Welcome to my nifty Dreambook, a free guestbook service from New Dream Network and the DreamHost!If you have a minute, please add your entry to those below by signing my Dreambook!
| Name: | hello |
| Comments: | first things first i use to work for RA and the first thing i want to address is to TARA YOUNG please get your info right this is not a canada based company they are out of calf. and they do not work with ticket master ticket master sold them out to a company in calf. and most of the agents get minawage and they get no more no raises they don't get noitced when they have worked for the company over a year you all keep saying that the agents are rude well you know what you would be rude too if you were called names on the phone for something you have no control over i mean i have been called as bad as a C*** now i will be rude and hang up on you you wouldnt call your mother or your wife names like that we get called these name because you can not see us face to face.. and all the rates are told to you and if you want to know a rate ask then you will get the rate... dont' take it out on a agent they didnt do anything wrong but try to go by the policy that are written out to them they can not change that policy in no way or form... so grow up or sell you trailer tent or what every ya want to sleep in and go sleep in a hotel oh what those prices have raised and you can not afford them and also cancle on of those resv on the day of and see what ya get back and yes you are charged a non refunable resv fee like most place you resv for you get charged that from camping to airplane tickets |
| Name: | Scott |
| E-mail address: | AZPeakFitness@aol.com |
| Comments: | I've read many angry posts against RA here and I must say that I do not share your views. I have had success in using this online service, but even if not, in this day and age you should expect bookings of this type to be done by computer. For specific campsite knowledge, I call the local campground "ahead" of making my reservation online. My disappointment is on a much larger scale in that access for dispersed camping in general is disappearing. Thank goodness I live in Arizona which has a lot of BLM land. But the beautiful state of California becomes an impossible task to experience in the freedom and spirit that it once was. Scott |
| Name: | Miles |
| E-mail address: | helpdesk@reserveamerica.com |
| Comments: | Regarding winter camping, many campgrounds adjust the number of "reservable sites" by season. Simply because they appear to be sold out, in fact many remain for a "walk-in". Popular locations in CA like Mt. Tam, Sea Clff, Refugio, Doheny tend to stay fully booked all year long, and only one or two overflow sites remain. |
| Name: | Tara Young |
| Comments: | Yes, ReserveAmerica is Canadian owned, albeit a division of TicketMaster (also Canadian owned). Furthermore, ReserveAmerica has pulled jobs from New York and California for tech and help desk support. Because the contracts with certain states require call centers within their boundaries, RA complies, moving the beter paid, more highly skilled jobs up north, leaving the minimum wage, entry level, barely benefitted employees to work the call centers. Due to call rotations, your reservation agent may not be in the state contracted, therefore not knowledgeable or helpful. Dependent on contract, a percentage of all fees do go back to each state. Daily use camping fees themselves are set by the states. |
| Name: | Donald R Turlington |
| E-mail address: | dontigger@gmail.com |
| Comments: | I do agree with you about the fee's, but you were told of them BEFORE you reserved. Customer Service HAS gone to pot for years in almost every business, not just RA. I just used the system to book for Allegany State park in N.Y. for August. ( we'll see what happens. ) But in RA defense, They are the Third party for a reason, they are a business, and they are on a phone so they don't care cause you can't get them fired. I have been in a hotel type of business and you can not believe the hassel people cause by booking, then canceling, re-booking....ect ect. That is why the fee's are so much. It is to discourge you from doing so. And if you take a part back to an automotive place now you pay a re-stocking fee, so........... I agree that you got semi screwed, and I agree that they can improve the system, but all in all, it is brand new, and they haven't worked out ALL the kinks yet. It is also a shame that the woman canceled your reservation anyway. I have learned to get their name or I.D. number, and I even now ask for a supervisor..... Good luck in the future! |
| Name: | Connor |
| E-mail address: | connor@yahoo.ca |
| Homepage URL: | http://step.977mb.com/lortab/lortab-elixer.html |
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| Name: | Mike |
| E-mail address: | mebm14th@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | As explained many times, RA is not a Canadian company. I don't know where people are getting this idea, unless they are trusting wikipedia. The same company that owns TicketMaster, Active Networks, is the parent company. Also, per night camping fees are assigned by the state, not RA. All other business rules are what the state assigns, whether they use RA or not. RA has control of the reservation and change/cancel fees, which are approved by the state. |
| Name: | unhappy camper |
| Comments: | Today, while I was at one of the Gulf Islands National Shore areas, I stopped at the ranger station to ask questions about camping in the newly reopened campgrounds which had been shut down for several years due to hurricane destruction and the Bush administration's withholding of federal funding for reconstruction. The ranger said they will soon be using Reserve America, but until then, I can get a campsite on a first-come first-served basis. I said I dislike Reserve America and explained that I got rid of my RV several years ago, partly because of Reserve America's policies. He replied that he and his co-workers want Reserve America to take over because it will lighten the rangers' workload, especially since there has been a substantial reduction in force; he expects it will make his work easier and provide him with more time off. His overall response to me was a clear indication that he was displeased with my opinion about Reserve America. I had been thinking about buying another RV, but now I think that would be a waste of money since Reserve America has evidently taken control of most state and national park campgrounds. |
| Name: | Robert Baker |
| E-mail address: | mycasita@aol.com |
| Comments: | Camping in California is going through some rough times. Arnold Schwartznagger, our governor wants to close 200 of our campgrounds because of the budget crunch. It costs $32 per night now to camp in a state campground, and yes, you have to reserve through Reserve America. A county campground (Lake Cachuma, just north of Santa Barbara) will be going to Reserve America because they say it is more cost effective. I feel I might as well sell my truck and trailer because it is becoming too expensive to spend a few days in a campground on a retirement income. |
| Name: | Todd Stiles |
| E-mail address: | tlstiles@sbcglobal.net |
| Comments: | I'm done with wasting my early morning every first of the month trying to get a campsite with this jackass outfit. You jump through all THEIR hoops, get logged in and sit there waiting to start clicking on a specific campsite only to be outdone by someone or something else but can you quickly jump to an ajoining campsite? NO, hell no their system will bump you off, or ask you to again sign in or who knows what. Reserve America is a prime example of the total loss of customer service in America. On top of that we find that the cost of our favorite campground in CA jumped 38% from $47 a night to $65 a night this year. If it was not worth the hasstle before then it is certainly not worth it now. They can screw themselves now, especially since they woun't have us to screw anymore. |
| Name: | Amy T |
| E-mail address: | amylt2004@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | Our story is one similiar. Our favorite camping spot in upstate NY where my husband has been camping now for 30 years has become a source of frustration, anxiety and anger!!! The fees we have paid to make, change, or adjust our reservations usually adds up to about $50.00 a year. We do have one further suggestion and would appreciate any ideas or support others may have on this. We believe very strongly that the 9 month window should apply residents of the state. Persons wishing to make reservations at a campground out of state would not be able to reserve a site until an 8 month window. This would ensure that the taxpayers supporting their parks would have first choices. Because the only thing worse than a canadian company controlling our reservations is the damn canadians getting your camp site!! |
| Name: | In the Know |
| Comments: | KOA uses ReserveAmerica for reservations...The ReserveAmerica agent that told someone to use the private campground, KOA, if they didn't like reserving state camping through ReserveAmerica knew this... ReserveAmerica has monopolized camp reservations. Monopolies tend to care less about customer service as they know your choices are limited. It's deal with us or go without as far as ReserveAmerica is concerned. As you can see from the employees comments on here, the lack of concern for service and the level of intelligence this company employs. As well, one employee has remarked that the agents are 'working long hours' and another that ReserveAmerica pays them very little and gives them little if any recognition ReserveAmerica does not care about your level of service, your vacation plans, or your complaints. The bottom line is the only thing they are watching...and your not in it ! Private campgrounds and recreations that use ReserveAmerica are •KOA •Encore/ELS Reservations •Thousand Trails |
| Name: | Mark Miller |
| E-mail address: | miller_90201@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | Every year I organize a trip of 8th grade students from our school in southern California for a 3-day trip to tour the Capitol and the historic parts of Sacramento. I have to make the Capitol tour reservations through Reserve America. Every year, it is a complete nightmare. This year, reservations for the tour supposedly became available at 8 a.m. on October 24th. I began dialing three different phones at that exact moment. Using redial, I estimate that each phone was making three calls per minute; at the end of 40 minutes of doing this, I finally got stopped getting the "all lines are busy" recording. I estimate that was about 350 phone calls. THEN, I call a recording from R/A, "A representative will be with you shortly." As I write this, I have been listening to that recording for about one hour. I happened to have gotten through on a cell phone; the battery ran down, so I had to find my charger, while still on hold, and plug it in. The recording also says "reservations are available on line at ReserveAmerica.com" This is simply a lie. The only thing available on their website is for CAMPING. I've spent almost an hour trying to make a TOUR reservation for my kids on line; it can't be done. This is the worst company I have EVER worked with ,for anything. They obviously have an exclusive contract with the government! |
| Name: | Kathy S. |
| E-mail address: | stateladyvstar@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | Exactly how much of these fees go back into the state coffers?????????????????????????? |
| Name: | Ron Witt |
| E-mail address: | witt_rs@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | My wife and I have faced our own horrors with Reserve America. We try to stay in state parks as much as possible enjoying the larger campsites and greater privacy offered over the privately owned parks. Unfortunately, I have found many of the park rangers in our state parks as essentially lazy. This is why a company such as Reserve America easily contracted with these parks to schedule their reservations. Yes, I too believe a better, simplier and cost effective system is possible but it would require more effort from the parks and the rangers hired. |
| Name: | frustrated |
| Comments: | I just want to say that I think it is ridiculous to try and book a campsite with RA. I try every year to book a cabin at a NYS park in the summer and every year I get nothing!!! I wake up every sat. morning at 8:30 to get on the RA website and start clicking on the book now button at about 8:55 just hoping that I will actually snag something. But NO everything is booked!!!! How is it possible that everything is reserved already by 9 am on the dot? Why can't I get through? And forget calling RA by the time you get through to someone everything is gone! There has got to be some unknown trick to this because someone is getting these sites!!! Then the worst of it is when I settle for a tent site and then I get there and half of the cabins are empty? WTF!!!! Why can't we just call the parks to reserve like we used to? F*** RA and their stupid unreservable site!!!! |
| Name: | anthony caccamo |
| E-mail address: | antcaccamo@optonline.net |
| Comments: | you are absolutely right Reserve America SUCKS big fat camping logs it is the worst company to deal with when it comes to making reservations rude bastards stuipd motherfers who give a shit less for the poeple they should be helping F--- THEM Canadian F---'s... |
| Name: | unhappy camper |
| Comments: | To help understand why our legislators have given private companies control of access to public campgrounds, search online for "privatization of the public sector," "neoliberalism," and "enclosure." Privately controlled access is only the first step toward eventual selling of public parks to private owners. It needs to be understood that private operators obtained control of the parks through backroom deals with legislators - the public was never asked to vote on it and it was never an issue in the media. Campers might want to find out the names of the legislators who are responsible for giving campground access to the private sector without asking their constituents' approval. |
| Name: | John Piggott |
| E-mail address: | john.piggott@gmail.com |
| Comments: | I have had my difficulties with RA. I can not for the life of me reserve the site I want no matter how many days I log in for 09:00 am openning of the system. Even when I get to the checkout and have given all of my information I get the same error every time, and lose the booking. When dealing with a monopoly we lose the free enterprize incentive to do a good job. Reserve America saves the parks money by managing their reservations. There is no reason for Reserve Ameerica to offer any quality service as they are the only show in town and no one will or can challenge them. When a compeditor steps up, RA will find that is not as easy getting money for nothing. Have a good camping year anyway, JP |
| Name: | bblhed |
| Comments: | Yes, they do suck oh so bad! Here in CT until this week camp sites were $15, get two days and that is $30, What's up with a reservation fee that is almost 30% of what the camp site would cost? And now they want $9 to cancel. These people are nothing but thieves that probably promised these states that reservations would keep their campgrounds full. Here is a nice little tidbit for you as well, it you do the walk in thing at your local campground, they charge you teh $9 fee at the desk. Thieves!!! |
| Name: | meg edwards |
| E-mail address: | megje@optonline.net |
| Comments: | There cancelation policy is the worst ! Lost $80.00 to cancle of season. for 2 nights. will never use them again ! |
| Name: | debbie maillet |
| E-mail address: | debbiemaillet@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | Yes I agree this reservation fee of $9.50 and all the cancellation fees suck. I live in Canada and I will tell you the camping fees here are very very expensive, recently went for a 2 night stay near kingston ontario, total cost was $71.00 for 2 nights. Compared to camping in the U S even with the fees, the U S is a steal compared to canada. |
| Name: | justin |
| E-mail address: | zeroten@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | i applaud your vigilance against sucky companies. bravo. |
| Name: | duuuu |
| Comments: | RA IS NOT A CANDIAN BASED COMPANY THE COMPANY IS IN AMERICA NOT IN CANADA GET THAT STRAIGHT IF YOU WOULD USE YOUR BRAIN ONCE IN YOUR LIFE YOU WOULD FIGURE RA OUT THEY HAVE RULES THEY HAVE TO FALLOW THEY COME FROM THE STATE AND CAMPGROUNDS THEY HAVE TO PUT THOSE TO TWO POLICY TOGEATHER AND MAKE ONE LETS SEE U DO THAT AND MAKE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS AND CANDIANS HAPPY WITH OUT GETTING COMPLAINTS OH YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO THAT BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT SMART TO FIGURE OUT RA SO GIVE UP AND GO SOMEWHERE ELES AND QUIT PUTTING AGENTS DOWN THAT ARE JUST DOING THEIR JOB THEY ARE HIRED TO DO A JOB ITS NOT THE AGENTS FAULT ABOUT THE POLICY SO QUIT YELLING AT THEM ABOUT IT IF YOU HAVE SUCH A PROMBLEM ABOUT RA AT THE BOTTOM OF RESERVEAMERICA AND RECREATION.GOV THERE IS A CONTACT US COMPLAIN THERE IF YA NEED TO BUT DON'T YELL AT THE AGENTS FOR SOMETHING THE COMPANY THEY WORK FOR DID GROWN UP DUMBASS |
| Name: | wrg |
| Comments: | I love Reserve America. I currently have 7 trips booked thru RA at my favorite State Parks including two water front 13 day trips in the keys at Thanksgiving and Christmas and two water front at the most popular South Carolina Beach State Park. I take pleasure in all your comments knowing the more you have problems the easier it is for me to get the sites I want. PS I may not be able to use the 13 day trip at Bahia Honda at Chistmas. watch RA it may become available soon. and yes RA wiil charge me a cancelation fee, why shouldn't they. RA is a for profit business, they must pay for computers, servers, office space, employees, power, water. By canceling I am creating additional work for RA, why would I expect to not pay for it. Just from the comment posted here how many extra employees do you think RA must hire just to handle cancelations. If I do work for someone I expect to be paid, if they require additional work I charge extra money. For those of you that want something for nothing, move to Canada. |
| Name: | Crystal Schultz |
| E-mail address: | magellan@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | I was shocked to discover this site when going to reserve a camping spot for my birthday next month. I have had multiple bad experiences with ReserveAmerica and am extremely resentful that I have no choice but to do deal with them whenever I want to camp in a state park. The agents I've spoken to have always been very unhelpful and sometimes downright rude, even with I'm just making a reservation and not even complaining or trying to cancel. In fact, I've never complained or tried to cancel anything and yet their suckyness has still managed to make and indelible impression on me. And that, in my opinion, shows the true depth of their suck. It's one thing to be rude and unhelpful when someone is having a problem with their service or/is being difficult, it's yet another when someone is just trying to peacefully give you their money. What a poor way to represent America's wonderful state parks!! Shame on you ReserveAmerica!!! |
| Name: | amber |
| Comments: | AAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to just be able tp pick up and go again, what camoing is all about. I hate RA,I hate capitalism, and I hate RA! |
| Name: | Tom |
| Comments: | I couldn't agree more. RA is a web-based system that you have to use a telephone to change a reservation on. This defeats the whole purpose of a web-based system. The hours for the customer service line for NYS Parks render it unavailable approximately 71% of the time (and the 29% of the time it is available pretty much consists of standard working hours when most folks have higher priorities than sitting on the phone to change a camping reservation). Perhaps that's why RA customer service is so poor, their employees are all taking care of personal telephone calls when they should be attending to their jobs... I could take the former RA employee's advice and just use KOA campgrounds (which I often do, they too are very nice), but on second thought, rather than write off all the beautiful state parks that I contribute toward as a taxpayer, I think I'll voice my concern (along with the hundreds of other folks that seem to feel the same) to my state officials. Perhaps they will consider contracting with an alternative company. |
| Name: | Andrew |
| E-mail address: | andrew@comcast.net |
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| Name: | Rob |
| E-mail address: | ufccv@cox.net |
| Comments: | I agree, Resurve America MAKES UP RULES AS THEY GO. You neve hear the same answar twice, it is imposible to deal with them. I called once when the lost a reservaton,I was able to get the rep. to admitt that they get lots of negative feed back and she agreed that somthing needed to be done. I gave up on booking and will not ever again go to a Rserve America camp-ground. |
| Name: | Andrew |
| Comments: | I go to the beach here in California twice a week. Since last Monday day parking went from $10 to $15 at all state beaches. The new day pass parking tickets now say Reserve America on them. I didn't reserve a parking spot! I don't like the 50% increase, especially when the company sponsoring my parking pass has a monopoly on state campgrounds in America! and I'm paying for there sponsorship. |
| Name: | mike |
| E-mail address: | magouldcapecod@comcast.net |
| Comments: | this is typical federal government. lets screw up a system that has worked great for years and hire a canadian company who gives two sh**s about you stupid americans.why dont we hire a mexican security company to protect our southern borders. Ime sure if I wanted to reserve a campsight in toronto, the telephone operator would finish the sentence with " aye ". but I still enjoy camping and will be camping until my last breath! |
| Name: | Roger L |
| E-mail address: | inquires@getcampsites.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.getcampsites.com |
| Comments: | For those of you who get frustrated because you can never get into certain state and federal parks, check out www.getcampsites.com We search reserveamerica every few hours to find your favorite sites/dates, and it's free. |
| Name: | Sue |
| E-mail address: | crazzeesue@gmail.com |
| Comments: | I really have never had a problem with RA. BUT! I do agree that the State of WI should take back the reserving. I would rather pay the state the extra to keep our parks as beautiful as they are than to give it to an outside company. I also do not like that almost all of the sites are reservable. They do not leave enough for drive ins. Oh and I also spend a lot of time at Pine WOods! It is a beautiful campground. |
| Name: | Debbie Hollingsworth |
| E-mail address: | debholly1960@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | I had no idea that R.A. is in Canada. Nothing like sending our jobs to another country. I live in Oregon and have to say that I have always had a great experience with reserving online. I always seem to get a sweet nice helpful person when I call reserve America to change or cancel a reservation. It costs 6.00 here change or cancel a reservation. I will say that I have never seen any of the rangers do anything but drive around the parks and bother people. I do not understand why they even have them in parks. The older volunteers are always the ones doing the actual work. Don't think our tax dollars are being used efficiently. Get rid of a bunch of rangers and save a lot of tax dollars. |
| Name: | Miguel |
| E-mail address: | migdog1198@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | I agree 100%. I have had a similar experience and think it's about time we got our campgrounds back. |
| Name: | Miguel |
| E-mail address: | migdog1198@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | I agree 100%. I have had a similar experience and think it's about time we got our campgrounds back. |
| Name: | Danny Camper |
| E-mail address: | djrjkocich@msn.com |
| Comments: | Texas uses Reserve America to do online reservations to it's State Parks, where we camp several times per year. In 2008 the web site "locked up" which threw my vacation timeframe 3 weeks after I wanted it. Tonight, I got online at midnight to get my reservation to our favorite park which you must do 11 months in advance if you want to get in in the summer, and guess what? Reserve America is down for " system upgrades". I will either have to stay up and keep checking periodically and hope they come back online, or go to bed and call in the morning and risk the park being full already. So the guy is right. Reserve America Sucks. Danny |
| Name: | barry smith |
| E-mail address: | grumpylsmith@aol.com |
| Comments: | I agree that was over the top! |
| Name: | tom wojcik |
| E-mail address: | tawojcik@verizon.net |
| Comments: | let take our camp sites back! |
| Name: | former employee |
| E-mail address: | HelpDesk@reserveamerica.com |
| Comments: | lol... I can't believe this site is still up and running with people still contributing to the guestbook. I still don't understand though how the owner of this site says that the RA sucks when this site has got to be the worst design I HAVE EVER SEEN. I mean I agree with your content, but don't you think you could've done a better job too???? frontpage? straight html?? please share the knowledge!!! |
| Name: | Big Dog Camper |
| Comments: | I am going camping at Fort Stevens state park in 2 weeks. I have to adjust my time there. For the last 3 days I have been calling reserve america at 9:30 AM, 12:30 PM, and 3:30 PM to change this. Guees what folks. I get the same message that there mail box is full and the systme hangs up on me. Nice! |
| Name: | Get it straight people |
| E-mail address: | getitstraight@people.com |
| Comments: | Here are the facts: RA WAS owned by the same company as TicketMaster (IAC, Inc.) up until early this year. IAC sold RA to a company called Active.com (look at the RA website at the bottom of the page, and you'll see the Active.com logo). The main office is still in Ballston Spa, NY. ALL of the offices are located in the US, so even though you call them for a FL state park, you may get someone answering the phone in NY or FL. The fact is that every employee is a US resident, because evry office and call center is located in the US. At least some of you got it right about the fees and policies, the States make up the policies and fees, RA carries them out. If you have such a hard time with dealing with those policies and fees, you are always more than welcome to deal with KOA's or other private campgrounds. You'll pay sometimes as much as two times the amount per night, and some private parks will charge you up to $10 a night to cancel. |
| Name: | ca camper |
| Comments: | Does anyone know if there is an after market reserve america site... I can't understand how all of the spots would be gone for a campground - in the middle of winter. Granted it could be good weather - but I am wondering if there is something else going on....I have heard that Canadian camping groups take all the spots. |
| Name: | linda Marciana |
| E-mail address: | linda_marciana@verizon.net |
| Comments: | I LOVE to camp and I do almost every weekend from spring to late fall. I was just about to use RESERVE AMERICA to be sure I could secure my favorite campsite at Bowman Lake, State Park, Oxford, NY, when I ran into your website. Well, I am now very reluctant to reserve and I think I'll just take my chances and show up like I always do, which has been working for me for quite some time. At this time, Bowman Lake does serve non-reservers, so I guess I'm ok, for now. But, i will certainly take your advice and talk to whomever I need to so I can join the happy campers who REFUSE to be led around by their 1-800s or dotcoms. Thanks for the information and, happy camping!!! |
| Name: | thomas |
| E-mail address: | blue_laser2003@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | Pegasus Solutions should be handling these web pages for reservations. They can: 1) save the government thousands of dollars a year, 2) cut down on the excessive fees charged, 3) link up the campgrounds with all other reservation centers (i.e. Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, etc. and all the Airlines, Hotels, and care rentals also), and most importantly - 3) Bring these jobs back to the USA where they belong. Don't offshore camping, America! |
| Name: | Fred Coreia |
| E-mail address: | correia4@juno.com |
| Comments: | A major problem with reserve america is that people are booking campsites like 6 months in advance! At my local park I can't get a single site for the next month. Never mind the good beach sites -untouchable now. And people are doing things like booking only one night on a Saturday to 'reserve' the weekend for them. When I drive thru the park that's 100% reserved there's easily 10% of the sites empty! This whole thing sucks, it was way better when you drove around the park, paid at the ranger station and were done. |
| Name: | Kevin |
| Comments: | Amen to the suckage of Reserve America. We booked a National Forest campsite over the 4th of July weekend. When we got there, it was just a few burning trash barrels short of a third-world refugee camp. There was already someone in my 'reserved' spot, there were no other numbered campsites available, and the concessionaire running the campground was still stacking them in like cordwood -- using the trailhead parking lot and wide spots in the road inside the campsite for "overflow camping". Cars lined the road and tents were pitched just a couple of feet from each other. Given that we'd have to fight it out to camp in a numbered 'table & firepit' campsite (the concessionaire's on-site rep wasn't much interested in helping us out), and there certainly wasn't any way we were going to fight over an 'overflow' patch of parking lot, we elected to cut our losses and return home. The next day, I E-mailed Reserve America to ask for a full refund. They responded that they'd contact the concessionaire to approve a refund. After waiting a month for the concessionaire to respond (they never did) and multiple E-mails from me, Reserve America agreed to refund my camping fees MINUS their $9.00 reservation fee, which was "not refundable under any circumstances". What did I pay that $9.00 for? The privilege of *NOT* actually having a reservation? The privilege of being jerked around for a month? Seems that they just stole my money and gave me absolutely nothing but frustration in return. Nine dollars may be a small amount in the overall scheme of things, but I'll definitely be contacting my credit card company about a chargeback. |
| Name: | read poilcy or listen to them |
| Comments: | you all need to read the policy on line that is set up for you to read or you all need to listen to the policy on the phone when you call instead of going right to make a reservation... its like sign a contract for a house or a car are you going to sign the cotract befor you read through the policy or are you just going to sign the paper work ?????umm wonder why the world is falling apart |
| Name: | Dana |
| E-mail address: | kiessfamily@bellsouth.net |
| Comments: | I had a problem getting a refund back from Reserve America. When I called to check on the refund the representative was very rude and hung up on me. I called back and got a much more helpful person who actually cared enough to resolve the issue for me. It is sad that you have to call more than once to get help! |
| Name: | Deno-Is-A-Dumbass |
| Comments: | Ok so let me get this straight, Deno. You book a reservation through ReserveAmerica and discover that the actual state park is not very well kept up and proceed to blame it on them? What kind of an idiot are you? I bet if you bought movie tickets through fandango and then found out the movie sucked you would probably blame the company you bought the tickets from too... ReserveAmerica is only the RESERVATION Service, they get paid by the state to do what they do, which means setting all the fees (yeah those are set by the state) and proceeding to give info about the park. so if you went to a state park that was poorly kept up its nobody's fault but yours for not doing proper research to find out what the park is like. If youve got a computer, USE IT. I guarantee you could find some sort of review of it. Idiot. |
| Name: | dumbass people |
| Comments: | ok this person deno who wrote a letter to ra? how is it ra fault that the trash cans were full? they are not at the campground they are a resv center that is in states in the us so they can['t help that the trash cans are full and the maps if you want to complain about that complain to the campground ra is a resv center like hotel resv. centers they are not a campground and for camping mom they are not run by ticket master ticketmaster is owned by someone eles the company was split in half and they are based out of calf. now so get your facts stright and why is it ra fault that sites are not being booked up on the week and only on the weekend if you want to compalin about that complain to the campers that are camping only on the weekend and don't want to camp during the week lets see how far that will get ya.. rhonda how many states do their part in anything humm none.. the sites are marked as how much they are but you got understand most states charge out of state people more money for a night they want the people in their state to get better deals thats stats for you.... bari now i know why they are complaining about ra if the state parks are not going to go with the policy they sent up for ra they are going to have alot of cust compalining you are giving full refunds back when thats not in a policy you guys keep complaining about it but does it help? i would really like to know that because as far as i can see you guys keep on compalining and nothing happening oh its called this is how the world works you are going to get screwed daily by someone..... |
| Name: | Carsten |
| Comments: | Now am I surprised and I do take back my former comments about RA. A conversation with a RA customer service specialist who promised world class service promptly added the extra nite- WITH NO NEW FEES. Perhaps RA, at least in the campsites across NYS is indeed attempting to improve their customer relations. So, I am pleased. It is truly unfortunate what I am hearing elsewhere. |
| Name: | Carsten |
| E-mail address: | corktree03@aol.com |
| Comments: | Wow, it just happened to me. Within 5 minutes of booking for 5 nites in NYS and paid for at $104, I realized I had an additional day available, whereby 6-nites. I called back Reserve Am to add the extra nite. There would now be a cancellation fee $9 + $9 new reservation fee + $19 overnite fee, total of $37 for one nite. Yes indeed RESERVEAMERICA SUCKS and un-American junkies. |
| Name: | Mary |
| Comments: | I reserved a site on their interactive map, and I booked it for two sites connected, come to find out that when I booked that specific site, it didn't book the correct location area, apparently it went by availablity by alphabetical order, so instead of getting E67, I got A67 because its available first. To add to the mess, the manager at Welleskey NY State park wasn't very understanding and said that even if its not your fault, there little we can do, even if she had other sites that was available. So we end up getting an emergency lot still wasn't connected and was just a little dinky spot off the side of the road. |
| Name: | Amy |
| E-mail address: | morayamyc@att.net |
| Comments: | YES YES YES RESERVE AMERICA SUCKS!!! Our Favorite Campgroung in Santa Cruz Ca. uses Reserve America, now we no longer will go there! |
| Name: | Yuk |
| E-mail address: | yukatah1@gmail.com |
| Comments: | Used it for years with no problems.....but always to do it on-line |
| Name: | dan dube |
| E-mail address: | douber1@juno.com |
| Comments: | we used to get such friendly service when we used to call and reserve at our state parks offices ill bet all the poeple got laid off i used to know one lady personaly and have not heard from her lately ill bet she got the axe dan dube nh |
| Name: | Pamela |
| E-mail address: | pamelajean2t@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | I know it is just plain rediculous to pay an extra fee to use goverment land and then when you can not go not to get a full refund. I feel your pain. I loved just going to a campground and depositing the money in the container and finding a place to camp for the weekend. I can never get into any of the beaches now because reserve america has taken over. |
| Name: | Rod Armstrong |
| E-mail address: | rra1983@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | 07-28-09: Online reservation is corrupt. At 09:30 pm It consistantly showed Qty 34 open spots for a period of two and half hours at Oceano Dunes CA, for Aug 8, 2009. It would not let me confirm, then after multiple [hundreds of attempts and re-login's], at 12:01 am, all 34 available spots dissapeared at once. Just Complete Crooked! |
| Name: | Deno |
| E-mail address: | deno@gigo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.kissmygrass.com |
| Comments: | So....here's a letter I sent to the idiots at RA: We arrived Monday afternoon at 3ish. Self serve. Okay. There were NO Salt Point State Park map avail either from the Ranger's ticket offer nor camp host. We checked with Fort Ross...they didnt carry any for salt point. As we picked out a camp site...ALL the recycle dumpters were overflowing onto the ground. EACH ONE.....and it's Monday late. On Tuesday, the trash cans were picked up. Very "not so campy" to look at the trash. Restrooms...Not cleaned ever up to the time we left on the third day! No tp. No hand towels. Overflowing trash onto the floor. Not one Ranger did I see in the three days there...perhaps we missed her/him while at the other sites. We left two days early....please note on my rev that we are paid till Friday and I am home writing this letter! Having use the Ca State parks for most of my 55 years...this place was simple the worst....Like to have my two days refunded or a two day pass issued. Please call me or email if you need more information. RESPONSE FROM THEM: "Dear Valued Customer: Thank you for contacting ReserveAmerica"....BLABLABLA. No help...forget the calling em....no help..."tough luck....couldnt had been that bad"! |
| Name: | Jeff Hawthorne |
| E-mail address: | hawthornejeffery@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | I am joining the growing list of consumers that are dissatisfied with the service of Reserve America. BY the way, did you know their HQs are in Canada? Hmm. Reserve AMERICA by paying CANADA? I recently made TWO concurrent reservation, once I was told I would not be able to have a campfire in my first choice of locations. I spoke with a "customer service" representative and asked three times what the TOTAL charges would be if I had to cancel before the 24 deadline. He assured me more than once that the TOTAL charge would be $7.50. With my cancellation, I found I was charged $14.50. I was charged a reservation fee AND a cancellation fee. When I contacted RA and asked to speak with a manager, he explained using the metaphor of a bus driver: "we charge you both coming and going". Does this guy realize what he just said is TERRIBLE? Customer service? Also, when I review my account on their website for refund details about the cancellation, it clearly indicates that I was charged $14.50 for a "reservation fee". Doesn't mention anything about a "cancellation charge". Seems to me that they are misrepresenting their fees. Is there a Lawyer in the house? |
| Name: | camping mom |
| E-mail address: | cnesbit@frontiernet.net |
| Comments: | I see lots of sites not being used during the week because of Reserve America.Who wants to reserve a site and have to move out for someone else to come in for Saturday and Sunday?The campgrounds are losing a lot of money because of being reserved for a weekend. I was shocked to find out Reserve America is run by Ticketmaster,what a waste of money.Give the job of signing in campers to the rangers .Considering the good wages they make they could do something besides riding around all day. Also Reserve America's maps for campsites looks like they was drawn by a 5 year old.The detail is horrible! I say cancel their contract and find better use for our camping fees. |
| Name: | Rhonda |
| E-mail address: | racm81@gmail.com |
| Comments: | what is the point of the $7.50 reservation fee or should we say cancel fee....Why is this not being ran by the state |
| Name: | charlotte nesbit |
| E-mail address: | cnesbit@frontiernet.net |
| Comments: | I hate Reserve America.I camp at Carlyle lake in Illinois and at least 2/3rd's or more are reserves.It's almost impossible to get a reserve spot.You have to reserve 6 months ahead and that's even if you can find one open.I'm still working and sometimes i don't know when i can schedule a day or two off.I still believe it should be first come first serve for all sites. |
| Name: | Kim Koscielniak |
| E-mail address: | koscielniakfamily@roadrunner.com |
| Comments: | Just returned from 1000islands, reserved a trailer site on water,was told by reserve america that my pop-up would fit, paid extra for a water site and booked it in January. Well my site was on the water but there was no way my trailer would fit on this site lots of trees on a hill. The workers at the park were very nice and tried to help, but park was filled. The people across from us were nice enough to switch sites with us(they had a tent)so we didnt have to drive back home,it was a 5 hour drive. To all fellow campers watch out there wed site is very miss leading, and they dont know anything about the parks!Our vacation was saved by fellow campers. Thanks |
| Name: | Kim Koscielniak |
| E-mail address: | koscielniakfamily@roadrunner.com |
| Name: | Judith Nicholls |
| E-mail address: | judy_nicholls@verizon.net |
| Comments: | I use reserveamerica to see how busy a campground is on particular dates. One reason I don't use it is I have trouble figuring out what the fee is. Why is that not required to be divulged up front? I just went to their site and in their help they don't say (I imagine it varies with their deal with the various campgrounds) but their example shows things like $6 and $9. That is completely outrageous for online reservations! We live in Texas now and of course they use reserveamerica too. On their page that they direct you to them they say the fee is $3. However, depending on how far ahead you can call (the people are very friendly, but you will probably have to wait a LONG time on hold), you can email (free!), or within 2 days, you can call the campground directly. Sometimes I've been able to get the state park to reserve a bit further ahead, but for other campgrounds I've been turned down. Sometimes we just don't have a choice. Luckily, I'm retired and try to stay out of busy places on the weekend, which leaves places for working people and is less stressful for us. |
| Name: | Summer |
| E-mail address: | SummerLove217@aol.com |
| Comments: | Reserve America Sucks! Your FAQs rules! |
| Name: | Momof4 |
| E-mail address: | gpartin@wcs.k12.va.us |
| Comments: | I agree that the prices are outrageous for camping now. We can almost rent a hotel (w/ free breakfast) for the same cost as a night of camping (breakfast on me :-) However, I have found a way out of the cancellation fees if you find it necessary to cancel, if you know 24 hours in advance, you can call RA & ask to transfer the date &/or location of your reservation---no cost. I actually rescheduled & moved the location of one trip 3 or 4 times before we actually got to go camping, but it didn't cost me any extra. I even received a $6.30 refund because the last transfer I did was to a cheaper location. :-) Also, if you have to leave earlier than you reserved for, talk to someone at the park, not RA. If you leave for a good reason (not just because you want to go home), they will usually work with you. Especially if the camp books up fast. |
| Name: | Kari |
| Comments: | Also, we just use Reserve America's computer system. Not everyone agrees with all of their rules, but we have to abide by them, otherwise it's our job on the line. So please don't get angry with us when something doesn't turn out your way. The workers at the campgrounds (at least, I do) want you to be happy and enjoy your camping trip. So please just understand that we'll do what we can to help you, but sometimes there's just nothing we can do. I guess it will just have to be this way until the system improves. |
| Name: | Kari |
| Comments: | I work for the Kettle Moraine Southern Unit, so I am very familiar with Pinewoods, Ottawa Lake, and Whitewater Lake. I understand that Reserve America's system is by far not the best system possible. Since you wrote your piece, prices have increased. People have to understand that we have to increase the prices of camping and stickers in order to keep the campgrounds running. So there's no need to become angry with the workers at the campgrounds for issues that the workers have no control over. Also, people have to understand that we do not enjoy asking the same questions up to 100 times a day (like "what's the last name on your reservation?" and "who else will be camping with you?" and the like). There's no reason to get snippy with us, we want the process to be done as quickly as possible as much as you do. So, bottom line: we will be polite to you, so please extend the same courtesy to us. |
| Name: | Doug Traub |
| E-mail address: | dftraub@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | The cost is outragous to camp at some the campgrounds now. We went to a CG in UT a few weeks ago and since you cant reserve one night we had to wing it. We were lucky to find a spot and then came time to pay up. $17 for the spot and $6 for an extra vehicle which we were told we had to pay due the fact that we had the 8 person maximum and they make you pay the fee if thats the case. I guess they figure you cant get 8 people in 1 vehicle. $23 for one night of camping, I think that is ridiculous. Every National Forest CG within 2 hrs of SLC is at least $15 and up to $18 bucks a night not including booking fees, so that price is just for the few walk up sites that each CG has. And good luck trying to get one of those on a weekend. Not to mention they are usaully the worst sites. They do suck the joy out of camping and try to suck every last penny out of your wallet. |
| Name: | charles castelli |
| E-mail address: | charlescaste@sbcglobal.net |
| Comments: | Yes reserve america Sucks, born and raised in california, I been r.v. camping for 34 years, I never got squat from reserve america. this states park system is in the toilet, as is the state. Reserve america sucks |
| Name: | kimber ashley |
| E-mail address: | kimbersa@gmail.com |
| Name: | Melissa |
| E-mail address: | melissal@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | I cannot agree more. The ridiculous nature of trying to reserve a site for a week in summer is hienous. I have been up at midnight for three years and have NEVER managed to get a spot. In the meantime, the toothless, homeless wonders in the parks can get the primo spots since they have NO JOBS and NO SCHEDULE - so they just hang by the ranger station, waiting for the rest of us to not show because we can't lewav e work since we're terrified to lose our jobs! ARGHHHHHHHHHHH! And the $7.50 fee for just making a reservation? What the hell is THAT? Why not just tell the truth and put it in the cost of the site. I am wondering what the hell my taxes are paying for, since the fees I am charged to USE MY OWN PARKS exceed a hotel's costs. Are you listeneing, Obama? Fix the system - reverse the Bush privatization of our public lands. What's next, oil drilling in Yosemite!? |
| Name: | Kevin Russell |
| E-mail address: | russellfam5@juno.com |
| Comments: | Reserve America Sucks!! I have camped in the spinreel campground for 22 years, but the last few years have been terrible because of the reservation system. The system has ruined the whole experience. The reserve america website is impossible to manipulate. I cant even get the correct campsites to appear so I can see if they,re available or not! Please let me know what I can do to help bring about the destruction of the reserve america website, and the reservation system. The rude employees can hopefully find jobs with amtrac or the DMV. |
| Name: | Maria Rilke |
| E-mail address: | ccm@crescentcitymedia.com |
| Comments: | Totally agree with everything you said. I used the State the California's online reservation system BEFORE the good old boys at ReserveAmerica got the contract and it was MUCH BETTER!! I think this totally proves that privatization is a big joke played on the American people. Why shouldn't the State of California or any other state develop and manage their own online services? There is no need for this bloated private company, ReserveAmerica, to get this contract and keep it forever! Just found out that not only did our government sell out its people in awarding this contract to a substandard service provider, but they gave it to a foreign-owned company???? No wonder our economy is so screwed up! |
| Name: | Maria Rilke |
| E-mail address: | ccm@crescentcitymedia.com |
| Comments: | Totally agree with everything you said. I used the State the California's online reservation system BEFORE the good old boys at ReserveAmerica got the contract and it was MUCH BETTER? I think this totally proves that privatization is a big joke played on the American people. Why shouldn't the State of California or any other state develop and manage their own online services? There is no need for this bloated private company, ReserveAmerica, to get this contract and keep it forever! |
| Name: | bari |
| E-mail address: | bflyschwmr06@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | As a state park employee, I have two things to say. one, none of us like reserve america anyway...but its not our choice. and two, im not too happy about the cheap shots the park system is getting. If you want someone to hear your complaints, you need to go to the capitals of the states. the state parks are the bottom of the totem pole on this. on a different note, i completely agree with the outrageous fees that RA charges. One way we have found to help is that if you have a reservation, and want to shorten it, leaving a day or so early, DO NOT CALL RESERVE AMERICA. your state park will help you check out early and refund the days that you did not camp and will not incur a change fee. |
| Name: | Amy |
| E-mail address: | formywriting@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | I had a very depressing experience with them as well. I had reserved some sites for a family reunion and the way the reservations were recorded really messed up the experience. My three phone calls to try to straighten out confusions were even more frustrating than the original problem! However, in the process of attempting to register my complaints at Reserve America I discovered a direct way to complain to the New York State Parks & Services. Now I know that Reserve America "services" multiple states so the following New York info would not help all of you, but it may be possible to find the same info for your specific state. Clearly the complaints going directly to Reserve America are not having an impact. Problems are still regularly happening and the Service Department at RA is not making any effort to fix the problems. So going over their head is apparently the only way to bring change that is so needed. State agencies who hire RA to do their work are the ones who need to hear the complaints. Here's what I have for New York: Attention: Camping Director New York State Parks Agency Building #1, 13th Floor Albany, NY 12238 Fax# (518) 486-7378 Maybe if we all storm the castle it will make an impact. We just need to know which is the most productive castle to storm! |
| Name: | marlene kippenhan |
| E-mail address: | mom53_2@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | Hi I totally agree with the comments made on your website. The only problem is that I wish you had put in there some suggestions as to how we could go about camping someplace other than the state parks. We have just purchased a popup and would like to use it. Any help you can give us would greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Marlene Kippenhan |
| Name: | unhappy camper. |
| E-mail address: | shj90291@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | So many people out here are fed up with this horrible system! WHAT CAN WE DO - BESIDES COMPLAIN? What is the action to take? I feel helpless and frustrated and in HATE with ReserveAmerica. It's impossible to camp in California anymore. ABSURD AND TERRIBLE> WE NEED SOLUTIONS! ON THE GOVERNMENT LEVEL: FIRE RESERVEAMERICA! |
| Name: | James Bond |
| E-mail address: | ipw777@gmail.com |
| Comments: | I do respectfully sympathise with this story. I'm an Xtreme outdoors person that has camped, hunted and fished growing up and currently Camp/Jet Ski/Hike/Mountain Bike/Boating, etc in Texas and across USA religiously 2 times a month, twelve months a year. I have used RA since the beginning of there existence (among other reservation sites) and HAVE NOT had one single problem with them. I wish you Happy Camping in the future, MAL |
| Name: | Chris McPhee |
| E-mail address: | juntaco@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | Reserve America's change reservation and refund policy are blatantly unfair, and as they have a monopoly on this, its unAmerican. The reservation fees they charge do not even go to maintaining the campgrounds; its all profit for RA. Boo on these anti-competitive and inefficient people. BOOOOOOO! |
| Name: | Steve Fielding |
| E-mail address: | fieldingsteve@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | I booked 3 nights at Tahoe Valley Campground, with Reserve America. I did this 6 months in advance, and when I arrived at Tahoe Valley Campground in South lake Tahoe I was informed that I would need to pay an extra $16 due to increased fees. TVC blame Reserve America, and I am guessing that Reserve America will blame TVC. They are as bad as each other. Had my money for 6 months and then had the cheek to tell me that they needed more. |
| Name: | Walt |
| E-mail address: | geojamboree@aol.com |
| Comments: | I completely agree. I run an event that has over a hundred people making reservations for camping through ReserveAme3rica and I hear many horror stories similar to above. Internet reserving is fine for those who want to, however, I wish the State Parks would offer an alternate method. |
| Name: | Steve G. |
| Comments: | Hi Dave! I absolutely agree, $9 for the privilege of logging onto the site, finding the first available that suits me (not easy if you're somewhat into the season, BTW) and making a reservation seems overkill to me. I can see a market for private campgrounds, especially once the site becomes more well-known. Makes perfect sense - I never thought of it! I think when you get into the larger-volume entities (like the states) is when the model, as presently constructed, might break down. But better to get the site going rather than wait for perfection, which is what I'd probably do...it's a fault of mine. I DO like the descriptions of the campgrounds that are there so far. I honestly think the site has a lot of potential. (If you're not Dave and you're reading this post, go check it out!) If there's anything I can do to contribute to the effort, let me know. -- Steve |
| Name: | Erin--military wife and mom of two boys |
| Comments: | I completely agree with you. I paid $115 for two sites, three months in advance. 1 1/2 out my husband received deployment orders overseas (active duty military). Reserve America charged me $30 to cancel my camping trip! Is that patriotic or what? A national park that is unwilling to give a military member, protecting the very parks that we frequent, a full refund when he receives military orders that are completely out of his control. Way to add insult to injury. Thanks. |
| Name: | dan oneil |
| Comments: | yes yes yes i grew up camping now at 48 i cant take my kids camping with out a bunch of "stuff" then when you get there the site is taken.so they send you to overflow.bullllllllllllll.good luck for us all |
| Name: | Unhappy Camper |
| Comments: | From the point view of a former state park camper, I see no rational reason for the state to be looking for a substitute private reservation company to replace RA. The original government system, operated by the park rangers, worked very well. If a camper wanted to reserve a site, a phone call to the park was all that was necessary. The problem now is that other rent-seeking piranas are looking at these complaints as an opportunity to steal the goodies from RA. |
| Name: | Rob T |
| E-mail address: | mjotann@bellsouth.net |
| Comments: | Florida State Parks is considering proposals for an entity to take over the reservation system. I have called and related my bad experiences with RA and expressed my opinion that they should not be onsidered. For anyone interested, the Florida contact person is Mr. John Reynolds at (850) 245-3089. Perhaps if there are enough people calling they might consider another organization. |
| Name: | Dave |
| E-mail address: | www.getacampsite.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.getacampsite.com |
| Comments: | Hi Steve, Maintenance of the system is not to hard. I have been designing accounting and banking systems since the 1980's and follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). The servers are housed on a major backbone so they will be up most of the 99.99% of the time. Your question about the whole kick back to the state and so on there is not much I can do about that but give it my best shot. If getacampsite.com becomes very popular, the members using the site will help pay and local advertisers by the campsites, like general stores, boat rentals and so on. My budget is small, I work and live from my RV, it is a great life. There are two other developers involved. The state parks employees like RA because they do not have to work the reservation system, and the state gets money. The sad thing about this is the government has let the tax collector run wild, the tax collector being RA leaves the tax payers with no choice but to pay $9 a reservation. I think getacampsite.com will be big with RV parks and private campgrounds at first. Getacampsite.com will post sites available from the campgrounds and give the campground owner the ability to manage reservations. However getacampsite.com will not collect fees, or actually make the reservation confirmation. At first It will be more of a bulletin board service for posting available campsites, where clicking on the site will immediately notify the campground you want to reserve the site. I would rather wait 5 minutes to speak to the campground owner to make sure my RV will fit the site then someone in a call center in Canada who has never been in the US or even camped for the matter. I guess my hopes in the future is people won't want to keep paying the $9 to reserve a site and the campground owners will start using the simple Open Reservation system to save there customer the $9 charge. RA brought in $16 million last year. $9 for spending 5 minutes with a customer on the phone or having someone click on a button on your website seems a little steep, doesn't it? Other people have tackled problems and found a way (Steve Jobs, Bill gates, Larry Page and Sergey Brin) who knows, maybe something will come out of this, I will just keep trying... |
| Name: | Steve G. |
| Comments: | This is to Dave (getacampsite.com). Dave, I love the idea! I'm not crazy about forking over $9 for a two- or three-night stay! So I registered on the site. But I do have questions, maybe stuff I missed. I'd love to see you dump Ticketmaster on their a**! 1. My understanding is that there will be no personnel in case there are problems with either the software or a glitch in reservations. What is the support system & how will it be financed? Unless I screwed up (and my apologies if I did, sometimes I read too quickly ;) the responsibility to clean up any reservation changes/cancellations that go awry will be with who? The rangers at the camp? I don't know how well that would work. 2. I believe, and again correct me if I'm wrong, but Ticketmaster gives a cut of the profits to the state. As they (TM) has a monopoly, it's a good gig. But what incentive would the state government have to relinquish this money? To reduce the burden on the middle class taxpayer? HA! On a more somber note, with things as they currently are, the parks at least here (MA) would probably not be kept up at all. Look, if I didn't love the idea I wouldn't have spent the time writing with these questions. God Bless you for putting the time and effort - I'd love to see it work!! --- Steve |
| Name: | J. Miller |
| E-mail address: | jdmiller1970@fuse.net |
| Comments: | I agree wholeheartedly! These Reserve America people do a terrible job--they are in New York trying to assign camping spots compatible to our 5th wheel. The employee told me that "this is the best site in the park"--all lies! It was down a gully with overhanging tree branches--no way we could park our luxury 5th wheel w/tall ceilings there. We've camped in Kentucky State Parks for years and the locals running the reservations did an excellent job. We need these jobs returned to Kentucky instead of being farmed out to a group of people in New York who don't care about the campers and who don't have any idea of the terrain or about the campsites. WE VOTE TO CANCEL THE CONTRACT WITH RESERVE AMERICA NOW!!! |
| Name: | JR |
| E-mail address: | ihatespam@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | I also hate Reserve America. After one bad experience with them, I knew better than to make a reservation unless I was absolutely certain about the dates. I called to check on availability only, but did not make a reservation. I did not give any payment information, or say any words indicating I was reserving a site. It turned out I couldn't go on the days I had inquired about, but a few weeks later I found some time to camp, and called again, this time ready to make a reservation. The extremely rude RA person said that I could not make a reservation because I owed them a $10.00 fee for canceling my previous reservation. I explained that I had not made a reservation, only inquired about availability of campsites. The person informed me that by giving my name, and a date, I had made a reservation, and because I had not given any payment information, they imposed this fee against my name, and would not allow me to make a reservation until I paid it. I was so angry I couldn't see straight. I truly hope they go under, and the parks go back to handling their own reservations. I will be happy to pay a little more to cover their costs to handle reservations themselves. |
| Name: | Eric |
| Comments: | Actually, NRRS (part of RA) handles Yosemite reservations as well. |
| Name: | Nonne |
| Homepage URL: | http://none |
| Comments: | Dear Camper, Reserve America has not and has never made camping reservastions for Yosemite. It's a Federal Park & RA does US Forest Service |
| Name: | Dave |
| E-mail address: | davey@getacampsite.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.getacampsite.com |
| Comments: | ***** Attention Outdoors People Tired of Paying Reservation Fees ***** We need you to help us put information together to bring back our campgrounds to America. I just finished the State by State section of the Wiki for getacampsite.com and we need data. If you have been to a campsite or park recently, start a blog and put some of your experiences in the wiki and include photos if you have them. The reservation system is almost done and is going to be free. Campground owners I am about 5 days out from you including information about your campgrounds. This is our chance to beat the RA fee attached to our campground fees. |
| Name: | Eric |
| Comments: | Just to let all of you know, if an agent messes up and ruins your vacation (putting a tent on a RV only site, an 40' on a 25') then you should not be getting charged any cancellation fee. You should be getting, at least, a full refund by the rules. Ask to talk to Customer Service and they'll make sure not to charge the fee. I work there, and end up catching other guys mistakes sometimes. I know the employees, the majority aren't bad, they just work long shifts and sometimes miss something every once in a while. It happens at any job. If it was their fault, you aren't entitled to pay for it. Now if you're cancelling a reservation the day before because you forgot you had to go to a birthday party that day, they won't be able to help. Just be lucky they're not outsourcing to another country. BTW, I agree that the cancellation charges can be ridiculous. The reservation fee should be refundable. |
| Name: | Susan |
| Comments: | I booked 4 nights for a campground in Lake George for this weekend and called a few days ago to change it to only 3 nights. I was told if I did that not only would I not receive a refund but they would charge me an additional fee on $9, needless to say I left it the way it was and just didn't use it the first night change fee +$9.00 to eliminate one night and no refund = poor service! |
| Name: | Tink |
| E-mail address: | noone@rocketmail.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://none.net |
| Comments: | I am appaled at the whining about the camping fees, especially in California where some parks are being closed. On January 2nd every year literally hundreds of thousands of people get on the phone and the internet expecting a beach front site for 4th of July. There are a limited number of beachfront sites in southern California and over 6 MILLION PEOPLE in the area. How many do you think want to camp? How many actually get sites? How many demand that special accomodations be made for them because they have camped wherever before? People take thier dogs to the beach & let them run and terrorize the wildlife and leave thier small & large packeges around for some person to step in. Take a look t the bigger picture....I'm a camping enthusiast. The camping fees went up right after Grey Davis left office in an attempt to balance the abysmal deficiet he left. Take a look----there IS a big picture out there. |
| Name: | C. Hansen |
| E-mail address: | mybearkodiak@aol.com |
| Comments: | Recently, I took a spur of the moment camping trip to the Sierra Nevada near Tahoe intending to stay at Fallen Leaf Lake campground. I was very discouraged upon arrival to find that, while there were plenty of vacant sites, they were ALL reserved, and there was no such thing as first come, first serve. Keep in mind that I've been camping at this place for over 20 years and this was NEVER the case in the past. I found out that this is the first year they have zero, yes ZERO sites available for people like me, who enjoy going where the road takes them. In order to camp, I was told I would have to call Reserve America, or visit their website to make reservations. GREAT! Needless to say, I did not camp there. I called Reserve America today, to inquire about reservations, and was SHOCKED to find out that there was a nearly $10 fee just to reserve a site, and the sites are now $28 per night! What a joke! And, that doesn't even include the showers. You've got to pay $1.00 per minute or something outrageous on top of the camping fees. Unfreakinbelievable! I totally passed, and even the guy on the phone was like "that's kind of steep", and "lots of the prices have gone up". I think I'm done camping in CA. In fact, maybe they should shut all of the state parks down like they've threatened. Paying over $30 bucks a night for a parking space? Get real. Totally done with this crap. |
| Name: | Hates Ticketmaster |
| E-mail address: | reserveamericasucks@mailinator.com |
| Comments: | Good work. This is a perfect example of what happens when government entity (almost always an unchecked monopoly) subcontracts their work to a for-profit company. The speed cameras and red-light-cameras are another glowing example. |
| Name: | Boodles |
| E-mail address: | bonski@myway.com |
| Comments: | Thanks everyone for the heads up! I was going to make a reservation and found this website. It seems they are trying to make it unpleasant for us to enjoy the great outdoors. I know that when they were trying to make cuts here in Jersey (another debt riddled entity) the first thing they tried to close was the state parks. Hmmm is there some secret government plot going on? Now I'm not sure what to do about our long weekend trip to our favorite peaceful getaway Woodland Valley NY. Thanks again for this website. BOYCOTT RESERVE AMERICA!!! |
| Name: | R.J.FRANZESE |
| E-mail address: | rjfranz67@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | yes, it sucks to make reservations to go camping, but there is an upside. by making reservations, it keeps the loud, un-civilized drunkards/pansies out of the god given beauty of the refuge of the state park system. demanding , self obsesed,loud, ingrates that you are, wouldnt see that thing go wrong evry now and again. people like you remoind me how happy i am of the second amendment and the right to carry concieled weapond in most states. r.a. does a great job and have never had to cancel or had to change plans like it seems you do quite often. next time you plan an outing and you change your plans, dont blame r.a. blame your indecicive behavior and bad planning skills. see ya at the campsite,ill be packed, will you? |
| Name: | :( Camper |
| Comments: | I made reservations over the phone 6 months in advance with reserve america, only to find out the day before we left for Yosemite, that the woman had booked a 18' site for my 29.5' fifth wheel. Now Yosemite is booked for the entire summer...vacation ruined. Like the person who started this page, we too were screwed out of several "fees." |
| Name: | D. Sloan |
| E-mail address: | coydsloan@gmail.com |
| Comments: | We had reservations for St. Andrews St. Park starting June 26 thru July 5th. Unexpectedly, my wife had to work part of the next week so I called and asked to change our reservation to the next week starting on Wed. July 1 thru July 5th. I was greeted by a very nice young man who took care of my business in about 2 minutes and later I checked my email and it was exactly as I had asked. Sometimes things just go right. thankx |
| Name: | Melissa Roberts |
| E-mail address: | nursesoccermom@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | Thank you for having this website. I think it is ridiculous to have RA for our reservations to a campsite. RA made a mistake and put us in a campsite to accommodate a 21 ft rig. We have a 27 ft and now we are told (after having this reservation for 9 months) we cant use it, and will be turned away if your too long. I am so angry. We told them at the time of the reservations we had a 21 ft rig and a 27 ft rig. We are going with friends. RA stated nothing can be done due to there are no other sites or campgrounds in the area available. This is just not fair. Melissa. |
| Name: | Jesse Swanson |
| E-mail address: | jester22315@yahoo.com |
| Name: | Michael Everett |
| E-mail address: | ia728@roadrunner.com |
| Comments: | It most certainly takes the joy and spontaneity out of camping. Plus it sucks money out of the states and turns our parks into profit-generators. I presume RA approaches a state and says, "if you start requiring reservations at your parks, we'll book them for you and you'll get a piece of the action." Then they would approach certain state legislators and pay them off (legally of course) to make it all happen. It's the American way. I would love to get them out of California. |
| Name: | Kara |
| Comments: | I have been trying for months to book a campsite for Lake Tenkiller for the week prior to the Fourth of July. Unfortunately, it keeps stating that the sites are only first come-first serve due to construction. I have had several friends who have been to Tenkiller the last few weeks and say there are no problems with any of the sites. I called them and of course, they reiterated that the sites are only first come first serve. What a bunch of crap. I am glad this website exists. |
| Name: | Dave K |
| E-mail address: | davek@getacampsite.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.getacampsite.com |
| Comments: | ReserveAmericaSucks.com is a great site, lets people see the truth about where their camping dollars are going. I think we have a solution coming. An Open source Campsite Reservation System. Allows campgrounds to manage their own reservations without having their customers hard earned money sent to Canada... We will need members and input from other campers to make the site popular, so campgrounds will take us seriously. Visit the site http://www.getacampsite.com , input some ideas, The site is open to your ideas and your input will help no matter how small it is. |
| Name: | J |
| E-mail address: | Jbrehme@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | I totally agree. I've been a camper for years. Reserve America has made the cost and hassle not worth it! Fees keep going up, and I can't say that parks are improving or even being kept decently (see Gaviota State Beach for a hideous expample of the deterioration of park upkeep). They are just another big, bureaucratic pain that sucks the joy out of what used to be the relative simplicity of going camping! |
| Name: | Josh |
| Comments: | Wow, Such a great resource to find for someone like myself. I had pretty good luck with RA until I ran into a problem and was treated like dirt. Very unfriendly customer service who did not understand RA's own policies and continually tried to pass me off to federal and state offices. Terrible experience! I am camping for free in remote BLM and USFS lands rather than deal with RA in the future. Be warned "AVOID RA AT ALL COSTS" |
| Name: | Jonathan |
| Comments: | As a former employee of Reserve America/Ticketmaster I would like to take the time to apologize to anyone who feels misled or has had frustrating experiences with the company. However, any company you deal with is going to have it's bad apples and terrible experiences. I can tell you first hand that most of the people I worked with were nothing but helpful, kind and extremely enthusiastic people working for very little money and even less recognition. If coming onto a guestbook such as this makes you feel better about bashing people who ordinarily do a fine job in what they do then so be it. It's your right as an American. It's also my right as an American to express to you that not every post here is legit. Whether you reserve on the phone or use the online service, each policy is specifically laid out. If you fail to read the "fine print" or terms and conditions if you will then it's noone's fault but your own. I believe "caveat emptor" fits well here. I do understand the frustrations with not being able to do what you "once did". It's part of the moderization of the world. It's going to happen whether you like it or not. I wish I could still buy 10 cent candy but alas that doesn't exist. When you make a reservation the agents at the call center are there waiting for your call. They are trained for about a week and given a script, and facts and details about the campgrounds and the details per each location. There's also a frequent Q&A sheet so if either the caller or the agent has a question or is uncertain of something they can refer to that. They also have support agents standing by to help the agent. I myself have sat on the phone for more than an 30 minutes to an hour on a few occasions making sure the reservation went smoothly. I couldn't with clear conscience just make a reservation willy nilly knowing the effect it would have on that persons personal relaxation time. Now that I've rambled on I'd just like to once again apologize to those with legitimate concerns. I tried very hard not to take the criticisms on the guestbook to heart as I know with myself I scored 100% on all my quality assurance tests. I did my best. I feel the product presented for people who can't make it to the camp or rely on the ease and booking reservations online is sufficient and people need to stop whining about everything that doesn't go there way. My own kids do that. Last I knew children couldn't make reservations. |
| Name: | Kelly Kline |
| E-mail address: | kkplasticrn@aol.com |
| Comments: | we go to pfeiffer big sur state park every year, and since reserve america has been in place we notice the park has been half empty. we think this is partly because with reserved america and the idea of reserving the exact campsite number that you want, there are alot of people who come in for 1 or 2 nights and move on. this ruins it for the ones (like us) who plan to stay at least a week, usually 2 weeks. we have a hard time getting a single campsite for the entire duration of our trip, and it wastes an entire day of the vacation to have to change sites. we wish it would go back to the old system of reserving a campsite for the duration of the stay, but upon arrival driving thru the park to see which ones are vacating that day and choosing your 1 site for the entire time. |
| Name: | DanDan |
| E-mail address: | cdan@geex.com |
| Comments: | Thanks for the very informative site. Tried to reserve a Utah state park and their phone system was down. Some one told me to contact RA so I googled them and notice your site, which I read. Will avoid RA. Good example of what happens when the government gives out a monolopy contract. Destroys the best of both governemnt service and the free market systems. |
| Name: | Steve Johnston |
| Comments: | Idaho just went to Reserve America. Reserve America is the biggest piece of crap in the world. Last year Idaho was using thier in house developed reserve website and it was nice / easy to use and had campsite pictures. Went to ra this year and I fricken hate it. Guess I am not the only one who feels that ra sucks rocks. |
| Name: | Anger Oregon Camper |
| Comments: | Unbelievable that the US Government is so inept they have to hire an arrogant, third-party company to do campsite reservations that charges taxpayers a $9 fee to reserve a campsite. What is this world coming to? |
| Name: | Josh |
| E-mail address: | josh97056@softhome.net |
| Comments: | I have had nothing but trouble with RA. I think they must have paid off someone high up in order to continue their contracts with as many public entity's as they have. I've been trying to make reservations for Fort Stevens state park in Oregon for a summer camping trip, but guess what? I can't because there sucky system has been down for "Unscheduled maintenance" for a week now. Thanks for ruining my camping trip RA. As expected, you suck once again! |
| Name: | Rokjox |
| E-mail address: | Rokjox@clearwire.net |
| Comments: | I bet yoiu find the way the RA firm got the contract was as some kind of a sweetheart deal, from a member of Congress. The reservation system is designed to allow MANY campsites go empty, turning away actual people who have showed up, in favor of those who do not show up. Makes sense if you consider that they get paid for the campsite whether of not the people show up, and if they DONT show up, its easier for the land managers anyway. And 9 bucks a night works out to $240 dollars a month if you pay direct, and $510 buck a month if you pay through the reservation system. This is very close to my mortgage, for which I get a complete house and a little equity. For your money on a campsite, you get a worn out picknic table, a fire ring and a pit toilet. The profit is insane and SOOO tempting for those who enjoy taking your money away for nothing but filling out an online form. America is being screwed on its public lands, and the joke is YOU. |
| Name: | Tom Peacock |
| Comments: | My experience with RA is somewhat different. Maybe because I camp in Texas. I use RA all the time. The reservation fee for Texas State Parks is a very reasonable $3.00. I would rather pay that than burn up time and cell phone minutes or long distance charges hold with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department(TPWD) reservation system. The TPWD reservations is really quite efficient too and will call you back if you prefer. The cancellation fee is $5.00, which is the same whether you made the reservation through RA or TPWD. The fees you pay may be state fees that RA is obliged to charge. I've never actually spoke to RA customer service, because if I need to change the reservation, I call TPWD directly. My reservations at Federal facilities have always been easy. My main beef is that the computers are not always accurate. Sometimes they take reservations and sometimes they don't. This may be because they are having difficulty interacting with the state system or because of their own problems. I don't know. Maybe the difference is that the TPWD maintains a competing system, so RA does not have a monopoly and must earn its fee by making reservations easier. I can't imagine a state giving away the ability to make reservations at its own parks. Particularly for walk ins. I am sure that the complaints here are legitimate and I don't dispute them. The problems may be more complex that just RA sucks and may need to be addressed at the state level. Take it to your Representative. |
| Name: | Mr. Jeff Barnes |
| E-mail address: | hicoach56@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | Thanks for your hard work. i'm not going to get into it but you make good points and the sooner Reserve America gets "called to the carpet" or maybe replaced the better. I've reserved 10-12 sites and a 75% satisfaction rate is not too good. I've looked over and over to find their cancellation policy to no avail. I'm not sure why (well maybe I am now) it isn't posted all over the website. Any company who is trying to be upfront will feel good about sharing it. Those who know thier policies are rude and unforgiving hide them as much as possible. RA included. Finally if all the RA emplyees who are taking sides with their company really wanted to avoid the conflicts they should make their jobs easier and see to it that the policy is more readily available upfront. |
| Name: | Alexis |
| E-mail address: | alexis@yahoo.ca |
| Homepage URL: | http://fricio.biz.ly/evista/evista-side-effects.html |
| Comments: | Our partners : <a rel="dofollow" href="http://braose.biz.tc/cozaar/cozaar-cough.html">cozaar cough</a> is about cozaar cough... <a rel="dofollow" href="http://darwin.9k.com/acomplia/">acomplia</a> is about acomplia... Looking for information and found it at this great site. There's also some on our site |
| Name: | Stank |
| E-mail address: | farmers79@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | We reserve campsites in California - at exactly 9:00 am on the first available day of the month. EXACTLY. We have used them for 13 years (which includes the original service. Once the server issues were resolved, it's been like hitting the lottery when we get a site. I couldn't have ever got a site otherwise. If RA keeps a campsite open, because the STATE or FED funding continues to dry up - so be it. When I camp locally, I've had success. I consider my fees a donation if I can't use the campsites after I've made the reservations and cancellations. Nothing that anyone says here will make me feel badly about camping. Nothing that RA does will make me angry. The karma that comes from Nature supercedes all agrivation caused by the internet, phone, State or Federal officials. I'll camp next to you and be a considerate neigbor because I beleive you're a good person. Have a great day. |
| Name: | Kirk |
| Comments: | I booked a campsite thru Reserve America and then after confirming and seeing the email confirmation, I saw the fine print at the bottom stating it was a disabled persons campsite. I called immediately (several weeks prior to the date of the reservation) to explain the mistake, and they still charged me $18.50, canceled the reservation, and said there were no longer any other sites available. The woman on the phone even said, "Oh yeah, people call with this problem all the time." What the hell!? This is a blatant fee trap! |
| Name: | Massachusetts Mike |
| Comments: | Yup, they suck. Businesses with no competitors always have the rudest employees. |
| Name: | Jim Salter |
| Comments: | I came to this site because I was going to list my camp ground with Reserve America, but the second I learned Ticket Master was the parent company I quit that idea... I know the latter is a rip off and sounds like reserve America is too. Thanks for the heads up. Jim Salter |
| Name: | KenKamps |
| Comments: | I found that in Massachusetts, you can at lest try and complain to the following number : "Comments or questions regarding the $9.25 reservation transaction charge may be addressed to (617) 626-1480." Lets give the power back to the park rangers. ..And yes Recreation.gov is just a front for Restrict America. |
| Name: | josh eberhard |
| E-mail address: | jpeberhard625@aol.com |
| Comments: | I have been trying to book campsites in the keys for two weeks and have not been able to speak with a real person about my reservations. ( Some of you may remember the day when you called and PERSON answered the phone.) I only hope everything works out when we get down there. What little experience I have with reserve america has been a nightmare. Thank you for posting this website. |
| Name: | Rich |
| E-mail address: | stinkyf118@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | Reserve America should be called "Restricted America". It is likely the worst internet experience I've ever encountered, and the fees for reserving a spot for me to camp in my own country are prohibitive. Terrible service, rude, unknowledgeable employees, and outrageous fees are just the beginning. I cancelled one reservation I had, and they charged me $20!!! I cancelled the spot over a month in advance!! To make things worse, when I cancelled it, they accidentally cancelled 2 other reservations I'd made. This is our country. We shouldn't be raped to camp in it. |
| Name: | Unhappy Camper |
| Comments: | www.recreation.gov, which some posters here seem to believe is better than Reserve America, is "partnered" with Reserve America. According to the website, recreation.gov controls reservations in federal, not state, parks and recreation areas. Anyone interested in giving their credit card number to Reserve America should read their rules and understand that if you need to cancel for any reason, they will charge a substantial cancellation fee and, in certain instances such as reserving a cabin, Reserve America will keep the entire amount if the camper cancels. Before Reserve America took over, there was never any problem with cancelling a reservation when the park rangers were in control. If Reserve America charges you for anything you do not wish to pay for, you can contact your credit card company in writing and request that the charge be cancelled. |
| Name: | Bo again |
| Comments: | Also if you decide to come to my park tell me you hate RA i will get you in... Prob with a discount. ;) Problem is i can't tell you which one it is. Happy camping guys. Stick with it. |
| Name: | Lets just call me Bo |
| Comments: | Hello everyone. I am a state parks employee which park i will not tell because i don't believe i am aloud to and don't want my comment catching up with me. haha But i will say from my point of view i love this site. I freakin hate RA. But i love you guys coming out to camp. We have to deal with them every day... There system sucks and there tech support sucks even more. What a pain it is to us. Please don't give up on us. We want you to come out and enjoy the parks. And we will do our best to work with you to get what you want. We love it out there just as much as you do. Don't give up and keep on hiking. B |
| Name: | KenKamps |
| Comments: | Try going to the top ! Write a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Mailing Address: Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington DC 20240 Phone: 202-208-3100 E-Mail: feedback@ios.doi.gov Why are all issues having to do with the great out of doors handles by the interior department ? Only in America |
| Name: | Max |
| Comments: | Here is a web page and a phone number that you might use to lodge a complaint against Ticket Bastards, but it looks like www.recreation.gov is just a front for RA. Well maybe they have better customer service. https://www.recreation.gov/contact.do NRRS Reservation Toll Free 1-877-444-6777 International 518-885-3639 TDD (877) 833-6777 |
| Name: | Max |
| Comments: | The problem with reserve amerika is GREED. Its time to take the profit motive out of the equation. GIVE THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE BACK TO THE PEOPLE This land is your land , this land in our land It does not belong to TICKET MASTER. (ReserveAmerica was acquired by IAC’s Ticketmaster/Citysearch division for $22 million in 2001) Its time to petition our government into changing this broken system. You Should also check out : www.Recreation.gov Which is another way to reserve federal lands. It still charges a fee but at least it does not appear to go to TICKET BASTERD. |
| Name: | Dan Christensen |
| E-mail address: | danthor@verizon.net |
| Comments: | If RA Ripped you off & You want to try to go it alone get ready for the run around of your life. Freedom Campers are sent on a journey specifically designed to eat up your time and money and ruin your vacation. Just try to get your money back from the state parks and prepare yourself for a beaucratic run around as well. I was told that a Debra Smith had the Power to refund and asked her directly if that was so. 1 hour later she told me only the campsites themselves could refund and to phone EACH ONE. Have Fun riding the rip off run around train. ---Dan |
| Name: | christine miller |
| E-mail address: | tap.dancer@comcast.net |
| Homepage URL: | http://google |
| Comments: | I have been with RA for many years and I think they are a wonderful establish. They are alway very good to me and My camp site is alwalys ready for me when I arrive. |
| Name: | Stacey |
| E-mail address: | smazuelas1@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | Reserve America (A TICKETMASTER COMPANY) has completely taken over RESERVING FEDERAL LAND- how can this be? Here's a prime example of how their reservation system DOESN'T WORK- I recently stayed at Crescent Lake Campground in MN and spoke with the camp host there- she was talking of the multitude of issues they've had come up since this system has been in place and told of someone who was camping in a site (first come, first serve this person thought- as it always had been) when the people who reserved the site showed up later in the week to camp. The guy currently in the site refused to leave and the couple reserved to camp there LEFT and drove the 5 hours BACK HOME. What else are you supposed to do when you're camping in a remote location you've never been to on a holiday weekend??? Things like this happen constantly yet Ticketmaster/Reserve America bears no brunt of it because they're not there when issues arise. These aren't PRIVATE campgrounds, you can't install a reservation system without ponying up for someone to be on site to check people in/manage the place. My family's been camping at Crescent for over 40 years and there's never been a problem with how the place has been run. Now people are bickering over sites and volunteer camp hosts are stuck in the middle, powerless. It's FEDERAL LAND, folks, not private and shouldn't be managed as if it is. |
| Name: | Jose |
| E-mail address: | jmazuelas@hotmail.com |
| Comments: | Just went to crecent lake in minnesota and found out that reserve america, i mean ticketmaster has taken over that campground People were angry we've been going there for 40 years and never had one issue We went there on thursday and there was 1 site left. HOW CAN YOU RESERVE FEDERAL LAND THAT IS OWNED BY TAXPAYERS???? I would like to know if there is a plce wher you can complain. I will gladly write a letter to anybody and send it anywhere in whashington. If enough people do this we will get attention. F**K TICKETMASTER |
| Name: | Jude |
| Comments: | I've been camping at Lake Dennison for 12years and never had a problem until Reserve America took over. A few years back I reserved a site on the water and drove from New Hampshire only to be told at the park that they were closed because pipes burst. RA was suppose to contact me ahead of time, which they didn't. We were actually giving a site at Otter River which is down the road(not to happy about that). I tried to book a site Memorial day weekend and it said walk in only first come first serve. Drive all the way there to be told no vacancies. I explained and was told they have no walk in anymore and RA has been told to take it off website but they refuse. I drove over an hour to get there only to drive another hour and a half back home. Totally ruined my weekend. These state parks have to find a way to get rid of dealing with this company and go back to the way it use to be. BOYCOTT RESERVE AMERICA |
| Name: | Joyce |
| E-mail address: | elliottjme@msn.com |
| Comments: | I thought this website was kind of crazy until today. I jumped on line first thing in the morning to try to book Memorial Day weekend 2010. Nothing is available within an 80 mile radius! So much for the everyday people who just want to go camping for a few days. You can't find anything. |
| Name: | UnhappyCamper |
| Comments: | I think the author of this website doesn't understand that giving control of state parks and forest recreation areas to a corporate reservation system is part of the process of privatizing the public sector. Functions that were previously done by public employees at each park are now outsourced to one or more private reservation companies. Suggestions that going back to the previous park-operated system, which worked just fine for everybody except conservative lawmakers who serve the private sector, will fall on deaf ears. |
| Name: | lunkaransar |
| E-mail address: | kathleen_oreilly@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | We need this site! The worst thing about RA is that what is on the web is not what is actually available! I have not had these nightmare encounters that others report, so perhaps the site is working! Either way, I would rather talk to someone at the park, even if we create more government jobs, then someone who has no interest or knowledge! |
| Name: | William J Tacherra |
| E-mail address: | tacmac210@sbcglobal.net |
| Comments: | I also hate ReserveAmerica. as their website is almost impossible for me to understand it does not seem to work. |
| Name: | Matt Conti |
| E-mail address: | campingfun@yahoo.com |
| Comments: | I love RA. Never had a problem reserving the perfect camping spot. Stop crying & Get a life. I hope you all stop going camping, there will be more spots open for normal campers like me. He He heeeee. NYC Rules. |
| Name: | Claree |
| E-mail address: | icanaskquestions@smart.com |
| Comments: | I've ready your story and I understand how shocked you were, however it was you who neglected to inquire about the cancellation policy upon making reservations. You're angry at a company because you personally did not do any research or ask questions before paying. If buying plane tickets, wouldn't you want to know if the tickets were non refundable? The same applies here. This website is one big sob story and you aren't helping anyone. I'm sorry that you were not smart enough to ask about cancellation policies (most people do this before paying) with this company. Take responsibility for your own actions. |