It Never Ceases To Amaze Me!

Hi all,

It never ceases to amaze me that some campgrounds have a raft of negative reviews yet subscribers to this forum, many with a significant number of reviews to their name, stay at these poorly rated places and then moan like a drain. Do they not read the reviews of others before staying and consider this place may not be as good as the sites brochure or website? Understandably after having stayed at the place, they then proceed to give another negative review. But honestly, what were they expecting when the bulk of earlier reviews are all negative anyway? I know some campgrounds do change ownership and management but when other recent reviews are mainly bad, perhaps it's time to look elsewhere to stay. Just my thoughts!

 

Sorry but all I have seen from is whining complaints. If you noticed in most park reviews there are people that post good reviews and some that post negative reviews. We all have to take them and average them out. What someone like you would see as a bad campground many of us would not expect perfection and take our chances. Our CG has had some of both and, most of the bad ones, are made by someone that thought that once they rented that spot it was theirs and they didn't have to follow the rules and they expected resort amenities at cheap rates and don't like it when management doesn't kiss their feet for their lack of courtesy. Not all people that give reviews like that but quite a few are.

 

QUOTE(dalsgal @ Jun 1 2014, 05:57 PM) [snapback]36785[/snapback]

Sorry but all I have seen from is whining complaints. If you noticed in most park reviews there are people that post good reviews and some that post negative reviews. We all have to take them and average them out. What someone like you would see as a bad campground many of us would not expect perfection and take our chances. Our CG has had some of both and, most of the bad ones, are made by someone that thought that once they rented that spot it was theirs and they didn't have to follow the rules and they expected resort amenities at cheap rates and don't like it when management doesn't kiss their feet for their lack of courtesy. Not all people that give reviews like that but quite a few are.


Actually, I think the original poster was describing campgrounds that get consistently bad reviews, yet people who use this site and should know better, still stay at the" bad" campgrounds, even with the forewarning. My guess is, those reviews are caused by one of these situations:

A. All other campgrounds in the area were full, so they were forced to stay there.
B. They were too tired to drive and chose "any port in a storm" rather than continue to drive.
C. They are adventurous souls who are willing to take chances and hope the last 10 bad reviews were just a mistake.
D. They used a different directory/review site first, which gave glowing reviews for the place, but reality was different.

Personally, I've wondered the same thing. Why stay at a place that consistently gets bad reviews.

 

QUOTE(Fitzjohnfan @ Jun 2 2014, 01:40 AM) [snapback]36790[/snapback]

Actually, I think the original poster was describing campgrounds that get consistently bad reviews, yet people who use this site and should know better, still stay at the" bad" campgrounds, even with the forewarning. My guess is, those reviews are caused by one of these situations:

A. All other campgrounds in the area were full, so they were forced to stay there.
B. They were too tired to drive and chose "any port in a storm" rather than continue to drive.
C. They are adventurous souls who are willing to take chances and hope the last 10 bad reviews were just a mistake.
D. They used a different directory/review site first, which gave glowing reviews for the place, but reality was different.

Personally, I've wondered the same thing. Why stay at a place that consistently gets bad reviews.



I would also bet that cost is a factor sometimes. The surrounding parks are more expensive than the one with bad reviews, and the reviewer wanted to save a buck or two.

 

QUOTE(Texasrvers @ Jun 2 2014, 09:43 AM) [snapback]36792[/snapback]

I would also bet that cost is a factor sometimes. The surrounding parks are more expensive than the one with bad reviews, and the reviewer wanted to save a buck or two.


I think you are probably on to something. I really like to read all the train wreck reviews and often we find out that park scoring low is a Passport America park. As much as we wish it wasn't true, cost is often an indicator of quality. Higher cost often correlates to higher quality and vice versa.

 

QUOTE(kcmoedoe @ Jun 2 2014, 06:40 PM) [snapback]36801[/snapback]

I think you are probably on to something. I really like to read all the train wreck reviews and often we find out that park scoring low is a Passport America park. As much as we wish it wasn't true, cost is often an indicator of quality. Higher cost often correlates to higher quality and vice versa.


I hope no one takes PA participation as a measure of park quality. There are many good parks that get excellent reviews that are PA members.

 

We are probably getting near to several hundred Pass Port America campground stays and I can say that their quality level is about the same as the non PPA campgrounds we have stayed in. The whole theory with them is to fill sites that would otherwise be vacant that night. Owners have the options of blocking out nights they expect to be full. This is just good business sense. The variable costs of a campground such as water, sewage, electricity, and wear and tear are less than half of the fixed costs like mortgage, taxes, ETC. If an owner can get additional income, then a lot of it goes right to bottom line. We have stayed in some very nice PPA campgrounds and we have stayed at some dumps that were not. You can go directly from the PPA site to these reviews. I look at them as staying with a savvy owner. If one stay anywhere that isn't full and has no expectation of being full and asks for a discount for the second night, they will almost always say yes (if talking to a decision maker).

As to staying at parks that have poor reviews, we read them and then decide. We have our own requirements which are pretty lax, We use our own bathroom, can easily use our water, don't hook up to sewer, don't do pot lucks, don't square dance. What we really are looking for is them having what they say they have. WiFi and 4 G are important. Easy in and easy out is important. Nice employees are important also. If some of the unnecessary to us are blasted in a review, doesn't matter. Last night I wrote a review of a place that most would have given a low score, but I rated it a 7 because it was as advertised and the people were very nice. It suited our need perfectly, but it was not a "resort".

 

I am sorry if my post offended of caused some confusion. As Fitzjohnfan correctly identified, this was more for the sites that continually receive bad reviews. There are several I see appear on a fairly regular basis that catch my eye because they are near some of the sites I frequent. When I look at the number of reviews submitted by some people who the post a negative review about the site they have just visited it does make me wonder why they went there in the first place when, based on previous recent reviews, you get the distinct feeling the site has issues because these are reported time and time again.

The odd negative review can often be down to an individual's personal experience or perception but when a campground repeatedly gets poor reviews from a cross section of the subscribers to this site I have to wonder what they were expecting or why they did stay there. I know that if I go to a campground/resort with continually high scores (8, 9 or 10) it is probably going to be a very good place and I would look forward to staying there. Equally, if the place is frequently scoring 5 or lower I wouldn't make a reservation or, in the advent of me having to stay there overnight, I wouldn't expect it to be too great.

 

QUOTE(Hutch333id @ Jun 2 2014, 09:19 PM) [snapback]36810[/snapback]

I know that if I go to a campground/resort with continually high scores (8, 9 or 10) it is probably going to be a very good place and I would look forward to staying there. Equally, if the place is frequently scoring 5 or lower I wouldn't make a reservation or, in the advent of me having to stay there overnight, I wouldn't expect it to be too great.



I'm with you on this. We use RVPR as a guide and pretty much try to only stay at places that have an average score of "7" or higher. Although these aren't always resorts, we do find that, on the whole, we are usually satisfied with our choices.

As for Passport America, I do agree that there are some nice parks on the PA list, but I would contend that the average score for PA parks is ~5 which is below the score level at which we like to stay. That's pretty much why we didn't renew PA last year; we'd look up park ratings on RVPR and often decide "we wouldn't normally stay in a place rated this poorly, why are we considering staying there just because we might save $15?"

 

QUOTE(kcmoedoe @ Jun 2 2014, 06:40 PM) [snapback]36801[/snapback]

I think you are probably on to something. I really like to read all the train wreck reviews and often we find out that park scoring low is a Passport America park. As much as we wish it wasn't true, cost is often an indicator of quality. Higher cost often correlates to higher quality and vice versa.



Absolutely, positively not true. At least IMHO and where we've stayed. I've done drive-by's of campgrounds that are expensive and they are dumps. They have bad reviews. I've looked at cheaper campgrounds, they look nicer, better reviews etc.

I think a lot of it comes down to what people want.

Some want amenities, some just want somewhere to sleep. I'm happy with somewhere to park my rig and sleep. I don't need amenities. Amenities raise the price (cable, WiFi, paved roads, etc).

So I fully disagree with higher cost being higher quality. Quite a few of the campgrounds with bad reviews are quite pricey.

 

QUOTE(Hutch333id @ May 31 2014, 06:37 PM) [snapback]36772[/snapback]

Hi all,

It never ceases to amaze me that some campgrounds have a raft of negative reviews yet subscribers to this forum, many with a significant number of reviews to their name, stay at these poorly rated places and then moan like a drain. Do they not read the reviews of others before staying and consider this place may not be as good as the sites brochure or website? Understandably after having stayed at the place, they then proceed to give another negative review. But honestly, what were they expecting when the bulk of earlier reviews are all negative anyway? I know some campgrounds do change ownership and management but when other recent reviews are mainly bad, perhaps it's time to look elsewhere to stay. Just my thoughts!





Sometimes there are parks who get the bad reviewers. The people who just aren't happy with anything. Those are the people who love to place reviews as soon as they can to get their "revenge" It's the happy campers who rave about you who don't get online and post. I know because I work at a great campground that has awful reviews from the crabby people. when most of the people checking out are telling us how much they loved their stay

 

We are thankful for RVPR, it's been a VERY BIG help in picking parks ahead of time. All people take the ratings the way they want and it's at everyone's choice to make their decision on where to stay and for whatever reason. I don't even hardly bother with Good Sam or books any longer (it is interesting to see the differences), but RVPR is pretty on point! So people keep leaving those reviews

 

We rely exclusively on RVPR. I've given up on the books and other sites. It's pretty easy to throw out the obvious "ringers" and the "can't-be-pleased" and read between the lines. We've stayed in over 80 parks now and I have to say that my impressions of the parks were pretty dead-on with the prevailing reviews.

 

Does anyone else do an aerial view of a campground before deciding ?

I like to use this site......woodalls **** system and also do a search on showmystreet.com ...to get an idea of how the c/g is laid out.... before we decide.

 

Yes, I look at the aerial views all the time. And do you know you can get a street view on our maps. Look for the little yellow/orange man in the upper left hand corner of the map. Click and drag him to the place you want to see. If the street line turns blue on the map, a street level view is available.

 

QUOTE(Texasrvers @ Jun 20 2014, 12:24 PM) [snapback]36993[/snapback]

Yes, I look at the aerial views all the time. And do you know you can get a street view on our maps. Look for the little yellow/orange man in the upper left hand corner of the map. Click and drag him to the place you want to see. If the street line turns blue on the map, a street level view is available.




Really ??.....Wasn't aware of that . I'll try that next time . Thanks.

 

QUOTE(tiffinman @ Jun 20 2014, 11:15 AM) [snapback]36992[/snapback]

Does anyone else do an aerial view of a campground before deciding ?



I use Google Earth which has Street View built in. There are some parks where Street View goes right into the park. I can also download the coordinates right into my GPS.

Darrell

 

QUOTE(mdcamping @ Jun 2 2014, 08:03 PM) [snapback]36808[/snapback]

What has my head shaking is when I read a review where they give the campground a very low score because of a extra charge, go figure they spend 15 to 100K on an RV but the campground will get a poor review because of an extra $4 per night charge.

 

QUOTE(plowboy @ Aug 27 2014, 04:05 PM) [snapback]37968[/snapback]

I am a park owner and we try to keep our rates as low as possible so we base our rates on two persons, and charge for extra 2 bucks for more then two and guest. You would not believe how often we get complaints about the extra charge. Our rate for a full hookup the cable and wifi is only 36.00 dollars. We have good reviews thru out the web community. They act like you are taking candy from a baby

Bob


A very, very successful businessman once to me the last thing you want to do is be the low cost provider. Your clients will reflect your business plan and will be focused on cost, not value. They will not stop with a low price for your primary product (in your case an RV site), but will extend that low price mentality to every product you offer, be it items in your store, other services and everything else. There is more profit to be made by being the highest quality service, not the lowest price.
Also, price often projects perceived value. Most people believe higher prices mean better quality. That isn't always the case, but the perception is there.