Rating Parks When Not Staying

Seems to me many are rating a park when they are not even staying one night.
That is a flaw with this site.

 

I am kind of 50/50 on that. I would like to know if someone didn't stay at a park because they drove up and it appeared to be a refugee camp or a war zone. On the other hand, giving a park a low score and a bad review because it is in the North and wasn't open in January, or had security gates and wouldn't let someone just drive through to check it out, or the cost was beyond what someone wanted to pay etc is very wrong. We all know that about 10% of the reviews for parks are wildly inaccurate. Of that 10% half are scathing reviews by someone with an ax to grind that has nothing to do with the park and the other half are glowing reviews written by someone with ties to the park. Toss the highs and the lows and what is left pretty accurate.

 

QUOTE(pogoil @ May 30 2011, 10:40 AM) [snapback]26268[/snapback]

Seems to me many are rating a park when they are not even staying one night.
That is a flaw with this site.



I plead guilty on that one. I have written a review on a park where I did not stay, simply because it was in an area where not many campgrounds are listed here and I felt it could be useful for someone to know about the existence of this place that appeared quite ok.

 

As long as the reviewer states clearly that they did not stay I have no problem with a rating and comments. If someone said, for instance "I gave a low rating because the road into the park was too narrow for my motorhome", or "the first thing we saw were two pit bulls fighting over a chicken carcass", I would be able to figure out whether to consider the campground or not. Even one of the "I did not like the check in person's attitude" would tell something - that the rating was not worth considering. I like this site the way that it is - it has served us well.

 

QUOTE(joez @ May 30 2011, 01:37 PM) [snapback]26274[/snapback]

..."the first thing we saw were two pit bulls fighting over a chicken carcass"...


:lol: :lol:
OMG I loved this! I have tears running down my face and my DH thinks I've lost my mind.

 

I expected a review from a man that got angry at me because I smiled at him but not the way he wanted me to and I couldn't do that because I had just returned from getting serious dental work done. He got in his vehicle and drove through the park at about 25 mph and then almost ran me down. He screamed at me that I was very rude not to smile properly.

 

I believe I'd rather have the opportunity to discern whether or not a "non-stay" review had merit or not than to not have the choice to hear what a member had to say.

Personally, I've recon'd a couple of parks that were so horrendous there is no way I could recommend anyone staying at them. I think that information is valuable and appreciated by most.

The metric should be that as long as a reviewer actually puts "boots on the ground" then they should be free to post what they experienced.

 

QUOTE(joez @ May 30 2011, 01:37 PM) [snapback]26274[/snapback]

As long as the reviewer states clearly that they did not stay I have no problem with a rating and comments. If someone said, for instance "I gave a low rating because the road into the park was too narrow for my motorhome", or "the first thing we saw were two pit bulls fighting over a chicken carcass", I would be able to figure out whether to consider the campground or not. Even one of the "I did not like the check in person's attitude" would tell something - that the rating was not worth considering. I like this site the way that it is - it has served us well.



I agree with this. Combined with other reviews, you can get a good idea of the campground.

 

Back before we joined here,we traveled around a bit. We would pick a campground where we wanted to stay and sightsee, that would include other campgrounds in the area. Sometimes you can tell quite a bit from driving through.

Stop at the office tell them what we are doing there and get a site map. Most of the time the personel was friendly. Drive around and look at the sites and the rest of the park. Look for a site we would want for the next time and write it all down in our log book. We couldn't tell about water pressure or electric, but from looking and talking we could decide if we wanted to go there next time or stay where we were.

I guess what I'm saying, I don't see anything wrong if drive throughs are writing reviews. I was just long winded about it.

 

I agree that "drive-through" reviews are fine by me. If someone takes the trouble to go to a campground and then decides not to stay - that tells me something and may save the rest of us some time!

 

I have to add my two cents here. We drove seven miles down some of the most dangerous roads in TN to get to a campground. There were drag marks in the tar from other campers and trailers going over the edge of the non-shoulder from the axles and springs dragging when the wheels dropped off. There were no shoulders, just a drop off on each side. After I arrived I found no office at the campground, just a self check in and when I went to find a site I found I could not fit in the so called pull through (opening the slide would extend into the road) and the other sites were only small trailer size.
When I submitted the review it was rejected because I didn't stay. I explained I didn't stay because I couldn't fit and I wanted to warn others to avoid this place unless you have a small B or Mini trailer or some such sized camper.
Now I wonder how many others drove all that distance only to find what we ran into. Also wonder how many had problems on this road because two rv's would have to fold in the mirrors creep by each other to pass on by. The road is that narrow and twisty.
Yes, I do know how too drive an RV. In my former life I drove fire trucks, cruisers and big rigs so I know what to watch for on the roads and how to read pavement.

 

As a campground owner, I object to reviews where people did not stay. I do not see how they can properly rate a park. In my case, we closed the camp a few days early due to some freezing weather and risk of frozen pipes. We had a latecomer reservation whom we were unable to contact. We made a reservation for him at a camp just down the road, (approximately 2 miles) that was still open. I admit a camp does not look its best when windows/doors etc are boarded up for winter months ahead. I feel that we did our best to accommodate the gentleman.

 

Did this person write a bad review for your campground?

 

QUOTE(Terry Morehouse @ Jun 17 2011, 08:33 AM) [snapback]26504[/snapback]

As a campground owner, I object to reviews where people did not stay. I do not see how they can properly rate a park. In my case, we closed the camp a few days early due to some freezing weather and risk of frozen pipes. We had a latecomer reservation whom we were unable to contact. We made a reservation for him at a camp just down the road, (approximately 2 miles) that was still open. I admit a camp does not look its best when windows/doors etc are boarded up for winter months ahead. I feel that we did our best to accommodate the gentleman.



Yes they did, my suspicion is that they had to pay quite a bit more than we charge as we are a Good Sam park and give a 10% discount. They probably had to pay$6-$10 more a night plus $5 for WiFi as we give Free WiFi at our park. I was very polite and apologized profusely for not being able to take them due to the inclement weather we had been having.

 

QUOTE(Terry Morehouse @ Jun 17 2011, 02:21 PM) [snapback]26517[/snapback]

Yes they did, my suspicion is that they had to pay quite a bit more than we charge as we are a Good Sam park and give a 10% discount. They probably had to pay$6-$10 more a night plus $5 for WiFi as we give Free WiFi at our park. I was very polite and apologized profusely for not being able to take them due to the inclement weather we had been having.



If it is that cold I am going south or home any way.We camp last year in Florida south of Orlando
and it got dow to 24 and sleet the day we got there.Showers and rest rooms no heat that was fun.
First time my little electric heater would not keep up.They had put heat tapes on the pipes inside the rest room.

QUOTE(Terry Morehouse @ Jun 17 2011, 08:33 AM) [snapback]26504[/snapback]

As a campground owner, I object to reviews where people did not stay. I do not see how they can properly rate a park. In my case, we closed the camp a few days early due to some freezing weather and risk of frozen pipes. We had a latecomer reservation whom we were unable to contact. We made a reservation for him at a camp just down the road, (approximately 2 miles) that was still open. I admit a camp does not look its best when windows/doors etc are boarded up for winter months ahead. I feel that we did our best to accommodate the gentleman.



It depends on how they review it and state that they did not stay.I have drove up to a few that I would not stay in over night.In the respect and you explain why as the one I am thinking about look like a refuge camp.Don`t need to stay at one like that to know you don`t want to stay.And I am not that picky.But when you feel you need to sleep with you pistol in hand with one eye open
as most I would like to know before I go there.

 

I think you should have at least visited the campground. We did this once when in New Orleans when we went to the campground and it was in a bad neighborhood and had a large fence around it to keep the who knows what out. We drove up and left. I wrote it up so others would know what they were getting into.

 

QUOTE(Lindsay Richards @ Jul 11 2011, 05:15 PM) [snapback]26740[/snapback]

I think you should have at least visited the campground. We did this once when in New Orleans when we went to the campground and it was in a bad neighborhood and had a large fence around it to keep the who knows what out. We drove up and left. I wrote it up so others would know what they were getting into.



Lindsay
This one looked like the rest of the neighborhood no fence.Driving in would be like driving though a Field of dilapidated trailers.And it is not rated as I did`t remember the name of it.
We were in Kentucky and just saw the sign.Over night RV spaces.There was about 8 spaces that you could see and they did have power boxs and water that you could see.

 

We are members because we are seeking information and the benefit of others experience in selecting where to stay. In that regard all information whether they stayed there or not could be helpful, particularly if the reviewer is upfront as to why. Then in the end we all have to decide for ourselves.

 

QUOTE(wprigge @ May 30 2011, 11:32 AM) [snapback]26272[/snapback]

I plead guilty on that one. I have written a review on a park where I did not stay, simply because it was in an area where not many campgrounds are listed here and I felt it could be useful for someone to know about the existence of this place that appeared quite ok.


I am sorry, I don't agree with you and with anyone that concur with you even by stating .. I didn’t stay there.
A review is some thing very, very serious that can improperly enhance or denigrate a facility.
A campground is a business organization where serious people had invested a lot of money in order to get into that business and if you did not use the facility is unfair in both way to recommend or denigrate the facility and in final analysis it is also detrimental to the credibility of this forum.
I am sorry, I am not trying to lecture you but at the time our words, as campers, bring lots of weight for other people to make a decision of whether to use a specific place or not.
this is why I was always against a specific review in which it is not specified the items that are wrong.
I had a chance to visit the camp that had been tore apart by a reviewer in which it was stated that the management was impolite, you couldn't ask a thing because they weren't listening to you, they were rude with my children.. etc..,
Well, speaking with residents at the camp I learned that that family was very dirty in their property, the children were very impolite, wild and disturbing the neighbors and parting up to very late at night.
As far as I was concerned , that place was nothing special but not to be treated as negative as it was done.

PS = I Am a regular camper and not a camp owner

 

When safety is involved and you decide to leave for that reason, you have a responsibility to pass along your comment in a review with good explanations. I think most of us have the ability to weed out the oddball review by somebody that had a problem. I rarely write a "scathing" review. I do only when it is needed. Usually when I feel like I have been taken advantage of by a campground owner or deliberately lied to. On our last trip, we had 2 different campgrounds tell us over the phone that they had WiFi. Neither one was workable. I talked to the owners on both. One guy was just uninformed on WiFi and didn't have a clue. I gave them a fair review and highlighted the WiFi. The second guy basically lied to us and said we could get it in all sites. He was a techie and was just advertising falsely. I gave him a low score and a bad review stating why. We have also given a review because of inability to get into a campground due to overhanging trees. I felt like this was important for others to see. As far a people making an investment in a business, I have seen many that were just running out the string on somebody elses investment.