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What You鈥檙e NOT Being Told About RV Roadside Assistance! - YouTube
Channel: Grateful Glamper
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there are a record number of rvs on the
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road right now but there are not a
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record number of rv roadside providers
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what does this mean for you
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stay tuned and we're going to break it
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down we are charity ben dakota and
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trinity we decided we didn't want to
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wait for a life of adventure so in 2017
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we bought our first rv and set off to
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live a life of travel in the usa
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we've visited over 38 states in three
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years and have many more to go follow
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along to learn all the best places to
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see rv and travel tips and much more
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[Music]
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so thank you so much for coming back to
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the channel we recently read an article
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from
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rvtravel.com about the whole state of
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the union so to speak when it comes to
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roadside assistance and rving and we
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wanted to make video because we have
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personally experienced what is going on
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this past summer when it comes to
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roadside assistance and rving and now
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we'll tell you about that a little bit
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later in the video but suffice it to say
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when we kind of read some of this it
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totally resonated with us and we wanted
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to share this information with you guys
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out there because it could potentially
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impact each and every one of you so we
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have a class a diesel pusher motorhome
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it's about 40 feet long and in the three
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years that we have owned our rig we have
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been towed twice the first time happened
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down in arizona where we had a fan hub
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come apart and our rig overheated
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and this was just outside of the benson
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area of arizona and we had to get towed
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approximately eight miles and then
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another time just this past summer in
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the sturgis area of south dakota now put
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a link for this whole video because we
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did document everything that happened up
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above if you're interested in kind of
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taking a look at more at what happened
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and how that whole experience turned out
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but after that experience we really
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started looking into the whole roadside
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assistance thing for our rv because
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there was a gap in what our insurance
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covered versus what the actual tow bill
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was because our insurance cap did a
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certain dollar amount and we wanted to
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make sure we were protected and didn't
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have that issue again especially if an
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eight mile tow bill cost us enough where
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we had an out of pocket amount we
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couldn't even imagine what if it had
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been more than that so we secured a
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different roadside assistance plan
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through good sam after that to be able
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to just kind of have the peace of mind
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knowing that we would be covered for any
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roadside assistance so this past summer
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we had a breakdown in the sturgis south
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dakota area and now this whole breakdown
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we also documented this
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was about a five-day ordeal
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so it was two different videos that we
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documented this in and i'll put a link
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up above for those two videos and also
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put a link at the end for those two
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videos as well because the way that
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everything unfolded was fairly
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interesting and we learned a lot and
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probably you can learn quite a bit from
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this whole scenario that happened too so
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want to probably go back and watch those
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at some point so there are really two
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things that you need to know right now
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if you are an rv or even a van lifer
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when it comes to roadside assistance and
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then we're gonna share some tips a
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little bit later in this video about how
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to choose a roadside plan that works so
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make sure that you watch to the end for
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those now this is a direct quote from
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rvtravel.com
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the large number of inexperienced new
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rvers also brings trouble to road help
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services it's very frustrating to
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everyone when so many new rvers are
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having problems on their very first trip
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we're seeing many more calls for
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technical assistance since many rvers
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just don't understand how their rig
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works that problem is compounded by
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customers renting rvs from peer-to-peer
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rental companies they have zero
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experience with the rv and they're
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calling our help centers adding to the
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very high call volumes and here's
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another quote towing charges are going
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up with the demand for their services
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and rvers experiencing breakdowns on
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their trip can likely expect more delays
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and more difficulty finding qualified
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service personnel to get their rigs back
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on the road boy can we attest to this
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when we broke down i called good sam the
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day before that we needed to be towed
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now luckily we found a good samaritan
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that pulled us into a camp ground itself
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and
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again there's just so many interesting
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and miraculous points to the story you
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really should just watch the whole saga
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unfold and we'll link at the end but
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we didn't need to be towed out till the
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next day so i gave good sam a full 24
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hours notice
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well the next day came in the time
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window that they told us that the tow
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truck would be there that time window
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came and went
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and
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so well
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probably just want to show you what
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happened right here so when you say you
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wouldn't be able to get to us this
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afternoon would you be able to get to us
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like yet today like early evening or an
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appointment
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tomorrow morning okay
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in the meantime we got busy
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yeah no i understand it's the height of
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our v season
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well and like i i shouldn't say this but
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this such company they use the gerald is
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horrible
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they will spend hours calling around to
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see if they can save ten dollars right
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okay
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all right well are you in a campground
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yeah so here's here's the situation i am
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in a campground
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but what we've got is that
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so we're we have a diesel pusher it's a
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no start problem pretty darn sure it's a
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fuel delivery issue because i had it at
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the boss truck stop and rapid yesterday
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they put a fuel pressure regulator on it
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and a factory fuel filter
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sent us down the road we were singing
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down the road just fine but as soon as
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we came to a stop we died
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couldn't restart it
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uh we were right off of i-90 and there
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was a campground literally right across
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the street so kind of a good samaritan
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stop by that had like a f-550 truck and
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a tow strap and i was like i can at
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least haul you into the campground
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but i have an appointment with butler
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cat in rapid city for six in the morning
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tomorrow
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so i was hoping we could get there and
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you know be in the parking lot then by 6
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a.m tomorrow so that way we could have
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him start looking at it because i mean
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you know we're from florida and this
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isn't our home base
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and anybody else is like two weeks out
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to be able to get us serviced and so
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it's like i want and of course it's a
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cat engine it really just needs to be
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looked at by somebody that knows cat
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it's still early morning for me i know
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that okay okay is it it's that time of
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the year there's just been enough tow
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companies in the area for the volume of
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people
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this year yeah
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so after we posted
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this video the comments started flying
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in
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and other people told us where they had
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very similar issues where they called
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for roadside assistance and
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they never showed up and they left them
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high and dry
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and so we have a few tips now after
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having experienced this of what you can
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do to make sure that you get roadside
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service when you actually need it so tip
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number one
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you know the saying the squeaky wheel
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gets the grease well be prepared to be
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the squeaky wheel
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we were told that what happens with good
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sam is that they call several different
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service providers and they get quotes
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and they're looking for the cheapest one
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well what happened in our particular
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case was that good sam had called this
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particular service provider to get a
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quote
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and they didn't just give them the okay
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to just dispatch them right then and
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there to come tow us
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they started making other phone calls
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well by the time that then they got
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around to calling the service provider
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back and said yeah go ahead because they
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couldn't find anybody else cheaper that
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service provider had already taken a
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bunch of other calls and then now he
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couldn't get to us
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so if you have called for roadside
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assistance
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and they've given you a specific time
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window or whatever it is that they have
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given you
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make sure that you kind of stay on them
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to find out how they actually secured a
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service provider or are they still
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playing this game of calling around and
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trying to find the guy that's going to
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be 10 bucks than the last guy that they
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talked to tip number two speak with that
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service provider directly
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and make sure
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that you have talked to them to confirm
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the time window of when they're actually
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going to show up in our particular case
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good sam told us that this was going to
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be the service provider and then when i
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got on the phone with him i got a very
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different story
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so confirm with that service provider
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that you've been told is going to come
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out that the story that you're getting
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from your roadside company matches the
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story that you're getting from the
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service provider regarding the time that
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they're actually going to show up before
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we get to tips three and four we wanted
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to take a minute to thank the sponsor of
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today's video to go power now we've
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pretty much learned the hard way over
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the last four years
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what it looks like to
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not have a power source when we need it
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and it probably really came to that
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point of just we can't do this anymore
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this last summer when we were in
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northern wisconsin trying to upload a
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video in an area that we had driven to
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and the laptop is dying and it just
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turned into a minor disaster
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not having a constant source of power we
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had our i've had it moment and decided
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we needed to have something that we
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could bring with us to have a portable
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power source that was a hundred percent
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reliable so we were super excited to be
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able to partner with to go power
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with the new advanced 360 power station
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working remotely means that we can work
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in the forest or at the beach and having
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a way to power our laptops phones charge
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camera batteries drone batteries all of
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the things that keep us moving in
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creating videos is very helpful plus the
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whole reason we live this lifestyle is
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to be portable and the to go power
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station makes portability completely
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possible
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for us the to-go power station can be
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charged through a household outlet
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through a power outlet in our jeep or
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our personal favorite with the to go
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solar panel because hey we all like free
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energy
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and who in the rv world doesn't love
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their solar we've been using the to go
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solar panel to charge our power station
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and while here in sunny florida we're
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finding it actually charges rather
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quickly through the solar panel hookup
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and we can actually charge our devices
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simultaneously
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while charging it with the solar panel
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one thing we love about the to go solar
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panel is it's foldable which means it's
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very easy to transport it even zips
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closed so that while it's in our
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basement compartment of our rv or in the
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back of our jeep it's protected and we
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can transport it safely and easily plus
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with the folding stands in the back it
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makes it very easy to set up at just the
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right angle to maximize the sunshine to
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charge the power station so we are super
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happy to have the to go power station in
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our rv tool arsenal you can find it at
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the link in the description below tip
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number three check with your insurance
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company to see if you potentially have
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roadside assistance as part of your
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insurance after we switched over to
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progressive insurance we found out that
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we actually had roadside assistance that
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covered our motorhome and it even
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covered our motor home in the event we
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needed to be towed with no out-of-pocket
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maximums as far as a dollar amount was
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concerned that was different than our
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prior insurance provider that we had
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when we broke down that time in arizona
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so you don't want to be paying double
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for something so double check with your
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insurance provider to see if the type of
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roadside coverage that they have for
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your rv policy covers you for those
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roadside emergencies as well tip number
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four rv dealers are way packed up with
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repairs so if you end up needing a
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repair that is causing you to not be
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able to move on right so this is a
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repair that your motor home is not
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drivable without having had made or your
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trailer is not towable without having
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this repair made
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check with either heavy truck shops if
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you have a drivable rv or check with
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trailer shops if you have a towable rv
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we've had very good luck with being able
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to find service that is able to get us
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in very very quickly by using
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caterpillar or freightliner dealers
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because we have a diesel pusher any sort
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of heavy duty truck shop that works on
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say like ups or fedex trucks can usually
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work on motorhomes as well
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and a lot of times different trailer
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shops that work on say horse trailers or
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utility trailers can also work on the
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chassis part so your axles tires wheels
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breaks of any sort of rv chassis as well
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so you'll have to let us know in the
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comments below what your experience has
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been with roadside providers and if
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you've ever had to call roadside
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assistance for your rv and how that
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situation turned out we would love to
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know in the comments below
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just what your experience has been or if
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you have a roadside company that you're
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just super happy with let us know that
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in the comments below as well thanks so
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much for watching this video if you
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would like to see more videos with
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really fun places to visit and travel
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with your rv check those out right over
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here and if you would like to see some
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of our rv renovation series if maybe
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you're considering that or just curious
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you can check those out right over here
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if we don't see on the road or at the
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campground we'll see in the next video
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