This is probably the wrong part of the forum but I aave to vent. On the way home tonight, the drive shaft steady bearing went out on our Volkswagon Touareg. We were not pulling our trailer luckily. I called the Good Sam Roadside Assistance number on my card and got an operator. I told her where we were ( one mile north of Highway 1, on Highway 101, at the Centerport Canada Way turnoff, west side of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.) and what we needed. She asked our civic address. There are no buildings to see a civic address, and then she wanted our GPS coordinates. I do not have smart phone or a GPS in the vehicle. She asked where we wanted the vehicle towed to, and I gave her the information. Things were getting very frustrating for me, as the operator had no knowledge of rural locations. She kept on asking for my home civic address aned I gave her the address that our Fire, Ambulance and Police all respond to with no difficulty. I also gave her our section/ township/range address, as we live on an acerage in a rural area. I had to call a tow truck operator that I know in our local town. I gave this information to the operator. I told her the repair shop that I wanted the vehicle taken to several times, but she could not find "the civic location" for the repair shop. In frustration, I told her that I wanted it towed to my home, and again she could not find our "civic location". The local tow operator knows me well, and knows the shop to have the vehicle taken to, which is 2 miles from where I live. It seemed as though the operator was more interested in trying to calculate how much extra to charge us for the towing than to help solve our problem. Finally I had to request to talk to her supervisor as this woman was getting nowhere. The supervisor was not much better, both of them telling us that they could not find us without a civic address as to where we were. Can you imagine breaking down in the middle of Nebraska, with no way of getting GPS coordinates, not a house or a cross road in site, but knowing that you were on a numbered highway about x number of miles from a town.
We were on the phone for 1 hour and 15 minutes with these people and if I had not given them all the information to get a tow truck I would still be on the phone. I am a retired fire fighter as well as Fire Chief, and this was the most frustrating conversation I have ever had with any dispatch system. I have left a email for a senior manager from the Good Sam Club to call me over this incident. If this had happened 3 days ago when the temperature was -45 degrees and the engine in the vehicle had stopped, a person could freeze to death. I was also told that I must remain with the vehicle to have it towed. I asked her how long we might have to wait, and she did not know, so I asked "what if we couldn't get a tow for a day, do I have to stay in the vehicle" and the answer was "YES". Sorry about the long rant, but I think that anybody that has this Good Sam plan should take a second look at what you are paying for. If you have a breakdown outside of an urban area you could wait a long time for any service from this company. Will let the forum members know how this plays out after talking with somebody in the Good Sam Club that has better knowledge than what I talked to tonight. Drive safe!!! Chris
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