Good Sam as roadside assistance?

[Cagney]

I was wondering if anyone else uses Good Sam Roadside Assistance in place of AAA Service?  I was considering going to this but would love to hear from anyone that uses Good Sam as their Roadside Assistant. Thanks in advance!
Cagney

 

[Kevin Means]

Welcome to the RVForum Cagney. A lot of folks here have Goodsam roadside assistance. If you do a "Search" (above) you'll find several discussions on the topic. Generally, I think they get average reviews - some good, some not so good. You might also want to look at Coachnet. Few RVers complain about them, and they also have a 24 hour tech support line for RV issues. Good luck with your choice!

Kev 

 

[darsben]

AAA is a collection of different clubs. Some AAA's in different parts of the country do not offer RV roadside assistance to their members. That does not mean you will not get service but it does mean that the service in that area may not be as good. The local club has no reason to find heavy duty shops able to service RVs so you may be waiting longer than necessary.

GoodSam and Coachnet are RV specialists designed to help Rver's and provide extra services to Rvers that AAA does not.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I don't use Good Sam, but I will give you my $0.02 anyway.

First of all, none of these services - AAA, Good Sam, Coachnet, Escapees, FMCA - own their own tow trucks and pay their own drivers.  They all try to sign up as many towing companies as they can that will accept their rate.  When you call when you are broken down, the operator will start going down a list of towing companies that they work with, trying to find one that's free to head out to your location.

I've seen a lot of threads on this subject, and no matter which company you are talking about, you will find a bunch posts raving about how wonderful they are, and a bunch of posts describing some horror story where the company failed them.  Of course, it wasn't the company, it was the towing contractor that was either wonderful or horrible.  Luck of the draw.

In some parts of the country, it can hard to find a towing company that can handle RVs.  Keep in mind that when a big old motor home of bus conversion is hanging on the end of a towing hook, legally it's the same as a tractor trailer, they need a BIG tow truck, and the driver needs a Class A Commercial License.

If the company is busy dealing with a broken down commercial truck - which pays a heck of a lot better than the RV companies will offer them - then you are So Out of Luck.

I second what darsben said about AAA.

So the best advice I can offer you is to carefully compare the plans offered by Good Sam, Coachnet, Escapees, and FMCA, read the fine print carefully, and pick the one that seems best to you.  Be sure to check for such things as whether they will cover you in Canada or Mexico, if your personal plans include such trips.

There you go.  Free advice that's guaranteed to be worth every penny you payed for it! 

 

[john owens]

I can't remember all the circumstances involved but I was a long time AAA member. My wife still is. I switched to Good Sam because the RV towing services were supposed to be better. Thankfully I have not needed any service from them. I would like to add that Good Sam and Camping world are run by the same guy...Marcus Lemonis aka The Profit. I believe this man has the best intentions and demands customer satisfaction with all his companys. This is my opinion of course..some folks hate Camping World for whatever reasons...

 

[Cagney]

Thank you for your welcome to the forum Kevin.  My brother, who is a full time RV-er, suggested going to the RV Forum to add to my research. I like learning from people that have "Been there, done that" as I weigh my decisions.  I appreciate your input!

Thank you also for your explanation darsben!  Good to know!

I appreciate your 2 cents Optimistic Paranoid!  There is a lot of truth in what you are saying.  Thank you!

I understand what you are saying John.  Everyone has different experiences for a variety of reasons.  I figured I would weigh the pros and cons with what people had experienced.  Thank you for your response!

 

[NY_Dutch]

One thing to be aware of in reference to Good Sam's emergency roadside assistance plan, is that Good Sam currently contracts with Allstate Motor Club for their ERS call center and dispatching to Allstate's service providers. That contract expires next year, although they may extend or renew it. Good Sam has used some less than first rate call center contractors in the past, but hopefully they won't regress to one of those again. The bottom line is that GS is not an ERS plan provider, just as they do not insure RV's themselves. Coach-Net on the other hand, is an ERS plan provider that has contracts to provide their call center services to some RV manufacturers and Ford's truck division among others.

 

[kdbgoat]

As far as good sam, take a look at their own website. RV.net and see what folks are saying there.

 

[Ernie n Tara]

No experience with others but I have had three with Coachnet. I couldn't be more satisfied. In particular they send an appropriate wrecker and they follow up to be sure it showed up.

Ernie

 

[John Stephens]

I've had Good Sam for three years and have had mixed results from them. Once when I needed a wrecker, it came within one hour. Another time when I couldn't get the coach started in my driveway, a wrecker came out and found the problem without needing a tow to the garage.

But then, when I was on the road in 2017, just having crossed from Georgia to S. Carolina on I-95 and my parking brake light came on, I called GS and was told they had no trucks in my area on that day, a Sunday, and I would have to wait for one until Monday morning. That was completely unacceptable. I wound up finding what the problem was and fixing it myself, luckily, because if I had been forced to rely on GS, I would have been stuck in a convenience store parking lot for an entire day because they didn't contract with a wrecker company in that area that works seven days a week.

 

[dabrown]

I have geico and never had to use, so can't say one way or thouter

 

[Larry N.]

I've had Coach Net for years, and used them twice. Neither time was for a tow, but once involved a trouble-shooting attempt, then dispatch of a mobile RV repairman, and the other needed a mobile repairman.

In both cases, when they answered on the initial call the first thing they asked was, "Are you in a safe place?" After that, the first call went to one of their techs who made several helpful suggestions that I checked out before determining that a mobile tech needed to be dispatched. In the second call there was no need for remote trouble shooting, but they immediately sent a tech. In both cases I was very happy with the way they dealt with me.

 

[rvwanderer1]

Good Sam was on sale for $89.00 so I signed up.  I also have Geico and they include free RV towing. Now lets hope I never need them.

 

[LarsMac]

I don't use Good Sam, but I will give you my $0.02 anyway.

First of all, none of these services - AAA, Good Sam, Coachnet, Escapees, FMCA - own their own tow trucks and pay their own drivers.  They all try to sign up as many towing companies as they can that will accept their rate.  When you call when you are broken down, the operator will start going down a list of towing companies that they work with, trying to find one that's free to head out to your location.

I've seen a lot of threads on this subject, and no matter which company you are talking about, you will find a bunch posts raving about how wonderful they are, and a bunch of posts describing some horror story where the company failed them.  Of course, it wasn't the company, it was the towing contractor that was either wonderful or horrible.  Luck of the draw.

In some parts of the country, it can hard to find a towing company that can handle RVs.  Keep in mind that when a big old motor home of bus conversion is hanging on the end of a towing hook, legally it's the same as a tractor trailer, they need a BIG tow truck, and the driver needs a Class A Commercial License.

If the company is busy dealing with a broken down commercial truck - which pays a heck of a lot better than the RV companies will offer them - then you are So Out of Luck.

I second what darsben said about AAA.

So the best advice I can offer you is to carefully compare the plans offered by Good Sam, Coachnet, Escapees, and FMCA, read the fine print carefully, and pick the one that seems best to you.  Be sure to check for such things as whether they will cover you in Canada or Mexico, if your personal plans include such trips.

There you go.  Free advice that's guaranteed to be worth every penny you payed for it! 

Nice one. That has been one of the best replies regarding such services that I have ever read.

I have had Good Sam for 3 years now, and never needed to call them.
I suspect that the time I will need them will be the week after my subscription runs out.