San Francisco RV Resort....Well Not Really

[4X4Dodger]

San Francisco RV Resort....Well Not Really

I usually wait until I have left a place before I write a review of the Park or whatever it is. I think too many reviews are done in a moment of anger or frustration or high emotion. The time and distance lends a perspective and allows me to consider the experience from all sides.

However in this case I am waiting a mere 24+ hours from check-in to writing.

This park in Pacifica CA close to San Francisco bills itself as a “Resort” which it clearly isnt. Of course it's not the first or last business to over-sell itself on the Web. But in this case the comparison is almost laughable.

What this park IS, is a parking lot with hookups for your RV while you visit San Francisco. And at that it does fairly well. Oh the showers are clean and work well, the water is hot and that's not to be sneezed at. It is pretty convenient to Downtown SF.

But the comic/tragic part of this park is it's desk staff, at least those on duty when I checked in and of course their insistence on acting like you are checking into the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong instead of a dated RV parking lot in a California suburb.

Actually that's not a good analogy, I have been treated extremely well at the Peninsula and got my room right away as I walked in the door. ( the key was handed to me and I was escorted to my room) They even picked me up at the airport in a classic Rolls Royce. (I am not expecting that level of service here..of course)

But what I am alluding to here is that kind of attitude from the desk staff that is: We are going to make you wait a half hour or more...needlessly...even though we can look out our office window and see your site is empty. Yes my site was in direct view of the office not 50 feet away.

I asked: “is my site empty?” “Is there some reason you cant check me in and let me get on with setting up?”

“I am sorry” the officious desk clerk said “ you will just have to wait”

I was the ONLY customer checking in. No one else was in line inside or out. There were NO vehicles coming of going.??? But there were two very “busy” people manning the desk tapping at their computers.

I owned a hotel for quite a few years, a very nice Boutique hotel. And we would have NEVER kept a guest waiting if their room was clean and ready. As my site clearly was. I should have been checked in right then and there and made to feel welcome.

Sam Walton in his Biography was quoted as saying: “Never let the PROCESS interfere with serving the customer” In this park what passes for customer service (or the sheer lack of any conception of it) is precisely the opposite of what Mr. Walton was talking about. This park allows the process to dictate the treatment of the customer. Totally upside down and backwards.

This park is what it is...a parking lot...on the ocean...all their non-hookup ocean side sites have been washed away by erosion, It is definitely not a resort and I found it not at all friendly, helpful or welcoming at check in.

[Uramillionaire]

4X4Dodger wrote:
An Update:

I had also posted this review to Google Reviews (which is NOT a Mob review site) These are the reviews that pop up when you search Google for a business or service.

I was sent an email from Encore Resorts which owns the park. This email included a survey.

Instead of filling out the survey which was cleverly worded and constructed to avoid any real criticism. I sent a note and a copy of my review here and on Google reviews to them.

I of course expect nothing to come of this. But perhaps someone will read it and correct the desk procedures.

Good for you! A little communication and effort on their part would have gone a long ways.

[4X4Dodger]

An Update:

I had also posted this review to Google Reviews (which is NOT a Mob review site) These are the reviews that pop up when you search Google for a business or service.

I was sent an email from Encore Resorts which owns the park. This email included a survey.

Instead of filling out the survey which was cleverly worded and constructed to avoid any real criticism. I sent a note and a copy of my review here and on Google reviews to them.

I of course expect nothing to come of this. But perhaps someone will read it and correct the desk procedures.

[4X4Dodger]

bfast54 wrote:

4X4Dodger wrote:

azdryheat wrote:
Write a review at RVPARKREVIEWS

Sorry but no.

Excuse me but WHY NO ????:h

I read YOUR REVIEW here, and have had similar service at a Campground.

So, I have to wonder WHY you wont take a minute to possibly SAVE SOMEONE ELSE ...From your issue, which Frustrated you ??????:h

Please Help a Fellow RVer , who Might be Very Appreciative of YOUR REVIEW:W

I have made my feelings about Mob Review sites such as Trip Advisor and RV Park Reviews well known on here before. I didnt see the need to repeat it all.

But to clarify. As a Hotel owner I can tell you there is much much more to these Mob Review sites than meets the public eye. ALL of them are Gamed...in other words reviews are posted by park owners or their competition in an effort to either raise their own ratings on the site or hurt others.

There are businesses that specialize in writing reviews for your business and writing bad ones for your competition and they are very good at it. They will not only Game the review sites for you they will make sure nothing negative ever stays on your social media sites as well.

The large chains like Sheraton and Hilton have entire departments that do nothing but track reviews and social media and respond. And as big money advertisers on Trip Advisor and other sites they are able to get bad reviews removed easily and quickly. thus it ensures top ratings.

I know one hotel owner who successfully gamed his hotel reviews before the pending sale of his property that he had it listed as No 1 on trip advisor, assuring a quicker sale and a better agreed upon price.

Secondly if you look closely you will find that in terms of exposure I believe that RV.net has much more activity than RVPR's. So if my goal is to reach the most numer of RV'rs I will post here.

Additionally When a hotel op RV Park gets a bad review they will often try to get it removed, or put up a good one to force the bad one off the first screen that comes up. 80% of people never look beyond the first screen.

These are just some of the reasons I just don't post there. Of course I havnt even gone into what it takes to try to get a gamed review off of a site. A review you KNOW was not written by a guest. With Trip Advisor you might as well just slash your wrists on their front doorstep. (unless you are one of their big advertisers) I have actually had telephone discussions with TA's CEO, Stephen Kaufer over this issue.

But you have to realize these sites exist to Make Money not serve the public. And as such Mr Kaufer is doing a very good job.

And lastly...the fact that you read my review here speaks well for my contention that more will actually read it here than on RVPR's.

I hope you have a better understanding of my thinking on this issue now.

Edited for clarification by the author

[4X4Dodger]

Travelon wrote:

4X4Dodger wrote:

dicknellen wrote:
4X4 Dodger you didn't say why they had you wait. Did you arrive prior to check-in time or what? Dick

The fact that check-in was not until Noon was their excuse. But that excuse holds absolutely NO water when the site is empty. You just don't keep a guest waiting needlessly for an empty and clean room or an empty RV space. To what point?

The thing that riled me so much was they could look right out the office window and SEE my site. It was the closest one to the office! And yet they would not answer my question about was it open?

If you are running a reservation system anywhere near correctly you have already decided which site or room a customer is going to (that is if you assign sites and some parks do not)

This was simply a failure at every level.

So your excuse for trying to check in before noon is...Your somebody important?

This is a RV Park not some 4 Star Hotel in the top international locations... SF included.

Did you consider the staff may only have a limited amount of time between check out and check in to accommodate management's directions.

From a former grunt, get reel.

Travelon

First of all as a former Hotel Owner I can tell you with total assurance that "Check-in Time" is jsut a threshold time for giving the staff time to clean the rooms that are going to be occupied first before guests arrive. In the case of an RV park it is nothing more than a time that allows current guests to depart by a time certain and clear the site. A Check-In time is meant to keep guest dissatisfaction at a minimum so that when you arrive your site will be ready...my site WAS ready.

In any case be it RV park or Hotel if the room or space is empty the guest should be accommodated immediately and NOT made to wait simply for the clock to rotate.

In this case my reservation was made days in advance, the space was clearly empty and I should have been put into it.

If you had worked for me you would have understood that the guests pay our salaries, keep the place open and that Customer service is your Number One Job.

[mileshuff]

Expensive? Location, Location, Location! California RV parks are extremely expensive if they are close to popular areas. San Diego, Temecula, Buelton/Solvang, Paso Robles etc. are very often $75-$100+/night.

[Travelon]

4X4Dodger wrote:

dicknellen wrote:
4X4 Dodger you didn't say why they had you wait. Did you arrive prior to check-in time or what? Dick

The fact that check-in was not until Noon was their excuse. But that excuse holds absolutely NO water when the site is empty. You just don't keep a guest waiting needlessly for an empty and clean room or an empty RV space. To what point?

The thing that riled me so much was they could look right out the office window and SEE my site. It was the closest one to the office! And yet they would not answer my question about was it open?

If you are running a reservation system anywhere near correctly you have already decided which site or room a customer is going to (that is if you assign sites and some parks do not)

This was simply a failure at every level.

So your excuse for trying to check in before noon is...Your somebody important?

This is a RV Park not some 4 Star Hotel in the top international locations... SF included.

Did you consider the staff may only have a limited amount of time between check out and check in to accommodate management's directions.

From a former grunt, get reel.

Travelon

[bfast54]

4X4Dodger wrote:

azdryheat wrote:
Write a review at RVPARKREVIEWS

Sorry but no.

Excuse me but WHY NO ????:h

I read YOUR REVIEW here, and have had similar service at a Campground.

So, I have to wonder WHY you wont take a minute to possibly SAVE SOMEONE ELSE ...From your issue, which Frustrated you ??????:h

Please Help a Fellow RVer , who Might be Very Appreciative of YOUR REVIEW:W

[4X4Dodger]

tsetsaf wrote:
Could have saved you here

Maybe I am missing something but I dont see how the site Campground Views that you recommend could have saved me. ?? I knew of the other parks. My problem was not with the site it was with the hapless staff.

[4X4Dodger]

dicknellen wrote:
4X4 Dodger you didn't say why they had you wait. Did you arrive prior to check-in time or what? Dick

The fact that check-in was not until Noon was their excuse. But that excuse holds absolutely NO water when the site is empty. You just don't keep a guest waiting needlessly for an empty and clean room or an empty RV space. To what point?

The thing that riled me so much was they could look right out the office window and SEE my site. It was the closest one to the office! And yet they would not answer my question about was it open?

If you are running a reservation system anywhere near correctly you have already decided which site or room a customer is going to (that is if you assign sites and some parks do not)

This was simply a failure at every level.

[tsetsaf]

Could have saved you here

[arush19]

Maybe the house cleaning crew wasn't done with your site. Oh wait, there is no cleaning crew. I really don't understand why checkout is at 11am and checkin is around 2pm? It's not like it's a hotel room where they need to change the sheets and towels. I can understand a 1 hour courtesy period in the event the previous tenant is still fussing with their gear, but if it's empty--what's the deal? Was the clerk feeling powerful enforcing the rules?

[dicknellen]

4X4 Dodger you didn't say why they had you wait. Did you arrive prior to check-in time or what? Dick

[tpi]

The word resort is misused in almost all cases of rv parks. I can see the jammed together spots and high prices at that location- a tradeoff for city access.

But the waiting was ridiculous given the site was open. Maybe someone will see this and lead to a policy update. Yes I've had to wait in some places too..just for sticking to procedure. But in the great majority of cases I have not. And I appreciate that!

[4X4Dodger]

To get this back on topic:

Yes this park is expensive but not as much as some of the others, I am paying $65+ for two nights, but because I have to move and the space they are moving me to is a "Pull Thru" I have to pay $83 for the last night. That is a bit much for an asphalt parking lot.

But it may not be the staff that dooms this park as much as Mother Nature. Eventually so much will wash away that it becomes economically unviable.

Having read some of the reviews of this place on Google Reviews There were several others that had the same experience as I did. And I suspect that if you arrive at a time they feel is convenient for THEM your reception is much different than the one I got.

I mostly want people to understand this is not a resort, their customer service skills are nil and if you lower your expectations and treat it for what it is then you may be ok here.