuel if you happen to run out they will send a truck but wont bring fuel only gas I was also told by AAA that my boat would not be coverd it is with GS and thats enough for me right there.

[LindaH]

We've had Good Sam's ERS for years, too, and have had occasion to use them twice.

Once we were on our way from Santa Fe to Albuquerque to have a problem fixed on our Freightliner FL-60 at the ABQ Freightliner dealer. The problem cropped up while we were driving south on I-25 and we finally had to call the ERS for a tow. They sent the correct size truck (we were very specific on how much the combo weighed and told them we'd need a "big" truck), and we were at the ABQ Freightliner dealer 2 or 3 hours later.

The second time was on a Sunday afternoon on I-10 in nowhere Texas when we had a flat on the fifth wheel and were caught without a spare (long story). We didn't think we'd be able to find anyone open on a Sunday, but the ERS was able to find a tire dealer who came out and changed our tire. Again, we were on our way within a few hours.

Fortunately, in both cases, we were in areas where we had service on our cell phone. I don't know what we would have done had we been in some remote area without cell service.

[rockintom]

Glad to hear so many good responses. Maybe it's just the trip interruption part that sucks! Tom

[Corvette Man]

Have had them for two years and used them twice. Both experiences were good. Reasonable time to get there and they fixed the problem each time.

[d.duin]

I have used GS ERS once, no, almost twice in my +-8 years of membership. The first time was a lock out situation and they had someone out within 20 minutes and we were on our way. The second time I turned a corner a little short in my Mtr Home and the rear duals went down in a hole allowing the fuel filter to hit the ground tearing a hole in it. This was in the middle of Wy. Anyway, I couldn't think of what to do and was more worried about loosing 100 gal of diesel fuel that was running all over but finally plugged the hole with a rag and gathered my composure. I then thought of a long time friend who was a mechanice who lived 35 miles away. One call and he was on the way with a new filter. While waiting for him to arrive I remembered GS, so I gave them a call. I told them what I had done and that help was on its way, wondering if they could pay him, even a $25 dinner certificate would be nice, and make him happy and any other service company would have cost them a whole lot more, but they were not open to the thought, and made it clear they need to initiate the service call. My friend arrived about an hour later with the proper new filter which he installed getting fuel all over himself and I bought him dinner and gave up onn GS for that claim. I still have their membership and it took me some time to realize they were probably right in this instance. I wouldn't doubt they have probably been used a time or two over the years by some buddy system trying to scam them. Next time I will call them and let my buddies enjoy their life.
Ace
Ace

[RustyJC]

We've used them twice - both times because of tread separation failures with the Goodyear G614 RST tires.

The first time was July 2007 about 10:00 AM on I-45 between Houston and Dallas - hardly off the beaten path. After 2 hours, the GS contact still hadn't found anyone who woul come out and change the tire, so with the assistance of another Texas Boomer who had stopped to help, we topped off the air in the spare from his motorhome's air system and changed it ourselves.

The second time was October 2007 about 20 miles east of San Antonio on I-10. After we had called GS, another Texas Boomer saw our problem and pulled up to help. We had the tire changed and were just pulling out when the tire service truck driver called and said he would be at our location in 10 minutes. We had to call him off, but at least GS responded.

So, based on our experience, GS came through 1 out of 2 times.

By the way, Goodyear made good on the damages and, after the 2nd failure, changed out all 4 tires.

Rusty

[LarryGodby]

We used them once when I had a tire going down. They were there within a 1/2 hour and the guy crawled under the rig to remove the spare and change it. He did try to use his puny floor jack to lift up the trailer and wanted to use the axle to lift it up. I brought out my bottle jack and showed him where to lift it and then everything was OK.

[two2go]

One call in four years. Camping in our 5er in Silver City, NM, the slideout motor quit and we couldn't retract the slide. I tried the manual crank and it broke like a cheap toy. Called ERS. They sent help from Caballo, a 2 1/2 hour drive. The guy jacked up the slide to clear the floor and had a good wrench to crank it in and get us on our way. It did cost me an extra $80 out of pocket for mileage and time, but no complaints from me. Now that I have a motorhome with no spare tire, ERS is mandatory.

[Stanbnv]

We have used them 3 times for blow outs, once a couple of miles south of Death Valley Junction CA, once between Gila Bend and Casa Grande AZ, and once 10 miles south of Quertzsite AZ on the 4th of July. In all cases, someone was on scene within half an hour, pretty good response I think given the isolated places we were.