Reviews are not always fair.

[Sooner_Schooner]

I just need to get this off of my chest. We are workampers and are currently working in Texas. We are at a KOA that has 35 cabins and 237 RV sites. The manager is awesome, and probably the best manager we have ever worked for. The problem is that people have been scheduling HUGE family reunions and are occupying most, if not all the cabins. They have been a total pain in the rear as many of them could care less for the park rules. They lie about how many people are occupying the cabin and they have extra cars blocking traffic and parking where they are not supposed to. We work very hard to be courteous to everyone but the RV crowd is upset because the cabin dwellers are tearing things up, and the cabin people are mad because we ask them to obey the rules. They let their kids run wild, leave trash everywhere and it's really sad. Sadly, my prediction is that the family reunions will be the downfall of this nice park.The Google reviews are becoming terrible but it's from the cabin people and not us RV people. I just looked through the reviews and the bad ones are obviously the cabin people who weren't allowed to run wild and ruin it for everyone. Not sure what the answer is but I will look further into reviews when we are looking for our next stay.

[2012Coleman]

Most review sites have the ability to give a response to a review. RVarkReviews allows owner response and Goolge also allows responses - instructions here

Your best bet is to respond(or let management) to these reviews using the following guidelines - copied from RVParkReviews.com:

Responding to Reviews:

Always be polite. Remember that your responses will shape opinion about your Park.

Craft your messages well. Professional, caring and courteous responses go a long way to great customer relations and experience.

Thank the reviewer for taking the time to post feedback.

Address specific complaints and explain what steps may have been taken for improvement.

Do not offer incentives for reviews, or coupons or discounts for return stays.

Be positive! You might mention improvements or updates that may interest the reviewer.

In the end, most people can see through these rant reviews on Google.

Good luck!

[Farmboy666]

rav wrote:
we stayed at a large private campground (not a KOA) this past year for a month. the owner would ask once and then would have the police remove them from the campground and they were never allowed to come back.
there were many cabins and only once did I see someone asked to leave them- on 3 occasions the police removed campers and chased out a couple of unwanted motorcycles.
the owned also employed an off duty officer to patrol on the weekends

the KOA we stayed at in Granger, IN did not put up with anyone acting out and when the nearby micro brewery had an event and Notre Dame had home games the park would fill up- they also had off duty officers patrol to keep it safe and under control

both of these campgrounds are very nice clean and really feel safe- it is up to the owners to maintain a level of safety and keep their parks clean and under control or they will deteriorate, get bad reviews and eventually wonder what happened JMHO

I feel for the work campers (have been there too) you do your best to provide a clean and friendly environment only to have a selfish person post because they are told how to act

Were the motorcycles unwanted because they were motorcycles or because of the people riding them?

[Expyinflight]

This is only going to get worse before it gets better in my opinion.

[Sooner_Schooner]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
Instead of actually "working" at a privately owned, for profit campground, why not volunteer at state or national park. Usually, you don't receive money, but instead a free campsite. Many opportunities from camp hosting, maintenance, visitor center, and office duties. Almost always not the partying visitors commercial campgrounds get, and if there are any trouble makes, the law enforcement rangers quickly handle it.

We have been fulltime for 10 years and have worked and volunteered at many city, county, state, and private RV parks. This is our 2nd KOA.

[Sooner_Schooner]

Lwiddis wrote:
Takes backbone to evict but it's necessary sometimes.

Management will evict and has done so since we have been here. These people really needed to be asked to leave. Then come the undeserved bad Google and Trip Adviser reviews. One of the family reunions has already been told they are not welcome back next year. We had to call police on them, 5 units responded. The nice family RVer does not want to see police and disturbance calls and I don't blame them.

[DownTheAvenue]

Instead of actually "working" at a privately owned, for profit campground, why not volunteer at state or national park. Usually, you don't receive money, but instead a free campsite. Many opportunities from camp hosting, maintenance, visitor center, and office duties. Almost always not the partying visitors commercial campgrounds get, and if there are any trouble makes, the law enforcement rangers quickly handle it.

[Sooner_Schooner]

md_procouple wrote:
In my humble opinion, the "cabin people" are the main source of discontent between the two (campers vs. Cabin). But as I see it C/G's are going more with cabins since they can make more profits on them despite having more maintenance and upkeep and possibly more user problem. We have seen some of our favorite C/G's going the cabin route, and as a result we have stopped using them. When given a "questionnaire" to fill out about our stay, it seems all of our "problems" have been because of the cabin users, not to mention the disappearance of various small items left in the open of our site. (Thanks for letting me get this off my chest) lol. Good Luck and Happy Camping !!!

Thank you md, I think we should voice our concerns to management and/ or corporate headquarters.

[rav]

we stayed at a large private campground (not a KOA) this past year for a month. the owner would ask once and then would have the police remove them from the campground and they were never allowed to come back.
there were many cabins and only once did I see someone asked to leave them- on 3 occasions the police removed campers and chased out a couple of unwanted motorcycles.
the owned also employed an off duty officer to patrol on the weekends

the KOA we stayed at in Granger, IN did not put up with anyone acting out and when the nearby micro brewery had an event and Notre Dame had home games the park would fill up- they also had off duty officers patrol to keep it safe and under control

both of these campgrounds are very nice clean and really feel safe- it is up to the owners to maintain a level of safety and keep their parks clean and under control or they will deteriorate, get bad reviews and eventually wonder what happened JMHO

I feel for the work campers (have been there too) you do your best to provide a clean and friendly environment only to have a selfish person post because they are told how to act

[Lwiddis]

Takes backbone to evict but it's necessary sometimes.

[darsben1]

The answer is eject the ones causing trouble.
Give them back their money and be done with it. To many people see the lost revenue and will not do what is best for the business.

[md_procouple]

In my humble opinion, the "cabin people" are the main source of discontent between the two (campers vs. Cabin). But as I see it C/G's are going more with cabins since they can make more profits on them despite having more maintenance and upkeep and possibly more user problem. We have seen some of our favorite C/G's going the cabin route, and as a result we have stopped using them. When given a "questionnaire" to fill out about our stay, it seems all of our "problems" have been because of the cabin users, not to mention the disappearance of various small items left in the open of our site. (Thanks for letting me get this off my chest) lol. Good Luck and Happy Camping !!!

[Lauren]

My wife and I - a few years back - came up with a one word answer to most anything in life................ P E O P L E !!

Well, this can be bad - or it could be good.

Usually, in today's US society it is bad. Total disregard for rules / laws / etc. Laws / rules / common courtesy simply is not part of many people's lives.

I have also said for years that I am glad to have lived in the best years the United States has ever seen - or ever will see. I honestly believe that.

I do not mean this to be political at all - just general observations.