First trip Adventure

[John Harrison]

Well we got the old gal ready and went to Fla. Thursday and had a blast at the Battle of Olustee. Boondocked all weekend and even met some great RVers with some wonderful old trailers and RV's. Told them about this wonderful site. Started running hot on the way home and although we tried to baby it and keep up with the antifreeze, the water pump seized in downtown Atlanta. $180 and 6 hours later we got her to the yard where I work. Now to get the water pump replaced.

Beware State Farm Insurance, their free towing is only for the first 12 miles, and then you have to pay a "flat  rate" and if you have to hang up and call them back for any reason they will not give you the "flat rate towing" and you have to pay the full cost. Will be looking into Good Sam.

[Rich Thomas]

There's always a catch, I belong to  AMA ( American Motorcyclist Association) and get free roadside assistance for all my vehicles. I think after reading this i'm going to have to go back and read the fine print. LOL Thanks for posting    

[Rick Faunce]

Towing is a nightmare, especially check your policies for any trailers you tow behind your motorhome! You will probably find that if you break down they will leave the trailer behind. Good Sam will NOT tow a car trailer!!! Nor will AAA. If you tow and antique car as I do you are screwed with any of them.

[Dawn Michelle]

We had to use Good Sam on the maiden trip from CO to NC.  They were pretty decent however I discovered there's not much recourse if you are not happy with the service you received or the work wasn't done well. They don't intervene for you or have any sort of complaint process.  And of course they are going to tow you to the nearest mechanic even if it's not going in the direction you were headed.  If you decide you want to have it towed home at the flat rate be sure to make the decision first, and not after, say, you've chosen a mobile mechanic service.  Then you don't get the special rate.  For whatever that's worth.  In hindsight I'm not sure we could have done much else.  So, if the first breakdown isn't fixed right, and you pay for it, and it breaks down again the next day, well you're going to have to deal with it long distance when you get home whether via the mechanics or your credit card company.  All that said, they were pretty decent to work with.

[Lakota Wolf]

Make sure with Good Sam,, that you get an finely detailed outline of your towing and road service needs,

I had the GOLD plan, which supposedly gave me UNLIMITED towing which included the truck and the trailer,, No questions asked.  I called and explained in detail to their dispatcher what I needed.

They send out a 3/4 ton little chevy pick up with a make shift fence pipe for a tow boom. The driver, (who I will call Bubba), had the basic I.Q. of a rock. He tries to explain that G/S pays for the 1st  10 miles then its a flat $2.75 a mile afterwards.. And he just drove 45 miles to get to me.So I owe him 35 miles worth so far.

He then says its a $50 hook up fee, But only for my truck,, The trailer has to stay on the side of the road because he dont know how to pull a trailer and doesnt have a big enough truck to pull it. I call G/S back and ask if this is a joke? The lady said  the unlimited towing is only if Im CLOSE to a tow center and they will tow me to the garage. The trailer will have to be towed seperatly by a qualified RV transport company,, They DONT TOW RV's. I read back my policy to the lady, word for word and she said, OH Im sorry, Thats not available anymore.. G/S wont transport RV 5th wheels anymore,, and they only have up to 10 miles, which includes how far the tow driver has to drive,, They start the calculator from where the driver leaves from. I also asked the lady, how is a small little pick up with a fence pipe boom supposed to tow my truck with the rear wheels off the ground when the tow truck can barley pulls its own weight? She said to wait till morning and I can talk with a supervisor,, have a nice night,, click.

Oh Bubba Pulled my truck from under the hitch and then hooked up his belt tow sling on the rear bumper and attempted to lift the truck up,, Notice I said attempted? The front of his truck came off the ground and my rear wheels was still touching the ground..He then asks, How much does your truck weigh? I told him rough ball park about 8,000 lbs.. He then asks how much fuel do I have in the fuel tanks? I said all 3 are full,,, about  80 plus gallons,, he suggests I empty the fule tanks to ease up the weight of the truck and remove the tool box also and leave it on the side of the road.. REALLY?  I happened to notice his boom starting to bend from the weight already and he finally let the cable loose and let the front of his truck settle back on the ground.. I told him to unhook and just leave,, I did have to pay him $50 for his feeble attempt,, he wanted more but I stood my ground. Needless to say,, I had Allstate ins, cover what I needed,, They sent out 2 trucks, one to tow my truck and the other to pull the trailer,, total out of pocket costs,,, $15.  And that covered their breakfast for treating me very well and not complaining about driving out there at 3 a/m. Be sure to read the real fine print on your towing needs and check it every week with your agent to make sure they dont change it on you and not let you know till its to late.

[Dawn Michelle]

"the basic I.Q. of a rock" yeah, I wanted to say that about the mobile mechanics we were sent by GS, but well - I was trying to be nice - LOL!

Now on our GS plan there wasn't a question of towing being free - it was just free to wherever they could find that was closest (nothing about a mileage limit or it starting from wherever they had to come from), but of course we have 21 foot Class C on a truck chassis not what Lakota is hauling. Our issue was after the mobile mechanic had jacked us around for four hours and we felt we were being taken for ride literally on them drawing out the hours to find parts to charge us more we then tried to cancel that and get the GS towing home rate (guess it's discounted cents on the mile) and they wouldn't allow it - the girl on the phone checked with a "tech" that agreed with the mobile mechanic and the search for parts was expected and so they wouldn't give it to us.  It turned out okay and the fix the day before was only a hundred so I ended up not chasing any of it.  But if the first fix had caught the wiggly pulley we wouldn't have had the huge charges the next day and another night in a hotel (it was bitterly cold - sleeping in juno wasn't an option on the trip - lol).  Ah well, we got home, learned a lesson, etc. :-)   

[John Harrison]

Where oh where were you supposed to empty 80 gallons of hazardous material? for that is what fuel is. That is why we have to placard the trailers and have a special endorsement on our CDL. The cost for a hazmat team to come out and clean up your mess would have set you back about the cost of a new truck LOL. Will check with Allstate but in all fairness, the local agent quickly wrote my wife a check for the full out of pocket to get the old gal home. 

[Frances DeHart]

Does Anyone have progressive? I have them on my RV any good or bass on them?

[Rich Thomas]

I have them on my Motorcycle but have never had a claim. They have dropped my premium several times in the last few years. My son has them as well and was tagged by a car on his way to class, the car never stopped after it hit him. The insurance covered his hospital costs and was good to deal with. The bike wasn't hurt enough to worry about. This was back in 2011/2012. We both have had them since 2009/10 ish. and have no complaints.It is note worthy that they was the only insurance we could afford for him due to his age at that time.