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Old 03-21-2022, 07:49 AM   #1
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FMCA horror story

We are relatively new to RVing. Bought our first Sprinter-based RV in 2019, and just bought a new Super C a few months ago. On a 900 mile (Michigan, Indiana, Illinois Wisconsin, back through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and back to Michigan) trip this past weekend, we encountered a slow leak in one of our rear tires (Tireminder paid for itself right there).

We were in the middle of Indiana somewhere on Saturday night, it's around 8PM and getting dark, found a truck stop to pull over at and watched the pressure slowly but surely go down. Well at least I have an FMCA membership my naïve-self thought. After being over an hour on the phone making calls to several of their numbers, being forwarded to multiple people, I kept getting call centers that did not have any record of my membership. I finally ended up getting a number for the truck shop next the Flyin' J where we were parked at, and someone on call that night showed up about 10PM and got our tire fixed.

Come Monday morning, I go to call FMCA office to explain the giant fail we experienced. Being a member, which they immediately confirmed, and then explained the wall we kept hitting with their 3rd party call centers. Reason I know this, is that the people that kept answering told me this that they were contracted by FMCA to answer the phone. Anyways, FMCA then tells me that they don't use call centers, that they are closed on the weekends and then she just goes "we will cancel your membership" and then proceeds to hand up on me.

Yikes, this is not why I had joined. But given the only time I needed them and this is the kind of response you get on Monday morning, and no response when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere, that is not what I thought I was signing up for. Maybe they are just flooded in memberships now that RVing has gained some much more market share of the leisure industry.

My question, who do you use and have had a good experience with when you needed it most?
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Old 03-21-2022, 07:57 AM   #2
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I use your second option. Pay as I go.
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Old 03-21-2022, 08:08 AM   #3
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Sorry to hear of your difficulties. Any response here would benefit from more information. Do you have a basic FMCA membership, or also their "Roadside Rescue" that, like all other road service plans like Coach Net, Good Sam, etc, costs extra?.


Quote:
Originally Posted by DaimlerRV View Post
We are relatively new to RVing. Bought our first Sprinter-based RV in 2019, and just bought a new Super C a few months ago. On a 900 mile (Michigan, Indiana, Illinois Wisconsin, back through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and back to Michigan) trip this past weekend, we encountered a slow leak in one of our rear tires (Tireminder paid for itself right there).

We were in the middle of Indiana somewhere on Saturday night, it's around 8PM and getting dark, found a truck stop to pull over at and watched the pressure slowly but surely go down. Well at least I have an FMCA membership my naïve-self thought. After being over an hour on the phone making calls to several of their numbers, being forwarded to multiple people, I kept getting call centers that did not have any record of my membership. I finally ended up getting a number for the truck shop next the Flyin' J where we were parked at, and someone on call that night showed up about 10PM and got our tire fixed.

Come Monday morning, I go to call FMCA office to explain the giant fail we experienced. Being a member, which they immediately confirmed, and then explained the wall we kept hitting with their 3rd party call centers. Reason I know this, is that the people that kept answering told me this that they were contracted by FMCA to answer the phone. Anyways, FMCA then tells me that they don't use call centers, that they are closed on the weekends and then she just goes "we will cancel your membership" and then proceeds to hand up on me.

Yikes, this is not why I had joined. But given the only time I needed them and this is the kind of response you get on Monday morning, and no response when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere, that is not what I thought I was signing up for. Maybe they are just flooded in memberships now that RVing has gained some much more market share of the leisure industry.

My question, who do you use and have had a good experience with when you needed it most?
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Old 03-21-2022, 08:22 AM   #4
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So sorry for your experience with FMCA.
We purchased our first RV in 2018 one month after retirement. Total newbie. We purchased Good Sam roadside assistance and have had excellent service from them. Yes, we have heard many horror stories about Good Sam. Just our experience.
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Old 03-21-2022, 08:23 AM   #5
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I wonder if all of this was because it was the weekend. While still under warranty I tried to call Fleetwood on a weekend and ran into same issue. All my paperwork says they are open 24/7. Appears not anymore.
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Old 03-21-2022, 08:39 AM   #6
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Did you pay extra for the roadside assistance plan? It doesn’t come for free with basic membership….
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Old 03-21-2022, 08:45 AM   #7
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Sorry to hear that the response from FMCA was not what you expected.

Certainly, it's possible that FMCA failed to provide a service that they promised. It's also possible that your expectations may be based on some degree of misunderstanding.

When I joined FMCA, I noted, from info on their website that "FMCA's purpose is to organize social activities, exchange RV information, and supply benefits made possible, in part, by collective purchasing. The interest of the Association also extends into the area of political and legislative action. FMCA supports recreation programs and the legal rights of RV owners."

If you did purchase, at additional expense above your base membership, the FMCA's Roadside Rescue®, powered by SafeRide RV Motor Club, that would fall into the "supply benefits made possible by collective purchasing".

FMCA doesn't man their phones 24/7. SafeRide RV Motor Club provides the 24/7 coverage. It's possible that they have someone else (call center) answer their after hours calls. I don't know.

I've never purchased my roadside assistance through FMCA. I've used Coach-Net (https://coach-net.com/247-protect-2/) for years and have been satisfied with their service.

Glad you got your tire repaired and happy that your TPMS alerted you to the problem before tire damage occurred.

Take care,
Stu
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Old 03-21-2022, 08:52 AM   #8
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Get Coach-Net. I know from personal experience they answer the phone on Sunday and it's not a call center.
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Old 03-21-2022, 09:03 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pasdad1 View Post
Did you pay extra for the roadside assistance plan? It doesn’t come for free with basic membership….
Yes, please answer this. FMCA offers a Roadside Assistance product, fulfilled by a third party and with a separate cost, membership and phone number. It is not in any way just part of your FMCA membership.

And, their offices is not a 24/7 operation because none of the standard membership benefits are 24/7 either.

The issue seems to be that you have totally misunderstood what FMCA does and how it works.
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Old 03-21-2022, 09:04 AM   #10
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We had a similar experience with GoodSam Roadside Assistance, on a Sunday morning (11 AM) in what is now somewhat the new traffic heart of north Dallas (I-45@I-635) and our issue wasn’t just a flat tire - the main engine wire harness had fallen down into the AC pulley and shorted things out, killing the coach dead.

After numerous calls and two sub-par wreckers being sent out, a heavy wrecker finally showed up around 6:30pm.
We had to call the wrecker service. We had to pay the wrecker service the ~$500 tow bill to tow us the 11 miles home.

Having just bought some stuff from Camping World, I was met with an email the following Saturday from Marcus Lemonis, telling me “Your not happy, I’m not happy - please contact me”.
So I did - 6 pm on a Saturday, within an hour I aphid a response - not from Marcus, but from one of his “aids”. We exchanged 2-3 emails that night and into Sunday.

We received a check from GoodSam for the full amount of the tow within about 10 days.

Moral of the story - while we buy roadside assistance plans to hopefully protect us from catastrophes such as this, we also have to be proactive in getting the needed assistance.

You were at a truck stop - did they not have someone there that could repair your flat or put your spare on? Or, if only a fuel and food stop - did they know of anyone you could call to help you?
In the end, you may have had to pay out of pocket to get back on the road - but that is an argument to have with FMCA - when you get to talk to someone. Which apparently you tried to do and we’re met with a less than pleasant response. Time to hang up (or they do to you), wait awhile, and call them back. And email them of your experience with their Customer Service phone response,
Your issues with them are two fold, one having to do with their being able to respond to the situation, the 2nd having to do with their Customer Service response.
Pick your battle. And speak from the perspective that you want to help them do their job better.

I know, it’s hard because doing better is what we expect from their receipt of our hard earned dollars. But we live in different times now. The people on the other end of the line don’t have the experience they need to have that back in the day, they did have.
I agree that your experience was subpar at best - but you can get some relief by walking them through your issues of concern and what your expectations are - if and when you get to talk to someone.
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Old 03-21-2022, 09:47 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by creativepart View Post
Yes, please answer this. FMCA offers a Roadside Assistance product, fulfilled by a third party and with a separate cost, membership and phone number. It is not in any way just part of your FMCA membership.

And, their offices is not a 24/7 operation because none of the standard membership benefits are 24/7 either.

The issue seems to be that you have totally misunderstood what FMCA does and how it works.


It looks like it was my misunderstanding that I was covered. Lesson learned. However, that does not take away from the fact that no one took the time to tell me this deep into Saturday night on all the number of calls I made, being forwarded several times, all the while representing themselves as FMCA. That is a branding problem. It would have been much better to have an answer that said - yes we see you are a FMCA Member but did not sign up for our Roadside Assistance program. Besides reducing the number of calls, providing instant clarity, it’s also a missed opportunity to upsell services in my view. Thanks for all the replies so far and real-life experiences. I wanted a bigger motor home and I know those come with bigger problems.
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Old 03-21-2022, 10:09 AM   #12
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If the OP was in a truck stop with a flat why would he not just ask to get flat fixed rather than worry with getting roadside to put your spare tire on. what am I missing here
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Old 03-21-2022, 10:17 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W5CI View Post
If the OP was in a truck stop with a flat why would he not just ask to get flat fixed rather than worry with getting roadside to put your spare tire on. what am I missing here
It's all part of the learning curve.
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Old 03-21-2022, 10:22 AM   #14
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We’ve all been there.

RV’ing is a lot of this

Followed by some of this
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