Recent Campground Reviews

I was kind of wondering about that also.

 

I have to agree - especially the reviews at Stateline in East Killingly. All the 10 rates are from people who haven't no additional reviews. looks a little suspicous to me. Looks like someone (management/employees??) is trying to make the low ratings disappear.

But with full disclosure, I am a newbie and have only done 3 ratings. And, I stayed at and rated a CT campground for Memorial Day weekend - although NOT the Stateline one.

 

Because of several problems that have come to light recently the webmaster is working on some changes. You may see the results of some of his testing. I do not know if the posting of the "one only" reviews has something to do with that, but it might. We do know that several members have been concerned about the type of reviews that have been submitted, and the webmaster is trying to work out a solution. When he has some positive results I'm sure we will all hear about it.

 

QUOTE(jhswillis @ May 29 2009, 09:12 AM) [snapback]16715[/snapback]

I have to agree - especially the reviews at Stateline in East Killingly. All the 10 rates are from people who haven't no additional reviews. looks a little suspicous to me. Looks like someone (management/employees??) is trying to make the low ratings disappear.



lol, and it looks like a couple more "10"s have been added just in the last day or so. I don't know about other people, but when I see ratings that suspicious it certainly makes me think twice about staying at that campground.

I am also in Connecticut, but I have never stayed at Stateline.

 

Ha, ha, ha, I have to agree with most of you, when reading a specific camp review, I see so many different opinions which is impossible to make up your mind regarding who's right and who's wrong. :lol:
In my opinion, of course, the evaluation should be restricted to facts , I e. the size of the lots, whether there are trees or not, the cleanliness and other items concerning the facilities.
I am not discouraging people to present their opinion but rating !!!!
Unless we are trained to evaluate campsites, the evaluation might be exaggerate or too punitive; let's say you have neighbours making noise or children running around but still within the limit of the acceptance or... etc..., I am quite sure that our review level will be more punitive than what it should be, it is a human nature to rate some thing according to what we like/dislike which it might not meet the general opinion and in reading this rating may turn away people who otherwise would have enjoyed the place.
Furthermore, this review of the camp would also be accepted from the camp owners as long as the facilities described are real. B)
No, I am not a camp owner I am just an RVer like most of you and when I need an opinion regarding a specific location, I publish a direct question on this forum asking who's been there and if whatever is most important to me is available.
I shall not be offended if you try to skin me alive for my opinion .

 

You see lots of new RV people who have not had a lot of time in campgrounds yet. This may be the first place and it is a 1 or 10 only. We have talked to people who told me this is the best place we have every been to. Next you find out this is the "only place and first place" they have been to. Anyone who has only been in couple campgrounds has little understanding of what to look for or experience.

We write up everything we find in campground good or bad like size of sites, level, trees, staff, water, power, what is in park, and then rate park. This information is what we look at and not the rating or dogs and rain.

 

We were in the lodging business for 10 years prior to our recent retirement and went thought the review wars. It is very tempting for a owner to post good reviews about himself and bad reviews about his competitor. All sorts of systems can be set up to defeat the cheater, but if he is determined (like having a relative in another location enter the review) they can pretty much defeat the review site. The good news for us is that it means that our favorite review site right here is found to be important by the cheaters. The way around this is to read all of the reviews and make a decision based on the whole rather than one or two great or poor ones. I am sure that the operators of this site are doing whatever they can to prevent cheating, but the technology is unfortunately stacked against them. We just have to be better users of the reviews and count on the owners of the site to do their level best to defeat the cheaters.

 

QUOTE(Lindsay Richards @ Jun 8 2009, 07:51 AM) [snapback]16873[/snapback]

We were in the lodging business for 10 years prior to our recent retirement and went thought the review wars. It is very tempting for a owner to post good reviews about himself and bad reviews about his competitor.


Here's a funny story: when looking for RV Parks in Houston a couple of years ago, I saw a single review for a new park! Magnificent place! All 10s. I clicked on the "other reviews"...and saw that the user had reviewed ALL other Houston area RV parks and given them very low ratings. I notified our webmaster, and that user's account was pulled.

I see another suspicious one, right now. It's for one of the Nashville RV parks....and it practically calls other users "crazy" for commenting on the park. Folks, see if you can spot it.

We've been RVing for 21 of the last 30 months...and know that I need to do a better job in reviewing. But I don't give 10s unless they are warranted.

 

It's starting again! The reviews at Stateline in CT. All the raters who give it a 9 or 10 have not given any other reviews. And, anytime some gives a lower rating (in the most recent case a 7), a 9/10 rating review is posted.

Can something be done about these obviously suspicious reviews?

 

QUOTE(jhswillis @ Jun 23 2009, 02:30 PM) [snapback]17090[/snapback]

It's starting again! The reviews at Stateline in CT. All the raters who give it a 9 or 10 have not given any other reviews. And, anytime some gives a lower rating (in the most recent case a 7), a 9/10 rating review is posted.

Can something be done about these obviously suspicious reviews?

While they may be suspicious, it could also be that management at the park is enthusiastically encouraging patrons to submit reviews.

 

QUOTE(Denali @ Jun 24 2009, 10:04 AM) [snapback]17098[/snapback]

... it could also be that management at the park is enthusiastically encouraging patrons to submit reviews...

Bingo!
Spent time over-winter at a park who hosted numerous RV clubs. At the end of their stay, they were given a flyer with several Campground/RV Park websites and asked to "give our park a great review".
The folks would sit around breakfast and enjoy 'ghost writing' a review for everyone. Am sure many just tossed the form with the trash. Usually someone in the group elaborates to the point of letting the cat-out-of-the-bag. :lol:

 

If you believe that a Review that is Posted on this Web site may be a little off key use the tool that brought most of us here--try other Web Site Reviews such as Campground Review and Good Sam Reviews. This usually gives you a little more diverse opinion of the Campground.
Also asking about a specific Campground on the different Forums will provide a lot of opinions.
Truth be told most of us are not truly "reviewing" the campground but are offering our personal opinions on the facility and staff no matter how long we have been RV'rs.

 

QUOTE(danel-ksc @ Jul 29 2009, 08:39 AM) [snapback]17848[/snapback]

If you believe that a Review that is Posted on this Web site may be a little off key use the tool that brought most of us here--try other Web Site Reviews such as Campground Review and Good Sam Reviews. This usually gives you a little more diverse opinion of the Campground.
Also asking about a specific Campground on the different Forums will provide a lot of opinions.
Truth be told most of us are not truly "reviewing" the campground but are offering our personal opinions on the facility and staff no matter how long we have been RV'rs.


I have to agree with FosterImposters and dannel, the review provided on ANY chat is too subjective to the person who's making it; in my opinion, the best way TO HAVE AN IDEA only is to ask this chat specific questions (i.e. lot size; organized or not; clean washroom; location with respect to...city-beach-shopping center.....etc..); most likely you will receive several opinions on your questions and at this point compare all answers and build up your position.
If the majority of the answers concur that the place is full of party monsters, well, I don't think that would be a right place to spend the vacation with the family.

 

QUOTE(Denali @ Jun 24 2009, 09:04 AM) [snapback]17098[/snapback]

While they may be suspicious, it could also be that management at the park is enthusiastically encouraging patrons to submit reviews.



If that's true then it appears that they're enthusiastically encouraging the same person to write the reviews. All the "10s" have the same writing style and overly use CAPS to stress certain points. Seems unlikely that different reviewers would all do the same thing.

Those posts read more like advertisements than honest reviews of an actual stay.

 

QUOTE(Gunship Guy @ Sep 18 2009, 11:56 AM) [snapback]19014[/snapback]

If that's true then it appears that they're enthusiastically encouraging the same person to write the reviews. All the "10s" have the same writing style and overly use CAPS to stress certain points. Seems unlikely that different reviewers would all do the same thing.

Those posts read more like advertisements than honest reviews of an actual stay.


I am stressing the point that, THERE IS NOT A PERFECT REVIEW, therefore, I am basing my judgment by analyzing the multiple answers received from the forum; yes, I agree with you, there might be some resorts pushing some one to write a nice one but when you do receive 5 or 6 or.... answers, very unlikely they are all coming from the same source.
FANTASY : I was recently thinking about an organization issued by each country or state’s tourist office dedicated to monitoring RV resorts.
The members willing to be qualified as a resort must be ready to meet a certain standard and allow the tourist inspector to make spot check of the place and the inspector will publish a factual report.
Yes I know, it is just like believing in Santa Clouds but with such control many crapy places would be eliminated from the list of RV resorts.

 

Most everyone who has been using RV Park Reviews has seen these suspicious reviews. Not too long ago I noticed an abundence of KOA reviews from several different areas and first time reviewers. I thought that looked a bit odd.

 

Long ago I learned to never trust any review who's author I do not know. Public review boards like this are very difficult to keep honest. I have a friend who once worked in an RV park which gave a 1/2 day of pay to each employee who would submit favorable reviews to such places. I don't know who all was on that parks list, but I was shown the offer when we visited them.

That has been several years ago and I happen to know that the park involved has a different owner now.

 

There is a park I go to that has received some bad reviews, usually 2 in a row. There is a competing park that "reopened" and it receives '9' & '10' reviews around the same time. When the competing park closed a few years ago a bunch of the people that had been going there for many years came over to the park I like to go to. Now that the other park reopened some of them have gone back and they figure if they write disparaging remarks about the competition they won't close their park again. I know this is happening because one of the campers told me they were doing it and tried to get me to come over. There is little anyone can do to stop this kind of abuse and that's why I never put much stock in online reviews - expecially those that try to be I-know-it-all, witty, hurtful, snide or ugly.