I am a full-time R.V.'er who has submitted reviews to this wonderful website for several months now. I really appreciate the people who work to keep this service available for all of us.
Being a full-timer, I usually try to stay in a certain part of the country for several months at a time. This gives me an opportunity to adequately investigate and explore all the sights and attractions before moving on to the next location.
Naturally, that means that for the most part, I am renting the site for at least a month at a time.
When reserving a site in advance of a move, I usually locate the R.V. parks via the internet and then call them to check on availability. I carefully check their website, and then ask pertinent questions of the person taking the reservation before confirming. These questions are aimed at the condition and cleanliness of the park, specifically the showers and restrooms. I have also asked certain questions regarding the noise levels of such things as trains, airplanes, and freeways, etc. Upon receiving their glowing responses to my questions, I am generally required to confirm the reservation with a credit card number.
Upon arriving at the park, I most often find it to be entirely different, at times unrecognizable from what is pictured on the website. And, worse still, few if any of the answers that I got to my questions were true!
But what was true was the huge lettered sign above the desk stating, "No Refunds!"
So, now I am stuck at this campground for at least a month unless I want to lose the money drawn from my credit card.
My question is this: What gives the R.V. park the authority to rip people off simply by posting a sign?
I have inquired of several law offices in several different states without an answer. Can someone on this website please tell me?
Thank you.

Being in the lodging business myself I can tell you that the credit card companies often favor the card holder in a dispute. You can document the differences between the stated amenities and the actual conditions. Use a digital camera and there is an excellent chance the credit card company will refund your money. If the dishonest campground operator has had a lot of complaints and disputes with the credit card company, this will play in your favor. There will be a toll free number on your bill to call to get you started on the dispute. Most credit card companies consider the card hold the customer and the merchant as a necessary evil. You have 60 days to start the dispute process. If the campground owner has been through the process before and lost, there is a good chance he won’t even fight it and you will get the credit. Certainly worth a try. Good Luck.

Due to this same problem over the years we now rent a place for one or two nights. We travel in spring and fall months so reservations are not a iss. If place looks bad as we drive in, we drive out. The write ups in TL or Good Sams are from years ago and do not look like the same place we are at. The people on phone will tell you anything you wish to hear. No noise next to interstate 500 feet away, no jet noise from air port across the street, nice sites near the sewer pump station, we have found some of everything across the USA. Some of the best information will come from this site and people like you who have been to number of parks, but remember what is good for one person may be bad for you. I have picked up information on this site that park was great only to find out that person had not been to a lot of places and he thinks it is great. Park was the pits to me. People need to think about what a park has or is missing before you write it up. Comments like "park was nice" is useless. I walk around in every park we visit and look at everything, write my notes on paper and re-read and re-write it couple times before I sent it in.