Frustrated with Reserve America

[dalspot]

Anyone else constantly getting errors when trying to book a campground via Reserve America?

I never had this problem before they "updated" their system and changed their website last year.

I've emailed and complained to no avail. Perhaps if they'd get more complaints they would do something to fix it!

[Itching2go]

magnusfide wrote:

tahiti16 wrote:
Along with the previous comment on clearing cookies and if you have IE 9 or newer try compatibility mode and that will sometimes clear up mysterious issues.

It's not the browser or cookies; it's the RA system itself according to a buddy of mine who works in their tech. Regardless of which browser used the glitches appear. It's not the type of camp either; like Yahoo they have major system issues which makes me concerned about the actual security of their system since it uses our credit card numbers.

As for the security concerns with credit card numbers, I was just on the phone with an RA rep yesterday, making a change to an existing reservation. As there was a date change, I was charged a $10.00 fee. When it came time to pay, I suggested she use the credit card number 'on file'. According to the rep, they do not store credit card numbers in their system. Numbers are cached for only the few seconds it takes to process, then purged. Do no worries there.

While I wish RA had a bit more functionality such as making this sort of change on line, the ability to search for sites by length, etc, I'm in the camp with those that have never experienced a technical problem. Tahiti's (and others) who have suggested clearing cookies is a spot on, and may help. Being an 'IT guy' who has led any number of web-based system upgrades and implementations, I can tell you that one of the biggest challenges is maintaining backwards compatibility with the wide variety of web browsers, and browser and Java versions that are out there on people's laptops and desktops. While RA's system may lack functionality which is a functional design issue, I haven't observed anything that leads me to believe it's fragile.

IMHO...

[the_happiestcam]

magnusfide wrote:

the_happiestcamper wrote:

Since my buddy works for them, I'll take his word over yours.

Then how come we have NEVER had a problem?

You weren't logged in when the system couldn't handle the load and updates. The system is outdated. RA isn't interested in expanding their system's capacity now either.

Like I said; my friend is a tech with them. His word on the problems of RA are far more credible than alleged user testimonies and RA salesmen.

I work in IT at a place that is FAR larger than RA. Our job is to make systems run at their peak performance - now matter how many versions some of them may be behind. If your buddy said the system was perfect, and we all said it didn't work (user feedback), then I guess in your eyes the system would be perfect.

Any system that uses databases has to be tweaked - and tweaked properly. IF there are queries allowed against the database that the system can't handle, then RA's IT support needs to figure out how to either a)not allow those queries or b)make the system responsive to these queries.

[magnusfide]

atreis wrote:
I've never worked anywhere that doesn't use some systems that are technically outdated. Those systems might be a pain for those of us that have to maintain them, but they get the job done. From a business perspective, system upgrades cost money and it only makes sense to do if there is a critical issue (security, for instance) with the old system or if the upgraded system will result in increased profit (through lower costs or higher customer usage) above the costs of the upgrade itself. Often times from a business perspective "good enough" is good enough.

Precisely. There are plenty of cgs who use good systems that are secure. We never have a problem finding those places.

[wbwood]

I say tech buddy needs to design and run a more updated system.

[atreis]

I've never worked anywhere that doesn't use some systems that are technically outdated. Those systems might be a pain for those of us that have to maintain them, but they get the job done. From a business perspective, system upgrades cost money and it only makes sense to do if there is a critical issue (security, for instance) with the old system or if the upgraded system will result in increased profit (through lower costs or higher customer usage) above the costs of the upgrade itself. Often times from a business perspective "good enough" is good enough.

[NanciL]

magnusfide wrote:

NanciL wrote:

magnusfide wrote:

camperforlife wrote:
I have found that if you are very general with RA you will have no problems. If you use the "a park with" button or the a "spot with" button, it almost guarantees that you will have a problem.

Even that approach fails when the system can't handle the requests according to my tech buddy. They're using some outdated software that doesn't interface with new security protocols.

Your "tech" buddy isn't too "tech" !

There is nothing wrong with Reserve America
It is the people using it that don't know how to navigate through the pages properly.

jack L

Since my buddy works for them, I'll take his word over yours.

Wonderful !
Keep listening to your "tech buddy". You'll end up out in the cold while the rest of us keep booking our sites without any problems.

Jack L

[Us_out_West]

Never had a problem using RA.

Think some problems are the responsibility of the person trying to use it.

[Dog_Folks]

magnusfide wrote:

the_happiestcamper wrote:

Since my buddy works for them, I'll take his word over yours.

Then how come we have NEVER had a problem?

You weren't logged in when the system couldn't handle the load and updates. The system is outdated. RA isn't interested in expanding their system's capacity now either.

Like I said; my friend is a tech with them. His word on the problems of RA are far more credible than alleged user testimonies and RA salesmen.

If I were in management at RA I certainly would want to know this guys name. So I could fire him!

[magnusfide]

the_happiestcamper wrote:

Since my buddy works for them, I'll take his word over yours.

Then how come we have NEVER had a problem?

You weren't logged in when the system couldn't handle the load and updates. The system is outdated. RA isn't interested in expanding their system's capacity now either.

Like I said; my friend is a tech with them. His word on the problems of RA are far more credible than alleged user testimonies and RA salesmen.

[the_happiestcam]

magnusfide wrote:

NanciL wrote:

magnusfide wrote:

camperforlife wrote:
I have found that if you are very general with RA you will have no problems. If you use the "a park with" button or the a "spot with" button, it almost guarantees that you will have a problem.

Even that approach fails when the system can't handle the requests according to my tech buddy. They're using some outdated software that doesn't interface with new security protocols.

Your "tech" buddy isn't too "tech" !

There is nothing wrong with Reserve America
It is the people using it that don't know how to navigate through the pages properly.

jack L

Since my buddy works for them, I'll take his word over yours.

Then how come we have plenty (myself included) who have NEVER had a problem?

[magnusfide]

NanciL wrote:

magnusfide wrote:

camperforlife wrote:
I have found that if you are very general with RA you will have no problems. If you use the "a park with" button or the a "spot with" button, it almost guarantees that you will have a problem.

Even that approach fails when the system can't handle the requests according to my tech buddy. They're using some outdated software that doesn't interface with new security protocols.

Your "tech" buddy isn't too "tech" !

There is nothing wrong with Reserve America
It is the people using it that don't know how to navigate through the pages properly.

jack L

Since my buddy works for them, I'll take his word over yours.

[NanciL]

magnusfide wrote:

camperforlife wrote:
I have found that if you are very general with RA you will have no problems. If you use the "a park with" button or the a "spot with" button, it almost guarantees that you will have a problem.

Even that approach fails when the system can't handle the requests according to my tech buddy. They're using some outdated software that doesn't interface with new security protocols.

Your "tech" buddy isn't too "tech" !

There is nothing wrong with Reserve America
It is the people using it that don't know how to navigate through the pages properly.

jack L

[magnusfide]

camperforlife wrote:
I have found that if you are very general with RA you will have no problems. If you use the "a park with" button or the a "spot with" button, it almost guarantees that you will have a problem.

Even that approach fails when the system can't handle the requests according to my tech buddy. They're using some outdated software that doesn't interface with new security protocols.

[wbwood]

Add another "never a problem with the site" here.