Bottom line up front - the owner was rude and arrogant - kept deposit and gave away our site - while we were stranded on the side of I95 because of a tire blow out. Bad Apples ....We left MD early Friday morning for our destination of Red Apple Campground in Kennebunkport, ME. We had a reservation for 4 nights. On the way up our 5th wheel suffered two tire blowouts (3 year old Goodyear Marathons monitored by ourvTPMS) in a row - we called the campground after the first one to tell them we would be arriving later than expected - was told not to worry - they were staying open until at least 9:30PM, and to drive safely - and if we arrived after that they would have a packet with site info.About 35 miles from Red Apple Campground a second tire blew out, leaving us stranded on the side of I95 in Portsmouth, NH that evening. The blowout damaged the main slide of our camper. I spent the next 4 hours on the side of I95 on the phone with Good Sam Emergency service trying to get a replacement tire or our 5th wheel towed. We had no luck and the NH State police recommended in hitching and going to a hotel until places opened later.Very early the next morning my wife called the campground to let them know what had happened, that we would still be arriving that morning and that we had found a tire shop (Sullivan's in Portsmouth, NH) that would quickly replace our tires and get us back on the road ...Before she could finish she was told that OUR reservation had been cancelled due to not showing up and there were no spots available. My wife was in tears - the owner was VERY RUDE to her.We drove back to MD since our reservation was cancelled. We were very disappointed.It is sad that the owner of this campground would treat someone so bad (she literally hung up on me today when I called her - I treated her very kindly during the conversation. She apparently was fine with cancelling my reservation early and keeping my deposit - giving away our site -- way before checkout time of the first night we would have been there...When a campground tells you it is fine to arrive after they close (due to extenuating circumstances ....) and then cancels the rest of your reservation and treats you nasty in the process - NOT A GOOD Business practice. It is obvious that my posting here brings out negativity in some people below who have no clue about the details of our situation and look to troll in this particular forum - let's hope the owners take to heart what happened and consider how they treat people in the future - reputation depends on it.Looks like I am not the only one they treated badly ... Recent review from trip advisor

There are a lot of campgrounds in and around Kennebunkport, why did you go home?

That would be what most RV Parks would do. You didn't call them a second time to tell them you wouldn't be arriving the first night, even though they told you they would be waiting for you. You didn't leave them a message explaining you would need the remaining nights. So they did what any reasonable business would do, decide you weren't coming and rent the site to someone else. They can't just keep cancelling nights and losing the site rental and you probably wouldn't want a park to charge you for all the nights you reserved if you didn't show up. Cancelling the entire reservation on no shows is common practice in many businesses. Airlines cancel your entire itinerary if you don't make the first flight. Hotels cancel your reservation if you don't show up the first night. Rental car companies won't have a car for you if you don't pick it up on the first day of your reservation. The onus is on you if you have problems and need to change your reservations. The parks have neither the obligation to track you down nor the ability to read your mind on your intentions.

Yep I would have called some others...you could have found some other campground in the area, definitely for at least mid week. Most places are only full on the weekends and worst case you may need to move your site during the weekend.

westernrvparkowner wrote:That would be what most RV Parks would do. You didn't call them a second time to tell them you wouldn't be arriving the first night, even though they told you they would be waiting for you. You didn't leave them a message explaining you would need the remaining nights. So they did what any reasonable business would do, decide you weren't coming and rent the site to someone else. They can't just keep cancelling nights and losing the site rental and you probably wouldn't want a park to charge you for all the nights you reserved if you didn't show up. Cancelling the entire reservation on no shows is common practice in many businesses. Airlines cancel your entire itinerary if you don't make the first flight. Hotels cancel your reservation if you don't show up the first night. Rental car companies won't have a car for you if you don't pick it up on the first day of your reservation. The onus is on you if you have problems and need to change your reservations. The parks have neither the obligation to track you down nor the ability to read your mind on your intentions.I am very sorry about your troubles. but I think the park did what is reasonable. You did not show up and failed to communicate. I bet they would have kept your site IF they had just known your situation. They don;t have, I am sure, a crystal ball.Why did you turn around and go home? Why didn't you attempt to find other sites either there or somewhere close. Make lemonade when you are served with lemons.

I agree that you had more pressing things to concern yourself with than maintaining a dialog with the campground, and there is never an excuse for rudeness. However, what is the campground to do? Had you prepaid for your entire stay, then you would be right in expecting your site to be available whenever you arrived. However, apparently you only paid for one night, and that site was available all night for you. When you did not show the next day, had not paid for any more days, had not communicated to the campground, and a paying customer was there wanting the site, the campground did the reasonable thing.

Red Apple Campground - Kennebunkport, ME | Good Sam Community

answerswillvary
Explorer
Jul 22, 2016
I'm tired of deleting nasty/sarcastic posts. Thread closed.
Drew_A_
Explorer
Jul 22, 2016
Crowe wrote:
I'm still waiting for an answer from a business perspective on why a reservation reserved with a deposit could not be held until check out time the following day.

Because it's their privilege to institute their rules, period. Frankly NO business has to justify how they operate. You don't like it, go elsewhere.

Never-mind - I don't need to breathe any more smoke. Try to have a nice day, Paul.

If it was truly a "never mind" then why post? Just drop it instead of baiting.

This is true and apparently this campground felt it was reasonable to cancel the OP's reservation and be rude to them on the phone.

In my opinion, I feel that this was unreasonable on the campground's part and nobody deserves to be treated rudely. A campground with better customer service would have acted differently.

Just think how this thread would have gone if the campground had been nice and helped the OP find other arrangements? Then we'd be singing their praises instead.

It's usually better to do what is right than what is allowed.
Crowe
Explorer
Jul 22, 2016
I'm still waiting for an answer from a business perspective on why a reservation reserved with a deposit could not be held until check out time the following day.

Because it's their privilege to institute their rules, period. Frankly NO business has to justify how they operate. You don't like it, go elsewhere.

Never-mind - I don't need to breathe any more smoke. Try to have a nice day, Paul.

If it was truly a "never mind" then why post? Just drop it instead of baiting.
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Jul 22, 2016
Wow - what a smokescreen. I'm still waiting for an answer from a business perspective on why a reservation reserved with a deposit could not be held until check out time the following day.

Never-mind - I don't need to breathe any more smoke. Try to have a nice day, Paul.
Crowe
Explorer
Jul 21, 2016
OMG, you'd think someone said someone else's kid was ugly! :B
westernrvparkow
Explorer
Jul 21, 2016
Drew A. wrote:
westernrvparkowner wrote:
Drew A. wrote:
westernrvparkowner wrote:
Drew A. wrote:
Wow, this is ridiculous. I am completely on the side of the OP here. To all of you who agree with the campground, have you never heard of Karma? I hope you never need a break someday.

If that campground gave away the site mid-morning, long before check out or check in, did they really have a waiting list of people looking for a cancellation? If that's the case, they are not wanting for business at all.

And what about customer service? These days it's customer service that sets a business apart from the rest. It's great customer service from companies like Amazon and the like that we come to expect. Do you think that Amazon would have behaved like this?
Well, you got us. Amazon and a RV park sure do have very similar businesses and business models. That is an apples to apples comparison if I have ever seen one. Thanks for proving all the people who supported the park wrong. This forum is wonderful. Give it enough time and someone will finally come up with the definitive answer.

Obviously, Amazon is not in the campground business but I still stand by using their customer service model as an example of why people return to them for future business.

Today, one thing that sets businesses apart is their customer service. Granted, a business can set any rule it wants, strictly follow those rules, and we as customers can then chose not to do business with them. However, it is the better businesses that set reasonable rules and try to give the customer the benefit of the doubt. Those business ultimately do better and end up the choice of many.
I am agreeing with you 100% Emulating Amazon is the way to go. As a matter of fact, right after finishing this email I am going to contact all the drone manufacturers to get started on drone delivery of our RV sites. Seems like a simple project, just cut a few 1000 square feet of grass, install a parking pad, power hookups, water supply, a wifi system,, a cable tv system and have the drones take it to wherever you want it with same day delivery. You are absolutely right, Amazon type solutions are the future.
BTW, I took the time to view a few Amazon product reviews and their flagship service, Amazon Prime, gets 5 stars from a full 7% of the reviewers and 67% give it 1 star. That is customer satisfaction at it's best. The Red Apple Campground, on the other hand get slightly over 80% five star ratings on Trip Advisor and two percent of their reviews are 1 star. I guess that make the Red Apple Campground around 10 times better than Amazon at customer service. Glad I have to benchmark against Amazon and not the Red Apple.
Two thumbs up to Amazon for setting the benchmark bar low.

Your reputation did in fact precede you and you continue to live up to it.

Good luck to you in your business and personal endeavors.
Would that reputation be that when I make an argument I can back it up with facts? Maybe my reputation is when I make a comparison of one thing versus another the two generally have something in common to make the comparison valid? Or maybe it is that I have the reputation for pointing out people's positions that are ridiculous or nonsensical. Like most people, I have a reputation for many things, which one were you referring to?
Drew_A_
Explorer
Jul 21, 2016
westernrvparkowner wrote:
Drew A. wrote:
westernrvparkowner wrote:
Drew A. wrote:
Wow, this is ridiculous. I am completely on the side of the OP here. To all of you who agree with the campground, have you never heard of Karma? I hope you never need a break someday.

If that campground gave away the site mid-morning, long before check out or check in, did they really have a waiting list of people looking for a cancellation? If that's the case, they are not wanting for business at all.

And what about customer service? These days it's customer service that sets a business apart from the rest. It's great customer service from companies like Amazon and the like that we come to expect. Do you think that Amazon would have behaved like this?
Well, you got us. Amazon and a RV park sure do have very similar businesses and business models. That is an apples to apples comparison if I have ever seen one. Thanks for proving all the people who supported the park wrong. This forum is wonderful. Give it enough time and someone will finally come up with the definitive answer.

Obviously, Amazon is not in the campground business but I still stand by using their customer service model as an example of why people return to them for future business.

Today, one thing that sets businesses apart is their customer service. Granted, a business can set any rule it wants, strictly follow those rules, and we as customers can then chose not to do business with them. However, it is the better businesses that set reasonable rules and try to give the customer the benefit of the doubt. Those business ultimately do better and end up the choice of many.
I am agreeing with you 100% Emulating Amazon is the way to go. As a matter of fact, right after finishing this email I am going to contact all the drone manufacturers to get started on drone delivery of our RV sites. Seems like a simple project, just cut a few 1000 square feet of grass, install a parking pad, power hookups, water supply, a wifi system,, a cable tv system and have the drones take it to wherever you want it with same day delivery. You are absolutely right, Amazon type solutions are the future.
BTW, I took the time to view a few Amazon product reviews and their flagship service, Amazon Prime, gets 5 stars from a full 7% of the reviewers and 67% give it 1 star. That is customer satisfaction at it's best. The Red Apple Campground, on the other hand get slightly over 80% five star ratings on Trip Advisor and two percent of their reviews are 1 star. I guess that make the Red Apple Campground around 10 times better than Amazon at customer service. Glad I have to benchmark against Amazon and not the Red Apple.
Two thumbs up to Amazon for setting the benchmark bar low.

Your reputation did in fact precede you and you continue to live up to it.

Good luck to you in your business and personal endeavors.
Drew_A_
Explorer
Jul 21, 2016
Wow, this is ridiculous. I am completely on the side of the OP here. To all of you who agree with the campground, have you never heard of Karma? I hope you never need a break someday.

If that campground gave away the site mid-morning, long before check out or check in, did they really have a waiting list of people looking for a cancellation? If that's the case, they are not wanting for business at all.

And what about customer service? These days it's customer service that sets a business apart from the rest. It's great customer service from companies like Amazon and the like that we come to expect. Do you think that Amazon would have behaved like this?
westernrvparkow
Explorer
Jul 21, 2016
2012Coleman wrote:
As fast as they were able to give that spot away, I seriously doubt they are pining away for people to come and fill their sites. Trying to stay in business? That's a joke!
The fact is every time a site goes unrented that could have been rented, that's around $50.00 out of my pocket. Exactly how many sob stories will you listen to at fifty bucks a pop?
We see three or four no shows a week. Often, the people just plain decide their travel progress makes it simpler to stay elsewhere. We seldom get a phone call or message of any kind explaining why they didn't arrive.
The average person knows if you don't show up, the rest of your reservation is cancelled. It's that way with hotels, airlines, cruise ships, tours and most everything else. It was totally up to the guest to take 30 seconds and contact the park if they wanted to keep their reservation. My guess, until they actually secured the tires (they claimed they called around all night looking for them, though who calls tire dealers in the middle of the night?) they didn't want to commit to paying any more money to the park for a site they couldn't use should the tires not be available on the weekend. That's why they didn't try to secure the remainder of their reservation, not because it was too inconvenient.
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Jul 21, 2016
As fast as they were able to give that spot away, I seriously doubt they are pining away for people to come and fill their sites. Trying to stay in business? That's a joke!

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