Dump Fees?

Make the sign and get a phony camera for a few bucks.

 

We have travelled the entire US for the last fifteen months. Dump fees ranged from free at rest stops and municipalities to a high of $20 at a fairground outside of Yosrmite National Park. The average was about $10 nearly anywhere you went. Often state parks with campgrounds are relatively cheap; averaging $5-7 bucks. I know there are a lot of boondockers out there looking for a freebie but really - seems like a small price to pay once in a while to clear your tanks

 

Also there is a website showing all registered dump stations at sanidump.com. Ohio had a ton of places

 

There are plenty of dump stations available to you for your use that have lower rates. There is no need to disparage private campgrounds because they place their fees high, so as to discourage off the road dumping. So I know this campground owner, who bought a campground, and then had to spend a half million dollars on a new sewer system. That's over $3,000/campsite just for the installation! That doesn't include his maintenance, testings, licenses, fees, schooling, etc. Why should his camping customers be saddled with higher camping rates so you can dump for $4-$7.00? In addition, the poor guy has no idea what you put in your tank. It could be 30 gallons of chlorinated water that will kill off his bacteria and cause him major issues, or a mobile meth lab that well, we won't even go there, but I think you get the point. When a campground is charging you as much to dump as it does to camp there, what they are trying to politely tell you is that it isn't worth that risk to them. They aren't being "greedy" - but they are protecting their investments. I can understand that, can't you? But even more in depth thought brings me to this question: Why should THEY, pick up the tab for YOUR convenience to dump so you can park at camp at Wal-Mart for free? Now before you get your shorts in a twist, I'm a camper too. I like lower prices. But I live in the real world. Nothing is free. Your "Wal-mart" mentality is what put Americans out of work - sure the chinese stuff is cheaper. But it doesn't employ YOUR friends and family. It employs Chinese people. The state won't let campgrounds have campers park there without a sewer system, but they'll allow campers to park at Walmart overnight without one. Does that seem fair to that campground owner, to you? It doesn't to me. Your state, county, or town campgrounds are funded by tax payer monies (taxes even the private campground owners pay, and then are used to directly compete with their business!). So before you call all campground owners with a dump fee higher than free louses, try to walk in he other guys boots for half a minute and realize that just like Wal-mart put local tire retailers out of business, they're happy to do the same to local campgrounds. But you won't get the Wal-mart manager to drive you to the car rental place when you've hit a deer and wrecked your truck, or drive your RV to Florida for you when you're too sick to get it there yourself. The kind of service and help you get from those private campground owners is not the kind of help and service you'll get at the Flying J, or an app that tells you where $2.00 dumps are located. Just file that away away for later. When you need one, they'll be there to provide you the kind of service that will make you happy you stayed at a good park, with full hookups, and didn't need a dump station. Oh wait... were they on your list?

 

Let me be the first to say I feel this "newbie" to the forum may have hit the nail squarely on the head with his post. Well said IMHO. He's spot on with what he said about all this dumping crap (pun intended) and I hope to see more posts from AOK Kamper as he seems to have a way of putting the point across using an intelligent approach to the subject. Welcome to the forum fellow RVer, you got my vote on this one.................

Regards, BankShot.............(aka Terry)

 

And that campground owner probably realizes that you're the kind of RVer who will avoid patronizing his CG by staying at Walmarts, rest areas and on BLM land rather than pay to rent one of his sites. Therefore, he is unlikely to ever see you again and he might as well make as much money off of you as he can. I sure wouldn't blame him for charging whateve the market will bear. He has a commodity and it's in demand; as they say in real estate, location, location, location.

 

Being a Workamper for many years and have had the pleasure to volunteer at Campgrounds all across our beautiful Nation and at every type of Campground there is. Experience has it that dump stations & their fess is usually a hot button for those who either like to complain and/or try to get something for nothing.

This topic is often couched in the perspective for Campground Owners or Manager as "The Horror Stories of the three P's ! " = Poop, Parking and Pets.

Dump station charges are rarely considered a specific profit center on any owner's balance sheet. What their dump station charges are, is in direct relation to the amount of fixed costs (direct expense) which is most often a very small portion and the substantial expense plus the time and effort to service and maintain their public access dump station(s).

I have experienced more often than not, usually from rental RV units they simply open the dump valve not using their sewer hose and let it flow! Clean it up and/or hose it down? NOPE!

At a high end RV resort's full service dump station with paper towels, disposable gloves, hand washing access with soap and hand sanitizer. Rinse hose to cleanup the area. Dump station left in a mess more often than not, sometimes one or more of the amenities taken with them and several occasions ALL AMENITIES taken. Twice, even the paper towel dispenser gone! Commonly they leave their bags of trash at the dump station even with a trash dumpster within sight from the dump station.

Typically for a KOA their weekend traffic is heavy so the Sunday afternoon stop at the station is always a busy line, an outside RV'er who paid to dump, that I had seen at the local Walmart all weekend, full gray and holding tank dump, full fresh water tank fill then a quick hose down of his 5'er, truck and wash of his truck windows!

The line waiting behind him was being typically RV polite but when the RV wash-down started they went insanely mad. When we caught wind of this at the office and headed down to the dump station he was starting on his truck windows. When asked to move on, there were several rigs waiting his reply I've paid my $10.00.

We pointed out the signs to pull ahead to fill your fresh water tanks and even larger NO RV WASHING signs. He shrugged his shoulders and ignored our request to move forward he stubbornly & inconsiderately finished he pulled away as SLOWLY AS HE COULD! That summer season nearly every weekend some outsider took advantage of the dump station until.

New policy went into effect immediately, NO WEEKEND OUTSIDE DUMP STATION ALLOWED and the price went up to $25.00 for all outsiders. It wasn't worth the headaches especially for the regulars who frequented this KOA all summer long.

Solo_on_the_road, doing this for a little over a year, you joined 2/2/15.There's a lot more to this lifestyle to learn, and I'm still learning! We've been RV'ing for 15 years covered 100K's plus miles and loving everyone of them and every turn in the road. HAPPY TRAILS!

 

I could not have said it any better, very well put.

 

I have a suggestion to all those that own/manage RV parks and CGs. Why not come up with a system for your facility whereby you give each RV, at time of check in, a little card that gives them entrance into your dump station area. A sliding gate that is activated by that card only could be installed and once that RV is inside the gate, that gate closes behind them. The next RV would have to use his card to get in also, and so on. Yes, there would be an upfront cost to have the gate installed and the cards made to open the gate, etc. but after a period of time I would think that this initial cost, like everything else that goes with operating an RV park, could be recouped in part over time by the up charge that the non-resident would be paying. Going even a tad further the park could have a sign posted that gives the rate to dump for those who are staying there along with the rate for those who aren't. The card that is given upon check in could also be sold to a non-resident of the park who just wants to drive in, dump, make a mess, and leave, but at a much higher rate than is given the resident camper. This may not work in all parks but perhaps in some it would and it might eliminate some of the problems caused by the Walmart crowd mentioned in several posts above. We've witnessed some really stupid and lousy things caused by the "weekend rental camper" who hasn't a clue as to what to do to get hooked up, how to dump, or how keep their kids and pets under control while camping. The rental name on their camper says it all most of the time. I'm not saying that they are all bad campers, rather that most of them haven't learned to become good campers and that some of those don't seem to care or even want to learn either. I fully understand and appreciate why some parks and CG's charge the higher rates to dump. We rarely use the dump station anyway as we dump at our site usually before we leave if we've stayed there long enough to warrant a dump. Like everything else there is always a few that end up spoiling it for others and RVing is no different it seems. Taking the fool out of the city doesn't take the fool out of the person..................... Happy dumping.............

BankShot.......(aka Terry)

 

Just gotta love people that want everything free, or at someone elses expense. Why should any RV park allow you to come dump there at little, or no charge, when it costs them money to have the sites pumped out?

 

I'm sorry you have had such a bad experience with dump fees. That said, we charge $20. also.
We have a small camp 25 spaces. We are not on "city sewer" and our dump station has to be pumped out, $320. each time. A couple of large coaches can fill it up. The other issue is those who use extra water to flush out their tanks and flush and flush and fill our septic with water and we have to pay $320. for them to come and pump out water. Of course that should be considered the cost of doing business, to be reflected in our rates. So when they come in, I now refer them to the "free" city dump and save our station for our overnight campers.

 

$20 seems like a ripoff. The only time we dumped where not staying and were charged it was $5. In the Southwest $20 will get you a dump,and decent campsite. Many of the smaller towns have free dumping or even free camping at municipal campgrounds. One dump station I saw had free dumping, and accepted donations. Having said that park owners shouldn't be expected to provide septic systems for visitors without recouping some of their investment, but not $20! We will not use a store's rest room without buying gas, groceries, or snacks. It should be a win-win for everyone.

 

With all due respect this is the sort of nonsense comparisons that are all too common in discussion forums such as this. There is no basis on which to compare the dump fees at two parks in different parts of the country. Unless you have access to the parks' cost structures you have no basis for any kind of comparison.

Furthermore, as I asked in a previous post, why is there an assumption by anyone that the dump fee has to be cost based? The park is selling a service; what the park charges for that service is dependent on how the marketplace values it. Calling something a ripoff is an attempt to "guilt-shame" a business into reducing its prices. As a businessman, my reaction would be "if you think my prices are too high, then don't give me your business."

 

Hey, "Long live Walmart", why not dump "it" at Walmart. You just want someone else to pay for taking your crap, and I mean that literally. Have you ever asked about the cost to the campground owners for dumping?! IT'S NOT FREE! States like Michigan charge campground owners for EVERY GALLON that goes down the sewer, even if it is to their own septic system. If you dump for free then complain about the distance you have to drive I suggest you open a campground and let the rest of the world "DUMP" on you free of charge.

 

A simple solution for emptying our waste tanks is to use a macerator pump. Ours saves us from driving miles out of the way to reach a campground or other dump site where we would likely pay a fee. Many service stations, in exchange for my buying a significant amount fuel, will allow me to empty my waste tanks into their restroom toilet via a 3/4" garden hose. They have also allowed me rinse my pump and then fill my fresh water tank from their outdoor faucet. I do, of course, always first ask permission and show my good faith by first purchasing fuel. That same pump also gives us the flexibility of emptying our waste tanks into our septic system at home which is about 60 feet from our driveway.

 

Remember, this is a free market system. The RV park will charge what they feel is appropriate for their costs.

I have stayed at a campground in the heart of LA for $80.00/night. I thought it was expensive, but the cost was appropriate for the location. If a campground in the middle of Kansas tried to charge the same rate. They would be out of business quickly, due to lack of business.

If you had told me 30 years ago that some parks would limit their customers to over 55 years of age, I would have said thats "stupid". Why limit the types of customers, you'll cut you customer base in half? But obviously there is a need and desire (a market) for these types of parks.

Just my 2 cents.

Chris G.

 

I don't know what the rest of you folks who are on a septic system at your home pay but it costs me $425 to have my 1,000 gallon tank pumped. I can only imagine what it must cost for an RV park to have their sewage tank/s pumped and how often they have to have it done. It's a cost of doing business for them and a cost of owning and using an RV for us. If we want to play we have to pay...............

BankShot...........(aka Terry)

 

Can you explain exactly how using a macerator into a toilet works? Where does the end of the hose go? Not into the bowl, I assume. Do you snake it down past the gooseneck?