Community Forums

MisterT · 02-06-2016, 08:29 PM

We travel a lot and have found that many times the arrival check in process at rv parks, or any park for that matter, can many times be lengthy and down right aggravating.
I find that some have the whole 'we'll need all your personal information, family history, and mother-in-laws social security number' to check you in and take your money. Or, today they decided to 'train' the newbie behind the counter, while 3 or 4 of us day long travelers wait in line.

Some parks actually 'get' the business and make the process easy and quick, but unfortunately, these are far and few in between.

I experienced both the last two days - one was 'training' the newbie, who did'nt yet know the difference between a 'trailer' and a motorcoach, couldn't figure out how to get the 'compruter' to accept the PassportAmerica discount, took another several minutes to find out which sites would 'accept' my length coach, and then acted as though he had to then 'read and explain' all the rules of the park while I and several others in line could only roll our eyes with inpatience, as though we had never 'stayed' at an rv park before - which I'm sure was actually him.

The other arrival today was a breeze - no computer, no family information required, nothing but my money - and, by the way, choose your own site! Nice.

RV park owners - are you listening??

**TonyDi** · 02-06-2016, 08:42 PM

I'm sure we'd all like to just whiz into a campground and in a few minutes be at our site. Unfortunately, some RV parks get a shortage of staff and hiring and training them can take a toll on the registration process. Not all CGs are run efficiently. Many are mom & pop parks and don't need much from you. Some parks have been burned by RVers and play it safe by getting more info from you. I try to remember that waiting in an RV is not that bad.

luckyd · 02-06-2016, 08:45 PM

We always hope our kids can get jobs.
These are "newbies" in the work force.
Can we expect everyone to know what we are talking about?

PA, GS, FMCA, ROD, RPI, C2C,

I am retired........ I have time.

Give people a break and say "THANK YOU"

dons2346 · 02-06-2016, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckyd

We always hope our kids can get jobs.
These are "newbies" in the work force.
Can we expect everyone to know what we are talking about?

PA, GS, FMCA, ROD, RPI, C2C,

I am retired........ I have time.

Give people a break and say "THANK YOU"

Agreed! If you don't like it, then go stay in a hotel, maybe they will be quicker but I doubt it.

Old-Biscuit · 02-06-2016, 10:14 PM

Might want to cut your drive time cause you seem a bit grumpy.
You spent how many hours driving and a few more minutes is a 'major buzz kill'

I remember when I was the 'newbie' and the cantankerous old guy gave me a hard time.....funny how that didn't speed up the process one bit

No 2 places operate the same.........the one constant is you and how you react.

Smile, laugh and just remember you get to relax...the office staff gets to do it all again tomorrow.

Matt A · 02-06-2016, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyDi

Some parks have been burned by RVers and play it safe by getting more info from you.

Just curious, what kind of info are they asking for?

firedoc · 02-06-2016, 10:56 PM

You have to train newbies sometime- give them a break!

Ranger Smith · 02-07-2016, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Might want to cut your drive time cause you seem a bit grumpy.
You spent how many hours driving and a few more minutes is a 'major buzz kill'

I remember when I was the 'newbie' and the cantankerous old guy gave me a hard time.....funny how that didn't speed up the process one bit

No 2 places operate the same.........the one constant is you and how you react.

Smile, laugh and just remember you get to relax...the office staff gets to do it all again tomorrow.

X2 . . . Life is too short to fret the small stuff

LSC9901 · 02-07-2016, 06:45 AM

Easy now ! I think some of you are being unfair to the OP. His complaints are legitimate. I also agree that there are times they are requesting useless (check in ) information. Many places we use will ask for it when we make reservations. Type and size of unit, credit card info etc. Now if you don't have reservations then maybe you have to allow for some of what you consider useless info gathering time.

Training newbies is always a PITA. They do have to learn but they should be learning over someone's shoulder before they are set loose and they really should be acquainted with the park before they start the checking in job. Naturally that is just my opinion. Everyone has their own take on it.

I would be interested in knowing the actual useless info they were requesting. There are times we may view something as useless but they would have need for. The problem is their need versus my privacy. They may "NEED" my email address but for what ? If they need it for advertising purposes, then they don't really need it. They certainly do not need it for billing or security purposes. Not sure why they need a phone number. I've never had a CG call me and I really don't want yet another salesman ringing my phone.

All in all I've generally had smooth check ins but I admit that there have been some that could have been better. Oh well .........

raineman · 02-07-2016, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckyd

We always hope our kids can get jobs.
These are "newbies" in the work force.
Can we expect everyone to know what we are talking about?

PA, GS, FMCA, ROD, RPI, C2C,

I am retired........ I have time.

Give people a break and say "THANK YOU"

What he said ^^^^^

And why are you so grumpy if you travel a lot? Maybe travel some more

Superslif · 02-07-2016, 07:02 AM

We stay mostly at state parks (OH. PA. NY. VT.) and mostly have a pre-paid reservation. Some of the OH. SP's do have their act together. During the busy weekend check-in period (Friday's) a host will just stand by the building and ask for your name and wave you by and inform you you site tag has already been posted at your site. Maybe a minute is spent waiting...

But, other times you have to park your rig, and go stand in line behind 2 or 3 others who didn't make a reservation and wait till each one is serviced, wait for each one to fill out a form, decide on which campsite might be OK, make payment...all along you just need your site tag in order to get waved past the office...

I try to arrive earlier in the afternoon to avoid late afternoon dinnertime rush. At places we plan to stay a week, more times than not, we arrive on a Sunday.

caninecop · 02-07-2016, 07:11 AM

I agree that sometimes the process of checking in can be PITA but we have to realize that the park especially if it is a franchise they have rules the park must follow when checking in a RV. As far as a trainee doing the process they can only learn so much by looking. At some time, they have to do a hands on process of checking in a RV. Just remember that you don’t have to travel anymore and after setup you can kick back and relax.

smlranger · 02-07-2016, 07:23 AM

We are traveling from Virginia to AZ via I-10 and have stayed in quite a few RV parks along the way.... some smaller quick overnight places and a few larger resort parks. We always call ahead to make sure they have a space and some do get the basic info over the phone.... name, address, info on the RV, pets and credit card info. A couple got that when we arrived. None of the processes have seemed too lengthy and everyone has been very nice. They were training a newby at Buckhorn Lake RV Resort but that was OK with me since we all were newbies at some time.

Someone once told me we all have a choice in most any situation where things may not go as we would like.... we can choose to be a headache or we can choose to be the aspirin. I find it best to be the aspirin.

ga traveler · 02-07-2016, 07:24 AM

On one of our BIG trips out west, we were having our breakfast. As we watched out the window, a large tag axle diesel, backed out of his camping spot. He had no spotter and although the sites were large and the area was quite open, he backed over the water spigot in the site across from his. Water shot into the air and he got out of his coach and looked around. Seeing no one, he got back in and drove off. The water was making a big mess. I quickly put on my shoes and ran to the site. There was no water shutoff at the site. I went to the office and it was locked. a note said he would be back in a hour. There was a emergency number on the door. I called it and it was the owners cell phone. I told him what had happened. I gave the site number and the coach description. I asked how far away he was. He was across town. I said the water needed to be turned off because he was going to have a lot of water damage if it was left on. He told me where the shutoff was and I shut the water off. I am sure he billed the customer for the repair. I know I would have because of his carelessness and unconcern after the fact. Times like these are why the owners of campgrounds want information.