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Peggyy

Peggyy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2016
Posts
887
Location
Winter springs fl
I am venting this morning.  I just tried to cancel a reservation I have for next MAY.  They charged my credit card the full amountalready but they will only refund me 20% of that amount.  I can see keeping someones money if you cancelled the day before  where they were unable to fill your spot  But this is a very popular spot  which they will have no problem filling in the next six months !    On top of that I just lost $120 on one I had reserved for November at Port Saint Joe.  I understand the hurricane wiped them out but there is no way to get in touch with them to get a refund  I know I am a horrible person for even wanting a refund in that situation.  I guess my issue is  you have to sometimes reserve a spot six months in advance and it seems like the campgrounds are getting their money upfront and then not willing to give it back to you if you cancel in reasonable time.  This camper will not be making reservations that far in advance again    Life is uncertain and you never know where you will be six months from now !    Thanks for listening to me rant and rave .
 
This is why I never make reservations, they are simply not needed most of the time. I have never gotten stuck because I could not find a place to camp.
 
I had the same problem and could not get a refund from the CG even though it was 4 months in advance. I filed a complaint with my CC company and got a full refund. I will not make reservation again at a CC that charges the full amount in advance. A one night deposit is OK, sometimes stuff happens and plans change.
 
Peggyy said:
I am venting this morning.  I just tried to cancel a reservation I have for next MAY.  They charged my credit card the full amountalready but they will only refund me 20% of that amount.  I can see keeping someones money if you cancelled the day before  where they were unable to fill your spot  But this is a very popular spot  which they will have no problem filling in the next six months !    On top of that I just lost $120 on one I had reserved for November at Port Saint Joe. 
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Will either of these parks give you a credit toward a future stay? We had to cancel at a park and they also had a no refund policy but also have an apply credit to a future stay policy. Since we knew we'd stay there eventually we took them up on the credit. It never expired and we used it recently.
 
Call your Credit Card Company.  ANYTIME I have something unreasonable like that happen to me, either my Discover or Capitol One promptly take care of it.
 
We mostly only make reservations at the state and national parks we prefer for busy times of the year and/or when we have a specific site preference. Booking them through ReserveAmerica or Recreation.gov, cancellations are both easy and generally pretty painless cost wise. Most of the time the cancellation fee is $9-$10 unless it's very short notice when you may get charged for the first night as well. Florida has a higher $17.75 cancellation fee. We cancelled a one week stay at a GA state park for next April about a week ago, and the cancellation fee was $10.
 
Hammster said:
Will either of these parks give you a credit toward a future stay? We had to cancel at a park and they also had a no refund policy but also have an apply credit to a future stay policy. Since we knew we'd stay there eventually we took them up on the credit. It never expired and we used it recently.
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One might, but the other one doesnt even have phone service due to hurricane. 
 
SeilerBird said:
This is why I never make reservations, they are simply not needed most of the time. I have never gotten stuck because I could not find a place to camp.
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I believe that is mostly true if you are only looking for some place to stop for the night, but if your trip is all about going to one specific place you may have to make reservations.

We often go to camp next to the ocean in the Carlsbad, California area. There is a very nice state beach campground, but it is almost always completely full if you want to go when the weather is nice. I looked for open spots in April and May for July and August, and there were none. If you want a space at this place you have to make advance reservations, and do so well in advance of your trip. We tend to go in the winter, and even then spaces can be hard to find. The line for spots that have been cancelled on any day starts at 5 am.
 
I understand the venting, but one should always check reservation refund policies when booking well into the future.  You share at least some of the responsibility for your situation.

Having worked in campgrounds for several years, I can tell you that reservation cancellations are a huge hassle in popular venues. People make rez, change dates, cancel, re-book, etc. at whim.  Some places adopt a policy of "no refunds" or have major cancellation penalties to try to hold the change volume down.  I personally think that is a bit extreme, but still have to sympathize a bit.

As for the place wiped out by hurricane, you will probably get a refund or credit eventually, assuming they don't get bankrupted by it.
 
Gary i think my main issue here is  being charged the entire amount upfront.  Again, i do understand keeping a deposit if someone cancels near the reservation time.  But cancelling six months out should warrant a full refund.  Just my opinion.
I would love if campgrounds made reservations like hotels.  Take my credit card number to hold me a spot.  If i dont show up, charge my card for a nights rate.  That seems very fair to me! 
 
NY_Dutch said:
We mostly only make reservations at the state and national parks we prefer for busy times of the year and/or when we have a specific site preference. Booking them through ReserveAmerica or Recreation.gov, cancellations are both easy and generally pretty painless cost wise. Most of the time the cancellation fee is $9-$10 unless it's very short notice when you may get charged for the first night as well. Florida has a higher $17.75 cancellation fee. We cancelled a one week stay at a GA state park for next April about a week ago, and the cancellation fee was $10.
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I do the same, ReserveAmerica or Recreation.gov.  I did have to cancel a reservation at a local county park, they gave me a credit to use anytime this year. I knew the cancellation policy before I made the reservation. However sometimes the reservation must be made to ensure a site on that weekend. It's a popular campground year round.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
I understand the venting, but one should always check reservation refund policies when booking well into the future.
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As an administrator of RVParkReviews.com we tell people to carefully review a park's posted reservation and cancellation policies.  You may not like having to pre-pay a reservation in advance or a park's regressive cancellation and refund policy, but if a park posts its policies on its website, there are few grounds for objecting to them after the fact.  No one is forced to make a reservation at a park whose policies they believe are unreasonable.  If you make a reservation you are tacitly agreeing to the policies.
 
  Assuming Presnell's is the wiped-out CG, I just looked through their website and while they spelled out cancellation policies in case the customer cancelled but nowhere was an "act of God" policy mentioned. I suspect they'll give you a refund as soon as possible. Someone mentioned on another forum yesterday that the owners hadn't even been able to get to the CG yet.

  That other CG only giving you 20 percent back for a cancellation this far out is rather extreme, but we can only assume you read the policy in advance.

  The way CG occupancy is going, if you want to be in desirable areas at desirable times you're simply going to have to make reservations well in advance.
 
A slightly different look at the problem.  A couple of years ago we had a 5 day reservation at a Branson campground and were actually there and in day 2 of our trip when the wife developed a problem requiring hospitalization following a visit to the ER.  I packed up the coach and drove it home later that morning (only 30 miles) and then called the CG to tell them we left and why.  A few days later I get an email from the campground telling me that they refunded 3 days of my fees and had re-rented the site. They also expressed best wishes for my wife (she was out of the hospital the next day).  I called and talked to the manager and she explained to me that her employer does not allow them to keep fees paid in advance when a site is re-rented such as mine was.  A good policy but I don't disagree with a small service fee for cancellations otherwise.  Appeal to the credit card company is usually a very effective method of approaching the problem too especially in the case of long lead time reservations.

Bill
 
Another tale of a good RV Park manager ... I had a long term monthly space in an RV Park while I was working in Los Angeles, and was preparing to leave mid-month for a two week vacation.  Though my rental covered the entire vacation period, the park owner asked my permission to rent out the space while I was gone and offered to split the revenue 50/50 with me.

When I got back I found the credit covered most of my next month's rent.
 
Peggyy
Another thing you can do, that hurts an owner.
Do a Google review, explain what you feel is unfair
The RV Reviwes link on top of Forum, same. 
Reviews are powerful.
 
Another thing you can do, that hurts an owner.
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I hate to see comments like this when you're talking about an area that has been hit hard by a hurricane.  We don't know about the specifics on their end and perhaps they've been wiped out.

Reviews are powerful
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Yes, they are and they also need to be fair.  Peggy said there's no phone service for one of them because of the hurricane.  No one should slam them until they're back up and running again and have a fair chance to respond.

That said, someone suggested contacting the credit card group and that might be a reasonable solution.

ArdraF
 
Speaking of reviews and their power, has anyone else been seeing the stories about Trip Advisor and how many fake reviews have been uncovered in their system?  I have had suspicions about some especially when I see a review dated two weeks ago for a show that closed a year ago.  I have stopped putting reviews on Trip Advisor as their system just offers too big of an opportunity to lead  people astray. 

Bill
 
ArdraF said:
I hate to see comments like this when you're talking about an area that has been hit hard by a hurricane.  We don't know about the specifics on their end and perhaps they've been wiped out.

Yes, they are and they also need to be fair.  Peggy said there's no phone service for one of them because of the hurricane.  No one should slam them until they're back up and running again and have a fair chance to respond.

That said, someone suggested contacting the credit card group and that might be a reasonable solution.

ArdraF
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Whoa...  My comments were at the first reservation of her 'venting'.  She didn't make any reference it was an area in Florida.  :mad:

And YES, where I come from, if the business owner makes unrealistic rules, hence keeping 80% of the money and not providing a service, 6 months out that would be easily rented, well, we don't put up with that, and we make sure the whole world knows to avoid doing business with them.
 
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