Late check out

[brant_c]

So this past weekend we got reservations a month ago for Friday thru Monday.
Sunday afternoon I asked the camp ground owner if we could get a late checkout. He obliged. I told him that if there were people coming that we would leave. It's an 11:00 AM checkout.

He said he would put them in the next site until we leave...we were planning to leave by 2:00 PM. The reason is the wife and I wanted to ride some more mountain bike trails, make brunch, shower and pack/leave.

Well, the people showed up at noon. We were in the process of packing. They parked in the site next to us. I approached them and apologized. I told them we had permission to get late checkout...and that we were hurrying to get packed/leave.

The lady proceeds to tell me that we were in their spot. Duh! She also tells me that they were supposed to be there Sunday. I didn't respond and just apologized again.

They left in the car that was following the truck and fifth wheel.

We were gone by 12:55 PM.

Any body ever ask for a late check out?

This is our second time asking. Never been turned down. On our invoice it states 3:00 PM arrival. There is no checkin time anywhere on the campground web site policy.

[bukhrn]

Have never ask for a late checkout, do occasionally ask for an early check-in, IF the site has already been vacated.

[CFerguson]

Walaby wrote:

CFerguson wrote:
You had permission, they were there early. Had THEY obeyed the CG's guidelines, they'd never know you were there.
I agree, Not Your Problem.

So, if OP is correct, and there is no check in time in the campground rules, then the new occupant wasn't necessarily there "early"... can't be early if there's no specific time in the rules.

My last trip to Gulf Shores State Park, I had to ask for a late departure. Needed a replacement tire on the wifes Acura. Grand daughter curbed it and tore the sidewall. Park was accommodating and we were gone by 1 PM.

Mike

Maybe i have assumed too much based on every single campground I have stayed in over the last several decades. All of them had check in times clearly posted at the desk and in their advertising.

OP can you clear this up: was there a check in time at the CG?

Personally, I have never dealt with this as I have always met the checkout deadline and if we were going to be early, we called ahead or just stopped somewhere to kill some time along the way. I would have no problem paying extra if I needed extra time. For those that do this regularly, whatever works is fine by me.

[Lantley]

"but if it's a blanket "no" when it's clear there are plenty of open sites and will have zero impact on your costs/staffing and you can't articulate why, you just made it more likely that I don't use your campground/hotel next time around"



Or you will plan your time better in the future and hopefully not blame the CG when they won't let you extend your allotted time

It's not that complicated. When you extend times you disrupt the schedule all around. Sites may not be cleaned, or properly checked out.
Campers arrive early and find you in their spot!
All this nonsense is easy to avoid by just saying No to extending times!
Yes as a business owner I want to avoid unnecessary headaches. I already have enough necessary headaches I don't need any headaches I can easily avoid!

[Bert_Ackerman]

So glad I happened upon the RVnet "Understanding the Hospitality Industry 101" class. :S

[valhalla360]

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
Early arrival and late checkout are only an issue in our outdooor hospitality industry. Hoteliers forbid or charge for early, late check out, as it adds to staff and costs, as it does to us.
Hotels have only 2 options, 1 bed or 2. Camps have many more variables, as well as striving to suit your wishes.
Where the early/ late becomes an issue is when that prime site is reserved. If all our sites were like a hotel or wally world all the same with hookups, arranging would be easy.
Wear our shoes for a day,

Most of the hotel comparison is flat out wrong.

We have frequently stayed late/checked in early (after politely asking) and 9 out of 10 times, there is no cost (sometimes even though officially there is a fee, they tell us not to worry about it).

Hotels typically have many room types beyond just the number of beds.
- Ocean view, pool view or dumpster view
- Balcony or not
- Various suite types.
- High vs low floors.
- Etc...

Ultimately, we can only request and if we are told "no", we must abide by that...but if it's a blanket "no" when it's clear there are plenty of open sites and will have zero impact on your costs/staffing and you can't articulate why, you just made it more likely that I don't use your campground/hotel next time around.

[happy2rv]

Lantley wrote:

As someone who has worked with the general public for many years, sometimes you create policies based on past experiences.
I'm sure WRVPO has seen the scenario described by the OP many times.
I'm sure late/early arrival have caused headaches for one reason or another. Lots of he said she said, I was told or promised etc etc.
At some point you end the confusion and headaches by simply eliminating or banning early or late arrivals across the board. Problem Solved!
As a camper/consumer, pay for the extra day if you want to leave late or arrive early. Problem Solved.

I understand the potential frustration. I've worked with the public many times. I started out in retail sales many years ago and I know there are all kinds of people and all kinds of ways some people will abuse the system. IMHO you haven't ended the headaches, you've simply shifted them to someone else. You haven't solved the problem, you MIGHT have solved your problem. It's certainly within your rights, and I do respect those rights, to set such policies. If you have a camp site that's in demand, why would you want it sitting empty because someone paid an extra day to pull out 2 hours late? Something that happens a lot around here is people will book and pay for a site at coveted state park campgrounds and then not show up or they will book it for say 5 nights and only show up for 2 or 3. I can't tell you how many nights I've spent in a nearly empty "fully booked" campground.

I do agree there is extra work involved and might expect to pay extra for the service, if I needed it and it were offered. Again, I don't expect you to offer the service or think I have some right to it. However, if I request the service from a campground and the campground agrees, I would expect the campground to coordinate it, whether or not they charged me, and not have a potential altercation with another camper because they didn't.

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
Early arrival and late checkout are only an issue in our outdooor hospitality industry. Hoteliers forbid or charge for early, late check out, as it adds to staff and costs, as it does to us.
Hotels have only 2 options, 1 bed or 2. Camps have many more variables, as well as striving to suit your wishes.
Where the early/ late becomes an issue is when that prime site is reserved. If all our sites were like a hotel or wally world all the same with hookups, arranging would be easy.
Wear our shoes for a day

As already stated, I don't expect something for nothing.

IMHO you're over generalizing. While it's true most hotels don't allow you to pick your room (by the way I've been to campgrounds that don't let you pre-select a particular site) , it's not true they only have 2 options. Most hotels have categories of rooms, especially if there are some appealing features of certain rooms (ocean view vs overlooking the parking lot, etc). Customers also make all sorts of special requests in the hotel industry. I want to be close to the stairway or elevator, not close to the ice machine, ground floor, top floor, not the 13th floor, etc... Some hotels accommodate and others don't. I do understand the frustrations, and I do respect you right to set policies that you feel are fair or avoid problems. I don't want to sound flippant, but it sounds like you should wear your customers shoes for a day.

I've seen the suggestion to reserve an extra day. I've already given some reasons why I don't think that's necessarily the best answer, but the real reason that's not the best answer is people don't always plan to arrive early or stay late. You get up Sunday morning and decide you want to see a couple of more sites that you discovered late in your visit or you arrive early because traffic wasn't nearly as bad as you expected. You arrive at an empty campground and ask if you can check in early and you're told POLICY is no early check ins. You ask if you can check out late on Sunday and the office doesn't even bother to see if someone is coming in, POLICY is no late check outs. That's NOT hospitality. It is your right, but it's not hospitality. It's my POLICY as a consumer that I PREFER places that try to accommodate reasonable requests. I understand when some can't, especially for legitimate reasons. But I APPRECIATE and prefer those that try.

I also understand that we as consumers can make assumptions. I understand that an empty campground may only seem empty. Maybe there's maintenance, maybe there's some other reason they can't be accommodating. But again, IMHO a blanket policy because you think it solves your headache isn't a reason. Also my opinion, enough policies like that drive away "good" consumers.

[Community Alumni]

We often arrive early to campgrounds and RV parks and most of the time we are allowed in. However, we always leave before checkout time.

[DutchmenSport]

Never stayed late, never arrived early, unless it was like ... 15 minutes early or something like that.

However, we have on several occasions over the last 35 years run into the situation where one of the neighboring campers had multiple vehicles on their spot and used our campsite as a parking spot. And then there's no one around to move the vehicle. Yep, that's happened a few times.

FYI, Indiana State Parks has cracked down on that practice by the way. I'm amazed how, all this Summer, and every park we've been to, they screen ever vehicle coming into the campground, and actually enforcing the, only one vehicle per campsite rule. Of course, it makes for long lines at the campground gate house too. But I'm glad to see it.

What's really bad though, is when you find yourself in a different time-zone than home and all of a sudden you realize you have one hour less to get off the site. Been there, done that too! But me made it!

[SDcampowneroper]

Early arrival and late checkout are only an issue in our outdooor hospitality industry. Hoteliers forbid or charge for early, late check out, as it adds to staff and costs, as it does to us.
Hotels have only 2 options, 1 bed or 2. Camps have many more variables, as well as striving to suit your wishes.
Where the early/ late becomes an issue is when that prime site is reserved. If all our sites were like a hotel or wally world all the same with hookups, arranging would be easy.
Wear our shoes for a day,

[camperdave]

Yeah I often book Sunday night so we can stay late on Sunday. Weekends are too short to check out by noon.

[Lantley]

happy2rv wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:
I need to bookmark this thread and show it to anyone who wants a late check out or an early arrival. They both have a way of not working out for anyone. Hence they aren't on the menu at our parks.

If you have back to back reservations for the site(s), I can see not accommodating early arrivals / late exits. If 3/4 of your campground is empty, including the spot I'm vacating and you aren't willing to work with me, maybe I don't need to camp there. Just saying, this statement is kind of ridiculous. I'm sure if the OP asked and were told that someone else was booked in that spot and their arrival time wasn't known, they would've offered to move or abide by the advertised check out time.

The park owner agreed to allow late check out and then allowed the arriving party to check in. It's the park owner's problem period!!!! The park owner could have told the OP that the site was reserved and offered another spot or overflow parking or simply said we don't have anything available. They SHOULD have explained to the arriving party that check in isn't until 3 and their spot isn't yet available but we have another spot or overflow parking available until then. Perhaps they did, but it doesn't sound like it. Either way, it's not the arriving parties place to be telling another camper anything. If they had an issue, they should have taken it up with the camp office, not the OP.

Pretty much every hotel I've ever been to allows for early arrival / late checkout unless there are extenuating circumstances. Some charge a fee for this service and others don't. I realize that I don't generally book a specific room at a hotel, but even so, it's not an unreasonable request to make. Key word being request. I perfectly understand if there is a reason the request can't be accommodated. I don't think it's reasonable to book an extra night for 1-3 hours and leave a site empty after I pull out. By the way, I'm sure there are park owners and definitely potential patrons who will have issues with that practice. I realize it might be extra work to track early arrivals and/or late exits and I don't expect a free ride. I'd be willing to pay a reasonable fee for such services. I don't expect "extra" services like these, but I do appreciate them.

As someone who has worked with the general public for many years, sometimes you create policies based on past experiences.
I'm sure WRVPO has seen the scenario described by the OP many times.
I'm sure late/early arrival have caused headaches for one reason or another. Lots of he said she said, I was told or promised etc etc.
At some point you end the confusion and headaches by simply eliminating or banning early or late arrivals across the board. Problem Solved!
As a camper/consumer, pay for the extra day if you want to leave late or arrive early. Problem Solved.

[Walaby]

CFerguson wrote:
You had permission, they were there early. Had THEY obeyed the CG's guidelines, they'd never know you were there.
I agree, Not Your Problem.

So, if OP is correct, and there is no check in time in the campground rules, then the new occupant wasn't necessarily there "early"... can't be early if there's no specific time in the rules.

My last trip to Gulf Shores State Park, I had to ask for a late departure. Needed a replacement tire on the wifes Acura. Grand daughter curbed it and tore the sidewall. Park was accommodating and we were gone by 1 PM.

Mike

[happy2rv]

westernrvparkowner wrote:
I need to bookmark this thread and show it to anyone who wants a late check out or an early arrival. They both have a way of not working out for anyone. Hence they aren't on the menu at our parks.

If you have back to back reservations for the site(s), I can see not accommodating early arrivals / late exits. If 3/4 of your campground is empty, including the spot I'm vacating and you aren't willing to work with me, maybe I don't need to camp there. Just saying, this statement is kind of ridiculous. I'm sure if the OP asked and were told that someone else was booked in that spot and their arrival time wasn't known, they would've offered to move or abide by the advertised check out time.

The park owner agreed to allow late check out and then allowed the arriving party to check in. It's the park owner's problem period!!!! The park owner could have told the OP that the site was reserved and offered another spot or overflow parking or simply said we don't have anything available. They SHOULD have explained to the arriving party that check in isn't until 3 and their spot isn't yet available but we have another spot or overflow parking available until then. Perhaps they did, but it doesn't sound like it. Either way, it's not the arriving parties place to be telling another camper anything. If they had an issue, they should have taken it up with the camp office, not the OP.

Pretty much every hotel I've ever been to allows for early arrival / late checkout unless there are extenuating circumstances. Some charge a fee for this service and others don't. I realize that I don't generally book a specific room at a hotel, but even so, it's not an unreasonable request to make. Key word being request. I perfectly understand if there is a reason the request can't be accommodated. I don't think it's reasonable to book an extra night for 1-3 hours and leave a site empty after I pull out. By the way, I'm sure there are park owners and definitely potential patrons who will have issues with that practice. I realize it might be extra work to track early arrivals and/or late exits and I don't expect a free ride. I'd be willing to pay a reasonable fee for such services. I don't expect "extra" services like these, but I do appreciate them.

[Lantley]

kalynzoo wrote:
In my years of vacation travel we occasionally ask for a late check out. Often we are asked to pay an additional fee, sometimes we have been asked to relocate to open our spot for others. When I know I want a late check out, like in Las Vegas, where we prefer to drive home in the evening, I will just pay for the extra day and leave after dinner. JMHO

This is how I handle late checkouts as well. If I feel the need to stay late, I simply book and extra day and leave at my leisure.

As far as the OP's issue. I would say it's a management problem if they allowed him to stay late and also agreed to allow the next group to arrive early:h

[kalynzoo]

In my years of vacation travel we occasionally ask for a late check out. Often we are asked to pay an additional fee, sometimes we have been asked to relocate to open our spot for others. When I know I want a late check out, like in Las Vegas, where we prefer to drive home in the evening, I will just pay for the extra day and leave after dinner. JMHO