Had a flat, Roadside Assistance not so good

[jetlag]

Originally Posted by Mikec557

Let me see if I can get a few better pictures...

Quite ingenious

[sfalciani]

We had Good Sams Insurance in the beginning and dropped them after the first year due to no response. As far the Good Sams membership for camping world, that is good. Can save you some money when needed. So depending which state you are in, depends on your service. So when travelling, do your research ahead of time and write down the info and phone numbers of reliable places. A lot of work, but helps in the long run.

[Barbmitc]

We use Progressive. Had a flat several years ago outside Maryville, TN. Had a quick response time from them. We've had to use them one other time for another issue and were very pleased with their response.

[TWX]

Reading through these stories I'm starting to wonder what AAA is for.


Around a month and a half ago when we had started planning a cross-country roadtrip that we ultimately abandoned doing, I'd called AAA to see if their in-branch offices were open and if so, if we could come in to get triptiks generated/printed. I was told that they don't do in-office triptiks anymore. It sounded like their in-office functions were now limited to things like signing up for insurance. I had to use their website to try to generate triptiks myself if I wanted them.



If their roadside assistance is awful, and they don't offer experienced, educated pre-trip support anymore, then what's the point of being with them? My wife and I both drive fairly new, low-mileage vehicles so we haven't had a need for a tow in years, and I can handle most of the issues related to a breakdown myself. I'm starting to wonder if I should even bother maintaining a membership if I can't go into a branch office to get trip planning help from someone that should be more knowledgeable than I am.

[Dave A]

I had a bad experience with Good Sam also. They couldn't find anybody to help us. I finally made a few calls myself and found someone. Don't have Good Sam Roadside assistance anymore.

[Jopopsy]

This time I'm going w/ the add on from Progressive and the coverage Ford gives on the E450 motorhome chassis. We'll see how it goes.

[TaftCoach]

AAA saved my vacation, twice, last year. Beyond excellent service both with the tow and the great repair shops they towed me to. Both times I was in the middle of nowhere and could barely describe where I was.

Eventually I’m certain I will have a bad experience and I’ll switch to one of the companies that someone here has had a horrible experience with and would never use again while they switch to AAA.

We really should have a sticky thread on this topic.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by TWX

Reading through these stories I'm starting to wonder what AAA is for.


Around a month and a half ago when we had started planning a cross-country roadtrip that we ultimately abandoned doing, I'd called AAA to see if their in-branch offices were open and if so, if we could come in to get triptiks generated/printed. I was told that they don't do in-office triptiks anymore. It sounded like their in-office functions were now limited to things like signing up for insurance. I had to use their website to try to generate triptiks myself if I wanted them.



If their roadside assistance is awful, and they don't offer experienced, educated pre-trip support anymore, then what's the point of being with them? My wife and I both drive fairly new, low-mileage vehicles so we haven't had a need for a tow in years, and I can handle most of the issues related to a breakdown myself. I'm starting to wonder if I should even bother maintaining a membership if I can't go into a branch office to get trip planning help from someone that should be more knowledgeable than I am.

Over quite a few years I found that AAA excels at 2 things for their members. First is Notary services and second is passport photos. Anything else is hit or miss and most times it’s a miss.

[campersam9]

I asked this question a week ago and got very little response. My wife and I are looking into this now. This is the information I was looking for! This is a hard move to make. Due to my age we were thinking about this. With over 30 years of pulling we have had one flat.
I replace the tires every four years. This was very helpful .

[spark of insanity]

In an up date to my original post we have camping world inspect tires, brakes and anything else to do with it every April before our camping season hits. Been good so far and no use of our RV insurance yet. Fingers crossed.

[VKC]

Called Good Sam and was told they did not provide that service on Sunday. I asked for a supervisor and she said she could help us and the 16” tires would be $450 each. Found a local guy that found 2 used tires and replaced them for me. Stopped for camping and went to Tire Discounters and bought 6 new tires.

[Poppyof5]

We had the same problem 2 days in a row. I submitted the bills to goodsam and the reimbursement checks are on the way. I also use Goodsam. Seem they are hot and miss, first time I used them 2 yrs ago we were back on the road in a hour.

[CAG]

I have called them twice for blowouts. Both times they were there within an hour.

[Firewrench]

The thing about roadside assistance is that there may not be more than one service provider in the place where you break down. So in the end they all might call Billy Bob. If they won’t pay him enough, he says sorry, ain’t coming out.
I had a problem with wife’s car, it was near home, but needed a tow. I have RA/towing on insurance and with Harley Owners Group. I called both. Both called the tow outfit that I use for towing at work.
My mantra is to be as self sufficient as possible. I’m 66 and can still get on the ground and get under coach to place a bottle jack, and can still change a tire. God willing, hopefully I can get in a few good years of snowbirding in before I can’t…
A side note, the tire shortage is real. I just bought a 22.5” spare to carry with us. One of only 2 of my size in a city of a million. My tire guy says many sizes of tires are virtually impossible to find right now. Small truck fleets are suffering. If you get a flat, it could take a while to find a tire and then they will rape you on the price…