By Russ and Tiña De Maris
Got emergency road service? Want a “hack” on how to get faster service next time you’re broken down beside the road? Here’s our “voice of experience” based on too many hours of waiting for the tow truck. Faster RV road service doesn’t have to be just a dream.
Our experience taught us about faster RV road service
Over the years, we’ve had several experiences with RV road service providers. On one occasion, one of our trailer tires gave up the ghost on Arizona’s Highway 95. We were a scant 30 miles south of Quartzsite, with plenty of daylight left. A call to our then-provider, Good Sam, brought cheerful assurances they’d have someone there soon. By the time all was said and done, we were finally on the way, long after darkness fell.
A few months back, a strange noise under the hood quickly turned into a skyrocketing engine temp, and a transmission warning alarm. We pulled over to find a shredded serpentine belt “took out” a cooling system elbow and yanked our tranny cooling lines loose enough to jet fluid in a way that would make a blowing whale envious. With a huge pool of tranny fluid and antifreeze under the truck, it was obvious we wouldn’t be doing our own roadside repair work.
20-minute dispatch promise a laugh
A couple of years ago, we switched providers from Good Sam to Coach-Net after we surveyed RVtravel.com readers about their experiences with providers. Our survey said Coach-Net was more reliable and typically provided faster RV road service than most of its competitors. Well, here was an opportunity to put those responses to the test.
We called Coach-Net’s dispatch, gave all the details, and were told we’d hear back “in about 20 minutes.” More than an hour later, we called again. This time we were told that the dispatch protocol was to call tow companies nearest our location, and if no service was available, then to call providers farther away. At this point, Coach-Net’s dispatcher told us they still hadn’t found anyone, but they’d keep at it.
Local tow service never heard from our dispatcher
We’d already had a nice chat with a state patrol trooper who expressed concern about us sitting beside the highway as darkness was falling. The trooper suggested they could get a tow truck out there pronto, but we were concerned Coach-Net might not pick up the bill, so we declined. But after the trooper left us, we got to thinking. Maybe we should be a bit more proactive. We looked up tow providers for the nearest town—just 13 miles away, and called the first one on the list.
The gent who picked up the phone listened for a few seconds and asked, “You got the Ford pickup with the travel trailer, north of town on Highway 95?” That was us! “Yes. Did Coach-Net call you about us?” “Nope,” replied the tow guy, “I drove past you a little bit ago on my way to another call. Nobody’s called us.” Asked if he could help, the man assured us he could, but he’d need an agreement with Coach-Net’s dispatcher.
We hung up the phone and called our dispatcher back. We gave them the name of the tow firm and the phone number of the fellow we’d talked to. In just a few minutes, Coach-Net’s dispatcher called us back and said, sure enough, that very tow company would be out to assist us.
Here’s our faster RV road service strategy
So what’s the deal? The dispatcher had assured us that their protocol was to start with the tow companies nearest the breakdown. Yet our guy never got a call. Perhaps RV road service companies have a list of “favorites” they call. Maybe our tow company wasn’t on that list. Or maybe Coach-Net got hit with a raft of calls around the time of our mishap. If there are only so many folks at the dispatch center, you can bet they will probably not stick with your problem from start to finish. Maybe they called one tow company just up the road, got a turn down, and then went on to help another stranded customer.
Whatever the reason, here’s our strategy for faster RV road service the next time we get in a fix. Once we’ve contacted our road service dispatch and they give us an estimate of how long it’ll be to hear something back, we’ll wait that long. But meanwhile, we’ll be looking up tow company phone numbers in the area. If we don’t get a commitment for help in the time frame given, we’ll start calling tow companies on our own.
Two tows in the place of one?
Another thing we learned in this round? Our breakdown happened on a Saturday afternoon. There were no service centers open that weekend. However, we did round up a local who gave us the name of a reliable mechanic and his cell phone number. Long before the tow guy hooked up our truck, the mechanic assured us he could help out.
Since the shops “nearest the disablement” of our rig were all closed for the weekend, we thought it would be great if we could get the truck towed to the amiable mechanic of our choice. However, that shop was another 17 miles beyond the closest town. Our tow guy was simply inclined to dump our truck in front of his building and wait until Monday to sort it out.
Instead, we convinced him to contact Coach-Net and see if they’d allow him to take us to our mechanic of choice. We listened to his side of the conversation, and after negotiating an additional fee, off went our truck to the mechanic. We got a call from Coach-Net to confirm the details. And they were quick to tell us that if we weren’t happy with our choice of mechanic, getting towed away from his shop was on our nickel. Not a problem.
Bottom line
Stuck beside the road, waiting to hear that your road service provider has found help for you? You may be able to get faster RV road service by acting as your own dispatcher. It won’t cost you any more, and you may save time and frustration.
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RVT1246
I’ve always had good luck with AAA , supposedly their premium membership offers rv towing although I’ve never used it. They are great for batteries and jump starts and lock outs.
With AAA read the fine details. I did and opted not to go with them. I did have Good Sam, past tense. When I needed them in Saskatchewan they wanted to send road service, to change a tire, from Ontario a distance of 1,400 miles. I did it myself and did not renew that service.
after several breakdowns, I have found that as soon as AAA hears “camper”, they can never get a tow truck for my 21 foot class B. However, they are really prompt at reimbursing for a tow.
I’ve had the best luck asking local people. Two different times, a local guy made numerous phone calls on my behalf and stayed with me until the tow truck came. I try to ask people who look like they might be familiar with local service shops…beat up pickup, town worker in utility truck, delivery truck, etc.
Try to always use a “Tech Net” mechanic. The work they do is guaranteed for a year at any other “Tech Net” mechanic. There are 1000’s across the country.
Looked Tech Net up. Looks like it’s now a two year/24000 mile warranty. I did a search within 50 miles of me using search criteria “RV” “HD” and “Diesel.” Two showed up and one of those even provided 3 yr/36000 mile warranty. I bookmarked them. Thx!
I’ve always used Good Sam and had good service in a reasonable amount of time. The worst wait was about 24 hours but that was due to needing the travel trailer to be flat towed and the only service company that would flat tow RVs was already tied up for the day and would have to wait till the following morning due to a state law saying he could only work 12 hours a day. Even the State Police tried to get someone there sooner and couldn’t find anyone. Luckily I was at a rest stop and the State Police notified their troopers in the area to keep an eye on the trailer. I went ahead and unhooked and drove the 40 miles to the nearest town for the night.
From numerous stories I’ve read, Coach-Net isn’t going to advertise that you can find your own service if they fail, in a reasonable amount of time. However, I’ve not heard anyone that rounded up their own, then called C-Net for authorization, get turned down.
One probable reason for some decline in C-Net’s service is that the founder sold out to Blue Compass in 2023. I’ve been in one Blue Compass near Des Moines when shopping for a new rig. After the arrogant anti-customer treatment we got there, we’ll never step foot in one again.
Mikal, that’s the same opinion I had when Coach-Net sold out to Blue Compass. I questioned whether the service would be as good. I have not heard too many glowing endorsements of Blue Compass.
Actually the road service is even worse than you thought. There is a dispatch center in the Boston area which several road service providers use. Each company’s dedicated dispatcher has a set of contracted tow operators. They will contact the closest one on their list. We have had two major breakdowns in the last 30 years, both transmission failures, and three tire issues.
Transmission failure Exit 5 on I78 eastbound. Thirteen hours waiting with numerous phone calls. Their only firm commitment was a tow operator from Martinsburg, WV about 5 hours away at 12 hour mark. Finally called the local State Police barracks. Duty Sergeant said I’ll have truck there in 10 minutes.
Last October we needed tow service when my DW drove our tow-car off of our tow dolly. I called our insurance company for road service. All I got were AI automated messages and no response. It was pouring out and 38 degrees. So, I called my insurance agent, they called the roadservice contracted by the insurance company, and nothing. Finally, my DW called the first number that came up on Google, the tow truck was at our location in less than half an hour, and after just over an hour I drove our toad back onto the dolly. Great service. We sent the bill to our insurance company for reimbursement. Last month, I changed insurance on the RV after only 8 months with the new company.
Been left high and dry by two major providers, and have learned the whole roadside assistance industry is just a joke. You call, recite numbers to machines, then speak to people a thousand miles away, reading a script. You wait while they supposedly round up help. Unless you are in a big metro, this can take hours, and your final result can be ‘sorry, we can’t find anyone to come out there’.
You are better off putting the hood up, poking around, and praying hard that someone with tools or local knowledge is kind enough to stop. As in the article, get the phone number of a real tow service that works in the immediate area, or get a jump and limp into a recommended local shop.
I’ve used road side twice in 15 years. Both times the dispatcher gave the wrong info to the tow providers. Thsi last time I thought I was ahead of the game as I mentioned at least 4 times that I had an F450 and to tell them to send a long bed, flat bed. Nope, showed up with a flatbed but too small for the F450. Luckily the shop was only a couple miles away, and after getting authorization, he was back in about 20 minutes with the right towtruck.
I’ve had Coach-Net for over 20 years and used them about 5 times in those 20+ years. I’ve always spoke with a live person and never waited more than an hour or two for the tow provider to show up, and they called back about every 30 minutes to keep me updated on the arrival time and confirm that the tow did actually show up. No complaints from me.
One of the lessons we learned is that when you need roadside services in more remote, rural locations, there is often only one provider who works with all of the roadside services companies. So it doesn’t really matter which company you took out your plan through, they are only as good as the actual service providers available. Fortunately we found this out the very first time we needed roadside services and the provider shared this information. And it never hurts to be proactive and call the local area provider as well as the company from whom you bought the plan.
I’ve used Coachnet on two different occasions. Both times we talked to a real person and each time they were professional, helpful, and we connected in a reasonable time. One tow was a few miles, the second around 175 miles or so. Coachnet, IMO, did a great job.
belt came loose coming up the hill to Grangeville one year. Bell Equipment, one street off of the main drag, laughed when I came in for help. They were just ribbing me, and I can always handle that as they were smiling.
Let my disabled wife stay in the cab and had me back on the road for $97.50 in an hour.
Before I had left home I had a new alternator put on and they didn’t Torque down the bolts.
A Belt came loose) They work on all the farm equipment and the Extra large Dozers.
I’ve had to use roadside assistance twice with our motorhome. Both times I had to play dispatcher myself to find a tow company and a repair shop. The first time was Good Sam, the second was Escapees. Both were equally disappointing.
I fully agree with the idea of trying to find a shop to do the work while you wait for the tow. Last year, on Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend we experienced a blowout in rural Kansas. By calling shops in local towns (fortunately we had internet) I was able to find one that would stay open past their usual closing time for us to come in for a tire and installation. it worked great.