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Old 05-30-2018, 09:08 AM   #1
Ejenkins
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No shows at our favorite campground

This is getting to be a bigger problem. We love to camp in a nearby National Forest campground. It has full hookups except for sewer. There are only 24 sites there but it is well maintained. On the busiest weekends it is never full. Half of the sites are on the edge of a small lake and the other half are in the wooded area. The cost is only $20/night or $15/night if you have the senior pass.

Here is the problem. We are finding that people will reserve the prime spots and then don't show. There are three spots on a small peninsula so they are surrounded on three sides by water. We made reservations 3 weeks ago for this past Memorial Day weekend and the only sites left were in the wooded area. We got there Thursday and the place was only 1/3 full as usual. By Saturday those camping for the weekend had arrived but the three spots on the peninsula and one other prime water's edge spot sat empty.

Do any of you know how other campgrounds handle no shows.
 
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Old 05-30-2018, 09:18 AM   #2
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Most require a deposit or payment in full. You would think the site would open up within 24 hours as space available for a no-show.
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Old 05-30-2018, 10:03 AM   #3
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Several of the ones around here state that unless you contact them, they can re rent your space after 24 hours if you are a no show.
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Old 05-30-2018, 11:55 AM   #4
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With Recreation.gov and Reserve America being in the picture for several years … you have to reserve in the first or second week in January to even think about having a decent site for the 4th of July holiday at most any lake in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas … I consider you lucky to be able to reserve a holiday site only 3 weeks in advance. However … I feel your pain as we see what you talk of several times throughout the season as well. Most Corps campgrounds we frequent have a 24 hr policy … if you don't show within 24 hours of your first days checkin time … the site becomes available to first come first served. You just have to go to the camp host booth and ask if it's fair game yet. Some prime sites are not reservable and it isn't too well spelled out in the reservation systems, so you get mad not knowing. The locals know and snatch them up pretty quickly.
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Old 05-30-2018, 12:12 PM   #5
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LCRA has gone from reserve a first come first serve spot reservation to a reserve a specific site. That is leaving prime spots unused. Texas Parks and Wildlife is moving to the same system. going to have the same problem. Prime sites get reserved and not used.
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Old 05-30-2018, 12:13 PM   #6
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In our area All the COE campgrounds have walk up (non reservable) prime sites. By policy a certain percentage have to be so. Since they allow tents on any site (something I take issue with itself) any local can simply put a quick pop up tent on a site and pay for it to hold it till they actually arrive!! The locals, including me, know this and will check the sites several times per week.

Again having more prime sites would reduce this issue
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Old 05-30-2018, 12:16 PM   #7
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LCRA has gone from reserve a first come first serve spot reservation to a reserve a specific site. That is leaving prime spots unused. Texas Parks and Wildlife is moving to the same system. going to have the same problem. Prime sites get reserved and not used.
Jeff,
Respectfully many of us prefer the site specific scenario!! I don’t want to show up at a campground and be put way out in the woods!!! I want to know up front what I am heading too so I can choose NOT to go
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Old 05-30-2018, 12:20 PM   #8
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With Recreation.gov and Reserve America being in the picture for several years … you have to reserve in the first or second week in January to even think about having a decent site for the 4th of July holiday at most any lake in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas … I consider you lucky to be able to reserve a holiday site only 3 weeks in advance. However … I feel your pain as we see what you talk of several times throughout the season as well. Most Corps campgrounds we frequent have a 24 hr policy … if you don't show within 24 hours of your first days checkin time … the site becomes available to first come first served. You just have to go to the camp host booth and ask if it's fair game yet. Some prime sites are not reservable and it isn't too well spelled out in the reservation systems, so you get mad not knowing. The locals know and snatch them up pretty quickly.
Guy,

We do our best to not be out over July 4th with all the crazies. We can do our reservations here 13 months in advance for state parks. When folks don't show, site become available after 24 hours. We also have lots of great open spaces for boondocking. I grew up in Missouri going to the lakes in the summer - lots of great memories but don't really miss the bugs or humidity.
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Old 05-30-2018, 12:27 PM   #9
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Guy,

We do our best to not be out over July 4th with all the crazies. We can do our reservations here 13 months in advance for state parks. When folks don't show, site become available after 24 hours. We also have lots of great open spaces for boondocking. I grew up in Missouri going to the lakes in the summer - lots of great memories but don't really miss the bugs or humidity.
I grew up the same way. After 14 years along the Gulf Coast I couldn’t wait to get back to the Ozarks!!

But then my idea of heaven is a kayak and fly rod on a mountain stream!!!
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Old 05-30-2018, 05:48 PM   #10
Ejenkins
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All good points. Our issue is we have a fifth wheel. If we spent the time we do setting up for a 3-4 day stay we arent going to move if a site becomes available
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Old 05-30-2018, 09:31 PM   #11
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We have had a fiver since 2000 as well. We recreational camp and usually have several toys and yard décor about the camper that full timers don't. I guess we're different as if I was at a mediocre site for a 3-4 day stay and a waterfront site came open say the first day … we'd move in a heartbeat. You just have to put enough up to draw the slides in and move … load the loose items up in the pickup bed … 30 - 45 minutes well worth it in my way of thinking. Plus you're not sitting in the weeds staring at the site you wished you were on.

AZ Traveler I understand your thinking on camping on the holidays … we look at it differently. You can sit on your site and be well entertained 24 - 7 by the off the wall goofy stuff that rolls in and by what goes on. Landing a site across from a boat ramp is over the top for entertainment. We've seen people pitch a tent, cut a slit in the side, install a room A/C and duct tape it together, instant igloo. We've also seen people haul out a big screen TV, full sized sofa, and cram it under an awning by their tent … instant man cave. And …… we've also had to call the law for rowdies
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Old 05-31-2018, 06:53 PM   #12
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We are fortunate enough to own a recreation site on a slow moving river. Our prime spot is always available.
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Old 06-10-2018, 05:34 PM   #13
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It's definitely a management/web site issue.
Depending on the web site, a no show might still be able to show up the next day, for example, because of a problem like a mechanical breakdown. If the website provides for a warning that a no show, after 24 hours, will forfeit the site, then the site cab be reassigned, then maybe people would cancel their reservation and open it up for rebooking. Keep in mind that a no show sometimes forfeits their entire booking, so the CG still gets paid for a vacant site no one else can use.
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Old 06-10-2018, 06:25 PM   #14
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...Do any of you know how other campgrounds handle no shows.[/QUOTE]

At Florida State Parks, paid for reserved sites belong to whoever paid for them. That's up until the last day checkout time even for no shows.
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Old 06-10-2018, 07:28 PM   #15
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...Do any of you know how other campgrounds handle no shows.
At Florida State Parks, paid for reserved sites belong to whoever paid for them. That's up until the last day checkout time even for no shows.[/QUOTE]

COE collects full fee for stay up front and won’t give site away

Arkansas state parks collect only first night and will give away no show after 24 hrs. But then they haven’t paid for entire stay
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Old 06-10-2018, 08:34 PM   #16
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I like the idea of 60 or 70 percent reservable and the rest first come first serve.
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Old 06-10-2018, 10:08 PM   #17
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While on our way back from our winter in AZ we stopped in Waco, TX at a COE campground. We made reservations and had a great space up on a small hill overlooking the lake. We spent three nights there and there were numerous lakeside campsites that were never used even though they were reserved. I asked the workcamper at the gate what the deal was about the unused sites. She told me that since Baylor University is there in Waco the parents of many of the students there reserve the sites for 6 months at a time while their kids are going to school. That way they have a guaranteed spot when they come and visit their kids. It must be nice to be able to reserve and pay for these sites even though you won't be there to use them. I guess it's good for the COE but what about us poor campers that would like to enjoy lakeside sites also. Oh well, next time I'll reserve 6 months in advance and hope I can get one of the lakeside sites.
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Old 06-11-2018, 09:32 PM   #18
Carl n Susan
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A member explained how he cheats the reservation system and the responses were as angry as one would expect. It is not the way MOC members are to act or present themselves. Consequently posts have been deleted and the Thread is closed,
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