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Old 06-01-2014, 10:15 PM   #57
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Its happened. Reserved a particular spot with a confirmation email. When we arrived at the CG the operator claimed that the reservation had been cancelled. I wasn't happy but I didn't stomp my feet and yell. Without asking we got a free nights stay. And that was not a notice months ahead it was on the day we showed up. The point being, cancelling a reservation months ahead for the 4th of July should not result in a major lose of funds.....That's ridiculous.
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Old 06-02-2014, 10:02 AM   #58
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For all those that are telling the OP to 'stop payment' on the check, please be careful with that recomendation. In many states that will get you in some pretty big trouble that will cost more than the reservation to get out of.

In Texas, the campground would not need to file a law suit to recover. The check is referred to the hot check division of the local sheriff with the complaint. An arrest warrant is issued almost automatically for the courts to figure it out later. Stop Payment is no different than Insufficient Funds for the Sheriff's department.

DO NOT recommend stopping payment on a check. Things are much easier to resolve when you are not the one being arrested for check fraud in court. Do not write checks to people you do not know well. Us a credit card. IF the campground is too backward or dishonest to accept electronic payment, move on as you will only find more trouble later. Likely a reason the CG no longer can accept electronic payment.
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Old 06-03-2014, 05:53 AM   #59
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Almost 100% of campgrounds, state parks, rv resorts, etc have a written cancellation policy. You may have to ask for it or go online to read before making a reservation. Typically, it is up to the location to determine if they will "enforce" their policy especially during high season or on holiday weekends. Here is KOA's policy as a reference - I figure they pretty much are all the same........

This is posted on the KOA HQ site under FAQs

What is the policy for cancelling a reservation?

To guarantee your campsite, a deposit equal to at least your first night will be charged to your credit card at the time you make your reservation. Make your online reservations anytime, day or night, at KOA.com. You'll receive a confirmation email from the campground once you complete your reservation.

If you need to cancel your reservation, please call before the deadlines listed below to receive your deposit refund, minus a $10 cancellation fee. Text and email notifications of cancellations are not acceptable.

RV & Tent Sites: 48 hours cancellation notice is required. Notify your KOA by 4 p.m. two days before your scheduled arrival.

Camping Cabins: 7 days cancellation notice required. Please notify your KOA one week before your scheduled arrival.
Deluxe Cabins & Unique Accommodations: These units may have special deposit and cancellation requirements. Please check with your selected KOA campground location when making your reservations.
Reservations made after these deadlines require nonrefundable deposits. Cancellations made after deadlines will result in forfeiture of all deposits.
Holidays and special events may have special deposit and/or cancellation requirements. Special conditions may apply during high-demand periods and special events. Please check with your selected KOA for details.

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Old 06-03-2014, 06:16 AM   #60
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Many credit card processors charge their fee (2.5 to 5%) on the initial charge and then again on the refund. This is the reason for the administration fee which also covers the employee's time. It also helps prevents people from making reservations when not sure.
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Old 06-03-2014, 09:20 AM   #61
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Many credit card processors charge their fee (2.5 to 5%) on the initial charge and then again on the refund. This is the reason for the administration fee which also covers the employee's time. It also helps prevents people from making reservations when not sure.
I agree that a cancellation fee should be charged to prevent people trying to make reservations 'in case' they 'may' want to camp at a particular site. I don't see that the campground owner did anything wrong and his, "...said that since I couldn't follow the rules of his campground I probably would not while there either." might have been his way of venting frustration of having to argue his cancellation policy and prior experience with bad campers. Not great customer relations, but understanding.

What is interesting in this thread is the number of folks who, with only the evidence from the OP, are ready to advise, "write a negative review, report them to state attorney general's office, stop payment on the check, etc." Not very business friendly and goes against, "innocent until PROVEN guilty." It sort of reinforces the CG owner's digging in and refusal to bend his rules.

The OP's later post about negotiating for credit forward for a later date is probably what should have been suggested immediately when the mistake was discovered. A lesson for all of us.

The OP did receive something for the money spent, an education. I bet he, and the rest of us, will be more attentive to cancellation policies before making reservations. By not canceling the check he also saves the fee charged by his bank for that service - although he could try to fight that, report it to banking authorities and write a negative review of the bank. Thank you for sharing your experience.
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Old 06-03-2014, 09:30 AM   #62
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If this is such a busy weekend, I don't understand why there is a big deal about the cancellation this far ahead of time. It's not like the space is going to go empty with a loss in revenue by this cancellation.

I can see if he was cancelling at the last minute, but this far ahead of time? Sorry, but policy or not, it makes no sense. the only reason for this policy to be in place this far ahead of time is to ensure that the owner can take in extra revenue by keeping the check AND still being able to rent out the space to someone else. I hardly think that would hold up in court if he sues after a stop-payment is made.
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Old 06-03-2014, 09:34 AM   #63
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Camp Gulf no refunds

If you are thinking about making a reservation at Destin, Florida's CAMP GULF RV Park & Campground in Destin FL, make sure your dates are firm. You pay the full price for the days you reserved at the time the reservation is made. Staying a week, then you pay for the entire week in advance. NO REFUND if reservations canceled, no exceptions! They will let you reschedule your stay, space available. Beautiful spot with space right on the beach.
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Old 06-03-2014, 09:39 AM   #64
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If you are thinking about making a reservation at Destin, Florida's CAMP GULF RV Park & Campground in Destin FL, make sure your dates are firm. You pay the full price for the days you reserved at the time the reservation is made. Staying a week, then you pay for the entire week in advance. NO REFUND if reservations canceled, no exceptions! They will let you reschedule your stay, space available. Beautiful spot with space right on the beach.
Maybe you need to re-read their cancellation policy. Cancellation over 2 weeks from date of arrival will receive a refund of the fees paid minus the 1 day fee they keep.

This is pretty standard. Keep part of the fee for cancelling, but the whole thing is ridiculous, especially, in this thread case, where it appears that the option to carry over the time to use at another time is not being offered for a cancellation this far ahead of time.
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Old 06-03-2014, 09:43 AM   #65
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Originally Posted by BFlinn181 View Post
.

What is interesting in this thread is the number of folks who, with only the evidence from the OP, are ready to advise, "write a negative review, report them to state attorney general's office, stop payment on the check, etc." Not very business friendly and goes against, "innocent until PROVEN guilty." It sort of reinforces the CG owner's digging in and refusal to bend his rules.
.

I agree with almost all of what you said except the comment about a leaving a bad review. If you feel you've had a bad experience then please share that in a review. These are suppose to be reviews of individual experiences with a place, not ads to sell others on a business while whitewashing or ignoring problems.

Once again, honest and frank reviews are the only purpose of reviewing. I agree that exaggerating a negative experience to punish a business is unethical, but describing your own feelings about how you were treated is very important to others in making choices.

Honest feedback is becoming a very rare thing. How often do we answer a waitress who asks us "how was everything" do we reply with "it was good" when a moment before we were commenting on how bad it was.

Of the dozens of reviews I have written, I have only written one negative one, and I tried to describe both sides of the situation. Let's not kid ourselves, there are crappy and dishonest RV parks out there. We owe them nothing more than a fair appraisal. We owe each other a willingness to share our experiences honestly. That is, after all, the function of this forum.
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Old 06-03-2014, 09:44 AM   #66
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...Holidays and special events may have special deposit and/or cancellation requirements. Special conditions may apply during high-demand periods and special events. Please check with your selected KOA for details.


With few exceptions, this is the policy for any of the CG's we've visited. And if it isn't stated on a website when making reservations online, I call the CG & inquire. Anything can suddenly come up causing reservations to be canceled (even our own error realized), however knowing the policy prevents miscommunication.

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Old 06-03-2014, 10:08 AM   #67
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DH and I lost $1000.00 when we cancelled a cruise due to BOTH of us being in the hospital having surgery. I wrote the company asked for a "future credit" toward another cruiise. The company said "No, next time buy the insurance" so we chaulked it up to experience and went out and bought a new RV!
As far as "campground rules" I know sometimes they can be a little extreme! Especially with the smaller privately owned campgrounds. I guess they have to protect themselves against lost revenue from people that reserve large blocks of sites then cancel.
I would say don't risk your credit rating or legal action to prove a point. Chaulk it up to experience and be thankful that you weren't cancelling that RV trip due to a serious illness! Life is too short to dwell on the bad things!
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Old 06-04-2014, 07:08 AM   #68
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Nonrefundable deposits and no refunds for unused days are common. Some parks will give you a credit towards your next visit but if you are never going to stay there again its of no use to you. As long as the policy is in print and visible or communicated to you, you're pretty much out of luck.

As far as the BBB as a resource, its tough as they don't have the power they once did. BBB ratings are a scam and they've been dragged into court in many places around the country for it. You had to be a local member of the BBB to have a favorable rating or to have bad reviews removed from your record. You are better off posting a park review online in several places such as here or any of the RV park review websites or smartphone apps.

In our travels we noticed that more and more places are accepting payments by cash or debt card only. Two reasons are they don't like having to pay the processing fees charged by the credit card companies. Debit card payments come straight from your bank into their account, its not the CC companies money as it is with a credit card. Secondly they are learning that too many people know that if they file a disputed over a credit card charge they usually lose. Credit cards help protect you more than a debit card, check or cash, but for the vendor it has risks and costs as well.
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Old 06-05-2014, 07:26 AM   #69
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Contact them, tell them you're coming even if you're not. Since they won't refund, don't let them double dip.
Hahaha. Bingo. This man knows the right solution.

Pay the fee, and let them know you're coming. Don't show. They would've made more by booking your spot to a last minute traveler had they just been nice about it in the first place. Heck, it's not like your canceling at the last minute.

I honestly don't get business owners who are so ornery that they feel compelled to drive customers away. If someone treats me that way, not only do I never return, I make sure I tell 10 people about the experience... who tell 10 and so on. IMO, when you made the reservation, the onus was upon them to explain any cancellation policy. The last 4 reservations I made, the CSR taking the call went out of their way to explain said policy. It's common sense and just good business to handle it that way.

But over a couple of hundred bucks... pay the fee, to alleviate yourself of the exposure some on here have suggested, then make sure they can't book the spot to someone else and double-dip by telling them: "fine, I'll come anyway now that you're forcing me".
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Old 06-08-2014, 09:35 AM   #70
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In my opinion, canceling the check is just not right. Typical freeloading attitude to give advise to blatantly lie by sending a letter talking about a phone call with non existent content. That is the problem with some groups of people. They want to blame their mistakes on others and then expect them to pay for it or lose money due to their entitlement attitude. They have a cancelation policy for a reason. Your change of plans or poor planning is not their problem. Then these same folks will bash the business on a website. The campground would win in court and a credit card company would favor the merchant. I think people need to take responsibility for their own actions as it only costs others more in the long run.
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