TinyoneRV
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Re: Wild Frontier Campground in Ocala Florida
One of my pet peeves is the no refund policy of most campgrounds I understand if you cancel too late for them to refill the site; however, in the busy season it's just a way to take your money and provide no service. Not many businesses would/could get away with such nonsense.361Views0likes0CommentsRe: Good Sam - what's in it for the campgrounds?
JAC1982 wrote: Before the internet was a "thing", you had to rely on things like Good Sam or AAA to tell you which spots were the best rated. I'm in my mid-30s, and I remember my mom planning our trips using the AAA guidebook when I was a kid. Nowadays, you can go on various websites and read reviews from actual people who stayed there recently, to see if the spot is worth a stay. Once a book is published it can become immediately out of date. So I don't blame RV park owners for wanting to ditch it and just rely on internet advertising and word of mouth since that is more up to date and in many cases, free or low cost. Reviews from real people are flawed by their impression of the campground; ie, it is subjective instead of objective. They can rate the entire campground as poor because one thing didn't meet their criteria. Also, as much as I hate to say it, people are paid for good and bad reviews. I have been in highly rated BS campgrounds that had a messy restroom at the end of a long weekend. Likewise, I've been in moderately rated campgrounds that I thought deserved a higher rating. Nonetheless, go through the rating sheets and you'll come out nearly the same as the book. Like most rating systems, it's not perfect but it's pretty good.781Views0likes0CommentsRe: Good Sam - what's in it for the campgrounds?
westernrvparkowner wrote: bobsallyh wrote: What we have found, when the book was "the thing", the bigger the ad purchased also got that park a better rating! This is brought up often, but it is a false impression. First, the rating team rates a park prior to advertising sales. Second, a copy of the actual rating sheet is in the directory. You can rate a park yourself and you will come within a point of the actual rating if you follow the guidelines. Personal opinion doesn't count. A pool is a pool and it is a point. Olympic size or postage stamp size doesn't change the point. Same with road construction materials, site materials, playground equipment, office, laundry etc. Common sense will tell you a poorly rated park isn't going to buy a big ad. Having a low score means having a park with poor infrastructure and few amenities. If the owners aren't sppending on their park they aren't going to spend on advertising. Plus, what would be the point to spend advertising money to trumpet how great the park is only to have the ratings indicate otherwise? It is pretty much a given the big ads are going to be the higher rated parks because they are the parks that are invested in the business and have the resources to both advertise and keep a nice facility. We have always traveled with the Good Sam directory and have rated parks using the pages in the book. As you said, we've come out very close to the published rating and in some cases rated the park higher than the published rating. We like the objective rating system since opinions are left out of the system.415Views0likes0CommentsRe: Gas discount
I've never stopped at a Flying J or Pilot where the gas was priced higher than the other stations at the same location. They may be higher or lower than the station at the next intersection but they can't price higher than the guy next door or they won't sell any gas. I certainly wouldn't pay $0.10 per gallon to save $0.05 and I don't think anyone else would either. I only have experience with gasoline prices since I don't use diesel.0Views0likes0CommentsRe: Using Good Sam Card a hassle at Flying J
I have to disagree with the characterization of these being filthy. In fact, our impression is exactly the opposite. The facilities are clean and tidy. Perhaps some are dirty but that is certainly not the case of the ones we've used. Regarding the card, I had a problem one time called with the information from my receipt and the problems was immediately remedied.2Views0likes0CommentsRe: Good Sam Park Designation
As Westernparkowner said, the GS rating is objective; that is, it only depends on the score on the rating sheet. Several times we've used those score sheets to rate the park ourselves and have always come out close to the GS score. Once our score was better than the GS score. The rating has nothing to do with whether you or I like the staff or, for that matter, the park.0Views0likes0CommentsRe: camper van question
Many of the new ones on sprinter chassis will provide a side screen door as an option Examples: Roadtrek and Advanced-RV. Depending on your pets size and strength you may be able to purchase or make a screen that attaches to the side door with velcro. Google "The Skeeter Beater"217Views0likes0CommentsRe: I'm stunned!!
DutchmenSport wrote: TinyoneRV wrote: ... Why do you think this is an evil move on the part of GS.... Maybe because the OP thought he had a "contract" for a specific length of time at a locked in rate. Now the rate is being changed to a higher rate and GS is saying this is not a "contract." Imagine if you pumped gas at the gas station and the price on the pump was $2.10 a gallon. You go inside to pay after pumping 10 gallons and you are now told the price is $2.50 a gallon? In the eye of the OP, this is what happened. I can't speak to the experience of others; however, in my case, they upgraded me to platinum for the remainder of my contract without charge. When I looked it up on the website, it was apparent that renewing would be at the Platinum price. I don't see anything wrong wit what they did. However, I didn't like the price increase either.0Views0likes0Comments
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