What Are Your Pet Peeves Rv'ing?

Thank you for your kind words.

We lived in our RV for about 9 years full time, not even a home base anywhere so everything we owned traveled with us. We have been in many campgrounds and dealt with many types of management. That's one reason I try to be as fair as possible. There are things I would do differently here if I owned the park but we have managed this place for 4 1/2 years and I'm often in the middle between campers and owners.

We travel with cats and we don't smell their litter box but anyone coming to visit can smell it even though I am almost freakish about keeping it clean. We did have some people here recently that had a site that stunk from letting their dog go right outside. I probably have one of the least sensitive noses of anyone (can't even smell dead skunk) and yet I could smell the urine around their RV.

We do have a few rules here that I don't necessarily agree with but I am obligated to see that everyone complies with them. The majority of the rules I really enforce are the ones that are common courtesy and it is amazing how many people feel that no rule applies to them.

 

I can tell that you are probably always trying to keep the peace. I will be heading out again for another year in a couple of months, am down right now til I get some repairs done. I hope the park I am in now does not change a thing because from what I can tell things are very, very nice. I hope that when we travel next year I will take what I have learned the last 12 months and apply to the future.

1. If at all possible pay for a month somewhere, over the course of a year you cant imagine how much money was wasted on stopping for a few days here and there when we could have covered so much more ground for a lot less doing it this way. However, I dont like being treated like a parasite because I am a "monthly".

2. ALWAYS read the reviews on this site before making a decision.

3. NEVER let them park me by the dog run.....talk about the hassle of my tiny dogs getting the small dog mentality going off with every Tom, Dick and Harry that walks their dogs...lol

4. Im going to do my homework and find out the reason for this NO REFUNDS thing and how to get around it because I stayed at a AOK that is well known for kicking you out if you complain about the services not working and yup, they asked me to leave and did not get a refund. If it werent for having a teen on board I would probably never stay at a park, only private land owners land but she needs the social life....go figure. That NO REFUNDS thing is probably my biggest pet peeve. The fact that they dont have to evict you like a normal landlord, they dont have to give you what you paid for the best you can hope for is leaving a review warning others and saving them the headache. Would love to hear your feed back on this part.

 

1. Cutting through campsite
2. MUSIC and/or TV
3. RV spot lights left on all night
4. Driving throughout the campground to see what's going on - please stop!
5. Barking dogs and leaving pet waste
6. Domestic abuse - yes, sad but true

 

My top, or bottom 10.

1. Reserving specific sites online, getting there and not available per reservation details...KOAs.

2. Neighbor's sewer under your awning.

3. Rap Music

4. Rowdy kids don't bother me much until...they start coming through my and others sites. UGGGGgggg.

5. People that talk to you while your obviously the busiest you've ever been in your life.

6. Cigarettes anywhere.

7. Dog Poop.

8. Closing the pool before the sun goes down.

9. Dogs chained to tables, awnings, jacks, steps and barking like crazy.

10. Bathrooms where campers don't pick up after themselves.

 

1. DOG OWNERS. As a whole, the vast majority are just flat out rude. No, I don't think it's cute that your dog runs off leash and onto my campsite to say hello. My wife is terrified of dogs. I've stepped in my fair share of land mines. I've had to knock on camper doors at 4am to ask them to take their barking dog inside. The dog owner attitude that the rules don't apply to them and their "baby" is not a problem. If you ask a dog owner nicely and politely to abide by the posted rules (like keep your dog on a leash), they will bite your head off and curse you like a sailor. The list goes on and on for Dog owners rudeness. Our joy is not dogs allowed campgrounds.

2. DIESEL PUSHER OWNERS who feel the need to start their engines at 5am and run it for over an hour, then shut it down, only to start it again at 6:30am run it for another half an hour before leaving the campground.

3. OUT OF CONTROL CHILDREN: No I don't want to play hide and seek in my camping spot. No I'm not thrilled by your shrieking. The parents who have for years zoned this out are just as guilty as the untrained children.

4. THE EARLY CAMPER: Sorry I have this campsite till check out time limits. So if I have till 12pm check out and you arrive at 7 am, DO NOT knock on my door at 7 am and ask me to leave because you and your camping buddy reserved these spots and get mad when I say NO. DO NOT then go get the camp host and have them knock on my door at 8am and ask me if I'm leaving now as you want to get into your spot. When that fails don't sit there rev your engine and honk your horn to get me to leave.

 

Good comments Creeper! At our park we get lots of people that say "my dog won't _____" but that makes no difference to me. I don't care if you are the campers in our park, the rules still apply. Don't like it???? Then you know the way out. I love dogs, I love petting the ones people have here but the rules apply to everyone equally.

Since we are not a destination park we have the ability to allow people to move out more slowly. Yes, our check out time is noon but, if you are here to attend church with your family and let me know this, I will gladly allow you to stay a few extra hours. The only time I am pushy about check out time is if I have someone waiting for your spot but, should they arrive early they can just sit in a parking spot until your rental time is over.

If a park has rules they need to be followed by the campers and park owners/managers/work campers.

 

Now to be fair, my Pet peeves for campground owners.

1. If you're going to offer free wifi then take the time to invest in some equipment (it's really minimal) that will limit the amount of bandwidth each camper gets. That will stop the rude campers who think that watching movies on wifi is their right and they don't have to share the bandwidth.

2. Put the permanent residence away from other campers. Don't disperse them throughout the campground AND MAKE THEM KEEP THEIR SITES CLEAN and JUNK FREE. Nothing worse then being awakened by the 6 am race track of people running off to work. Yes I've given a few campgrounds 1 stars because of a few dozen cars racing out of the campground at 6 am past my Coach.

3. Enforce your rules and check on campers to make sure they are following them. I've never seen any rules enforced EVER.

4. Maintain your campground. I'm sorry there should be no problems with electric pedestals. I shouldn't have to fry my surge protector because you have crappy pedestals (yes that really happened). I shouldn't have to inform you that you have open neutral or miss wired pedestals. I shouldn't have to worry plugging in an expensive coach.

5. Stop calling your campground a Resort then raise your prices thinking it's a resort.

6. Stop complaining when I rate your campground a 1 star, when it's really not up to 1 star standards. If you sewer system doesn't work, your electric is off and your cable TV is all static stop thinking you deserve 5 stars because you call it a resort and you were nice.

7. Stop mowing the grass at 6 am. Hitting my Coach with flying debris from your weed whackers is not acceptable. Wait till I leave.

 

We've been RVing long enough to realize the things that do bother us about certain RV parks and campgrounds. Most have already been addressed here but anyway ours are as follows:

1. Parks that call themselves a "Resort" when they are nothing more than a gravel lot with just a few trees and very few amenities
2. Rude, loud, and obnoxious neighbors that are not dealt with by management
3. Those that feel the park rules don't apply to them
4. A park that advertises amenities that are non existent when we arrive
5. Excessively high rates that make you feel as tho you are being ripped off
6. Poor or non working hookups
7. A park that advertises wide and roomy sites and when you get there you are so close to your neighbor you can reach out the window and almost touch reach
out thru your window and touch their coach
8. Quiet times that are not enforced or adhered to
9. Dogs that are allowed to bark in the middle of the night
10. Parks that set up their system of rules, hand them to you when you check in, and then not enforce them

We don't find fault with a park that is close to the interstate or that has railroad tracks nearby, etc. They have no control over traffic noise or trains that blow their horns during the night time hours. We do however so we check those two things out before we make our reservations to stay. We can simply move on, the park sure can't move...................

Happy trails..............Bankshot

 

I think there are a few different types of campers. Full timers that are looking to settle at a CG for days on end may look for quieter places. Those that are serious campers that use their RV as much as their work schedules allow. These folks may plan family outings and trips with groups and might be a fun bunch of folks. Then you have the weekend warriors who camp once a season, maybe around a holiday weekend with a bunch of fellow warriors. I think most would have the most difficult time with this group. My wife and I try to look at all aspects of fellow campers and give the benefit of doubt as much as possible to every type of group camping. They paid their money too and unless they are really drunk and outa control dropping F bombs and such, we take it in stride. If we wanted guaranteed solitude on each outing we would book a spot at the nearest cemetery! After reading many of the posts I wonder why some folks even think of camping. Wouldn't they be better off at a Marriot?

 

I guess my question is how dumb was this guy anyway? You'd think he would have at least known to have a sewer hose and that you don't just open the valve and let the contents spill out over everything. What a horrible stinking and disgusting mess that must have been. So what if he washed it down with his hose, where did he wash it to, off to the side of the area? Some folks simply don't have very much grey matter between their ears and he no doubt was one of them. I've seen a few dumb things happen from time to time but never have I seen someone do something like that..................

 

That sounds like a guy we had here. He was in the pool and spit his tobacco juice on the concrete surrounding the pool and splashed water over it. When we spoke to him about it he said "no one told me not to".

 

This doesn't pertain to RVing but I have to tell this one. When I was riding (Harleys that is) I was at the Harley shop on day and watched as a guy who had just purchased and taken delivery of a brand new Road King. They pulled it out front of the shop for him to pick up. The sales guy started to go over a bunch of stuff with him and the guy stopped him and said that he'd been riding bikes of all different types all his life and that riding a Harley would be no different to him. So the sales guy backed off as the guy climbed aboard, fired it up, gunned it a few times, and after messing with the gear shift, finally got it into first. And then he took off. He lurched forward and the next thing we knew he had driven it about 40 feet across the lot and straight into the door of a nice "Porta-Potty" that had been put there for some workers outside. Ended up doing about $2,500 damage to his brand new Harley with only 40 feet in mileage on it. It was really hard to keep from laughing our heads off. Some folks are simply dumb as plumb and there's no telling them as they know it all and can do it all too it seems................... Bankshot

 

Arrrrggghhhh: Parks that wait until you check in and pay and then tell you that the pool is closed or the wi-fi is down or they don't have cable any more. My favorite was the park we checked into that, after all was finished with the check-in, handed us a notice that heaters or air conditioners weren't allowed to be used in the 30-amp spots, which of course was all that was available. Nothing was mentioned on their website or during check-in. Thank goodness it wasn't hot or cold enough to need either one. I've learned to ask all those questions up front. Is your pool open? Is your laundry open? Is the wi-fi working (of course it always is but frequently isn't....)? Is? Is? Is?

 

I totally agree. I had a dog try and attack me and when I complained they kicked me out. Another KOA. Not much luck with them.

 

I no longer use the Good Sam app. I feel the owners write the reviews and very little is accurate. When one can't review a place, that should tell you something.

 

This story reminds me of a discussion I had with a park manager one time. Their park has lots of trees, but if the driver pays attention, you can get big rigs in most of the sites. He said the one customer he doesn't like to see is the owner of a new big rig with a temp tag on. He knows this customer will have the hardest time parking, and will probably complain, damage their rig or both.