By RV Travel Staff
The Good Sam Club was for decades THE club for RVers. It held huge annual rallies, encouraged and supported local chapters, and offered a wide variety of services including the most popular roadside assistance plan. Its magazine Highways was perhaps the most informative RV periodical in North America.
Then in the early 2000s Marcus Lemonis came along. Before that, according to Wikipedia, “Lemonis worked for his great uncle’s car dealership in South Florida which was acquired by AutoNation in 1997. A family friend, Lee Iacocca [of Chrysler fame] approached Lemonis and told him he wanted to ‘Create the largest RV chain’ as the RV business model in the United States was ‘fractured’. Iacocca helped Lemonis start and acquire Holiday RV Superstores. He later co-founded a company called FreedomRoads and began acquiring RV dealerships. In 2006, the company merged with Camping World with Lemonis as CEO, and then, in 2011, merged with Good Sam Enterprises, with Lemonis again at the helm.”
Although the Good Sam Club was a for-profit business from Day One in 1966, when ad-man Art Rouse started it and then built it into a small empire, it also had a strong social component with rallies and local and special interest chapters. Perhaps its most popular benefit was a membership card good for 10 percent discounts at most popular RV parks. Today, that discount remains and is probably reason enough to join for most RVers.
Good Sam current executive Vice President Will Colling explained to freelance reporter Brad Wordell in RV Business about the most recent changes to the club:
“We have found that our largest-growing segments within Good Sam, in particular, are people who have an affinity toward road travel — and we had the best products and services to support them. So, when we looked at our niche within the RV space, what we realized is we’re a road travel and recreation enthusiast company. We will always have the niche within the RV space, but we speak to this broader set of consumers.”
The new Good Sam Club, is broadening its partnerships far beyond those for RVers only. Among its newest partners is Princess Cruises.
Colling continued: “We are looking forward to being able to provide individuals — especially individuals outside of the RV lifestyle — their first experience on an RV road trip. So, being able to attract that interest and get individuals to see the RV lifestyle as an opportunity, or an alternate mode of travel or vacation, is really big for us.”
One might conclude, however, that the changes are more about increasing the Lemonis empire and far less about serving RVers or promoting the RV lifestyle.
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Just as an outsider looking in at the “Camping World” and “Good Sam” franchises, I think they lost their way a long time ago and are now just trying to find any gap they can plug into to remain somewhat relevant.
Princess cruises? Really? That’s like AAA joining up with the parachuters club.
Do people bring their rv or car on the cruise?
It’s all about the Benjamin’s.
Lemonis has found an easy (sleazy) way to get more money in his pocket by offering less while we pay more. Camping World prices for parts and accessories is still higher than other companies, even with the discount.
I wonder how much the campgrounds are paying him to use his logo.
Camping World “club discount” is a huge scam. Most times a customer pays more than if bought on Amazon. I avoid Camping World for anything (accessories or service).
Could probably say that about 90% of the comments. Rather give 90 cents to Ama-mart than $1 to a locally owned business.
Good Sam lost all it’s relevance to me. I just don’t see any benefit to it anymore. Theres some camping discounts and Good Sam approved campgrounds. I’ve found their “reviewed” campgrounds to be not always so accurate or a bit overrated. We are life members and really don’t see any benefit anymore unless you love junk mail filling your mailbox.
I posit expansion and diversification is a good business practice PROVIDED you do not lose your focus on providing good customer service, regardless of endeavor. I fear GS lost focus on providing good customer service years ago. I speak from experience on their Roadside [non] Assistance program.
I have been a Good Sam member for decades and too have seen it fade. At many parks it’s like pulling teeth to get your discount out of them and we have found the Good Sam park ratings to be totally false many times.
That’s the one reason we dropped GS. We have to pay to be in the advertising, plus give a 10% discount. Not worth the loss of our income to be a member.
Good sam became a marketing company offering nothing of any value after Marcus took over. He withdrew Camping World’s support of the club and all it’s member benefits. Camping World has a horrible reputation in the RV community only selling or servicing to first time buyers
Camping Worlds entire business model is predicated on first time customers. With the full knowledge and expectation that they’ll NEVER be second time customers. Hence the expansion into new markets. It reeks of desperation. Lemonis comes from the P.T. Barnum School of Business.
I have been a GS member, off and on, for over 30 years. It’s unrecognizeable from the pre-Lemonis organization. I’m also finding more campgrounds just dropping them because they are full anyway and GS is just a financial drain vs a real benefit. The ruination of Camping World is a whole ‘nuther topic!
I maintain a membership because I still get more back in the 10% campground discount than the membership costs, but that gap is quickly closing and I suspect I’ll drop them soon.
We dropped Good Sam 5 years ago as soon as the magazine, local chapters, rallies, etc., went away. We found that Walmart and Amazon had better prices on RV disposable goods and parts and many shops had better RV service than Camping World plus Coachnet had better roadside assistance and Passport America had much better RV park discounts than Good Sam.
Thank you, RV Travel! 🙂 Yes, unquestionably, changes to Good Sam are about making more money and/or lowering costs. We continue being members because many of the campgrounds in which we stay discount our nightly fee by 10%. Should that change, whether by those campgrounds no longer doing so, our frequented campgrounds not offering the discount, or the discount declining, then we’ll drop our membership. Meanwhile, thanks for the editorial and safe travels! 🙂
I really found no benefit from SC or Camping World. I only use Mom & Pop campgrounds or boondock and parts purchases are on line and work through small RV repair shops. Insurance covers towing and Passport America. If RVers would just stop purchasing from camping world or repair work it would only take a short time for Marcus to downsize quickly.
well, in reading the corporate VP shills expansion “explanation”, what I took away from that is that “we’ve killed the RV business, our customers are fed up and see right through our corporate greed (we ALL do), so now that our RV biz is in the toilet, in order to maintain “shareholder value”, we have to expand into new markets to keep our customer base numbers and profit margins up” (until they’ve screwed every last Princess Cruises customer and run that biz into the ground). Sound about right?
Almost 30 years ago we bought a lifetime membership in Good Sam. We thought it was the thing to do. It was, for a while. We attended two Good Sam/Camping World rallies in Salt Lake City and they were fun. But that all went away, pretty darned quickly. If we weren’t life members we would have nothing to do with the organization now.
I’ve been a fan of Lee Iacocca for years but after the mention of him in this article where he had dealings with Marcus Lemonis, he’s lost some points.
I lost respect for Iacocca when helped bail out Chrysler.
Strange. That was what he did that earned my respect.
Stellantis junk is definitely “strange”…strange enough to stay away from the overpriced “stuff”.
We attended a couple of Good Sam rallies in Lodi, CA some years ago. They were fine events but once several hours after they parked us in a site of their choice they told me we had to move because they wanted to put one of the Good Sam senior officers is the site that they had put us in. I had no desire to move after having set everything up. The GS officer had to tell the rally staff that no, he did not want to make us to move. After this we never attended another GS rally. This is not what rally’s are supposed to be about!
We bought a used Travel Trailer from Camping World years ago which came with a 2 year subscription to Good Sam for Roadside Assistance. When we needed it , it proved to be worthless.
We were 144 miles from home and when we called on a Saturday. The person taking calls that day told us they were closed on weekends and, they would take our information for a towing company that would tow our untowable trailer to the nearest Camping World for Monday.
We also just upgraded our AAA To plus RV. They were able to contact a local repair shop and within 2 hours were on our way home. GS Towing service did contact me that night at home. Safely.
I believe in capitalism, it made our country great. But corporate GREED has destroyed many businesses that started with honorable intentions. What Lemonis has done to CW and GSC is not only a great example of that corporate GREED, but is also a personal affront to all of us who have embraced the RVing lifestyle. And you can’t get any more personal than this lifestyle being our homes, either part time or full time.
My CW experience was not good and I’ve had to repair their work after it was done. I recently researched the different roadside RV plans wanting to make a change from AAA Premium RV. I found few positive reviews about GS, and lots of not-so-good stories. I ended up switching from AAA to Coachnet. So far, after a single use, the Coachnet plan has worked well.
I did not renew my subscription. I get all the same roadside assistance from GEICO, and cheaper. I can get the same 10% discount at a lot of campgrounds being an AARP member, veteran, etc.
This is timely for me! I joined FMCA a couple months ago from an offer in an Rv Travel Daily Tips. A few days ago I received the lst magazine and it reminded me of what Good Sam used to be when I joined it about 30 ago, as a life member. Since Lemonis, GS has gone down hill with the elimination of all services of value to Rver’s. I sincerely hope he doesn’t come after FMCA or they are responsible enuf to refuse him! I get near daily offers of services and products from FMCA by email. They offer a range of help and information. GS ended, in my opinion, with the end of Highways and Motor Home mags. and trip planning – with the promise of a better plan coming – Really?
(Cont’d). I will also be dropping the GS Road Side Assist as they have adjusted the renew date – minus two months. Adjusting it to the date I paid the premium! Pay for 12 get 10 – Does that sound like Lemonis? I have only attempted to use it once in northern Mn on a Sunday eve. They did respond after a couple hours and after a farm kid came by the fixed the lock brake problem. However, that was about 20 years ago! As a Life member I’ll hang in there – but GS is not of much value any more. Now they can go sell boat rides and get more people into Rv’ing to the dock! Dreamers?
Most of my thoughts have been expressed already. Look at the camping guide..used to be useful, not so sure these days. I use RV Life campgrounds if I want to check a place out. I use my GS Lifetime card I got 40+ yrs ago when I pick some things up at CW down the street from me. Sometimes the folks at the desk show me the sale paper-“Highways”..I tell them I remember when it was a magazine with real articles and helpful info. I remember when real RVers worked at CW…now most don’t know what one is…sad, but hey there are other resources out there and this is a good place to share them!
The Good Sam Club is now nothing more than a marketing tool for Camping World. And, if you have shopped at any of their parts and accessories stores lately you will know their prices are outrageous. Sad!
We had a Good Sam warranty on a trailer we had, out of $2600 in repairs, they paid $130 for the part only. We dropped them and haven’t had a warranty at all since
We have the Good Sam roadside assistance plan and they are totally useless. Last year we discovered a cut in the sidewall of our motorhome and called for service. After almost 3 hours, we were told that we were on our own and should get it fixed then file a claim. After doing everything we were told to do, we filed a claim which was promptly declined because we didn’t follow proper procedure. Totally useless, won’t be renewing or recommending Good Sam.
Just WOW…this beats any story I’ve heard about them so far. I can imagine an office somewhere staffed by three people all being paid by Lemonis to deny any and every claim called in, as they laugh at us. I’m sorry for your pain John.
Lemons probably hired some ex VA workers who are experts at denying claims.
Hate their new magazine. It goes directly into the recycle bin. Don’t even know how I got on their mailing list since I haven’t paid GS for at least two years.
The Lemonis plan; Sell the most RVs and completely fail to support the RVer. Gut Good Sam and screw the RV purchaser, but hey, how ’bout that stock value!
They dropped the halo, admitting that they are no longer angels.
👍🤣 Good observation, EnviroBK! Have a good evening/night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
That’s one thing Lemonis got right.
GS is nothing what it used to be. I quit donating to them years ago.
I gave up on Lemonis / CW shortly after he took over. Basically, Lemonis drove a stake through GS’s heart with poor service, higher prices and zero quality. I only use GS for the 10% discount, but even that is something I can get at campgrounds with other sources. Probably not going to renew any longer.
Just joining these comments to continue kicking Lemon for his abuse of the community that provided the base for his wealth. We are Life Members and wish we hadn’t ever bought it. I remember preparing for our first RV trip in 2001 and being excited to join GS immediately. I remember looking forward to stopping at a CW to browse the store and maybe even spend the night in the parking lot. All of that is long gone. Even the 10% discount seems meaningless with AARP and Escapees and Passport America offering better discounts and not even being asked for my GS card to claim the 10% if nothing else is available. Profits go into Formula One team and other glitz that don’t provide RVers anything.
We are Life Members as well, Joined in 1996 when is was worth the money. We’re still members because we’re paid up. Otherwise, we would have nothing to do with GS.
Good Sam to me is only good for discount at my local RV store. When I first joined in 2000 there was a network of “Good Samaritans” that would help RVers when they had a problem …. but all of that is gone now. I use Amazon or other sources to buy at lower prices. Their new magazine is absolutely useless as well and try as I can, I can’t get off of that mailing list. At some point the discount at my local RV store might not even be worth the price of membership … and I will drop them. And I agree that Good Sam Roadside Assistance is useless. They told one of my dog show friends that they could not tow his motorhome because he had dogs in it and that made it a commercial vehicle!
The statement ” I use Amazon..” says it all. How does anyone expect a company 100s of times smaller (Camping World, Good Sam etc al) to compete. As anyone living in a small town or community that once had a thriving locally owned business district knows, Amazon, Wal Mart, Costco etc have put an end to that era.
Bill…you do realize that much of the stuff sold thru Amazon is from small or medium sized businesses that just use Amazon as a store front…right? Amazon does ship some product but small and medium businesses directly ship as well. Those relationships are like what eBay does.
I used to buy from Camping World a lot, but they just aren’t competitive for my needs anymore, even with the discount a GS member is supposed to get.
If you find good deals for you and love CW, go for it.
Thanks, Mikal. Also, Amazon identifies when the product is from a small business, so it’s easy if folks want to help support them. Have a good evening/night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
I was a member of good Sams since 1970 when I bought my first trailer. Going to camping world was more then get parts or supplies you would meet other RVers and discuss traveling and camping sites. I also had a small motor home I used for work that I had to travel to and I would just park in the parking lot of the hospital I was working at. I subscribed to both magazines and enjoyed the articles. The next thing that happens is Trailer life was gone. Then Motor home was gone replaced by in my opinion a magazine that I find useless as an RV magazine. Camping world has gone down ill and the cost of items have become too expensive. Marcus has damaged the RV world. He is just into making money.
Why is it that I have this urge to spit every time I hear Marcus Lemonis’s name?
Because lemons are sour?🤔😅 Have a great day, Scott. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Diane, your and RVTravel’s vendetta against one person isn’t doing your stated mission any favors.
You’d have done well to end this article before adding the last paragraph. The article was informative but the embedded commentary was not welcome by me and others.
As far as the rah-rah to negative comments..👎
Thank you for your input, Bill. I had nothing to do with that post, except to check it for typos. And I, personally, have no feelings one way or the other about ML, since I don’t deal with him or anything he is involved in. But, obviously, many people do have strong feelings about him. Have a good afternoon/evening. 😀 –Diane
Yes, strong feelings against him. He has his hands in a lot of enterprises, all for $$$$. His customer service people are just pawns in his organization. They offer no help at all.
Lots and lots of people agree with you, Bob. Thanks for weighing in.👍 Have a good evening/night. 😀 –Diane
Yep, that’s the norm with journalists these days. Instead of just reporting the who, what, when, where and sometimes the why, they’ve got to insert their opinion too.
We have been Good Sam members for over 15 years but have decided to let ours expire. I can use my AAA membership for some RV park discounts and don’t really shop at Camping World anymore since we can get everything we need at Walmart or online. And I hate seeing Lemonis taking over all the independent dealerships.
I have no love for Lemonis myself. But, as for fading away, I’ve got to wonder. After completing 7 reservations for the next 2 months, the discount card that was overwhelmingly accepted was Good Sam.
We have given up on Good Sam, especially their Roadside Assistance. We joined FMCA last summer, and attended our first rally in Tucson this past March. Their benefits just for being a member are amazing, and we paid extra for their Roadside Rescue. More and more RV parks have discounts for FMCA members as well. I would suggest if you have an RV, check them out. Great benefits, great magazine, and friendly people. Reminds me of the GS good ole days…