Paying to dump

Frankly, I would be surprised if the park was attempting to bait and switch the customer. It is much more likely the OP just got confused about what park they called. We get people all the time saying we said things that we just wouldn't have said. We get people swearing they had reservations, and when they stomp off to their rig to get their confirmations it turns out it was for a park 100s of miles away. Parks in the same town often have similar names. The Anytown KOA is pretty easy to confuse with the Anytown RV resort, and the North Anytown Campground.

Mocoondo wrote:
people were too cheap to pay the $5 to open the hatch so they were just dumping their tanks alongside the hole

And those people are not reading this. Sad.

Mile-High-Endura wrote:

Kit Carson wrote:
PPPPP.....Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Surely one could dump in a campground one was staying at to prevent a case of "having to dump".

We were boondocking and moving to another place that didn't have a dump.

I didn't care for the lady's attitude especially when she said she could charge me for a nights stay just to dump. I told her if she did that I'd be spending the night. I expected to pay $10 not for someone to double the fee.

Usually when we boonedock we can go 9 or 10 days easy on 100 gal. of fresh water and 55 gal. black and gray tanks.

Thanks,

Jeff

Get use to it ethics are out the window. We saw and stayed at some campgrounds in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona with rates on the signs.
Checking in we found they were "last year's rates", "off season rates","new management" etc and higher and in some cases much higher rates. They know what they are doing. It is not a case of we forgot to change the signs.

we have a dump station at our lot we store it at and its free but the rv wash cost

Considering that dump stations are disappearing at such an alarming rate, I don't feel it is entirely unreasonable to pay some sort of fee to dump. The "bait and switch" that the OP experienced was probably just an omission on the part of whomever he was speaking with.

From time to time, I've asked why someone closed up their dump station and the usual answer is that people were mistreating the privilege and it just wasn't worth the hassle. I never got the impression that a dump station was a major profit center for a business.

Last weekend I was at a truck stop that had one of those automatic dump stations where you feed in a $5 and the hatch unlocks. I think they call it the SaniStar or whatever, but anyway, the sign said that the dump station was permanently closed. I asked why. I was told that people were too cheap to pay the $5 to open the hatch so they were just dumping their tanks alongside the hole and it was becoming too much of a hassle for them to deal with.

It is behavior like this that is costs us all.

mileshuff wrote:
Price is too high so you go elsewhere. If enough others do the same then the price will come down.

Um, I think he means people will dump at the nearest off ramp where they can't be seen.

mileshuff wrote:

Robert78121 wrote:
At $20 it starts to get tempting to just dump it anywhere...how's capitalism working in that scenario? I'm not saying I'd ever do it, but there are people out there that will.

It's working just as it should! Price is too high so you go elsewhere. If enough others do the same then the price will come down. If enough people pay it then it stays. Vote with your wallet is the best way!

What most don't understand or don't want to understand is that there is no profit in a $5.00 dump station. CG are in business for profit.
Public dump station are generally regulated and require permits and fees. There is maintenance one clog can easily cost $500.00.
Those same people that are irresponsible enough to dump anywhere are the same idiots who will dump diapers and junk that will clog the dump station.
How about fuel, oil, and other hazardous stuff. Think everyone is smart enough not to dump those things at the public dump station.
When these things happen the CG owners get caught with the clean up cost! $5.00 fees do not cover these cost.
In the end the fees rise or the dump station closes. We are seeing both happen.
Some of us have other options and can avoid the fees. However the true boondockers that camp in remote areas must face the music and accept the higher dumping cost. Yes there is an industry built around waste water. If you have waste water to dump plan to pay more than $5.00 to dispose of it. I see $10.00-$20.00 becoming the norm.
Yes dump fees,pet fees,kid fees are designed to create more revenue for the CG. Note I used revenue not profit. There is a difference between the 2. A lot of things need to fall into place before revenue turns into profit!
Bear in mind the CG needs to be a profitable entity in order to survive otherwise it becomes a condo or housing development. Instead of seeing the fee as a rip off, see it all as part of keeping camping alive and well.

mileshuff wrote:

Robert78121 wrote:
At $20 it starts to get tempting to just dump it anywhere...how's capitalism working in that scenario? I'm not saying I'd ever do it, but there are people out there that will.

It's working just as it should! Price is too high so you go elsewhere. If enough others do the same then the price will come down. If enough people pay it then it stays. Vote with your wallet is the best way!

The problem is that there are not many "elsewheres". I'm lucky that I can either use a "clean-out" at the property that I store my rig at or pay the cost for the honey wagon. However, not everyone is that fortunate. If dump fees go too high, I wouldn't be surprised if there are more smelly storm drains. The local sheriffs are also cracking down on people digging Army style trench latrines, and dumping their waste into those.

Robert78121 wrote:
At $20 it starts to get tempting to just dump it anywhere...how's capitalism working in that scenario? I'm not saying I'd ever do it, but there are people out there that will.

It's working just as it should! Price is too high so you go elsewhere. If enough others do the same then the price will come down. If enough people pay it then it stays. Vote with your wallet is the best way!

Driving a across Canada last fall was interesting. Very few campgrounds open so mostly Walmart and Husky overnighters. We found that small towns are better for finding dump facilities than larger towns. There is usually a small sign posted indicating if the town had dump facilities. Can't remember if any of them cost money but I don't think so. On the way back through the US we dumped at Flying J's Seems to me they were fairly cheap. We rarely stay in Campgrounds when dead heading. We don't need to dump that often. Seems to me we dumped probably 8 or 9 times in 7 or 8 weeks.