Good Sam roadside assistance

[calwell]

Is it worth getting or is it a scam

[LynnD]

We have had it for several years, just last month we were involved in an accident. We called them several times, finally got through to someone that understood what DH was asking about and after being disconnected 3 times they told him they could not help. We are now totally done with Good Sam/Camping World anything.

[dons2346]

Why does the word "scam" come up? The GS roadside service is just that. If you are broke down and need a tow, they will handle it. Of course there are limitations so you must read all the material to understand what is and what isn't covered.



In post #2, they were involved in an accident. You will not find a roadside service that will tow an vehicle that has been involved in an accident, that is what your vehicle insurance is for.


I have CoachNet and in 22 years, I have used it twice. Does it pay to have roadside service, yes it does.

[wecamp2]

Paid for Roadside assistance 15 years. tried to get a tow when RV went into limp mode the said they didn't have anyone available to dispatch. I found a tow available and they said they would not reimburse me.

[geordi]

Bad Sam is a company that exists solely to get you to give them your money for "good feelings" and nothing else in return. When you need them, they will not help you.

Yes they are a scam, at every level.

For roadside, you would be much better served with adding the roadside coverage to your RV insurance, and calling them when you need a tow - as they will do the same thing that any other service will do: Call the local operators and say "we will pay you this much, will you do the job?" and usually since their "offer" is less than half of the retail rate... They get laughed off the phone or the tow operator just cancels the job on you without telling you.

But at least with your insurance company, you (probably) have a major name behind it that the tow operator MIGHT be inclined to work with.

[Psneeld]

I just had a great experience with Good Sam.

Granted location and time can alter things dramatically.

Pulled into my sister's driveway in Wilmington, NC after a 4000 mile trip and noted that in the last day or two of travelling something had torn pretty big chunks out of the sidewall of my exterior rear passenger tire.

I called Good Sams after discovering it and within 15 minutes of hanging up, the road service guy had arrived. In another 30 minutes, the new tire was on and good to go.

At first I was billed for the tire and a few normal tire change fees as Good Sam arranges for and covers the "service call fee".

The next day after looking up my policy I realized I had the Platinum Complete plan that included road hazard insurance so I called Good Sam.

After sending a few pictures of the damage, I was approved, given a reimbursement code and told I would receive repayment of the tire and tax in a week or two.

I know it was probably the exception, but I will take it for the first one and see how the others go.

Is Good Sam a scam? Well you can think all insurance is when response and reimbursement isn't what you expected or hoped for, but I find that with all insurance, not just Good Sam or any other type. Self insuring or tacking on minimal insurance from a RV insurer can also be a crap shoot.

[TXiceman]

In the past I had reasonably good response from GS ERS. I dumped them as the service had gone to the dogs. We now have CoachNet.

Ken

[Gary RVRoamer]

Not a scam, but not a panacea either. It's a service that has both contract limitations and a quality of service that varies widely with the situation and the local contractor wherever you happen to be when your need arises. The advertising would like you to believe that everything is beautiful once you make a phone call, but the real world isn't that nice. The local contractors may be busy or maybe far away. The "nearest shop" for a tow may be incompetent or surly or overpriced. The replacement tire you need may not be available until Monday. Nobody can wave a magic wand and change that.


And of course Good Sam is selling a service to make money. They aren't your guardian angel. Any more than any other insurance agency.

[Ray,IN]

Issues arise with any roadside assistance contract if the buyer fails to read and understand the fine print before signing.
July 2020 we were enroute to Mayo Clinic, overnighted at an RV park. Next morning MH would not start. Called Good Sam RSA, operator sent out a mobile diesel mechanic who could not diagnose the problem or read ECM codes.
Another was called, same result. Then they sent a mobile repairman from a Petro truck stop, he also could not read ECM codes or get engine started. No charge to me for any of those.
Finally I asked to speak with a supervisor; she really knew her job and was of immense help. She told me she had to follow company rules and call at least 3 wreckers services to obtain the lowed price before one could be dispatched.
She finally found the most expensive wrecker service was the only one with a wrecker large enough to tow our MH.
Wrecker bill for two wreckers, small one to tow our MH out of the RV park, then large one to tow our MH 60 miles to Cummins Great Plains i Moline, IL.
Total wrecker bill was $1,300.
Cummins made repairs, we had missed DW's appt. at Mayo Clinic so we turned for home, 30 miles from Moline MH died, coasted to the side of the interstate and called Cummins Great Plains, they had no wrecker contacts. Called Good Sam again and explained, again to a supervisor.
She dispatched the same wrecker service from Davenport IA. That bill was $700.


End of story; we are very satisfied with GS ERS.


P.S. The operator you speak to initially, is only allowed to read the screen prompts, ask the questions and select the appropriate reply.
If you do not have your vehicles recorded with GS ERS, they don't have a clue what type/size assistance to dispatch.
Well, either that or their crystal ball is offline.

[koda59]

I have had Good Sam road side assistance for 11 years. So far I have only had to use them once. I was in Pa trying to back into my friends drive way where it was snowing and went off into the soft mud under the snow. I called Good Sams and told them what my problem was. They called back and said that all the wreckers were up on the inter state helping the big trucks. They called every 30 minutes and kept me informed of the progress until they showed up to pull us out. I was even give the name of the company and the driver who would be showing up to pull me out.

[Jim.B1]

Terrible, Incompetent, Inconsiderate Sam ....
This past week my son-in-law had car trouble in Toronto on the major 401 highway.
He called Good Sam Roadside Assistance, and from the start of the call to the end it was 50 minutes of which, 40 minutes he was on hold.
Yes, 80% of the call time he was on hold!
He had to explain where he was and the rep barely knew where Toronto, Ontario, Canada was on the map, the rep could not locate a towing company in a city of 4 million people and when the rep did locate one, insisted he be towed to the "closest" repair shop because the rep could not identify in their system what his towing radius was on his plan!
Needless to say, my son-in-law will now be the 3rd family member to drop Good Sam.
I suggested he write Marcus Lemoinis who regularly boasts in RV magazines to contact him directly if you have any issues, then I remembered Marcus never even acknowledged my recent email, so why bother.
I guess Good Sam calculates that the number of new customers out weighs the number of lost customers so who really cares.

[geordi]

Originally Posted by Jim.B1

I suggested he write Marcus Lemoinis who regularly boasts in RV magazines to contact him directly if you have any issues, then I remembered Marcus never even acknowledged my recent email, so why bother.
I guess Good Sam calculates that the number of new customers out weighs the number of lost customers so who really cares.

Yes, they are VERY good (or at least excessive) with the marketing, such that they don't need to care at all about the existing customers that they shed, there will be two to replace them - at least for a short time.

Service providers who don't provide service SHOULD go out of business from the bad publicity, but clearly they have plenty of profit margin to throw at the shiny advertising to keep duping new people. Eventually though they should run out of people who don't know their name... Oh, that's when they become "Gander Camping" instead of Camping World.....

[Bobgrove]

Originally Posted by geordi

Bad Sam is a company that exists solely to get you to give them your money for "good feelings" and nothing else in return. When you need them, they will not help you.

Yes they are a scam, at every level.

For roadside, you would be much better served with adding the roadside coverage to your RV insurance, and calling them when you need a tow - as they will do the same thing that any other service will do: Call the local operators and say "we will pay you this much, will you do the job?" and usually since their "offer" is less than half of the retail rate... They get laughed off the phone or the tow operator just cancels the job on you without telling you.

But at least with your insurance company, you (probably) have a major name behind it that the tow operator MIGHT be inclined to work with.

I purchased a three year good sam platinum roadside service in 2020
We had breakdown and called GS and they said I had coverage for 11 miles I think it was $300
and wouldn't budge. They arranged for the tow to take us to qualified facility for $2000 For 40 miles. The facility was not qualified and after 5 days I went nuts on them. I arranged with qualified facility and tow company and had it towed to new facility for $1200 MORE to back near where we originally broke down.
Good Sam was a JOKE

BUT ONCE I GOT HOME I DECLARED WAR ON THEM, THEY ENDED UP REIMBURING $3200 IN TOW BILLS

AND ONE MONTH LATER WE HAD TO BE TOWED AGAIN, I CALLED GS AGAIN THEY TRIED THE SAME BS AND I TOLD THEM TO GO TO HELL AND ARRANGED MYSELF AGAIN AND WHEN WE GOT HOME AGAIN AND WAR WAS ON AGAIN.
WITHIN THREE DAYS I HAD FULL REIMBURSEMENT. MEMBERSHIP IS JUST ABOUT UP NOT SURE WHERE I'M GOING.

[Randyn1]

Originally Posted by calwell

Is it worth getting or is it a scam

Try Coach-Net. You can google it. a little more expensive but I think it is worth it. It came with our TT when purchased new for a year and we just renewed.

Have not used yet but I looked up reviews and seem to be good.