It’s been a very disheartening season. I have never seen so many negative campground reviews and comments EVER in all the years I have been running this web site. Some were so inappropriate, that they never became them public. It has been a disappointing summer.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t believe this site should be all positive reviews and feedback, but the negativity has to be constructive; it has to be useful for site visitors to read and helpful to campgrounds to learn from.
Yes, campers are stressed. Many can only afford one vacation for the year, and they choose camping because it’s less expensive than airfare and hotel rates. But it seems that people are expecting more than ever for their $30 or $40 a night.
Before you start complaining about your stay, stop and think about the reasoning behind your complaints and demands.
“The owners were rude”
“The bathrooms were filthy”
“Roads are full of ruts”
“The campsite was muddy”
“They made us go to bed at 11pm”
“There was nothing for my children to do”
Campgrounds are a business! Like so many other businesses around New England, they are feeling the financial pinch. Some campground owners are on the brink of losing their business. Staff has been let go, repairs go unfixed, bathrooms are not cleaned, sales are down, loan payments are due, taxes & insurance rates have been increased, and stress levels are high. It’s no wonder that campground owners are moody and unhappy.
Your negative comments are not just a way for you to blow off steam because you had a bad vacation at a campground. Your comments are affecting the livelihood of other human beings!
Campgrounds rely on word of mouth advertising. Complaints can cause a decrease in sales, and that ultimately causes more staff loss or worse the loss of the whole business.
To repeat, I am not discouraging negativity; it wouldn’t be fair to expect everyone to only post positive comments, and it would be boring too. But the comments and reviews received have been increasingly demanding and pretentious; it’s an attitude of “I am the customer, & I am always right” and there is an element of revenge or “payback” in some of the comments. It really makes me sad that people are not more compassionate.
So please THINK before you post a comment or send a review. Think about how your negativity is going to be received on the other end, and maybe soften your words so it is constructive and not hurtful.
Thank you for listening to my rant. Happy Camping!
Could it be that with the ailing economy the campgrounds have cut back in staffing hence the dirty bathrooms and poorly maintained facilities? Muddy—well look at the weather we had in early summer.
I agree with the constructive criticism.
Sounds like a good discussion topic on the forum.
Posted by NewEnglandCamper (Bob C) on 08/17/09
As a lover of camping and also a business person I find this topic fascinating. Somewhere in the past few years, it seems that folks have gone anti-business. If folks want to earn some money, they’re almost considered greedy. This could be due to the fact that the economy stinks and a lot of big businesses (Enron, for example) have taken advantage of their employees and their customers. This is extremely unfair to small business owners who take the risk of going into business and put their blood, sweat and tears into it. Most of these owners are honest folks like you and I, except that they own a business.
However, I do feel that smart business people don’t take their customers for granted and regardless of their own economic well-being should find a good balance between customer service and profitability. If you treat your customers well, good word of mouth will come. Treat them badly and the power of the Web will hurt you big time these days. The Web is not very forgiving when it comes to negative reviews so business owners need to keep this in mind that negative word of mouth grows like a weed online and it’ll hurt your bottom line more than spending a couple of extra dollars in cleaning a bathroom.
Wow, that was long.
Eric
Posted by Eric on 08/18/09
I agree. I read some of the reviews and find some of the comments very petty. I have been camping with my family for about 12 years. We usually visit six new campgrounds in a season. Some we like better than others. However, there are always strengths and weaknesses to everything. Part of the fun is experiencing different things. We take the good with the bad and move on. I honestly cannot remember a campground we hated! Camping is about being with your family and making memories. The other stuff is just fluff.
Posted by TMK on 08/20/09
Understood. I posted a negative comment recently and felt very conflicted about doing so - would it hurt the owners business? but they were so rude to us, should I worry about that? but there were good things about the camp ground…. So I took great care to state only facts, list all of the good things and not-so-good things, and to describe if something was my opinion and could be interpreted differently by others there at the time. I agree with you - people tend to get so petty. I did not have a great experience at this campground and it caters to a very specific crowd, so I felt it was appropriate to make my comments. But others should be careful and put themselves in the business owners shoes before they write - that and think about the fact that could be sued for slander if they go overboard in their petty review!
Posted by bumblebee on 08/20/09
I think this post is great! I agree, “pretentious” is the right word. That said, we saw CAMPERS being campground unfriendly and therefore the cause of littering etc.. Those that host and work are generally NOT the problem. Do we have to have a bathroom tutorial or something? How would you/me like to be the person cleaning up after someone who does not police their children nor themselves in the bathrooms and at the sites? Have we lost consideration? It’s camping and as a person above said.. “it’s about being with your family!”. We did that and I have not seen my daughter (13) SMILE so much in 6 months.. camping was a gift! THank you Tolland State Forest!
Posted by sachi on 08/23/09
Hi,
I have had all good experiences this year in campgrounds. Last campground was Balsam Woods in Abbot Village ME. WE go once a year and usually was have some rain, this year we had HOT and due to lack of electrical voltage we could not run our airconditioners. Oh well we jumped in the pool. They are going to update more sites(some had enough voltage to run big A/Cs but we did not) they were great in trying to make us comfortable and certainly would return.
You have to consider that a campground is a hard business to run, bad tv reception and you think itis the campground’s fault, NO it is the government that switched to Digiatal transmissions that do not go far.
Be aware that the campgrounds are open in NE for short period of time, the good ones survive and the others go belly up. Word of mouth is the name ofhte game so if you have a particular problem take it up with the campground OWNERS, not here unless your complaints fall on deaf ears.
Posted by Sandie on 08/28/09
We usually find that it, too, is the campers not being respectful of things rather than the owners being the problem.
We witnessed dog owners walking their pets and not cleaning up after them (quite obvious, too, when they do not carry a bag with them!)quite often. Went to a water site and dog pooh was all over. We have found this to be a repetitive problem in campgrounds we have enjoyed.
Can’t understand women leaving toilet paper and paper from feminine products scattered on the floors of the bathrooms. (When tenting, I think it’s a great luxury to have flush toilets - so let’s try to pick up after yourself!)
We have witnessed vehicles driving way too fast in the camping areas also. Young children are always riding their bikes or skipping along and having themselves a wonderful time.
I guess people need to be more aware and respectful of others and of the campgrounds. We are so fortunate to have these places to share times with our families.
Posted by Trafton on 08/30/09
As a campground owner I want to thank you for pointing out the obvious…at times it is the fault of staff but many times it is the customers themselves.
We clean our bathrooms 3 - 4 times a day and there is always abandoned soap, tissue on the floor, unflushed toilets and women leave behind some unsightly things on the floor!
We offer many amenities for our guest and 98% enjoy them. The other 2% expect you to babysit their children and have organized activities all day. Camping should involve the family having fun together. Modern campers sit around their tv and tell the kids to go have fun….the kids want to spend time with the parents that they don’t get to see much…everyone is let down. Shut off the tv, get a campfire going and enjoy your family.
For the guests that have a complaint that is valid, I think that all campground owners would address matters quickly! We recently had a camper that attempted to drain their gray water and the pipe was clogged. After a rather unpleasant investigation, it turned out he previous tenants has placed whole potatoes and carrots in the septic pipes. Although it was not our fault we quickly moved the campers to a new site. They were not happy that they had to pack up and move but we were not happy that the previous campers had clogged our drainage with whole produce.
You want to have fun…we provide the atmosphere for it but in the end we cannot control your fellow campers, the weather or your families expectations. There are many types of campgrounds just as there are many types of restaurants, it is not a one size fits all business. If you are looking for a relaxing vacation with a little bit of fishing ....check it out first. There are campgrounds for all types of campers just as there are hotels and motels for all types of overnight stays. Are you the Hilton type, Red Roof Inn, Days Inn….please know what you are looking for before you book your vacation. A resort might be great for the family but not for a couple looking for solitude for a weekend..
For those of you that are responsible, seasoned campers….thank you for caring. For those of you that are new to camping…don’t rate the campground on your expectations but rather on the amenities, sites and services that you receive at the campground.
Posted by Cheryl on 08/30/09
Wow, thank you all for your comments. I didn’t expect such great feedback!
When I was writing the article, initially I had many thoughts and ideas that I decided to leave out of the article, just to try to keep it simple.
It’s funny that my omitted thoughts were echoed by all of you in your comments!
I am happy that my faith in “real” campers has been restored!
Thanks to all of you, and Cheryl, it’s great to hear from an actual campground owner on the subject!
Posted by That's Camping on 08/30/09
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