Good Sam members travel far and wide, often to remote and unfamiliar places. This is one reason why owning an RV is so wonderful –
but it can be worrisome if you experience a roadside emergency. Many Roadside Assistance members don’t know exactly where they are when they break down in these unfamiliar places. And when out on the open road, in less populated areas, or where road markers and points of interest are few and far between, describing your breakdown location can be challenging. With ordinary roadside assistance, not knowing your location could make it difficult to get the assistance you need as fast as possible.
But now, with a new Caller Locator technology developed by Technocom, Good Sam Roadside Assistance members can take the road less traveled with less worry. Caller Locator utilizes the latest in Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to quickly and accurately pinpoint a Good Sam Roadside Assistance member’s disablement location in just a few seconds. Mark Kupper, VP/General Manager of Good Sam Roadside Assistance, adds, “With this technology, our dispatch center can easily identify a member’s location, whether they are calling from a traditional landline, standard cell phone or smart phone. This eliminates a lot of stress from the customer experience and helps us get them the help they need faster.”
By integrating this Caller Locator technology with our industry-leading, 24-hour-a-day dispatch service, a dispatch representative will see a member’s disablement location when the call reaches them; this allows us to quickly and accurately locate the disablement location – so we can get you the help you need, fast. “Automated caller location reduces time in-call and the anxiety of describing where you are. Good Sam members can now get assistance faster and more reliably than ever before,” says Mario Proietti, CEO of TechnoCom. “There’s no application or special phone required, and it works simply by placing a call to Good Sam Roadside Assistance.”
No other roadside assistance provider is equipped to handle your RV-specific needs, and no other provider can offer comparable value that includes Caller Locator benefits. Don’t get caught in the middle of nowhere without the best assistance at your side – Good Sam Roadside Assistance – Your 24/7, 360 degree backup plan.
Learn More About Good Sam Roadside Assistance
The Caller Locator service is currently available to callers on the AT&T, Sprint and Verizon networks. Service for additional wireless carriers will be coming soon. Location accuracy and reliability varies based on the caller’s wireless carrier network, cell phone capabilities and local environment. The full accuracy of GPS location may not be available for calls from Verizon subscribers and those with pre-paid calling plans. Location service availability depends on having coverage from your serving carrier’s network and may not be available if you are roaming or experiencing other service issues at the time of the call. For other terms and conditions see http://www.goodsamers.com/terms.cfm.
harley rice
This seems to be the NEW story of my life! I wish I had read some reviews before I paid for 3 years of roadside assistance from Good Sam. I think I made a big mistake. To top it all off, I also signed a 2 year contract for a T-mobil cellphone that seems to only work within city limits. A recent trip from Seattle to Minnesota left me virtually phoneless once I left town. So, I guess were I to break down in Montana my only hope is my non-working cellphone unable to reach my non-responding roadside assistance!
Good Sam says: Thank you for alerting us to the problem. If you had any previous disablements that we didn’t help with, we would be happy to review it. You can print or fill out a reimbursement form at https://www.goodsamers.com/onlineReIm/index.cfm. If you don’t have a way to get an image of your receipt in computer file form, please let us know and I will send a reimbursement form.
If we weren’t able to help our members at the time of disablement, we have a policy of reimbursing claims that we would have covered otherwise. We understand the frustration when your cell phone can’t get reception, and we will reimburse you in that circumstance.
Good Sam
We are sorry to hear that you have had some trouble while on the road. We have e-mailed you the proper claim form for you to submit for reimbursement. -WR
lm strozier
On 6-611220, 7:30 pm my rear rt tire started losing its tread. I pulled right into a I-75 NB 307 rest stop and called for help. Sam finally contected Lynch Recyclers in Bushnell fl 33513 and the owner came to change the tire for us. Sam said the owner would not accept payment from Sams due to prior troubles. Sam said to pay cash and mail in the receipt. I am still waiting for the neccessary forms to be sent…[email protected]
Please honnor my request and send forms asap….the bill was $75.00
Good Sam
We are glad to be there for you, to help you when you need it! -WR
D HENDERSHOT
I WANT TO SAY I BLEW A TIRE COMING OUT OF SALISBURY MARYLAND LAST NOVEMBER AND IN LESS THAN 50 MIN AFTER CALLING GOOD SAM ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE I WAS BACK ON THE ROAD ROLLING AGAIN.THE TIRE SERVICE COMPANY WAS NOT IN MARYLAND THEY CAME FROM DELAWARE.SAY WHAT YOU WANT BUT I RENEWED MY GOOD SAM ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE THEY TAKE CARE OF ME. THANK YOU GOOD SAMS!!!!
Jim Piper
I just joined the Good Sam Roadside Service last week. Previously, I had CoachNet thru FMCA, and had good service. I decided to cut expenses and only belong to one RV organization. Good Sam was also offering a special for new members. After reading all the above experiences, I am hoping I haven’t made a mistake. I live in OH and am particulary interested in knowing if Good Sam is really not able to change a tire on the OH turnpike, as indicated by the first poster. It is also a concern if two Good Sam reps were not able to find a location based on a mile marker along the OH Turnpike. It is very well marked, and there are no remote locations along that Turnpike. I think Good Sam should provide a response to all who request so on the comments to this article. I would like to know what Good Sam’s response is to each of these documented problems. It might even be good to write an article for the general membership about what will be done to prevent these kinds of problems in the future.
Good Sam says: We’re so excited that you’ve chosen to become a Good Sam Roadside Assistance member. We think that you’ll see that this service is a great benefit to have when you’re out on the open road, and our actions will proof this. We will check into the services offered in Ohio and provide an update. Thanks for being a Good Sam member!
Good Sam says: We are currently reviewing the list of and contact numbers for toll roads, turnpikes and restricted roadways throughout North America so we can update our system. The Ohio Turnpike will be included in this review. If a call requesting service is received on one of these we will attempt to contact the proper authority who is authorized to dispatch or provide service.
We want everyone reading this to know that Good Sam Roadside Assistance takes all complaints very seriously and looks at each of them as opportunity to improve upon the service that we provide to our entire member base. Complaints are reviewed in detail to determine the root cause of why we were unable to provide you assistance and the appropriate steps are taken to correct our failures. Good Sam Roadside Assistance strives to provide a “zero defects” program to each of our members and feel that one failure is too many, but we are happy to report that we successfully provide service to over 125,000 members every year. We currently have around a 98% success rate in meeting our strict guidelines. While this may not mean a whole lot to the members that have a bad experience, I guarantee that we make every effort to “make things right” with the member and improve our service.
Good Sam
We certainly apologize for these unfortunate experiences. We are working on resolutions for these and will keep each of you posted on the progress of your situation. We will make things right.
We are continually working to improve this service, but can assure you that this is certainly not the norm with Good Sam Roadside Assistance. We are no a perfect organization but we’re striving to make adjustments based on your feedback each and every day. Thanks for your patience during this growth process.
Josh Hubbard
Hi I just broke down today and after spending 200 and the frustration of changing a tire beside the interstate, I was coming online to join the Good Sam Road Side Program. All I can say is THANK YOU!, to the people that posted these comments. It appears this company is outgrown its self and just looking to tap into markets it has no idea about. I most definately will not be joining. Thks Josh
Brad Loseke
Wow. Was thinking about not renewing my long time auto-renewing AAA Plus RV. Was told by Good Sam that they have unlimited towing distance to the nearest facility and will tow my van in case of disablement as well as send out an additional tow vehicle to pick up the trailer at no extra charge. I thought AAA did that but apparently not. Now I see that apparently one can’t count on that happening from Good Sam even though they SAY they cover such an event (IF there is such a service available in the area where I’m at and IF they can find me in a reasonable amount of time……TWO BIG IFs). I’ve NEVER had a problem with immediate assistance and reliability with AAA but did not have an RV trailer. I think I’ll avoid long trips outside our local Portland area, not venture on off roads, and simply play it safe. The number of complaints listed here certainly cannot be a fluke. Good Sam, when you get these challenges worked out I might consider your services in the future.
Marcia Duncan
Wow! Are there any good experiences out there? Good Sam’s is 0 for 8 in this review list & I am researching before joining. Will hold off for now & check back. Price seemed right but not a bargain from what I see here.
Donna Geurin
We had an experience driving from Denver, CO to Billings, MT after I had had kidney transplant surgery. A semi ran us off the interstate into the center median. We were driving a truck pulling a 5th wheel. We would have never been on the road if snow had been predicted, but it was not. I also had trouble giving the rep our location and we ended up sitting there for 2-3 hours before help came. I can commend the highway snowplow driver for staying with us and the tow truck driver, but it took entirely too long for help to arrive and I had to call the rep back myself.
I am really giving all this with Good Sam a second thought especially since I just wrote my check to renew the service after listening to all the experiences.
Good Sam says: Donna – we understand that this situation was very scary. We would like to check into this more. Please email [email protected] along with your member number, and we will dig into it. Thanks for your patience.
Good Sam Roadside Assistance
Thank you for the posts concerning our program. We are listening, and we apologize to those who are dissatisfied with their experience using our program. Specifically we apologize if the newly introduced “Caller Locator” technology failed to assist us in finding you. As with any new technology we are experiencing some growing pains and are working every day to ensure that it is a successful tool for our dispatchers to use when assisting members. We appreciate the feedback and would like to review each example provided as it allows us to improve the service we provide to our members. If you have posted on here and would like a response please contact our member services department by email at [email protected] or by phone at 800-842-5351.
Thank you,
Zach Weeks
Good Sam Roadside Assistance Programs
John Marshall
As long as we are talking about some problems with getting service. on January 26, 2012. My Jeep would not start and we called Good Sam, and gave them the address we were at and they said that it would be 90 minutes, and that there was an approved facility about a mile away. About 45 minutes later we got a call from the towing company stating the information that they were given had them totally confused and asked where we were, I gave them the location, and they said they knew where that was, and would be there within 45 minutes. I kept trying to start the jeep, and it finally started and we canceled the tow truck.
Loren Paulson
My experience is the same as the above negative comments. They could not seem to find my location as well. Maybe this new system doesn’t do what it is suppose to do! The first person I talked with did not seem to even know what a fifth wheel RV was. An hour later I called back and got a different person who seemed a bit more knowledgable and she took over the case. While waiting I began looking under the hood of the f350 diesel. I found an air intake hose had come apart as the result of a broken clamp. I immediately called back to say I felt the repair could be made on site and that a tow was probably not necessary. I was told they could not send out a mobile repair unit for a light duty truck. I asked, then why do I have this insurance if you cannot service me. The reply, “cause you paid for it”. I remembered that I had a large hose clamp in my box of sewer drain parts. I was able to make a temporary repair and was on my way. Two hours have passed and I canceled my request for assistance.
Apparently these dispatchers need some training about RV’s and how to handle various types of situations, i.e. truck and fifth wheel tow. They also seem to indicate there would be an additional charge to tow the fifth wheel AND the truck. I would really like to talk with the person at Good Sam who is in charge of this program. I guess my regular auto towing insurance can do just as well and it costs me less than $10 a year.
Good Sam says: Loren – we would like to dig into this a bit more. Please email [email protected] along with your member number and we will check into it and let you know what we find out. Thanks for your patience.
Lowell Smith
April 19, 2012 about 8:00 AM On I-81 north of Scranton, PA our truck engine quit running. we coasted to an Exit and tried to get it started but to no avail. Called Good Sam for road- side assist;
After about 30 min. giving the service rep. many descriptions of where we were located, including mile marker and hwy # including Exit # , I believe that we even gave her our GPS co-ordinates she put us on hold for a while then said she would call us back when she found a facility that could tow both our truck and trailer. When she called back she said that they would have to tow the truck back into Scranton, PA(but they could not even look at the truck until the neat day) and then tow the trailer to a State Park (it was the closest RV Park to our location). She then told us to call the ST Park to make the arrangements for staying there. She also then told us that the towing operator would call us for our exact location and description and to call her back if they had not shown up in 2 hours. In just 5 min. before the 2 hours was up , the towing operator (his location was only 15 miles away from us) called us and said that he could only tow the truck but the trailer. So there we were , the problem still not solved, I worked on the truck ( changed the fuel filter, drained the water collector,,and even add 10 gal. of fuel-even though the fuel gauge indicated 1/3 of a tank remaining) and tried starting it again several times with no results. We had prayed before but prayed again and tried starting it again. It started and kept running so called Good Sam back and canceled the assistance request..
We had spent over 2 and 1/2 hours waiting for assistance that never came. I feel that is very poor
service. This is not the only time we have waited for 2 hours (the other time was for a tire change)for Good Sam road-side assistance.
I don’t have the # with me at the present time
Good Sam says: Lowell – we are certainly very sorry about your unfortunate experience. Please email [email protected] along with your member number and we will get to the bottom of this situation. Thanks for your patience.
Helen Ross
On April 21st I was at the San Jose Intl. Airport to pick up a visitor and my car overheated. I immediately
called Good Sam for assistance (#801711805). It took nearly 15 minutes for your service rep to find the airport location. It took approximately another 15 minutes of waiting for her to locate a towing company.
She finally returned on the line to tell me it would be a 70 minute wait for the truck to come. Having a
disabled car in front of the arrival location at the airport was creating a traffic hazard by then and
that long of a wait was unacceptable to me. My passenger had AAA membership so I canceled the
Good Sam service and called them. The tow truck arrived within 15 minutes.
This was my first opportunity to use your Roadside Assistance and it was a totally unsatisfactory
experience. If I need the service in the future and find it to be a waste of money I will cancel the
membership in both you club and the service. Helen Ross
Good Sam says: Helen – please accept our most sincere apologies for this experience. We would like to learn more about this unfortunately incident. Please email [email protected] along with your member number, and we will check into this right away. Thanks for your patience as we work to resolve this issue.
Cecil Fike
Does this locator service work with the Good Sam Roadside Assistance app? Hopefully this app will help resolve the problem experienced by Laura.
Good Sam says: Yes Cecil, this does work along with the Good Sam Roadside Assistance app.
Laura Holt
Too bad this locator service does not work. We called for service on 04/20 and I spent 20 minutes on line with two different reps trying to describe our location on the Ohio Turnpike. I gave them a mile marker but was still told they had no idear were we where. I was then told Good Sam RV roadside assistance could not change a tire on an RV on the Ohio Turnpike. We finally got frustrated and called a local towing/service company who arrived in less than 15 mins and changed our tire. Needless to say I will not be renewing Good Sam Roadside Service.
Good Sam says: Laura – we received word back from Zach Weeks with member services late last week that he was able to work out a satisfactory resolution. We’re so happy that this was able to be resolved in such a positive manner. Thank you for your patience with this situation and for being Good Sam members!