Reservation Issues

[jdwright]

Motorhome travel gives us the ability to live a more nomadic life without the structure and issues associated with travel via other means. One of the best items is the ability to make short term decisions about where your next desitination will be and how long you wish to stay. With smart phones and all sorts of RV Park and Resort apps available, the process is far less complicated than the old method of going to a park to see if they have any suitable space available.

I am planning a trip to South Louisiana and intend to spend a week in New Orleans. We go when our schedule allows. We discovered that the NO Jazz Heritage Festival would be in progress during our stay which would likely limit available space. We stayed twice previously and Ponchartrain Landing RV Resort. Our experience with their reservation system, for this trip and previous trips were unacceptable.

The information below is from an email message I sent after waiting 30 hours for them to tell me they had no space other than overflow:

As an individual who has stayed at Ponchartrain Landing more than once and had other travelers who also stayed as the result, I must say that I am sorely disappointed with your reservation procedure. This is not the first time that I experienced this problem with Ponchartrain Landing.

I logged onto your web site on Wednesday and complete the reservation information below. I recall that the web site says something like we will be contacted within 12 hours of the availability of a site for the period of our stay.

First, when travelers call a hotel or motel for reservations, they would not get many reservations if their system told them it would be 12 hours before they know if the requested room is available or not. As a long time RV’er and a business traveler, any place who could not tell me if they had space available or not would be off my list permanently. My wife and I have enjoyed Rving for more than 40 years, and one of the points we enjoy is not having to make reservations well in advance which gives us a lot more freedom to travel on our own schedule, not someone else’s schedule. A 12 or 30 hour response time to whether a RV Park or Resort has space available for the period we intend to stay is simply unacceptable. I can drive from Dallas to New Orleans or in the latter case from the East Coast to New Orleans and not know if we are going to have a site reserved in a Park or Resort.

Secondly, I did not receive any response whatsoever in 12 hours. Finally, I received a non-descript email 30 hours after placing my reservation request on line to find the only space available is overflow. Overflow works in the short run, but the notice didn’t mention the short run or the long run, or a price adjustment for lack of services available.

Ponchartrain Landing is OK, but for the rates, I would expect paved streets in the park at a minimum. It rained several days of the last two times we stayed and the park becomes a huge mud hole. A waterfront view is nice, but it would be better if it were Lake Ponchartrain rather than a canal. But even so, we lived with it twice because of convenience, but there are limits and we have hit ours.

J. David Wright

F78957

The park is not that great but it is convenient which is why we stayed there before. The last trip we were returning from Florida and logged on seeking reservations, and did not receive a call back either and drove from Florida to the edge of Louisiana on I-10 and finally called them about our requested reservation. This is a prime example of what RV'ers don't want from RV Parks and is also one of the reasons that other alternatives such as Walmart overnight is so popular.

[jdwright]

A 29 year FMCA member is NOT a NEWBIE.

[kaypsmith]

Welcome to the forum, and please don't be offended at the Newbie on the post, this only refers to the forum section. Thanks for your 29 years with FMCA.

Sorry for your misfortunes at that park.

Happy trails, Kay

[gaylemarlowe]

JD Wright,

We have had a similar problem with a campground in Michigan. It is very close to our grandson's home whom we pick up every summer to take to Colorado to spend the summer with us. The campground is quite well tended, spacious, and affordable, but they are very lazy in getting back to us about our reservation requests. We also don't like to be forced to reserve way in advance as it is just a little too inconvenient to try to plan our trips that concretely.

But, with the benefits this park gives us, we have so far put up with the loooong response. Wish it was different. Hope you find a better one or they wake up like they should.

[royclem]

This may not be an option for you, but we always make reservations on the phone. That way we can find out in real time if there are spaces available. As a full timer this may not be an option as you may not have a schedule planned but it does give us options if CG or Resort is booked.

School vacation is among us so last week we called a local RV Resort and found four spots available. If we had tried online it is likely those spaces would have been taken. Like I said may not be an option for you but I always make reservations by phone and confirm with e-mail.

As far as 30 hr wait-- it definitely is unacceptable.

ROY

[kaypsmith]

I use http://www.reserveamerica.com/

This is the best experience I have when internet shopping, especially on short notice.

They have a huge database, and all parks that are signed with them come into play in your search.

[tbutler]

Then there is the last minute thing. We hardly ever make reservations more than a few hours ahead of time. One time we were in California headed east on I-80. It looked like Reno was going to be our overnight stop so we called a park. They said that the "Hot August Nights" celebration was going on and they were full but the lady said they had just had a cancellation so we got a spot. We went into town, enjoyed the vintage car parade, enjoyed the crowd and got a good nights sleep. It doesn't work all the time but you just never know.

As to the newbie tag, after you have made a certain number of posts, maybe 20 or 30 your tag will change. Newbie refers to your status on the Forum! Welcome JD and keep coming back!

[smokeater75]

Here's another one, on are way back home we leave Indio Ca. for Grass Valley Ca. and stop at an RV park called Sun and Fun in Tulare. It doesn't have alot of overnight spots and at the end of March early April it gets busy with snow birds heading home.

Knowing this, we book a spot a month in advance on the phone. This year we stopped there and could see that the spots where we could fit were all taken. We went into the office knowing we had a reservation and were told by the person at the desk that they did have a spot for us but after the office was closed they had someone come in and take the spot. We were told that they didn't give our spot away, someone took it. I asked the man at the desk if he understood what the word reservation meant and he told me he did and that normally people who reserve ahead check with them the day before to see if there is room.

We left and will never stop there again. I will mention that we have been stopping there for the past 7 yrs without a problem, unfortunately new people have taken over the park and this is how they will be doing business I guess.

Smokeater75