Looking for $10 a night or 50% off RV park camping? Be careful before signing up (and paying) for a service that claims to provide such deals that many RVers say does not deliver what it promises. A Wilmington, Delaware firm that bills itself as
RVParkSuperpages.com as well as UltimateRVcamping.com finds itself repeatedly denounced as a "rip off"
and "scam" by RVers who say they've laid out money for a
"membership" but found the RV parks said to be giving 50% discounts
to "members" never heard of the service.
Here's a sampling of comments from various RV forum members:
"I ordered the RV Park SuperGuide a month ago and have
had a number of problems with their service. I have emailed, left messages on
their voice mail and have yet to receive a response.
"To date I have not received the $25 Camping World card
they promised.
"It appears as though they are interested in
communicating with you until you buy their product and then nothing."
"I paid $97/ a year ago and never got access to
anything. They do not answer the phone or return messages. Do not join!"
"After doing quite a bit of research I have found that
not only are the listing they promote [are] inaccurate, the parks they promote are
unaware of the membership program. The listings they have for local parks in
our area are mapped 1000s of miles away."
"We received an internet invitation to join a new
discount camping club, similar to Passport America,
for a special price of $39 for three years. The name is 'RV Park SuperGuide'.
It sounded legit, and being the trusting souls we are, we took them up on the
offer. BIG MISTAKE!! It is a SCAM! We have contacted several campgrounds on our
intended path on our way to Gillette,
WY, and none have ever heard of
this club and will not honor the discount rate. One has even been closed for
several years. It appears they copied campground descriptions from some other
discount camping system and published them as their own."
The Internet website, www.scambook.com notes 11 complaints
against SuperGuide, the most recent from this August. That complaint had the
same earmarks as those written about in RV forums: "I sent them $67 for a
two year membership. When I called some RV parks, they had never heard of the
outfit and wouldn't honor any discount based on my 'membership' in RV Park
SuperGide. My emails to them have been unanswered. I will dispute the charge
with my credit card company but must wait 30 days."
When rvtravel.com editors attempted to contact this outfit
earlier when doing research, our calls too, went unanswered. Here's a good case
of where being a frugal RVer means keeping a death-grip on your wallet.
RVtravel.com editor Chuck Woodbury said he joined the club to see what it was all about. "I found the information worthless," he said. "I asked for my money back, which to their credit they did refund." Woodbury also noted that when he researched the testimonials recently on the Ultimate RV Club's website, the photos of the "satisfied customers" were actually different people with no connection to the club. "One couple pictured was actually in the news when the woman returned from being stranded in the Nevada desert for 49 days. Her husband was never found, at least at the time of the news report." Woodbury reported that a check on Friday revealed all the photos have been removed including that of company chairman Walter Thompson, which a Google image search revealed was a Wisconsin neurosurgeon with a different name.
What have been your experiences? Leave a comment in our forum.
RVtravel.com editor Chuck Woodbury said he joined the club to see what it was all about. "I found the information worthless," he said. "I asked for my money back, which to their credit they did refund." Woodbury also noted that when he researched the testimonials recently on the Ultimate RV Club's website, the photos of the "satisfied customers" were actually different people with no connection to the club. "One couple pictured was actually in the news when the woman returned from being stranded in the Nevada desert for 49 days. Her husband was never found, at least at the time of the news report." Woodbury reported that a check on Friday revealed all the photos have been removed including that of company chairman Walter Thompson, which a Google image search revealed was a Wisconsin neurosurgeon with a different name.
What have been your experiences? Leave a comment in our forum.
4 comments:
yup, fell victim to them too. $39 for a year, received several e books and the list of campgrounds, tried to use the campground discount and was told we never heard of them. Another scam by another "honest" person.Caveat Emptor.
Walt Kaisergifi
I researched this a couple of years ago, and got access to the online database. After calling people from a couple of parks I knew, I realized it was fake. The person selling this company/service is the same person that used to sell "The Caverns" (in Arizona I think," that was used to sell RPI and CtC memberships for cheap.. He advertised in many national RV magazines at the time.
I understand where everyone's coming from. We got sucked into Passport America, which I thought had a good 50% off on all parks on their list. Well, maybe -- but, "not during holiday season"; "not during weekends"; and "not during special certain months of the year"; "discount only applies for 5 consecutive nights", etc. etc. etc. There are so many restrictions with this club, I don't think we'll renew. Will stick with Good Sam and KOA and just settle for the 10% discount with no restrictions.
Have had Passport America for several years, after wasting $40 "lifetime membership" with Ultimate RV (usual: "never heard of 'em", "do not honor this card", etc), and have had good, not excellent results.
Understand, we try not to pay full list, and 10% discount (Good Sam, etc), although better than nothing, is still not much discount. PA discount is 50%, and, even though some days aren't included, I've saved enough, over the years to pay the annual tab.
Since we aren't paying full rate, we don't expect the riverside-, beachfront-type slots, may be far from the pool, store, and facilities. Since we are usually traveling, who cares? We move the next morning, anyway! We would stop at other rv camps if they had cheaper, overnight accommodations for passers through!
Special note to campground owners! Discounts also entice us to consider longer stays to see the sights in intermediate spots enroute!
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