Good Sam story that is not so good

JPKendall · 10-23-2019, 08:13 AM

On 10/08/19 I took my Jayco 5th wheel to the dealer for the yearly warranty inspection. It is about 120 miles one way, a good little drive on nice sunny day. The trip over was great with no problems. They finished the inspection, found a problem with the furnace and they fixed that. So, I was good to go home.
On the way back the truck’s diesel engine quit. This was about 4:00

PM. There was plenty of sunlight left in the day. After doing some checking, I called Good Sam Roadside Assistance at 4:23PM. The lady was very pleasant on the phone and asked what my problem was. I told her the engine quit and wouldn’t start. Plenty of fuel and the engine turns over but won’t start. Then she asked me what kind of truck and was I towing a trailer. I told her all this information and included that it was a 5th wheel. They would probably need to send two tow vehicles, one for the truck and one for the 5th wheel. Okay was the answer. She said she would find someone in the area. I was on I10 about 20 miles from Pensacola, FL and 50 miles from Mobile, AL. I figured at the most a couple of hours to get someone there. Was I ever wrong! After many conversations with Good Sam, Allstate, and a couple of other companies I had never heard of, it was 7:30PM. I was getting a little tired of getting the run around. I called Good Sam back. The call was picked up during a conversation between two answering center employees. They didn’t know I was hearing their conversation. One says to the other about their boss “He could go f**k himself.” Then the phone hung up. I called back and mentioned the background conversation. No explanation. I told the guy how long I had been waiting for someone to arrive. He just basically said “That is a shame.” He said he would work on getting someone there. By 9:30PM I was beside myself and called again. This time I got a hold of a different guy named Sal. He said he would get someone there. Please hold on. After holding for 30 minutes (and phone battery running down), I hung up. He did call back and told me Hook’em wrecker service was on their way and would take about 90 min. So now we are talking about 11:00 PM. Then I get a message at 10:00PM. “If I received help, Press 1 for YES and PRESS 2 for NO.” I press 2. Sal comes back on the phone and says, “Well, it’s only been 30 minutes.” That’s when I couldn’t take it anymore. I told him “It’s been since 4:23 PM. I want somebody out here now!” At 11:30PM a tow truck shows up. The truck looks like Cooter’s on the “Dukes of Hazzard”. It was an old Chevy 2500, looked like early 90’s. That’s all that showed up! The guy was nice but when I asked if someone else was coming, he said “nope”. It took an hour to hook the 5th wheel back to my dead truck. With the truck and 5th wheel hooked to this wrecker, he towed this combination down I 10 at 20mph for about two miles to the rest area. I told the security guard that I need to leave the 5th wheel there overnight because that wrecker was not going to pull my 5th wheel any further. With the 5th wheel parked at the rest area, we headed to a Ford dealer in Foley, AL. We dropped off the truck, my wife picked me up at the Ford dealer and we left at 12:10AM. The next day the truck got fixed and I picked up the 5th Wheel.
Today I called Good Sam. I talked to a supervisor. After getting nowhere with him, I told him thanks for the no help. I called another road assistance company and signed up with them.
Long as this is, it is not the complete story of what went on with Good Sam and the other companies I dealt with for over 7 hours. To say I was not pleased with Good Sam is an understatement. No comment from Good Sam except a canned reply.

AKRUEBBE · 10-23-2019, 08:21 AM

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. I've heard several similar stories about Good Sam. There are also some good stories that unfortunately never are told. I have never had to use a tow service, thank goodness, but I carry Good Sam & FMCA roadside assistance. I try to increase my "odds".

JPKendall · 10-23-2019, 09:24 AM

I have since joined another Roadside Assistance company and I would hope they can be the 7 hour threshold of Good Sam.
When I posted this Consumer Affairs, I read several post on there about taking over 4 hours to respond. Good Sam was rated 1.24 stars out of 5. I could have played the age card (73) or the health problem (diabetes) but chose not to, I felt that wasn't their problem. Lucky I was only about 40 miles from home and I had my son pick up some food and medicine.

AKRUEBBE · 10-23-2019, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPKendall

I have since joined another Roadside Assistance company and I would hope they can be the 7 hour threshold of Good Sam.
When I posted this Consumer Affairs, I read several post on there about taking over 4 hours to respond. Good Sam was rated 1.24 stars out of 5. I could have played the age card (73) or the health problem (diabetes) but chose not to, I felt that wasn't their problem. Lucky I was only about 40 miles from home and I had my son pick up some food and medicine.

What company did you decide to go with?

Woodworker · 10-23-2019, 10:08 AM

My wife was goin to use that service once. They said they would only tow her truck to a dealer so she used someone else so it could be towed home.

DocBrown · 10-23-2019, 10:17 AM

Time to respond is dependent on the local providers. If there are 4 local towing companies they are contracted with and all 4 are really busy you get what you get. And keep in mind that the towing company that comes to rescue you may also have contracts with several other RA company. It also doesn't sound like they cared you had a trailer.

That said there was no reason to treat you this way and it was very unprofessional that you heard a conversation not meant for your ears.

I had a weird experience with AAA once. At the time I was towing a rental box trailer to move my daughter out of town. The national AAA says no worries you're covered to tow that trailer. When we got home I was charged for the trailer because the local (WI) AAA chapter said RV coverage doesn't cover utility trailers. I went back and forth with calls and letters between the national club and the local club. These two pointed the finger at each other and even bashed each other in phone calls. Ultimately they paid me back about 3/4 of what I spent.

**norty1** · 10-23-2019, 10:17 AM

I sure hope I never have that bad experience with GSRS. I have been with them for 12+ years and have had them replace tires and tow me a number of times. Never had one tell me they would only tow to a dealer, in fact only had to tow to a dealer twice, many more to garages.

JPKendall · 10-23-2019, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AKRUEBBE

What company did you decide to go with?

I went back with AAA plus RV. I went with Good Sam RS because I thought they could handle a 5th Wheel better than AAA. I think I did not choose wisely with Good Sam.

**JFlightRisk** · 10-23-2019, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPKendall

I went back with AAA plus RV. I went with Good Sam RS because I thought they could handle a 5th Wheel better than AAA. I think I did not choose wisely with Good Sam.

We had them a few years ago, but changed when I read the fine print. They didn't send out two trucks like GS does, if your truck needs towing. If your TT/5th was disabled, they would come for it, and you drive away with your truck. If your truck was disabled, they would take it, and leave the TT/5th on the side of the road, because it wasn't disabled.

I don't know if they've changed their policy in recent years, but that's the reason we switched ours.

JPKendall · 10-23-2019, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

We had them a few years ago, but changed when I read the fine print. They didn't send out two trucks like GS does, if your truck needs towing. If your TT/5th was disabled, they would come for it, and you drive away with your truck. If your truck was disabled, they would take it, and leave the TT/5th on the side of the road, because it wasn't disabled.

I don't know if they've changed their policy in recent years, but that's the reason we switched ours.

I take it, neither does Good Sam. They did not send a 2nd truck for my 5th wheel.

Who does the best job of handling a truck and 5th wheel or trailer, besides Good Sam. I will never go back to them.

JPKendall · 10-23-2019, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

We had them a few years ago, but changed when I read the fine print. They didn't send out two trucks like GS does, if your truck needs towing. If your TT/5th was disabled, they would come for it, and you drive away with your truck. If your truck was disabled, they would take it, and leave the TT/5th on the side of the road, because it wasn't disabled.

I don't know if they've changed their policy in recent years, but that's the reason we switched ours.

I called AAA local office and asked them what their policy was on truck break down pulling a trailer. Their answer was that they would call the national office. Her answer was that since I have the Regular membership Plus RV, they would tow both the broken down truck and the 5th Wheel trailer 100 miles. I actually recorded this conversation.

**JFlightRisk** · 10-23-2019, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPKendall

I called AAA local office and asked them what their policy was on truck break down pulling a trailer. Their answer was that they would call the national office. Her answer was that since I have the Regular membership Plus RV, they would tow both the broken down truck and the 5th Wheel trailer 100 miles. I actually recorded this conversation.

It sounds like they made their service better since I was a member. That's a good thing. Maybe I'll look at going back to them.

JPKendall · 10-23-2019, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

It sounds like they made their service better since I was a member. That's a good thing. Maybe I'll look at going back to them.

I understand your frustration. I am so worried about an episode like what I had happening again. But they said they would tow both, I hope they are right.
BTW: The cost of the AAA plus RV was 7 dollars more than Good Sam, but they also give you Protect ID. So really not much more.

JPKendall · 10-24-2019, 08:28 AM

I was called by Good Sam RSS and they said they have made some changes and that this was an individual case and they were treating it as such. I told her that she needs to read some of the other 200 and some other reviews and there are some that is very similar to mine. I suggested that after two hours of the first call, a red flag should be brought up and more action is needed. A status up date of when someone will arrive. The name of the company providing the service and their phone number. They gave me another year of Good Sam RSS. I don't think that is enough.

pawags45 · 10-24-2019, 12:37 PM

With AAA you must have the AAA plus RV not the AAA Plus only. Your card must say AAA Plus RV. If not they will only tow the Tow Vehicle. I did not know there was a AAA Plus RV last year when my Alternator went up 10 miles from the Camp Ground while towing my TT. Luckly the tow driver was super nice and took care of me. Helped me set up the Camp and then took me and my truck to a garage and then returned me back to the camp ground. As soon as the next day I called AAA and added the Plus RV. This was in Luray VA and this Tow driver was fantastic. Since then I traded the Tow Vehicle 2001 Chevy Silverado 1500hd and the TT 2004 Wildwood Both were great but getting old and I am preparing for Retirement and a lot of RV Life.

Also there are a lot of people that work in the same building as I do so at least once a month someone is calling for a tow truck or lock smith. AAA comes with-in the 1 hr moct times. All others take several hours.