Want to relate one of the weirder sales pitches I have experienced in my time on this earth. Sorry this is long but hang in there with me.
This summer I got the crazy idea to try RV'ing. Bought a used 18 foot IdleTime trailer and started packing my wife off to various campgrounds. My wife is a retired school teacher, I am a computer consultant, one of my sons is a policeman, another sells structural concrete, another is a tax accountant with the Texas A&M system and the fourth is a musician. We tow the trailer with a Mercedes SUV. The trailer came with one of those special offers to try a Thousand Trails campground. Was supposed to get 3 nights/ 4 days, and if I took them up within 60 days, would get 30 days camping.
Anyway, we decided to try the campground and just see. Figured I could endure a 90 min sales pitch for a 30 nights of camping. Now here is where I made my big mistake. I wanted to go out on Friday and then go home Saturday after hearing the pitch and let my adult son and his wife have a try at camping on the remaining nights.
First issue was when they made the reservation they said I could only do two nights, not three. Would also have to have a non-sewer hookup, though I later learned that most spots had sewers and in any case they are a pick your own campsite place. No big deal on the two nights as my son could only stay one night anyway.
When we arrived after dark on Friday we were told that we had a 10AM appointment on Saturday, which was great by me. After going to meet our appointment we were told we would have to reschedule for the next day. When I told them my plans, it hit the fan. Was told that they have rules and I was totally out of my mind to try to bend the RULES. At one point was told the pack up and leave. I got the feeling that they would like to escort me out at gunpoint for this infraction of the RULES. They finally decided that they would let me come back that afternoon and hear the pitch. Everyone calmed down and we promised to return that afternoon.
When we returned the first thing I said was that I wanted to do whatever, including paying for the night, so that my son and wife could spend the night as they were on the way and unreachable. Got no real response from the salesperson so we let her do her thing.
Liked the camp and basically liked the overall pitch. Was told about all the people she had sold, including a wrestler (actor) from WWF. Was even getting serious about buying till it hit the fan again. We happened to ask about making sure that our son could get in the gate. At this point we were told that we were not their type of people and should leave the park. In no way would they ever sell to us as we were not the type of people that they wanted in their park, but at the same time, please sign here for our “one-time only special” deal. This argument continued for a bit till it was finally resolved by making him sit through what ended up being a two hour presentation the next morning which wasted his and the salespersons time.
I have never seen a salesperson try so hard to loose a sale. Never heard of telling a prospect that “we were not the type of people for Thousand Trails” while doing the hard sell to make us buy. Were told the RULES were VERY IMPORTANT, but they never attempted to honor the terms of the offer on the flyer we received with the trailer. I always thought the first rule of selling was to get the deal. This rule was broken at every turn. Just don’t see how insulting a customer is part of any salesperson’s bag of tricks.
Thousand Trails looks interesting and resale is now a distinct possibility but would never buy through the sales force at the Lake Tawakoni campground.
I live in Chesapeake, but never knew there was a thousand trails campground, or any type of resort campground in the city. Only two I was aware of was the city owned campground at NorthWest River, and an old campground on Rt-17 by the Intercoastal Waterway that USED to be a KOA...
What is the name of this place, and it's location, I'd like to check it out...
*Cliff*
"The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration!"
2000 Ford F-150
2005 Coachmen Spirit of America 300 TBS
Chesapeake, Virginia
We really werent all that impressed with the actual campsites at Advance, NC TT, as they were so mixed together lacking organization. You may end up with your door opening right to the rear of another rig...just very disorganized - partially because of the fact most were in trees for shade so in that regard - understandable.
The site we stayed at was the very first site from the pool and recreation area - large, flat and lots of grass outside our door. It was great except the setting sun was right in our faces from about 3PM til sunset - even with the awning out.
The pool(s) are nice - the adult pool was closed as they have a pipe break and everyone shared the kids pool..but it is big and well maintained.
It was convenient for the miniature golf...played lots there - my son (28) and his girlfriend loved it.
Good size store and under cover area with tables for craft shows and eating. Recreation hall with lots of pinball and video games and a snack bar.
There wasnt a lot of sites (we saw) that would accommodate large rigs like ours (30') and yours being 31.5'.
*This Message was edited on 24-Sep-02 11:03 AM by wittmeba*
We have been TT Members for 17 years. We really
like TTs.
Why not try the free three days two nights then
decide what you think? I have seen ads in the Paper
where Memberships sell for as low as $300.00
plus transfer fees.
Good luck.
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