Rv Park Reviews As Entertainment

I am a full-timer and I also do an RV Park's web page and spend the summer at the same RV Park. I often find out about the dissatisfied clients from the owners. Here's my take on many of these reviews, esp. when I've heard both sides of the review (you don't get to hear the owner's side here).

Most of the bad reviews for our park (there aren't many) come from the following problems:

1) The customer had a run-in with the owner because they didn't understand or like the policies, esp. the one about NO MONEY BACK. They do this because they are full in June, July and August and every last minute cancellation costs them money. This is prominently displayed on our web site and told to every customer on the phone. Some reviewers seem to have forgotten this. BUT.. once that occurs, they then try to find every negative thing they can to say in a review for revenge.

2) Sometimes a customer gets put in one of the least desirable sites. These are sites that are smaller, but all sites can't be BEST. Usually, early reservations will ensure that this doesn't happen. When you make your reservation tell them if you have a specific site size requirement and that you don't want to stay if you can't be accommodated.

3) Some RV Parks just aren't for everyone. Our park is 100 yards from a forest, but not in the forest. We have trees everywhere that were planted, but some people want to be in a forest and they complain if it isn't. Some people demand fire rings and others don't want to be near a fire, others want to be able to ride their ATV from here and others hate the noise, others want complete freedom for dogs and others don't want dogs at all. Some want a pool for the kids and others don't want the noise from such things! It goes on. Anywhere you have people sharing resources someone will not like something.

4) The customer has violated a policy or more likely their children have behaved badly and the owners, in respect to the other customers politely ask them to change their behavior. Many people don't like this and write a bad review to GET EVEN. The park owner has no recourse to this unfair review. (This happens a lot in the middle of summer when kids are numerous and get out of control.)

5) The park is too far from some landmark they want to be near, yet our web page is full of maps and declarations for mileage to these landmarks.

6) Sometimes a reviewer is right about a defect and the owner is happy to find out, though they'd prefer to hear it directly from the customer. Running an RV Park is like being the host of a huge family reunion and trying to avoid any arguments between the family members for a week. Sometimes you make mistakes without knowing it, and sometimes you say things to customers you'd wish you hadn't. Owners and managers are people too.

In my opinion, the bottom line for finding a good RV Park is: Take these reviews just like you'd take the reviews of a product you read on Amazon. Some people will like it and some won't, no the negative reviews seriously. (but remember that many people write multiple bad reviews to get even with the park for a no-refund policy). Look at the overall rating and make a decision, but MOST of all, call the park with your list of important MUSTS and quiz the owners about them.

Overall this is a GREAT site, but it would be better if the owners had a chance to respond to some of the really bad reviews. Knowing both sides of an argument make it clear that these reviews have to be taken, (like anything you read off the Internet) with a grain of salt. Form your own opinion of an RV Park from several sources, or another way to say it: don't follow the GPS map into the lake!

 

Very good, perduejn.

 

Well put, perduejn.

You should know that a LOT of reviews never get published because they are simply rants, as you describe. Some folks try to use this site as a consumer complaint line or as a way to anonymously punish a park because something p***ed them off.