Tired of Thousand Trails

[jgilliam1955]

POSTED this first in General Chat.

We pay for the yearly Thousand Trails with Encore membership for the last 3 years. The first year we used a Thousand Trails while spending 2 months traveling from the east & west coast. We saved a ton of money.
We noticed a big difference in quality between parks. Some were nice & some were just OK & some were very bad.
We felt we were saving money VS paying every time we went camping.
The Encore parks were nice.
This weekend we went back to a large Thousand Trails 3 hours from home. This was our 3rd time there. ( Over 3 years ). The first time some sites were blocked off. The second time more sites were blocked off & had eroding causing bumps. This past weekend a lot more eroding - bigger bumps & a lot of sites were blocked off.
Friday night half the park lost power. Saturday afternoon we were still being told "We were working on it." ( No work could be seen. The park will close for the season on November 1.) We left Saturday evening.

Now saying all this, the regular RV parks we have paid for have always been well maintained. It was always a pleasure. ( Since we had more choices ). Next year we will not renew our membership. For us, it's not worth it any longer.

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by jgilliam1955

POSTED this first in General Chat.

We pay for the yearly Thousand Trails with Encore membership for the last 3 years.

Nomadic Fanatic was posting videos about them last year. He was not happy.


https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...thousand+fails

[jwcolby123]

The idea of leaving my house in a development with a hundred neighbors within 1000 feet to pull an expensive trailer to a campground with a thousand neighbors within 300 feet of me is ... bizarre is the best word I can come up with. It feels like a marketing ploy to take my money.

I can kind of see a state park campground where I can go hiking into the woods, or fishing down at a lake, at least surrounded by nature. Thousand Trails simply isn't any of that. It is at best a place to pull in for the night on the way to somewhere. I much prefer to use a rest stop for that, or even parked along a road somewhere. At least a road is quiet and peaceful.

My daughter Allie and I pull my trailer up to the local little airport and sit there watching the planes take off and land. We pull it down behind my church and 'camp' over night. We pull it to a local city park, way back in the back where there is nobody. Surrounded by trees and peace and quiet.

Which is precisely why I am busy building my rig to be self sufficient for days or weeks on end. Lots of battery, lots of solar, lots of inverter. Propane for cooking and heating.

I quite enjoy my RV, but haven't been in a paid campground in years. Although Allie and I are going to the Hungry Mother event next weekend. See y'all there.

[Damp Scamp Tramp]

I found out many years ago that you cannot just let your membership lapse. You must officially resign. The monthly charges accumulate. I had assumed the membership would be canceled automatically. It wasn't. A year and a half later, I found out I had to pay back the 18 month fees. Contact TT and have them put in writing exactly what paperwork (mail, email, etc.) you will need to opt out. Save all correspondence.
Bill

Originally Posted by jgilliam1955

POSTED this first in General Chat.

We pay for the yearly Thousand Trails with Encore membership for the last 3 years. The first year we used a Thousand Trails while spending 2 months traveling from the east & west coast. We saved a ton of money.
We noticed a big difference in quality between parks. Some were nice & some were just OK & some were very bad.
We felt we were saving money VS paying every time we went camping.
The Encore parks were nice.
This weekend we went back to a large Thousand Trails 3 hours from home. This was our 3rd time there. ( Over 3 years ). The first time some sites were blocked off. The second time more sites were blocked off & had eroding causing bumps. This past weekend a lot more eroding - bigger bumps & a lot of sites were blocked off.
Friday night half the park lost power. Saturday afternoon we were still being told "We were working on it." ( No work could be seen. The park will close for the season on November 1.) We left Saturday evening.

Now saying all this, the regular RV parks we have paid for have always been well maintained. It was always a pleasure. ( Since we had more choices ). Next year we will not renew our membership. For us, it's not worth it any longer.

[jgilliam1955]

Originally Posted by Damp Scamp Tramp

I found out many years ago that you cannot just let your membership lapse. You must officially resign. The monthly charges accumulate. I had assumed the membership would be canceled automatically. It wasn't. A year and a half later, I found out I had to pay back the 18 month fees. Contact TT and have them put in writing exactly what paperwork (mail, email, etc.) you will need to opt out. Save all correspondence.
Bill

Thanks for the information.

[sharon_b]

exactly! my parents bought membership in outdoor world & when they didn't want it anymore i bought it from them. then it was acquired by thousand trails.

when TT first acquired it, they said we could soon book at any TT location, not just OW. that story was told for a couple of years, never happened.

as you said, they didn't maintain the grounds well nor expand the sites.

we tried many times to book & were blocked out. when we talked to them about it they suggested we over-book dates & places far into the future, then show up to the ones we really wanted since there was no penalty for no-show. Really?? no wonder we can't get in!

alot of amenities were eliminated for "insurance purposes". that's funny, what's the liability for pancake breakfasts? the horses i can kind of understand, but it's not a ranch anymore without horses.

all of the permanent cabins were sold off to people who now live there year round. sorry, that's not camping anymore!

we did have one reservation when a tornado came thru - we tried for days to confirm the campground still existed & was open, couldn't get thru. HQ had no idea, said call the campground. when we asked for our deposit back, they said no, not responsible for acts of God. really??? after much discussion we were issued a credit towards another stay. if we could find an opening...

we were constantly bombarded with sales pitches. we sat thru a long sales pitch pushing us to expand our membership in order to get a free visit. we were told just show up anytime, you can stay for the day for free, even during covid. drove over an hour to our fav spot, they refused to let us in to sit on the beach.

i think when OW had ownership each location was family operated. the corporation changed everything we loved about it. sad

[jwcolby123]

Corporations do that. Executive pay and stock value. Uhhh no. Not only no but hell no.

[CalCop]

I was searching for a campground close to Yuba City, CA. and located this Thousand Trail resort.
$65 a night jammed packed into this?

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by jgilliam1955

POSTED this first in General Chat.

We pay for the yearly Thousand Trails with Encore membership for the last 3 years. The first year we used a Thousand Trails while spending 2 months traveling from the east & west coast. We saved a ton of money.
We noticed a big difference in quality between parks. Some were nice & some were just OK & some were very bad.
We felt we were saving money VS paying every time we went camping.
The Encore parks were nice.
This weekend we went back to a large Thousand Trails 3 hours from home. This was our 3rd time there. ( Over 3 years ). The first time some sites were blocked off. The second time more sites were blocked off & had eroding causing bumps. This past weekend a lot more eroding - bigger bumps & a lot of sites were blocked off.
Friday night half the park lost power. Saturday afternoon we were still being told "We were working on it." ( No work could be seen. The park will close for the season on November 1.) We left Saturday evening.

Now saying all this, the regular RV parks we have paid for have always been well maintained. It was always a pleasure. ( Since we had more choices ). Next year we will not renew our membership. For us, it's not worth it any longer.

RPI a sister program to TT is about the same at many parks. We stayed at one that was so bad we couldn't wait to leave but couldn't find anything else. Some of the parks could be great if they were just kept up a little bit more.

[thrifty bill]

Thousand Trails and other similar camping clubs have had mixed to bad reviews for decades now. Didn't join back in the 1980s, won't join now.

In the end, I prefer national parks. State, county and city parks are next. National Park sites are often hard to get but offer compelling bargains: large spread out sites, access to trails and attractions, and more and a very low price. State parks are a mixed bag, often the states hammer out of staters with additional fees and daily passes. Some city parks are outstanding, most don't hammer out of staters.

In the end, I have no interest in paying hotel type daily rates to be on top of the camper next to me, and basically no amenities.