Amenity fee

toedtoes wrote:
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.

I think this pretty much covers it, with a couple of added notes. Some franchise parks have to pay a steep franchise fee on site rentals and nothing on the add on fees, so it might be very beneficial to those parks to charge say $40.00 for the site and a $10.00 "amenity fee" as opposed to charging $50.00 for the site. That could save a medium sized park $10,000 in royalties over a year, not insubstantial. Also, lodging taxes are charged on site fees in many states and not of the amenity fee, so you as a customer could be saving a couple of bucks with the amenity fee structure.
Finally, while obviously not the case with the park in question, since they don't have the pool up and running or many of the facilities active, sometimes the criticism of an amenity fee being charged on an amenity that is not available might be a bit overblown. If a single amenity out of 10 or 20 is temporarily out of service, it really isn't fair to point it out and say you were charged the total fee and there were no ping pong balls for the ping pong table. Personally, I much prefer the one fee and that includes it all model. There is less conflict, in my opinion.

Have you checked your monthly bills lately? This a very common practice for all business not just RV parks. Dish sent me a complete new FREE unit then charged me. Costco has big sale and they slipped in regular price. You have to really be observant and challenge them. Dish reply? Oh just a billing mistake. Costco reply?. If you come up to our desk after check out we give it otherwise it doesn't get applied. You have to question every fee or bill you pay in the 21st century. There are no more honest business practices.

Maybe we'll start seeing pay toilets everywhere. Even on airliners. :)

All you can do is add up the cost of all charges and fees and decide "is it worth it?"

That said if I was charged amenity fee and the amenities were not available, I wouldn't hesitate to ask fee to be removed. Especially if the overall price was near the top of my acceptable limit for the place. And if I left thinking the place was overpriced for what it offered I'd look into other options when going to the area again.

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

I'm with you, name the park. Other wise I tend to believe it's made up, sorry.

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".

WOW. If you don't like the charges why are you asking us? Just move on. That is what I think

The extra charge for kids over a certain age bugs me also.
A CG will post a rate for 2 adult and 2 kids under the age of 15. Then charge $8 for a 16 year old. I run into this a lot with the grandchildren.

rv2go wrote:
The extra charge for kids over a certain age bugs me also.
A CG will post a rate for 2 adult and 2 kids under the age of 15. Then charge $8 for a 16 year old. I run into this a lot with the grandchildren.

I agree! Before meeting my current wife, when my kids were small, I would take them camping. One particular campground, that we really liked or we wouldn't put up with it, charged based on two adults two kids. I was one adult three kids, so it was the same number of people staying at the site. I still had to pay the fee for the extra child.

I was one adult three kids, so it was the same number of people staying at the site. I still had to pay the fee for the extra child.

I only had one child and often paid the rate for a family of four. I never asked for a discount-that was the going rate, period. I could take it or leave it. Too many other more important things to worry about than a potential $5 discount for having one less kid. However, I do agree that if the amenities are not available then you shouldn't be charged for them.

Oh, and put me in the camp with the others who think that it was ridiculous to make this post and not tell us where. Why are you hiding that?

That's why boondocking is becoming so popular. People get tired of getting gouged. If the rv park can't make ends meet, then maybe it is the beginning of the end of private rv parks.

Same goes for state parks that charge an entrance fee along with the rv site charge (Texas for one). I say adios to those places. I'm willing to pay, but when it is cheaper to park in a hotel and have all the amenities of the hotel for the same or near same price, I can't refuse the hotel.

Something is fishy.