The owner kicked my family out within five minutes of backing into our campsite, including my 5 month old infant and excited to camp by the river for the weekend six year old. We had traveled over 3 hours to arrive just before our kids bedtime. He did not refund any of our money for the two night stay.
What happened?
Upon arriving around 6:30 the check in was closed, the website listed it closed at five o’clock. I’ve been involved with managing a campground for over a decade and when this happens campers select a site and set up, check in is then completed once the office/gatehouse is open and staffed.
We made a reservation for an end site 1 month prior to arrival, of the dozen sites, one end site was taken, so we back into the other end site which was vacant, my six year old and I get out to signal my husband when to stop backing as to not go over the hill.
A man approaches quickly from the house next door.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” He asks in a loud voice. Immediately unprofessional.
I tell him we have a reservation, and he asks why we didn’t stop to check in. I tell him the office is closed and the website indicates it closed 1.5 hours earlier.
“You should have called the OWNER,” he says, “you don’t just pull into a campground like this!
I repeat we have a reservation and that the house/office/checkin was closed. “Well who are you then? Oh wait let me guys you’re the WORKMANS?!”
Which we are not, and he apparently needs a class in hospitality or basic manners. He insists we should have called, getting apparently very angry, which I am too by now.
“I don’t mean to be an @$$hole,” he says.
“Then stop being one, and if you want people to stop anytime maybe you should update your hours,” I told him.
“You can just leave!” he informs us.
This was unprovoked, unprofessional, and completely out of nowhere. It could have been correctly addressed with two questions, what name is the reservation under and what site did you think you had. If he initiates conversations with all guests in this way I have no idea how he’s still in business.
Disappointed.