A lot of the ACE campgrounds in MS are showing half or more of their sites as "walk up" and won't allow reservations. Is this something new? I don't like to go to a campground on the premise of maybe I can get a site.

I won't stay in a park that will not take my reservation. When we travel, we will put in a long day, between 6 and 8 hours, I don't want the chance I won't have a place to stop at.

Same here. With a large fifth wheel in tow, can't take a chance that there's nothing left open but a 20' long back-in site.

Speaking as a manager for a campground I see it differently. We don't take reservations any more. We have had people call, give me their credit card info and then not show up. Turns out the CC info was phony and I had saved the spot for nothing. (This has happened several times) Our office closes at 7 but I am on call 24/7/365. People call tell me they will be there a bit late and I have ended up sleeping on the couch waiting for an inconsiderate person that never showed or called. If you call this morning I will save you a spot but that is as far ahead as I go and, even then we get stood up. We even had a man call and found out later that he made reservations with 3 different campgrounds in our town for the same time and kept none of them. Inconsiderate people always seem to ruin things for the good folks.

Nice to get a differing opinion, I see your point. But in the case of COE or Stateparks they verify the CC info immediately and charge you whether you show up or not. I just think they are holding back spots for nothing. I already sent notes to COE and MS state parks, no responses yet.

Many reservation systems do not allow reservations in a time period close in to use date. We like to travel and schedule as we run. Having a group of sites that cannot be reserved then suits our needs. Usually one available.

We are at the opposite end of the spectrum. We almost never make reservations unless it is a potentially popular destination or time period (e.g. yellowstone on labor day). Usually, we just call ahead to see if the park has sites available, but don't make any reservations. If the park fills up by the time we get there, we'll find another park or stay at Wal Mart.
This does change when other parties camp with us. Then we will make reservations so that plans won't change.

Is there a reason that a cc would not be verified when it was used to hold a site? Many places we go to will charge first day's rental fee as a deposit - have seen others where a $1.00 temporary charge would appear as a verification that the card was active. Sometimes when on the road we stop without reservations, especially mid week. We have called ahead and asked for reservations and been told they do not take them but will hold a site, then, when we arrive, find that clerk A did not know clerk B had "saved" us one and there were none available.

Every business has to run the way they are comfortable with. We would probably go elsewhere if told they do not take reservations.

"Is there a reason that a cc would not be verified when it was used to hold a site?"

We get charged a fee every time we run a credit card. We would be charged for running the card and again if we rand for the full amount if they didn't keep the reservation. Maybe some companies don't charge but we pay a fee every time we run the card through the machine.

Don't you have a computer program where you can put the CC card and expiration date in to tell you if it's good or not? I'm workamping at a campground that does. Also at this campground if people are late we put a envelope out on the door with their name and site number on it. Inside is a site map, where they need to park. That way don't have to wait for them.

No, our campground has no computer at all. The website we wrote has email set up to come to my personal email address and I don't want to use my computer for more campground business.

We tried the honor system for sign ins but we found that too many thought that they could get away with pulling in late and leaving before I open the office at 10 AM. I understand they want to get on the road early but the office is open 10 AM until 7 PM and I am on call 24/365 so I am there waiting for them. We have stopped people near the end of the drive claiming they were going to the office to pay when they passed the office 300 feet behind them.

That is why my local repair facility now gives a 5% discount for cash. Not checks...cash. He told me that his bank had rasied the fee and interchange rate for each time he swipes a card.

It is very hard to win a credit card dispute over a no show without a signature. I know this the hard way. I know exactly what dalsgal is talking about as I have spent many an hour waiting on people who do not respect your time. If a person what to shaft you, there is very little you can do. A small percentage of the people can mess it up for everybody. Most of these types of policies have to be made to protect against the small percentage of jerks. Many of those dollar charges are not really for a dollar, but the merchant reserves a larger number (like for a full tank of gas) and then adjust the charges after the exact amount is known. The same applies for a tip on a credit card. The meal charge is right away and the total with the tip might be several days later.
We rarely make reservations prior to the afternoon of our stay because we are not too sure where it will be. This has rarely caused us problems.

I guess it comes down to who's retired and who's not...DW and I are required to put in for vacation time 6 months in advance and the desired campgrounds on the east coast you need at least that time if you hope to get a site, combine that with getting my kids to get the time off from their jobs and you get the picture.


Hoping in about 10 yrs to be able to start changing on how we do some of our reservations!

Mike