Amenity fee

ken56 wrote:
What do you all think of a CG that charges an amenity fee even when those amenities are not available. We are now at a CG that charged us a fee for an empty swimming pool (I know its a little early for that), a camp store that isn't opening till next week and a putt putt course that is so littered with leaves that you can't use it. Yes, I already asked them in the office about this and got no where. They also charge a utility fee for electric..... thought that was supposed to be included in the nightly rate. I know I wont be coming back here, and I am not going to identify the park on here. I will say that the park is nice in spite of these "extras".

Hotels are starting to do the same thing. I avoid any business that pulls that form of extortion.

Whats the name of the place your at?

It sounds like when we were up at one of the CGs near Mt. Rushmore two springs ago. When we asked them why the amenity fee when the amenities weren't open yet, they didn't have an answer but quickly refunded the money.

I sort of think they were charging everyone and then refunding those that questioned it, but it could have just been a mistake.

Bill

Please document this in a review on rvparkreviews.com. It's good to share this kind of information. I'm not sure why you didn't post the name of the park here, but I sure would have.

Move on to a park that does not charge that fee.

we're getting nickel and dimed in about all places it seems. Pretty soon I think the airlines will charge for seat belts.

I agree, the best approach is to bring it up with the office and see if they relent. If not, post about your experience, and we can all decide whether to patronize their campground -- or not.

Charging an amenity fee when the amenities are not there or not available is the equivalent of posting good or bad about a campground and then not naming the campground and its location. Sucks!

There are two ways to look at this:

1. The park charges a flat nightly rate including the cost of amenities, etc.
2. The park charges a lower flat nightly rate and then charges a separate fee for amenities.

The benefit of #1 is that the park doesn't get questioned about the charge for the amenities by customers. The benefit of #2 is that they can publish a lower nightly rate in directories, etc., bringing in more customers. If a customer complains, they can "comp" them the amenities fee and get credit for their "good will" - but the majority of folks will pay and not say anything.

My personal opinion is that #2 is slightly underhanded and rewards the complainers. I get real tired of the "reward the complainers and unreasonable folks and screw over the folks who don't cause any trouble" practice of businesses. I would rather be charged more per night, the same as everyone else in the place, than deal with a company whose practice is to overcharge the customer unless they complain.

Seems to me this is a sneaky way of itemizing the bill so the "base cost" of the campsite appears to be lower. Probably helps to get people into the campground and once there they're unlikely to want to move down the road even after finding out what the true cost is for the site.

Oops, too late. Someone else already pointed this out.

What is the point of sharing if you don't share all the relevant info? Who & where.

If this is just a way to jack up the promised or posted rate... I would roll on down the road.
Disclosed in advance.... no issue to talk about.