Community Forums

RodK · 02-05-2016, 11:50 AM

Hello fellow canuckers.

I just got my renewal from Good Sam roadside assistance and the price has gone up dramatically this year along with our dollar going down.

Has anyone had experience with CAA Rv roadside assistance? When I got Good Sam it was cheaper but now CAA is cheaper.

Any stories good or bad?

dennis45 · 02-05-2016, 12:34 PM

Not surprised to hear this. Another dollar casualty.

I have been a member with CAA for 15+ years and have used their roadside service for my car a few times with very good results.

However, I, like you have had GS since buying our coach as I was not very confident in the response of CAA when traveling south of the border. I had heard comments that were not so great and decided GS was the way to go.

Fortunately, I have not been in a situation were I had to use my GS policy so I really can't make any claims for or against.

BCAA has tried hard to convince me to switch to their product lately and I have been seriously considering the change since I have all my other insurance with them and have been treated very well on a couple of occasions.
My only concern however is the kind of relationship they might have with North American suppliers. Maybe this has improved over the years.

Sorry to drag on. Looking forward to opinions from other Canucks.

RodK · 02-05-2016, 10:04 PM

I have never needed mine as well but would not leave home without it. I am an auto technician by trade so I like the idea of picking where to tow it to.

This will be our 3rd year rv'ing. We had GS platinum plus. 1st year was $150 US, 2nd year $180 US, this year they want $220 US.

So it's $305 cdn for GS and $200 cdn for CAA Manitoba premier rv.

We do travel "mostly" in Canada for now.

Petesflhtk · 02-08-2016, 12:23 AM

I have CAA Premier RV; I've never had to use it for our RV but were south on our motorcycle and a tow was required 3 times in about 5 days. We had starter problems. No issue, phoned the number on the card, were picked up promptly and dropped off where requested.. Went perfectly as far as the tow went, the service was a different story.

stevemoores · 02-09-2016, 01:18 PM

I've used CAA in Canada for cars and been very pleased with the speed and the service.

I have RV Plus for the motorhome (Class C), but never had to use it.

I'm also a bit worried about what happens when in the US, it switches to AAA or do CAA use independents down there?

Steve

fishchamp · 02-09-2016, 07:17 PM

Have CAA Plus RV for about 20 years. Had to use them several times;
Twice in the Yukon, Once in BC, Once in Sask (very northern part)
3 Times in Alberta. Twice the miles to be towed exceeded the allowance however they towed the unit no charge. They were simply awesome in all cases. On one tow job the tow truck driver damaged the bumper. CAA had him repair the bumper no charge.

They have a program where they approve repair shops. Had a repair shop try and rip me off. Called CAA, they sent out there service manager to the repair shop: They heard my story and the repair shop story. Plain and simple they informed the repair shop to clean up his act. Long and short
didn't cost me a dime. Covered under warranty.

Finally got rid of the 37 ft G.S (called it Golf River) Never had to use CAA with our new different brand RV.

CAA cost me $152.00 a year. x 20 Years $3,040.00 Very satisfied with the
value ; as the repair shop wanted over eight grand. They landed up having
to repair their mistake for zip.

RodK · 02-09-2016, 10:13 PM

Thanks guys.

You have made my decision to switch over an easy one.

sirpurrcival · 02-27-2016, 02:05 AM

Just to chime in, I am a CAA Premier RV member and I have had good experiences with them as well. I even had one instance where my windscreen started to pop out while traveling in the US. I did the honorable thing and made extra effort to save the windshield thus saving CAA a ton of money. When I got home, I had to make the temporary fix, permanent. Because I had worked so hard to save the windscreen, they agreed to pay for the labour of the final repair. They weren't obligated to do so, their responsibility ended with the road side service. It has been a real good investment and saved me a ton of $$$.

RodK · 02-27-2016, 10:49 AM

Thanks for the reply. I will be saving myself over $100 by switching to the premier.

Sunadan · 04-07-2016, 04:48 PM

Hi,
I have been a CAA (auto) member for 30 some years. A few years ago we decided to take the CAA RV along with our Good Sam. Last year coming back from Buffalo on a Friday morning we had a rear blow out coming down the off ramp on the US side approaching the Canadian border. We safely made it to intersection where a crushed stone lot was empty and we safely pulled in. We Called CAA (AAA) and told them 3 times that we were in a 34' Motorhome and needed assistance. They even called back twice to confirm our exact location and the type of vehicle. I told them we need a commercial rig that can change an inside dual tire.

4 (four) hours later a guy shows up in a pick-up truck and says oh hell this thing is way to big for me. He was kind enough to call CAA an argue on the phone for 45 minutes to get us a commercial service and of of course argued that he should get paid for their mistake.

This blowout happened at 9;30 am. It's now 2:30 and they call me to tell me that they may not be able to get someone there till Tuesday because it's a long weekend. NOT Kidding. Now I start screaming and they start understanding but it took another 4 hours to get a commercial tire service from another county.

They where nice enough to credit that service call off my card, wasn't that nice of them.

We have, but never used Good Sam and we are renewing our CAA RV again (don't know why) and Good Sam this year because we are leaving on a very long journey for 4 months and if anyone has a better service, we sure would like to know.

Good Luck,
Sunadan

RodK · 04-07-2016, 07:06 PM

I have heard that coachnet is better than good sam. If we start traveling in the US, thats what I will go with.

sirpurrcival · 04-08-2016, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunadan

Hi,
I have been a CAA (auto) member for 30 some years. A few years ago we decided to take the CAA RV along with our Good Sam. Last year coming back from Buffalo on a Friday morning we had a rear blow out coming down the off ramp on the US side approaching the Canadian border. We safely made it to intersection where a crushed stone lot was empty and we safely pulled in. We Called CAA (AAA) and told them 3 times that we were in a 34' Motorhome and needed assistance. They even called back twice to confirm our exact location and the type of vehicle. I told them we need a commercial rig that can change an inside dual tire.

4 (four) hours later a guy shows up in a pick-up truck and says oh hell this thing is way to big for me. He was kind enough to call CAA an argue on the phone for 45 minutes to get us a commercial service and of of course argued that he should get paid for their mistake.

This blowout happened at 9;30 am. It's now 2:30 and they call me to tell me that they may not be able to get someone there till Tuesday because it's a long weekend. NOT Kidding. Now I start screaming and they start understanding but it took another 4 hours to get a commercial tire service from another county.

They where nice enough to credit that service call off my card, wasn't that nice of them.

We have, but never used Good Sam and we are renewing our CAA RV again (don't know why) and Good Sam this year because we are leaving on a very long journey for 4 months and if anyone has a better service, we sure would like to know.

Good Luck,
Sunadan

You know, with my windscreen issue, it wasn't CAA who we ended up dealing with initially, it was the AAA American affiliate in the area where we were. They weren't even picking up the phone to start. I had to call long distance to BCAA and explain the issue to them. They got on the blower and got AAA to call me back. They too, told me that it would have to wait until Tuesday (it was Friday). I also had to tell them that I couldn't wait almost 4 days to get someone out to help me on the side of the highway.

I'm not sure when you relate your experience whether it was really CAA or AAA in that region you were actually dealing with. I will agree they seemed really stupefied over the phone. You have an RV Membership, what does that imply? That you have an RV and that many of those are basically trucks. BIG trucks. That point seems to be lost of some operators.

Hang in there brother, you aren't the only one to have had that experience.

Dr4Film · 04-08-2016, 04:00 PM

Why bother with all of the headaches with those other wannabe ERS companies and just call Coach-Net and sign up for their Premier Level ERS. They offer two lower level services but I chose the highest one as it covers ALL of my vehicles or it even covers me and my wife if we happen to be driving or riding in someone else's vehicle.

It doesn't get any better than that.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

RodK · 04-08-2016, 07:06 PM

The thing I don't like about Coach Net is that it will only tow to the nearest repair center. I like having the choice to tow it to my shop if it is within the allowable distance.