SPOT Roadside Assistance

I'm still looking for a good road side assistance program and came across the SPOT Roadside Assistance. I plan on purchasing a SPOT for an upcoming trip so I decided to do some research but haven't been so lucky. I contacted SPOT but no one seems to know anything about it (not a good sign probably). They transferred me to another company and they answered some basic questions and it doesn't seem too bad, especially for the price of only $30 a year. Has anyone used this before or have any stories about it to share?

smmotorco said:

I'm still looking for a good road side assistance program and came across the SPOT Roadside Assistance. I plan on purchasing a SPOT for an upcoming trip so I decided to do some research but haven't been so lucky. I contacted SPOT but no one seems to know anything about it (not a good sign probably). They transferred me to another company and they answered some basic questions and it doesn't seem too bad, especially for the price of only $30 a year. Has anyone used this before or have any stories about it to share?

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I have often used the basic features, and by that I mean the track progress, which provides near real-time tracking, and basic messages to members on your contact list.

A couple of weeks ago I came upon an accident scene in a canyon where cell phone service was not available. I used the SOS function on the SPOT. Police, Ambulance and Fire were dispatched to the exact GPS coordinates of the SPOT. I did learn that you need to make sure that you turn it back off. At one point an officer called out my name, and when I responded he informed me that I had a device that was sending out a distress call from the location every 15 minute, and asked that I shut it off. I didn't read the directions as well as I apparently should have, so did a battery pull, but a number of the emergency providers were curious and impressed with the device.

Long story short, they work well, and more importantly can work in areas where a cell phone simply cannot.

Thanks for the reply. So there is a difference between the simple help button (Roadside Assistance) and the SOS feature, right? Were you in a very bad accident or you saw someone that needed help and pressed the wrong button by mistake. The reason I ask is because the police and ambulance showed up and it wasn't a real emergency did they charge you a fine or anything? It sounds like a very useful tool to have. I think I definitely want to get it now.

Used it last year

Last summer, I used the help button on my Spot I. In a few minutes, my cell phone rang, asking what the situation was. A half hour later, the tow truck called to find out where I was. It seems that, at that time, exact location didn't get communicated to the driver (or he didn't understand). It all ended well. I was stopped in a small rest area near Nanaimo, BC, when my clutch slave cylinder failed.

The Spot plan only offers a 50 mile tow, which wasn't enough to take me to Victoria. I told the same driver that I had AAA RV+, which in Ohio allows one 200 mile tow per year. That carried my bike to the avaricious BMW dealer in Victoria, where -after a five day wait for a part that was in stock in Vancouver (40 miles away) - they fixed the bike, at about twice what I would have paid at my dealer in Ohio.

Met some truly wonderful people in Sydney, who put me up for 5 nights.

At any rate, the Spot tow service is only good for 50 miles. They use the same tow truck contractors as all the other services, usually. AAA has always given me good service, but the Spot is good outside of cell phone areas - if they can find you with coordinates and a map.