Harrisonburg / Shenandoah Valley KOA

Review: On 03/20/2015, we made a payment of $593.24 for a reservation with Harrisonburg/Shenandoah Valley KOA. (Reservation Confirmation #[redacted]) Our vacation was scheduled for 8/23/2015. They required a 7 days advance notice of cancellation. On 8/6/2015, I sent an e-mail from my personal e-mail account and notified (redacted) at the Camp site. l notified them that we needed to cancel our reservation for medical reasons. My husband had a 500lb engine dropped on his right foot on 8/1/2015. He had extensive damage and required surgery on 8/8/2015.We has spoken with the surgeon earlier that day and asked if we could still go on our vacation. He was adamant that my husband would not be weight bearing for several weeks. As of this writing, my husband is still not weight bearing. Do the extenuating circumstances, I was unable to check my personal e-mails. I was taking care of my husband, 2 children and working full time. According to the Statue of Frauds, I felt my e-mail was sufficient. Since I didnt receive a call after my e-mail, I assumed our reservation was cancelled since it was well before the 7 day requirement. On August 23, 2015, the day after our original arrival date, we received a phone call from the camp sire questioning why we did not arrive. When we discussed the, we were advised that they did in fact receive our e-mail, but they did not receive a phone call. (Redacted) advised that she would speak to her manager about a refund. . I logged on to my personal e-mail, for the first since the surgery and found a response to my mail dated 8/6/15 from: (redacted) she advised that they could cancel our reservation since I was contacting her more than 48 hours prior to arrival. She requested that we call the office to cancel the reservation. She hoped my husband would recover quickly.In my opinion, it is unreasonable that a phone call would take precedence over a written notice. They were clearly notified and aware that we were unable to keep our reservation for significant medical reasons. In the absence of a phone call regard our refund, we called the campsite on 9/7/15 and left another message. On 9/8/15, we received a call. We were callously advised that since they did not receive a call and they were unable to rebook the cabin, they refused to issue a refund. No compromise. Simply no. Regardless of a phone call or an e-mail, they were notified over two weeks prior to our arrival. As such, it appears that they could not have booked the cabin either way.I think they are being unfair during a situation that is already stressful and resulting in significant financial difficulties. In sum and substance: They were notified in advance of a medical issue. They could have contacted us if there was a question.Desired Settlement: We would prefer a refund, since we are upset by the way we were treated by this KOA site.At a minimum, we would accept a credit toward a future stay at a different KOA site

Business

Response:

Attached please find a copy of the email communications.The message I received from this person was not clear that she actually wanted to cancel at the moment. She ended the communication with the question "what is the cancellation policy?" rather than a clear statement of "cancel the reservation". My response was to inform her of the need to call the office to cancel the reservation. If you read through the pages you will find that her communication was a forwarded email with the reservation confirmation attached. This is the email that she received and then forwarded to me that clearly states that text and email cancellations are not accepted. It is also proof that she was in possession of the cancellation policy indicating that email cancellations are not accepted.This information is also on the webpage where she made her online reservation. When making an online reservation one must mark the box stating they have read and understand the cancellation policy which clearly states that text and email cancellations are not accepted. When making an online reservation, this box must be marked or the reservation system will not proceed to the next step. The fact she was able to complete the online reservation process indicates she marked the box indicating she read the cancellation policy. This person claims she did not read the email response from me. She also failed to ensure the email was actually received. She also failed to ensure the cancellation was made. Sadly, her lack of follow through resulted in a preventable situation involving loss of deposit. I can not take responsibility for another person not following up on their commitments and communications. I shall not be issuing a refund. It is not in my power to issue a credit for use at another KOA campground as each one is owned and operated separately. Not accepting an email cancellation is a National KOA Corporate policy. As a KOA franchise campground we follow corporate guidelines and policy.Sincerely,[redacted]Owner

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that the proposed action to do nothing would not resolve my complaint. It was clearly noted in my e-mail dated 8/6/15 that we needed to cancel the reservation. A 500lb engine fell on my husband's foot and he required surgery. it was not vague in any way. I assumed that the reservation was cancelled. The response that she hoped my husband felt better clearly suggests that they were aware of the issue at hand. This was extenuating circumstances. I did not have the luxery of checking my e-mails. My husband had surgery and he could not walk. Meanwhile, my 13 year old son was experiencing seizures (due to the stress my family was under). I Based upon the Statue of Frauds, all business contract over $500 need to be in writing. As such, a wrtten e-mail should have been sufficient. If they somehow thought my e-mail was unclear, they could have simply called us. They obviously had our phone number since they called us on 8/ 23/15. We offered to split the difference, however they have been unreasonable. This campsite and KOA rely heavly on word of mouth and social media. If this can't be resolved amicably, they leave me no choice but to alert all media avenues available to me. This is not a best practice for any company

Regards,