A Request From A Campground Owner Options

[Galli]

Notwithstanding the people who enjoy the white noise of a freeway, I find it difficult to complain about highway noise when reviewing a campground. I can always tell when they are close to the interstate and just assume there is going to be noise. I do appreciate it when the campground puts up some kind of break but the trees grow very slowly and it can take a long time to be effective. Still, it is nice when the campground takes the long view and you see a line of 15 itty bitty 10' saplings planted in a row between the campground and the highway! As an example, our subdivision put in a line of ornamental pear trees (not as a sound barrier, just because we could) about 10 years ago and now they are about 25' tall and beautiful, especially in the spring.

I believe you Meter, you sound romantic and women love romantic people , I am a bloody materialistic person and persistent noise makes me in a bad mood, even my wife insist that I am a bear ! Notwithstanding my unsociable personality, we found a place to spend our winters, I wouldn’t mention the name because it is not fair for the other campsites but it is in Florida, north of Tampa and in the middle of the swamp BUT, the place is very relaxing since we are located 5 or 6 miles away from the main roads and the place is self contained, namely, we got trailer side ending on the river which get access to the main river which get access to the golf of Mexico, therefore, if you are a fisherman like me, you may keep your boat anchored just beside your RV.
We got a lake, in the middle of the place with ducks birds and yes, a couple of alligators but they are well civilized, they even spare a couple of persons that would deserve to be bitten , we have a hot SPA all winter and a good swimming pool, both are heated and we use them all winter too , we have a nice recreation room and I feel proud of it since it is just like some thing created by myself ; well, let me explain, two or three years ago we had a very lousy recreation room and the management didn’t consider to renew it until the end of the season, no one put down the deposit for the following year.. They did it immediately and we have been friends ever since he.he,.he.
The place is some what noisy during the week-end because it will be time for some children but , during the week is perfect, I got Joe blow on one site that pretend to convince me to have caught the bigger fish, I know he is lying but since it is an old guy I pretend to believe what he says, I am only 73 and I have to learn how to respect the old people because, in the future I might get old too and I want people to recognize my talent.
Ho I forgot some little negative part of the place, one, I don’t understand where they are getting so many little dogs, you have to believe me , I saw some of them so ugly that could fit in the pocked of my shirt and some of them so ugly that could be recruited for a Frankenstein’s movie but, they love them, they think they are the best dogs in the great America and because we are living in a free country, they have to be accepted. The second thing negative are the no-sim flies (I hope that it is spelled like this), if you are not from the area, they are 1/5 size of a good Canadian mosquitoes but notwithstanding they are so small, they byte like bulldogs.
OK, I know that I took too much of your time but, I wanted to prove you that there is other things that makes you happy beside trucks squealing breaks and cars Honking to each others…
(I am afraid to sign it and then be recognized. He,he,he)

[cjcbart]

I am also a campground owner with a similar attitude as campergirl. The one other issue that she didn't address is "You can't take everyting they say as 100% true." I just read a review about my campground that said their price was with a Good Sam discount. Unfortunately I am not allowed to honor Good Sam's because of my franchise agreement. It concerns me that I can't, as an owner, reply to this review and say "Thank you for the complimentary review, however I do not honor Good Sam's." or reply and say "Thanks for bringing this to my attention, on such and such a day, we repaired that problem. Hope to see you again." Thanks to all the wonderful campers that are out there. We really appreciate your help in keeping our parks nice and ready for the next camper that follows you!

[Meyer Camping]

I am also a campground owner with a similar attitude as campergirl. The one other issue that she didn't address is "You can't take everyting they say as 100% true." I just read a review about my campground that said their price was with a Good Sam discount. Unfortunately I am not allowed to honor Good Sam's because of my franchise agreement. It concerns me that I can't, as an owner, reply to this review and say "Thank you for the complimentary review, however I do not honor Good Sam's." or reply and say "Thanks for bringing this to my attention, on such and such a day, we repaired that problem. Hope to see you again." Thanks to all the wonderful campers that are out there. We really appreciate your help in keeping our parks nice and ready for the next camper that follows you!

You bring up a very good point, there is no ability for the campground owner to rebut a review. I think, on the face of it, this would be a good feature to add. The negative aspect of it would be that there could be a significant amount of rancor involved in that back and forth. If this type of feature was added, allowing the campground owner to respond to a review, I think that it would have to be even more closely monitored before a post was allowed. What say you, fellow forum members?

[joez]

You bring up a very good point, there is no ability for the campground owner to rebut a review. I think, on the face of it, this would be a good feature to add. The negative aspect of it would be that there could be a significant amount of rancor involved in that back and forth. If this type of feature was added, allowing the campground owner to respond to a review, I think that it would have to be even more closely monitored before a post was allowed. What say you, fellow forum members?

In my humble opinion allowing rebuttal is a horrible idea. One of the reasons this forum is one of the few review forums that work is the moderators do a great job of policing the owners and friends of owners rebuttal reviews that ruined many of the hotel and travel review sites. While it may be frustrating as an owner to see what you percieve as an untruth I think you will find the participants tend to be self policing. This is not an owner's forum. It is a user's forum. Owners have several ways to combat a bad review, including asking subsequent guests to post their positive experiences, advertising targeted to an audience that cares about a corrected item (OUR WIFI NOW WORKS FOR 100 MILES), direct mail to past guests (snail or email), etc. Other than not going again or telling a few friends consumers have very few ways to express their opinion to large audiences. I learned the hard way that running a business requires a thick skin and a tongue with scars from biting it too often. But I also learned that the truth will prevail - a wrong review will be corrected and you'll be vindicated.

[Galli]

You bring up a very good point, there is no ability for the campground owner to rebut a review. I think, on the face of it, this would be a good feature to add. The negative aspect of it would be that there could be a significant amount of rancor involved in that back and forth. If this type of feature was added, allowing the campground owner to respond to a review, I think that it would have to be even more closely monitored before a post was allowed. What say you, fellow forum members?

first of all, I am not a camp ground owner, nor a campground manager nor.. Etc.. I am an RVer. like the majorities of the people on this forum and I don't understand WHY a campground owner or manager should not challenge a report/review if demeaning and discrediting without a basis for it.
There is nothing wrong in trying to defend yourself against improper accusations, as a matter of fact, it would be a two ways communications between camp owners and this forum and I would consider healthy an intelligent exchange of opinions.
I have always been against the reports opinionated and that’s why, in the past, I have suggested to modify the report’s format to identify only facts like 1)quote the size of your site 2) is paved or dirt ground, 3) was it served with power, sewage, water, yes, not and condition of unit.. etc.. and at the end of the form a free field for your general opinion.
If you are interested in that location, question the forum and I am sure that there is always some one who’s been there and can give you his personal opinion without being involved to a personal grouch with the place.
That should be more practical for a potential client to understand where is going and what facility are available.
Statements like , the owner was impolite or the neighbor too noisy or too dirty or ??? are statements some what personal and most of the time do not reflect the actual status unless you describe the issue and let the reader decide whether the guy or girl were impolite or you are a pain in the neck. (respectfully quoted).
I quote this as an example, I am not a saint and I like to see some piece of skin specially if it belong to a your woman but there is limit when you live in a community, two years ago, at two or three sides away from where I was, a group of young and not too young people had a very, very wild party, so wild that some girls decided to catch the moon, around the camp with no shirt or .. etc…, I personally didn’t complain (I am not a devoted catholic and if god decided to give you skin he might intended to show it around) but, being in a public place and some people didn’t like it, the following morning, all party had been kicked out of the premises.
What would you expect a campground’s report from someone of these people that have been unceremoniously kicked out and if this is the case, don’t you think that the camp owner should have the right to justify his actions ?
One other issue which I cannot criticize is the moderator’s review of the complaint, how can he/she decide to make a proper judgment of whether to publish or not a report ? Yes, I believe that there are certain reports obvious and easy to PA without a second thought but others….
Having said the above, I thing it is the camp owner right to comment about improper review and RVers. Interest in acquiring certain facts.

[aliner man]

I like to know about highway noise or trains, I'd rather drive 5 miles out of my way and have a good night's sleep than be kept awake by tractor trailers passing by every 45 seconds. I noticed that many reviewers do not take noise into consideration, for example a few campgrounds that I know are within 100 yards of interstate 95 and very few reviews mention the noise, but for my wife and me that is an important consideration.

You are sooo right. I stayed in a campground in Mississippi and the trains sounded like they were coming through the camper. It was actually scary. Of course they had to blare on the horn the whole time to make sure everyone was awake. Stayed at a campground in Petersburg VA right off 95. There was truck stop at the exit. Need I say more? No sleep that night either.

[kcmoedoe]

I stay at a park each spring and fall for a month or so at a time. Recent reviews on the park have included statements such as "the network stations on the cable TV are from California, what's with that?" and "there was a white van shuttling people around we were not told about". The owner was aware of the reviews, and would have responded if it was possible. The cable comes out of California, because the only cable television available is a park owned private system that gets it's programming from Directv, they don't have the option of any local stations, because there are none. As for the van, apparently during the reviewer's stay, there was a group of 5 families in various rigs and accomodations, one of which was a family staying in a cabin who had a 12 passenger van. They picked up various family members to go on various outings. It was not a campground service. This information is not combative, but would answer the questions raised by the reviewers and give those checking out the reviews more information, instead of leaving them with only questions. Maybe a compromise would be to allow a park response to reviews limited like twitter to only a short response like 150 characters or two sentences. Also it could be highly screened by the forum moderators to only allow corrections of facts, not allowing it to degenerate into a he said/she said battle. The park might be allowed to respond a complaint about narrow sites, by responding "our sites are 30 feet wide" but not allowed to say "our sites are not narrow, that is just the rantings of a deranged poster." Personally, I think the value of the site might be enhanced. A park that took the time to respond to a review might be an indication they actually care about their business and image.

[campergal]

Also it could be highly screened by the forum moderators to only allow corrections of facts, not allowing it to degenerate into a he said/she said battle. The park might be allowed to respond a complaint about narrow sites, by responding "our sites are 30 feet wide" but not allowed to say "our sites are not narrow, that is just the rantings of a deranged poster." Personally, I think the value of the site might be enhanced. A park that took the time to respond to a review might be an indication they actually care about their business and image.

Thank you.