Thousand Trails: A Rip-off with Poor Customer Service, Communication & Management. Oregon House, California
We decided to take advantage of the complimentary 3days-2nites offer. We called ahead to see if was OK to bring our boat, and also if it was Ok to meet our children and grandchildren Sunday at the preserve for a picnic. We were told that would be Ok, they took their names, and said that there may be a $5 charge. We said that would be Ok. We were also told that because it was a small lake, with a no-wake policy, and 5HP restriction, we could not bring our boat. When we arrived, we again mentioned that we planned to meet our children Sunday, and were assured by the "rangers" and our "Guide (salesperson) that this would be no problem. Our guide took us to our campsite, and we confirmed the tour & presentation meeting for 9am Saturday morning.
After setting up camp, while walking around the preserve we couldn't help but notice that others had brought their boats (over 5HP), and were using them. The next morning, when we met our guide, we mentioned this, he apologized for this, saying that it must have been a misunderstanding on the part of the rangers.
The presentation and tour were good, Josh was courteous, and seemed fairly knowledgeable of membership options , willing to answer most questions that we had. We saw him several times during the day, and discussed various aspects of membership. while not pushy, he did ask if we were considering it (as a good salesperson should), we told him "not yet"-that were still considering it.
Later that afternoon, we met Josh in the Adult Lounge, and told him that we had decided against it, and discussed the reasons why. He seemed understanding, and said that he would be around if we had more questions.
We really enjoyed our stay, until Sunday. After church services, we went back to our campsite to wait for our kids. We had left them a voice mail Saturday evening, giving them our site# to give to the ranger at the gate when they came in, and confirmed the time,11am.
We waited until 11:30, at which time we called them, got their voice mail.
At 1pm, we went up to the Lodge, called them again. Not home. We left at 1:45pm. When driving out, we stopped at the gate. My wife asked if our guests had arrived. She was told no, but if they had, they would have been waved on thru to meet us. When arriving home that afternoon, there was a voice mail from my son.
He said that they had arrived at the gate about 11:10. He told the rangers at the gate that they were to meet us, and gave them our campsite#. The ranger held them at the gate, told him that they attempted to locate us and could not find us (we were at the campsite!); that they called the sales office, that the sales office could not locate us. My family was turned away at the gate.
I called Josh, and he said that he was the only salesperson there at the time, and had not been called. I told him what had happened, he blamed it on the rangers.
Because of our conflicting schedules, visits with our children and grandchildren are rare.
This was an excellent opportunity for us ruined by your 1000 Trails personnel.
Bruce & Debbie
Auburn, California
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Paul
Anaheim,California,
U.S.A.
A "free" visit to a campground? No thanks! I wasn't born yesterday.
#3Consumer Suggestion
Sun, September 19, 2004
I have an rv. The way to buy campground space is to pay a fee as you go. You never pay in advance and take your chances. With the numbers you guys are talking about, it doesn't sound like any kind of a deal. Why in the world would you agree to this in the first place?
The couple at the top, who took the free offer, were setting themselves up for a problem. Everyone over the age of 6 knows that you don't get something for nothing. Anyone would already know that the "free" visit was just a way of getting them to come in for a sales presentation. And, since thousand trails costs a ton of money, common sense tells you it is going to be 3 days of aggravation. I get these offers all the time. They go right in the trash, along with the letters telling me that I have already won millions of dollars in a contest.
Why didn't you simply buy three days at a real campground? Pay the normal fee. Your family would have been welcome to visit. You could have had your boat. As grandparents, do you really have that many good days left that you can afford to waste 3 of them with this kind of nonsense? Next time, pay the fee, at a real campground. Let the "free" offers go to the fools who believe in santa claus. The trouble you avoid will more than make up for the price you pay. Good luck!
Dorothy
Seattle,Washington,
U.S.A.
Maintenance fee
#3REBUTTAL Individual responds
Fri, September 17, 2004
I feel that the maintenace fee outrageuos and should not cost so much to get the maintenance done, I understand that they have to maintain it but people cannot always afford the fees. Clients that have already paid in full for the resorts that they have purchase should not have to pay the great amount of the fee. It cost $300-$500 dollars every 6 months or a year.
As for my family and I have not used the resorts for the last 3 years because death in family, lost of jobs and financial problem are not able to pay the maintenance and went sky rockets because of a none-payment. I don't think it's fare for others that had not used the resorts for so long and yet get charged for the dues.
We thought that since we have not used it that we won't get charge. They should charge clients when they use the facility within the day that they are there and one time fee, not every year that cost $3---$500 dollars.
The customer service told us that we will be sent to collection if we don't pay the maintenance due fee's or we could just surrender the resorts so they won't charge us for the next month dues. I though that was a bit ridiculios, but we have no other choices but to do what is best for us.
Right now we owe $980.00 dollars of maintenance fees that they we're charging and not ever used it for 3 years of maybe more. My opinion is to give there client a little slack where we all could afford to be there client for a long time of period. Because there outreagous fees that we as a client do not recommend others to even buy or join the member of this type of resorts.