AAA sucks Waited over 3 hours, NO Show!!

[alayton]

I have AAA and have used them several times with no problems towing my pickup , bringing me diesel and changing a flat on my horse trailer but have never had to use them on my RV. But so far I am very happy with them.

[wahoonc]

I had AAA for over 20 years. They got dumped a couple of years ago when I called for a tow on my F350 CC DRW PSD(mechanical issue). They sent a friggin' 5K tow truck. I had told them specifically which vehicle I had and was driving. The guy shows up with his toy tow truck that wasn't even as big as the one I was driving. A couple of hours later they called and said they couldn't find a large enough truck to tow mine... REALLY? I called my local dealer and they had a truck out to me in 30 minutes, filed with my insurance company for towing reimbursement and they covered it 100%. Currently I am "self insured" when it comes to towing, but I am researching all of the options and AAA ain't on the list!

I think what irritated me the most is that my wife drives that truck on occasion and would have had no clue what to do if AAA had crapped out on her.

Aaron

[mikel68]

Wow, that stinks. Sorry to hear. We have AAA, we had a problem with our toad close to Texarkana, in the middle of no where. We called AAA they were out within an hour. Towed to Texarkana, got us off safe with no troubles. Not to offend, this has nothing to do with AAA, you may take your RV in and have all the tires thoroughly checked with a 2012 date and 2017 less than two months away.

Good Luck

MK

[mikel68]

Originally Posted by SidecarFlip

I'm my own AAA. I carry everything including a small compressor that will run on the genny. Impact wrench, sockets, jack, assorted hand tools and knowledge.

When the car we were towing blew up, no amount of tools could fix it. I have compressors, generators, tools, etc. None of that helped. AAA got it taken care of in less than an hour.

[aceinspp]

I for one do not use any of them. Got better things to do than sit on the shoulder of a busy interstate for hrs. Do my self and get on my way. Later RJD

[f5moab]

AAA worked for me in southern UT. Had to plug the tire at least seven times in the sidewall and stop every half mile to pump it back up, but had to crawl myself out of the desert to a paved road. And I was really in the middle of nowhere. (Note before any remarks on plugging a sidewall...I was on a desert two-track trail, spare had already been chewed up (POS BF Goodrich KM tires...I learned) and it was either plug, pump and take my time or walk out in 105 degree heat.

But when I got to a paved road, connected by other paved roads, I was able to contact AAA via Onstar (Verizon cell service weak and cell phone would not connect but Onstar did and saved me) and within one hour there was a flatbed coming around the bend. I can't complain.

(If I had had a patch with me, I would have been tempted to pull the tire off the rim, patch it then put it back onto the rim and limp out at about five miles an hour. But plenty of plugs; no patches.)

[stillontheroad]

We have been Good Sam members for 12 years and have had to use them multiple times all mover US and in Canada. They have never let us down. The service was always prompt, courteous and as promised time wise. In addition their coverage (all vehicles etc) is better than AAA.

[CaptnJohn]

A large service center has 2 lists for service calls. One for AAA and one for those paying. AAA calls are not a priority as they pay less than half of paying customers.

[ProfChuck]

We had the same problem with Allstate roadside assistance. Got stranded on a freeway overpass and when we called, they said they couldn't help us until the next day (we had an engine problem). We switched to the Good Sam plan and have been SUPER HAPPY with them. Have had to use them several times for our cars (they cover them, too) and they have always been on time, with the right equipment (had to actually tow the car/truck) and quick service. They called back to make sure everything was OK and we were safe and things were correctly taken care of. I can't say enough good things about the Good Sam Club service. No, I don't work for them, although I am a life member.

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by kitejunky1

I have a 2013 sunseeker Class C and love it. I got AAA Plus RV in case i ever needed them. This weekend while traveling on I95 north of Jupiter in Florida, I blew out the passenger outside tire. I have no idea why it blew, only have 14,000 miles on the tires and the date on tire was 2012.

I called AAA and they said a tow truck would be there in 45 mins, the next exit was 14 miles and i did not want to damage my Rv by risking it and driving slow for 14 miles. After 30 mins i called them back and was told the first tow truck could not assist me cause of the weight of my RV. ( i have jacked my rv with a bottle jack and rolling jack in the past and made AAA aware of this. No i did not have my jack with me, which will never happen again.

After 2 hours sitting on the side of 95 i grab my leaving blocks and placed them under my rear hydraulic jack. I was able to raise it enough to change the tire my self. After 3 hours AAA called me back and said they are sorry but no one was able to come help me.

I am sharing this story hoping to learn who you use for emergency road side assistance. To let you know AAA dropped the ball big time and the lesson i learned was to never travel again with out my jack.

Thanks for reading Andy

I had 2 similar experiences with Good Sam ERS and my 5th wheel. Not fun.😣

[vasnipe]

Good Sam Roadside tried to help me with a lockout situation near Appomattox, VA. They couldn't get any of the locksmiths nearby to cover since they did not go out that far. Then the young fella got a good idea and called the local Emergency Services office to ask who they used for lockout situations and they said they could handle it for free. That's right, free. Good Sam called me with that idea and I was happy. The local Deputy got there and we got into the car in short order. A thank you and he was gone. I then called Good Sam back and gave them an "attaboy", especially since they very rarely hear them. But, everyone knows it only takes 1 aw crap to undo a dozen attaboys...

[bend302]

Have heard a lot of negatives about AAA RV. Fellow with a 42' DP pulled in across the street in the campground yesterday and said he had a blowout on I65. AAA couldn't bring a tire to him. Called a local truck repair shop and they fixed.

We have GS Road Service and last year we had a problem with the toad about 100 miles from the RV. They towed us to the closest repair shop who was backed up. They then towed to a further shop who fixed it right away.

Bill

[salwolfe]

Originally Posted by CaptnJohn

A large service center has 2 lists for service calls. One for AAA and one for those paying. AAA calls are not a priority as they pay less than half of paying customers.

Reminds me of a local home center observation I once made. Commission salespeople jumped all over the guy who came in once a year and spent $500. The little old lady who came in once a month and only spent $100 each time was ignored...

[gectisme]

In the last 3 months have used and tried to use Coachnet and AAA. The WJ came with 1 year of free Coachnet service. Used them about 3 months ago, they came to the campground and IMHO was excellent service. It did take a long time, (1 and a 1/2 hrs), for the tow service to show up but Coachnet kept calling and checking and at one point got another service on the phone with me and was getting ready to send them out when the 1st service showed up.

2 months ago, the free Coachnet service expired and I have been a AAA member for close to 40 years. I have always had great service from them on my cars/trucks so we decided to upgrade to the RV coverage. 2 weeks ago, had a blowout on the freeway pulled over and the blown tire was facing the freeway traffic, so I figured the prudent thing to do is call AAA and let them change it. It starts off not so great, we tell them where we are located and they say "oh, you are not in CA, I will have to transfer you to the TN area", OK not too big a deal. So we setup service and they say "OK someone will be there in a 1/2 hr", I am skeptical but also thinking that would be great. 1hr goes by and nothing, call them back and they say, "oh, your coverage doesn't cover the RV", WTH??? you wait an hour, don't call and then let us know when we call???, my DW tells them to check a couple of months ago because she upgraded the service and the charge is on our credit card. So about 15 minutes goes by, they call, let us know we are covered and they tell us they are having a hard time finding someone that has the tools to change a tire on the RV. About another 15 minutes and they call and say they found someone and they will be there "within a 1/2 hr", well it was an hour later and the tire finally got changed. I would call this average to poor service.

2 days ago, got a screw in the tire, thanks to the TPMS, pulled off at a rest stop and went to change the tire. I had a problem with my jack so figured, no big deal, we can just call AAA... The DW calls them and same transfer thing but this time right away they tell us the RV isn't covered, DW goes through the same spiel and they say, "oh it is covered", we will work on finding someone. As this is all going on, I realize that I can just change the tire myself by stacking a few pieces of our leveling wood and driving on it. So, I go ahead and do that, start changing the tire and just about the time I am done AAA calls back and says, we are having a hard time finding someone. DW tells them to cancel the call. Again, I would catagorize this as average to poor service.

Not sure what we are going to do, cancel AAA and go with another service or not. I am wondering if it is all area specific and if those issues would have happened near or in a big city and also would the other services have been the same for those specific areas. I do know this, Coachnet near Cooperstown, NY was excellent on a Saturday. Sorry for the book.

[ResQfrog]

Originally Posted by kitejunky1

I have a 2013 sunseeker Class C and love it. I got AAA Plus RV in case i ever needed them. This weekend while traveling on I95 north of Jupiter in Florida, I blew out the passenger outside tire. I have no idea why it blew, only have 14,000 miles on the tires and the date on tire was 2012.

I called AAA and they said a tow truck would be there in 45 mins, the next exit was 14 miles and i did not want to damage my Rv by risking it and driving slow for 14 miles. After 30 mins i called them back and was told the first tow truck could not assist me cause of the weight of my RV. ( i have jacked my rv with a bottle jack and rolling jack in the past and made AAA aware of this. No i did not have my jack with me, which will never happen again.

After 2 hours sitting on the side of 95 i grab my leaving blocks and placed them under my rear hydraulic jack. I was able to raise it enough to change the tire my self. After 3 hours AAA called me back and said they are sorry but no one was able to come help me.

I am sharing this story hoping to learn who you use for emergency road side assistance. To let you know AAA dropped the ball big time and the lesson i learned was to never travel again with out my jack.

Thanks for reading Andy

If you have the Ford E series chassis you also have Ford Road Side Assistance for 5 years 60,000 Miles. Most dealers do not tell you this as they are trying to sell you other programs.

Call the 24 hours 7 day a week number. 1-800-444-3311

It covers. Flats Tire Changes, Jump Start, Gasoline if out of fuel, Vehicle Lock out services, Towing to closet Ford Dealer.

This applies to both Ford Type C chassis and Fordd Class A chassis.

Call and give them your Vin number and other info they request.

Hope you have better luck next time.

[gectisme]

To add to my AAA comment, we are in NC and we have AAA from our home state of CA. Got the tire patched yesterday and wanted to give AAA one more chance. Called them to have them come swap the patched tire and spare. NC AAA said we are not covered but we can call CA AAA and see if they will reimburse NC AAA. Now that is just crazy!
I thought AAA was automatic nationwide, guess not. Guess I will have to really check and see what Coachnet and Good Sam actually cover and make a decision...

[SidecarFlip]

I believe shoddy service had to do with contractually negotiated prices between the third party insurers (like Good Sam or Triple A) and the service provider. If the insurer's prime motivator is negotiating the lowest price possible (and realizing the maximum amount of profit from the subscriber, the subscriber (you) then suffers from poor service.

Towing services and repair facilities operate as 'for profit' enterprises so, if the margin of profit is appreciably lower for say a Triple A recovery, they will put that on the back burner and handle the better paying calls first.

Just how it works.

When I have an issue I call a local service or handle it myself (if I can) in the road. I always carry a toolbox and necessary tools and a bottle jack with me, much like a first aid kit is always in the truck or RV.

This summer I changed a flat on the truck on an exit ramp on the Interstate on a Sunday afternoon. Was it fun? No. I put out my emergency triangles (something that every RV'r should have in their unit), blocked the opposite wheel, jacked up the truck, popped the center cap, got out the correct socket and breaker bar, loosened the lug nuts, took off the wheel, dismounted the spare (which I check to make sure it's properly inflated to 80 PSI when I check my tire pressures (something people never do and find out the hard way, the spare has little or no air when they need it most... Popped on the spare, tightened the lug nuts, remounted the flat in the spare tire carrier and continued on.

Cost = nothing Time = 45 minutes

Did I get dirty? A bit. Soap and water fixes that.

I have no desire to sit on the side of the road, especially an Interstate, with vehicles whizzing by at 70 mph, inches from my vehicle, waiting for a service call that might take an hour or longer and may never come at all.

If I can handle it myself, I do and I'm 67 btw.

People need to be more self reliant and less dependent on others......

[Pandabear]

Originally Posted by Life is great

Wow, i have AAA + RV and thought i would be ok. I have used them several times in the last copy yrs for our daily drivers around home and almost had to use them out of state but cancelled cause i solved the problem before they came out, no big deal. I may have to start looking into GS instead. Will they only deal with RV/TT or would they deal with daily drivers around home as well?

We have used Good Sam for years and have been very happy with them. Whether at home or pulling our travel trailer. One time we were waiting in line at a service station and had turned our truck off. Went to start it and it wouldn't start. Needless to say we had unhappy people behind us. We called Good Sam and they sent 2 tow trucks. One for the Truck and the other for the travel trailer. Also while we were near St Joseph, Mo. our truck blew up and we were on the side of the hwy. They sent out two tow trucks again. Both times they helped us find an RV Park to stay in while we waited on our truck repairs. Never paid a thing out of pocket. Good Sam took care of all of it. Love Good Sam!

[gectisme]

Originally Posted by gectisme

To add to my AAA comment, we are in NC and we have AAA from our home state of CA. Got the tire patched yesterday and wanted to give AAA one more chance. Called them to have them come swap the patched tire and spare. NC AAA said we are not covered but we can call CA AAA and see if they will reimburse NC AAA. Now that is just crazy!
I thought AAA was automatic nationwide, guess not. Guess I will have to really check and see what Coachnet and Good Sam actually cover and make a decision...

Want to update, after a few phone calls, NC is covered by CA AAA, apparently the NC person we talked with didn't know what they were talking about. My take on AAA RV coverage is they don't have enough RV business so the phone Agents don't know what they need to do. We have decided to go with Coachnet since the one time we used them, they knew what they needed to do with a RV and the service from them in general was good. Hopefully I never have to use them.

For SideCarFlip, I agree with what you said, I bought a new hydraulic jack and changed it out myself in about 20 minutes and didn't even get dirty.

[RvBill3]

I called AAA when my class C wouldn't start and was obviously more than a dead battery. Needed a tow to the local Chevy dealer. After explaining several times to the phone agent that it was a MH (he kept asking what kind of hitch it had), he finally got it. Told me a tow truck would be there in three hours because the local truck was already busy. A couple of minutes later he called back and said he had found another tow company that would be there in less than 30 minutes. They did a good job of towing to the dealer. Also was able to track the actual location of the tow truck on my AAA app.

Later I got a letter from an executive at AAA apologizing for the delay in service.

This was my first use of AAA for my RV. I am happy with the way they handled the tow.


2012 Sunseeker 2300 Chevy