Buckeye Lake-Columbus East KOA

POTHOLE CITY!

Its disappointing to pull into a campground and hit numerous potholes as soon as you pull in. We have stayed at this campground over the last 4 years and these potholes have been an ongoing issue without resolution. I believe its important for campgrounds to prioritize safety for their guest, especially when children are involved. I have witnessed children running and riding bikes down the road and have crashed or fallen due to the potholes. I hope management takes this feedback seriously and addresses the problem promptly.

I generally don’t review places but after reading so many other reviews I feel I need to do so. So first off I don’t really have much bad to say about the campground itself. Great location and it’s a nice place. However like so many other reviews the main problem is the one employee Steve. To be clear his is not the manager but acts like it. If you have an issue ask for Sheri! Steve is one of the nastiest people I have ever seen. I would be embarrassed as an adult to conduct myself in the manner he does. The way he talks to people is so degrading and disrespectful. He should be no where near people and should never be a member of a KOA team. If come to this KOA , honestly just avoid him at all cost.

I am not one to normally post a review; good, bad, or indifferent, but after years of being a seasonal at this campground I felt compelled to let others know my experience of being there. I was introduced to the campground from friends who had been going there for many years and when I first went, it was so much fun. I was in a very standard seasonal spot year one, but under the previous management a spot opened with a deck and notified me of the opportunity to move and I couldn’t wait! Management in my first two years was heavily involved and always made a point to visit with the seasonal campers to check in with how things were going. Sadly, this past season the KOA got new management. At first, everything seemed good. Check in was a friendly experience and although a new staff, there seemed to be a lot of employees there to handle the sites. The campground opens on April 1 (although the manager, Sheri, told us that the season truly didn’t open until Memorial Day weekend - funny because our contracts said April 1…) and by Memorial Day, they laid off half the employees. At that point, things started to go down hill quickly. The seasonal side of the campground got absolutely no attention. Roads were devoid of gravel and during the two week dry spell, just walking down the road kicked up heavy dust. Trees continually lost branches even damaging some campers (not major, but a broken skylight is still broken) and one branch even came crashing down on a tent site (thank god they were not in their tent or it could have been extremely bad). Then the way people were treated became very rude and even to levels of hostility. One employee continually called the seasonal side the “slums”, some would drive past extremely slowly and stare if anyone was congregating, and one in particular would be extremely rude and hot headed (Steve). Back when Rhonda managed the campground, we truly felt taken care of and she made us feel like we were all a family. The new management had no clue how to run a campground and it became wildly apparent. It truly just fell apart this year and absolutely no improvements were made even with an increase to cost from the year prior. The office closed early, kids activities were cut short or were non existent, pool hours that were posted were never maintained, even if you wanted to purchase gravel for your site none was present to do so, roads were falling apart,… I could go on and on. They also removed security from the entrance so anyone could drive in and non-seasonals were not even brought into their spots. Then came time for our new contracts. Yet another increase which was at minimum over $500 with some sites seeing nearly $1000 increases for next season. Additionally, all of the things that made being a seasonal special became things that were no longer allowed. No fencing (although then some were told up to 4’ fencing was allowed but they would not write that into the contract), no covered areas, no storage, decks that were previously there would have to be removed, no pergolas (even if brand new), all campers had to be skirted, etc. They also wrote in that you agreed to all rules within the contract PLUS any that they may come up with during the contracted season. The new contract even went so far as to indemnify them from any damages from trees as they know how many dead trees are littered throughout the property. I almost forgot to mention, they began billing electric monthly this year. No big deal on that except the fact that they would charge your card, but never present a bill to you. I was charged higher rates than neighboring campers that would leave their air on all week and had family’s of four whereas my camper only ever had two people. It truly is a shame how the ownership and management of the campground has let it go this bad… I know that they we will probably refill with workers building for Intel, but that will only last three years and they will have already burned bridges with dozens of seasonals which is sad. Things need to change there and hopefully for them, it’s quickly.

The central character of many complaints is Steve. He has zero business in anything related to customer service. Many of these complaints include people relating Steve’s “take it or leave it” attitude. Nothing turns people off more than a person who has no idea how to communicate through missed expectations of a customer. He isn’t the only problem at this KOA, but he is a gigantic detriment to the ideals KOA holds. And this place really wouldn’t be rated as a “Holiday” KOA if it were not near Buckeye Lake. I could go on, but nobody is really listening. Just read Brian’s responses. Probably a nice guy with a tough job, but he has no ability to affect change. It has so much lost potential. Might come back if things change. Not banking on it though.