It was a struggle for the first three years. The operation was run out of a warehouse converted to an office with separate living quarters. Jerry and Laura remember when the business telephone rang their children were trained to be absolutely silent. And a lot of time was spent in those early years building the database of RV dealers and service centers. Back then that meant going to the library and physically going through telephone books from across the nation, copying the information and then taking it home and putting into the computer. But things took a turn for the better when Coach Net landed Ford as a client and then shortly after that National RV came aboard. In addition to the RV related business, Coach Net provides emergency roadside service for the massive Chevron Travel Club. Jerry Aldridge, president and CEO of Coach Net, says, "Fifty percent of the 240,000 calls we will handle this year will be customers who are at a loss for being able to get satisfaction from the normal dealer satisfaction process. But we will be able to help solve their problems." Coach Net has custom programs for RV manufacturers, RV rental operators, and RV dealers as well as owner's clubs and associations. Manufacturers partnering with Coach Net include National RV, Winnebago, Holiday Rambler and Thor. In addition, Ford provides the program on all motorhomes on Ford chassis and recently the Family Motor Coach Association joined Coach Net's impressive list of clients. The only relationship with those early days are memories. In 1991, the company was moved from California to Lake Havasu City. The reason? It's simple. Jerry, Laura and Jim liked the area. Today, Coach Net is a thriving business with nearly 50 employees, occupying a 5,000-square-foot building on the south approach to Lake Havasu City on Route 95. The building houses banks of customer service representatives handling calls from various client customers, the administrative offices and Destinations by Coach Net, a full service travel agency. Plans are in the works to build a new 15,000-square-foot facility because they have outgrown this building. Coach Net's services include all facets of emergency roadside assistance and repair using over 20,000 contracted and insured mobile services - so members can receive help anywhere in North America. Coach Net assures members that they can receive roadside assistance within forty minutes or less for a disabled vehicle -- plus everything from mechanical service for diesel engine products to a simple battery jumpstart or tire change. These providers accept the owner's member card as full payment for services covered and bill Coach Net directly. For manufacturers, dealers and rental operators, the Coach Net program is seamless. For example, when a customer buys a new National RV, the dealer gives them a benefit package, including a customized plastic membership card with a unique number that has the National RV logo on it. This becomes their passport to all the services offered by Coach Net. For rental operators the program is a dream come true. The program offers the same benefit packages, except the rental operator pays a set up charge and then monthly fees are based on the size of his rental fleet. Jerry said, "This is extremely important to the RV rental community. We have had tremendous response from rental operators. Mostly, everyone who rents a vehicle is a first time user, and hardly any of them remembers all the instructions they had on operating the RV's systems. And there's a lot of aggravation in renting a vehicle and not being able to use it properly. And most rental companies are not available all hours of the day or night to give a customer the kind of direction he needs when he needs it." Recently, Coach Net designed a program specifically for RV dealers. RV News asked Jerry to explain the dealer program. Jerry said, "Coach Net provides the dealer's customer with a full complement of road side assistance benefits that are superior to any other road side assistance service in this industry. "In the travel area, we do full trip routing. Within 48 hours of his call to us, the customer is shipped full color maps and routing specific to where he wants to go. And it's unlimited. There's no cost to the customer for that. "If a customer gets into a collision, we pay for his meals and lodging, we pay for a plane flight, we pay for car rental up to $500 per incident so he can go on to his destination." Among Coach Net's features that make this company unique is that the towed or towing vehicle is also included in the service. Besides the RV itself, the customer has the same coverage for up to two other vehicles. continued