Price increase at our KOA

[Super_Dave]

Every year at the end of our season we make our reservations for the following year. In that reservation is a listed price. Well, this off season the KOA was sold to new owners and I was notified that the price would go up 25%. Does that seem reasonable that the new owner can not honor a standing reservation? And to add insult to injury, they want to move us to a less desirable site.

[CaptJD]

Get ready for the worst of the worst treatment by many places in 2021 and on... During the Covid19 crisis all RV dealerships sold their inventories and people attacked every model and type motorhome, trailer you name it, as if it was the last one left on earth.

Guess where all those people will go to in coming days?

Many RV campgrounds traditionally stay mostly vacant during midweek days in February are all sold out their sites and of course say good-bye to those old off-season discounted prices when 100 people trying to book 20-25 campsites...

I see this "don't bother me if you're not handing me the cash within the next 30 seconds and get out of my way, I have others lined up behind you" attitude.
Typical when demands increase for a limited supply I guess.

Oh well, in a year or two watch the second hand RV market to explode!

[mdcamping]

Super_Dave wrote:

agesilaus wrote:
So tell the owner you are going to publicly name them and there is the next town over.

No where near going nuclear yet. Discussions with them have just started.

Totally agree, campground owners/staff are always getting beat up by the general public. Being respectful goes a long way.

Mike

[wapiticountry]

Lantley wrote:
Everyone keeps mentioning contract there is no contract. The company that made the reservation is out of business. Kaput, gone, no longer exist.
The new owner does not assume liabilities of the old company. The new owner starts with a new company and a clean slate.
Maybe you could take KOA corporate to court but really would it be worth it.

Agree 100%. The sale was almost assuredly an asset sale. The new owner bought the real estate , the franchise rights, phone numbers, websites etc. Only a fool would sign off on assuming the previous owners liabilities and commitments. A reservation commitment that the new owners do not wish to honor would legally fall on the previous ownership.

[afidel]

Lantley wrote:
Everyone keeps mentioning contract there is no contract. The company that made the reservation is out of business. Kaput, gone, no longer exist.
The new owner does not assume liabilities of the old company. The new owner starts with a new company and a clean slate.
Maybe you could take KOA corporate to court but really would it be worth it.

Now there's a jump to conclusion, how do you know how the new owner acquired the park? They could have very easily just purchased the existing company, would certainly make utilities and vendor contracts simpler that way, also the relationship with KOA.

[Lantley]

Everyone keeps mentioning contract there is no contract. The company that made the reservation is out of business. Kaput, gone, no longer exist.
The new owner does not assume liabilities of the old company. The new owner starts with a new company and a clean slate.
Maybe you could take KOA corporate to court but really would it be worth it.

[dedmiston]

time2roll wrote:

dedmiston wrote:
Offer + Agreement + Consideration = Contract

Yes and terms of contract may allow price adjustment. Maybe even space relocation and adjustment to amenities such as the pool could be closed. Got to read the fine print. I would think if the initial basic terms were not honored the contract should be cancelable/refundable with reasonable notice.

That's the part I've been curious about through all these pages.

I get it that there's a binding agreement ("contract") when you book a space, but is there a written contract? Can there be fine print if nothing is printed?

You call, you give them a credit card number, and they give you a confirmation number. Sometimes you get a confirmation email.

I just pulled up an old confirmation email from a KOA, and the only fine print was the "Cancellation Guidelines" in the event that I cancelled. There's no mention of them cancelling or them moving the goalposts.

[Walaby]

Im willing to bet the previous owner kept the deposit.

Would be nice if the new owner honored the previous price

mike

[time2roll]

dedmiston wrote:
Offer + Agreement + Consideration = Contract

Yes and terms of contract may allow price adjustment. Maybe even space relocation and adjustment to amenities such as the pool could be closed. Got to read the fine print. I would think if the initial basic terms were not honored the contract should be cancelable/refundable with reasonable notice.

[dedmiston]

This has been an interesting conversation.

I'd like to know if the OP called KOA Corporate HQ to get their take on this.

[dedmiston]

time2roll wrote:

jdc1 wrote:

Super_Dave wrote:
Every year at the end of our season we make our reservations for the following year. In that reservation is a listed price. Well, this off season the KOA was sold to new owners and I was notified that the price would go up 25%. Does that seem reasonable that the new owner can not honor a standing reservation? And to add insult to injury, they want to move us to a less desirable site.

That would not be allowed in California. You buy the place, you buy all warranties, liabilities, ect.

Making a reservation is not always the same as a paid fixed contract.

Interesting point. It it's probably a contract when you pay a deposit though.

Offer + Agreement + Consideration = Contract

[time2roll]

jdc1 wrote:

Super_Dave wrote:
Every year at the end of our season we make our reservations for the following year. In that reservation is a listed price. Well, this off season the KOA was sold to new owners and I was notified that the price would go up 25%. Does that seem reasonable that the new owner can not honor a standing reservation? And to add insult to injury, they want to move us to a less desirable site.

That would not be allowed in California. You buy the place, you buy all warranties, liabilities, ect.

Making a reservation is not always the same as a paid fixed contract.

[afidel]

Super_Dave wrote:

agesilaus wrote:
There must be some corporate standards, possibly not about contracts and customer relations, but I see a number of ex-KOAs around the country and they got the boot for something. Customer complaints may start their slide on the way out.

If they are still a campground, what might be happening is after a few years the owner is tired of KOA corporate dipping into their pocket and dictating how things are run. They can use the KOA advertising and eventually separate themselves from the corporate chain.

From reading reviews online in almost every case when a campground was formerly a jellystone or KOA it was not the franchisee choosing to end the relationship, it was the campground being run into the ground and not meeting standards and getting too many complaints. Then generally a few years later they sell the place and a new owner takes over, the place has such a poor reputation that they have to rename again to start clean with things like online reviews. I've seen that pattern probably 20 times when researching places to stay.

[valhalla360]

MarkTwain wrote:

Lantley wrote:
In the end the new owner is entitled to run his new place however he wants including raising rates.
I agree it would be a preferred to accommodate existing reservations at there original price.
However if the new owners has found the original rates to be too low he does not have to lose money by honoring the rates.
The new owner certainly understands raising the rates is controversial, however they may see it as a necessary evil to be profitable

Business Capitalism and profits must be based on "keeping agreements". Failure to keep agreements, personal,business or legal is pretty much how the Mafia ran their businesses !!!!

For new reservations, the business owner can run it how they want. Exiting reservations are bound by the Contract. If the new owner didn't verify the Contractual obligations of the business before purchasing, that's the owners problem.

Even the Mafia run their business following their agreements. Protection cost may go up next month but if you paid the protection payment they asked for this month, your business doesn't have an "accidental" fire.

[schlep1967]

time2roll wrote:
Everybody loves the old owner with no mortgage and a big smile that has no need to press the prices and make sad faces. New owner has to pay market price, finance the purchase and probably catch up on some deferred maintenance so the price increases. I still think he could have honored the original reservation to retain some goodwill. I would pass at least one year and think about the value.

This right here.
Look at difference of price of an established business/campground 30 years ago compared to today. I know just 18 years ago it cost us $13 to camp at the local State Park. That now costs around $43 a night. The state has owned that land tax free forever.
Now consider a new campground owner with a huge mortgage to pay along with taxes.

[MarkTwain]

Lantley wrote:
In the end the new owner is entitled to run his new place however he wants including raising rates.
I agree it would be a preferred to accommodate existing reservations at there original price.
However if the new owners has found the original rates to be too low he does not have to lose money by honoring the rates.
The new owner certainly understands raising the rates is controversial, however they may see it as a necessary evil to be profitable

Business Capitalism and profits must be based on "keeping agreements". Failure to keep agreements, personal,business or legal is pretty much how the Mafia ran their businesses !!!!