Has anything ever happened that wasn't the RV Park's fault

[westernrvparkow]

This morning has an irate guest complaining the breaker in his site kept tripping all night long. Went to investigate, they have a 40 foot pusher and were in a 50 amp site. Trouble was they had adapted down their 50 amp plug to a 30 amp plug and then adapted that plug down to a standard 20 and it was the 20 amp breaker in the pedestal that was tripping. Tried to explain to them that having a 50 amp rig would probably draw way too much power for a single 20 amp circuit and they should remove the adapters and just plug into the 50 amp receptacle. They promptly berated me and told they had traveled across the country and never, ever had a problem, so it has to be the park's electrical system.
I can now add this to the wifi system that doesn't work and it is the park's fault because the guest has the wifi turned off on their computer. The park's cable system doesn't work and the fact that the guest didn't have a cable connected to their television was immaterial. It's the park's fault the guests didn't know the roads in Montana are mountainous. It's the park's fault the local propane company isn't open on Sunday. The park should be telling all the guests that there isn't a Walmart nearby and the local grocery store sells milk for a dime more than it costs in their supermarket.
I'd have little whine with my cheese, but the local liquor store doesn't carry the boutique label my sophisticated palate demands and that's probably the park's fault as well.

[pianotuna]

Western runs a high quality park. Why should he not find it frustrating to have an unhappy client who may bash his facility because they do not have a clue about their RV?

Rule of thumb in business is 1 unhappy client is balanced by 100 happy ones.

[Romer1]

jake2250 wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

puddleduck wrote:
Chill out westernparkowner. For every problem guest there are 1000 good ones.
At our Colorado park we don't have problems, we have opportunities.
Sometimes they are opportunities to help a customer understand his rig.

That guest made it very clear that it was not my place to help him understand his rig. Get slapped around a few times by those 1 out of 1000 you don't take chances with the other 999.

Nice to see you bash your guests on the World Wide Web!! This is your interpretation with out any debate from the guest!!
Cool,, lets just all label them as stupid because your so smart!!
Great business sense!!

But it's OK for people to come on here and bash a campground without the campgrounds response?

That happens more often than complaints from a campground.

[fj12ryder]

"Cool,, lets just all label them as stupid because your so smart!!"

Or maybe we can label them stupid because that's what they are. Not everyone is as sharp as we would like them to be. Some are ignorant, but some are just plain stupid.

[4X4Dodger]

To WRVPO:

I do understand your frustrations but cannot condone your business sense or practices as they relate to customers.

The good business person realizes that good PR is essential to any business. I have to say that you don't serve your best interests here by bashing your customers in posts. Even though you are "shielded" by some sort of anonymity here many of your posts may leave a bad taste in ones mouth about RV Park owners and cast them in a bad light.

If it is your goal to undermine your own industry you may well be succeeding. But it doesn't seem to be a very wise course of action.

For some on this site you represent the RVPark industry and as such it would seem all the better to be an ambassador of good will instead of ill.

Your best and most interesting posts are those in which you CALMLY help those here understand some of the financial and other challenges of running an RV Park. You have an interesting and important perspective that if brought forward with some grace, humor and understanding would be much better received and work to enhance your industry...not undermine it.

I hope we can look forward to more of those kinds of posts in the future.

[westernrvparkow]

jake2250 wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

puddleduck wrote:
Chill out westernparkowner. For every problem guest there are 1000 good ones.
At our Colorado park we don't have problems, we have opportunities.
Sometimes they are opportunities to help a customer understand his rig.

That guest made it very clear that it was not my place to help him understand his rig. Get slapped around a few times by those 1 out of 1000 you don't take chances with the other 999.

Nice to see you bash your guests on the World Wide Web!! This is your interpretation with out any debate from the guest!!
Cool,, lets just all label them as stupid because your so smart!!
Great business sense!!

It isn't like the guy is going to be a repeat guest. He thinks my electrical grid is **** because his 50 amp rig trips a 20 amp breaker. I know he is the south end of a north bound mule and I won't take a reservation from him anyway.

[jake2250]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

puddleduck wrote:
Chill out westernparkowner. For every problem guest there are 1000 good ones.
At our Colorado park we don't have problems, we have opportunities.
Sometimes they are opportunities to help a customer understand his rig.

That guest made it very clear that it was not my place to help him understand his rig. Get slapped around a few times by those 1 out of 1000 you don't take chances with the other 999.

Nice to see you bash your guests on the World Wide Web!! This is your interpretation with out any debate from the guest!!
Cool,, lets just all label them as stupid because your so smart!!
Great business sense!!

[4X4Dodger]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

puddleduck wrote:
Chill out westernparkowner. For every problem guest there are 1000 good ones.
At our Colorado park we don't have problems, we have opportunities.
Sometimes they are opportunities to help a customer understand his rig.

That guest made it very clear that it was not my place to help him understand his rig. Get slapped around a few times by those 1 out of 1000 you don't take chances with the other 999.

Puddleduck you have got it right! That is the way business is done.

RVPO once again shows he just hasn't the temperament for his job. Being suspicious and treating the 999 just like the 1 difficult one is without a doubt the most shortsighted and silliest thing I have seen from him.

And as I said above if RVPO talks to his customers like he writes here then I too may have told him it wasn't his place to tell me about my rig. Tone of voice, body language and intent is all important in these matters. Just as much as words.

I can certainly understand how he might set someone on the defensive.

I wish more RV park and business owners would chime in here. RVPO often leaves the impression that his business tactics are ok and unfortunately some who don't understand business seem to think so too.

[westernrvparkow]

puddleduck wrote:
Chill out westernparkowner. For every problem guest there are 1000 good ones.
At our Colorado park we don't have problems, we have opportunities.
Sometimes they are opportunities to help a customer understand his rig.

That guest made it very clear that it was not my place to help him understand his rig. Get slapped around a few times by those 1 out of 1000 you don't take chances with the other 999.

[puddleduck]

Chill out westernparkowner. For every problem guest there are 1000 good ones.
At our Colorado park we don't have problems, we have opportunities.
Sometimes they are opportunities to help a customer understand his rig.

[4X4Dodger]

bucky wrote:
I'm going to disagree with the poster that said the customer is always right. There are a lot of fools out there ladies and gentlemen. I often tangled with employees who stated that their job was to make a customer happy. That is not the case. Their job was to take the customers money and making them happy was but one of the tools needed to accomplish that task. A business exists for one
reason only, and that reason is money money money. Look at the Evergreen case that is being beat to death here this week. They made people happy, but didn't make any money. Bye bye Evergreen. Sorry, but money is king except to the very very rich that can afford to give it away. Bill Gates etc.
Kudos to the OP, he rarely fusses but when he does some fool has pushed him too far. I enjoy his perspective.

Yours is a very shortsighted and ultimately self defeating philosophy of which most successful business people will heartily disagree.

While the exchange of cash for goods and services is the goal for sure, one has to keep in mind the best way to reach that goal. The more customers you have that leave happy, satisfied and with a positive feeling the more good word-of-mouth you get, the better reviews, and the more repeat business.

And you better believe that my employees have always known that treating the customer with respect and keeping them happy was no 1 priority. I also would make it clear to those that worked with customers that their goal was also to SELL.

And a happy customer will usually willingly spend more than an unhappy one.

As in the case of any business that fails there can be many many reasons that have nothing to do with "Happy" customers. Don't confuse the ACQUIRING of customers with the keeping and satisfaction of customers and don't confuse under-capitalized, over burdened with debt and a VERY competitive market with keeping customers happy. These things can sink a business regardless of customer attitudes.

But with unhappy customers you are just sure to fail faster.

And I will repeat; The customer is always right...wven when they are wrong. (that is what I posted)

Meaning: even if the customer is wrong you don't treat them or make them feel that they are wrong. You just solve their problem without pointing fingers which is a useless waste of time anyway.

[mgirardo]

3oaks wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:
This morning has an irate guest complaining the breaker in his site kept tripping all night long. Went to investigate, they have a 40 foot pusher and were in a 50 amp site. Trouble was they had adapted down their 50 amp plug to a 30 amp plug and then adapted that plug down to a standard 20 and it was the 20 amp breaker in the pedestal that was tripping. Tried to explain to them that having a 50 amp rig would probably draw way too much power for a single 20 amp circuit and they should remove the adapters and just plug into the 50 amp receptacle. They promptly berated me and told they had traveled across the country and never, ever had a problem, so it has to be the park's electrical system.
I can now add this to the wifi system that doesn't work and it is the park's fault because the guest has the wifi turned off on their computer. The park's cable system doesn't work and the fact that the guest didn't have a cable connected to their television was immaterial. It's the park's fault the guests didn't know the roads in Montana are mountainous. It's the park's fault the local propane company isn't open on Sunday. The park should be telling all the guests that there isn't a Walmart nearby and the local grocery store sells milk for a dime more than it costs in their supermarket.
I'd have little whine with my cheese, but the local liquor store doesn't carry the boutique label my sophisticated palate demands and that's probably the park's fault as well.

A little far fetched I would say! :R

Perhaps you are in the wrong business?

I doubt it! This guy lives in my neighborhood and complains about everything. He gets a brown patch on his lawn, the neighborhood kids poisoned it. I didn't know he camped, but it definitely sounds like him!

-Michael

[CWDoc115]

hotbyte wrote:
You should've told them you knew the exact cause. They need to take RV back to dealer ASAP for refund...'cause they are obviously too dumb to own one 🙂

I LOVE THIS ANSWER!!!! :B

[bucky]

I'm going to disagree with the poster that said the customer is always right. There are a lot of fools out there ladies and gentlemen. I often tangled with employees who stated that their job was to make a customer happy. That is not the case. Their job was to take the customers money and making them happy was but one of the tools needed to accomplish that task. A business exists for one
reason only, and that reason is money money money. Look at the Evergreen case that is being beat to death here this week. They made people happy, but didn't make any money. Bye bye Evergreen. Sorry, but money is king except to the very very rich that can afford to give it away. Bill Gates etc.
Kudos to the OP, he rarely fusses but when he does some fool has pushed him too far. I enjoy his perspective.

[4X4Dodger]

SDcampowneroperator wrote:

noplace2 wrote:

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
Seems like every day someone says they cant get level, blame the site. Its a fine line to walk to show them with a level or even a frying pan with water that their auto leveler is out of calibration or the stick on bubble is.
They always want to blame the site before doubting their unit they are proud of.

Over our 15+ years fulltime, we have hosted 5 CG's and managed 2. I feel yer pain, bro! 😄

The one thing that I disagree with you about is the fine line. I do understand that owners need to claim and retain revenue. After a couple of venues, we learned to ask the right questions. Although not precise, one of them would have encompassed a scenario as you described above. If the answer was anything except, "We have provided the best service we are capable of. If that is not satisfactory to you, we will refund your night with us and we hope you find better accommodations elsewhere", and we would move on. Simple translation to the customer: You don't need us, we don't need you. Fortunately/unfortunately, (you make the call) a slightly over 92% decided to stay. Yeah, yeah; some of them didn't have anywhere else to go, but the other % decided to stay because they were dealt with honestly. Too little of that going around these days.:(

Any owner who agreed to use that approach after we signed on experienced an average retention rate significantly and statistically higher than before attempting to placate the customer.

And I full timed for 22 years before owning and operating our camp for 15 years the day after tomorrow, 6/15/01
Its not a contest of experience or training, its about handling the situation with giving the customer first doubt, checking our equipment first to show them the trouble most often, not always, is theirs.
With leveling, we explain the site is laser level with preferably a slight drop to the rear to allow for drainage, carefully suggest using a manual method to level to rule out faults in auto or bubble levelers. Thats the fine line I wrote about, is how to deal with the issue. Customers are very proud of their unit, are hesitant to believe fault in it.
On power, pressure, CATV issues , we always assume the customer is right, carry test equipment tools and parts on our maintenance cart, test ours first, can 99% of the time prove ours is good, the trouble is the guests. Rarely, we do find a weak breaker, a fault in CATV wiring. The 1% . is ours.
A good business never assumes their equipment or staff is infallible

Precisely! and this is what RVPO just doesnt get. He has a huge blind spot when it comes to dealing with the public and if he speaks to his customers like he writes his posts there is little doubt he is alienating people and escalating simple problems into bigger ones.

In terms of dealing with the public. While it certainly can be challenging, some are very much better at it than others. I have in my business life had customers that ranged from Large corporate CEO,s and their staffs to the actual "public". In my experience the vast majority have been at least civil, many if not most, friendly and understanding and many a true joy to get to know.

How you approach dealing with the public and how much you truly enjoy people has a lot to do with how you feel about it.

WRVPO, judging from his posts on this forum, doesn't exhibit any appreciation for people or that he truly likes his job.

When that happens, and it has happened to me, it is time to get out of it and move on.

I have had customer challenges that make the OP's look like a day at the park.

Two Germans who pee'd on one of my hotel mattresses and thought they could get away with it. (they ended up paying for a new mattress to avoid jail and having to take the wet one with them)

Russians who threw up black vomit all over their room and left early for the airport...the entire room had to be repainted...they didnt bother to clean a thing.

Another pair of Russians who continually tried to bring in Prostitutes (male) despite my warnings not to. they were asked to leave at 2AM.

But I have also had some brilliant ones. the Italian Ambassador to Thailand and Laos, Who was the kindest and nicest man.

The US Chief of operations for Afghanistan and his wife. A true gentleman deeply in need of some rest.

The group of Italians who were so fun loving and nice it made the whole place shine.

The well known film producer and his family that treated the staff and myself with great respect and stayed for a month.

These are just examples from when I owned my hotel. I have many years more of stories with corporations, NASA, the Government and others.

...you either are a people person or not. And if not you should NOT be in the hospitality business.

So please bear with me it's my experience that makes me so skeptical of his complaints.

[SDcampowneroper]

noplace2 wrote:

SDcampowneroperator wrote:

noplace2 wrote:

SDcampowneroperator wrote:

A good business never assumes their equipment or staff is infallible

Good on you! I've been able to do short bursts, but year after year? No way do I have that sort of patience.

"A good business never assumes their equipment or staff is infallible".

Agree to a point, but as the OP here you recognize that there are people who will not be soothed.

Im not the OP. Thats westernrvparkowner, or as we many who visit here refer to him honorably as wrvpo.
Yes, there are some who cannot be soothed. We do sooth a much higher % than 92%