resorts

CRBuck NY wrote:
"Since we now know SOME parks have paid to be rated, we must assume there is a chance than ANY park we are considering paid and therefore those ratings are worthless. BAD, BAD, BAD policy."

There are several responses trying to explain that no park or group of parks pays for a rating. The people doing the rating are contracted by Good Sam and/or Coast to Coast to provide independent reviews of affiliated parks. The gentleman from Texas is implying that the reviews can be influenced by the park being reviewed for which he offers no evidence. What purpose would be served by having Good Sam and/or Coast to Coast provide inflated park ratings? Just so people would use these parks, find them overrated and have something to complain about? Conspiracy theorists will find a conspiracy even where facts do not support the allegation. The Good Sam directory and the Woodalls directory that preceded it, has been an excellent source of untainted reviews for years. Web sources such a RV Park Review are also good resources. At times the 2 don't offer the same viewpoint in regards to a particular park. Much like 2 photos of the same subject, they can show differing quality because some factors are fluid and subject to changing. If the gentleman from Texas chooses not to use the Good Sam Directory, is his option of course. But the opinion he chooses to project is not supported by the facts in this case.

If Good Sam is being paid to rate the parks, they have a vested interest in keeping that customer. The easiest way to keep a customer is to provide them with what they want. No park would want a bad rating, so providing them with a good rating would be one way to keep a happy customer and a happy customer is a customer that will continue to pay year after year. Until now, it has always been communicated to people that the ratings are independently funded by Good Sam, that the parks had nothing to do with how, when, or how much, the raters got paid. Now, however, the raters very job may be on the line to provide a good rating. If the source of the funds went away, so would their jobs.