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50 miles west of Casper, WY on Wednesday of this week with a Cummins "engine shut down" countdown message decreasing from 30 seconds on the dash display, I fortunately found a reasonable shoulder on the highway to pull our coach over before all power was lost. By the way, this was not a de-rate but a total engine shutdown message so I had little time to get off the roadway in a somewhat safe manner! Thankfully we had cell service so my first call was to the Cummins Dealer in Casper to see if they would be able to work on our coach and the service manager agreed to work us in within a few days if we had it towed there. They recommended 2 local towing companies that would be capable of towing our coach. We've been enrolled with FMCA Roadside Rescue for many years and thankfully, have never had to use them so was glad that this service was available to us in our time of need. The call to the 800 number went well and the dispatcher said that we should have a truck enroute in moments and sent a text message that would allow me to track their progress which is of great comfort. I gave them the information for the local tow companies that was given to me by the Cummins Dealer. All is working as it should then the problems started. No updates for over an hour until finally Roadside Rescue called back and said, "Sorry, we cannot help you so we have called non-emergency 911 for you". WHAT! The caller said that they had called "many services and no one can tow you and she repeated, Sorry but we can't do anything else". That's not what a member needs to hear when an emergency occurs. I immediately called one of the companies recommended by the Cummins dealer and the call screener promptly replied, "we can help. I'll have a truck enroute within minutes". It was nearly 6 hours later when we finally arrived at the Cummins lot in Casper with the towing company and our coach after that first call to FMCA and we were glad that at least we were safe but really wondering why FMCA failed us. The tow driver did an exceptional job and we are extremely pleased with their service. Not so much with FMCA Roadside Rescue. If I had not already given them the appropriate information for local companies that could handle our coach, I can understand why perhaps FMCA (VAS) could not reach a provider but it appears as if that was not the case. Here our coach sits, nearly 700 miles from home with us wondering, why did FMCA Roadside Rescue drop the ball? We are not happy with FMCA Roadside Rescue and from our experience, cannot recommend this "benefit". FMCA Member #F497615

On Thursday, July 8th, our engine overheated on our diesel pusher as we were returning from a vacation. We pulled over from I-45 just on the north side of Houston, about 30 miles from our home. Suspecting a coolant hose rupture, we called for help from the FMCA Road Rescue (RR) service. They sent a mechanic who arrived in his sedan without any tools. He said he couldn't help us outside his shop. We called the RR back and asked for a tow at 6:30 PM. They kept promising 90-120 minutes. They seemed unable to cope with large RVs (ours is 38'). They said that they arranged for several towing companies who couldn't handle our size vehicle. Finally, they found one, but he refused to come until RR would authorize the tow. RR said that they had authorized him to tow us 3 times. He finally arrived at 9:30 AM the next day. That was 15 hours after we asked for a tow!!! In order to tow us, he had to disconnect the drive shaft. We were towed 15 miles to the repair shop and then the driver asked us for payment, $2380, even though RR had authorized it. We paid it and then submitted the paperwork to RR for reimbursement, but we have not yet been reimbursed. Today, with the coolant hose replaced and coolant added, we started driving to our home, just 25 miles away from the shop. The drive shaft had been reconnected. After about 4 miles, the vehicle started shaking and I heard a scraping sound on the pavement. I stopped and turned off the engine. Looking under the vehicle, the drive shaft had become disconnected and the U-joint was broken off. We were stuck in a left-turn lane while attempting to get onto I-69 in west Houston. The shop sent over a mechanic to try to replace the drive shaft on the street, but there were no available parts on a Saturday afternoon. We called RR to arrange for a tow back to the shop. The first wrecker said that we were too large. Another said that he could be there in 90-120 minutes. Then the Houston police arrived. They said that they couldn't have us waiting up to 2 hours for our wrecker to arrive while we were blocking traffic. The city had called in a heavy duty wrecker. The police couldn't tell us which wrecker would arrive. When the wrecker arrived 30 minutes later, we immediately called RR to see if they would authorize the tow. They refused because the police had called for the wrecker and RR was quite rude about it. The 2nd tow 4 miles back to the shop cost us another $1100. These 2 experiences with FMCA's Road Rescue have been terrible. I cannot recommend them. I have sent several messages to FMCA about this and have yet to receive a response. Beware.

On Wednesday March 3 about 10:00 am I went to start our 2000 Monaco Diplomat. After waiting for Start light to go out I turned key to start and nothing happened. My Wife whose hearing is much better than mine said there was no sound of starter turning over. Tried a couple of more times with me back by engine and she operating key no sound. Have been a member of the FMCA Roadside Rescue (RR) to a couple of years so I called them for a jump start. That was the start of numerous phone calls and text messages for rest of Wednesday. First phone call to RR was very confusing, difficult to understand and resulted in first company that was contacted by RR texting they could not handle the job. 2nd call RR rep was easier to understand and seemed to understand what I needed in equipment to jump start the coach. That call resulted a man in Toyota Prius with 10 gauge jumper cables that wanted to use the Prius battery (12 VDC section) to start engine. Third call to RR, third rep, resulted in another small car that I could see at RV Park gate that wanted to come and see what needed to be started. From my coach I could see another very small car at gate and when he called I refused him access. He pleaded please let him so he could take and picture to show his boss and they might get paid. Fourth call got second call rep and he was very sympathetic and apologetic. All of the calls resulted in text message pointing to web site that would provide contact info like driver name and ETA. First 3 showed an automobile symbol. This time symbol was a small wrecker and arrival ETA. About 4 hours later around 6:00 pm this wrecker never showed up. I had reached that driver by phone once and he had several excuses why he was late, when he did not show up I call him again and was put into voice mail that said Mailbox was full please try later. He never responded to later calls all going into voicemail. I eventually cancelled service request at 6:30 pm or so. Couple of calls with Paul (FMCA Membership) and he stated he was contacting RR and his supervisor to get situation moving to resolution. When nothing happen that day I called him again on Thursday Morning and he promised more pressure up the chain and with Roadside Rescue. I believe Paul did all he could to help. Thank you, Paul. Day two - Thursday March 4 started about 8:00 am with text message that a towing company was coming out to tow me to a repair shop. Do not remember exactly number of calls and messages to that tow firm to get assurance they could do the job. Yes, they could and would be there shortly as they were located only a few miles away. Two and half hours later they called to tell mar there heavy wrecker was not coming as it was not running. In meantime I am back on phone with another local heavy haul and confirmed that they could come out about 1:00 pm. Another call to Roadside Rescue (by this point I have lost track of number of calls to RR). Rep put me on hold and I was now speaking with a person that understood situation and promised resolution. I gave that person name and contact info of tow company I contacted and they promised to contact them immediately which they did. That rig showed up at 2:45 pm and after during the correct procedures to tow motorhome he at my request towed rig to his company which is also a established truck repair in Stockton, CA. My not so humble opinion of Roadside Rescue is their service representatives are generally poorly trained regarding motorhome drive trains, jump starting and towing needs. As mentioned above one of the reps phone equipment was so bad neither I nor Wife could understand her. Their followup texting system is ridiculous in its ETA times. Also they kept sending followup texts asking for Y or No answer had provider showed up. When I would call 888 number provided in text the RR rep would not know I was follow up caller and start asking same questions like I was new caller. Also received several robo calls asking if I had been taken care of with service. There was never any follow up to text or robs queries. Last RR person did offer to pay extra RV Park charges. The towing company that responded is J & E Towing in Stockton,CA very knowledgable driver. I am very much a supporter of FMCA and have used their tire discounts twice, believe strongly in FMCA Assist. But they need to JUMP START Roadside Rescue.

Roadside Assistance for just $69/year. Stay tuned for more details about this SCARY good savings!