RV Park, Full Amenities but no hot water

[gdbudlong]

I am staying at an RV park that is pricey (over $50 per night). I got here. Checked in. Went to their showers to get cleaned up only to see a sign, "No hot Water". Went back to the desk who said it could be several days or more until they have hot water again. Their attitude is "well, it's just one of those things!" No offer to compensate me. Nothing. Should I dispute the charge on my credit card? Make a stink? Or give them an opportunity to make a "good faith" effort at making me happy? I know things like this can happen, but why should I bear the burden of the inconvenience. And going down the road to a different park is not an option.

Thanks for your responses and your input.

[tpi]

Customers should be told of water situation prior to checkin. Actually (!!)
OP should go to office request source of hot shower. Perhaps accommodations at another park or other location in campground.
If none available OP and mgmt should work out a reasonable partial refund.

[rogerramjet442]

It never ceases to amaze me that so many people condone and or support bad customer service these days and times ? I agree that there is always 2 sides to every story BUT ! so O K chime in .. I believe in accountability the good as well as the bad, but i also believe in customer service and getting what i pay for or as advertised.

[Vulcan_Rider]

Sea Dog wrote:
Some people should never camp or RV.
Apparently, to them, the great out doors is not so great!

I had a similar thought. I seldom have a problem going several days without a shower.......unless I'm out in the heat for a significant amount of time.

BUT....that does not change the facts which are:
They advertised hot water and at the time in question, they did NOT have any. SOME adjustment should be made......for anyone who asks.

For all we know, it had been out for weeks.....or months.....and nobody who cares stayed longer than "a few days" to know what was really happening.

Debate is sometimes interesting and enlightening. In this case, it is just pointless.

[wa8yxm]

toedtoes wrote:
I agree that it should have been disclosed at check in.

Having said that, I don't think it's fraud or deception (UNLESS they purposely shut off the hot water). It's simply one of those things that can happen at any time to any park.

Ditto.

And folks.. NOT ALL RV's have showers in them.. Mine does but for assorted reasons till 11 months ago I did not often use it. I normally use park showers since they are normally bigger and have more pressure and more HOT so I can take a longer shower.

HERE though.. I arrived in late (last week) June,, and it was HOT out.. So you went to the shower oh about 150 yards away.. And showered.. Showes are small (About same size as my RVs) lots of hot water and pressure though... Well by the time I got back to the RV with the heat and humidity.... I NEEDED ANOTHER SHOWER.

So now I shower in the RV... Ok so when I get out of the shower and gt in the car it's an oven.. but it's a DRY oven so it's not as bad as the humid outside.. and the A/C works real good.

[toedtoes]

4X4Dodger wrote:
Well TT, your post clearly stated that hot water was optional and by clear inference that one should just accept the situation ie. not complain. Therefore that argument could be used against you if you were found complaining on the site about something else...just pointing out the possibilities for hypocrisy...thats all. But I was trying to be polite and not use the "H" word but you have forced my hand...:)

As for empathy...yes a customer may empathise but that does not change the situation and the need for the business to step up and do the right thing.

As for being specific about compensation...a bad idea. ONE; they may be willing to give you more than you expect and TWO; just the customers appearance in the office about this situation is enough they should NOT have to specifically ask. If what is offered is not felt sufficient then it's time to ask for what you think is fair.

No my post said the lack of hot water in an RV Park is NOT the same as the lack of hot water in a hotel. And I did NOT imply that one shouldn't complain, I implied that those who are treating this inconvenience like it's the end of the world are exaggerating beyond belief. This is not some slum lord who refuses to bring the place to basic living standards - this is an RV park that lost their hot water for a weekend.

And no, my comments on this thread are not hypocritical under any circumstances. No where did I tell the OP not to complain or suggest he was out of line for doing so.

Go ahead and continue to rant against me (as if I'm the only one who said the loss of hot water was simply an inconvenience). I've said what I have to say on the subject.

[Naio]

Wow.

I checked into this thread again because, since it was still going, I figured there must be some news. But all it is is a bunch of people ranting.

Do y'all live out east or something? Has it not occurred to you that, besides having a popup or other shower-less RV, the OP may be staying at this park because it is near his/her temporary work location, or where grandma is in the hospital, or some other urgent necessity, and that it may be the only park for 50 or 100 miles?

Figured I might as well add my own rant to it :).

[Jebby14]

pricy? Ontario parks is 42 a night for just electric.

[Pangaea_Ron]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

Pangaea Ron wrote:
I totally avoid the CG showers, unless we have several female teenagers camping with us. I love our shower with hot water in the MH.

I posted the code requirements that a CG has to provide for safe and healthful facilities for their guests. If there is no hot water, they are violating those requirements, and can be denied their opportunity to operate.

I've inspected restaurants that did not have hot water and needed to close until the situation could be corrected. A CG has similar, but probably lesser issues without hot water, and by code they need to comply, or cannot operate. There are stop-gap measures that they can use to provide hot water if repairs are not available within a reasonable time frame.

The OP did not say what repairs were required or if they were actively trying to correct the situation. The owner seemed less than coperative. Most of us are able to compensate for unoperative systems, but can persevere. When a CG can't do that there should be some

compensation.

So you would close the park and make everyone move if the hot water heater failed? What if it was an electric hot water system, do they evacuate the park every time the power flickers off in an electrical storm? Apparently a Code Commander who practices zero tolerance would require it. Thankfully, the code enforcement people around me are a bit more reasonable. I would imagine you had a lot of unhappy campers (pun intended) when you closed up RV parks and required everyone to find other accommodations because they ran out of hot water for a few minutes or hours.

I never said to close the park, (and no reasonable code official would) I'm saying that there is a requirement to provide a safe and healthy facility. We're making lot's of assumptions here about the availability of hot water in the rest of the toilet/bathing facility. Did the CG management try to offer other options to accomplish that. I had a sense from the OP that the hot water may not be avaiable for several days or more.

Most men don't wash their hands anyway, so the reality of the loss of hot water may not be a serious issue, I brought "officialdom" into the discussion to indicate that the Owner has a responsibility to provide hot water.

[westernrvparkow]

Vulcan Rider wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
But I also think that common sense AND empathy goes a long way.

I HATE deceptive marketing and I hate incompetence at any level.
Put the two together and I think it should be a criminal offense.

More information is needed but it is highly unlikely that there really is any legitimate excuse for it being down several days.



Those who defend this shoddy service are part of the problem.

If the hot water system was broken temporarily, it surely isn't deceptive advertising to say there are hot showers. They couldn't have known the system would be broken on the day you were there when they placed their advertising 6 months earlier. As for criminalization, are you advocating putting a restaurant owner is jail because they ran out of the apple pie that was advertised on the menu? You are going to need to build a few more jails if you criminalize equipment failure or running out of something.
As for incompetence, is it always your fault when something you own or use breaks? If your tire goes flat on your rig, was that because you were incompetent? If the tire size was out of stock and took a couple days to be shipped in, were you incompetent because you chose to have a flat in a place where there wasn't a replacement tire immediately available?
Many parks use commercial boilers, not standard water heaters. The ones I use were special ordered and shipped to Montana from Seattle. Even if I could call, have a truck immediately available for loading and get the unit loaded while I was on the phone ordering it, it would still be three days until it would be delivered. The units cost over $20,000, so I don't have a couple stacked on the shelves just waiting in case my current fails.
I am glad in your world repairmaen, replacement parts and the like are all instantly available. That isn't the case everywhere.

[mich800]

Vulcan Rider wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
But I also think that common sense AND empathy goes a long way.

Would you apply the same logic when talking about a business's failure to perform with something like the BP oil spill ??

So now a broken hot water heater is analogous to an oil spill?

I HATE deceptive marketing and I hate incompetence at any level.
Put the two together and I think it should be a criminal offense.

How is this deceptive advertising. Should they have issued a press release and stopped all current marketing campaigns because of a temporary mechanical issue? These slum lords should clearly be sent to prison

More information is needed but it is highly unlikely that there really is any legitimate excuse for it being down several days.

Admittedly no information but lets condemn big bad corporate park owner with no facts.

As was aptly pointed out, we as consumers get what we deserve and these days it seems to be cheap shoddy goods and incompetent service.

We know of this alleged incompetent service by the follow ups by the OP on what actually happened?

Those who defend this shoddy service are part of the problem.

Is there one bath house? Are all showers down or just the one the OP wants to use? Did it really take several days or was that an estimate so as to not deceive the OP? Maybe the shoddy service is the quality of plumbers in the area.

[wbwood]

"having" to have hot water reminds me of something that my wife and daughter learned while volunteering at the church food pantry. Did you know people on food stamps can not buy toilet paper with them? No paper products at all, matter of fact. My wife told me this as they learned it at the food pantry and asked me how that can be. I told her simply it wasn't a necessity. She disagreed...lol

[Vulcan_Rider]

toedtoes wrote:
But I also think that common sense AND empathy goes a long way.

Would you apply the same logic when talking about a business's failure to perform with something like the BP oil spill ??

I HATE deceptive marketing and I hate incompetence at any level.
Put the two together and I think it should be a criminal offense.

More information is needed but it is highly unlikely that there really is any legitimate excuse for it being down several days.

As was aptly pointed out, we as consumers get what we deserve and these days it seems to be cheap shoddy goods and incompetent service.

Those who defend this shoddy service are part of the problem.

[4X4Dodger]

toedtoes wrote:

4X4Dodger wrote:
It is this attitude that lets companies get away with shoddy service, poor quality goods, and not giving you precisely what you are paying for. I hope I never find a post of yours complaining about the service at Camping world or Good Sam RSA. It might be embarrassing. As consumers who spend our hard earned dollars on goods and services we DESERVE to get not only exactly what we pay for but also good value for money as part of the bargain. Anything less is cheating ourselves.

First off, I have NEVER said the OP shouldn't ask for a discount for the inconvenience. All I have argued is that the lack of hot water for a couple days in an RV Park is NOT the same as the lack of hot water in a hotel. Yes, in a hotel, the shower is part of the basic room rental. In an RV Park, the shower is an additional perk - just like that jacuzzi in the hotel room. Should you ask for a discount if the jacuzzi (amenity) doesn't work - SURE. Should you condemn the hotel for failing to provide their basic service - NO.

As for my being embarrassed for you to find a complaint of mine - what??? Why the H would I care if you find my complaint?

As for consumers getting what they paid for and a good value. I agree. But I also think that common sense AND empathy goes a long way. We don't even know why the hot water isn't working or how long it's been. From the OP, it appears the OP never even ASKED for a discount. Perhaps if the OP had simply asked "would you knock off $10 from the nightly rate since I can't shower until it's fixed?", the clerk would have said "no problem" or "let me talk to the manager/owner". First rule in complaints is that you should be specific in what type of compensation you want - the OP didn't even ask for compensation. Second rule is to be factual and not go off on a tangent - the "if a hotel didn't have hot water" argument is a tangent.

Well TT, your post clearly stated that hot water was optional and by clear inference that one should just accept the situation ie. not complain. Therefore that argument could be used against you if you were found complaining on the site about something else...just pointing out the possibilities for hypocrisy...thats all. But I was trying to be polite and not use the "H" word but you have forced my hand...:)

As for empathy...yes a customer may empathise but that does not change the situation and the need for the business to step up and do the right thing.

As for being specific about compensation...a bad idea. ONE; they may be willing to give you more than you expect and TWO; just the customers appearance in the office about this situation is enough they should NOT have to specifically ask. If what is offered is not felt sufficient then it's time to ask for what you think is fair.

[wbwood]

Been several days and no response back from the OP.

Here's my 2 cents....

1) I agree, it would be nice if they would of let you know when checking in that there are problems with the hot water with an undetermined time on it being repaired. Offer the patron to not stay or give them a slight discount.

2) There are places that do have showers without hot water. So why the norm for most places is to have it, I wouldn't be surprised too much if there were some places that didn't.

3) I kind of agrree with westernrvparkowner somewhat about the difference in the units people are using. But just because someone is staying in a pop up, I don't think they should be given any different treatment than someone in a motorhome. Not everyone has a working shower in their motorhome, nor does everyone use their shower. Many like to use the showers at Rv parks. It's kind of like saying that you would given preferential treatment to patrons with kids if the swing set was broken over an older couple who doesn't have any kids. With that said, I think there needs to be some common ground, patience and to work with the park.

4) I don't thikn $50/night is pricey. $100+, yes, but given the average cost to stay at a state park now is about $25-30/night with just electric/water (more in many places), $50 for full hook ups and more than likely more amenities is somewhat decent, based on the location and appearance of the park.