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ROSSER
Cashmere, WA.
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Joined: 09/16/2001
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Is anyone familiar with the THOUSAND TRAILS / NACO / LEISURE TIME membership packages? IE: site availability, increases in dues, "extra charges not defined when purchasing a membership, etc.
I just attended an "orientation" and am considering purchasing a membership, but the sales contract that I was asked to sign seemed to have a lot of "fine print" that made me uncomfortable. If there is someone out there that has one of these memberships, or knows of people who do, can you tell me if these are a good deal and can you get your money's worth from them? -- especially if you are a fulltimer using these, I would be very interested in your opinions.
Thank you,
Rosser
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Norm Payne
Livingston, TX
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Joined: 04/25/2002
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I listened to a Thousand Trails sales pitch in Las Vegas to get three free days of camping. No way would I pay that much money for a membership. We have friends who bought a resale membership for $1000 and they spend most of the time on the west coast where they have many campgrounds. It works outgood for them.
TT has many different types of memberships so make sure you understand what you are buying. Look in the back of some RVing magazines for resales. Someone told me TT is not renewing some of the old cheap memberships or they are allowing only one transfer between owners. Before you buy a resale call TT and make sure you can transfer it to your name.
Norm
2005 Dutch Star 4015, Cummins ISL 370 hp
2007 Honda CR-V
See Ya Down The Road
http://www.seeya-downtheroad.com
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travelgirl
Illinois
Senior Member
Joined: 09/12/2001
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Good Sam RV Club Member
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Rosser, I was researching "Thousand Trails" membership, because a salesman at "Lazy-Days RV Ctr) in Florida told me that "whomever" buys an RV from them, (new or used) gets a FREE membership with TT. Then, YOU pay only the yearly rate. That wasn't enough incentive to buy.
I actually forgot who told me (sorry), that TT was going out of business. Probably isn't true! However, I looked at a map on the Web-site, and they have very few locations. You might want to check out to see if the locations are where your going to travel before you buy the membership of any "campground associations". travelgirl ![[emoticon]](http://www.rv.net/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
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Ann Hatfield
Pensacola, Fl
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Joined: 12/04/2000
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HI Rosser,
I tried TT(total package) sounded good, but spent two days trying to find a place that "had a space open so I could use their $5 or $6 nights. After over 1.5 hr on cell phone and 4 rejections, I sent cert. letter cancelling. That was 3/27/02. They lost my cert. letter and I had to fax copy and cert. receipt, and I am waiting to see if they will credit my cred. card for deposit. It is tough to get to right person in Dallas when there is a problem. I filed obj. with card company, and will have to wait to see about refund. Initially sounded good, but I don't want to spend that much time trying to find place to stay. We travel too much to have the aggravation.
Hope this helps
Tom & Ann Geraghty
Adopted by 2 kittens, George and Kit(lucky us)
2003 DSDP with Ford Explorer
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bobkat21
Acworth, GA
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Joined: 01/15/2002
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We joined the Thousand Trails family last September and we love it. We have our trailer set up onsite at TT Lake Whitney TX and got there every weekend. We purchased the South package which gives us use of 12 parks at no cost and hundreds of others across the country. We have never had a problem with any of the parks in making reservations of being dissatified with the facilites. Although there are some out there that think it is absurd to pay that much for a membership all I have to say is it's an individuals choice. Like anything else no one is twisting there arm to join. I recommend TT, but you have to make that choice. Here's a website for TT that gives the companys history, profile and financial status. Hope this will help you some.
http://www.thousandtrails.com/about.html
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srpgcp@paragon2000.net
Marysville, CA
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Joined: 09/06/2001
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We have been members of TTNACO since 1983. We have always appreciated the clean safe parks. We pay dues for 50 nights of camping and there are no other charges. You can opt to pay higher dues for unlimited or increased nights according to the contract you have. We live near a park in CA and use it year round. We think these are the nicest membership parks throughout the US. There are at least 50+ parks in the US and one in BC. I am not sure where someone thought that TTNACO was going out of business or that there is a charge per night? TTNACO is financially sound and is making good business decisions that should keep it that way.
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Marv
Lakeland, Fl
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Joined: 08/31/2001
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If you are really serious about Thousand Trails, give Dan Monaghan a call at Campground Membership Outlet. They are just down the road from the Orlando location. Phone is (800) 272-0401. I forget what he quoted me, but, it was something like $1000.00 and you would only be locked into membership for like 3 years. Fees were something like $400.00 a year.
Also, this has been discussed at some length during the last 6 months. Do a search using the magnifying glass above. Go back about 6 months using the query of Thousand Trails. A number of current and past members commented upon it.
We went to the presentation about a year ago and They came down to $3600 and $400 a year for dues. I didn't think we would use it enough. If you are a full timer or spend time where they have the campgrounds, it can be a good value.
Marv
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CamToo
Pacific, WA, USA
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Joined: 02/23/2002
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I would add one warning that can come and bite you later. These clubs .. time shares .. camping clubs, etc. are making a long term commitment with you. Most of the fine print provides them with ways to get out of this commitment IF it becomes necessary. A cousin of mine had to finally sue a club like Thousand Trails because they were never able to get into a site (always over booked). My cousin SORT OF won the suit .. they got about 30% of their money back. Another dangerous area is the maintenance fees. I speak with some experience on this one. When the club needs $$ they will often set up the maintenance fee with no limit spelled out. They need more money .. you have the maintenance fee increased. I recently had a maintenance fee jump about $300 a year. I later discovered that my time share wanted to buy another hotel. Turns out I was really buying it with NO agreement that I could use it!
So, bottom line .. READ the fine print. Pay close attention to maintenance fees.
Kindest Regards
Cam
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bobkat21
Acworth, GA
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Joined: 01/15/2002
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My Thousand Trails yearly maintenance fee is lock at 383.00 and I think it is worth every penny for the service, cleanliness, and the up keep of the facilties. Once again you have to make the decision for yourself on what's good for you. We love our Thousand Trails parks and look forward to many happy years of use. Never had a problem getting a site or making a reservation.
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finish9
Spokane, WA
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Joined: 02/16/2002
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We've been a member since 1997 and love it. Lots of great locations, and great facilities. We pay about $425 a year for 50 nights and $4.00 per night after that.
Our initial fee was somewhere between $2500 and $2900, don't remember exactly. They do increase the annual fee at times, but only a small percentage.
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