Warning, Do Not Stop Here!

GHBiker · November 18, 2022

Santa Rosa Campground, New Mexico

My wife and I were really tired and pulled in here to get a site. This was the end of Sept., 2022. The manager was gruff initially and it only got worse. When asked about advertised discounts, ie GS, AAA, and so on, he stated "I only put them in to fool people like you". We were tired or we would have moved on at that point. We paid with our credit card and pulled down to the assigned site. The site was bare, not the advertised 50 amp, no space, very tight, in general, disagreeable! We did not pull in, but decided this was not the park for us and pulled back to the office.
I went into the office and told the same manager I was not staying and wanted my credit card credited. He responded with, "what’s wrong with the site", and I told him and he argued with me. I told him we did not find it satisfactory and want our money returned. His response was a short and abrupt, "NO". I asked what do you mean, NO, and he said "I am not returning your money, now get out of here"
We pulled out and parked next door and called the Santa Rosa, New Mexico Police Dept. for a police report. The Officers we were very nice and apologetic, and said he does this often and they get called many times for the same thing. The also informed me he is not the owner, but the on site manager, and the owners are hands off owners in another state.
We have filed a fraud charge with our bank to reclaim our money and are pursuing a number of other avenues to let others know of the crook in their midst. Please be informed in your travels.

Payroll Person · November 18, 2022

One thing to remember. You don’t need to argue. Just inform you are dissatisfied, leaving, and ask for a refund. Record the interaction using your cell phone if legal in the state. Dispute with the card issuer. You will likely win since the merchant has to elect to pay to fight, and have evidence supporting the charge. Likely, their cost to fight is more than the refund and chargeback fees.

Ray,IN · November 19, 2022

I would suggest leaving your review on https://campgrounds.rvlife.com/ This will allow anyone who clicks on that CG name will see your review.

Kirk W · November 19, 2022

10 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

I would suggest leaving your review on RV Life Campgrounds

I took the liberty of editing Ray's link to point to the specific RV park reviews.

Quote

Santa Rosa Campground & RV Park Review & Ratings Overview

Based on 411 Reviews

Rating Spread

Excellent  67 ~ Good  196 ~ Average  86 ~ Poor  32 ~ Terrible  30

Reviews by RV Type

Motorhome  221~ Travel Trailer  71

Fifth Wheel  113 ~ Tent Trailer  1 ~ Truck Camper  4

411 RVers Reviewed Santa Rosa Campground & RV Park

durangodon · November 19, 2022

I've stayed at that campground a half dozen times or so. Yes, the guy running the place is a jerk. The sites are nothing special, the food is mediocre, and the prices are too high. However, it was half way between here and there so I pulled in and stayed. I knew going in what to expect, so I wasn't disappointed.

I will say that I got Good Sam discount every time, don't know why you were refused unless they quit doing it and just continue to advertise that they do.

durangodon · November 19, 2022

After Kirk posted that link I went and read some of the reviews. The first review and several afterward recommended the barbeque. Anyone who thinks that is good barbeque has never eaten good barbeque. It is cooked like a Yankee would cook it, roasted in an oven then saturated with barbeque sauce, just roast beef with sauce. 🙂 But, to each his own.

Chalkie · November 19, 2022

We stayed there once and while did think it overpriced for what you got it was a convenient stopping point for our trip. The park was pretty empty in the part that I presumed was for short term stays so we got a pull through space near the exit and were able to leave quickly in the morning. I only recall this place vividly because the man in the office was so incredibly rude. I don't recall if we even asked for a discount beyond the one we were given for cash.

2gypsies · November 19, 2022

Here's another review site:

https://www.campendium.com/santa-rosa-campground-rv-park

docj · November 20, 2022

2 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

Here's another review site:

https://www.campendium.com/santa-rosa-campground-rv-park

I hate to say it, but I bet that specialized review sites like Campendium and RVLife are getting overrun by Google which had over 1,100 reviews of this park, more than twice as many as were on the RVLife site. Personally, if I looked at the RVLife reviews they would bother me because there were more negative ones than I like to see. But I wonder how many people never get past the Google listing which didn't look nearly as bad.

FWIW, many of the RVLife reviews were quite favorable, but others reflected what has been discussed here.

Here's a review entitled "Grumpy Host": I needed propane and it was raining at the time. He said if it is raining, he wasnt going outside to pump propane. Host was grumpy and then attempted to explain that he just does things his way. If you don't like it, too bad.

Kirk W · November 20, 2022

12 hours ago, docj said:

I hate to say it, but I bet that specialized review sites like Campendium and RVLife are getting overrun by Google which had over 1,100 reviews of this park, more than twice as many as were on the RVLife site.

I wasn't even aware that Google has campground reviews? But I do use both of the other two sites on a pretty frequent basis.

It would appear that GHBIKER only joined the forum to display his complaint as he has not been back or at least hasn't signed back in, even though he is a long time Escapee member. it would be courteous to at least return 1 time. I give very little credit to posts like this which are obviously just a way to express anger and an attempt to retaliate agoinst someone that offended.

lappir · November 20, 2022

15 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

I wasn't even aware that Google has campground reviews? But I do use both of the other two sites on a pretty frequent basis.

Everywhere you stop, everywhere you look up almost everything you think about it seems that Google knows about it and wants your opinion or comment. I made the mistake of starting to review places and am now asked almost daily 'how did you like' a place I may have looked up or checked to see where it was using the Google map function.

Sometimes I wished I had never heard of Google.

Rod

docj · November 20, 2022

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

I wasn't even aware that Google has campground reviews? But I do use both of the other two sites on a pretty frequent basis.

Google doesn't review "campgrounds" it reviews EVERTYHING! Seriously, there are Google reviews on pretty much anything you can find on Google Maps. And I have to admit that I use them quite often.

NDBirdman · November 20, 2022

3 hours ago, lappir said:

Sometimes I wished I had never heard of Google.

I also dislike Google. The past couple years I have been using DuckDuckGo. It works as good as Google but doesn't track/sell my info or give me those annoying adds. Give it a look.

mike5511 · November 20, 2022

44 minutes ago, NDBirdman said:

I also dislike Google. The past couple years I have been using DuckDuckGo. It works as good as Google but doesn't track/sell my info or give me those annoying adds. Give it a look.

I use them both and often compare results. DuckduckGo is not as good as Google IMHO.

trimster · October 30, 2023

We've been in this campground for a week. Weather forced us to change our plans and hunker down. Plus, it's a good place to fish. Santa Rosa is a one-day town most of the time.

The campground is absolutely nothing special. Maybe a bit sub-special. It's a one-night-stand. Almost every night it's fairly full and empty by 10am the next. We booked 3 days ahead and he could not find full hookup site. WTF. The place is empty most days. Hmmmm.

I've had one encounter with 'the' guy when he came out in his golf cart apparently wondering why had my Volvo parked across an empty site. I needed to level ground to offload the Smart from the bed. I think he was rev'd up to tear into me until he saw the ramps and the car offloaded. All he said was "oh, I see what you are doing." and drove off. Not a howdy do or anything. We were one of 3 campers in a 86 site campground. So, not impeding anyone.

Would we stay again? Nope.

Oh. we ordered the fried chicken. It was really good until you got to the middle of the generous pieces. It was icebox cold. They pre fry it, put it in the fridge and throw it back into the frier for re-heat when ordered. Skip the delivery service.