Lake In Wood Campground - Is it always like this?

[Gingerela]

Just visited Lake In Wood CG in Narvon, PA after reading how highly rated it is. While the grounds are beautiful and rather picturesque compared to others we've visited, we found the staff to be rather standoffish and bordering on rude.

While checking in, personnel was not welcoming or even friendly. The woman standing next to me wanted to pick a item up from someone who was camping there. She was told she had to pay $6. She then said she would just call the person and ask her to meet her at the gate to get the item. The man behind the counter berated her, telling her she was not allowed to do that and that she HAD to pay the fee. It was uncomfortable to hear this heated exchange. His tone was so hostile, you'd think the woman had stolen something.

As i stepped up to register, I was treated indifferently as a factory worker would treat a product on an assembly line. Not even so much as a 'Hello', or 'Thank you'. The following day, we visited the office to get some ice cream. The man behind the counter that served my husband his cone was very condescending to the point that I wanted to say something. The young lady standing next to him was clearly embarrassed by his attitude and less than stellar treatment of a paying customer. She was the only employee who smiled and was courteous the few times we had to go into the office/store.

It appeared to me the majority of the older employees were not happy to be there and we felt as though we were inconveniencing them with our business.

Given the popularity of this CG and the fact that it stays booked solid through Labor Day weekend, I can't help but wonder if others have experienced the same lackluster treatment. I'd love to return as we enjoyed the amenities, but we're hesitant to spend our money (and it's definitely not cheap) where we don't feel welcome and our presence is an inconvenience to the staff.

[atreis]

No opinion about LiW - never stayed there. In terms of RV Park Reviews though, I find the comments in this thread distressing. I've used this site for years, but learning that they suppress negative reviews based on customer service or incidents of that nature is really bad.

This is not just a matter of: One person has a bad experience, so we're not going to post it. If it's REALLY only one person (or a minority of people), then it won't significantly affect the overall rating of that particular campground, as the positive reviews will swamp it out.

If they're really concerned about this sort of thing, implement a review rating system - like Amazon and lots of other places have - allow users to rate particularly helpful or unhelpful reviews, and highlight (or weight) those that are the highest rated.

[mdcamping]

I've been posting reviews on Rv Parkreviews for 6 yrs, the last thing I want to read is a review that focus ONLY on conflict with an owner/staff or some other conflict in general.

The point is to review the whole campground, good and bad. This is what most people look for in a review.

To focus on just one negative piece is not a review and doesn't help fellow Rvers. IMO

Mike

[schlep1967]

If the review sites won't let you give the proper review of the personell, then give the campgrouond the improper review of the grounds. Either way it tells others your view of the campground. Instead of a 4 out of 5 for the nice pool give them a 2. Same for every amenity they have.

[magnusfide]

2008Wildcat wrote:
Lake in Wood is, and always has been, one of the best in the area.

The OP's experience must have been an off occurrence. We've been going for over 7 years, at least once per year. The staff has always been accommodating, and pleasant. Could they have had a bad day? Sure. Are we all pleasant all the time? No.

There are many CG's in the area, and you have the right to choose from any of them.....

By and large "regulars" are treated with courtesy at campgrounds and as a regular of 7 years' standing, I daresay your treatment is based upon that.

There is no excuse for rudeness regardless of what kind of day or the status of the customer vis a vis repeat regular or newbie. Professional behavior is the standard in the hospitality industry whether it's a 5 Star Hotel or an RV campground.

[2008Wildcat]

Lake in Wood is, and always has been, one of the best in the area.

The OP's experience must have been an off occurrence. We've been going for over 7 years, at least once per year. The staff has always been accommodating, and pleasant. Could they have had a bad day? Sure. Are we all pleasant all the time? No.

There are many CG's in the area, and you have the right to choose from any of them.....

[split44]

x2 on using trip advisor. I use it for campgrounds, restaurants, attractions, etc. and it is very accurate. Some reviews are overly critical, but after reading enough reviews you start to see the patterns and can get a good idea if what you're looking at is worth your time and money. Between trip advisor and this site, I've found a lot of worthwhile places to visit that I wouldn't have known about otherwise (and places to avoid).

[1775]

Gingerela wrote:
Well, posting on rvparkreviews.com is a complete bust. Apparently, they don't care at all about customer service. They only want reviews that address the physical campground. I will never visit that site again for reviews. I prefer to spend my money where it's well earned and deserved. Below is the email I received from rvparkreviews.com:

Thank you for your contribution to RV Park Reviews.

Your review has been deferred because your comments focus on a singular bad incident or incidents that may or may not happen to other people who stay at this park. We are sorry this happened to you, and we appreciate the fact that you want to inform others. However, please understand that describing personal incidents such as these is not a review for the park. We would be happy to post your review if, rather than talking about your unfortunate experience(s), you would focus on describing the condition and quality of the facilities, the services, and the amenities provided at the park. What was its general appearance? Were the roads easy to navigate? What did the sites look like? Were they paved or gravel? Were they large enough and level? Did the utilities work well, and were they conveniently placed? Were there any amenities? Please assist us in approving and posting your rev iew by resubmitting it with this objective in mind. Thank you.

This happened to me on the RVparkreviews site when I posted our experiences at one of the Yogi campgrounds where how we were treated by the manager was just abusive. I re-wrote the review with more emphasis on the campground and then talked about management to get the point across without it sounding like this only would happen once. That one was accepted and I got to say what I wanted.

[DiskDoctr]

Gingerela wrote:
Your review has been deferred because your comments focus on a singular bad incident or incidents that may or may not happen to other people who stay at this park. We are sorry this happened to you, and we appreciate the fact that you want to inform others. However, please understand that describing personal incidents such as these is not a review for the park. We would be happy to post your review if, rather than talking about your unfortunate experience(s), you would focus on describing the condition and quality of the facilities, the services, and the amenities provided at the park. What was its general appearance? Were the roads easy to navigate? What did the sites look like? Were they paved or gravel? Were they large enough and level? Did the utilities work well, and were they conveniently placed? Were there any amenities? Please assist us in approving and posting your rev iew by resubmitting it with this objective in mind. Thank you.

What a croc! Suppressing candid feedback of actual experiences vs generalities of a checkbox kind of style IMHO a real disservice to those who are expecting to get a valid review of the CG.

It's a shame to see a once good resource be co-opted by advertising money, greed, or lack of interest in their customers.

[magnusfide]

Thanks for the heads up on rvparkreviews.com I've also posted my reviews at http://www.tripadvisor.com/ which does allow you latitude in describing your experiences.

[travelnutz]

To the OP and others,

rvparkreviews has been slowly changing their criteria and views for a couple years now and no longer gives an accurate account of what rv'ers actually have experienced overall when staying at a particular CG/resort. We've run into scores of rv'ers who have noticed it and are not happy at all and no longer visit the site or put any faith or trust in what they read. We have found that just because it's a pretty and great looking CG at a higher price, being treated like strangers etc not wanted ruins the stay. Money is not the issue for us but it is for many and being mal-treated at elevated costs is not remotely acceptable!

We are included in this findings now. Vote with your feet and wheels that turn and be sure to tell others often and constantly! It eventually hits the CG and gets their attention with diminishing business. In our 50 years this year of rv'ing, we've seen hundreds of once nicely kept and very nice looking CG/resorts close/go belly up due to poor management/staff skills or jerk owners. It always gets back to them eventually and all rv'ers have the key to their success or failure as it's their dollars that make or break them!

How welcoming and pleasant the staff is at all times makes or breaks the rv'ers staying experience just as does bad WIFI or Cable or unlevel sites or low voltage electric or an explanation of rates etc is. Physical sub-par issues can and should be reported and corrected but rude etc staff issues are seldom ever addressed as they should be as they are an extension of the CG owners directives administered by the employees. Often, it's the actual owner that turns the customers off! How stupid can it get?

We can deal with not great physical CG attributes but will never return or go to a CG that the staff or owner/owners are less than welcoming, rude, or unpleasant. We want to know which CG's have these poor management staffs etc as we will always avoid them and tell others constantly about what they are like. The funny thing is that upon seeing these same informed rv'ers at a later time, we so often hear that WE were spot on and right about what we had said as they tried them too and had the same results. Is all these rv'ers wrong or are the facts actually experienced able to speak for themselves?

Word of mouth among rv'ers and posts on forums tells volumes even if rvparkreviews doesn't want the truth to be displayed on their site! We're smarter than that and hold the real KEY in our wallets.

[Gingerela]

We won't be going back to Lake In Wood, but would greatly appreciate your recommendations about other CGs in the area.

[Gingerela]

Well, posting on rvparkreviews.com is a complete bust. Apparently, they don't care at all about customer service. They only want reviews that address the physical campground. I will never visit that site again for reviews. I prefer to spend my money where it's well earned and deserved. Below is the email I received from rvparkreviews.com:

Thank you for your contribution to RV Park Reviews.

Your review has been deferred because your comments focus on a singular bad incident or incidents that may or may not happen to other people who stay at this park. We are sorry this happened to you, and we appreciate the fact that you want to inform others. However, please understand that describing personal incidents such as these is not a review for the park. We would be happy to post your review if, rather than talking about your unfortunate experience(s), you would focus on describing the condition and quality of the facilities, the services, and the amenities provided at the park. What was its general appearance? Were the roads easy to navigate? What did the sites look like? Were they paved or gravel? Were they large enough and level? Did the utilities work well, and were they conveniently placed? Were there any amenities? Please assist us in approving and posting your rev iew by resubmitting it with this objective in mind. Thank you.

[magnusfide]

mikhen wrote:
The cg was bought by Sun Rv Resorts. Perhaps the new management was under pressure? Just guessing. The new management was there when the old owners had it. Just in a different role.

The point that many RVers are trying to make is the fact that there is no excuse for rudeness especially when the customers are politely inquiring.

[1775]

There are many very nice and staff-friendly campgrounds in this area and all over Lancaster County. You have a lot to choose from that you will like.

And thank you for your post. We travel that area a lot and I have seen ads for this campground and wondered about it.

[mikhen]

We've only been to LIW once. The grounds are beautiful and the staff was friendly. The post about the previous owner Klaus passing away recently is correct. The cg was bought by Sun Rv Resorts. Perhaps the new management was under pressure? Just guessing. The new management was there when the old owners had it. Just in a different role. I agree it is a more expensive place, but it is very well kept.