Community Forums

STLNLUV · 10-25-2017, 08:55 PM

I'm sure many of you have had really good experiences with Good Sam Roadside Assistance and there are probably less that have had bad ones. What happened to me left me frustrated and once again wondering where customer service people get the training and where has common sense gone in this country.

On Saturday (10/21) afternoon I had the water pump fail on my CAT C9 diesel in my 40' coach. We were in northeast California close to nowhere on HWY 395 without cell service and no shoulder on the road. Drove 23 miles for cell service and spent 1hr 22mins (1hr on hold) with Good Sam. I wanted to be towed to the nearest Caterpillar authorized service in Reno, Nevada. They refused and wanted to tow me to a mechanic in Oroville, California. I tried to explain that according to my GPS Reno was 130 miles and 2hrs 30 mins away and Oroville was 124 miles away, 3hrs 45mins away across the Sierra mountains on a terrible 2 lane road. Their response "Orioville is where we will tow you". They were very adamant. I asked to speak with a supervisor. Now they want to tow me to some mechanic in Susanville, California, not an authorized CAT service center.

Ended up with NO service from Good Sam and contracted with a Reno towing company and ended up with a $1600 tow bill which took 8.5 hours. Lesson learned the hard way

. I still don't know why the supervisor changed from Oroville to Susanville at the end. Susanville was only 60 miles away but not a CAT service center.

Have any of you been towed to where you wanted to be towed, even if you had to pay extra? I would have happily paid the difference in cost.

Ray,IN · 10-25-2017, 09:06 PM

Regrettably the operators on the other end have no knowledge of anything but the script in front of them. Reasoning is not part of their job description.
I would make a copy of the tow bill, mail it to Good Sam ERS with a detailed explanation that includes times and dates-names if possible, and request reimbursement, as explained in the contract provisions.

hawkeye1995 · 10-25-2017, 09:11 PM

I believe their policy is to tow to the nearest mechanic shop that can service your problem. Does not have to be a dealership. Sad but true.

dennis45 · 10-25-2017, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

Regrettably the operators on the other end have no knowledge of anything but the script in front of them. Reasoning is not part of their job description.
I would make a copy of the tow bill, mail it to Good Sam ERS with a detailed explanation that includes times and dates-names if possible, and request reimbursement, as explained in the contract provisions.

Good advice.

ThePowells · 10-25-2017, 09:33 PM

Situation normal for GS.

Hgrace56 · 10-25-2017, 10:08 PM

Makes me feel better about carrying GS and AAA and FMCA

V3600 · 10-25-2017, 10:17 PM

I don't have RSA. My insurance agent says for me to arrange the tow, pay the bill, and then submit the bill to him for reimbursement. Glad I don't have to depend on some RSA plan.

Rock-N-Roll · 10-25-2017, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThePowells

Situation normal for GS.

I'm not a Good Sam member.....don't belong to any road side assistance.
From the outside looking in, it appears OP was being unreasonable, insisting on being towed to a CAT service center for, what amounts to be a simple & non-technical repair. OP could have had it fixed, then driven to CAT service center and paid them an hour's labor to check repairs made. Any issues could then be discussed with GS - at the service center....not on the side of the road.
I'm betting when OP signed up with Good Sam, they had terms of service that OP agreed to.
It appears emotions got in the way.
Don't get me wrong....I don't/won't do business with Good Sam or Camping World.......but this looks like a self-inflicted wound.

guardrail53 · 10-25-2017, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rock-N-Roll

I'm not a Good Sam member.....don't belong to any road side assistance.
From the outside looking in, it appears OP was being unreasonable, insisting on being towed to a CAT service center for, what amounts to be a simple & non-technical repair. OP could have had it fixed, then driven to CAT service center and paid them an hour's labor to check repairs made. Any issues could then be discussed with GS - at the service center....not on the side of the road.
I'm betting when OP signed up with Good Sam, they had terms of service that OP agreed to.
It appears emotions got in the way.
Don't get me wrong....I don't/won't do business with Good Sam or Camping World.......but this looks like a self-inflicted wound.

I have to agree with you, Rock-N-Roll, in this case for sure! Rail!

89sandman · 10-25-2017, 10:39 PM

All insurance programs that I've ever read state they will tow you to the nearest mechanic. Not the place of your choice.

Marty & Yani · 10-25-2017, 11:13 PM

AAA RV will take you anywhere you want with in the plan 100 miles a year.

STLNLUV · 10-26-2017, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rock-N-Roll

I'm not a Good Sam member.....don't belong to any road side assistance.
From the outside looking in, it appears OP was being unreasonable, insisting on being towed to a CAT service center for, what amounts to be a simple & non-technical repair. OP could have had it fixed, then driven to CAT service center and paid them an hour's labor to check repairs made. Any issues could then be discussed with GS - at the service center....not on the side of the road.
I'm betting when OP signed up with Good Sam, they had terms of service that OP agreed to.
It appears emotions got in the way.
Don't get me wrong....I don't/won't do business with Good Sam or Camping World.......but this looks like a self-inflicted wound.

Well it seems you have it figured out. No signature so I don't know what RV you have or your situation.

We are full time RV'ers for the last 6 years. I do not want to be towed to a place that may put me in a driveway for x number of nights, nor do I want an unknown shop working on my $40K engine. GS did not give me the name or qualifications of the tow company or repair facility. Furthermore, I told them I would pay the difference originally (read my statement). There was only five miles difference between Oroville and Reno and besides if you have been towed before you would see that most outfits charge by the hour (door to door) because motorhomes can be difficult to hook up safely. They have to remove the drive shaft or axles, defeat the brakes or be able to supply air to the coach and run lights 50-60 feet. Don't assume it was self inflicted, you weren't there.

My point is 1 hr and 20 mins is ridiculous, not having the opportunity to pay the difference at first and then changing the location does not make sense. If you've ever been to Susanville you would not want anything done there on your coach. It is a very small town with limited services and no large truck outfits like Peterbuilt or Freightliner.

I was only asking about experiences that others have had to see if this is typical of GS RSA.

Beyond · 10-26-2017, 12:54 AM

STLNLUV, it depends on which level of the GS RSA you have. We have GS and have learned a couple things about it.
1) you can spend a long time on hold and waiting for a tow truck if they can find one. They record all the transactions, so if there is a problem, they will go back and listen to the exchange.
2) unless you have the Premium Plus package, they will only tow you to the closest place that can do the repair [that they contract with]. They will give you the name and contact information about where they intend to take you, so you can call and ask about the ability to stay in the RV AND when they think they can get to the job. The first time I used the service, they planned to take us to a place that didn't work on diesel engines.

They will reimburse for the tow if they can't find one of their contract tow companies. They will also reimburse the cost to have the drive shaft reinstalled.

Once I understood the restrictions on the services, we got along better. It is much less restrictive than the AAA RV coverage. We had two tows in one week for our RV and the 16' trailer we were pulling. There were delays and issues with them saying our coverage didn't cover the trailer because of what we had on it and other such that created aggravation and delays, but bottom line they got trucks to us and reimbursed all the out of pocket expenses. So we've gotten our money's worth out of paying for ERS for many years to come.

One thing the tow truck operators told us was that although the companies get contracts with the different ERS companies, the tow operators don't like #1 to to w large RV's and #2 don't think they get enough money for the tow. AND will sometimes just tell the ERS operator they don't have anyone to go, afraid they'll lose out on other business being tied up so long on a large RV job.

Winepress · 10-26-2017, 01:04 AM

Only used GS towing one time. Broke a fan belt. One call, then waited for about 10 minutes and they called back. They sent a truck and towed me to the nearest service center. Five hours later I was on the road. They state that they will take you to the closest service center. I didn't get towed to the nearest Cummins dealer, didn't care, wanted to be back on the road. Read the contract, understand the terms.. no surprises.