US Rider Service - Bad Experience

[CindyCRNA]

[QUOTE=CustomDesign;8778798]
I’ve only had to call them once (thankfully) and it wasn’t a great experience. Our truck broke down while hauling a trailer with one horse. We were stuck at a highway rest stop. First I called US Rider and they said they would send a tow truck to bring our truck to a mechanic and also a separate tow vehicle to haul our trailer/horse back to the barn, and that it would all be covered so no cost out of pocket.

Then my husband thought he had fixed the truck so I called to cancel the tow.

Turns out the truck still wouldn’t work so I called them back and got a different representative, this one told me they could send the two tows but that it would cost us almost $400 out of pocket. I asked why I was getting different information this time than what I got 30 minutes ago and she basically told me “I have no idea why they would have told you it wouldn’t cost anything in the first place” even when I asked her to double check that she was looking at the same tow company that I was quoted for the first time.

So we ended up borrowing a friend’s truck to haul our trailer home and US Rider sent a tow truck to bring our truck to the mechanic. When the tow truck driver arrived I rode to the mechanic with him. Super nice guy, we got to talking and he told me he could have towed our truck AND trailer home on one rig, and it would have cost the same amount of money as just towing the truck, but US Rider never even asked him or mentioned that we had a trailer in the first place.[/QUOTE]

I don’t understand this. Why even have US Rider if you have to pay $400 out of pocket?

[Holly_Jeanne]

I remain loyal to them but one time suggested they needed to screen providers more carefully. I got the horse trailer stuck in the mud and I mean badly. I had driven in at about 10 p.m. and didn’t know about the muddy patch. I was able to leave the trailer over night and call during the day. I told them it was both a 3/4 ton diesel truck and a two horse trailer with side ramp and dressing room. The guy that came had a smaller truck than me and it was OLD. I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to work but we tried getting it out by pulling the truck. IT was completely ineffective. So, the tow truck driver suggested unhitching the truck, pulling it out, and then hooking the cable to the gooseneck trailer pulling it out that way. I vetoed the idea as I saw the possibility for series damage to the trailer. I sent him away and called USRider. He apparently told them I had refused service and they refused the request to call someone more appropriate. I found a place nearby that came out and very quickly got me unstuck. I paid for the service and wrote a letter to USRider outlining the details. They actually did send me a refund check which is why I remain loyal. I did tell them they needed to know more about what kind of tow vehicle they were sending out for what kind of a situation.

[Heart_s_Journey]

Ive been with US Rider for about 10 years and this past Sun had my third time using them. All 3 have been good experiences. I was driving home from visiting my mom and near the West Palm Service Plaza. (truck only, no trailer) I was passing an RV when all of a sudden my truck died and started slowing down. I put on my right blinker and moved to the right once the RV was past and then let it coast to a stop in the far right lane.
I got out and called US Rider. While it took the operator awhile to figure out exactly where I was he did try to pinpoint it so he could call someone close by. I got a text that the tow truck would be there within 1.25 hours. The tow truck driver called me and said he had another call before me, so it would be a bit longer. He called again when he was close, brought me a COLD GATORAIDE which I thought was really nice of him. I had lucked out and there was a big tractor parked under some palm trees about 500 yards from my truck, so I had walked to it, climbed aboard and had a nice shady comfortable place to wait for him. The driver was excellent, good conversation, and took me to the auto place I wanted.
Tow truck providers will vary all over the US - it also depends on how busy of a day it is. Turns out my fuel pump had broken and no fuel was going to the engine, that’s why it conked out. $1,330 later I have it back…

[Lucassb]

[QUOTE=PNWjumper;8779556]

So I guess all I can say is that in your situation I would have asked for the tow truck company name and would have called them directly immediately. In my case they relayed exactly the same information to me as they did to the USRider’s rep. It wasn’t USRider’s fault that the tow truck company was slow or that they had other calls to respond to.[/QUOTE]

They text you the tow truck company contact info. I had no trouble getting in touch with them; they just wouldn’t actually show up - at least not til after 6, when they could charge for a tow to their “$torage facility” plus a second tow the following day to the dealer. There was no shortage of service providers at all; I think I had at least four “dispatched” to me yesterday. It was just when they realized it was a short tow to a local dealer, they couldn’t be bothered because it wasn’t enough $$.

US Rider is supposed to tell you that if you can get help faster from another towing company, you have the option to use them instead and submit the charge for reimbursement. I spoke to at least 10 different people there yesterday and not one single person mentioned that as an option. If they had, I could have either had my dealer tow the car or use their preferred service, which would have picked up my car in under a half hour. The whole experience was just a cluster.

I will be switching to Trail guard instead…

[xQHDQ]

Had to use them last weekend. Truck broke down on major highway WITH the trailer (on the way to a horse show). It took 3.5 hours to get a tow but I was so thankful someone could take care of the horses and the truck. I did have a plan B but it was complicated and probably wouldn’t have taken much less time. I feel much better that my horse will definately be taken care of and consider it a cost well worth paying.

Here’s plan B for the person who asked what we would have done without US Rider:
Friend who was with me would have called her father who had her extra keys to her truck. He would then either get her truck from my house and drive it to us or give the keys to my husband who would then drive it out to us. We would hook her truck to my trailer and drive the horses home. In the meantime, I would call AAA and get them to come for the truck.
This would only have worked because we were within an hour of home. And AAA would need to come first to move my truck out of the way so her truck could hook up.

[SendenHorse]

I always learn so much in COTH!
Trailguard looks interesting jwpur. Thanks for the info

[SendenHorse]

Don’t Usef members get a discount on us rider? Its quite a bit cheaper than trailguard even before any discounts are applied.

[Pocket_Pony]

[QUOTE=Sandy M;8778541]
Perhaps it has something to do with the area or ? I’m in Northern California, SF Bay Area. I’ve only used my U. S. Rider Insurance once, and while it was a 3 hour wait, they SAID it would be 3 hours, and arrived more or less on time, were quick and efficient in loading my disabled truck on a flatbed, hitching trailer to back of flatbed, whereupon I reloaded my horse and they took him “home,” then took the truck to my mechanic. And yes, AAA will not do anything if livestock is involved.[/QUOTE]

Mr. PoPo and I were hauling from Grass Valley to Ram Tap one year and had a blowout on the truck tire, but of course the trailer was attached. Called AAA because I actually thought US Rider dealt only with the trailers. We had the nicest tow guy come out to change out the tire. Even though the trailer was hitched up, where we were was hilly and because it was a blowout we couldn’t just drive along to a flat area (which could have been miles away). The AAA guy didn’t bat an eye. Said it would be difficult and tight to jack up the truck with the trailer attached but he would give it a try. And he did it and we were so grateful! Horse was fine, we got to Ram Tap fine and when we got unloaded and settled in we headed to a tire shop to have them all replaced. Ugh. Not a fun weekend from that perspective, although Mr. PoPo did well at the show.

[Tiger_Paws]

`Thank you for calling US Rider. Are you and your horses safe?"…don’t know how many times I’ve said that

Very interesting thread. I wish I could respond to each person, but that would take far too long…lol

I use to work at the call center that handled US Rider calls, and did many many US Rider calls. The roadside assistance for US Rider is provided by Nation Safe Driver, and the dispatching is done by Alliance Communications. I worked at the dispatch center in London, Ontario, Canada.

If anyone has any specific questions I would be glad to answer them. I stopped working there in April of this year, so I doubt much has changed.

One of the issues with US Rider is the fact than none of the agents know anything about horses. Zip, zero, nada. I was the only horse person working at the entire call center. The amount of training you get is laughable. Once youve been a call center rep for a few weeks you get a quick 1 hr at most run down on the US Rider program, listen in on a few calls done by a more experienced agent, and then its sink or swim on your own. I knew way more about trailering horses than my trainer knew.

Nation Safe Driver does not have their own trucks, they rely on a network of providers throughout the US. If you are in a populated area, or if you have a passenger vehicle then most likely they have multiple providers than can do the service.

Once an agent gets your information they choose what type of service you require from a drop down menu. They will always first try to find a network provider. If no network providers are available, or their ETAs are outside of the acceptable parameters they go out of network. The system, called TowNet, automatically chooses which network provider must be called. The agents have no choice. Once they go out of network the agents are literally Googling for a provider. Pro tip: They often use a site called TruckDown.com. Often times providers would rather deal with the customer directly because motor clubs pay crappy rates and are a PITA for service providers.

The rates that US Rider pays the towing companies are pathetically low. They tell the providers that they will make up for it based on volume. But there are just not enough people that need heavy duty tows to get the volume needed to justify the low rates. That`s why you get stuck at the side of the road waiting for a provider to arrive. Their network of heavy duty and super heavy duty providers that can service truck and trailer combos pulling horses is very small.

[Tiger_Paws]

[QUOTE=Lucassb;8779690]
They text you the tow truck company contact info. I had no trouble getting in touch with them; they just wouldn’t actually show up - at least not til after 6, when they could charge for a tow to their “$torage facility” plus a second tow the following day to the dealer. There was no shortage of service providers at all; I think I had at least four “dispatched” to me yesterday. It was just when they realized it was a short tow to a local dealer, they couldn’t be bothered because it wasn’t enough $$.

US Rider is supposed to tell you that if you can get help faster from another towing company, you have the option to use them instead and submit the charge for reimbursement. I spoke to at least 10 different people there yesterday and not one single person mentioned that as an option. If they had, I could have either had my dealer tow the car or use their preferred service, which would have picked up my car in under a half hour. The whole experience was just a cluster.

I will be switching to Trail guard instead…[/QUOTE]

That’s not actually how the reimbursement consideration works.

If US Rider has an in network provider that gives them an acceptable ETA (which to them is 2 hrs or less), they will NOT reimburse you if you find a faster provider.

It is only if they can not find a provider to be there in what they consider acceptable will they possibly reimburse.

The first in network provider that gives US Rider an ETA of 2 hours or less is the one that they go with. They always try to stay in network if at all possible. They have contracted rates for the network providers, and those rates are much, much less than what the providers can normally charge.

[Tiger_Paws]

[QUOTE=CindyCRNA;8779639]
I don’t understand this. Why even have US Rider if you have to pay $400 out of pocket?[/QUOTE]

US Rider coverage is $400 for towing, and $200 for roadside assistance. If the cost of your tow or roadside exceeds those amounts you pay our of pocket for the overage.

We were trained to arrange roadside repair of at all possible, and only tow if a roadside repair was not an option.

[Tiger_Paws]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;8779072]
With the easy access to all kinds of mapping systems right on the average smart phone there really is no excuse for them to not know pretty much right where the person calling is located and right where the service station is located.[/QUOTE]

Mapping systems on phones rely of determining which cell tower the signal is coming from, in remote areas towers are few and far between.

Having been on the other end of the phone trying to help a stranded motorist (not just US Rider) my best advice is be aware of your surroundings. Pay attention to what mile marker you are at, what the last exit was that you passed, and what other landmarks are around you.

Secondly, US Rider does not just find the closest provider and send them out. They have a computer system that uses an algorithm to determine the “top” provider for the call. They use such factors as location, previously given ETAs, customer satisfaction or complaints on past calls to determine who to call. And then that provider has to have the equipment available to dispatch.

[hosspuller]

Tigerpaws … Thanks for the inside look…

[TheJenners]

From a LE standpoint, I do not “allow” (using the term, I know it sounds snotty) a driver to arrange their own tow via their insurance carrier. Because it ALWAYS takes two plus hours. I came across a lady who had been parked in a dead car for four hours at a local park, in the cold and dark, while her insurance dispatched a tow from somewhere OFF ISLAND when we have plenty.

I had her arranged with a local tow in less than five, en route from less than 10 minutes away.

At collision scenes people will call AAA and insist they use what AAA sends… Sorry, I’m not blocking traffic for three hours.

[B]Pro tip: if you have roadside service on your ins plan, call your own tow and then get reimbursed from your carrier.

[/B]Yes, you actually can do this. Promise. You may have to articulate it, esp if as Tiger Paws says, the provider promises service in less than two hours. If it is going to be more than two hours or you get jerked around, call on your own, pay, submit for reimbursement explaining why.

[candyappy]

This is why I always use an insurance provider who is local (usually in my town) for both home and auto. When you have an issue Farm Bureau takes care of it immediately and it is with people they do business with on a daily basis.

[Tiger_Paws]

[QUOTE=TheJenners;8782934]

[B]Pro tip: if you have roadside service on your ins plan, call your own tow and then get reimbursed from your carrier.

[/B][/QUOTE]

If you call your own tow there is no guarantee that you will be reimbursed.

The whole business model of motor clubs is paying the providers squat and doing volume, volume, volume. If you arrange your own tow, the cost is going to be considerably more than what the motor club would have paid one of their contracted providers. They do not like paying.

We were trained to tell customers they could submit paid receipts for “reimbursement consideration” This was meant to reassure customers but in reality they chances of getting reimbursed were very low.

As a side note, when answering a call the first thing we were suppose to do was ask “are you in a safe location” or “are you safe to wait with your vehicle.” If you failed to do that your quality score was an automatic zero. If the response was yes they were safe, then you could proceed with the call. If the response was “no”, you were to say, “then I suggest you call the local authorities, they can have someone there much faster than we can”

Police calls always took priority with the tow providers. I had providers either decline, or call back and cancel because they had a police call or too many police calls.

[Lucassb]

[QUOTE=Tiger Paws;8782759]
That’s not actually how the reimbursement consideration works.

If US Rider has an in network provider that gives them an acceptable ETA (which to them is 2 hrs or less), they will NOT reimburse you if you find a faster provider.

It is only if they can not find a provider to be there in what they consider acceptable will they possibly reimburse.

The first in network provider that gives US Rider an ETA of 2 hours or less is the one that they go with. They always try to stay in network if at all possible. They have contracted rates for the network providers, and those rates are much, much less than what the providers can normally charge.[/QUOTE]

It had already been more than 2 hours by the time I called them back the first time… and then there were 8-9 more calls over the course of about 7 hours. The head of customer service told me ALL of those 8-9 people should have offered to let me get a local service provider on my own and submit the expense for reimbursement.

Anyway. Moot point now.

[coloredhorse]

[QUOTE=Tiger Paws;8782970]
If you call your own tow there is no guarantee that you will be reimbursed. [/QUOTE]

As Tiger Paws’ posts have pointed out, the employees at national call centers have very little authority or resources. However, that doesn’t mean that reimbursement cannot be likely … or I’d even go so far as to say “guaranteed.”

For all services by a national company, learn who your regional–or local, if such exists–VP or director of customer service is. Learn that person’s name, phone number, email, physical office address and the name of their assistant(s). At the director and above level, you are talking with someone who has the actual authority to do something for you, and who is not bound by a script or instructions that lead you round and round the mulberry bush with no end in sight.

I have never, and I do mean never, in all of my adult life, with several examples I could cite, failed to get very close to exactly what I wanted by contacting one of these people.

[vtonic]

US Rider is worthless. The website is very misleading. It would take a lot for me to call a business a fraud but I am tempted to in this case.
Although they list lockout service, flat tire service separately all of those are considered “roadside repair” and your coverage is only $200 on the primary membership. You pay them $139 and they cover up to $200 - A great Deal Right?

I was at a horse park with 400 other horses. My horses were out of the trailer and all I needed was to switch out one tire for another. They asked me all kinds of questions about my trailer (make, model, year, etc. but had no idea what I was talking about when I said it was a standard 2-horse slant. (they bill themselves as Equestrian specialists).
After being on hold for 20 minutes they told me that they didn’t have coverage in my area. I was at a horse park in California that hosts many hundreds of horses each month throughout the year - and they don’t have coverage.

I was told to stay on hold - a half hour now. Then they came back and said that they could get someone there in an hour but the cost was$250 and I only have $200 coverage (although a flat fix shows no fee on their website)

In all of that time I could have driven down the road to a gas station and had it done, Luckily the show farrier had a ramp and we did it in 10 minutes.

Waste of time and money. Really deceptive

[vtonic]

Not real roadside assistance for riders
US Rider is worthless. The website is very misleading. It would take a lot for me to call a business a fraud but I am tempted to in this case.
Although they list lockout service, flat tire service separately all of those are considered “roadside repair” and your coverage is only $200 on the primary membership. You pay them $139 and they cover up to $200 - A great Deal Right?

I was at a horse park with 400 other horses. My horses were out of the trailer and all I needed was to switch out one tire for another. They asked me all kinds of questions about my trailer (make, model, year, etc. but had no idea what I was talking about when I said it was a standard 2-horse slant. (they bill themselves as Equestrian specialists).
After being on hold for 20 minutes they told me that they didn’t have coverage in my area. I was at a horse park in California that hosts many hundreds of horses each month throughout the year - and they don’t have coverage.

I was told to stay on hold - a half hour now. Then they came back and said that they could get someone there in an hour but the cost was$250 and I only have $200 coverage (although a flat fix shows no fee on their website)

In all of that time I could have driven down the road to a gas station and had it done, Luckily the show farrier had a ramp and we did it in 10 minutes.

Waste of time and money. Really deceptive