Campground Question

[Born_To_Travel]

On Wednesday, I checked in to a RV park near Dayton as I planned to visit the U.S. Air Force Museum.. The park advertised that it was the closest to WPAFB and that was the selling point for me.. I arrived and the park was older but clean, but when I registered the woman told me they did not have a credit card machine (I thought that was odd) and it was cash or personal check only.. I paid with a check for two nights (Wed and Thur night) and was taken to my pull thru.. The next morning (Thurs) I left in my RV as I did not have a towed car.. I visited the museum and returned to the park at 5 p.m. only to find a TT with slideouts in my space... All the other empty spots that were empty when I left were still empty.. I was livid and went to the office, were a different woman was working.. I asked her why there was another camper in my spot when I was paid up until Friday morning.. She told me that she thought I was not coming back and that they have a waiting list and she gave it to someone else.. I told her I counted 5 drive thrus that were the same as mine that were empty and you can not rent out a spot that was already paid for, and that was illegal.. She just smirked and said I could have drive thru lot 76 as it was nicer anyway and had shade... I took it and the next morning looked around and those same spots that were empty at 5 were still empty in the morning, so there was no waiting list.. Is it not illegal to do this?...

[Mr_Mark1]

Reading all 4 pages (I get 20 posts per page), I'm surprised at how angry people get over something that either was a mistake, on purpose, stupid clerk, lazy park owner rules, etc.

I would only have been angry (really only irritated at this point) if they didn't give me a spot and if the new spot was not as nice as my original spot. Angry would have come if a spot was NOT available.

Their book keeping methods are none of my business.

Personally, I would have told the office that I was leaving for the day but would be returning later.

MM.

[OhhWell]

Someone messed up and it could be kinda funny in hindsight that they put someone on your spot out of all the other possibilities but maybe they have an order in which they fill sites.

That being said, it is wrong. Wasn't the end of the world obviously but it does show poor management and I probably would have turned to angry myself if a front desk clerk smirked at me.

Also, a few people said you should tell the front office what you are doing if you leave for the day and I have to say I think that is absolutely ridiculous. If you paid for a site, you paid for it from check-in the first day through checkout the last day. If I don't want to even show up, I would fully expect a site to be sitting completely empty the whole time. You are paying them for the site, you shouldn't have to do any of their job for them.

[J-Rooster]

You rented that space for two days and under any circumstances that space should not have been rented until the two days were up! It doesn't matter what the office thinks if your gone or not! You had a binding rental agreement for that space for two days. That RV Park clearly practices poor customer service and greed. I can't believe other posters saying it's O.K. because they gave you another spot, I guess contracts or agreements don't mean anything to them! I'm sorry to hear about how you were treated!

[Nutinelse2do]

I personally do not understand why you would be upset about getting put in a nicer spot, with shade.

Obviously all of your items were in the coach, so it wasn't like you had to move your chairs, bbq, etc.

Life is 20% what happens and 80% how you deal with it.

If you are upset because you think the employee is ripping off the owner, find out who the owner is and send them a USPS signature required letter and get it off your chest. It is unhealthy to sweat the small stuff.

[2324delk]

I find it very hard to believe that any campground is so far back in the dark ages, that they do not keep records of which sites are rented and which are not.

I would have been very angry, not sure what I would have done. I guess it depends on the day.

I once had very smart Lady whom I was interviewing for a supervisors position, answers a question about dealing with stress by saying.

QUOTE "I learned a long time ago, if some one was going home at the end of the day MAD. It was not going to be me"

I try very hard to never end the day angry, I give it to somebody else.

Living this way means you sometimes have to go back and apologize.

But I would rather wake up sorry, than go to bed angry.

And I have no ulcers.

[usmohls2]

How many ulcers do you have?

[wallynm]

I get it you are angry over the fact that I did not agree with you and actually presented an alternate view point. I an not angry or naive as some folks are,

Born To Travel wrote:
What part of this don't you get?.. I left at 10 am so I still had a full day to go.. And it was paid in full.. I don't believe how naive some people are..

[Dog_Folks]

Bill.Satellite wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:

hl remington wrote:
I have never told a park when I leave, when a park has over 150 sites
how would they keep up with who leaves and returns

Most of the parks I stay at (Where I am now IS an exception but it's also 24 sites and the management knows a lot about me including WHY I am here and when I am leaving)

Most of the parks I have some kind of gate pass or ID card I turn in when I check out.. So they know for a fact when I leave.

Some of them as I leave the gate keeper steps out and takes the papers out of my hand.

Others I drop them in a box

But either way they know when I leave.

Wow, you must stay in some high class RV parks! I can't remember the last time a stayed in a park that even had a gate much less a gate keeper!

Almost every Army Corps. Of Engineers campground has a gate and a gate attendant. Most state parks east of the Mississippi also employ gates, and attendants. Small parks, not so much.

[Bumpyroad]

Bill.Satellite wrote:

Wow, you must stay in some high class RV parks! I can't remember the last time a stayed in a park that even had a gate much less a gate keeper!

yep, I think I can remember about 5 parks that I have been in that did this.
bumpy

[2gypsies1]

It's one thing when you leave earlier than expected and leave for good.

When you leave for a few hours during the day, the park doesn't have to know that. You paid for that site and it's yours until you leave for good. The park has their record of when you're supposed to leave. They should NOT re-assign that site.

Really. How difficult is this to understand?

[Bill_Satellite]

wa8yxm wrote:

hl remington wrote:
I have never told a park when I leave, when a park has over 150 sites
how would they keep up with who leaves and returns

Most of the parks I stay at (Where I am now IS an exception but it's also 24 sites and the management knows a lot about me including WHY I am here and when I am leaving)

Most of the parks I have some kind of gate pass or ID card I turn in when I check out.. So they know for a fact when I leave.

Some of them as I leave the gate keeper steps out and takes the papers out of my hand.

Others I drop them in a box

But either way they know when I leave.

Wow, you must stay in some high class RV parks! I can't remember the last time a stayed in a park that even had a gate much less a gate keeper!

[msmith1199]

Born To Travel wrote:
The reason I am not naming this park is because I feel the owner does not know what is going on and why hurt him when he plays no part?.. I have worked at places that dealt mostly in cash and I have had a front row seat to some of the games that were played... If anything I feel sorry for the owner and just trying to educate others.. Like the old saying goes, We screwed the last guy and passed the savings on to you... Trick is not to be the last guy...

Why don't you find out who the owner is and tell him or her or them privately about your story. If there is something nefarious going on give them the chance to fix it.

[wa8yxm]

hl remington wrote:
I have never told a park when I leave, when a park has over 150 sites
how would they keep up with who leaves and returns

Most of the parks I stay at (Where I am now IS an exception but it's also 24 sites and the management knows a lot about me including WHY I am here and when I am leaving)

Most of the parks I have some kind of gate pass or ID card I turn in when I check out.. So they know for a fact when I leave.

Some of them as I leave the gate keeper steps out and takes the papers out of my hand.

Others I drop them in a box

But either way they know when I leave.

[SRT]

Big_Blue wrote:
Definitely not a good customer friendly business practice.

This past weekend, I made a reservation for an RV park near the event I was going to on Saturday. Drove in Friday later afternoon and was easily the biggest rig in a seasonal enclave. My reserved site had a fire pit in the middle/roadside that limted access. Also, it was a sod site v a gravel pad. I had visons of my heavy rig sinking, or at least spinning, leaving ruts while throwing chunks of sod at adjacent campers. We got a refund, made a reservation at the local KOA and drove off.

Not all campground owners get it.

How was the Air Force Museum? Worth adding as a travel destination?

The AF Museum is well worth the time. Plan on several days for walking through the exhibits if you are an airplane lover. We only spent a day since we were on a time schedule at the time.

[Goldencrazy]

Ok, it was probably not in violation of the law unless you made a contract for that specific site. Usually you make a contract for a space with certain perimeters. In your case you were not damaged in anyway so they complied with the agreement you made. Blast them if you will on reviews but I think you should learn that when traveling without a toad to leave the campsite so it clear it is occupied. Orange cones etc are often used from what I observe and perhaps keep the office informed. Totally empty sites are vulnerable.