Lock Fees

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Boat Bum

Boat Bum

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 17, 2022
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1,151
Location
Amesbury Mass on NH border
Still new to all this (July 2022) but I have been able to visit a few RV parks/resorts and I'm noticing more places are charging a lock fee to ensure the spot you just picked, confirmed availability, and paid for up front will be available when you show up. I've seen as high as $15 additional charge with no increase in service other than the spot your reserved and paid for will be there when you get there.

I've refused to pay twice and fortunately, for them, I got my reserved spot. Is this fairly standard? I think it's a BS charge that provides no additional service and I refuse to pay.
 
Yeah, it's becoming fairly common.

We went to a place that asked if we were going to use electric heaters. There was an extra $5 a night charge for being truthful. I've heard they do the same for air conditioning.

That place was kind of a dump too.
 
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There’s a cg near me that will only guarantee a spot and will try to give you the site you want but that’s all. No extra charge at least that’s the way it use to be. Haven’t been there for years because of that.
 
I've seen the "lock fee" to reserve a specific site when making the campground reservation. If you pay the fee, you get to pick the specific site you want. Otherwise, you're just reserving a category of site, and the campground assigns the site when you get there. I've seen the amount of the fee vary. Depending on how long we're staying and the amount of the fee, I've paid the lock fee when I knew there was a particular site or area of the campground we prefer (or there are sites I want to make sure we avoid). If we're staying a week, a small lock fee might be worth it, if we're only staying a night or two maybe not. But I've never seen a lock fee to guarantee the "reservation" itself.
 
I have only been to a handful of sites in NH, VT but the way it has worked is they give you the campground layout with all the spots numbered on their web site. The lots reserved are grayed out only allowing selection of available sites. I click on the available site I want and pay up front.

My understanding is they will bump you to a "comparable" spot if for some reason they choose to do this to a paid in full, on the site customer for a bigger vehicle which may net them a few more dollars but in the end they will lose customers like me.
 
There is a beach camp ground that I know of that does this... But why, other than $$, it cost them no more than assigning a particular site???... The same way as flying, the air lines all charge a premium for an assigned seat... It's just a money making racket....
Butch
 
I've seen fees to reserve a specific site, and sometimes sites are classified differently and cost more money in a park than other sites, i.e. a "premium" site. But not fees to guarantee a reservation, unless it's in the form of a deposit or pre-payment.
 
I can understand tiered pricing and any spot comparable to the one reserved may be substituted, my beef is why show me all currently available spots and let me select a specific one, pay for it and then in the final step ask me if I want to basically reserve the spot I just reserved. I guess they really mean it the second time. :unsure:

The only reason I can guess as to why they would inconvenience a pre-paid customer like this is if they could make more money on it after the fact. To me it's akin to striking a deal on a purchase (e.g. a car) and you pay for it only to be told it was sold to someone else for more money after you showed up to get it; if only there was a lock clause...
 
One of the reasons we prefer state and national park campgrounds instead of private RV parks is knowing we'll get the site we reserved with no hassles. Only once in the past 10 years have we been bumped off a state park site, and that was because the crime scene tape was still up on "our" site around the burned out remains of a TT.
 
Boat Bum said:
Still new to all this (July 2022) but I have been able to visit a few RV parks/resorts and I'm noticing more places are charging a lock fee to ensure the spot you just picked, confirmed availability, and paid for up front will be available when you show up. I've seen as high as $15 additional charge with no increase in service other than the spot your reserved and paid for will be there when you get there.
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Never encountered that at a park that actually reserved a specific site, but I've seen parks that had a choice between an "open reservation" (you book a type of site but are not assigned a specific site until you arrived) or a [more expensive] pre-determined site #. I think the open reservation type is the most common these days and many parks reserve the right to change the assigned site right up until you arrive.
 
jackiemac said:
I wouldn't pay that. If you pay and reserve something it should already be "locked". Blooming chancers.
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When you make a reservation you locked-in A spot, not a particular spot,;that's what the extra charge reserved, site number xxx. This allows the RV park flexibility when making reservations and JIC someone has an emergency and must extend their stay.
I've encountered that for the past 30 years, it's usually stated in the reservation form or online.
 
Ray-IN said:
When you make a reservation you locked-in A spot, not a particular spot,;that's what the extra charge reserved, site number xxx. This allows the RV park flexibility when making reservations and JIC someone has an emergency and must extend their stay.
I've encountered that for the past 30 years, it's usually stated in the reservation form or online.
Click to expand...
I guess we never encountered that since we always stayed in state, national or military campgrounds.
 
SeilerBird said:
This sounds like Dealer Fees when buying a car in Florida. You agree to a price for the car then they start adding in the extra fees. Dealer fees, document fees, etc. Crooks.
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I ask for the drive off the lot all inclusive price in writing and go from there. If they don't want to provide it, I tell them that I don't have time to play games and will be going somewhere else. That usually ends up with them needing to talk to their manager and providing me the price.
 
SeilerBird said:
This sounds like Dealer Fees when buying a car in Florida. You agree to a price for the car then they start adding in the extra fees. Dealer fees, document fees, etc. Crooks.
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IMO, it makes no difference. If they cannot add those fees in, they will just jack up the price just as much.

IMO, it's a game they play. They can advertise a lower price if they can add in more and larger fees. AFAIK, they all play the same game. With motorcycles, add a "set up fee" to the above.

But you can be saving a little money this way. Normally, there is no sales tax on fees.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
Ray-IN said:
When you make a reservation you locked-in A spot, not a particular spot,;that's what the extra charge reserved, site number xxx. This allows the RV park flexibility when making reservations and JIC someone has an emergency and must extend their stay.
I've encountered that for the past 30 years, it's usually stated in the reservation form or online.
Click to expand...
What happens if site xxx that you paid extra for has the previous camper having the emergency.
 
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