AAA or Good Sam?

[Cathy P.]

We don't have Good Sam insurance anymore, but when we did, I tried to stop the junk mail from coming to us, and they didn't send the bill but luckily I caught it before the insurance cancelled out. When I called they said that stopping the junk mail stops the billings from coming also and there was no options, either get the junk mail to include the billings or get no mail at all.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by Nigel G

I have had AAA for more than 20 years and gave in 1 1/2 years ago to join Good Sam as they would cover our BigFoot and all of the vehicles in the family. I left AAA with a sick feeling in my stomach and should have listened to my gut. I was up in the mountains of Colorado and got stuck leaving a job in my rear wheel drive work vehicle this past November. I called Good Sam and they refused to send out a tow truck to free me as they claimed that the vehicle was not "disabled" mechanically. The following day, I had to call a towing company to pull me out of an icy ditch/roadway to the tune of $420. Upon arriving home, I called AAA and asked them if they would have covered the same incident (simply being stuck and not mechanically disabled), and they indicated that it was a qualifying event. I promptly cancelled my plan with Good Sam and happily went back to AAA Plus despite the higher price as you get what you pay for!

Buried in the Good Sam roadside assistance plan information (in very small print) was the following exclusion: "For each disablement event under this agreement, Member is entitled to a maximum of two hours of either Towing Preparation Services or Recovery Services.
Towing Preparation Services include any of the following services: winch-out, extrication services and preparation for towing.
Recovery Services include winch-out or extrication services to allow the vehicle to proceed safely under its own power. However, if disablement is caused solely by an accumulation of snow by any means, the Member will not be entitled to any Towing Preparation Services or Recovery Services in regard to such disablement.

In my mind, that line makes the plan worthless as they will not cover an event caused by snow for ANY vehicle, regardless of circumstances/fault. This combined with their ceaseless advertising via U.S. mail and email was more than I could handle. Also, I discovered that my insurance company insuring the BigFoot travel trailer covers towing as part of the coverage, largely rendering the RV coverage through Good Sam redundant.

In summary, if you'd like roadside assistance for your vehicles, go with AAA check with your insurance company to see if roadside assistance is covered on your RV. If not, then go with AAA and add the RV coverage.

Best of luck!

I read the same thing about the snow event not having coverage. I emailed Marcus Lemonis and got an answer from his office. Then I called Good Sam and talked for quite a while about this to a man. He said what it means is if you are parked and snow covers your vehicle they won't dig it out. If you are in a dangerous place they won't come out until it is safe such as in a wreck but it is covered if you were to slide off the road on a highway and need to be pulled back on. If you slide off the road into the median and leave your vehicle then it may not be pulled out if it is dangerous until it is safe to get it. They will be looking at that brochure to make it clearer most likely. If it is that dangerous to be driving then I'd hope you would not be traveling especially with a trailer. Good Sam has towed me many times to a mechanic of my choice when my vehicle has broken down and in good time.

[Barb and Alan]

We’ve never had GS but do use AAA with high satisfaction. We once had to have both TV and TT towed and no problems. Our auto insurance covers roadside assistance as well but using it has been a PITA because you must pay the provider up front and then submit a claim. AAA has come in handy more than once for lockouts and flat repairs without the trailer. For me it would be very difficult to change tires on my 3/4 ton TV. Even stock tires and aluminum wheels are very heavy. Also having someone other than me changing a tire on the freeway shoulder is golden. Also, preventative maintenance is not a guarantee! Both flats we had towing were from road debris. Cell phone carriers also offer some forms of roadside assistance. May be worth a look to you.

[Lisle]

I’m a solo female full time for the last 5 mos. Have Good Sam. Needed it 4 times. Once for camper and 3 times for TV. (See Rookie Mistake 101, and 102 In this forum for details). Response varied w each call. 3 out of 4 times they came thru great. Does depend on who answers their phone and who they can find to tow. I did talk them into towing both car and camper out of a Walmart parking lot. They claimed they didn’t have to tow the camper becuz it was safe at Walmart??? So whoever you choose, if they won’t do what makes sense, lean on them a little and see if they will. Also, figure out what you want them to do before calling. Find an RV park you want to go to and/or car dealer and ask to be towed there. And if you’re not in a safe location call 911. They get to you fast, have flashing lights and know good local tow guys. May you never need road assistance! Happy trails!!

[Glenn Baglo]

911 is for emergencies only. And, not maintaining your vehicle so you end up stuck in a Walmart parking lot, is not an emergency.

[Lisle]

No, I didn't call 911 when stuck in Walmart. I called Good Sam. However, when broken down on the side of an interstate, I should have called 911. Good Sam took 2 hours to do nothing, until my car battery was dead from running my flashers. The police showed up and told me I should have called 911 as soon as I broke down. And they immediately got a good tow guy to get me out of there. I wrote about that so that someone newer even than I am wouldn't repeat my experience. It wasn't fun to sit on the side of 3 lanes of traffic going 70, including big trucks that rattled and shook the camper and car every time they passed for 2 hours.

[Glenn Baglo]

Got ya. That is different.

[thrifty bill]

I have a friend with AAA on his cars, and he lives in a country club with private roads (gated community). So he needed a tow from AAA. His policy had a restriction, no private road towing.

So +100 to above, read the fine print. AAA is different in different areas. So yours may cover more stuff, or less. Meanwhile, I am through with Camping World. So no thanks there!

[BatDude]

We had our Scamp "egg" cracked from a falling ice covered branch a few years back during a storm. After many round robins with "appraisers" it was finally determine to be immediately fixable or totaled.


We briefly entertained the idea of buying a house in New Mexico and thought I would maintain AAA vehicle/hose and our trailer insurance. We replaced the dead Scamp with a 19 Escape.



I learned that AAA insurance is sort of a franchise and each region of the U.S. is under different management and not nationally linked!


You might want to look at Escapees an RV group that offers loads of options including a very good roadside services.


They also have a group of members that are single women traveling the world in their RVs. They offer a lot of support as do many of the "Birds of Feather" groups that cover virtually all interest groups.


HTH


Bat Dude

[Gattopuin64]

Good Sam is a division of Camping World. Bad news for repairs in a timely fashion. There are better RV service contract / deals available. Check rvtravel.com for better info on road service contracts

[Des Nolan]

Beware of Good Sam! Whomever is hijacking the mail of Marcus Lemonis, CEO, has yet to have satisfactorily explained a major Delivery of Service failure in July of 2019.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by Des Nolan

Beware of Good Sam! Whomever is hijacking the mail of Marcus Lemonis, CEO, has yet to have satisfactorily explained a major Delivery of Service failure in July of 2019.

I got through to Marcus Lemonis office easily. The phone number they gave me was correct. I called Good Sam also to confirm what was in the email. After the call they sent me another email to confirm our conversation. They didn't ask any personal info other than name and address to check on my type of tow plan and to make sure they had the right member. They gave me my other info just to confirm they had the right person and to update changes for me.

[cpaharley2008]

I think each state is different. AAA covers your trailer in Maryland but not in Pennsylvania, their coverage only applies to motorized coaches. Whereas GS seems to be the same nationwide, 2 tows if needed to closest repair facility. Fifth wheel's may have an issue.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I think each state is different. AAA covers your trailer in Maryland but not in Pennsylvania, their coverage only applies to motorized coaches. Whereas GS seems to be the same nationwide, 2 tows if needed to closest repair facility. Fifth wheel's may have an issue.

They would tow your 5th wheel but it may take longer to find an appropriate vehicle for it as tow trucks can't do it.

[Des Nolan]

Originally Posted by Jann Todd

I got through to Marcus Lemonis office easily. The phone number they gave me was correct. I called Good Sam also to confirm what was in the email. After the call they sent me another email to confirm our conversation. They didn't ask any personal info other than name and address to check on my type of tow plan and to make sure they had the right member. They gave me my other info just to confirm they had the right person and to update changes for me.

I too had no problem getting through to Marcus Lemoinis's OFFICE. But I am wondering if he knows what is going on there. I was contacted by various members of his staff, but the best explanation I received, after several prompts, was "the Operator dropped the ball". Not good enough for an organization whose reason for being is to help people in distress.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I think each state is different. AAA covers your trailer in Maryland but not in Pennsylvania, their coverage only applies to motorized coaches. Whereas GS seems to be the same nationwide, 2 tows if needed to closest repair facility. Fifth wheel's may have an issue.

I beg to differ. Go to: https://centralpenn.aaa.com/membership/levels

[Huck]

I have Good Sam and used it once. Not for my trailer, but for the tow. I used to have a 4wd Blazer and drove it all over my property. Never had to use 4wd. Traded the Blazer in on a Ford transit van. Got stuck in my back lot as soon as I hit a wet spot.

Called Good Sam and they sent someone out. He pulled it out but told me that if the owner had come out he wouldn't have done it. That since I wasn't driving on a road or driveway, they don't tow.

So if you are going to be doing any boondocking, you might want to ask about restrictions.

[AmyFL]

Going to call AAA and ask some questions. Many good points on here. I do like the maps and Tripitik.

[mary and bob]

Our local AAA has the Woodall's campground books, which are regional (like Northeast, Mid Atlantic, etc) so there are several different books. We have AAA Premier so got them free, but there is a member discount price on them. There are free online sites to locate campgrounds if you don't like the books.