BC's Provincial Camp Grounds Rip-off

[Brian B-P]

Walmart refunds. You must know that.

Try buying special-order specialty auto parts at Walmart
For that matter, try returning anything to Walmart for a refund after their time limit, or returning without a receipt expecting to get cash back.
Different businesses, different conditions... different rules.

Restocking fees for reservations?

Sure. A partial refund would effectively be a restocking fee, and just like a restocking fee it would discourage people from ordering and changing their minds.

It is not uncommon for a deposit (for a custom-built product, or for an event registration) to be non-refundable or only partially refunded if the order is cancelled too late.

 

[J Mac]

Try buying special-order specialty auto parts at Walmart
For that matter, try returning anything to Walmart for a refund after their time limit, or returning without a receipt expecting to get cash back.
Different businesses, different conditions... different rules.


Sure. A partial refund would effectively be a restocking fee, and just like a restocking fee it would discourage people from ordering and changing their minds.

It is not uncommon for a deposit (for a custom-built product, or for an event registration) to be non-refundable or only partially refunded if the order is cancelled too late.

But we're not really talking or discussing about Walmart or car parts or special items or events are we? We're discussing camping reservations.
And I'd like to see reservations returned if they are canceled within a printed time frame and concidered a down payment or deposit or money towards the camping stay if used, not just taken away.

 

[Donna D.]

And I'd like to see reservations returned if they are canceled within a printed time frame and concidered a down payment or deposit or money towards the camping stay if used, not just taken away.

This is something you would need to take up with your elected officials. Even if you receive 100% agreement of the membership here on the EscapeForum, nothing is going to change.

 

[rbryan4]

This is something you would need to take up with your elected officials. Even if you receive 100% agreement of the membership here on the EscapeForum, nothing is going to change.

Precisely my point earlier in this thread. RV'ers are a pretty large contingent, but that does no good unless you make your voice heard by the powers that be.

 

[steve dunham]

Many States and Counties are no longer using general tax revenue to support their parks and are expecting the parks to be self supporting . I think the chances of parks refunding reservation fees or holding the line or cutting camping fees are SLIM & None.
The money to run the parks has to come from somewhere and the reservation system is a vital funding source.

 

[Ruthe]

We didn't go to Yellowstone last summer because I didn't want to be one of those stalking the folks who were leaving in order to get a campsite. Two years a go in Glacier we did just that and ended up with a great site, but I really don't like doing it. Making reservations ahead is something we do, but even then you never know. To get our sites in the Thousand Islands this summer, we were online at precisely 9 A.M last November when the sites became available. I look at the cancellation and registration fees as part of the cost, but it can add up.

So the bottom line problem seems to be not enough campsites during the peak times. Here's my radical idea that will go nowhere, but it would work -- cut back on the number of monthsthat kids have to be in school so that families can camp from May until October -- that will spread things out a bit except for the places where the snow doesn't melt until July. That way the kids might even look forward to going back to school.

Just my two cents.

 

[J Mac]

This is something you would need to take up with your elected officials. Even if you receive 100% agreement of the membership here on the EscapeForum, nothing is going to change.

I pretty much doubt, by reading these responses, that I'd get 100% agreement on this site. And I wasn't trying to. It took over 100 posts to get my point across as it is!!

 

[steve dunham]

We didn't go to Yellowstone last summer because I didn't want to be one of those stalking the folks who were leaving in order to get a campsite. Two years a go in Glacier we did just that and ended up with a great site, but I really don't like doing it. Making reservations ahead is something we do, but even then you never know. To get our sites in the Thousand Islands this summer, we were online at precisely 9 A.M last November when the sites became available. I look at the cancellation and registration fees as part of the cost, but it can add up.

So the bottom line problem seems to be not enough campsites during the peak times. Here's my radical idea that will go nowhere, but it would work -- cut back on the number of monthsthat kids have to be in school so that families can camp from May until October -- that will spread things out a bit except for the places where the snow doesn't melt until July. That way the kids might even look forward to going back to school.

Just my two cents.

We woke up to 39 Deg F last Saturday July 2nd, 2016 . Extending summer vacation would mean shortening the school year and would do little if anything in our area to lengthen the camping season.
Plus with the number of baby boomers retiring every year , the problem of crowded parks during the prime season is only going to get worse.
Families with children are losing out to the senior citizens who have more free time and expendable income..

 

[padlin]

We've always been shoulder season travelers to avoid bugs and the crowds. You can still avoid the bugs, not so much the crowds. At least in the popular areas.

 

[thoer]

We've always been shoulder season travelers to avoid bugs and the crowds. You can still avoid the bugs, not so much the crowds. At least in the popular areas.

Bob, we found out, with all of us baby boomers hitting the road now, that even the fall can be crowded. We pulled into the Capital Reef campground around noon in early October only to find we scored the last open campsite. We talked with a Ranger who told us that October has become one of their busiest month now. She was also boomer age, and said look around at the age of the majority of the folks here.

 

[Rossue2]

Eric - looks like Bob & I juat missed you as we met each other there and know firsthand of what you are speaking. BTW, did you harvest some apples there?

Was impressed with cg staff working in tandem with walkie talkies to help incoming first-comers find spots in the AM.

 

[thoer]

Ross, that was back in 2012. That year the apples were pretty much done when we arrived. The campground host was great. We pulled in, he said there are 2 sites left, one person is driving around deciding, pointed to one close by and said - I'd just pull in and take that one, and we did. The next day someone left this spot and we moved over to it.

 

[blhvet]

As much as Alberta's reservation system sometimes ticks me off and I grumble about the $12 reservation fee, there are some positives - not having to try and round up the correct change for the campground fee, and the knowledge that you will have a site when they get there. It's also nice that the booking site has multiple photos and panoramic views of each site, so you know exactly what you're getting.

 

[maurerl]

More capacity, as in more campgrounds, of the type like the provincial and state parks, or the forestry & BLM sites, would be the ideal solution in my world. Not more RV resorts. Well, maybe more of those, too, to absorb the large-RV contingent putting pressure on the "simpler" campsites, taking that resource away from the tenting/small-trailer contingent. BTW that last comment was tongue-in-cheek, lest I'm accused of being elitist!

Much as I dislike, and grumble about, reservation systems, it's not the fees, or the non-refundability thereof, that bother me as much the loss of spontaneity that a reservation system imposes. When I'm travelling, I never know from one day to the next where I'm likely to be a day or three down the road, never mind three months or a year away!

 

[blhvet]

I agree with the loss of spontaneity, but it seems the days of "driving until you get somewhere you want to stay and then stopping" are long gone.

 

[LarryandLiz]

Here is the website of the Salmon Arm company selling our campsites to agents (other RV rental companies). Canadian Camping Adventures - Home

From their Website.....

Welcome
Canadian Camping Adventures offer camper and motorhome rental packages to it's agents.
One contact is enough to get it all set up.
You might have your own direct contract with one of the rental companies, and that is not a problem as we offer pre-arranged itineraries including reservations for attractive (rustic) campgrounds, additional excursions and lots of 'local tips' are to be found in your customers' travel package that will be provided for every single reservation through us. And you can still manage the rentals! Cool? Yes, we think so!
Because that makes the difference between 'a nice holiday' and 'the best experience ever'!
Especially during the relatively busy summer holidays, this concept is very relaxing for travelers and
high in demand.
For the full itineraries and pricing, please contact us
................

So this Canadian company buys up BC campground sites to give people a relaxing holiday during busy summer months. This makes me see red.

 

[LarryandLiz]

More copy/paste from the companies website

1.We believe in the importance of building strong relationships with our travel partners, especially in today's world, as travel is all about people.
We will design a trip from scratch or customize one of our existing itineraries that will suit your customer's profile better.


2.Only an efficient reservation process makes doing business
interesting, for both of us. A single email with your client's details and the package they are interested in is enough for us to start the booking process.
An immediate confirmation of availability will follow. The sooner
you can make your customers happy, the better.

This is usually within 24 hours.

 

[Patandlinda]

More copy/paste from the companies website

1.We believe in the importance of building strong relationships with our travel partners, especially in today's world, as travel is all about people.
We will design a trip from scratch or customize one of our existing itineraries that will suit your customer's profile better.


2.Only an efficient reservation process makes doing business
interesting, for both of us. A single email with your client's details and the package they are interested in is enough for us to start the booking process.
An immediate confirmation of availability will follow. The sooner
you can make your customers happy, the better.

This is usually within 24 hours.

I for one find this disgusting . Pat

 

[Marry-ESC]

Like selling your soul.....

 

[LarryandLiz]

Fromthe BC Parks Reservation Rules website.Visiting Parks - BC Parks - Province of British Columbia

------Reservations are not transferable owners or holders found to be transferring or selling their reservations to another party, risk the chance that their reservation may be cancelled without a refund. If a customer can no longer use their reservation, they are encouraged to cancel their reservation so that any unused User Fees that are not forfeited as a penalty, can be automatically refunded to the credit card that was used to make the original reservation.
-------

In its defense The company says this..... (Private tour operator accused of snapping up B.C. provincial campsites - British Columbia - CBC News)

Van der Kraats said his company is not the problem; he books sites online the same way as everyone else.

"I do realize the frustration, it's just, it's not us making this happen," he said.

"We are just like everybody else. We just make some bookings, and if we can't book them, we book them somewhere else.

"We work with private campgrounds, we work with national parks, provincial parks, we do it like everybody else ... No privileges, no blocks. I mean we're just a small company."