[9T9BlueTJ]

Planned the perfect trip to Silver Lake. I had plenty of time to go online and get reservations (June 11th), but one catch, Silver Lake and everything north of Grand Haven was booked. So I get a spot in GH, but one catch, the "two day stay" policy. OK, fine, I will pay for 2 days even though I only need one. Credit card was billed and I thought smooth sailing for now.

I get to Grand Haven at 9 pm Friday. They say, yep you have it reserved, but because I did not show up on the first day (Thursday), they cancelled my reservation and put it back into circulation for someone else to take. Now, when I pay in full for something, I expect to have it, whether I am there or not. Me and my buddy talk to "Ranger Rick" there and nope, can't help ya. Oh, but he could, as the site I had claimed online was still vacant. I could stay, but only if I paid for another night! I told him I already paid for tonight and we are not paying again. We went back and forth in a civilized manner (although the blood was about at a boil - had a death grip on the counter). There was no reasoning with the guy so we left at 10 pm, Friday night, 100 miles from home and no place to stay (checked into another couple campgrounds in the area, and no dice). Thank goodness I have an Aunt that lives in North Muskegon and she let us use her front lawn to camp on.

That 2 day rule is such bullshit, as is the cancellation policy. I tried to get Fri and Sat night, but all the weekends were booked, so I got the next best thing, Thu and Fri nights. I guess the only way this would have worked, according to "Ranger Rick", it to have me drive up 100 miles Thu night, say "Here I am!", drive back home another 100 miles, get up Friday, drive another 100 miles and them camp out. Even if I knew about the cancellation policy and called up there, it still would not have worked according to them (you can not call in to claim your spot, you have to be there in person).


Sorry for the excessive length. For those that dozed off, Cliff Notes are:

Paid for 2 days in campground (forced to - did not want).
Showed up day 2 (did not need night one)
Was told since I did not show up day one, the site goes back into the pool.
Got royally pissed off.
Spend night in front yard of Aunt (free of charge).
Sore back and headache from little sleep.


I will never, ever stay in another State Park if I can help it. And I have stayed at Silver Lake State Park for at least half dozen times in the last 3 years or so with absolutely no issues or complaints.

Do other parks have the same stupid rule? Any recommendations on campgrounds around Silver Lake to stay at that have more "user friendly" policies?

Rant is over, thank you for your time. :thumb:

 

[C.K.]

That's bullshit. I would have pulled onto the site anyways and put up my tent.

 

[deuce228]

Id contact the CC company and refuse to pay.

 

[RockyMTN05]

that does suck... every place we called up there had a 2 night minimum and i wasplanning on doing the exact same thing you did...pay for fri-sat and only stay saturday.

thanks for the heads up. thats shitty.

 

[Buggy_Tim]

That's bullshit. I would have pulled onto the site anyways and put up my tent.

Id contact the CC company and refuse to pay.

x2 and x2

 

[whiterhino]

I had something similar a few years back. Booked a hotel for 2 nights but since we were going wheeling, we weren't sure what time we would be back. So we packed all our stuff to take with us just in case we ended up with an overnighter. Got back to the hotel at about 11:30 and my electronic key wouldn't work in the hotel room. So I go storming downstairs to see what;s up. Idiot at the desk tells me that since I "checked out" they changed the lock code. I said "what do you mean that I checked out?" They said "well you didn't leave anything in the room".

So I guess the moral of the story is that you have to leave shit in your room or sit on your campsite in order for your "prepaid" reservations to be valid.

STUPID

 

[9T9BlueTJ]

x2 and x2

Yeah, open available at 10 pm, I am sure that they did not fill it. We were eyeing it, but it was about 20 yards from the booth and I am sure we would have been escorted off the premesis. Maybe we should have come back after midnight and set up. :tonka:

The charge was already billed in July, so I can not go to the CC company once I paid my bill. Good thought though.

 

[VanTheMan]

WTG Michigan... way to promote use of the state parks...

 

[ScOoTeR]

They also doubled the cost of the primitive sites that have access to ORV trails to $20.

I have no trouble staying in a private campground with showers and electric for $2 or $3 more and then tow my bikes to the trail.

We have some real winners in charge.

 

[badazzamc]

thats just stupid.

 

[Big Daddy Rubicon]

What a wonderfull state we live in!

 

[Grifter]

hey guys, i dont know the area over that side of the state very well.. is it possible you could find some state forest or something..."dispersed camping" still has no charge. so long as your 1 mile away from state campgrounds and facilities you can stay where ever you want on the road/trail..

this past weekend we went north to paradise with the intention of just driving, seeing the sites and camping in whatever campsites we came across...first try was closed..second try was open: stayed one night at 15 bucks..never ever again..i dont pay to camp in the woods and have neighbors..so the following two nights we just drove till we found a suitable location.. which ended up being the edge of the state forest on the beach of lake superior..

HTH..

if not still sucks that they are fucking with your money that way..we gotta find a way to get back and get level with the queen in office..

 

[Buggy_Tim]

Damn camp sites are getting expensive. Wilderness campground cost us almost 30 a night for electric only.

 

[yellowjeeperman]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the state stop funding State Campgrounds? Aren't they run on their own now?

 

[Buggy_Tim]

Can't be.....because Grandhole just announced that they are closing something like 22 campgrounds in the state to save money over the summer.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't that when they MAKE money on campgrounds. Just another Grandhole mismanagement.

 

[C.K.]

Can't be.....because Grandhole just announced that they are closing something like 22 campgrounds in the state to save money over the summer.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't that when they MAKE money on campgrounds. Just another Grandhole mismanagement.

Thats what I was thinking.

 

[ScOoTeR]

Can't be.....because Grandhole just announced that they are closing something like 22 campgrounds in the state to save money over the summer.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't that when they MAKE money on campgrounds. Just another Grandhole mismanagement.

I wonder if they actually do make money on the campgrounds - I only ask this because we use state forest campgrounds alot - nearly every summer weekend. They have to pay someone to come clean the vaults (and I have seen them do it) replace T.P., collect fees, repair various things, etc.

I'm sure the land is rent-free, and you can have a ranger service several campgrounds in an area (though in more popular campgrounds, they'll have campground hosts do the work in exchange for free camping). Shit, I have no idea if they could be profitable, I don't think the expendature is that great to keep them open.

Sure would be nice to look at their accounting books to see what they consider is worth closing down, in terms of profitability.
Shouldn't we have access to this information?

 

[mistertwisty]

Can't be.....because Grandhole just announced that they are closing something like 22 campgrounds in the state to save money over the summer.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't that when they MAKE money on campgrounds. Just another Grandhole mismanagement.

I have a feeling that the real reason those campgrounds were closed is to keep "tent cities" from popping up when all the jobs have left MI and all the homes get forclosed on. In closing the parks now as a money saving effort she won't look like a caloused B**** for kicking homeless people out of the parks.

On another note, I would call up the state par and take it as far up the ladder as you can get. If you stay calm on the phone you can probably get a weekend out of it somewhere.

 

[phittie1100]

If you call the park office the day you are due to arrive and let them know you won't make it the first night, they will hold your reservation. The park office phone number prints on your online confirmation. We just did that a couple of weeks ago at SL.

 

[steveo]

I have a feeling that the real reason those campgrounds were closed is to keep "tent cities" from popping up when all the jobs have left MI and all the homes get forclosed on. In closing the parks now as a money saving effort she won't look like a caloused B**** for kicking homeless people out of the parks.

at 27 a night i dont know how many homeless people can live full time in a park. I say we skull fuck that cunt and all the people who voted for her with a tire iron.