No refund from Terry Bison Ranch

[KCerling]

When we were planing our trip out west in July we made reservations at Terry Bison Ranch Rv in Cheyenne , Wyo.We had to pay up front for 3 nights for $161.55
Our son is coming back early from his 5th deployment in Afghanistan early so we had to cancel. Their response is the check is cashed and no refunds period!!!!
They are a Good Sam park and this is how they operate??

[Jloucks]

I think it should boil down to the purpose of no refund site pre-payment. Why this rule? Sleazy money grubbing move by owner or safety mechanism by owner?

Solution seems easy (and willingness to comply indicative of scenario)

If site books, refund. If not, no refund.

Is it really that complicated?

[p220sigman]

Ads in different places and sometimes websites that aren't all that clear are the reasons I always ask what the policy is when I book if I haven't clearly located it somewhere. Not foolproof since they could always deny having told me there are refunds, but I've never had an issue with it.

[dieharder]

When you have your own website, you can have as many pages and as much information as you want on there. When you have an advertisement in a directory, you have a limited amount of space to work with, and a limited number of words to use. You can't expect a campground to have all their rules and such listed in a single ad, and you can't expect everything you might need to know to be written in it. When you call, you ask questions, like a cancellation/refund policy, do they have a diog restriction (if you have a dog that is sometimes prohibited in some campgrounds), do they have an RV age restriction (in case you have an older RV). Do that stuff BEFORE you make a reservation.

[2012Coleman]

Put yourself in their shoes and see it from their perspective. I personally would have and enforce the same policy - there is always a million reasons to cancel - some valid, some not so much, and some just downright untrue - not saying the OP's reasons were untrue. But business such as campgrounds are there to make money - I'm sure it's costs something to keep up with the maintenance - ya think?

And as with everyhing else in life, ignorance of the cancellation poiicy is never an excuse.

And gee, since we all should know that there most likely IS a cancellation policy, you should take the time to find out about it before booking. Traveling down the interstate at 65 mph? Well, then pull over.

[msmith1199]

Actually Rockhillmanor, if it was the day of then in fact most places do have no refund policies and I'd have to support that. You made your reservation the day you wanted the site and then you canceled a couple of hours later. Even many hotels won't refund on the same day. What you don't know is how many potential customers he may have turned away because he was full and then you cancel and it's unk whether the site gets filled or not.

So I can support no refund policies when it's a last minute issue, but the OP of this thread is still over a month away from the reservation date. That is not reasonable. Maybe a small "restocking type fee" but not the full amount.

[garyhaupt]

msmith1199 wrote:

garyhaupt wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
Sounds like the OP didn't use the website so had no idea of the no cancellation policy. And even if they have a no cancellation policy for those days that is not a good policy. So the OP has every right to share this info with the rest of us. I would not make reservations there knowing this is their policy, but I was going anyway.

Think about it, if that week is so popular, how difficult a time do you think they are going to have renting the space out again?

Maybe look at it this way...if you have a business and you have been able to sell all of your product, how cool is that, eh? Especially if it was a no-refund product? Money in the bank account.


Gary Haupt

I have a business and if I ran my business that way I probably wouldn't have it very long. My business relies heavily on word of mouth and if I screwed customers over I wouldn't have it very long.

"and if I screwed customers over"

I don't see where the OP got screwed over, do you? And if you are giving refunds even when you have a No Refund policy in place...well, good for you. Do you allow your staff to do that too, or just you?


Gary Haupt

[ependydad]

KCerling wrote:
I looked in Good Sam Campground Directory and booked by phone. Neither make mention of this policy.I have not looked at their website I look at Good Sam ratings.

I understand and hear you that you didn't know about the cancellation policy, but were you registering during the time of this event or not?

[2324delk]

As a business owner I would agree with the no refund reservation.

But as a person, If I rented the sight out again I would send a refund to the person who canceled. Because that is what would make me feel good.

[SS_Slacker]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

happybooker1 wrote:
Did the OP indeed cancel his spot? If so he should try calling and booking a spot NOW for that exact same time. Upon being told "we're all booked up" he should inquire about the site he cancelled which SHOULD be vacant.

Upon finding out that they have, indeed, rebooked that site he should then politely argue that a refund is due to HIM since they are getting paid TWICE for the same site.

I don't camp at private CG's much for that very reason. State Parks are 'always' willing to refund your money, minus a small fee (in Texas anyway)!

Once you cancel, the site is available to the next person. He made his decision, he has to live with it. Do you think that when you cancel a non-refundable reservation on an airplane that the plane travels with your seat open? It is really easy to avoid any and all cancellation fees. Don't make a reservation. Of course, during Frontier Days the nearest available RV site will probably be 100+ miles away, but hey, no cancel fees if you decide not to attend.
Cancel fees exist for several reasons, some even help the average RVer. If there were no fees and no time restrictions, people who plan in advance would be shut out of reservations by people who game the system and book several places at the same time and then make their travel decisions much later. When that happens, both the park and the people who were shut out lose. Making a reservation GUARANTEES that you will have a site. The park can't cancel your three day reservation to make room for someone who wants to stay 14 days. There is no telling how many reservations that park has turned away because it was holding those three days for those people and many of those unbookable reservations may have been for longer periods of time.

That is exactly why as a customer I actually like some form of non refundable deposit or fee. I plan my summers out far in advance at popular campgrounds and many people just book up summer weekends and then cancel the ones they don't want later. For those booked weekends I have had to make alternate plans while someone booked a site they don't intend on using anyway. I wish the COE had a higher fee than $10.

Yes, I have had to cancel before due to unforeseen circumstances, but I paid and moved on.

[Bucky_Badger]

restlesswind wrote:
If it were my son returning there would not be a second thought about losing
$160 for a campsite reservation.Being there to greet him would be worth infinitely more than any campsite fee.
Forget the fee ! Enjoy the fact that your son came home alive!
I am really suprised that it seems like I am the only one to think this way.Camping/RVing is fun,but come on folks...5 tours and a son
or daughter returns home and a $160 refund is important ? I don't get it !

x2..Well said

[restlesswind]

If it were my son returning there would not be a second thought about losing
$160 for a campsite reservation.Being there to greet him would be worth infinitely more than any campsite fee.
Forget the fee ! Enjoy the fact that your son came home alive!
I am really suprised that it seems like I am the only one to think this way.Camping/RVing is fun,but come on folks...5 tours and a son
or daughter returns home and a $160 refund is important ? I don't get it !

[westernrvparkow]

happybooker1 wrote:
Did the OP indeed cancel his spot? If so he should try calling and booking a spot NOW for that exact same time. Upon being told "we're all booked up" he should inquire about the site he cancelled which SHOULD be vacant.

Upon finding out that they have, indeed, rebooked that site he should then politely argue that a refund is due to HIM since they are getting paid TWICE for the same site.

I don't camp at private CG's much for that very reason. State Parks are 'always' willing to refund your money, minus a small fee (in Texas anyway)!

Once you cancel, the site is available to the next person. He made his decision, he has to live with it. Do you think that when you cancel a non-refundable reservation on an airplane that the plane travels with your seat open? It is really easy to avoid any and all cancellation fees. Don't make a reservation. Of course, during Frontier Days the nearest available RV site will probably be 100+ miles away, but hey, no cancel fees if you decide not to attend.
Cancel fees exist for several reasons, some even help the average RVer. If there were no fees and no time restrictions, people who plan in advance would be shut out of reservations by people who game the system and book several places at the same time and then make their travel decisions much later. When that happens, both the park and the people who were shut out lose. Making a reservation GUARANTEES that you will have a site. The park can't cancel your three day reservation to make room for someone who wants to stay 14 days. There is no telling how many reservations that park has turned away because it was holding those three days for those people and many of those unbookable reservations may have been for longer periods of time.

[Lantley]

happybooker1 wrote:
Did the OP indeed cancel his spot? If so he should try calling and booking a spot NOW for that exact same time. Upon being told "we're all booked up" he should inquire about the site he cancelled which SHOULD be vacant.

Upon finding out that they have, indeed, rebooked that site he should then politely argue that a refund is due to HIM since they are getting paid TWICE for the same site.

I don't camp at private CG's much for that very reason. State Parks are 'always' willing to refund your money, minus a small fee (in Texas anyway)!

That's the exact monkey business the CG is trying to avoid. Once reservation is paid there are no refunds period.
No hard luck stories real or imagined. I don't mean to imply the OP is not being truthful,however the CG does not want to judge or deal with changing or manipulating the schedule for this event.
I don't think this is the CG's everyday policy,but for this event no refunds,no discussions and the policy is strictly enforced. One needs to be 100% committed when making the reservations or be willing to forfeit all monies.
The CG is not attempting to cheat or rip off campers they simply want the camper to be fully committed to arriving at the schedule time without any drama.
We all know there is lots of drama with the public as a whole.

COE and public parks constantly deal with people booking sites for themselves and others and then using the dates they truly want and then cancelling the rest. They may have to pay a small $10.00 cancellation fee. The $10.00 penalty is not enough of a deterrent to keep people from making reservations they never plan to use. However a full payment no refund policy ensures people are 100% committed to their reservations. CG's develop these policies because a few bad apples attempt to manipulate the system. As long as the policies are stated up front or clearly posted I have no issue with CG that operate this way.

[lbrjet]

I have never seen a campground, that requires advanced payment, that gives a refund if you cancel. That is the whole point of getting paid in advance. Chalk this one up to learning that you should ask about the cancelation policy before handing over your money.