I've discover a new way to be cheated by KOA

[Brockx]

Originally Posted by CyrusL

When we have decided to cancel early and know we won't be getting a refund, we just leave and don't tell anybody. Right?

Exactly

[Dcbenny]

Originally Posted by JFXG

Well, there we go again. As if guided by a fine clock, every so often someone will post up a long, angry rant about how poorly they were treated by KOA. And then the parade begins.

We've stayed at a number of KOAs over the years- maybe 2% of the campgrounds we've used. We've workamped at several campgrounds, KOA and otherwise, in the office and out on the grounds. One absolute fact that I've learned is that without fail there are at least two sides to every story. At least. I no longer take any of these at face value.

After reading most of the post on these sites I don't know how anybody is enjoying themselves. Just sit back relax and don't let the small stuff get you down

[drdarrin]

My mom and dad full timed for about 15 years and used KOA a lot. Never heard them complain about them. We used KOA in Hurricane, Bryce Canyon and Moab last year and my only issue, if you could call it that, was they were expensive and the sites were closer together than we would have liked. The former, we knew about going in so that was on us. The latter was not really a big deal since we slept there and were sight seeing the majority of the time.

We found the staff to always be friendly and competent. Moab was the only really busy and close to full place we stayed.

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Originally Posted by CyrusL

When we have decided to cancel early and know we won't be getting a refund, we just leave and don't tell anybody. If you do that, at least you should still get your points. Right?

We had an interesting twist on this option.

First off, let me say that we used to be KOA members. Our experience hasn't been terrible, nor has it ever been GREAT at KOA's. They have tended to be kind of mediocre at best. Anyway, we were doing a show in Florida, we had reserved from Wednesday thru the next Tuesday, 6 nights. We found out that the show had an area to park motorhomes, free of charge. I went to the office and asked if I could get a refund for Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, returning on Monday and staying Monday night. They said "NO REFUNDS during peak season according to their policy. We "discussed" it for a few minutes, and they wouldn't budge. Fine, I said we'll be back Sunday, or Monday night.

We did the show, ended up staying there Sunday night as well, came back Monday morning. There was an RV in our spot. I went to the office and said they needed to either have them move, or give us another spot. They said they were full, and didn't have any spots available. I said we already PAID for that spot, they had refused to refund our money, and I had informed them we would be back, so I still "owned" that spot, or another one until Tuesday morning. The manager told me that as soon as I had "driven out of the spot" I had in effect "abandoned" it, and therefore they had rented it out to someone else the same day we had left!

I pointed out that they must come as a big surprise to people who don't tow another car and lose their spot every time they drive into town!

Anyway, they didn't give us a spot, nor did they agree to refund our money. We went on our way after fully documenting the situation, taking a picture of another coach in our spot per our check-in paperwork, etc.

I wrote corporate, and put in a dispute with my CC company. Corporate never responded, but my CC company ended up reversing the charge on the entire stay, even though we had stayed there for 2 of the 6 reserved nights!

Whatever, although I won't refuse to stay at a KOA in the future, we generally avoid them if there is any other option available.