We have just completed a long RV trip from Florid to Maine and back and I was astounded by the large number of pay showers we encountered in the North East. Seems to me that when you buy a site, the showers should be included. I talked about it with a campground owner in Freeport, Maine and he indicated that it was to stop people from leaving the showers on, not for the money. We also did run into campgrounds with timers or a button to push every minute or so to continue showering. To me, having to feed in quarters to get a shower is offensive. I normally take a “Navy” shower in the coach and actually use the provided showers only when I want a nice long hot shower.
For many reasons that I won't go into we usually prefer to use the campground showers. So far we have not run into pay showers. If we do I think I would then use our on board facilities rather than go through the hassle of getting change and then having to drop quarters in every few minutes. Under those circumstances we would do just as well at a do-it-yourself car wash. This again sounds like one of those situations where campground owners are trying to stop inconsiderate campers from abusing the facilities, and then unfortunately we all pay the price--literally.
I actually love places that have pay showers, means they are typically less busy. I find that pay showers are found more at parks that have full hookups everywhere. Anyway, a quarter for 4 minutes of nice hot water sounds good to me!
We ran into pay showers at Fishing Bridge RV park in Yellowstone and also at Grand Teton National park. We used the shower in our fifth wheel sometimes and used the pay showers for the days we felt we needed it. Neither of these parks had shower timers. I didn't mind paying for the shower a few times on our vacation.
>>>I didn't mind paying for the shower a few times on our vacation. I guess, I felt like when I paid the $36, the showers can be included. Water is usually about $3.00 per 1000 gals. Have to pay to have it heated and then there is the sewage cost, but I really doubt that a shower would cost more than 50 cents. Just seems cheap to do this. The timers were in the form of a button that you had to push every once in a while to maintain waater. Many public bathrooms have this type of thing on the hand washing faucets. We had found this only in the NE, but haven't been West yet. My next pet pieve is paying tolls on the interstate expressways which is also found in the NE. We paid nearly $40 in one day in MA, NY, and PA. I always thought the interstates were paid for with federal dollars and no tolls could be charged.
Well if tolls are problem, you also have them in Fl, Ohio, Ind ,Ill, and Oklahoma. There are always alternatives That alot of the commercial traffic uses.
I don't mind paying tolls on toll roads, but what I was complaining about was paying them on Federal Interstates with numbers like I-81 and such. I figured these were paid for by our tax dollars and should be free.
With the exception of Florida, I beleive the rest have Interstate designations. We have a lot of power on this forum but in this case you might try one of your congress people.
I tend to shy away from campgrounds who charge a shower fee...mainly because I don't feel like remembering among other things to bring a hand load of quarters with me when I go to take a shower, LOL.
I have camped at campgrounds with pay showers and the timed showers, I have to say it was a major hassle, the first time not realizing it was a pay shower and having a kid sooo very dirty from play I think he rolled in the dirt, only thing that remained clean was the blue of his eyesand not a single quarter because he has "quartered me to death" during the day, the campstore was closed so I could not even try to get change or buy something for change, Atm's do not dispense quarters and no bill changer on the grounds. Needless to say I was not happy sponge bathing him and he was not happy either and complained the whole time as his modesty and ego were being violated in his mind age 8 ( like I have never seen him prancing around the house in his boxers) Now I make sure that I always keep quarters on hand. As for the timed ones you need to be an acrobat to keep the water running as you soap up, rinse and forget being a woman and trying to shave your legs while trying to keep your back pressed against the button to keep the water running !
We are from the Northeast so pay showers have always been a part of camping. Owners we have talked to say they same thing, just trying to save hot water for the next guy. If they used timers, they could be reset and reset til the water was gone but with the quarters, people tend to shower and get out. Makes sense to me. In New England, the packing list always included rolls of quarters for tolls and showers. LOL
I have only camped at 2 campgrounds that required quarters. Since I am in a pop-up with no shower, our family has to use the facilities available. My problem with both of them was the fact that neither listed on their website that the showers were pay showers or even in their welcome packet. Very frustrating when you have little ones that love the dirt and then realize they are pay showers after they undress. It has become a routine, now to check the showers the first day we get there to see if they are pay or not.
QUOTE(Lindsay Richards @ Jun 26 2007, 07:53 PM) [snapback]7449[/snapback] We have just completed a long RV trip from Florid to Maine and back and I was astounded by the large number of pay showers we encountered in the North East. Seems to me that when you buy a site, the showers should be included. I talked about it with a campground owner in Freeport, Maine and he indicated that it was to stop people from leaving the showers on, not for the money. We also did run into campgrounds with timers or a button to push every minute or so to continue showering. To me, having to feed in quarters to get a shower is offensive. I normally take a “Navy” shower in the coach and actually use the provided showers only when I want a nice long hot shower.
QUOTE(Lindsay Richards @ Jun 29 2007, 04:49 PM) [snapback]7510[/snapback] >>>I didn't mind paying for the shower a few times on our vacation. I guess, I felt like when I paid the $36, the showers can be included. Water is usually about $3.00 per 1000 gals. Have to pay to have it heated and then there is the sewage cost, but I really doubt that a shower would cost more than 50 cents. Just seems cheap to do this. The timers were in the form of a button that you had to push every once in a while to maintain waater. Many public bathrooms have this type of thing on the hand washing faucets. We had found this only in the NE, but haven't been West yet. My next pet pieve is paying tolls on the interstate expressways which is also found in the NE. We paid nearly $40 in one day in MA, NY, and PA. I always thought the interstates were paid for with federal dollars and no tolls could be charged. We were at a park when they had to have the septic system pumped out, out of curiosity I asked what a system like that would cost to pump out (we do ours at home once a year) THey pay over $1200.00 per month to keep it up and with all the formaldehyde we use in our campers it may go up as it may be considered toxic waste. We now use a non-formaldehyde product and would encourage all our fellow campers to do the same, can you imagine the cost of camping if these parks have to pay for toxic waste removal everytime they have a septic system pumped out?? I think they charge to help cover the cost and to limit the length of the showers that are helping to fillup these systems.
When I make reservations at a park, I always ask if the wi-fi is free and if they charge extra for anything else like showers, cable tv, etc. If they charge me for anything other than the overnight camping fee, then I thank them and find another campground. I refuse to be nickled and dimed by campgrounds but must admit I made exceptions to this rule in the northeast since many did charge and it was difficult to find a fee-less campground.
I understand the feeling of being nickled and dimed, but I would rather pay ala carte, and pay for what I want to use, like cable, I have a dish, I would rather not have that stuff worked into the nightly camping rate. I would rather the people that use the service pay for the service. I think they should charge at the pool, I never use that one. You wouldn't expect the game room to be free, or the telephone so why would you want them to charge all of use for the cable or wifi?
Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit, as an RV Park owner, the key to making everyone happy has finally dawned on me after reading these posts. All I have to do is provide everything that everyone wants "Free", keep it clean, keep it quiet unless you want to party, cut all of the trees if you want an unobstructed view for your satellite dish, do not cut any trees if you like shade, allow campfires as long they don't smoke, and allow all discounts in addition to providing everything "Free". I will begin this policy immediately as soon as I can figure out how to pay my staff. I obviously don't need to make a profit, that would be gouging. As an RVer for 25 years before retiring and building an RV Park, I never understood these obvious truths until today, and I just couldn't wait to share my revelations with such an enlightened group. Seriously though, I do still enjoy RVing and operating an RV Park, and I think the vast majority of our customers enjoy coming here, even if if it is not Free. Thanks for the opportunity to opine. Doug
Biscuit, Thank you for the laugh! You are right, and I think if people realize that not every park can possibily please every person, they will understand that you camp once to try it out, if you like it you go back again, if you don't there is always another park down the road. I am sure you, as an owner would rather only deal with HAPPY campers than people that are looking for a level, wooded, grassy site by the river, two sites down from the rest room, with a quiet hour at 10:00 and bingo every night at 7:00. With lots of things for the kids to do, and an adult swim daily, make the showers free, the wyfi free, the entertainment good, keep the bathrooms clean, keep the park litter free, stop the birds from singing in the morning and make sure the wind doesn't blow too hard, keep my neighbors kids quiet, let me drink and party all night.and have 24 hour secuirty. And if you can do all that for $10.00 a night, you'll have my business, too!
