Escapees Roadside Assistance Failure

[Georgianne]

15 hours ago, Towboater said:

This is the end (I HOPE):

From Julie Madden

I see where you are coming from, I would be less than happy if I thought I had coverage and was told I didn’t. I took this up with my supervisor explaining the benefits are not clear, I asked that we make an exception and consider reimbursing you for the service you paid for. If you can please send me a copy of your receipt I will submit it to the claims dept. on your behalf and get the ball rolling.

My Response:

Ms. Madden

 Thank you for your response. I will copy and email invoice for your approval. I will also forward to the Escapees Forum that we have, from my perspective reached a favorable outcome.

Thank you for the update on this. I'm going to copy your comments in this thread and forward them to our liaison at Saferide. To be honest, this nuance in coverage wasn't explained to me in my numerous conversations with Ed Thor (from Saferide) over the last 18 months or so we've offered this program. I'm as surprised as you are.
I'm going to work with them to clarify the explanation of services and confirm that what you were told is accurate so 1) you get the quality of service we promise on behalf of Saferide, and 2) our marketing of the service is more accurate. I'm sorry you had to experience this disruption of service in order for us to learn of this loophole. 
I appreciate you taking the time to explain the situation here and to seek an appropriate resolution from Saferide. If I get additional information from Ed that warrants sharing here, I will do so.

[gypsydan]

It is interesting that Ms. Madden went to her Spv for an OK for reimbersement only AFTER you had posted on this forum. I can imagine the outcome IF you had not posted to the forum. It would be more interesting to see what their response would be should someone in SKP management call them with a problem.

I remember at Escapades this year, the man presenting this roadside assitance policy to our members REFUSED to use the microphone and speaker system when giving his presentation the 1st time, even after being asked by several members in the hall that they were having a hard time hearing him. I reported his rudeness to the office, and noted the 2nd time he presented he used the microphone. So the company does learn, it just takes a lot of pushing from our end - which need not be the case.

I have yet to read the other complaints on the forum about the SKP roadside service, so it will be interesting to see if Travis or Shawn have commented.

[Kirk W]

13 minutes ago, gypsydan said:

It would be more interesting to see what their response would be should someone in SKP management call them with a problem.

And what makes you so sure that has not happened?

[Georgianne]

Hi all!
As I stated before, I reached out to Ed Thor (the same person who presented at Escapade and who serves as our primary liaison at Saferide). Turns out, I hadn't been informed of that issue, the one regarding limited benefits on non-RV vehicles, because that isn't their policy. Ed assured me that, when he researched my inquiry, the team responsible for that misinformation was already being retrained to ensure they're fully aware of what is included in Escapees Roadside Assistance. 
So, to put a finer point on it, all vehicles covered under the same policy should be covered to the same extent.

[Georgianne]

 

 

 

 

3

On 4/24/2019 at 6:05 PM, gypsydan said:

It is interesting that Ms. Madden went to her Spv for an OK for reimbersement only AFTER you had posted on this forum. I can imagine the outcome IF you had not posted to the forum. It would be more interesting to see what their response would be should someone in SKP management call them with a problem.

I remember at Escapades this year, the man presenting this roadside assitance policy to our members REFUSED to use the microphone and speaker system when giving his presentation the 1st time, even after being asked by several members in the hall that they were having a hard time hearing him. I reported his rudeness to the office, and noted the 2nd time he presented he used the microphone. So the company does learn, it just takes a lot of pushing from our end - which need not be the case.

I have yet to read the other complaints on the forum about the SKP roadside service, so it will be interesting to see if Travis or Shawn have commented.

Hey there!

Please don't assume that Saferide only addressed the issue because it was posted to this forum. It looks as though the OP was already trying to address the issue with them before bringing it here. That is typically the most efficient way to resolve a customer service concern, as the conversation remains directly between those who are impacted by the problem. When more people get involved, it takes longer to achieve a resolution. I appreciate that Towboater took the initiative to go straight back to Saferide in addition to voicing their concerns here. 

Also, when issues with our programs and services are brought to our attention, our leadership does discuss them with the responsible provider. In most cases, it is a situation of learning how both we and the provider can work to prevent the problem or miscommunication in the future. In many of those situations, as in this one, the provider has already resolved the problem directly with the member/customer, we're simply following-up. 

You may find some comments from Shawn or Travis, but please know that it is the responsibility of our marketing and communications team to monitor our social media and discussion forum conversations. Travis and Shawn both have far bigger responsibilities to the club, so please don't take a lack of input directly from them as apathy towards the issue(s). It's the job of me and my team to address concerns, and only involve our highest leadership in finding solutions when the scope of the concern is beyond our capacity.  

[bigboomer]

Sorry for all your problems.  We, too experienced issues with this service.  I attended an Escapee webinar, which said medium duty trucks were covered.  There was no caveat that medium duty trucks (whether with or without sleeping quarters) were not covered for winch service.  We were told semi tractors (Class 7/8) required a separate policy.   Leaving nothing to chance, I also spoke directly to Safeco customer service before switching from Coachnet to Escapees and asked about coverage for our medium duty truck as well as our street legal motorcycles and street legal side X side, giving the specifications of each vehicle.  I was assured all were covered and it was confirmed that Semi tractors needed their own policy.  We had three incidents over the course of 1 year with 2 different vehicles (none of which involved our 5th wheel) in which we needed Escapees Roadside Assistance.  Each time we called for service, the representative said only our 5th wheel was covered.  Why would we purchase a product that only covered our 5th wheel and not our truck, which is our main form of transportation? I (Sue) asked for a supervisor each time and fought the battle to actually get service, albeit after wasting over an hour each time.  The supervisor from the first incident gave no reason for the rep's inaction.  The supervisor for the second incident cited improper rep training for the problem (which seems to be the common excuse based upon prior comments in this thread).  The supervisor from the third incident said it is "a disconnect between actual Roadside Assistance and who is selling the product."  I notified Escapees in December 2018 after the second incident, and was told they would look into the matter.  We had the third incident in January 2019, after which I notified Escapees  yet again.  They attributed it to an internal issue at Safeco and said Safeco must address it.  I called Safeco customer service (Julie) and reiterated all of the above.  I tried to give them the VIN numbers of all our vehicles for their computer system to alleviate any future problems.  They said they do not record VIN numbers, only that of the RV covered.  I asked who, specifically, is the seller that Supervisor 3 referenced?  She said that would be Escapees.  I contacted Escapees multiple times since January to alert them to this issue.  As folks who represented the club and promoted Escapee products at RV shows (we have since resigned), I didn't want other members to run into this situation nor have Escapees name attached to an inferior product.  After inaction on Escapees part, I contacted Vehicle Administrative Services (VAS) in March directly and spoke to Patricia.  That's when I was told 1) winch service is not included for medium duty trucks.  2) My street legal side X side is not covered for any service, even when I am on a legal street rather than a back country trail.  So it looks like VAS is speaking out of both sides of their mouths.  I looked into FMCA's roadside assistance program as well, and that is the case with them, too (they also use VAS and Safeco).  Long story short, we went back to Coachnet.  

[rynosback]

On 4/23/2019 at 8:05 PM, fly2low said:

What I expected

But why jump through hoops?  I guess most people would be like OH OK and pay it and not even think about it.  This just saves the company money.  Plus in doing it this way, they are paying full retail to reimburse members.  Not a smart business model if you could have paid the wholesale contracted amount to the tow truck.

just like when I had a claim against a home warranty.  They said it was a pre-existing condition and it was not covered.  I spoke with there supervisor and then there supervisor and got it covered.  Like the old saying, squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[Towboater]

This is the official end!

 Received reimbursement from Safe Ride for the full amount of the winching invoice. I was pleasantly surprised when I received the check within a week of sending the invoice.

  I want to thank all of the Escapees who weighed in on this topic.

 

[Zulu]

On 4/23/2019 at 6:54 AM, Ronbo said:

It doesn’t matter how old the program is. 

I think it can. I avoid any "Version 1.0" product or service.