RV-related scams seem to pop up in just about every aspect of RVing. Not all are scams per se, but sure feel like it when you have invested time, money and faith in making plans for a great vacation only to have disappointing results. Much like finding out at the airline terminal or front desk that your flight or hotel reservation was overbooked, there are some RV related equivalents that can ruin your best laid plans.
RV Reservation Mess-Ups, Scams, and Scalpers Too
Know the park's reservations policies: Some parks charge a cancellation fee, others don't even ask for a credit card number to hold a space for you. Some charge their reservation fee at the time you make your reservation, and though they refund promptly, it can take several days for the refund to appear on your credit or debit card. Keep this in mind if you need that card for other expenses during that time.
Mistakes: It's good to reconfirm your RV Park Reservations more than once, and close to the time you plan to arrive. Most parks don't overbook, but mistakes can happen. A distracted employee may forget to book your reservation properly. One might forget to process your reservation cancellation, resulting in a night's charge to your credit card. These are far from scams and can happen to anyone.
Inconsideration: There are inconsiderate park owners and employees as well as unethical ones. If you give a credit card number to hold a space for you, make sure you get a confirmation in writing or by email.
If you cancel within the specified time, get a confirmation of the cancellation and a statement of what amount, if any, will be charged to your card. Watch out, too, for parks that change policies, or parks that come under new ownership and new policies.
We had planned our first snowbirding stay at a south Texas park for over a year. Not only had we made reservations that far in advance, we called several times to check and make sure we were still booked, each time being reassured that our reservations were firm.
After finally heading out to our destination we called to give them our actual arrival date. We were told that not only had they cancelled all Winter Texan reservations, but there were no spaces in any nearby parks because a new gas drilling plant opened up and the parks now provided housing for the plant's workers.
While an email or phone notification would have been nice, it wasn't forthcoming. Fortunately, we had also researched several parks in the south and west Texas areas and simply changed our plans to visit some other areas we were interested in.
Reservation scalpers, now, are another problem. Our National and State Parks are very popular places to stay. People tend to make reservations months in advance, and many parks are booked a year or more ahead.
One of the scams you might run into was reported in an article by the Sacramento Bee. This report tells about people selling their t Yosemite National Park campsite reservations for many times what they are worth. Not only are people selling their $20.00 per night campsite reservations for $100.00 or more, they are selling Half Dome climbing permits, issued at no cost by the park.
These offers have shown up on Craigslist and may affect more parks than Yosemite as mentioned in the article. The scam could be simply scalping for more than the park's nightly charge, or could be worse, delivering nothing after you've made payment.
Regardless the cause of your trip spoiler, it's a good idea to have a backup plan. Just get to know what other RV parks or boondocking sites are nearby and keep their locations and contact information handy.
Reservation checklist: The following checklist may help you in choosing an RV park, making and confirming reservations, and having a backup plan should anything go wrong.
Research the RV parks on your travel route thoroughly using online RV park review sites, forum discussions and personal recommendations.
Call each and ask them specific questions about their policies and their park, noting all of the responses. Much of this information can be obtained in a general conversation rather than an interrogation-style questioning. Find out:
Once you've asked your questions, call again a few days later to speak with someone else. Ask more questions or just clarify some. Try to speak with the owner or manager to confirm everything you've been told. But, also, try to talk to an employee or work camper, especially if you are interested in work camping. Sometimes a less-invested employee will be more honest about aspects of the park than an owner or manager.
And if you're told they're booked for the days you want, call back often to see if there have been any cancellations. When you call back, ask to speak to the owner. Often he knows things employees don't.
RV Reservation Mess-Ups, Scams, and Scalpers Too
Know the park's reservations policies: Some parks charge a cancellation fee, others don't even ask for a credit card number to hold a space for you. Some charge their reservation fee at the time you make your reservation, and though they refund promptly, it can take several days for the refund to appear on your credit or debit card. Keep this in mind if you need that card for other expenses during that time.
Mistakes: It's good to reconfirm your RV Park Reservations more than once, and close to the time you plan to arrive. Most parks don't overbook, but mistakes can happen. A distracted employee may forget to book your reservation properly. One might forget to process your reservation cancellation, resulting in a night's charge to your credit card. These are far from scams and can happen to anyone.
Inconsideration: There are inconsiderate park owners and employees as well as unethical ones. If you give a credit card number to hold a space for you, make sure you get a confirmation in writing or by email.
If you cancel within the specified time, get a confirmation of the cancellation and a statement of what amount, if any, will be charged to your card. Watch out, too, for parks that change policies, or parks that come under new ownership and new policies.
We had planned our first snowbirding stay at a south Texas park for over a year. Not only had we made reservations that far in advance, we called several times to check and make sure we were still booked, each time being reassured that our reservations were firm.
After finally heading out to our destination we called to give them our actual arrival date. We were told that not only had they cancelled all Winter Texan reservations, but there were no spaces in any nearby parks because a new gas drilling plant opened up and the parks now provided housing for the plant's workers.
While an email or phone notification would have been nice, it wasn't forthcoming. Fortunately, we had also researched several parks in the south and west Texas areas and simply changed our plans to visit some other areas we were interested in.
Reservation scalpers, now, are another problem. Our National and State Parks are very popular places to stay. People tend to make reservations months in advance, and many parks are booked a year or more ahead.
One of the scams you might run into was reported in an article by the Sacramento Bee. This report tells about people selling their t Yosemite National Park campsite reservations for many times what they are worth. Not only are people selling their $20.00 per night campsite reservations for $100.00 or more, they are selling Half Dome climbing permits, issued at no cost by the park.
These offers have shown up on Craigslist and may affect more parks than Yosemite as mentioned in the article. The scam could be simply scalping for more than the park's nightly charge, or could be worse, delivering nothing after you've made payment.
Regardless the cause of your trip spoiler, it's a good idea to have a backup plan. Just get to know what other RV parks or boondocking sites are nearby and keep their locations and contact information handy.
Reservation checklist: The following checklist may help you in choosing an RV park, making and confirming reservations, and having a backup plan should anything go wrong.
Research the RV parks on your travel route thoroughly using online RV park review sites, forum discussions and personal recommendations.
Call each and ask them specific questions about their policies and their park, noting all of the responses. Much of this information can be obtained in a general conversation rather than an interrogation-style questioning. Find out:
- The name of the person you talk to
- If they are the owner, manager, a work camper or permanent employee
- Space rates (nightly, weekly, monthly per your needs) including taxes
- What is included–full hookup, WiFi, cable, 20-30-50 amps, sewer, water, etc.
- What amenities they have–pool, spa, activity room, showers, toilets, laundry, barbeque pits
- If the pool is heated, or when it is open (months as well as hours)
- Do they allow pets or do they have restrictions on pets such as certain breeds of dogs
- How large are the spaces (length and width)
- Are the spaces shaded, especially in the afternoon
- Are the pads cement, grass, gravel, dirt and level
- Which cell phones and Internet access cards work in their park
- If they need a credit card to reserve your space
- If they charge any part of the fee before you arrive
- How much they charge in advance
- Their cancellation policies, cancellation within how many days or hours of your reservation
- The type of payment they take, credit cards (which ones,) out-of-state checks, cash
- How soon they credit your card for refundable charges
- If they notify you about any changes they make to your reservation
- Can you check in after the office closes, and how to do that
- Whether you have a space assigned now or if one will be assigned when you arrive
- Can you choose your space now if you have a preference
- Questions about the area such as activities, fishing, events, restaurants, services, stores
Once you've asked your questions, call again a few days later to speak with someone else. Ask more questions or just clarify some. Try to speak with the owner or manager to confirm everything you've been told. But, also, try to talk to an employee or work camper, especially if you are interested in work camping. Sometimes a less-invested employee will be more honest about aspects of the park than an owner or manager.
And if you're told they're booked for the days you want, call back often to see if there have been any cancellations. When you call back, ask to speak to the owner. Often he knows things employees don't.
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