I reserved over the phone with the female owner after an online reservation. She did not disclose her cancellation policy (7 days notice of cancellation or full amount charged, NO REFUNDS) at the time of the phone call. I reserved with a credit card.
We had to cancel due to rain during the time of our trip. We were tenting at the time and chose not to travel to the area due to the poor weather.
She still charged us the full amount with no regards for our concerns whatsoever.
This lady is greedy and only in it for herself.

Just out of curiosity - you said you reserved over the phone "after an online reservation" - while that is confusing enough, while online did you look at their website? They have that policy stated right in the middle of their rates.
How many days ahead did you cancel?
Not saying whether you were treated fairly or not, but your posting has some vague pieces to it. Some clarifications will help to get your point across better.

I took a look at their website and it states right under the prices "7 days notice of cancellation or full amount charged, NO REFUNDS" and then again on their "booking" page highlighted in yellow the same is stated.

I guess I don't understand why you believe this is unethical. It doesn't appear anything was done behind your back, it was clearly stated what their policy is.

As with her disregarding your concerns, what exactly were your concerns that she disregarded?

When you camp you take the risk of weather not cooperating, therefore, if you make a reservation ahead of time and then the weather is fowl and you cancel, that's your choice. Not the owner of the campground being greedy because she won't give you a refund, because the weather wasn't to your liking. There wouldn't be too many campgrounds around if the owner would give refunds to every one because of bad weather.

Take a better look at their site, the Cancellation Policy is clearly visible but on page two. I contacted them through their email link on Page 1 and she called me while I was away from my computer. She told me on the phone she only had one or two sites left and if I wanted one I needed to book right away. So of course I booked. Had I booked online through their "Booking' page I would have seen the policy. The booking was made over the phone.
Do not defend this woman..........if she was courteous and truly cares for her potential customers, informing them of her outrageous policy was the right thing to do.
It is unethical when during the course of booking over the phone she does not inform people of her policy.
Maybe this kind of thing is normal where you are from, but not here.

Understand now!!!!!!!!

Still, how far in advance did you cancel?

Two days, and I offered to pay her for a day. We booked 7 days before were planning on being in the area.

Most campgrounds/rv parks have a similar cancellation policy. It was up to YOU to ask what their policy was before making your reservation.

If you contacted them by e-mail then why didn't you state that in your original post? Instead you stated, "I reserved over the phone with the female owner after an online reservation." After an online reservation? There's no mention of online reservations on their homepage. In order to have gotten the link to that you would have had to click for more info which would have taken you to the page listing the prices of which the policy was stated there as well as on the booking/reservation page.

I believe the woman does need defending, because it seems like you're blaming her because of your oversight. It's not unethical for her not to tell you their cancellation policy. It's your responsibility to be aware of what you're booking and if you had a question you should have asked about the cancellation policy since you didn't seem to see one on the homepage...which by the way very few campground websites have their policies spelled out on their homepage...you have to click to another link in order to view them.

And, her policy is not outrageous, that's essentially the norm when canceling that close to the reservation date as you did.

By the way their email link is on page one. Look at it before replying the way you did. Nothing said on page one about her cancellation poilcy

say what you like.........in these parts 48 hours notice and one night charge is the norm. All phone reservations include their cancellation policy while booking.

Fact is she was not up front while making the phone reservation.......simple.

Nuff said!!!!!

I saw their e-mail address was on the bottom of their homepage, I didn't say differently. I said there's no mention of their online reservation/booking page on the homepage, yet you spoke about it in your original post...just wondered how you came about knowing about the online reservation/booking page since there was no mention of it on their homepage.

If she didn't mention anything about the cancellation policy and as you said it's the norm that ALL phone reservations include their cancellation policy while booking, then why didn't you inquire about the policy when she did not provide it?

You made a reservation without finding out what their cancellation policy is. According to their rules, you weren't entitled to any refund. You made her an offer - she could've taken it, but she didn't. Lesson learned - don't give anybody any of your money unless you know what you are getting in return.

Hi James,

You chose to cancel. They choose to have a no refund policy.

You chose to be ignorant of their policies. That's not unethical in the least. The campground owner is not obliged to tell you anything that you don't ask about.

I work in the travel industry and I must tell you this comes up alot. Here is an example of what I add in every email I do with any sort of airline info.


Please let me know if you would like me to book and ticket one of these. Once ticketed, tickets are non-refundable and have a minimum $150.00 penalty for any changes plus any fare difference. Fares are not guaranteed until tickets are issued.


Also when I get a call I state that the ticket is non refundable, any changes could result in a $150 fee plus any increase in fare.

Since the rez agent you spoke to did not disclose the info you might be able to speak to a manager, or sup. I know my suppliers might even meet me half way and split the fees.


I hope that helps some

RobertW
Seattle, WA
00 American Eagle