Unfriendly campground

[336muffin]

Richard I have to agree with everyone else on this. Motels, Hotels, Cruise ships, Airlines and some Doctors even charge for cancellations.

[ChileRick]

Originally Posted by 336muffin

Richard I have to agree with everyone else on this. Motels, Hotels, Cruise ships, Airlines and some Doctors even charge for cancellations.

I used to travel in my business constantly, about 50% of the time. Except for no shows or last minute (day of) never had a hotel charge for changes/cancellations. In my recent leisure travels have never had a hotel charge for changes/cancellations. The RV world of reservation change and cancellation charges was an unexpected and unpleasant surprise to us. But, we are are aware and now just budget it into the price of our travels. So far, it's cost us $10.

[Toussaint]

In America.....Americans have become so used to just rolling over and playing dead....they let every enterprise "stick a fork into them to see if they are done"...They let people nickle and dime them to death....and the fees have no relationship to the value at hand....Turn off the cable provider and there is a fee....for what?....someone enters a code....not worth the $25 fee....swipe a credit card....what is the merchants cost?....not $10.00.....and service has become a race to the bottom. The result is Walmart....McDonalds and only OR and NJ still pump your gas, wash the windshield....So the fee is $10 BUCKS...we can afford it.....but we far too often forget who's ten bucks it is and what are they doing to EARN the $10.......

[Toyduck]

Originally Posted by Toussaint

In America.....Americans have become so used to just rolling over and playing dead....they let every enterprise "stick a fork into them to see if they are done"...They let people nickle and dime them to death....and the fees have no relationship to the value at hand....Turn off the cable provider and there is a fee....for what?....someone enters a code....not worth the $25 fee....swipe a credit card....what is the merchants cost?....not $10.00.....and service has become a race to the bottom. The result is Walmart....McDonalds and only OR and NJ still pump your gas, wash the windshield....So the fee is $10 BUCKS...we can afford it.....but we far too often forget who's ten bucks it is and what are they doing to EARN the $10.......

As a business owner they are 'earning' the fees they charge, and not just as it relates to physical labor. They have to pay state taxes, federal taxes, county taxes, property taxs, employee taxes, all of which vary depending on the state they are located in. You also have utility expenses, mortgages, employee salaries, employee benefits, equipment expenses, general supplies, office supplies, repairs, advertising costs, liability insurance costs, general insurance costs, insurance bonds, ...

The list is never ending and continues to grow as both states and federal government try to raise more dollars.

And here you have a business owner who is probably trying to keep costs to his customers down as much as possible.

I have a good friend who was upset because he felt he was being ripped off by a breakfast restaurant, since he could buy eggs for less than $3.00 a dozen, but the restaurant wanted an additional .79 cents to add a '3rd' egg to his meal, which he felt should have been free.

I'm surprised the cancellation cost was only $10.00

[BFlinn181]

If you have been in a business with reservations, you would know that the number of people that make a reservation or appointment then don't show up has increased. My daughter and SIL run a dive shop and have only a certain number of seats in SCUBA classes or a boat. If someone claims a spot then doesn't show or cancel well ahead of the trip or class, should they just 'eat' the loss? I completely understand the need to use a little 'earnest money' to make a reservation or appointment mean something.

[Toussaint]

So then....as understand some of the "justifications" for XC'l out and having to pay some money for the action is profit over and above the cost of doing business....that is income less cost of business....equals profit...in the cost of business is the factoring of tax, labor, materials.....everything it takes to make the enterprise go.....So you charge a reasonable fee for the service or product provided...and hope you break even plus a reasonable profit.....charging for a service that is "filling a hole" in your bottom line yet gives the customer nothing of value is gouging.....So someone has a fully contained motor home and they justifiably carp about XC'L fees.....sounds like another reason to BOONDOCK with no fees.....

[Toyduck]

Originally Posted by Toussaint

So then....as understand some of the "justifications" for XC'l out and having to pay some money for the action is profit over and above the cost of doing business....that is income less cost of business....equals profit...in the cost of business is the factoring of tax, labor, materials.....everything it takes to make the enterprise go.....So you charge a reasonable fee for the service or product provided...and hope you break even plus a reasonable profit.....charging for a service that is "filling a hole" in your bottom line yet gives the customer nothing of value is gouging.....So someone has a fully contained motor home and they justifiably carp about XC'L fees.....sounds like another reason to BOONDOCK with no fees.....

The whole point of doing business is making a profit, not "hoping" you break even. Besides, as a customer, you have a choice of who you do business with and don't do business with.

[datrbone8]

A cancellation charge is consideration for the holding of a reservation agreement for which you failed to honor. Or you could look at it as the price of failure to honor a commitment.

Originally Posted by Toussaint

So then....as understand some of the "justifications" for XC'l out and having to pay some money for the action is profit over and above the cost of doing business....that is income less cost of business....equals profit...in the cost of business is the factoring of tax, labor, materials.....everything it takes to make the enterprise go.....So you charge a reasonable fee for the service or product provided...and hope you break even plus a reasonable profit.....charging for a service that is "filling a hole" in your bottom line yet gives the customer nothing of value is gouging.....So someone has a fully contained motor home and they justifiably carp about XC'L fees.....sounds like another reason to BOONDOCK with no fees.....

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by Toussaint

.....charging for a service that is "filling a hole" in your bottom line yet gives the customer nothing of value is gouging....

Not sure if I was reading you right or not. Did you frame the post such that excessive profit was made or gouging occurred with a $10 cancellation fee and the customer received nothing of value? If I read it right then I would say the answer is to not make reservations as they have no value. But I think we agree they do have some value. I see a reservation like an option - I can exercise it or let it expire but it isn't free. If I exercise it - I pay full price. If I don't I pay the opportunity cost the CG establishes. If i reserve a spot for 4 nights and cancel them all and only lose $10 - the CG may have lost some, none or all of the rental nights. Not a bad deal for me. Opportunity cost is more than just the time / hourly rates / etc the business takes to make, hold and cancel the reservation. And I don't think it matters if the CG has a waiting list or not. They took on the risk for nothing while I held a valuable reservation. If i cancel, i should pay. If they don't have my spot - they will have hell to pay. Of course boondocking is another option.

I don't want to see CG fees go any higher than they are but I wonder how some stay in business. Of course those little Stop-N-Go Broke stores many of em run helps.

[Jack1234]

Originally Posted by datrbone8

A cancellation charge is consideration for the holding of a reservation agreement for which you failed to honor. Or you could look at it as the price of failure to honor a commitment.

I agree and don't really object to a "reasonable" cancellation fee. However, I am still curious about:

1) Is it reasonable to charge $10 to refund your VISA card in this instance.

The OP gave the CG a reasonable advance notice. (30 days)...hardly last minute. The cancellation was for a very busy weekend which the CG readily admitted that they had "waiting" customers....so no loss of business.

2) Why is the Hotel business any different from the CG business in this regard? As others have stated, given reasonable notice Hotels do not charge a cancellation fee.

In the first instance, I am curious as to why most CG's do not seem to believe in the concept of being gracious, when not serious harmed or inconvenienced..., not interested in developing future goodwill or positive word-of-mouth....nor interested in banking some good KARMA .....while in the second instance this seems to be the norm in the Hotel Industry.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by Toussaint

In America.....Americans have become so used to just rolling over and playing dead....they let every enterprise "stick a fork into them to see if they are done"...They let people nickle and dime them to death....and the fees have no relationship to the value at hand....Turn off the cable provider and there is a fee....for what?....someone enters a code....not worth the $25 fee....swipe a credit card....what is the merchants cost?....not $10.00.....and service has become a race to the bottom. The result is Walmart....McDonalds and only OR and NJ still pump your gas, wash the windshield....So the fee is $10 BUCKS...we can afford it.....but we far too often forget who's ten bucks it is and what are they doing to EARN the $10.......

I earn less than $10 an hour on my job so it's a big deal to me, BUT I don't think that's an outrageous charge for canceling a stay.

[dieharder]

I fully expect to pay a fee if I have to cancel a reservation, which I have never had to do yet (knock on wood). $10 is very reasonable.

They had to maintain a waiting list, they have to cancel your request and process whatever refund you may be entitled to, they now have to call the first person o nthe waiting list to see if they still want the spot and then move on down the list. Not everyone on the waiting list has sat there by the phone waiting to see if it rings for a cancellation, they may have moved on and made plans elsewhere. Thay may have to move down the list quite far to find someone who still wants it, you don't know and they don't know. They should be expected to absorb the costs of processing 2 transactions (your refund and the next charge), labor for both, long distance call(s) and such? There is much more to it than whether they can get someone else to occupy the space you reserved. You're the reason why they now have to go through all that... suck it up.

Charging a fee in the first place is in place so that people don't take a bunch of dates and then cancel because "...it might look like it'll rain a bit so we don't feel like going..." Regardless of your reason to cancel, that fee should get charged across the board.

If you've had bad experiences in this place before, then you really shouldn't be upset about not wanting to go there anymore. Certainly shouldn't be upset over $10.

I see a lot of reviews complaining about the owners monitoring the campground. Imagine that... a campground that takes their security and rules seriously. Sounds like some place I'd actually want to stay...

[Murf2u]

Here's my slant on this, the average m/h will get about 8 mpg, as of today (April 30) Gas Buddy says the national average gas price is $3.507 / gallon.

That works out to $3.50 divided by 8 or $0.4375 per mile. At that rate $10 would be the equivalent of a little less than 23 miles.

I'm not sure I can think of anywhere I'd go that 23 miles would make a difference.

[Paulandvicki]

$10.00 is a reasonable fee. I have no problem with campgrounds being able to meet their payroll. After all most them are priviately owned, and unlike the hotels they need to charge the fee to stay out of the red.