You'd think that when an RVer pays $40 a night for a full-hookup campsite that they'd get "full-hookups." In this case, at a Pennsylvania KOA, campers come up a little short: they are forced to share a water spigot. Here, the faucet on the right has even been split into two, so all together there are three spigots that might potentially be sharing the water. When I took my morning shower, about half-way into it the water pressure plummeted: someone next door had probably turned on theirs. This is a bad setup.
-- Chuck Woodbury
Have you observed some problems at RV parks or campgrounds that you would like to share with other RVtravel.com readers? Send a pic and your comments to Chuck(at)RVtravel.com
15 Comments:
Unfortunately, this is common at too many a campgrounds. We have even stayed where there was a shared power box. 30 amp and 50 amp. Who ever arrived first had first dibs on the 50. Of course, the circuit breaker popped several times a day. Ah... camping!
Hmmm...perhaps of public listing of campgrounds to avoid and why, might provide an impetus for less-than-stellar facilities to upgrade? Just a thought...
Safe travels home Chuck!
While attending the PA RV Show in Hershey recently, we paid $45/night for a site with 4 spigots coming off a single water pipe and sewer hook-ups for 4 sites located in the same central spot! 2 RVs in the 4-some had to run hoses under the coaches and across the back of the sites to reach the hook-ups! Oh, yes, they only had 30 amp. service.
Until we all agree to stand together, share information about these campgrounds and avoid them, nothing will happen. We always read reviews, when we can find them, provided by other campers and book accordingly. We no longer trust Woodalls, Trailerlife, etc. because they are often inaccurate and out of date. Someone who has recently been there provides the best information.
very true about not trusting the rating of campgrounds in Woodalls, Trailerlife, etc. Especially in the books. The on-line versions are more up to date. We stayed in a 4W private campground, Calgary West, last summer. which was more like a 1W. I e-mailed Woodalls and told them about the condiitons and they removed this campground from their website. I have also reported Good Sam parks to their website. If people don't speak up then nothing will change. If you find problems with parks, then let the people responsible for the ratings know, even the State and Federal Parks.
My wife and I have generally found the campgrounds in the East to have more of these problem. Most are older and smaller (size of space). We have only made reservations twice in the last four years. We do talk to other campers. Find which way they are going and what they thought of the campgrounds they had been to. It's work for us for the last 60,000 miles.
we have traveled 13,000 miles and could also contribute- the stories are the same and having somewhere to share the BADS and the GOODS would be very helpful. Also if you use Passport, they too will get with the campground and remove them from there list if the complaint warrants it.
We were on the road for 4 1/2 months traveling CA, WA, Canada, AK, MT, WY, CO, NM, & TX. The most we paid @ $55 and our worst experience was at the KOA in St. Mary, MT. The sewage on most sites were too high for a motorhome. (Sewage does not drain uphill very well). We scraped & marked our coach on a tree that needed to be trimmed, and had a pond formed at the lower part of the space in the driveway from a leak that needed repair from the fresh water faucet on that site. They assigned us another site with a too tall sewage connection. We had to pull into an empty site to dump our tanks. By far, not worth the money we paid. KOA received our complaint.
We rvers are a strange group. Although we see abuses in the rv and campground industry when it comes time to complain on an open forum you can be boo-hissed because you are knocking your past time. Either that or you are told if you don't like you can always move and take your business elsewhere.
I agree with the above posters. If we were talking about hotels or cars it would be a whole different story. However, the rv industry is highly unregulated and rv parks fall right into the same category.
If you were in a hotel and did not receive the services that you were paying for you would be pounding your fist on the front desk until you got what you were paying for. Why should we act any differently in an rv park or an rv dealership.
there is already a site that allows rvers to rate the parks that they stay in. its
http://www.rvparkreviews.com/
check it out. i find it very useful and user friendly
In our 12 yrs of rv-ing traveling some 70,000 miles all over the US,Canada etc we find one thing disturbing about ratings,specifically trailer life. When we stay at a campground that is highly rated but we find pretty much a dump, sure enough, a check of T.L. book reveals a pretty large ad. More than just a coincidence in our minds.
I have to agree with the above. We too have traveled over 100,000 in the last 9 years and we did depend on Trailer Life. Some of the campgrounds they rated should of never been in the book. You get into them with a big rig and you have no where to turn, restrooms are not fit. When paying $40.00 dollars a nite in an RV, it should be at least equal to one of the top rated hotels. Hopefully, more people will use the rvreview website. I know I some times expect far better, but I worked hard all my life for my money and I like clean and updated campgrounds. Even the STATE PARKS are getting bad and they are charging a terrible high price for States that claim they have NO money to update. The State Parks we have stayed at are now running up to $35.00 a nite. Michigan is terrible...they even charge extra for your toad. Here I was always under the impression the State Parks were for the families. How can an average working family afford to take the kids camping at a State Park for the weekend at rates like they are charging?
Chuck you need to get out more. Diddo on the comment about http://www.rvparkreviews.com/
I use it all the time for a real evaluation on what a potential park is really about. More RV'ers should be supporting this site. Forget Trailer Life...they get paid to rate the parks...and K-A...will never stay in one again.
I paid $20 for full hookups at a beautiful private park. On the same trip I stayed at a KOA park, paid twice as much for water and electric only and then had no water for several hours in the late afternoon and evening as too many people was using water in the park. Temp over 100
In our travels across the country, we find that the KOA's we stayed in were over priced for the amenities they offer.
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