Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Just a little story from a friend who was shipping two babies to a horse show on Sunday.  Her truck broke down, and she called US Rider (she is a member) for assistance.  I asked her how it went, as I have thankfully never had the opportunity to use my US Rider membership.  Here's her story:

"A cable got a little loose from the alternator to the battery, so the
batteries weren't charging and we ended up running completely on
battery, unbenknownst to us. Battery died about 10 miles from the show.
Luckily, I noticed there was a problem and was able pull the truck over
to the side of the road safely, so it was ok. As for US Rider, they
looked me up in their database (I need to get a replacement card!!) and
contacted a local driver. That driver, however, said he wasn't
comfortable with transporting livestock (2 very pissed off
horses--Eddie and Rambler still on the trailer). Long story short, a
good samaritan stopped by after about 40 minutes of being stranded at
the side of the road and gave us a jumpstart and we were off and
running again. We also broke down a MILE from the house of a good
friend of mine, and he followed us to the horse show to make sure we
got there ok, and then hung out long enough to make sure the truck
started again when it was time to go home.

US Rider was very good, but their "provider" (local truck driver
they call) was awful to deal with. He told us he could get our truck
and trailer back home, but we'd have to hire a 3rd party to transport
the horses. When US Rider called back to update us, I told them about
what the driver said and they were shocked. They took that driver off
their provider list and assured me that if we had needed a tow, they'd
get us someone else who would get the horses home too. 

The bad points: having to wait on hold for what seemed like forever to
be able to talk to someone. Having to talk separately with a driver who
didn't care about the company he was representing and couldn't give a
crap less if it took 2 hours to reach you, and didn't want to be sued
if his inexperienced drivers slammed on the brakes and broke our
horses' necks (hence the reason he wanted us to hire a 3rd party to get
the horses back). 

The good part was we didn't need to wait around for their slow-ass
driver (and it seems very dependent on WHO they can reach in a given
area.....I think if I was broken down in the middle of nowhere we'd
just be screwed for HOURS and HOURS). In addition, they kept calling
back all that day every few hours to make sure that the truck started
again and (by then) had drivers standing by waiting in case we needed a
tow or assistance after all. They were even going to bring us batteries
for the truck!"

They ended up making it to the show, finally, and made it home ok.  Sounds like US Rider did their job, but their local tower was not up to par.  Good of them to keep checking back!

Alissa Norman (Maryland)