Terrible Experience

[johnanann2013]

We have been full-timing for over seven years and up until now, we have never had a terrible experience with an RV park. This month, we are staying at the Willits KOA in California. We made reservations months ago and I noticed a slight snotty attitude when I was told that the park was nearly full for Memorial Day weekend, but we were given a spot. We checked in and found the park to be practically empty now. We were told we would be charged a $10 fee for checking in an hour early. We said we would come back and were then told the fee would be waived. We were given a spot with no sewer hookups and were told we would be charged $5 for a dump fee every five days. This is on top of the already high nightly rate for a spot with no sewer. We have friends living locally that we wish to visit. However, when they came over for dinner yesterday, the "manager" charged them a $20 "day use fee". They did not use any of the facilities in the park but that did not matter. The manager says this is a "pay to use park" and anyone coming into the park, no matter what the reason or for how long a period of time, will be charged $20. This is ridiculous. There are no signs posted that all vehicles will be charged a fee to enter. When we complained we were told there would be no variance in the rules. As I said, the park is practically empty. I can understand the need for the rule during the summer when the park is full of families and kids. The park is geared towards kids. We have no kids and neither do our friends. We will not be able to visit our friends in our home. The attitude of the staff was horrible. We will not recommend this park and we will not return. There are other parks in the area that are adequate with no unreasonable rules.

[BB_TX]

Gene&Ginny wrote:
I still don't understand how this became a KOA bashing thread.

...................

The mere mention of KOA immediately brings out the KOA bashers, no matter what the subject matter is.

[tpi]

johnanann2013 wrote:
I did not intend to bash KOA's. We use them all over the country and are generally happy with them. There are other CG's available in this area, and we will certainly use one of those on our next visit to this area. We can't move because they will not refund the price we have already paid for three plus weeks of camping here. We were not told of the $20 charge and there is nothing posted in their brochure or on the property that such a charge will be incurred or we would have decided not to stay here. There is literally NO ONE else in this park right now. I understand they will be packed full over the coming weekend and can appreciate the need - albeit still at a high cost - to monitor who comes and goes. But I thought since we are long term guests (we paid for a month) who are in the area to visit friends, there might be a waiver of the fee if I explained the situation. You would think they would be happy to have someone staying at their park when it is empty and would treat us with some appreciation. But we have been treated like we are the enemy and they are doing us a favor by allowing us on the property. By the way, I told the manager I could have just given our friends the pass code and she threatened me by saying they would be checking our site to make sure no unauthorized vehicles were parked there!!! Sometimes, a little power goes to peoples' heads. Any way, thanks for all the comments.

Yes I stayed there during the summer about 10 years ago. Very busy with kids, and that would be my recommendation..good place for kids. Otherwise you have lot of amenities you don't use. Much of infrastructure set up for kid's activities.

One tip: get your dumping done before the throngs during the big holiday. They had quite a line at the dump station when I was there.

Personally if I was there during off season and chatted in office about other older guests to spend a few hours at dinner at my site, I would think there would be a good chance the fee would be waived. If at the end of my off season visit, I didn't feel they especially valued my business I would write to the owners and let them know how I felt about it.

[elkhorn98]

I've stayed there and I think there is a sign stating $10 pp per day for day use/visitors. Most of the park is not full hook up so they do the honey wagon thing. Great place for kids but i would go somewhere cheaper if you don't have kids

[johnanann2013]

I did not intend to bash KOA's. We use them all over the country and are generally happy with them. There are other CG's available in this area, and we will certainly use one of those on our next visit to this area. We can't move because they will not refund the price we have already paid for three plus weeks of camping here. We were not told of the $20 charge and there is nothing posted in their brochure or on the property that such a charge will be incurred or we would have decided not to stay here. There is literally NO ONE else in this park right now. I understand they will be packed full over the coming weekend and can appreciate the need - albeit still at a high cost - to monitor who comes and goes. But I thought since we are long term guests (we paid for a month) who are in the area to visit friends, there might be a waiver of the fee if I explained the situation. You would think they would be happy to have someone staying at their park when it is empty and would treat us with some appreciation. But we have been treated like we are the enemy and they are doing us a favor by allowing us on the property. By the way, I told the manager I could have just given our friends the pass code and she threatened me by saying they would be checking our site to make sure no unauthorized vehicles were parked there!!! Sometimes, a little power goes to peoples' heads. Any way, thanks for all the comments.

[Gene_Ginny]

I still don't understand how this became a KOA bashing thread.

The OP listed 3 specific things, in addition to attitude, about a campground:

• $10 fee for checking in an hour early.
  
• $20 "day use fee".
  
• $5 for a dump fee every five days.

I don't see those fees listed anywhere on the campground website so I too would be upset at being blindsided with them. The only thing about visitors is this quote: All visitors must check in at the office to register and recieve a car tag and wristband

The OP in no way condemmed ALL KOA campgrounds.

[pitch]

While we don't make a point of searching out KOA's, we do prefer them if one is convenient to our overnite stop. Never have we had a really bad KOA. Many is the time we have ended up in a really sketchy independently owned park, even when they have shown good ratings and been vetted by our favorite "club".
I will say that there was one KOA where the clerk was totally inept, being that it was her first day and the reservation system kept droping offline. Eventually an experienced member showed up and forced her way through the system and got us taken care of. We felt very bad for the newby and extended all of our empathy so as not to make her feel worse than she already did!

[Lauren]

Hey, can always turn this into a KOA bashing thread; there are only about 300 earlier ones. Guess what? It gives people something to gripe about!

We have only had a few bad experiences in the 175 different parks we have stayed in 17 years PT RVing. None was a KOA. We know we are paying a premium price due to all the amenities - which we use little of - but we accept that. Guess what again? We pay those in non KOA parks as well!

Enuf.

Give some people a million bucks and they would complain that it is not in 10's and 20's! 🙂

[Army11Bravo]

rockhillmanor wrote:

Crowe wrote:

Here we go again with another KOA bashing thread....

So NOT relevant that's a KOA. That type of customer service is just as important at ANY campground.

To single out KOA

and make that judgment about "weekenders" (a term I also take exception to) is ludicrous and unfounded.....

X2

After about a year on the road full timing and experiencing ALL the different types of nightmares at ANY one of numerous CG's when pulling in for the night?

I now 'seek out' and 'stay at' KOA's 'exclusively' when they are available along my route.

Just because someone stayed at a franchise CG one time they feel they have the right/need to say that ALL of those franchise CG's are bad. Which IS absolutely simply NOT true.

X3
We stay at all sorts of sites, and have always enjoyed KOA campgrounds. We don't mind paying the higher prices knowing the facility will be clean and there will be plenty of amenities for our kids. A $20 fee for guests seems reasonable for all the amenities this KOA offers. But it is understandable people without children would balk at the price, so do your research and avoid family-style campgrounds geared toward kids.

To the OP, the poor attitude of the staff is definitely bad. But like having rude wait staff at a restaurant, it may not be representative of all the staff all the time.

[C-Bears]

When we made a trip out west there were probably 5 or 6 CG's we used in California. They all had high ratings. None were priced below $50.00 per night and most were not that friendly. One of the most expensive ones lost water pressure every day after 6pm, and one was more worried about reminding everyone that they had to wear bicycle helmets when riding inside the park than anything else!

I am glad we were able to see everything we needed to during that visit to California. Our fiver won't be back.

[Crowe]

Also, I am curious about you taking exception to "weekenders".

Because a fair number on here who have the luxury of using their units for more than just weekends and a week or two of vacation use that in a condescending manner to infer those who don't are not worthy and are stupid.

[rockhillmanor]

Crowe wrote:

Here we go again with another KOA bashing thread....

So NOT relevant that's a KOA. That type of customer service is just as important at ANY campground.

To single out KOA

and make that judgment about "weekenders" (a term I also take exception to) is ludicrous and unfounded.....

X2

After about a year on the road full timing and experiencing ALL the different types of nightmares at ANY one of numerous CG's when pulling in for the night?

I now 'seek out' and 'stay at' KOA's 'exclusively' when they are available along my route.

Just because someone stayed at a franchise CG one time they feel they have the right/need to say that ALL of those franchise CG's are bad. Which IS absolutely simply NOT true.

[Tvov]

Crowe wrote:
Here we go again with another KOA bashing thread.

Getting an "attitude" from front desk people, I agree, is REALLY annoying! If someone is going to be the "receptionist", then they need to understand their job and they have to be polite, no matter how bad their day is going. Especially at a KOA, which is going to be mostly weekenders.

So NOT relevant that's a KOA. That type of customer service is just as important at ANY campground. To single out KOA and make that judgment about "weekenders" (a term I also take exception to) is ludicrous and unfounded.

....

I agree completely that bad customer service is bad at any campground! That is why I didn't single out KOAs... I did say "especially" this time, but that is because this thread is about a KOA and KOAs that I've seen cater to "weekenders".

Also, I am curious about you taking exception to "weekenders". I use that term for myself (I don't full time), because the other common term I see is "transients", which sounds much more, well, negative to me.

[Busskipper]

That's the advantage of having wheels - just move on down the road.

We have been in CG's that have dumb or stupid rules - said no thank you and just went to the Wal*Mart - they allowed me to stay, spend my money and have all the guest + I wanted.

This is a great Country.

Enjoy your travels,

[TxCowboy]

Wow, $20 per each additional person seems extreme. Most CGs that charge a similar per person charge is in the $2 to $5 range and that is only if the folks are going to use the facilities, e.g., pool, rec hall, spa, etc.