We have a great thread going about pet peeves as campers so I think maybe one from owner/managers might be a good thing. I know I see things differently since I started managing campgrounds compared to when I was just camping. We always cleaned up our sites and tried to follow the rules but I'm sure we did things that irked the managers. One of my big ones is people that bend the rules. "My dog won't run away if not on a leash" kind of thing, another is "I only took a couple of puffs on my cigarette in the no smoking bathroom". I know that if I go back to just camping I will make more of an effort to see things from the CG's perspective. Any other owner/managers want to add something?
I guess I'm guilty, I have on rare occasion taken my Sheltie to a back field edge to toss a frisbee... no people around... just my dog and me. Pulled into some empty campgrounds during the week nights..again NO people around, had my dog sit with us by the campfire at night...no leash/rope tied. sorry... Mike
QUOTE(dalsgal @ Oct 16 2012, 02:44 PM) [snapback]31597[/snapback] We have a great thread going about pet peeves as campers so I think maybe one from owner/managers might be a good thing. I know I see things differently since I started managing campgrounds compared to when I was just camping. We always cleaned up our sites and tried to follow the rules but I'm sure we did things that irked the managers. One of my big ones is people that bend the rules. "My dog won't run away if not on a leash" kind of thing, another is "I only took a couple of puffs on my cigarette in the no smoking bathroom". I know that if I go back to just camping I will make more of an effort to see things from the CG's perspective. Any other owner/managers want to add something? Our pet pieve is rumor spreading by guests telling others that management is changing rules or policies when management had never considered these matters. The other is when rules violaters are caught and defend by saying that they saw another guest do the same and no one complained.
Here's one of mine. When kids throw rocks from the parking area into the grass. We have to pick them up before we can mow, or they may get thrown toward a camper, a vehicle or worst of all - a person.
Hmmm....there are one or two pet peeves....dogs off leash, big one...and yes, I know your dog won't run away but we have 212 sites here, and if each site had a dog on it and I let your dog roam free I really have to let all the others ones go too right? Rocks on the grass...total danger there...biggest one for us........moving the firepits!!! If you want to ruin my husband's weekend, move that firepit .. you pull in and look up the field you see no burnt marks on the grass; you see the fire pits are all lined up neatly, so then why should your fire pit need to be at the back of your site???? Near the water lines and electric???? One other one for me personally, the camper who is booked in for a Saturday and shows up at 8 a.m. instead of the 1:00 p.m. check in just so they can get the whole day in. I have now implemented a early check in fee that makes us all feel better! Now....having ranted a bit there that's not to say I don't have wonderful campers.......I do....and I absolutely LOVE my park, my job and my campers. At the other end of the spectrum - that camper who books in for 3 weeks every year and makes me dishclothes each year; that camper that emails me and keeps me up to date on her husband's health; that camper that sends me an email to let me know her kids had a blast............THAT makes it all worthwhile
ad My pet peeves are false rumors being spread by park click to impose harm on another park resident.BEING BULLYS.
QUOTE(fpullanosr @ Oct 16 2012, 10:01 PM) [snapback]31605[/snapback] Our pet pieve is rumor spreading by guests telling others that management is changing rules or policies when management had never considered these matters. The other is when rules violaters are caught and defend by saying that they saw another guest do the same and no one complained. We often find out what "we" are up to by listening to the campers, this year the big one was we were installing pay showers....I laughed when I found this one out
QUOTE(campergal @ Nov 4 2012, 09:42 AM) [snapback]31785[/snapback] We often find out what "we" are up to by listening to the campers, this year the big one was we were installing pay showers....I laughed when I found this one out How do you handle rumor spreading?
QUOTE(fpullanosr @ Nov 4 2012, 08:21 AM) [snapback]31786[/snapback] How do you handle rumor spreading? We approach it head on - to this one we simply made sure to tell the seasonals, and overnight campers, that NO we were not installing pay showers and re-iterated .... again .... if you have a question, ask us in the office, don't come up with the solution around the campfire ... usually those answers are incorrect. Every meeting we have and every letter we send out we end it with telling campers if they have questions or concerns please approach us.
QUOTE(campergal @ Nov 9 2012, 02:41 PM) [snapback]31836[/snapback] if you have a question, ask us in the office, don't come up with the solution around the campfire ... usually those answers are incorrect. Your taking half the fun away... Talk around the campfire about the campground? isn't that human nature...what else are people going to talk about!! Seriously though, I understand how false information could hurt the hard work that many campground owners/employees put in to their business. Can't tell you how many times I've had to move my fire pit.. and I have been to many above average campgrounds where I never find the fire pits lined up neatly on the sites. The number one reason I have to move my fire pit is because I'll be smoking out my camping neighbor from a combination of his site being to small and his RV being over sized. A lot of campgrounds sell green fire wood, that doesn't help the situation either....Safety have been the other reasons also. Mike
QUOTE(mdcamping @ Nov 10 2012, 09:56 AM) [snapback]31844[/snapback] Your taking half the fun away... Talk around the campfire about the campground? isn't that human nature...what else are people going to talk about!! Seriously though, I understand how false information could hurt the hard work that many campground owners/employees put in to their business. Can't tell you how many times I've had to move my fire pit.. and I have been to many above average campgrounds where I never find the fire pits lined up neatly on the sites. The number one reason I have to move my fire pit is because I'll be smoking out my camping neighbor from a combination of his site being to small and his RV being over sized. A lot of campgrounds sell green fire wood, that doesn't help the situation either....Safety have been the other reasons also. Mike We now have a sign that says you could be charged if you move the firepits and damage the ground. Of course our pits are at the front of the site and the sites are minimum 30x50 so large enough to house the pit without smoking out your neighbour (unless you both have 44 foot rigs and insist on going in a 20 amp site . One thing I have found is that the rigs are getting bigger and bigger, as are the vehicles used to haul them - often we will have a 40 foot rig with three slides, a huge truck used to haul it and the wife bringing her car for the weekend in case they need to each go somewhere different at the exact same time over the weekend. They bring all that to our park that was built in the 60's when the largest rig might have been a 21 foot tow behind with no slide. We are lucky in that our sites are somewhat large enough but often we have to encourage people to park in the parking lots we have created to accommodate the extra vehicles so that you have enough room on your lot for all that you want to do. Still, our park looks crammed on the weekends for sure!
The pet leash rule applies to my wife and I. Rules are intended to make the camping experience fair, safe and fun, but sometimes the campers must feel like we are just looking for ways to restrict their fun. One pet peeve for us is parking golf carts on the grass. The other one would be false rumors...especially that the park is for sale. I guess they are hoping to get rid of us ! Just kidding....we have a blast and have made many friends here !
QUOTE(fpullanosr @ Nov 4 2012, 08:21 AM) [snapback]31786[/snapback] How do you handle rumor spreading? You should look them in the eye and say "No, we had no plans along those lines, but thanks for the suggestion. I sure sounds like something we should be considering, thanks!"
I can imagine most campground owners have seen it all. It does bug me when I am following the rules and other campers are not. I always hope the get caught but the never seem to. Last trip it was the dogs on a leash. Sometimes it is the cars on a site, when it is one or two and they put more and they hang in the street etc. I could go on but since I am just a camper...
My favorite from a owner in Colorado, his pet peev, Texans escaping the heat come in wanting the spot with the most shade in the park then complained that the birds and trees dropped stuff on their camper and wanted him to do something about it.
A couple of the things that bug us as campers is when a park advertises itself as a "resort" and show pics on its website that are nothing like what the park really is. We've driven into a few parks that "looked good" on the website and even some of the reviews gave it a high rating, etc., but as we drove thru to check it out we saw basically nothing more than a bunch of trashy old resident trailers and junk everywhere. Of course we drive on out and on down the road. The other thing is when rules are posted regarding dogs on leashes and we see dogs running freely in the park. We are dog owners and we love dogs but we aren't too happy to see a 90 lb German Shepard or some other large breed come running towards our 6 lb. Chihuahua with intent to perhaps have a mid day snack on its mind. I very nicely asked one owner to please keep his large dog that was not on a leash, and that did just that, at least within the confines of his own space and he actually got belligerent with me in return. So in as nice a way as I could muster up I told him very calmly that if his dog came into our space again and tried to attack our dog that was on a leash, I would simply shoot it and we could go visit the local sheriff about it afterwards. Funny how he grabbed his dog and did put it on a chain after that comment. I am not a violent person by nature but damned if I am gong to "turn the other cheek" when some idiot like this give me a line of crap like he did. All in all we've had 99% good experiences in the parks we've stayed at. It's those 1%ers that ruin it for the rest of us it seems...............
I have a 13lb Yorkie and have a similar problem sometimes. I don't tell the others that I will shoot their dog but if it injures my Yorkie he will be in court. Most likely if you do shoot their dog you will land in jail for a number of firearms charges. However I do agree that it is frustrating to go to a park that is shown one way and it turns out not to be as good as you hoped. That is why I take photos of every park I stay at for future reference and if any of my friends ask me I can show them what one looks like. I use RVPR as a strong guide, but I also keep information about parks from friends of mine that have been there. One of my problems also is that many of the parks are becoming very expensive to stay at on a daily basis. I move around a lot in the summer time, like I will be starting May 1. I see your posts here on the forum and I hope you also post reviews. I wish people would put a bit more into their reviews about the parks rather then the personal things that they do or happens to them. I'm really not interested in their good time with uncle Joe or the problems with their RV that caused them to stay at that certain park.
TSBobcat - I realize that shooting someone's dog is not what my intent would be and I probably wouldn't actually shoot the dog anyway but I most certainly would not allow it to attack mine. The only reason I made the comment I did in this particular situation was that this guy wasn't even wanting to hear me much less listen to what I was trying to ask him to do about his dog. He got right in in my face about it and that's when I said what I did about shooting his dog if it attacked ours. I have a heavy oak rod that I use when walking in areas where coyotes or other critters roam freely and I believe one smack with it would solve the attacking dog problem pretty much. So really, I am not into shooting a dog unless it was a life or death situation, etc........ I do post reviews and try to include things about the park itself and not about the folks that are staying in it with us. I too am not interested in reading about uncle Joe or various other non park related issues, etc................. Regards, Bankshot
One more time................ I just wanted to reiterate that I am not some kind of gun packing whacko that threatens someone every time I have a problem. I do carry a firearm when we travel and it is stored and kept safe at all times and in complete compliance with the state laws in which we are staying, etc. Those 1%ers I mentioned prior are, in reality, few and far between thank goodness and on other rare occasions when we have encountered one of them I will usually just turn around and walk away to avoid any further confrontations. We didn't take up RVing to go find trouble and again thankfully we rarely do. Very rarely in fact. We have met some really fine folks in our travels and also stayed in some really nice and well run parks. The owners and mangers alike have been courteous, friendly and will usually go out of their way to assist us if needed. I don't envy a park owner/manager and the job they have trying to keep everything maintained and in good order and I certainly don't envy them when they have to deal with those 1%ers that cause the problems. I've personally witnessed a park owner at the front desk take a real tongue lashing from a pissed off RVer who was complaining about a dripping water faucet and the fact that water was puddling up and causing them to walk around it instead of where they wanted to walk. I mean this guy was really out of line and the owner simply listened, smiled back and told him she would have it taken care of immediately. And she did. When he left she looked at me and I at her and both of us just shook our heads. What a jerk this guy was. No excuse for the way he acted about something so simple as a leaking faucet. Takes all kinds for sure but it's that kind we keep our distance from................. With the summer months ahead it's time to be hitting the open road as much as we can. Lots of land to see yet and many roads to travel down............... Regards to everyone and thanks for hearing me out on this subject.................... Bankshot
