Community Forums

dinkie0719 · 02-24-2016, 10:10 AM

Does anyone know about a good emergency Road service that's is good and works good too.

BFlinn181 · 02-24-2016, 10:49 AM

I have Good Sam Roadside Assistance and have had to call them twice over the years. I had a rear tire blow out in Wyoming. No cell service, I had to unhook the toad and drive 30 miles to get a signal. Once I connected, they sent a truck and a tire out and fixed it on the spot. Second time was in Oregon, also a flat, this time I was fueling up when a fellow pointed out I had a giant bubble on the inside of my rear dual tire. I called GSRA and a truck was there within the hour and swapped out the bad tire.

Coachnet is also good from reports I've heard. I like the roadside assistance companies that is structured for RVs. I feel they have experience with getting help appropriate for RV issues.

If you do a search of the forum on RA, you'll see many stories, good and bad. Just remember, when someone feels wronged, they are more likely to post negatively than someone who was dealt with in an appropriate manner. No point in posting a service that did as expected.

In both my uses of GSRA, I was in an area I was traveling through and had no idea who could provide appropriate service. GSRA did and connected me to folks that could help us out.

Dennis-1997 · 02-24-2016, 04:48 PM

We also have Good Sam. I had my pickup break down twice. They covered the tow each time ($80 each time). Also had the transmission explode on a Saturday evening on our 1988 Bounder. They found a towing company that is equipped to tow motorhomes and trucks without damaging them and had it towed to a campground for the weekend ($900 out of their pocket). Then they called me on Monday morning to say they had the same tow company that could take us to a transmission shop (another $900 tow bill and they covered it too). They had even found a qualified shop that was willing to get right on it. Repairs were done the next day and for a very reasonable price. Good Sam even called us each day of our trip and the day after we got home to make sure we were in good shape.

There may be others that are well recommended but I only have experience with this one.

beaverfever · 02-24-2016, 05:05 PM

coachnet is the gold standard

wallacerm · 02-24-2016, 05:12 PM

The two main players are Good Sams and Coachnet. Each has its partisans - usually whatever a person has, it is because they think it is best. Both contract with local providers and the result is horror stories. Either is a lot better than "riding naked" and trying to find help on your own. I suggest you look at the coverage of each and find the one that suits your needs (coverage of other vehicles, limitation, etc.)

You don't mention what you are driving, but a word of warning about roadside assistance through insurance companies and auto clubs: the two leaders are highly experienced in dealing with motor homes, while others may not be. If their primary business is automobile roadside assistance, they may not have contracts with local providers that have the right equipment.

tedgard01 · 02-24-2016, 05:15 PM

I like to have at least two services available at one time. I have one through my RV insurance. I have Coach-Net. I had Good Sam's, as my third option, but decided to not renew the Good Sam's this year.

My reason for always having at least two services are simple, and come from personal experiance;

1) If I call one service and they say the best service provider will be more than an hour to get to me, I call the other and if that is better, I call the first back and cancel the service call.

2) Coach-Net and Good Sam's have a tech service. If I make a mistake and ask for the tech service, then decide I need a tow for the same event, I have had them say that the service call only covers one, and I will need to pay for the second service on the same event. With two providers, I can use one call for the tech, and the other for a tow on the same event, no problem.

3) If I call one provider for a tow, and the guy shows up and ends up being a problem, I don't sweat it, I just call the second provider. If you have ever had to be towed or need tech help, you may have found that not all of the people that respond are worthy of getting your trust, and sometimes are a real problem in other ways.

4) I have found that one ERS provider is great in one call, but in another state or location, the other ERS provider is much better. I like the option to chose.

5) Regardless which service you get, make sure that they are going to cover not only the RV, but your toad and any other thing you may need covered (I.e: dolly, trailer, motorcycle, etc). My toad is covered regardless if it is being towed or not. In fact, I am covered regardless if I am a passenger in someone else's vehicle or my own.

6) Both providers provide various plans. My advice, getting the more expensive plan is usually going to provide you better service when needed. Insurance, and ERS plans, are only going to provide a value when you need to use them. Don't leave yourself with a dollar saved, and the lack of coverage when needed. JMHO. You will quickly find out what I am talking about if your RV has to be towed 75 or 100 miles, and your service only covers the first 50 miles, etc...

I will be frank, the service I receive through my RV insurance company has been generally better quality, better service responders, and quicker to get there and do what is needed than either Coach-Net or Good Sam's, and I have used them all at one time or the other. It is also very inexpensive as an insurance add on.

Razorbacks · 02-24-2016, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaverfever

coachnet is the gold standard

I'm glad to hear that others like Coach net. We are relatively new owners and through my research I decided to use Coach net. Glad to have it, yet hope to never use it.

Ramets · 02-25-2016, 04:13 AM

How much will you be paying at Coachnet? I only pay $24 a year for ESP plan as a rider on my Progressive policy. They ALL pretty much use the same roadside service co.'s. Personally I've NEVER had a problem from Progressive in over 5yrs. of full timing. One tow I needed was when we were in Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory. Truck had to come from Whitehorse 180mi. away. Then took us to Whitehorse for repairs. That's a 360mi. roundtrip. I'm glad I didn't have to pay for that tow.

USA-RVNomads · 02-27-2016, 07:51 AM

Coachnet here.

Just understand that whichever provider you use it all hinges on the local guy in the area where you broke down and need assistance.

There will be times when no one will accept the job from the insurer or roadside assistance provider. It maybe due to the rate they're willing to pay or the hassles the local guy has to go through to get paid.

In some situations there will be several contractors waiting by the phone ready to respond and times when there are none or they are just super busy and can't get to you right away.

What you want is a responsive easy to communicate provider...that's why we use Coachnet and we've put them to the test on more than one occasion. Won't travel without them having our back.

MSHappyCampers · 02-27-2016, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dinkie0719

Does anyone know about a good emergency Road service that's is good and works good too.

We've been using Good Sam since 2001 and have had fairly good results. I'm thinking about switching to CoachNet next time, since lots of folks with larger MH's seem to think CoachNet has a better network for handling larger MH's.

Forza Tom · 02-28-2016, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dinkie0719

Does anyone know about a good emergency Road service that's is good and works good too.

We have Coachnet and have had great service from them.

georgew48 · 02-28-2016, 06:43 AM

Have used Good Sam for over 15 years and always excellent service. Now have both GS and Coachnet because the new motorhome came with a free year if Coachnet. Will probably keep GS and not renew Coachnet.

Cratcliff · 02-28-2016, 06:46 AM

As a new owner, we signed up for coach-net based on the feedback from this forum. We used the service yesterday for the first time. While the wait was quite long, the service was great. So far no regrets.

Chris
08 Dutch Star

Stealth01 · 02-29-2016, 06:11 PM

Hands Down, Coach Net... They are the standard by which all others are judged. This past year we were locked out of our coach (don't ask!), on a Sunday of a three day weekend. I called Coach Net, explained what happened and they went to work. They called back about 45 minutes later telling me they were having difficulty finding a locksmith, in the local area, on a Sunday afternoon... About 15 minutes later she called back explaining they found one, about 60 miles away (we were staying in a very remote area of Michigan.) The locksmith arrived and picked our lock, in about 15 seconds (that's reassuring), made us a set of new keys and departed. About 20 minutes later Coach Net called again to follow up and make sure our issues were resolved! In my opinion, you can't beat their service!!