CG "Guaranteed Site Fees"

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by JimQ

It is a rip off. Last year I had a reservation and went online a week before the arrival date and saw my campsite that I already reserved and paid for was available. I called the campground and was told the computer moved me. I was furious. They moved me why? It is not right. I got back into my site original and they waived the lock in fee. The other excuse they use is lame also. "You were moved to accommodate a group". Oh, so I plan months ahead to reserve a spot I want and someone at the last minute can bump me out because they are camping together. Give me a break! Oh well, good to vent once in awhile.

Yup, I heard that excuse as well. Like I said previously, If I bought a ticket say for a Broadway show 7 months in advance for an orchestra pit seat and when I got there they said I'm sorry, we moved you to the balcony so these folks that came in tonight can set together. Oh no.

The airlines are notorious for "overbooking" flights. When It happens they offer an incentive for someone to "give up" their seat either ion a free flight, a discount seat, or I've heard them offer a free hotel room when a later flight wasn't available. IMO if the cg truly cared about customer service they would offer some form of compensation for doing this.

In the tears I've been camping I had 1 cg call me and ask if I would be willing to change sites if they waived the fee for one night. It is a privately owned cg. They were trying to get everyone close together for a family reunion. We've been camping there for many years (Starlite Camping Resort in Stevens, PA) and readily agreed. That cg is not greedy, the owners love the business and the people that come there. In the summer time they ask for an extra $5/day if you plan on using your air conditioner. By asking, they offer the savings in electricity to the customer. It's an honor thing so they don't come around with a clipboard and check. We always pay for it even in temperate weather because of they way they approach it.

[Javi]

Personally, I'm more than happy to pay a reasonable fee to lock in the campsite I want. Too many times I've arrived at the campground only to find that the available site is only suited for a popup and I have a 40 foot 5th wheel.. When I made the reservation it allowed me to choose a specific site based on my 5th wheel size but something or someone decided that a little 24 foot camping trailer and SUV really needed that 60 foot site...

Yes, please charge me a guaranteed fee, so I can bust your chops when you take it away from me...

[spade117]

I've seen these fees over the years...mostly KOA's. Not a fan of it myself. I also prefer state parks as the reservations are by site number not site "type".

[Thoremilly]

Originally Posted by flybouy

Making reservations for this year and so far 2 campgrounds a charge an extra fee to guarantee your reservation for a particular site. I'm making a reservation for site #123 and not for a site that may or may not be site #123 when I get there. What a ripoff IMHO.

Cherrystone Family Camping Resort $21.07/week
Frontier Town RV Resort & Campground $ 25/week

Anyone else seeing this around the country?

Sun RV has been doing it for a few seasons, I agree it’s a ripoff, but could be the wave of the future. You lock the site for a a long as your there. $ 20.00 per lock.

[dutchmensport]

Originally Posted by flybouy

... It's a way to squeeze more money out of folks IMO but what can you do?

Only if you are willing to go ahead and pay their price and if it's THAT important you get a specific site. In 60 years of camping, I've not found any campsite worth spending money on to make sure I absolutely have it for ME.

Part of the adventure of RVing is experiencing things you've not done before. Even if returning to the same campground, getting a different campsite keep things fresh and exciting and different and not-hum-drum.

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

Even if returning to the same campground, getting a different campsite keep things fresh and exciting and different and not-hum-drum.

I would agree except in our case the "go to" CG we use only has a couple spaces that the Sat dish works. Happy Wife...you know the rest.

[rlh1957]

Originally Posted by flybouy

Making reservations for this year and so far 2 campgrounds a charge an extra fee to guarantee your reservation for a particular site. I'm making a reservation for site #123 and not for a site that may or may not be site #123 when I get there. What a ripoff IMHO.

Cherrystone Family Camping Resort $21.07/week
Frontier Town RV Resort & Campground $ 25/week

Anyone else seeing this around the country?

I believe as the RV and camping sales explode with more people new to RV life, we will see rules, fees and behavior from campgrounds, RV parks and even public or BLM land.
Sometimes these new charges will be rewarded by sites and facilities getting upgrades and remodels of tired locations. Others will just see a new opportunity to charge more because of the volume of people vying for spaces.
It is a ridiculous new day.

[Mikelff]

I agree with you guys, but here is how one of the rv places explained it to me. Many folks travel with friends and request to stay next to each other. In order to be able to guarantee sites next to each other they charge a fee to keep those spots reserved. If they cancel, they keep the fees and hope they can re rent those sites. Sometimes they can, sometimes not. Then they loose that revenue. When you reserve a “big rig site” you still get that type of site, just not a specific site number. If you are staying for a week or more, and you cancel, Thats even tougher to re rent all those days. I can see both sides of it. Its a business, not a hobby. I have only lost a site request that I did not guarantee one time last year, but as more and more people join the rv lifestyle and popular rv parks get more demand, we will see more people wanting to guarantee specific sites. I see fees vary, from $15 to $25. I would probably pay the fee to guarantee a specific site in certain situations, otherwise I am fine as long as I get my “big rig” site.