No soup for you!

Yeah, that's from the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld.  I used to laugh at the arbritrary decisions made towards customers in that bit.  As a business owner most of my adult life, I know how utterly stupid it is to treat customers badly... most won't come back.

What does this have to do with us?  The RV park that seems to go out of their way to treat us like crap is the RV park that we tend to spend the most time in... Cotton Lane RV and Golf Resort is the closest RV park to our daughter and son-in-law's home.  It is very convenient.  There are "rules" that are selectively enforced: I am not kidding when I tell you that they have lines laid out, and you must "park your rear wheels on the line."  When we are getting set up there, a guy in a golf cart will say, "No, you need to move 6" that way."  Yes, really.  When RVs on either side of us are nowhere near the line.

"No cargo trailers allowed."  Yet, when NASCAR comes to the Phoenix International Raceway, they are more than happy to accommodate a toterhome with a HUGE cargo trailer.  Currently, there is major road construction just north of the park - the dust is pretty nasty.  Seems that it would make sense to allow cargo trailers so people can keep their stuff clean.  Oh, and there are a couple cargo trailers in there right now.  When I mentioned that to the front desk staff, I was told, "Management wasn't aware of that."

Management is either stupid or selective, if they couldn't see an open cargo trailer, with stuff hanging out of it (think: Sanford & Son), in the FRONT SECTION of the park.

We intentionally did not stay there for the month of February as a compromise: I don't want to give them our money EVER, we would like the convenience of being close to Steph and Dan.  So, the original plan was: one month where we get treated nice, but drive a bit more, and one month where we are treated like crap, but drive less.

Today, we cancelled our stay there for March.  Getting arbitrarily moved next to the dumpster, and being told, "There isn't anything else available," was the final straw.  Oh, and a lie: when I called to cancel today, the young lady on the phone said, "Let me find you another site."  Interesting that other sites are available now... well, for sure there is one site available for someone else.

No thank you.  Instead, we will stay in a nicer RV resort further away.  Our lovely little cargo trailer (approved by the management) is allowed on our site.  Even though this place is completely full, they called us immediately when someone had to cancel their stay due to a medical situation.  They do have someone from guest services help you position to park, but they ask, "How close do you want to be to the concrete patio?"  Oh, yes, this resort has nice patios.  Two swimming pools.  Beautiful GREEN golf courses.  A restaurant on site.  A beautiful facility with nice landscaping.  And, very nice management, people who understand it is important to make you feel welcome in the hospitality business.

Cotton Lane pissed away over $1,000 from us this season.  Even though the park is less than half full right now, they probably won't miss our business.  Certainly, I won't miss giving them my money.  At some point, when the management has driven enough people away, the owners will change the management or go out of business.  Each of the last few years, there are fewer RVs in the resort when we are there.

It doesn't cost anything extra to treat people nice.

Sorry for ranting about this place.  It is a decent facility; certainly not the fanciest RV resort in the area, but other place that charge more REALLY ARE full.  I don't think it is just us.

On the really bright side: a point of contention has been eliminated from our stay in the Phoenix area.  :-)

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To tie in the "soup" theme: we had lunch today at Wildflower Bread Company... I am a fan of that place, and I am not generally a "soup and sandwich" kinda guy.  Well, if the soup is chili, and the sandwich is a juicy bacon cheeseburger, sure.  But, this place has good food and a nice atmosphere.  The soup I had today: sausage lasagna stew... oh my goodness, it tasted like lasagna... good lasagna!

Oh, and the service is good and the people who work there are nice.  I kinda like doing business with nice people.