What should you do if you have roadside assistance and break down and need to be towed?

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HikerBob

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 26, 2021
Posts
174
Location
Hartland mi
When you call your roadside assistance, They are going to want to know about your rig. Length, width, and height. Some of the tow truck company's want to know the weight of the rig and the clearance from the bumper to the ground in front. They also need to know where you are at. I would write this all down cause you may need it many many times.
We have class A 31 feet long and if we paid to have it towed it would have been $600-$900.
They should text you with a name and number of a tow truck company. Call them immediately. Make sure they know your location and the information about your rig. I would even check out their web site.
If they don't show up 15 minutes after they said they would I would call them again.
My wife and I were stranded on the side of the road for 24 hours because we did not call them immediately.
If there is anything that can be added to this let me know.
 
Who is your roadside assistance company? While much of what you said generally applies, some details change with the company. For instance I've NEVER texted (or received texts) from Coach Net- all communications have been by phone in real time. And they never leave you in doubt of what is needed, because they'll ask for any needed info they don't already have. Note that they DO have my RV information. AND, they are prompt about calling back.
My wife and I were stranded on the side of the road for 24 hours because we did not call them immediately.
I'd REALLY like to know who that is -- that's weird, and inexcusable.

So please be aware that not all assistance programs are the same.
 
Who is your roadside assistance company? While much of what you said generally applies, some details change with the company. For instance I've NEVER texted (or received texts) from Coach Net- all communications have been by phone in real time. And they never leave you in doubt of what is needed, because they'll ask for any needed info they don't already have. Note that they DO have my RV information. AND, they are prompt about calling back.

I'd REALLY like to know who that is -- that's weird, and inexcusable.

So please be aware that not all assistance programs are the same.
Good sam's
 
Who is your roadside assistance company? While much of what you said generally applies, some details change with the company. For instance I've NEVER texted (or received texts) from Coach Net- all communications have been by phone in real time. And they never leave you in doubt of what is needed, because they'll ask for any needed info they don't already have. Note that they DO have my RV information. AND, they are prompt about calling back.

I'd REALLY like to know who that is -- that's weird, and inexcusable.

So please be aware that not all assistance programs are the same.

Ditto. All of my experience with CoachNet has been like yours, Larry--phone calls and they contact the tow company. And they have data on my vehicle including its size, weight, engine, and a ton of other things. WHen I call them and give them my membership number and name, they take it from there--no need for me to call anyone as CoachNet keeps checking on me and updates me on the status of the tow truck.

I would quickly DUMP any road service that makes you do all the work and leaves you on the side of the road for 24 hours!!!!!
 
Ditto. All of my experience with CoachNet has been like yours, Larry--phone calls and they contact the tow company. And they have data on my vehicle including its size, weight, engine, and a ton of other things. WHen I call them and give them my membership number and name, they take it from there--no need for me to call anyone as CoachNet keeps checking on me and updates me on the status of the tow truck.

I would quickly DUMP any road service that makes you do all the work and leaves you on the side of the road for 24 hours!!!!!
We are going to do that as soon as this trip is over. They also wanted to put rebuilt or off brand parts on our RV. We paid to have the right parts put on.
 
I've had Good Sam, Coach-Net, and currently Progressive roadside assistance plans over the years, and I've never had to call anyone except the ERS number. The ERS call centers have called me with updates and the tow/service operators have called me to verify my location and any other info they need like the front axle setback, along with giving me an ETA, but I've never called them.
 
I confess that I once dropped my dually wheels into a ditch leaving a parking lot in Georgia. It was a really busy multi-lane highway with cars zipping around a curve that i was trying to exit onto, and it only took about two minutes for the police to show up as they were driving by. Since I was part way into traffic, they helped route traffic around me.

At about the four minute mark, as I was on my phone calling CoachNet, a big-rig tow truck drove by on their way home. The funny thing was that CoachNet was still talking to me and telling me that they would get back to me after contacting the only towing company with appropriate equipment to pull me out in that area. I hung up and just then the tow truck that CoachNet had mentioned did a u-turn and pulled in beside me. They asked if I needed help, which was pretty obvious, and I told them i had called CoachNet. So the driver called CoachNet and got approval and even payment in about two more minutes. Amazing.

They threw some boards into the ditch by my tires and managed to lift my wheels up onto them, and the policeman held up traffic while I pulled out. I was on my way in less than 15 minutes, and was really impressed how CoachNet was able to give approval and even payment over the phone to the driver. I did not have to do a thing after my initial call.
 
About 9 years ago I was in Cody, Wy. and stopped at the hospital in downtown Cody.. A few minutes later tried to start the coach and it would not "catch" after turning over many times.( diesel)
Called Coach Net and talked to a gal in Alabama about my problem,, she called me back in 5 minutes to tell me that there were only two towing operations in Cody,,,1st did not have the equipment to deal with my 39 foot diesel pusher,,, 2nd, guy only worked when he felt like it and he doesn't feel like it right now!!.... At that she said about two blocks to the south of you is a Cummins dealer that my be able to help.. I thanked her and walked the two blocks,,,I explained my problem to a tech and he gave me a piece of wire with directions to wire a lever ( fuel shutoff lever)in the up position and it would start... I did so and drove to the dealership where I ordered a new fuel shutoff solenoid that Cummins had upgraded recently.. Next day had the part and I installed it and on my way,, still working great..>>>Dan
 
When I called FMCA, they kept me on the phone for maybe 10 minutes while she lined up a place to work on the coach as well as a truck to tow me. About 10 minutes after I hung up with her, the tow truck driver called me, told me he had to return to his yard for a bigger truck and he'd be there in 45 minutes. It took him 40. Total time on the side of the road...less than an hour and a half. We took our Jeep, ran through a McDonald's drive thru on the way to the dealership and the tow truck had been there, dropped the coach and left by the time we got there.
The dealership part of the experience was less pleasant, but that wasn't FMCA's fault.
 
Don't have that, unfortunately, but they have never had problems following my directions.
Many years ago, we had a such a problem with that on San Bruno Ave in San Bruno, CA when our car broke down and we called AAA for a tow. San Bruno Ave is a major street in San Bruno. We were right next to the street sign that said "San Bruno Ave".

AAA keep on telling us that San Bruno Ave was only in San Francisco, not in San Bruno.

There is a San Bruno Ave in both cites.

I don't recall what we finally did (was back in the 1970's) to get them to get a tow truck to us, but we wasted around an hour trying to convince AAA that San Bruno Ave in San Bruno really existed and was a major busy street.

Sure is easier to just press a button and then they have our exact location and no way to argue with it.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
The last time I asked AAA about that, they were not set up for such. Are they now?

-Don- Reno, NV
That only matters of you use AAA. The vast majority of us, as ide tidied by comments, don’t. Anyone with a regular GPS unit can enter coordinates, be it just a handheld or the Garmin 1090.
 
Anyone with a regular GPS unit can enter coordinates, be it just a handheld or the Garmin 1090.
I hope somebody explained that to AAA by now! IMAO, every road service should be able to use coordinates.

The Spot and inReach sends them automatically plus the map of the location.

The old Delorme Topo maps (very outdated for roads today)will show both the coordinates and elevation as the pointer is moved. I have them on this computer and still find these old maps to be very useful.

-Don- N39.359429 W119.813021 (in pure decimal degrees only). 4955' elevation (but my Garmin GPS units say it's just over 5K' here).
 
We have both CoachNet and towing insurance through Progressive. Last Monday, they BOTH left us sitting on the shoulder of I95 for 7 hours. We were finally able to limp off an exit driving on the shoulder at a top speed of 5 mph with the exhaust system dragging on the ground and the driveshaft bent. We found a tow service ourselves and made arrangements to get towed to a repair facility. We forced the insurance company to pay the towing costs even though we did all the work for them. So don't count on any of them for help when you really need it. We were near the Port of Savannah, Ga so there are lots of towing companies for larger rigs. They just never put us in the queue to arrange the tow. Chuck
 
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