Road Side Assistance Plans - Good, Bad or Useless?

WE have only had experience with Good Sam Road Side Assistance and our assessment would be USELESS. They have no problem taking your money but when it comes to giving you the promised service BAD News. We have had GS RSA for about 10 years and have only tried to use them on 2 occasions in that time. Both calls were for assistance to change a flat for an inflated spare. First time we were in a Walmart Parking lot in a Town in Ontario. ONLY one Walmart in that town but because I could not provide a street number or intersection service was denied. Yes I could have gone into the store to get an address but I got the impression the lady I talked to had no clue where Ontario was and really had even less clue about the service they were supposed to provide. I change the wheel myself and went on.
This was 2006 and should have twigged that if I could not have service to do a simple spare tire change the service was probably useless.
As of last Week I now know the GSRSA is useless. We were trailing our boat from Florida to Ontario and had a trailer tire blow on I- 95 at exit 7 in North Carolina. Called Good Sam at 6:20 PM spent 15 minutes so they could figure out where we were and if we had coverage for a boat trailer. Finally they said they would dispatch someone to our assistance but would I stay on line to answer questions if needed, waited and waited and finally they needed to know how long the trailer was, how heavy the boat, and were we on pavement of grass. Answered questions and G S said they would call back when they found assistance. Called back in 15 minutes to say they found someone but had no drivers so could not respond. G S said they would find some else so waited and waited until 8:55, starting to get dark on a very busy interstate so I decided to change wheel myself. Instructed my wife to call and cancel request for assistance but she could not get talking to the dispatch person who was supposed to be getting back to us. Finally about 9:10 GS dispatch person called to say he had contacted 9 providers and no one could assist us until TOMORROW MORNING. If I could not have changed the wheel myself we could have been sitting in our 1/2 ton truck on the side of I-95, probably one of the busiest Eastern US interstates for 12 or more hours. This is not Road Side service, this is no service. Another concern I have is with respect to our Motorhome spares. Many of us have to carry an unmounted tire because we have 22.5 Alcoa or similar Alum Wheels so you cannot carry a mounted spare for all hubs. Good Sam would not tell me if mounting a tire was included in our Road Side Service and I have just read on another Forum that GS charge one owner $189. because his spare was not mounted and inflated.
We choose Good Sam because they claimed to cover all our vehicles including trailers however apparently finding someone to changing a flat with a mounted/inflated spare is beyond their service at least it is for us.
Anyone out there that has a Road Side service that has proven to be USEFUL or has anyone out there had similar experiences with Good Sam or any other Road Side Assistance providers Good or Bad.

Duffy,
2008 Georgetown 378
2007 Roadtrek CamperVan
2012 F150 Ford Truck
Heavy duty tandem Boat Trailer.

We see a lot of complaints about GSRA, but at least some of them are unreasonable expectations or a misunderstanding of what the plans provides. That said, GS is well known for overselling and consequently, under-performing relative to their promises. And there is a disconnect between you and the actual service: you are talking to a phone clerk who doesn't know the area you are in, and doesn't know if the service they will call knows it either. They may use map software to help locate you, but if the features you describe are not on their map, it doesn't always help. How hard the GSRA phone clerk works at it may be debatable, though.

All roadside services are dispatchers, sending local services to your aid. They have no tow trucks of their own, and can't wave a magic wand if the only local tow or tire service in East Bungmot is already out on another call. Or having Sunday dinner and not in a hurry to come rescue you. Further, the service only covers only the service call (travel) plus either a tow (if needed) or changing a tire. YOU are responsible for any and all additional labor, which includes tire repair, tire mounting on a wheel, any incidental repairs onsite.

So yes, the value of the service is limited. Worthless is perhaps less clear.

We have Progressive roadside assistance.  Last winter the RV wouldn't start in a rest area in Titusville FL on I-95. They had the right size tow truck out in about 40 min and took us to a waiting Ford dealer that reset our emergency fuel shut off in about 20 min.  I think that you roll the dice with any roadside service as Gary said. It is better than nothing.

I have had no problems with Good Sam for the last 10 years. They did send an incompetent tow truck driver to change my car tire because I had no jack, but I don't blame the service. I had two blowouts on the rear duel tires on my motor home and they sent a guy who changed out one with my spare and replaced a tire on my rim, with a new tire. My only charge was the cost of a new tire and changing out the spare, because I was told they will only service one tire per incident. That's fine. How often do you end up with two tires blowing out?

Since I installed the Good Sam phone app, they have had no trouble finding me, through the GPS feature. They tell me, where I am. My monthly fee is coming up in September and I see no reason to change right now.

Sorry to hear about such bad service from GSRA. I have had GSRA for about 9 years and have had to use it twice. In my cases both times were on the Alaska Highway. In both cases after a rather lengthy discussion to determine where I was (they're not the sharpest folks with the "wilderness concept) they dispatched a tow truck from the closest town. In both cases it was over 100 miles away. A professional tow truck driver towed my motor home to the nearest repair shop and I never saw a bill or paid a penny for the tow. I think just one of those situations more than paid for the GSRA over all of the years I have had it. Just this year we purchased a newer MH with an extended warranty with USA Travel Care that includes RSA, hopefully I never get to find out how it works

Albert
2011 Itasca Meridian 34Y
2006 Jeep Liberty

Why bother to discuss it, seems subject is closed. Use the full wallet and cell phone option instead, it will handle every situation.

We have had  Coachnet for the past 5 or so years and both times I have had to use their services they were right on top of it and very customer service oriented. Yes their price went up $20 this past year from what it was previously, but so has everything else. I have had such good service from them, I'll keep using them until that changes.

I too have Coach Net, and used them twice with a previous MH. Both times they were right on top of it. Each tow totaled to over $1000 by the tow company and I paid zero. Both times they called back to check on me and the quality of the service I was getting from the tow company.  I will keep them around. 

Coachnet also and I am happy also.

Hummmmmm, I was at an RV dealer last week previewing a new TT. One of the inducements to purchase was a full year of G S Road Service for no charge.
Having read numerous posts on the forum giving GS RS negative reviews I brought that up to the salesman. I thought I'd get an argument from him but to my surprise he agreed with me and said he had a bad experience with them also. That said, I've have AAA RV Plus and have only good things to say about them... just my two cents  :-X

Insurance policies provide roadside assistance coverage for a lot less than any of the clubs..

I'm one of those rare people that live out west in Idaho where cell signal is rare and weak at best. So having a road side assistance plan doesn't do much if you can call them or have to travel at least 50 miles (or more) to get to cell service. Like I've got full coverage on both the truck (tow vehicle) and the RV. Both have road side assistance plan part of the package but I could never use it if I wanted to unless I happen to break down in the big cities like Boise or Lewiston.

Just food for thought.

MTPockets said:

Insurance policies provide roadside assistance coverage for a lot less than any of the clubs..

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You may pay less, but you could pay more. If you are on the road much. you will have problems! The law of averages points that out.

We have CoachNet. On two separate occasions, we had catastrophic axles problems where we could not move, plus doing a lot of damage to our 5th wheel. Once on a street and once just turning off a street into a campground. When we were on the street, CoachNet called the police for us and had people there in about 15 min to get us going, and it was about 8:00 PM. At the campground drive, they were there within an hour. Both the guys that came out to asset us, went way behind to help us and made sure we were safe and secure before they left us. We have used CoachNet two other times for minor issues, both these times it was also easy to work with the service people and customer service people from CoachNet.
We have used our insurance before we were full-time, but we had to pay when something happened and then file to be reimbursed. It never covered the total cost of what we paid. They will tow the vehicle (truck or car), but not the RV, and have a limit on the towing expenses and the distance being towed. With CoachNet they take care of all of it and you don't do a thing, except the yearly membership.
Now, if you only travel locally, once or twice a year, etc, you may not want roadside coverage, except what is on your insurance. But we are full-time and on the road a lot, the benefits we have used, have more than paid for the 129.00 a year expense. Just boils down to it is your choice to make and your situation.

Hope this helps and God bless,
Mike

MTPockets said:

Insurance policies provide roadside assistance coverage for a lot less than any of the clubs..

Click to expand...

This forces me to ask a question I have had on my mind for months. Can someone tell me if there is a difference between what insurance policy RSA benefits cover and the RSA plans such as GS, and if there is a difference, what it is and if it is worth paying for the extra coverage?

When I purchased my used coach in January, I parked it in an empty lot along side my yard for two weeks while we fixed it up the way we wanted it. When it was time to move it to a storage facility, I made the mistake of trying to cross my swale to get on the road after the sprinkler system had gone off that morning. I got embarrassingly stuck with my back wheels digging into the mud of the swale and my front end blocking my road. When I realized there was no way I was getting the coach to move, I called my insurance company and asked if my roadside assistance would cover a tow vehicle coming out and pulling me out of the swale. The truck was there in 50 minutes, I was on the road in another 30, and I paid nothing. So in this respect, I see no reason to spend the extra money for an additional policy.

But if the outside GSA's cover more items that I may encounter on the road than my insurance policy, I'll be interested in the comparison.

MTPockets said:

Insurance policies provide roadside assistance coverage for a lot less than any of the clubs..

Click to expand...

Don't assume, my insurance policy doesn't include road service. CoachNet for me.

There have been numerous discussions on this subject, some of them contentious. The Search button in the menu above will find most of them, including this one.

Your insurance policy does not automatically cover road service, road service is an option that is a lot less than Good Sam.  If you are full time or to make sure your towable is covered, just specify and that can be added.  We're full time and our full time policies cover both truck and 5th wheel go road service and towing.

I have separate policies through different companies for my autos and my coach. My coach policy states that if my recreational vehicle is disabled, they will pay for towing and labor expenses, with a limitation of $750 per occurrence. There is a full timer option indicated, but that is a separate issue. The cost of this assistance is included in the premium.

If an outside RSA such as Coach Net or Good Sam covers essentially the same things, albeit no limitations, then the only question appears to be how much a tow or labor charges may exceed the $750 limit imposed on the policy. Will fixing a flat tire exceed that amount? I know towing can run $1,000 or more, depending on how far. But what else is there that I might be missing?

Coach-Net and GS include 24/7 phone tech support service for many of your RV's components that are not vehicle related. Can you call your insurance company plan at 2:00 AM for help in getting our furnace to fire up when it's 20 degrees F outside? Service appointment assistance, trip interruption coverage, camping discounts, and more are all included in plans offered by Coach-Net that make the additional cost worthwhile. Coach-Net's US based call center is also able to pinpoint your location (with your permission) using the same technology that police and other emergency services use. The retail value of the services we've received from Coach-Net so far, at no additional cost to us, would cover our premiums well into the 2020's.

Dutch - Thanks for that information. That's what I need to make an informed decision.