Price increase at our KOA

Super_Dave wrote:
As for how we have come out of this, the long standing guy in the park with the best site has decided to move down the road to a cheaper campground so I asked if I could have that spot. Psychologically, I'm paying more but have the best site in the park versus paying more and getting moved to a worse site than I had. And as an added bonus, some of the drama has decided to leave so hopefully it will be a drama free summer.

Good for you Super Dave. Certainly nothing wrong with remaining calm, reasonalble, and finding a solution that benefits both parties.

Super_Dave wrote:
As for how we have come out of this, the long standing guy in the park with the best site has decided to move down the road to a cheaper campground so I asked if I could have that spot. Psychologically, I'm paying more but have the best site in the park versus paying more and getting moved to a worse site than I had. And as an added bonus, some of the drama has decided to leave so hopefully it will be a drama free summer.

Excellent! Great that everything worked out, enjoy your summer :C

Mike

Well there ya go. Sounds like a win-win outcome.

Mike

As for how we have come out of this, the long standing guy in the park with the best site has decided to move down the road to a cheaper campground so I asked if I could have that spot. Psychologically, I'm paying more but have the best site in the park versus paying more and getting moved to a worse site than I had. And as an added bonus, some of the drama has decided to leave so hopefully it will be a drama free summer.

Similar thing happened at a campground we went to for many years.

But the new owner, I am sure took on a lot of debt, he is the one taking the risk. (and the work)

Bottom line, it is his business he gets to run it anyway he wants. And I hope he succeeds and does well.

I would add, having run my own business for 40 plus years, if you want to go broke, keep your charges low and only cater to those interested in price and not what you have to offer them as a business

Super_Dave wrote:
The long and the short of it is that all the seasonal folks like ourselves were getting a large discount over the daily rate. The new owners feel like it is too much of a discount. Many of our seasonal friends are leaving due to the price increase which means they can now convert to dailies and an even higher rate.

So, I get that it sucks that this is happening. But, if you look at it from the new owners perspective, it could be that a review of the books when he purchased the business showed that it was not as profitable as it could be. So, he's likely taking steps to improve his bottom line, which is exactly what he should do.

I suspect he is factoring in the fact that there are more potential customers than there are spots in his campground. So, to that end, he probably figures that for every long term guest that leaves because of this policy, there were be two or threefold customers waiting in the wings who are willing to pay full fare.

Sucks for sure. Have you guys reached an amicable agreement at all? Interested in how this turns out.

Mike

The long and the short of it is that all the seasonal folks like ourselves were getting a large discount over the daily rate. The new owners feel like it is too much of a discount. Many of our seasonal friends are leaving due to the price increase which means they can now convert to dailies and an even higher rate.

rlw999 wrote:

MarkTwain wrote:

Lantley wrote:
Everyone keeps mentioning contract there is no contract. The company that made the reservation is out of business. Kaput, gone, no longer exist.
The new owner does not assume liabilities of the old company. The new owner starts with a new company and a clean slate.
Maybe you could take KOA corporate to court but really would it be worth it.

While 1 incident of not honoring reservation may not seem reasonable to legal fight, Future buyers of KOA parks might be more cautious and read the fine print more carefully before they buy a KOA.

I bet that the purchaser *did* read the fine print carefully and determined that they don't need to honor the prices on existing reservations. I suspect that the only liability they have for existing reservations is to allow the reservation holder to cancel without penalty if they don't accept the new rate.

As I posted much earlier in this long thread, some KOA campgrounds have reservations terms that do say "All Rates are subject to change", so it really depends on which campground this is and what the terms were at the time of booking.

I would also be curious as to EXACTLY what was and wasn't in place with the OP's situation. Had they actually paid a deposit and had a firm commitment, in writing, for the exact site and a specific price? Of was it more of a "here is what we are planning for the rate next year and we are going to hold your site for you"? Our normal operating procedure was to tell returning guests that we would try to accommodate them in the same site but that might be subject to change. Same with the rate, we would give people first option on the site but the rate would not be set until a later date at which time we would take a deposit and only then would the commitment be firm.
For all we know, the new owner is going to remodel and change up site configuration and numbering and any commitment for a specific site number would be meaningless.

MarkTwain wrote:

Lantley wrote:
Everyone keeps mentioning contract there is no contract. The company that made the reservation is out of business. Kaput, gone, no longer exist.
The new owner does not assume liabilities of the old company. The new owner starts with a new company and a clean slate.
Maybe you could take KOA corporate to court but really would it be worth it.

While 1 incident of not honoring reservation may not seem reasonable to legal fight, Future buyers of KOA parks might be more cautious and read the fine print more carefully before they buy a KOA.

I bet that the purchaser *did* read the fine print carefully and determined that they don't need to honor the prices on existing reservations. I suspect that the only liability they have for existing reservations is to allow the reservation holder to cancel without penalty if they don't accept the new rate.

As I posted much earlier in this long thread, some KOA campgrounds have reservations terms that do say "All Rates are subject to change", so it really depends on which campground this is and what the terms were at the time of booking.

Lantley wrote:
Everyone keeps mentioning contract there is no contract. The company that made the reservation is out of business. Kaput, gone, no longer exist.
The new owner does not assume liabilities of the old company. The new owner starts with a new company and a clean slate.
Maybe you could take KOA corporate to court but really would it be worth it.

While 1 incident of not honoring reservation may not seem reasonable to legal fight, Future buyers of KOA parks might be more cautious and read the fine print more carefully before they buy a KOA.