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Old 05-27-2017, 05:09 AM   #1
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Roadside Assistance for TV and Travel Trailer

In a few weeks we travel out to the west coast to pick up our new ORV. I've read countless threads about roadside assistance. So many comments about Class A and Class C coverage tends to be a distraction.

It would seem the smart play would be to have Good Sams Club and AAA coverage. Any opinions and or warnings?
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Old 05-27-2017, 08:11 AM   #2
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I have both, AAA and Good Sam. The AAA won't tow a trailer if need be so (Good Sam will) that's why I have both.
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Old 05-27-2017, 11:15 AM   #3
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I have both, AAA and Good Sam. The AAA won't tow a trailer if need be so (Good Sam will) that's why I have both.
Check into that about AAA. I had my trailer towed along with my pick up - at the same time.
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Old 05-27-2017, 03:08 PM   #4
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I had Good Sam for about 5 years and switched to CAA (Canadian version of AAA) last year. I made the switch because some of the other services/products that CAA offers (and I need) made it just as cost effective to switch.

In the time I had Good Sam, I used them about 4 times, only once when I was pulling the trailer. Each time I received great service, especially the time we needed it pulling the trailer. We blew a tire on the TV in the middle of Wyoming on a Sunday morning. They found us help, called to make sure we were okay, and followed up again to make sure that everything turned out ok.

I haven't had the opportunity (knock on wood) to use CAA yet, but have in the past and I'm not too worried about the service I will receive.

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to have either one, just at this time CAA does more for me on the non-roadside assistance and that's why I'm with them.
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Old 05-27-2017, 03:28 PM   #5
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I have both. My AAA doesn't cover my TT, but that's because I haven't chosen to purchase their TT coverage. I have Good Sam for my TT (which also covers my truck and cars). I think that it is worth having roadside coverage for the TT, but now that I have had the need to use it a few times, I have had to reset my level of expectation. Two things, that if you know in advance, may help you avoid frustration:

First, don't assume that you are guaranteed of quick roadside assistance just because, for example, you broke down just 15 minutes outside of the nearest town. If your roadside assistance provider doesn't contract with a repair facility in that town but does contract with a facility in a town, say, an hour and a half away, you will wait for an hour and a half for assistance. In one case I waited for over 2 hours (in 102 degree heat), just to receive a call saying that the technician who was supposed to come had called and said he couldn't come after all, so they were starting all over looking for a new technician. And I was only 15 minutes outside of a town with with 4 tire shops but they didn't contract with anybody in that town.

Be aware of potential additional charges. For example, Good Sam coverage will take care of having someone come out and remove a wheel with a flat tire and mount your spare wheel/tire. However, if you need them to actually dismount a failed tire from a rim and mount a new tire on that rim, you will pay a $120 "roadside dismount/mount" fee (which they will collect via credit card before they will dispatch a repair service).

These are not reasons not to purchase roadside assistance. However, in my personal experience, the assistance does not always come quickly and is not always fully covered by you membership fee. If you know that up front, you blood pressure is less likely to rise as you wait for assistance...
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Old 05-27-2017, 04:43 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by LJowdy View Post
I have both, AAA and Good Sam. The AAA won't tow a trailer if need be so (Good Sam will) that's why I have both.
Did you have the Plus or Premier coverage with an RV rider?
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Old 06-01-2017, 04:15 PM   #7
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Without going into the depressing details, I would never do business with AAA.

There...I feel much better!
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Old 06-01-2017, 05:05 PM   #8
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Had my first experience with Good Sam today and it wasn't pleasant. Fortunately I was very near home with my toad thus avoiding a mini disaster. Good Sam needed a location. Certainly not unreasonable except I did not know the address where I broke down. Good Sam needed the address where I wanted my car towed. I did not know my mechanics address,but with the name of my mechanics business Good Sam was able to find his address. It is 2 miles from where I broke down. My wife walked to a nearby post office and got an address for my breakdown location. With the proper forms filled out Good Sam tried to dispatch a tow truck. No luck, nearest tow truck available was 150 miles away. I declined and cancelled the assistance request. My wife walked home and got our minivan. Using my RV tow bar and the minivan I was able to tow my car home. Not sure I can trust Good Sam when I need service.
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Old 06-01-2017, 05:47 PM   #9
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Had my first experience with Good Sam today and it wasn't pleasant. Fortunately I was very near home with my toad thus avoiding a mini disaster. Good Sam needed a location. Certainly not unreasonable except I did not know the address where I broke down. Good Sam needed the address where I wanted my car towed. I did not know my mechanics address,but with the name of my mechanics business Good Sam was able to find his address. It is 2 miles from where I broke down. My wife walked to a nearby post office and got an address for my breakdown location. With the proper forms filled out Good Sam tried to dispatch a tow truck. No luck, nearest tow truck available was 150 miles away. I declined and cancelled the assistance request. My wife walked home and got our minivan. Using my RV tow bar and the minivan I was able to tow my car home. Not sure I can trust Good Sam when I need service.
My truck's nav system provides GPS coordinates (lat/long) which Good Sam finds acceptable. Also, if you have a smartphone, the Google Maps app can provide these coordinates.

Sounds like you broke down in town, so unless this is a VERY small town, I'm guessing that there was probably a tow truck closer than 150 miles. But the one 150 miles away was the closest one that Good Sam contracted with. That has definitely happened to me with both Good Sam and AAA.

As I said in my post (#5) above, I still think that having roadside assistance on the vehicle and trailer is a good thing. But in my experience, it does not guarantee a quick resolution to your problem. If their choice is to get you assistance in 15 minutes from a nearby, but non-contracted repair facility, or get you assistance in 2 hours from a contracted repair facility, the choice is clear. You will wait 2 hours.
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Old 06-01-2017, 10:11 PM   #10
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My truck's nav system provides GPS coordinates (lat/long) which Good Sam finds acceptable. Also, if you have a smartphone, the Google Maps app can provide these coordinates.

Sounds like you broke down in town, so unless this is a VERY small town, I'm guessing that there was probably a tow truck closer than 150 miles. But the one 150 miles away was the closest one that Good Sam contracted with. That has definitely happened to me with both Good Sam and AAA.

As I said in my post (#5) above, I still think that having roadside assistance on the vehicle and trailer is a good thing. But in my experience, it does not guarantee a quick resolution to your problem. If their choice is to get you assistance in 15 minutes from a nearby, but non-contracted repair facility, or get you assistance in 2 hours from a contracted repair facility, the choice is clear. You will wait 2 hours.
I totally agree that it doesn't guarantee a quick resolution and in rare cases, no resolution. And it may not always be the roadside assistance providers fault.

The one non-resolved issue I had a couple of years ago, while I was with Good Sam, was that my truck totally died on me one evening around 8 pm while I was running an errand in the small city I live in. At the time, we only had 1 tow company in our city. Good Sam was contracted to this tow company because I had used them before. That particular night Good Sam phoned me back and said that they were sorry but the tow company wouldn't come out because they were short staffed and it wasn't an emergency. Even though I thought it was an emergency since it was my only vehicle and I needed to get it towed to a garage and fixed, there was nothing Good Sam could do at that moment. I did talk to the tow company the next afternoon, when they had a truck free to tow me, about what I was told by Good Sam the night before and the driver said "Yeah, we only have one guy on call after 7 pm and we don't send him out unless someone is stranded or in an accident"

In my opinion, not much the provider can do in that situation.
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Old 06-02-2017, 02:13 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fisher99 View Post
My truck's nav system provides GPS coordinates (lat/long) which Good Sam finds acceptable. Also, if you have a smartphone, the Google Maps app can provide these coordinates.

Sounds like you broke down in town, so unless this is a VERY small town, I'm guessing that there was probably a tow truck closer than 150 miles. But the one 150 miles away was the closest one that Good Sam contracted with. That has definitely happened to me with both Good Sam and AAA.

As I said in my post (#5) above, I still think that having roadside assistance on the vehicle and trailer is a good thing. But in my experience, it does not guarantee a quick resolution to your problem. If their choice is to get you assistance in 15 minutes from a nearby, but non-contracted repair facility, or get you assistance in 2 hours from a contracted repair facility, the choice is clear. You will wait 2 hours.
It is a small town. My first call was to my regular mechanic but his flat bed was being repaired. Later that evening my wife remembered we had the Good Sam app. I'm sure in the future things will go much smoother. Looks like my next adventure will be how to replace an ignition switch in a Saturn Vue XR.
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