Age Discrimination

[Steve Dunkel]

In the August 2009 issue of RV View (Camping World publication) a reader complained about being turned away at a campground in SoCal because of the age of their RV. Apparently the campground had a 10 year old age limit. Has anyone been turned away with their fiberglass trailer because of its age? I've heard of size restrictions but being turned away because of age is a new one to me.

[Chester Taje]

I have heard of that also, but have never seen it done.

[Raya]

My Boler? Oh, it's a 2001 model.



Raya

[Dave Fish]

My sister-in-law manages such a park in Everett, WA. They only take the big up-scale rigs and not if they are too old.

Dave

[Jim Bennett]

I have heard others tell of it too. It would be a private park, and they have the right, but sure might be affecting their bottom line. On the other hand, there might be RV owners looking for a campground that limits the age and sizes of the units allowed in. To each their own, I guess. I don't care if I am with tents, A class motorhomes, vintage trailers, or VW vans.

[Donna D.]

Welll I can almost see the point, if we're talking about plain ole stickie built trailers. Fortunately molded lightweight fiberglass trailers all look the same through the years (by brand) and most Airstreams too. I think if you've got a well maintained 25 year old trailer, that's all spiffy... and your tug too, most wouldn't have problems being "10 years old or newer." Whether you choose to say your rig is newer... is a personal choice. Not much you can do about length however!

[Time K]

Hi Steve, a place we like to stay in Las Vegas "reserves the right" to refuse certain RV's....you can read into that what you will. That is their business and they are free to exercise their right, I suppose. I personally don't see anything inherently wrong with that "right" just as we each have the right to choose not to do business with them.

Oh....I should point out that last year we had a keepsake stolen off our trailer while we were out on "the strip"...go figure, the riff raff somehow still slipped in despite their policies.

http://www.oasislasvegasrvresort.com..._policies.html

[Robin G]

This topic has been beat to death many times on other camping forums and of course people always flip out that a private park/campground/resort would have such a rule. But maybe I can give you the reason from a former park/campground/resort owners view point.

1. We had the rule, and used it for our/our guest protection. Example, In Montana where our place was, we would get locals who would drive in (you could see them a mile away with ti-wire holding their hood down, 5 or 6 kids hanging out the window along with a couple of dogs) and gee they wanna bring their "Mobile home " in and live here! My thought was, Really! Not on your life! We took pride in our business for the comfort of our guest, so I have to ask as a guest would you want a "Mobile Home" actually its a Motor Home but they flippen figure it has wheels so it's mobile......................... and all the crap that comes along with it in the site next to you? Several places we have stayed as rv'ers have had this rule, our first Class A was right at the 10 year rule, all they required was to see it as long as they knew it wasn't a clunker they let us stay. No problem. It's just to protect the business and guest from having to deal with a flat tire, beat up, old rv. I am sure there are places that stand true with the rule, but for the most part the rule is in place to protect the comfort of the guest who maintains their rv, truck, campsite, etc.

2. When we were owners, we belonged to an owners forum. Read of several examples of parks/campgrounds/resorts getting stuck with old rv's cause they would break down and the owners would abandon them, so they had to get it towed out which is costly, as well as the fact that the paper work for a business owner to get thru the red tape to get it off their property. No where is a nightly/weekly/monthly fee worth dealing with it.


We were a Big Rig park, and a huge percentage of our guest were driving coaches, but at no time did I apply the rule to an older rv that was maintained nor did I apply it to keep out bumper pulls, pop up's, overhead campers, or camper vans, tenters, etc, it was a back pocket rule that I could use in special cases. And from my experiances rv-ing, most parks work the rule as I did.

[Yvon Chayer]

Some campground have this rule in Quebec Canada but it is only for long term camping (all the season )
For short term camping he don't have any rule for age and size of the trailer

Yvon Chayer

[CarolnJim]

We had a different experience. In Nov 2001, on the way back to California after picking up our brand new Casita, we phoned ahead to a campground. I asked if there was availability and the answer: How big is your unit? I said it's 17 feet. The answer: We don't accept anything under 25 feet.

We didn't mind the rule, however, the person was very rude on the phone. Having rules is one thing.. rudeness is another... We found this to be unacceptable and my only regret is that I didn't keep the name of the campground.

[Jim Bennett]

Welll I can almost see the point, if we're talking about plain ole stickie built trailers. Fortunately molded lightweight fiberglass trailers all look the same through the years (by brand) and most Airstreams too. I think if you've got a well maintained 25 year old trailer, that's all spiffy... and your tug too, most wouldn't have problems being "10 years old or newer." Whether you choose to say your rig is newer... is a personal choice.[b] Not much you can do about length however!

Not according to some of the junk email my wife and I get.

[Bill K]

Well, I know where my mind is as I started laughing when I read your remark.

Bill K

Not according to some of the junk email my wife and I get.

[theresa p]

Not according to some of the junk email my wife and I get.

hahahha...jim---you are sooo right!

[Phil Underwood]

We had some place ask " back when we had a 83 16ft Casita" We just lied and told em it was newer

[ronsmith100]

Two things I dont like in RV parks:
1-monthly tenants
2-rich supercilious people

so chances are that if I was excluded for some reason it would be best for me.

[Roger H]

How big is your unit? I said it's 17 feet. The answer: We don't accept anything under 25 feet.

Actually, you could have said (truthfully) that we're about 37 feet overall (including your tow vehicle, of course!)

I always answer with a question... "why do you ask?" or "what are the restrictions?". Then my rig can be the appropriate minimum length or maximum age without any problems.

Roger

[Steve Dunkel]

We had a different experience. In Nov 2001, on the way back to California after picking up our brand new Casita, we phoned ahead to a campground. I asked if there was availability and the answer: How big is your unit? I said it's 17 feet. The answer: We don't accept anything under 25 feet.

We didn't mind the rule, however, the person was very rude on the phone. Having rules is one thing.. rudeness is another... We found this to be unacceptable and my only regret is that I didn't keep the name of the campground.

Not to sound like a wiseacre but if a MH (basically a trailer on a truck chassis) length is from back to front bumper why wouldn't a trailer setup be from back bumper of the trailer to the front bumper of the tow vehicle? That would make my 21RB and TV over 31 feet long.

Edit: Believe me, I added this response about the same time as Roger H's post. Note only a few minutes separation. Scares me and probably Roger more that our thoughts were in sync that much.

[CarolnJim]

Actually, you could have said (truthfully) that we're about 37 feet overall (including your tow vehicle, of course!)

I always answer with a question... "why do you ask?" or "what are the restrictions?". Then my rig can be the appropriate minimum length or maximum age without any problems.

Roger

Hi Roger and Steve

Yes, we've learned a lot since 2001... A little white lie helps in some situations.. but I think if we said 35 feet, and they only accepted 25' and bigger for an RV (without tow) they would send us away .. I know that woman would have stopped us at the entrance with a security guard. She was nasty.

It's like some campgrounds.. You tow a trailer behind a vehicle, (like a 35 foot combo) and that is all you can take in. But if you have a 35 foot RV and tow another vehicle - that's OK...

If everyone would ask at various campgrounds when they check in, how the campground considers the size.. This could be very interesting to find out ...

Sometimes it isn't fair but life goes on...

[Time K]

Then there's this:
Often when we book a KOA (it seems mostly them) and state our true size and dimension we get a campsite that is cramped, uneven and no room for awning because of trees for example. I look around and see some very nice sites that are much wider and level and enquire if they are available for a swap. The answer is usually no, they are booked but oddly enough they remain empty.

So, I started booking sites and including "slide out" as an option even though we do not have one. Viola! Complete change. Wider more comfortable sites more often than not....I do feel slightly guilty for the bigger units in the smaller sites....would you?

Robin, perhaps you can share your thoughts on this. Maybe I'm just wising up late in the game and this is standard practice for some already.

[Steve Dunkel]

Then there's this:
Often when we book a KOA (it seems mostly them) and state our true size and dimension we get a campsite that is cramped, uneven and no room for awning because of trees for example. I look around and see some very nice sites that are much wider and level and enquire if they are available for a swap. The answer is usually no, they are booked but oddly enough they remain empty.

So, I started booking sites and including "slide out" as an option even though we do not have one. Viola! Complete change. Wider more comfortable sites more often than not....I do feel slightly guilty for the bigger units in the smaller sites....would you?

Robin, perhaps you can share your thoughts on this. Maybe I'm just wising up late in the game and this is standard practice for some already.

A most excellent suggestion! I would've never imagined to do this on my own. Yes, Robin please do give your thoughts.