Camp ground tried to charge me for there heat tape

[past-MIdirector]

I've already posted a review on RV review but would like to heard from forum members on this. From the first of November till December 23 we stayed at one of the only Campgrounds in the county that was open in Monroe, MI. We paid by the month $500 full hook ups but had to pay the electric which park charged .14 per HWH well about the residential of .08 per KWH.
After the first month I happen to notice that the parks heat tape to their faucet to each site was on the sites meters when the heat tape on our site tripped the GFI. There so called electrician told me when I started to question him. I question management about the heat tape and was told that's the way it was done and I'm the first to ever complained about it being on their electric bill.
We left on the morning of Dec 23 and read the meter after I unhooked. The office was told and no one was there at the office or out to read the meter when we left, The DW had told the young man in the office that we pay by check only and was not allowed to charge anything to our credit card they had on file.
Fast forward to Jan 2 we receive a bill by email with a reading higher than what I wrote down and statement they had taken amount from our charge card on file. The DW called the bank and put a stop payment since the meter reads were wrong and that they used our credit card without permission. Yesterday got an email asking what my problem was over the few cents per day for their heat tape on my bill. An email yesterday was that they would take .10 per day for their heat tape which can out to $5. I will be sending a complain to Good Sam since this is a Good Sam park and a complain to the MI AG on the recommendations from the MI Utility Commission.
There winter rates are $35 per day includes electric, $200 a week includes electric, and $500 a month and you pay them .14 per KWH for electric. Other than a laundry room, wifi that we didn't use because it showed a security warning on our computer, low voltage, and $40 deposit for there internet TV box there was no other amenities.

[2oldman]

got google?

[kkmack]

Hate to ask...what is heat tape? I have heard of electric hoses. Is it similar? I live in south Texas, so we don't know about things like this.

K

[camper19709]

Life is way too short to make all this fuss about $.10. The important part is that they were open in the middle of winter.

[Fizz]

kab449 wrote:
Read this whole thread to see if the OP responded. Wonder how he feels now after getting the feedback he asked for.

Sorta fits in with the weather channel thread.
You need a thick skin here.

[kab449]

Read this whole thread to see if the OP responded. Wonder how he feels now after getting the feedback he asked for.

[BurbMan]

past-MIdirector wrote:
...we stayed at one of the only Campgrounds in the county that was open in Monroe, MI.

...and the ONLY reason he was open was because he had heat tape on the faucets. Running the heat tape is a cost of doing business, just like running the furnace. So let's see....the charge for the heat tape was an extra $10. You stayed there 30 nites, so if the monthly fee was $510 instead of $500, would you have gone somewheres else?

[Aridon]

The heat tape is directly for your benefit. If it wasn't there you'd have to put your own and pay the bill anyway or suffer frozen pipes. I don't see the issue.

Some people will look for ANYTHING to complain about.

[mark5w]

1. Should have taken a picture of the meter for proof.

2. Blood pressure pills are cheap

3. Stress put a beating on your body

4. Rehashing it on this forum and many not agreeing with you starts the whole stress thing all over.

Suggestion: Learn to pick your fights.

[dieharder]

I dunno, man. Creating an issue over $5 seems petty to me.

What I really wonder about is what you really think complaining to Good Sam will do? Good Sam doesn't own the park or have any say in what management does or charges. Good Sam isn't the god of camping. Seriously... what on earth would you expect Good Sam to do about it?

[bsinmich]

When we lived in a mobile home we had heat tapes and they were 35-40 watts. If you had 500 watts you would have hot water all the time. I can also vouch for commercial rates. At one time our condo provided "free" gas for all 182 units here. I am the president and when I found we were paying 15.3% extra for commercial rates we changed to 182 meters and everyone paying their own gas for heating. Our board got a lot of static but now 5 years later they are all happy, and paying less than before. I have stayed at the CG he was at in the summertime and it is a nice CG near a lot of my relatives. I also don't know where he gets the .08 price per KWH. We pay 11.5 here in Holland and that is a fairly low rate for MI.

[FunnyCamper]

bit confused on the meter readings and how all this went down---but seriously, I gotta say $5 is not worth the trouble. I would drop it cause like many said, life is way to short. JUST don't give them any money in the future and stop using their facilities. They get $5 but lose hundreds or thousands from you never going to their cg again.

[doxiemom11]

I read the post to say that no one was around when they got ready to leave, so they read their final meter reading themselves. Then after they departed the campground did a reading on the empty site and the reading was higher than the OP's reading when departing the site, therefore the heat tapes continued to function to keep the campground's water lines warm while the OP was not present and he was charged for that.

[Chuck_thehammer]

file complaint with credit card company. and forget it.

I have way more important things to worry about.. $5.00 is nothing.

my opinion. and worth NOTHING.

[mikemcmanigal]

My experience at an electric utility included many cases where owners of apartment complexes tied some or all of their parking lot lighting into one or more apartments so renters paid the bill. Common practice.

[JaxDad]

past-MIdirector wrote:
The .10 a day is what they are offering which is way low for a 500 watt heat tape but it's about the fact they are charging people for there heat tape that's on there faucet and people don't know this is wrong. Heat tape will add $10 to $15 a month to the average electric bill per month in MI during the winter. I have installed my share while living there but most that I used was 900 watts. This adds up to a lot of money with 15 to 20 people each month paying the park because they were to cheap to put in frost proof faucets!

500 watts??

A typical heat trace line is 7 watts per foot, a 500 watt line would be 70+ feet long.