Ok, with all the gripes about "my review got rejected" and "my review got edited" and all that, let's give some suggestions for writing reviews. Stick to facts, try to leave out emotions. Ok, once in awhile, I throw in an emotional comment, like one park I stayed at in New Mexico had this WONDERFUL view, and I started the review out with WOW, WHAT A VIEW!!! It's ok to mention that check in person was a bit rude or ugly to you, but then go on to say, "sites were (or weren't) level, bathrooms were (or weren't) clean, Sites had grass, gravel, hardtop. Great pet area, except it was near the propane station. RV Park had lovely flowers..... Negative comments are ok in reviews, just stick to observations. "My sewer connection was full of bugs, so I had to ask to switch sites." (That happened to me once!) Or, "It rained and my site was full of puddles I had to jump over when I got out of my RV." (This isn't the park's fault, but could be a clue as to whether or not you would want to stay there when it rains.....) Any other suggestions? I love this site. I used to post on two other sites, but stopped, as I feel this one is the best. And, another RV Park Review site offered me 50 cents per review, and I sent in a bunch, but never followed up to get paid. What kind of upset me was when they wanted to copy all my reviews off this site and add them to their site, well..... I felt something was WRONG with that......
I couldn't agree more on the "stick to the facts" suggestion. And I'm convinced that there's a special place in heaven for people who put in their reviews whether or not the showers have latch-able doors or just shower curtains. At least there should be such a place, imho. Truly though, I wish that reviewers would keep the snark to a minimum. Recently there was a unhappy reviewer who complained that the guy who helped them park "had only one tooth in his head". Good grief, Reviewer! This man was kind enough to HELP YOU and you see fit to make disparaging comments on his dental condition? That's just mean. Uff-da!
Some time ago I started placing reviews in the manner of a list. I was asked to change the reviews to paragraphs because they were easier to read and understand. Now I will try to follow the rules so there is no problem for me. Here is what I was trying to use to review campgrounds . I keep it in a the Notepad and just modify whatI want to say in the review. Now I just use it as a guide and write a paragraph. Again I am not bitching... Just saying it was what I though people were mainily intrested in. Shore Services: 50amp, Sewer good, Water @ psi WiFi: AT&T Cell Phone: Sprint Air Card: Verizon Air Card: Cable: Site: Site Size: Site Closeness: Roads: Restrooms: Laundry: Long term tentants: Directv Satellite: Discounts: Payment: Additional Charges: Additional Remarks: To me this gives all the important information then at the end do a narritave about the flowers or bad rain days... FWIW BC
You have a good list. Sorry our review software is persnickety about lists. It does that to save space. Thanks for adjusting on your end.
If you go to the home page we have a review form under (Downloads). You can download and print this file then fill it out.
Ok, with all the gripes about "my review got rejected" and "my review got edited" and all that, let's give some suggestions for writing reviews. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I suspect that the moderators reserve the right to edit or reject any review that doesn't meet the rules for submitting one or doesn't fit a basic criteria of being helpful information. I feel sure that we reviewers don't get to make the rules. I like to read reviews that are well written with proper sentence structure, good grammar, and proper punctuation. I believe that is one of the Rules for Submitting a review that we all have to acknowledge before doing so. Someone else posted a suggestion somewhere on the forum about doing a review that was a low rating for the campground. The suggestion was not to actually post until after they had gotten over their ranting and complaining stage. The cool down period allowed them to go back and write a much better, more civilized review even though the rating may not change. When a review is written, it is important to remember that the purpose of a review is to help someone ELSE decide if they want to use the campground or not. Reviewer's should look past their own site at all of the campground facilities, amenities, and services and then report on those. They also should consider the different types of RVs that others might be using in the campground. A motor home owner needs to consider the pop-up user and vice versa. It's all about helping each other make a good decision. Some form of structure similar to TxBobCat's list could be helpful in doing that it. The length of a review is something to consider. Cliff Note size reviews aren't very helpful and novel length is overdoing it. A Reader's Digest version, using proper English 101 techniques, is perhaps the more ideal length for a good review.
QUOTE(RLM @ Sep 17 2012, 11:28 AM) [snapback]31193[/snapback] Reviewer's should look past their own site at all of the campground facilities, amenities, and services and then report on those. This is a very good point. Many times we get reviews where the reviewer has changed a lot of the check off items because the site they stayed at did not have these things. If there are 50 amp sites in the park, it should be checked as yes even if the reviewer's site only had 30 amps. Also a pool that is just closed for the winter is still a yes. Wi-fi that doesn't work well is still a yes. If these amenities were not available or did not work well when the reviewer was there, note of this should be made in the comments.
This is almost a rehash of a thread from earlier this year. It was titled "Consideration When Rating a Park", had 17 posts, and it's last entry was 7/20/12 under the RV Park Discussions section of the Forum. I almost posted a comment to that thread when several posters seemed to indicate that they only review parks from their myopic perspective - the only aspects of the park that are commented on are those facilities and amenities that are important to them. As indicated in this thread, that kind of review is often useless to many readers. Not saying anything about the pool, bathrooms, WIFI, etc. because you don't need/use them is information many potential customers want to know about. I could go on, but will refrain from doing so at this time.
QUOTE(Jerry S. @ Sep 18 2012, 01:17 AM) [snapback]31203[/snapback] Not saying anything about the pool, bathrooms, WIFI, etc. because you don't need/use them is information many potential customers want to know about. Perhaps so, but if you haven't used them, and probably not even looked at them, how can you comment on them? We basically never use the bathhouse; for us, a major point of RVing is to have our own facilities to use (they may be dirty but at least it's our dirt). So I don't see how we could comment on the CG bathrooms.
Just to clarify: we do not expect reviewers to comment about a facility or amenity if they did not use it and have no knowledge of its quality. However, if there is a pool available (for instance), we do not want a reviewer to check "no" just because they did not use it.
When I go to a campground I will walk through the laundry and look at the facilities, and go through the restrooms and showers. I will then include them in my review even though I did not use them. When you make a review you can also select "did not use" which are not auto selected when the review screen is presented. As said earlier there are two parts to a review. Information about the campground and facilities then personal comments about those facilities and your concerns positive or negative. If you had a bad time at a campground and the facilities are very good I may not have a problem with a cranky employee or owner but I sure would like to know how good the facilities are. BC
I have a suggestion about the nightly rate that you enter in a review ... Enter the normal rate the park normally charges, not what you paid as a result of your discounts or whatever. I may not have the same discounts you do, in which case the number you enter won't be useful to me.
QUOTE(JohnTucson @ Oct 9 2012, 02:06 AM) [snapback]31489[/snapback] I have a suggestion about the nightly rate that you enter in a review ... Enter the normal rate the park normally charges, not what you paid as a result of your discounts or whatever. I may not have the same discounts you do, in which case the number you enter won't be useful to me. And one more thought ... I find it rather annoying when people fairly shout to "Stay away from such-and-such campground!" Well, thanks but I'll make that decision myself. Just give the facts, please.
TXBobcat - I love your list. It makes a wonderful outline for writing a review and it keeps you from inserting too much emotional garbage. Someone else mentioned they do a "walk-about" of the park so they can be better informed prior to writing their review. Hubby and I do this as well. I was raised on some very LARGE recreational parks (Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Lake Powell, etc), as such I check certain things, knowing it is a good indication of how well the park is taken care of. Hubby is from the construction industry and as such he has his things he looks for as well. Before we (I) write a review we sit down together and figure out what we want to include. Yes a number of my reviews have been deferred, not posted, changed, etc. I even received a very long winded email as to what I was doing wrong. Honestly I appreciate this admin's time. I am sure they are doing this on a volunteer basis as many forum admin's do, thus their time is just as precious as ours. So I will do my best to keep things short and to the point... If TXBobcat doesn't mind, I may borrow his list idea and use it as an outline for future reviews as I am sure there will be plenty more to come. We are spending at least the next year as full-timers.
A programming suggestion that might help. I did NOT know there was a forum attached to the review site until I "noticed" it across the top. As it is required to become a member prior to posting a review, maybe have the system reload to the forum FAQ or something there abouts, letting new users know this site is more than just a review site. Honestly for me, had I known that, I would have taken A LOT of the advise to heart within these forums prior to writing a review. Especially now that you require 3 or more reviews prior to a review being posted. I know how difficult changing html programming can be, however this maybe more helpful than costly... Just an IMO suggestions....
QUOTE(JohnTucson @ Oct 9 2012, 01:06 AM) [snapback]31489[/snapback] I have a suggestion about the nightly rate that you enter in a review ... Enter the normal rate the park normally charges, not what you paid as a result of your discounts or whatever. I may not have the same discounts you do, in which case the number you enter won't be useful to me. I have a slight disagreement about this as I enter what I paid per night, including discounts and up-charges. I will also mention in my review what affected my nightly rate. That way, future vistors can make an educated guess about the nightly rate. I look at that rate and sometimes use it to decide where to stay. Recently stayed at one park that had a posted nightly rate of $35.00/night. Once I arrived, they charged an additional $3.00/ea for my two kids and an additional $3.00 for a pull-through site (even though I didn't request one) even though they had back-in sites available. If I had known this, I might have checked out a nearby park that had a posted rate of $40.00 a night. I know, I should have done my homework before arrival. Also, seeing discounted rates may help me decide to purchase a discount membership in the future. I don't have any now, but it looks like if we traveled more, PA would be a good membership to have.
QUOTE(Fitzjohnfan @ Oct 10 2012, 12:53 AM) [snapback]31515[/snapback] Also, seeing discounted rates may help me decide to purchase a discount membership in the future. I don't have any now, but it looks like if we traveled more, PA would be a good membership to have. Very off topic and I apologize before hand...... We recently purchased a "membership" and I wish we had looked on sites like "eBay" before hand. You can purchase a "membership" normally for the yearly upkeep fees from the "former" member.... Then all you have to do is pay the "upkeep" fees, register the membership as yours and start using it...One warning however, make sure the "membership" is transferable. We did this when we signed up, my reasoning was to give it to one of the kids later on when we are tired of using... So just a suggestion.... & Very Much Off Topic....
What alot of members or guests don't seem to understand is that everyone has their own taste and opinions to what "is" and what isn't nice. Just like the RV you use, what works for you may not work for the group in the next site over. What I look for in a review is condition of the overall park and facilities; services 30A or 50A with or with out sewer, site size, shade or sun, modern and enough restroom/showers, quiet or noisy and location pertaining to local attractions, cities etc. I would hope that common sense suggests that if you are going to go through the time of writing a review include all that the CG has to offer whether you use it or not. This is useful information used to determine if a park is one that you would or not use. Pool and playground means kids, sorry I'll pass on that place
QUOTE(vincee @ Oct 12 2012, 01:42 PM) [snapback]31547[/snapback] I would hope that common sense suggests that if you are going to go through the time of writing a review include all that the CG has to offer whether you use it or not. This is useful information used to determine if a park is one that you would or not use. Information like whether or not a CG has sewer hookups, Wi-Fi, or 50A service is usually contained in the summary information at the top right of a CG's listing. Unless I disagree with something in that summary I normally don't put it in my reviews. IMHO keeping a review brief but informative is the objective.
