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Old 09-12-2011, 02:56 AM   #15
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Too many restrictions in the contracts. I noticed they offer many great things in the BIG print and take them away in the SMALL print in the contract.
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Old 09-12-2011, 11:18 AM   #16
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I can see the maybe having a membership if a full timer. But most are expensive with lots of restrictions.
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Old 09-12-2011, 12:54 PM   #17
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Well if you need more info on this I will chime in also. We have Thousand Trails, RPI, Coast to Coast, Colorado River Adventures, & ROD memberships along with Passport America. We are full time RVers and use Thousand Trails the most. We have upgraded our origional membership purchased in 1989 three times. We are park to park with 21 days in each. Dues are $550 a year which includes 50 nights of camping. After that my contract calls for $2.00 per night. We stay in TT between 200 and 250 night a year. That comes out to $950 in dues and extra night charges a year or $3.80 per night. Thousand Trails has let their parks go for meny years while they sold the company. They are now putting money back in the parks. It will take a while, but we see the difference and think they are on the right track. I would go for the used membership that you can find out there and transfer it to you. Good Luck.
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Old 09-12-2011, 01:09 PM   #18
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Agree - the huge Buy-in fees are ridiculous and you can probably never recover them, either through use or resale. But you can buy resales in most any of these places for next to nothing, and that makes the economics more viable.
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Old 09-14-2011, 10:02 AM   #19
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We have some good friends that bought into a TT membership a couple of years ago. As has been already stated, the sales pitch was high pressure & they folded. As soon as they bought it the only places they ever wanted to visit were places where the TT CG's were. This was because they wanted to feel as if they'd gotten their money's worth (I always assumed that they felt as if they'd made a poor decision). We went with them to one CG & it was a dump, although that didn't stop the staff from trying to get me to buy in to a membership of my own. Of course I didn't do it... My friend's wife did give them my phone number, however. That was fun...

These are straight timeshare deals and they make about as much sense as most any other timeshare deal. It never made any sense to me to pay $30k for a timeshare in Hawaii, THEN a monthly payment for "upkeep", THEN only get to use it one or two weekends out of an entire year. Think of the Hawaiian vacation I could have if I had $30k to blow & just bought a hotel room!!

TT is kind of the same thing to me. The campgrounds I've seen all suck & not worth the dough, but if you're like the friends I mentioned earlier, you'll either feel compelled to go to them or you'll feel like you've wasted your money.

Save you money and go to any campground you want. In the end you'll have saved yourself a lot of money and headache....JMHO.
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Old 09-14-2011, 04:54 PM   #20
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As a long time member I've been to many of the parks. I'm very curious which park you visited that was a "dump."

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Old 09-14-2011, 05:39 PM   #21
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Okay, a couple of years ago, we bought in to KQ Ranch in Julian, we were told that all we had to do was drive out there any week end and because we were charter members we could just always go and get a spot. BS, then every time we called and asked to get a reservation we were always told there were no spots available. We called one time and then we were told that they never took reservations more than 3 weeks in advance.
I almost got expelled from RV.net because in my signature I had it signed "Beware of KQ Ranch/ CRA (Colorado River Adventures), We were looking at our membership cards and it a number and some initial's on it when I questioned them as to what they meant the secretary, kind of laughed, and told us we had what was known as a Charter Membership and it was only good for 5 years. Then we would have the opportunity to renew for another 5 years at a upgraded level, we had paid almost 3500 bucks. They suggested we go to Cherry Valley Campground and talk to one of the membership director's

When we were there not only did they give us a lot of song and dance and BS they told us we would need to sign up for another 5 year contract at almost double what we paid for the membership in the first place.

Then if it weren't for us having a surge protector we would have had our RV maybe burn to the ground the pedestal did!!!
Needless to say the next morning we left and haven't been to anyof their campgrounds again.

Also while we were still members of CRA/KQ Ranch we got an invitaion for a weekend at TT Pio Pico park, out near Otay Lakes. We were there for a weekend stayed for their sales pitch, there was a Navy Family there that were parked next to us we could hear what the Salesman was giving them a big song and dance.The Salesman took my wife and I and the young couple around on their golf cart to show up the campground. It really was a dump. The guy was really insistent, they said that they needed to think it over and would let them know in the morning. Soon as they were gone the salesman came over and offered us an membership for less than half of what they were trying to stick the young couple we told the guy we needed to talk it over and run some figures thru our computer to see what we could afford. When we got back to our RV we packed up and while we were packing up the young couple came over and asked us what we thought about the place we told them they also left they followed us up Otay Lakes Road.
So my advice to anyone is Run as fast as you can away from TT, CRA and or another membership campground.
Also we still get offers of free week ends at KQ Ranch in Julian.
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Old 09-14-2011, 06:10 PM   #22
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We've been to TTN Pio Pico several times, in fact we stay there at least 4 weeks a year. To call this place a dump is ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous. They have an excellent lodge, great store, two lovely pools, two laundry facilities, etc.

I have to know where you camp if you think Pio Pico is a dump, you must spend all of your time at ORA.

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Old 09-14-2011, 07:14 PM   #23
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We full-time and belong to TT, C2C, ROD, RPI, Passport America and CCUSA. For us, it makes economic sense. We bought all of them on the resale market and paid a fraction of what they cost new. Yes, we have found some "dumps" in each membership. We mark them down in our book and don't return. We use C2C and ROD the most. Passport America we have found to be useful for an emergency overnight stay only because their rules are so strange. Because we like to stay 7-14 days in each location so we can do a lot of exploring of towns and such, the memberships make financial sense. The main problem we have experienced is there are very few parks on the memberships in the midwest. They are plentiful on the coasts, but leave the middle of the country out. Good luck with your research.
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Old 09-15-2011, 08:39 AM   #24
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Originally Posted by traveler of california View Post
As a long time member I've been to many of the parks. I'm very curious which park you visited that was a "dump."

Nick

The one in Palm Desert/Indo ain't nothin' to write home about, that's for sure. I wouldn't pack up my 5'er for a weekend in Indio, right off the fwy. If I'd just plopped down a big chunk of change for a TT membership & that was the first place I stayed, I would NOT be a happy camper (pun intended)

But, I realize that there are probably others that are OK too. The place I referenced in my earlier post yesterday was in regards to a specific experience I had. If it's worth the money to you, then it works out.

BTW, I too have had my experience of being harassed by the good folks at KQ Ranch. We were "generously given" a free intro membership from the dealership we bought our new RV from (a kickback to the dealership from KQ Ranch, no doubt). Man, they hounded me for months about buying into a time share opportunity at the Colorado River. I told them I wasn't interested. So much so, I didn't care if I WAS missing out on the free TV/toaster/laptop (a "Panaso-anic" or "Dill" computer no doubt) - no thanks. They stopped calling me about that for a while, but now they're back on my case trying to sell me time share opportunities south of the border. No thanks. I don't wish to be shot at while on vacation.

If they work for you & you feel like you're getting a good shake, then that's all that matters. I feel dirty after even talking to one of these salesmen. The high pressure sale, "One day special" pitch ought to tell you that they're only interested in taking your money because most people, if given too much time to think about it, would run the other way (as is evidenced in this thread). The used car salesmen stereotype doesn't even come close to these people.

There are so many great CG's to stay in that there's just no reason to spend the money on a membership IMO. I know you can stay in one w/o a membership, but the constant harrassment would drive me crazy and ruin my trip.
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Old 09-15-2011, 02:20 PM   #25
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My opinion:

There not worth the money unless your full time; then it's a toss up.
Agree...be real careful, they like to lock you in to long term agreements.
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Old 09-15-2011, 08:05 PM   #26
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. They suggested we go to Cherry Valley Campground and talk to one of the membership director's

When we were there not only did they give us a lot of song and dance and BS they told us we would need to sign up for another 5 year contract at almost double what we paid for the membership in the first place.

Then if it weren't for us having a surge protector we would have had our RV maybe burn to the ground the pedestal did!!!
Needless to say the next morning we left and haven't been to anyof their campgrounds again.

Also while we were still members of CRA/KQ Ranch we got an invitaion for a weekend at TT Pio Pico park, out near Otay Lakes. We were there for a weekend stayed for their sales pitch, there was a Navy Family there that were parked next to us we could hear what the Salesman was giving them a big song and dance.The Salesman took my wife and I and the young couple around on their golf cart to show up the campground. It really was a dump. The guy was really insistent, they said that they needed to think it over and would let them know in the morning. Soon as they were gone the salesman came over and offered us an membership for less than half of what they were trying to stick the young couple we told the guy we needed to talk it over and run some figures thru our computer to see what we could afford. When we got back to our RV we packed up and while we were packing up the young couple came over and asked us what we thought about the place we told them they also left they followed us up Otay Lakes Road.
So my advice to anyone is Run as fast as you can away from TT, CRA and or another membership campground.
Also we still get offers of free week ends at KQ Ranch in Julian.
I had the same experience. When we went in to hear what their program was, I was shocked. I met the Salesman that loved me more than my own parents did. We were instant friends. It was almost like coming face to face with our creator. I felt warm and comforted, I was thankful I was in his care ! He spoke warmly to us for over 3 hours, maybe 2 1/2. I too felt I needed time to think about such a large purchase. My friend was concerned for my welfare and my foolish reluctace so he brought in his friend to help set me streight. After another hour of schmoozing and I was still on the fence, ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. It was then that I found out what a piece of dung I was and an ungrateful cretin for not seeing what a great deal I had been offered. Just before I got up to leave, a large grin replaced the scowl. I thought he had just fallen victim to a large gas pain, but no. He rummaged through his large bag of tricks and found somthing special for folks as nice as us. It was a once in a lifetime 1/2 off deal. Being the type of people we were, I didn't want him to waste his offer on us but perhaps he could award that gift to someone more deserving.
As we left the office, the once friendly staff looked at us llike we had betrayed HIM at the last supper. We left with our head bowed like the scum we were. BUT JUST THEN, I remembered, and ran back inside. Once again a smile started across those stone like faces. They asked , how may we help you. I told them I forgot to pick up my FREE VIDEO PLAYER ! Their hate turned to rage as they handed me my booty. I wished them a pleasent day as we strolled back to our Motorhome to get our bathing suits on to enjoy a dip in the pool during our FREE stay.
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Old 09-16-2011, 10:21 AM   #27
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I am going to talk about TT for a momnent.. There is news about them and it's .. Cloudy.

TT is, from what I understand, no longer selling memberships per-se, they are selling "Annual Zone Passes" which might not be a bad thing.. You pay only the dues, and you get access to all the TT parks in your "Zone" same as I have.. BUt NO LONG TERM CONTRACT so if you find you don't like it,, Well, So-long.

There are some nasty rumors about the future of TT but this should NOT affect the annual zone pass memberships save that if the rumors are true.. There may come a day you can't renew..

But if you like the concept of "Try before you buy"

Buying a camp ground membership is a bit like getting married... You need a court order to dissolve the relationship should you change your mind after 3 days.

But with TT's annul zone pass..kind of like living together.. You don't like it, move out.
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Old 09-28-2011, 08:07 AM   #28
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A Zone Pass sounds more like it, for sure. Still not for me personally, but someone in an earlier posting mentioned that TT was going through some positive changes and maybe this is evidence that they're listening to people like us!

If I were a FT'er, $600/year may make sense as I would pay more than that if I were to pay campground costs for 12 months. I can only comment on my own experiences here. And in my experience, any sales person with such a hard sell willing to give out substantial "gifts" just to hear him out HAS to know he's selling something of questionable value. Now, a pre-owned membership...that sounds a lot better. If for no other reason than to avoid this guy giving you a pointy sales pitch:

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