Bogus campsite reservations

westernrvparkowner wrote:

wnjj wrote:

GordonThree wrote:

Robin1953 wrote:

RRinNFla wrote:
I don't think Michigan's system would stop this practice. These folks make four separate reservations, then cancel the ones they don't want at the last minute. They do pay up front, but if they cancel they get all but 17.50 refunded.

I suspect that if they got zero refunds you would see a lot less of this. Losing $500 (hypothetically) as opposed to $17.50 would be a great deterrent. If a cancellation costs minimal dollars I suspect the practice will continue.

Sounds fair to me... zero refund policy for reservations - the airlines can do it, and many hotels, why not campgrounds?

How about a compromise to help out folks with legitimate reasons? If you have a reservation somewhere that you keep, no refund for all of the rest that you cancel. So if you only have one reservation in the first place and cancel it, you only pay the fee. Or if you only cancel some percentage of the days (like 1/4) on your reservation you only pay the fee. The last one would stop the 2-weekend bookers who book 10 days just to get one weekend.

Also don't allow refundable cancelations all the way up until the last minute to allow time for others to book the spot. Cut off all refunds a few weeks out.

Where would you draw the line on legitimate reasons and who is going to be the judge? I can say my mother in law died hundreds of times. Same with I had mechanical problems, got called to jury duty, dog ate my homework and on and on. How would you know if someone kept a reservation somewhere else? There is no way anything can be verified. Either you have a refund policy or you don't. Creating one with all sorts of loopholes, exceptions and gray areas means you don't have a policy.

You missed my point completely. I was speaking to the post I quoted where people were making 4 reservations and canceling 3. I say they can do that but get no money back for the cancellations. A legitimate camper doesn't book 4 and cancel 3. No judgement needed. Same idea with cancelling more of your trip than you keep. Booking 10 days and canceling 7 is not legit. Booking 10 and canceling all 10 is.