Banned from Swinomish Casino and RV Park WA

[omega]

I left this review on Tripadvisor about Swinomish Casino, RV Park, Bingo Hall and Lodge 12885 Casino Drive Anacortes WA 98221, which has resulted in me receiving a threading phone call to my home from Dallas Widmark (Lodge Manager) and being banned from Swinomish. Swinomish will go to any lengths to manipulate their ratings and travel reviews. To a point where they will ban people who post a review they do not like, you have to wonder what they do to get so many positive reviews? You will see in his response on Tripadvisor he confirms the review as correct. After I reported the threats to Tripadvisor and the banning from Swinomish I found out my account with TripAdvisor had been disabled.
This review is my first hand experience and is meant for my fellow travelers and RV’ers. I do not expect any action by Swinomish as their responses to my reviews has been inappropriate in the past
They charge RVs to park, $10+ in their parking lot, they do not charge cars. I do not understand why they want to send customers to other RV friendly Casinos, which are close by. Their RV Park is substandard.
They have become RV unfriendly and have redesigned their parking lots making it difficult to park RVs or any over sized vehicles.
They have no washrooms (or services) in their RV Park, I have witnessed some disgusting activity by RV’ers that did not have adequate self contained RVs. It is a long walk to the lodge to use the washroom and at night the sprinklers may be on, you can hear them but cannot see them.
The RV Park has low power, which can damage the electronics and electrical systems in your RV.
Most food is spicy, I think due to their customer base of Mexican/Spanish customers.
They supply coffee whiter not milk in the Casino and Bingo Hall for coffee. They do have free soft drinks in the Casino located by the Sports Bar.
There is a busy train track that runs beside the RV Park, behind the Lodge, that sounds its horn, night and day when it crosses the Rail Bridge.
There is a large A/C about the size of a city bus at the rear of the Lodge that can be quite noisy, making it difficult to sleep in the RV Park.
There is a sewer treatment building just west of the RV Park. The smell can be quite strong around the Bingo Hall and RV Park when the wind is blowing in their direction.
From time to time they have live entertainment on the stage in the Casino that can be extremely loud I carry earplugs to protect my hearing.
They have some very nice people working in the Bingo Hall.
· Stayed January 2015, traveled as a couple
o Location
o Cleanliness
o Service
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Ask Bill W about Swinomish Casino & Lodge
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Dallas W, General Manager at Swinomish Casino & Lodge, responded to this review, 3 weeks ago
Thank you for reposting your review.

Unfortunately there will be no immediate action on the construction of an rv building, the increase of individual site power capacity, the relocation of HVAC equipment at the back of the property, or a new sports bar menu, nor is there a plan to turn our RV Park into a free park. Should you decide to return, please be aware that upon your return you will discover these aspects of our property unchanged. Hopefully this is helpful in your decision to return or not.

We here at Swinomish Casino & Lodge aim to provide memorable hospitality & gaming experiences to each and every guest with our guest service & array of amenities. We take great pride in our successes, and enjoy reading positive reviews from our guest on this site and others.

Best Regards,

Dallas Widmark
Lodge General Manager
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
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[2oldman]

toedtoes wrote:
Seems many people forget (or never learn) what it's like to have to deal with the public day in and day out.

I'm so curious.. what are the top irritants from the public? Talking on the phone? Unreasonable demands? Just being cheap?

I don't want to be that person!

[RognBon]

Posted By: winnietrey on 09/07/15 11:07am

As a business owner, I sometimes wish a site existed, where the business could leave reviews about customers. What's good for the goose... Right?

Having retired after over 40 years in the restaurant business, I agree 100%.

[toedtoes]

2oldman wrote:

winnietrey wrote:
As a business owner, I sometimes wish a site existed, where the business could leave reviews about customers. What's good for the goose... Right?

LOL, now that's an idea!

Unfortunately, that'd backfire on the business owner also as folks reading the reviews would say "gee, if that's the type of customer they get, I don't want to stay THERE"...

I've always believed that there should be a required a conscription based retail service duty for the ages 16-22. Lately, I've been thinking they should add a second conscription for ages 45-55. Seems many people forget (or never learn) what it's like to have to deal with the public day in and day out.

[Dance_Chick]

Trains with noise, sewer smells...yes, those are valid to let people be aware of so they can make an educated decision if they would like to stay there. But, no cream for the coffee...puhleeze..that's whining and complaining and gives the reviewer no credibility in my book.

[2oldman]

winnietrey wrote:
As a business owner, I sometimes wish a site existed, where the business could leave reviews about customers. What's good for the goose... Right?

LOL, now that's an idea!

[wbwood]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

magnusfide wrote:

Naio wrote:
I found the review informative, and I don't see why people here are so down on you. And if the casino banned you, they should be ashamed of themselves.

If people only write positive reviews, then reviews become useless.

Same here. All positive reviews are useless in that kind of system. Sad that others badger a person who had a terrible experience and reported it. My wife is allergic to the soy in creamers and has to have milk so we understand that too.

We do use Trip Advisor and we do read the negative reviews for a balance to the positive. Negative reviews will sometimes mention issues that are important to us like the food allergy issue.

Thanks for the heads up.

I'm sorry, but there is no way reviewers should slam RV parks and other businesses because YOU have food allergies. Many people go by the scores that are generated on those reviews or they wouldn't have the scores in the first place. To give a business a bad score because they don't have real cream for coffee and instead offer a soy creamer is ridiculous. Bring your own cream or drink it black. It isn't like the RV park's primary business is serving coffee. On the same lines, would it be fair to give a grocery store a low score because they sell bagged nuts and you are allergic to them? Give an RV park a low score because it has grass, flowers and trees Because you have severe allergies to pollens?

ditto....I guess because they didn't have pumpkin spice or caramel macchiato flavored creamers would be a good reason to give a bad review too. Food was too spicy? seriously? Didn't have a washroom? Did you check the amenities out before hand? Low power? If you are aware of the park having low power, then you should be aware of the products you can purchase to protect your rv. Could it of been just your pedestal? Did you have them check it or move you?

[winnietrey]

As a business owner, I sometimes wish a site existed, where the business could leave reviews about customers. What's good for the goose... Right?

[toedtoes]

Bird Freak wrote:
Lots of folks here are losing sight that the casino also has a cg but op wanted to stay in the parking lot.

He also states "I do not expect any action by Swinomish as their responses to my reviews has been inappropriate in the past" which leads one to believe that he has made the same comments over and over in multiple reviews. Why? Has he repeatedly stayed at this RV Park and posted reviews over and over complaining about the same issues? Or has he stayed once and just repeatedly writes reviews of this one experience trying to lower the ratings because he feels they are inaccurate? Or?

As I've said before, I don't think the review in and of itself is inappropriate. Even though the park has no control over many of the identified issues - they are issues that make sense to mention (if you cannot sleep if there's any external noises, then don't stay at this park, etc.).

However, there is something going on that the OP has not shared in his argument that the casino owners have treated him unfairly over a bad review. I suspect that his account at TA was disabled because he has taken on a "vendetta" attitude towards this one park and they saw his actions as inappropriate.

[Bea_PA]

I didn't see his review as complaining, just stating the facts. I have stayed at many casinos free and at many good casino parks , Bay St Louis Ms, is one. If I had to pay 10 to park I would just find a park offsite. The places that we have stayed free, Indian Casino near Miami, have cost us plenty, what with gambling and meals lol, many offer shuttles in to the casino and when I review I just state the facts. I am a senior adviser on trip adviser and have never had a problem when I gave a less than favorable review

[Bird_Freak]

Lots of folks here are losing sight that the casino also has a cg but op wanted to stay in the parking lot.

[winnietrey]

Pangaea Ron wrote:
It's a CASINO that happens to have a place for RV's to spend the night.

X2, They bill themselves as an RV Park, not a campground.

[Pangaea_Ron]

It's a CASINO that happens to have a place for RV's to spend the night.

[toedtoes]

I don't think the review is inappropriate. As a potential customer, I would appreciate knowing the the place is noisy (trains, concerts, AC), there is a potentially strong odor (sewer plant), no facilities, etc.

What I think is wrong is that the OP is reading more into the response than "we're not relocating or renovating the place to eliminate these issues". As the response mentions "reposting", I also wonder what else went. Did the OP repost the review verbatim? Or did they remove other comments that were deemed inappropriate by TA? Or?

[2oldman]

Coffee 'whiter'.. ok, now I get it.

[westernrvparkow]

magnusfide wrote:

Naio wrote:
I found the review informative, and I don't see why people here are so down on you. And if the casino banned you, they should be ashamed of themselves.

If people only write positive reviews, then reviews become useless.

Same here. All positive reviews are useless in that kind of system. Sad that others badger a person who had a terrible experience and reported it. My wife is allergic to the soy in creamers and has to have milk so we understand that too.

We do use Trip Advisor and we do read the negative reviews for a balance to the positive. Negative reviews will sometimes mention issues that are important to us like the food allergy issue.

Thanks for the heads up.

I'm sorry, but there is no way reviewers should slam RV parks and other businesses because YOU have food allergies. Many people go by the scores that are generated on those reviews or they wouldn't have the scores in the first place. To give a business a bad score because they don't have real cream for coffee and instead offer a soy creamer is ridiculous. Bring your own cream or drink it black. It isn't like the RV park's primary business is serving coffee. On the same lines, would it be fair to give a grocery store a low score because they sell bagged nuts and you are allergic to them? Give an RV park a low score because it has grass, flowers and trees Because you have severe allergies to pollens?