Good Sam Roadside Assistance

[tilldee]

We are thinking about signing up for roadside assistance through Good Sam. We would like to know experiences anyone has had in using their services, and are they limited? Meaning, do you only get say one service call per year for a tire repair, or tow?

[ultraglide]

I have had to use the Good Sam roadside assistance several times . I have only had one bad experience and it was not caused by them, but by one of their vendors. I am sure that many people will have other options. What it will come down to is what you will feel comfortable with.

[CarlAda]

I had them for awhile with my previous rv's. Used them a time or two without incident. Not sure on the limitations they set. I recently went with CoachNet for this motorhome.

[akadeadeye]

We had Spartan Chassis service one time on the road and they called CoachNet to help us. Tow truck showed up and did a decent job towing us the 5 miles we needed. Out of warranty, we now have Good Sam Roadside Assistance primarily due to price. We have not had occasion to use them but I feel that both services' main function is to find someone to help you out and I can't help but believe it will probably be a pretty good vendor if not the same one in any given area. There are always exceptions no matter who you choose.

Don

[oscarpower]

Just last week I had to call Good Sam R.A. twice. It was a bad experience and a good one.... well sort of!

First time: we were at Straits ST PK at the town of St. Ignace, on the upper penninsula of Michigan. A tire was loosing air, so we called for help. The guy that could come wanted us to pay $20 for bridge toll fees. I objected for two reasons: first, there had to be someone that could fix it at the upper penninsula w/o having to cross the MacKinaw bridge and second.... no way!! I told the operator to find someone else. After what seemed like 20 minutes, she said Good Sam was paying the toll and that the guy would come in about 45 minutes. Well, two hours later, the tow truck came, the delay? traffic.....really??? from the campsite we could see the bridge and there was no traffic at all.....anyway, the young man did check and found the problem: a loose valve. Later, driving around St Ignace, we saw 2 tire repair services on main street and surely, there had to be a tow truck service around there!

Second time: two days later, we're going South on I-75 and the motor stopped running. We were on the right lane, so thank God we just had to sway to the side. Again I called GSRA. the operator could send a tow but the mechanic they found at the next town could not fix the problem until the following week. Again I asked if they could call someone else, cause we could not stay "stranded" at the side of a busy road for a week. She called someone else that said they could check it when we arrived (it was already almost 4 pm) and would fix it the next day. Thus a tow truck was to arrive in one hour. Tom, with Ostego Lake Towing Service from Gaylord, MI arrived in half the time, and in 20 more minutes we were off to Complete Truck and Trailer Repairs, also in Gaylord, MI. Chris, the owner, checked the RV, and next morning (yes, we slept at our RV among many trucks waiting to be fixed) they received a new gas pump. Even thou they had to empty the full gas tank and lower it, and install the new one...we were out of there 24 hrs. later. Chris, the owner and Cory, the mechanic that fixed it, plus all the other guys there, could not have been more attentive!

Thus, I would say overall Good Sam got the people to help us both times (tow trucks) and problems fixed....one sooner than the other.... but, why both times I had to ask the operator to try find someone else to do the job? Automatically the operator should have tried to call someone else . I wish Good Sam would answer this question!

Jocelynn Wirshing-Power

Gainesville, Florida

[jlandon13399]

I have used GSRA twice for minor items with no issues. So far I would give them a good rating.

[tilldee]

Thanks for all the info. Sounds like a good company to put my money in. We signed on with GSRA, and I hope we never have to use it.

[Alaskajim]

The one time I used GS roadside assistance I was very satisfied. During one of our trips an the Alcan Highway, the short hoses that connect the Aqua-hot heater to the engine coolant broke and spilled the antifreeze in the storage compartments and on the highway. We had to use our tow car to find a cell signal. Good Sam found a tow truck and a garage to fix the problem. However, the tow truck driver tried to lift the front of the bus under the generator and broke the base. The total for the 80 mile tow to Prince George, the damage to the generator base, and the damage to the fiberglass added up to $10,000. Good Sam paid for the approximately $3,000 tow and the tow truck owner paid for some of the other damage.  I will be more careful the next time I have to be towed. I am a new member and have not checked out the FMCA tow service but I am satisfied with Good Sam. 

Jim

[wayne77590]

Had a "stop engine" and MH shut down.  It was  Sunday. Soonest a tow truck could get to me was the next morning.  I was in a safe place and spent the night in the MH.  Next morning, early, two truck arrived. I had arranged with GS to tow it to the Cummins facility 40 miles away.  I asked the tow truck driver what it would have cost if I had to pay for it and he replied, "$750.00"

I'm still with Good Sam.

[rossboyer]

Why wouldn’t you sign up for FMCA Roadside Assist?  Right now it is $109 per year.  If you can wait until November 1st there is to be a price reduction. You can sign up now and cancel the policy and sign up for the new policy at the lower price.

VAS is the parent company of SafeRide Motor Club providing the insurance. Until a few years ago they were the provider of Coach Net. My understanding is that the are the largest provider, but branded under many different insurance companies and clubs or associations. 

[BillAdams]

Good Sam Road Service has been excellent for us.  We have owned our 1988 Prevost since 1999 and we have had 2 breakdowns, one of which was on a weekend.  In both cases we were picked up quickly and taken directly to the service center were the repairs were to be done.  Over the weekend they parked us beside a 15amp plug so we had a bit of power as well as we dry camped in their parking lot.  The tow truck driver had to jockey the coach in to get us as close as possible and did so on his own.  He was great.

I also had my tow car throw a belt and the tow truck driver took me to a Firestone service recommended by GS.  This location has been closed for years so we turned back and went to a different one.  Again, no problem, no issue, no complaint, no charge.

Can't say enough good about the way we have been treated.

[cwswine]

On 10/24/2017 at 7:41 AM, rossboyer said:

Why wouldn’t you sign up for FMCA Roadside Assist?  Right now it is $109 per year. 

I join FMCA and bought the into the towing service and after I went though several threads about towing services and notice that most of the senior members on the forums were on something other than FMCA service.   I got worried might made a mistake so I joined Good Sams on 69,99 special and currently have overlapping services. 

[wildebill308]

I had Coach Net and they did a good job. The problem is they doubled in price so I went with the FMCA service. Haven't needed them so have no report on how they perform.

Bill

[manholt]

Ross. VAS = Vehicle Administrative Services, Ltd.  Can't find out much about them, other than it's a Holding Co.  Headquarters are in Addison, Texas...Formed and Registered as a Ltd., in U.K.  2005....2 Decades, sounds so much better than 12 years in business!  I'll Pass!  Still remember the Tyron fiasco. 

[rossboyer]

At Chandler the VAS rep did the seminar on FMCA Roadside Assistance. He stated that they until a few years ago supplied Coach Net and several others. I had Coach Net during the time that VAS was the real service company. When Coach Net increased their price, I went looking elsewhere. You will probably find more on Safe Ride. It’s like easurance (spelling) that is owned by Allstate. 

[manholt]

Yeah, I found the Allstate link earlier also.