Complaint Review: Woodchip Campground - Byron Center Michigan

• nothing but excuses from Alaine, the office "manager"
• very high pressure sales tactics on seniors
• unfinished store
• stuff in store WAAAY overpriced, slushes for $2 for small flat top cup
• laughter on phone let me sit there, when guy came in, she hung up phone and took a payment from other guy instead of helping me first, who was clearly there first.
• garbage all over, pictures
• up against peoples back yards.
• lots are so close you can't breathe
• grass very, very sparse
• we saw two cats peeing in the sand where kids play
• charged the daily rate even though signed for a week,
• no wi-fi for two days and nothing but excuses.  said that TWO poles were hit by lighting....two...pretty rare don't you think?  sounds like fabricated excuses that have worked with others in the past, so why not use them again.
• bathrooms were filthy and very unkept

Many of the lots look like mobile home parks, actually mobile home parks are neater.  Better described as many of the lots along the west fence look straight out of an episode of borders, chairs, auto parts, you name, it strewn everywhere.  one lot has a cement pad  and we met the owner at another park who apparently knows the owner of Woodchip.  She said he is a Reverend and doesn't know how to run a park and just wanted to buy the house on the property early on.   She even confirmed its very unkept and that she can't stay there either.  She said at one time, they would have circus people staying there in motorhomes with six-ten doors on them where people would open the door and climb in a bunk and at night after the circus, its was mayhem.  

I must admit, we didn't see anything like that but compared to the higher end parks like Hidden Ridge or Hungry Horse in Dorr, this is one that you should probably take your time and seriously, seriously check out BEFORE ever making a reservation and giving them your credit card.  Once you pay, you won't get it back from this group!

There is NO place to walk your dog that is local to the people most likely to carry pets, the Class C motorhomes.  If you have a big rig and park where you get full hookups, plan on walking to the complete opposite end of the park, to the farthest distance to have your pet go to the bathroom.  If they have to go, they better hold it because its a good long walk and the only place to go is in either the playground or someone's front yard of stones and cardboard.

When you ask them if they have wifi and they say, "absolutely, we just spent $6800 on an upgrade" - know from our experience.  That is not true and if it resembles any part of a truth, they need their money back too! 

If they say its comfortable, clean, quiet, pretty or other things, should you believe it?   That is the question!

Unlike Hungry Horse who came to us and personally apologized when the internet went out, this company made excuses, insulted our expertise when we tried to offer assistance and made excuses.  Everyone knows that kind of business - the one that can never say I am sorry, lets fix this.  Nope, its always someone else's fault and the worse businesses, the one's that fail are the ones that blame their customers. Take their money and push blame on them for bringing it up, how dare they.   Shut up and be a good customer is how they treated this customer.    Well this customer thinks its important that EVERYONE who could possibly consider going to this campground needs to know about this experience.  Many of the seniors who are abused by this type of service probably won't speak up, I will - and loudly.

I sat in their waiting for them to help a customer that walked up to their counter, while I was waiting.  They helped him and took a payment on his electric bill.  When Allie asked the customer about his plans for next year to sign up for the season, he said he was not sure yet.  She pressured and pressured and pressured him to the point of being ridiculous.  I felt extremely bad for the senior - he didn't deserve that.  He was paying his electric bill.  And when he said he was not sure, he would let them know, that should have been the end of it.  

I have one thing to say about this park that must be said.  The people that patronize this park are fools.   Until they change their procedure, staff and quality of service, they are contributing to the delinquency of what could be a nice local park.

But given what I was told about a "Reverend" owning it who didn't know what he was doing or really caring about running a campground...its no wonder.  Didn't he learn that the Bible says, a good name is rather to be chosen than riches?  Wow.

Like wood chips every year that need to be replaced, this place needs to go away or change up.

**  And I expect a "customer" or two to post a reply to this post praising the park and playing it up as great.  Its probably their staff or the Reverend who I was told own this.  Know this, I am a professoinal business person with no axe to grind but I think this had to be posted.  We talked to several people who were very unhappy with the park the staff and the excuses. They were sweet old people who who probably never dare speak up or say anything about this sh##ty park - so I had to.  They charged me for a stay and I will contiue to post this free speech post all over the internet for the world to see until I run out of places to post.  They earned it.