Beware Of Encore Park Reservations Options

[kthorn]

Recently had a bad vacation experience. Reserved 12 days at Encore's Pioneer Village in Fort Myers in early Jan. for Feb.12-24. We also prepaid. This was all done by phone through Encore central reservations. We drove 1400 miles from Toronto. When we arrived we were told that they had overbooked and had no sites. They claimed that Encore just keeps taking reservations and has no idea when park is full. This is hard to believe. They also offered no compensation because as they put it "you do have your RV to sleep in." I'm sure that everyone knows how difficult it is to find a place in Florida in Feb. After calling over 20 parks we found a spot in Lakeland, but we spent 5 days of our vacation moving from day to day until we found it.
We have stayed in Encore parks before with no problems, but when you have a problem you really find out a lot about an organization. In this case Encore and Pioneer rate a big fat 0.

[Beastdriver]

Galli:

Some years ago, I was thinking about filing a lawsuit over a misrepresented product and contacted a lawyer. What he told me still sticks with me to this day: He said. "You can sue anybody. You can sue the Pope if you want to. But winning and collecting once you do is an entirely different thing."

Over the years, I have seen people get bogged down in the morass we call a court system, spending time, effort, and money. Unless you happen to be a lawyer, or unless you are talking about some REAL money, trying to recoup some redress from scumbag campground owners who don't honor confirmed reservations is like washing your feet with your socks on. It may feel good, but you don't accomplish anything. This site, in my opinion, offers the best redress for situations like this. If enough of us write up places like this, they will go out of business!

[Galli]

Galli:

Some years ago, I was thinking about filing a lawsuit over a misrepresented product and contacted a lawyer. What he told me still sticks with me to this day: He said. "You can sue anybody. You can sue the Pope if you want to. But winning and collecting once you do is an entirely different thing."

Over the years, I have seen people get bogged down in the morass we call a court system, spending time, effort, and money. Unless you happen to be a lawyer, or unless you are talking about some REAL money, trying to recoup some redress from scumbag campground owners who don't honor confirmed reservations is like washing your feet with your socks on. It may feel good, but you don't accomplish anything. This site, in my opinion, offers the best redress for situations like this. If enough of us write up places like this, they will go out of business!

Hi Beastdriver and thanks for your acknowledgment, I know that what you said is true and difficult to accomplish, however, if it is almost impossible to hurt them by law, we might hurt them in the money.
We are a group of…(numbers)….. members and this affiliation is spread out all over north-America, therefore, a list of camps that failed to honor (i.e. reservation not been respected, camp ruling not being respected, equipment in disarray, internet or HiFi, promoted but nonexistent or non functional…etc..) would be the tools used by an RVer to decide whether or not the place is suitable for his/hers needs, furthermore, this would also be lots of pressure for the resort to clean their act if they wish to remain in business.
I know that some one of us would say that’s a duplication of the camp evaluation but I disagree with it since if I have to decide for a camp site in a given place, before taking any action, I would verify whether this camp is identified in a non recommended list and if that is the case, I would certainly avoid to deal with it.
Bread for the thought.

[RVRetirees]

I would absolutely not recommend staying at any Encore park. These parks are owned by ELS Corp., a group that purchases campgrounds and proceeds to neglect them. I own a park model in Bradenton. Our rent has increased 22 1/2 % in two years! The park has a major security problem with constant golf cart thefts, car break ins, camper equipment stolen, cars stolen and driven out of the park and damaged etc. etc.
The park is unkempt, bad roads that flood and have major pot holes, grass not cut for months which causes an increase in pesky no-see-ums. Residents and seasonal campers at this park have tried for several years to get Encore to do something about security at this park, and to date Encore has ignored them completely. The answer to ANY inquiry/request for repairs, maintenance, or security for this park from management is " It's not in this year's budget!!)Encores only interest once they purchase a park is to sell their "Park Models". The sales pitch is GREAT, lots of promises, but don't be misled! Once committed, you can expect nothing from this company!
There are many privately owned and well managed RV parks in Florida. Do yourself a favor and find one that isn't part of the ELS, Encore Family!