We recently booked into the First Sun Tourist Park in Byron Bay. It was just a quick two day stop. We had to cancel, due to some running repairs on our car trailer requiring us to divert to Brisbane, and so we called them up - some eleven days prior to the booking date - to cancel the booking. We were told that we were entitled to get our $50 deposit back, but this was subject to an 'admin fee' of (you guessed it) $50. Now unless the Byron Bay Council are employing James Packer to do their admin for them, fifty bucks for about five to ten seconds work seems a tad excessive to me. So I wanted to warn people, given most of us on this forum would be on the pension or are SFR, to be wary of this park. I'm not sure about everyone else, but we can't afford to waste fifty bucks on what is tantamount to daylight robbery. The are three alternative parks nearby at a much lower cost.
The other thing is a question: Is there a list of other parks that pull this trick on you? I believe there should be something so we retirees can give these parks a wide birth. Does anyone know of one? I've alerted people of WikiCamps, but I'm not aware of any other places that might help people.
Cheers, John C.
-- Edited by Buster1955 on Friday 17th of October 2014 12:18:17 PM
Phillipn said
01:01 PM Oct 17, 2014
Buster1955 wrote:
Hi, everyone.
This is both a warning and a question.
We recently booked into the First Sun Tourist Park in Byron Bay. It was just a quick two day stop. We had to cancel, due to some running repairs on our car trailer requiring us to divert to Brisbane, and so we called them up - some eleven days prior to the booking date - to cancel the booking. We were told that we were entitled to get our $50 deposit back, but this was subject to an 'admin fee' of (you guessed it) $50. Now unless the Byron Bay Council are employing James Packer to do their admin for them, fifty bucks for about five to ten seconds work seems a tad excessive to me. So I wanted to warn people, given most of us on this forum would be on the pension or are SFR, to be wary of this park. I'm not sure about everyone else, but we can't afford to waste fifty bucks on what is tantamount to daylight robbery. The are three alternative parks nearby at a much lower cost.
The other thing is a question: Is there a list of other parks that pull this trick on you? I believe there should be something so we retirees can give these parks a wide birth. Does anyone know of one? I've alerted people of WikiCamps, but I'm not aware of any other places that might help people.
Cheers, John C.
-- Edited by Buster1955 on Friday 17th of October 2014 12:18:17 PM
Mrs Kelly would not let Ned and his brothers play with people like these when they were kids, because they were too dishonest.
KFT said
01:17 PM Oct 17, 2014
We had a similar situation with a lake macquarie council owned park last year.
as it is a place we often go to they did offer us a credit we could use for our next visit which we did take up. The only condition was the credit had to be used within 6 months and that was not a problem for us.
I suspect there are lots of parks that have similar cancellation conditions.
frank
deverall11 said
05:55 PM Oct 17, 2014
Nothing more than a wrought.
Larry
hako said
08:39 PM Oct 17, 2014
Snail mail a letter outlining the details to (1) Byron Bay Chamber of Commerce and (2) the local newspaper in Byron Bay. Emails or phone calls can be ignored but a paper letter usually works.
Also I'd say what happened to you is pretty common which is why we now never book ahead.
Cupie said
11:10 PM Oct 17, 2014
We recently cancelled our 1 week pre XMAS booking at Ballina Lakeside but they only took $11 admin, which wasn't too bad.
I dislike the general attitude of Byron Bay commerce.
Buster1955 said
09:56 AM Oct 18, 2014
Thanks,everyone. I'll take up the fight with them, and perhaps have a chat to a mate of mine in the media - may be worth an expose. 😈
-- Edited by Buster1955 on Saturday 18th of October 2014 09:58:08 AM
deverall11 said
06:43 PM Oct 18, 2014
hako wrote:
Snail mail a letter outlining the details to (1) Byron Bay Chamber of Commerce and (2) the local newspaper in Byron Bay. Emails or phone calls can be ignored but a paper letter usually works. Also I'd say what happened to you is pretty common which is why we now never book ahead.
Register your mail. This way they can never deny they did not receive it. Byron Bay has now become too commercialised and too yuppie.
Larry
Buster1955 said
08:35 PM Oct 18, 2014
Thanks. I agree. We won't be going back.
Dunmowin said
10:54 PM Oct 18, 2014
Send them a link to this thread, so they can see the "recommendation" themselves.....
Ozzie_Traveller said
07:52 AM Oct 19, 2014
G'day
Cancellation fees of one sort or another are fairly common - esp if there is a good reason regarding the staff efforts to re-arrange things
However the Spirit of Tasmania ticket contract levees a 75% 'admin fee' if you want to alter your dates or cancel the booking
Cop that one for a $800 to $1800 booking depending on the time of year & size of your rig
Phil
Hi, everyone.
This is both a warning and a question.
We recently booked into the First Sun Tourist Park in Byron Bay. It was just a quick two day stop. We had to cancel, due to some running repairs on our car trailer requiring us to divert to Brisbane, and so we called them up - some eleven days prior to the booking date - to cancel the booking. We were told that we were entitled to get our $50 deposit back, but this was subject to an 'admin fee' of (you guessed it) $50. Now unless the Byron Bay Council are employing James Packer to do their admin for them, fifty bucks for about five to ten seconds work seems a tad excessive to me. So I wanted to warn people, given most of us on this forum would be on the pension or are SFR, to be wary of this park. I'm not sure about everyone else, but we can't afford to waste fifty bucks on what is tantamount to daylight robbery. The are three alternative parks nearby at a much lower cost.
The other thing is a question: Is there a list of other parks that pull this trick on you? I believe there should be something so we retirees can give these parks a wide birth. Does anyone know of one? I've alerted people of WikiCamps, but I'm not aware of any other places that might help people.
Cheers, John C.
-- Edited by Buster1955 on Friday 17th of October 2014 12:18:17 PM
Mrs Kelly would not let Ned and his brothers play with people like these when they were kids, because they were too dishonest.
as it is a place we often go to they did offer us a credit we could use for our next visit which we did take up. The only condition was the credit had to be used within 6 months and that was not a problem for us.
I suspect there are lots of parks that have similar cancellation conditions.
frank
Larry
Also I'd say what happened to you is pretty common which is why we now never book ahead.
We recently cancelled our 1 week pre XMAS booking at Ballina Lakeside but they only took $11 admin, which wasn't too bad.
I dislike the general attitude of Byron Bay commerce.
Thanks,everyone. I'll take up the fight with them, and perhaps have a chat to a mate of mine in the media - may be worth an expose. 😈
-- Edited by Buster1955 on Saturday 18th of October 2014 09:58:08 AM
Register your mail. This way they can never deny they did not receive it. Byron Bay has now become too commercialised and too yuppie.
Larry
Send them a link to this thread, so they can see the "recommendation" themselves.....
Cancellation fees of one sort or another are fairly common - esp if there is a good reason regarding the staff efforts to re-arrange things
However the Spirit of Tasmania ticket contract levees a 75% 'admin fee' if you want to alter your dates or cancel the booking
Cop that one for a $800 to $1800 booking depending on the time of year & size of your rig
Phil