From the parks i have visited going by the reviews on this site i have found it to be a wonderful site of info about the parks.Sure you going to have differences in opinons from everyone so if there is 1 bad review to 10 good reviews then i figure i will go to that park but if there are 9 bad reviews and 1 one good then i figure i dont wont to waste my time are money going to this place.I figure if several people say the samething then there is some truth to it. Lois P.S. I LOVE THIS SITE
:huh: Might I add a little note. . .everyone needs to understand that each review was based on that person's experience. I doubt that very many people are really planning a "vendetta" against a certain park. Most RV'rs and especially the ones who would take the trouble to go to this website and write a review are really just interested in "giving back" to those who came before. As for the Waco park in MO, well, this is a perfect example why you need to keep an open mind and read plenty of reviews. We too, stayed at this park, in July of 2003, and our experience was less than pleasant. I don't know if we were just there at a bad time, or what, but there was no meal, the park was unkempt, and we were not impressed. We felt that the description in Woodalls was totally inaccurate. (This was before I found this site, of course.) On the other hand, my husband's sis and her husband had a great experience there a year earlier, meal and everything, so who was right? :blink: We both were. That's all this site is, a recap of your experience at a specific park. Everyone should keep an open mind, but the odds are, if there are several negative reviews on a park, well, it's likely there is a valid reason. Remember, most rv'rs do not know of or use this site, so it's unlikely that a few negative reviews will put a park out of business if it's really a good park. It's just not going to happen. I would just hope that we could all be a tad bit friendlier to each other on this site, because, after all, don't we have something important in common? It's our enjoyment of rv'ing, in one form or another! There really is no reason for sarcastic responses and comments. .. .we're all intelligent and they say, the only dumb question is the one you are afraid to ask! Let everyone feel free to ask any question they choose, and if you feel the need to put someone else down, well, ask youself why you are reacting so strongly over such a minor thing.
We check this site before selecting a campground, just to see if there is a review. We have visited 3 sites so far based upon their reviews here, and for the most part, have been well satisfied with what we have found. This is an invaluable tool for us. We are aware, however, that of course people have different types of experiences in mind when they go camping. We like quiet and peace, with great location and good fire-pit. Others might like a raucous and loud party experience. We see the reviews where campers were told to be quiet, and we head there! hee hee. What some see as negatives, and post that way, we can sometimes see as positives, so it doesn't necessarily keep us from visiting if we see a "negative" post. We DO pay close attention to any referrals to rude staff, however, and test it with our phone call making the reservation.
It's like you know.....a lot of things......everybody's got one....OPINION that is. What I might think is a good park, someone might find awful........depends on what you are looking for and what the last one you stayed in was like sometimes. I mean, I've been in some bad one's and gave the next one a thumbs up, when normally I would not have, just because it was decent...unlike the one before. We try to drive through parks in every city we go to, for FUTURE REFERENCE. It's a HIT AND MISS FOR SURE. WAL MART is usually pretty much the same all the time......and we stay there when passing through. Happy Traveling guys.......
QUOTE(Chocolat @ Jun 22 2004, 03:37 PM) [snapback]849[/snapback] It's like you know.....a lot of things......everybody's got one....OPINION that is. What I might think is a good park, someone might find awful........depends on what you are looking for and what the last one you stayed in was like sometimes. I mean, I've been in some bad one's and gave the next one a thumbs up, when normally I would not have, just because it was decent...unlike the one before. We try to drive through parks in every city we go to, for FUTURE REFERENCE. It's a HIT AND MISS FOR SURE. WAL MART is usually pretty much the same all the time......and we stay there when passing through. Happy Traveling guys.......
QUOTE(Chocolat @ Jun 22 2004, 03:37 PM) [snapback]849[/snapback] It's like you know.....a lot of things......everybody's got one....OPINION that is. What I might think is a good park, someone might find awful........depends on what you are looking for and what the last one you stayed in was like sometimes. I mean, I've been in some bad one's and gave the next one a thumbs up, when normally I would not have, just because it was decent...unlike the one before. We try to drive through parks in every city we go to, for FUTURE REFERENCE. It's a HIT AND MISS FOR SURE. WAL MART is usually pretty much the same all the time......and we stay there when passing through. Happy Traveling guys.......
We have checked these reviews and found a very interesting negative review of J and H RV Park in Flagstaff AZ. the reviews were so provacative and curious that we decided to stay in the park just out of curiousity. Unfortunately the place was closed! some reviews may draw a person in just to see what all the fuss is about. I really love this site and use it regularly. B)
Like everything else. Take the information with a grain of salt. This is the first rv site I found and one of the best sites for finding information. Sure, some folks have probably posted some fake responses or even intentionally tried to get back at a CG that did them wrong. But have you ever heard about buying ocean front property in AZ?
I have gone in and looked at various CGs where we have camped and most are right on target. I would not like to think that campers would give a CG a bad review just to be mean spirited; I really don't think the majority of campers are of that frame of mind, at least I hope not. We always check Woodall's reviews anyway but like seeing the personal reviews to add to our decision Jan
I am a campground owner. And I do find some negative reviews of my park. However, since the party had so many negative feelings of our park, why did they not come to me, the owner, if the Staff treated them so badly, or the restrooms were as dirty as they said they were? We question the validity of such reviews and hope they are taken with a grain of salt. Each person must form their own opinion based on their experience at any given time and at any given place. If you have a problem at a campground - one serious enough to post negatively on that campground, talk to the owner during your stay when the problem is in the present. We owners can do nothing about a past experience; we can only try to make this experience a good one, and prevent it from happening again. When you hire some one to do a job, you hope they are doing that job. If not, you, the camping public, need to tell the owner/manager of a park, and not leave it to a negative post. If you get no satisfaction from that discussion with the owner/manager, then leaving a negative post could be warranted. But don't leave us wondering: "when did this happen?". Just my POV. Thanks for listening!
From personal experience, this sight has been the most reliable as far as the overall acurracy of reviews. It's unlikely that a dumpy campground will get stellar reviews from everyone -- and equally unlikely that a top-notch campground will get tanked by every review. I generally discount the top 2 and bottom 2 reviews and base my decision on the remainder. I'd also add that what one person complains about isn't necessarily a negative to me. If someone says there were too many kids running around, then I'd probably look twice at the campground! Scoutmom
QUOTE(mpj @ Jun 23 2006, 08:17 AM) [snapback]4461[/snapback] I am a campground owner. And I do find some negative reviews of my park. However, since the party had so many negative feelings of our park, why did they not come to me, the owner, if the Staff treated them so badly, or the restrooms were as dirty as they said they were? We question the validity of such reviews and hope they are taken with a grain of salt. Each person must form their own opinion based on their experience at any given time and at any given place. If you have a problem at a campground - one serious enough to post negatively on that campground, talk to the owner during your stay when the problem is in the present. We owners can do nothing about a past experience; we can only try to make this experience a good one, and prevent it from happening again. When you hire some one to do a job, you hope they are doing that job. If not, you, the camping public, need to tell the owner/manager of a park, and not leave it to a negative post. If you get no satisfaction from that discussion with the owner/manager, then leaving a negative post could be warranted. But don't leave us wondering: "when did this happen?". Just my POV. Thanks for listening! dmsscs responds: You are entirely right, we always let the staff know when there is a problem and 99% of the time it is addressed. Maybe that is why I haven't felt the need to post negatively (except once, but we did try to get help and were ignored) Good advice, speak to the staff, they might turn your bad experience around.
I must agree with several of the comments here about the concern for honest feed back about campgrounds. I have been on the internet for years and YES there are goof balls that just like a place to vent. Unfortunately, we must witness it. As a business owner and avid camper I believe everyone ( or mostly ) everyone here are campers and honest people. This site is to help fellow campers in their search for the quality camping grounds. I feel that if there was a problem the person should have gone to the management and voiced this. Professional business owners do all they can to accommodate their clients and make things right. After all there are plenty of campgrounds around but the major selling point is CUSTOMER SERVICE. New customers are easy to get. Repeat cutomers are your challenge. You must act in a professional manner to keep old customers coming back. That takes a quality idea of customer service and making sure everything has been done until the customer is totally satisfied. And this is no different than anything else in our life, sadly as it is. Some people just cannot be pleased. But if you have done your level best to solve the problem and cannot you can feel assured that they are going to complain at the next camp ground also.
While I am sure there are people who cannot be pleased, I also know that not ALL campground owners will bend over backwards to accomodate. There are several reviews here regarding a campground that I have had personal experience with and the owners attitude was "if you don't like it...leave".. Of course, there were no refunds. The owners took that attitude with each and every person who complained and there was plenty to complain about. Because of their location, they will always have business, so they do not care how they treat their guests. Yes, some people may like to vent, but I have found the reviews here to be, for the most part, right on the mark.
As for the campground owner, in a previous posting, stating that he would want you, the consumer, to enlighten him as to a problem(s) at that time of occurrence. Some campground owners/managers are not open to such criticism or complaints and chose to refuse to act. If you can have a discussion with them at all, they are most generally unavailable at the time. Personally I have complained and was told: you can leave-no refunds, what do you want me to do, as an example; when I complained that inconsiderate campers were walking through our site, the campground owner stated,"shoot 'em". Now that was some answer ! Have found that owners are less than willing to say anything to anybody other than you the complainant. Customer service is the name of the game for return business. Having worked a number of years in new car/truck dealerships as a parts manager, I know exactly what customer service is, and had made customer service a point to all who worked in my department. Thanks for this opportunity to voice my thoughts and opinion.
Most of the outragous complaints come from folks that are new to this forum and I take them with a grain of salt. When it is one of the old times, I think they are responsible.It would be help full if it showed up how long the reviewer was a member.
I am in the middle of a 7500 mile four month trek across America and used this site to help select most of the campgrounds we are using, so far with good results! I am like a previous poster I tend to discount the top two and bottom two, sometimes just the bottom two if a reference to not being dog or child friendly is mentioned. Everyone knows that little Bobby or Fido are perfect and the nasty campground has it in for them.
I have to agree with Big Ben. It would be helpful to know how long a reviewer has been a member. However, I think it would also be helpful to see how many reviews that reviewer has done (kind of like it shows how many posts a member has posted). Granted not everyone will camp enough to leave a lot of reviews. While I wouldn't completely discount a review done by someone who has only done a couple of reviews (especially since I am a new member and have only written two so far) I would tend to lend more weight to review done by a member that has done a lot of reviews. This would show that they could be more experienced campers and know more of what to look for than a new RV'er.
I couldn't disagree more with comments on long term members better than new members. Its the quality of the writer comments not the quantity. We don't travel that much as yet but I know how to write a review. I just looked at a cg yesterday with one totally awful review and several other very good ones and all in close time period. We are anxious to try it. Camping is an adventure jmo
