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RESPONSE TO OWNER (again) - If you would just simply acknowledge that you treated us unkindly and frightened my son, this could all be over with. I am a very forgiving person, but it is just so frustrating and disheartening to read your combative responses to each person who posts that they’ve had a negative experience at your campground. Instead, how about you accept the constructive criticism and try to learn from your mistakes. It’s okay to admit when you’ve acted inappropriately as long as you own it and try to do better the next time around.
*Just a reminder as we approach camping season to AVOID this campground! It has been nearly 2 years since our very negative experience here and my son still talks about how disappointing it was and how the owners were scary and mean. Do yourself a favor and save yourself a lot of trouble and give your business to another campground.
I detailed last year’s experience below as a reference. I called to reserve a campsite at Pine Valley a couple of weeks ago. After checking the website, I decided I wanted to request a site on the lake that they have there. We wanted a site with electric, but all of the sites with it were booked. They did have electric sites available, but not on the lake. I decided to still take the site on the lake and asked to be notified if one with electric became available.
I called about a week before our arrival to see if one had become available and then again the day before our arrival. I was informed that one had not become available. When we arrived today to check in we were told that due to the weather we have had this spring that our site on the lake was not available. I understand that nobody can control the weather and that these things can happen. However, we were told that we could have another site not even close to the lake and with no electric. I expressed that I was unhappy with this and asked for a discount since this change had occurred. Remember, I had called the day before and was told nothing about the site being unavailable! The woman (owner) got very defensive and angry and handled the situation very unprofessionally. She said I was lying and did not call the day before, so I showed her the call log on my phone to serve as proof. She raised her voice several times at me. Another woman there (her friend) called me a moron. I told her that I would prefer that we just leave and not stay at all. She said that she would still charge my credit card for the whole weekend even if we left ($83.85). This place was unable to deliver on the reservation that I had made, so I should not have to pay for it if I didn't want to stay.
Fortunately my credit card company is not going to authorize the payment and is going to investigate them for fraud. I will also be reporting this incident to the Better Business Bureau. Be very wary of this place. The owners have very bad tempers and were acting very erratically.
There was little attempt to rectify the situation. I asked my son to wait outside when the woman started to raise her voice. I could tell he was becoming frightened. We were spoken to in a demeaning and unfriendly manor. After I walked out of the office to speak to my son and friend I returned to office to try and discuss things further and there were two men standing there with threatening stares and at that point I knew there would be no remedy for this calamity. I politely told them that we would be leaving. My son is still talking today about this disturbing experience.
There are so many nice places to camp in Broome County, so avoid this one...
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This is our second time camping at Pine Valley (first time with no problems at all), but this time was much different. I hope and pray that the owners take this honest post/review and learn from it and have enough compassion to accept the criticism in order to better their campground.
The PROS about the campground: it's secluded, nice and quiet, not filled with party animals, good size flat sites for camping trailers, good size pond with plenty of fish that bite all the time, bathrooms were very clean, and cell service was fine (not WiFi). And the prices at the gift store are reasonable too.
However, the CONS outweigh the pros by far. They charge you for your children to camp. The site cost only covers two people. So for us, my wife and I. Our 13 and 16 year olds were charged about $21 EACH for the week we stayed. Not sure for what, since there weren't any activities going on. And swimming was prohibited unless a life guard was on duty, which he never was during the week (June 17-24). Maybe one day but not during the week at all. There is little to nothing at all for kids to do. Not sure why they charge extra for them. Well, they do have three pedal boats to rent out. $5 for 30 minutes. And we did this. When we rented two of them, we were told by the wife owner to start your watch when we get to the pedal boats, that we have 1/2 hr. Which are the rules but it seems strict when it's on a Wednesday and there is absolutely no one at the campground to use them. You'd think the clock wouldn't be a big deal. Another extra charge is for visitors. Not visitors to go swimming since that is never open, but just to eat with us or sit by the fire. Remember there is nothing for the visitors to do. So all people visiting must pay $3 to get through the gated road. Speaking of the gated road, which is another nuisance, you must be back to the campground by 8pm to get through it. Or else you have to pay $20 deposit for an access card to use. Tip for the owners: give your campers a pass with the understanding that they must return it or be charged $20 if they don't. Remember it is summer time and 8pm is not even sunset so people may be out past that curfew. OR just get rid of the gate since it's just Endicott and not some big city with a bunch of people looking for a pond to swim in. Speaking of big cities where they usually have good WiFi, this campground charges $10 for 7 days for WiFi but it does not work. Maybe 1 or 2 bars on my laptop but super slow. Don't pay for it. A waste of money. Save that money for a car wash that you'll need after you drive around the dusty part gravel / part holes of a road. Absolutely horrible road. I know Endicott and the Binghamton area have some of the worst roads ever (drive on them if you don't believe me), but this campground has there worst gravel road I've ever driven on at a campground. REALLY, REALLY BAD. Another rude and strange thing is that the husband owner does is mows grass around sites that have people camping at them - like us. We were gone during the day and came back to our site to see our ground mat was moved and grass was cut around us. We were only there 4 days when this happened. I've never had owners at campgrounds mow the lawn while I was camping on it. In addition, the owners had a maintenance worker come by the sites that were empty and those not empty to clean out the fire pit - remove any trash or ashes in there. Which makes sense to do AFTER the camper departs but not during the stay. A bit of an abnormal action.
Just read the reviews and judge...
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I had never camped here before and was excited to visit with my family, as we are from the local area. Upon check in we had to pay $4 per person, per day for anyone in addition to 2 campers. When we called and made the reservation the lady advised us it would be just $4 per person. Never mentioned per day. It’s just money so I let it go. Second day we were there my brother and I went to the office to rent pedal boats. While in the office the owner was more concerned with how everyone in our group was related. I went with my mother, my aunt, my brother and his daughter and wife. Along with my boyfriend. Finally after his 3rd attempt to figure out who my boyfriend was I spoke up and said he’s my boyfriend. The owner said whose boyfriend? I said mine. ( as he is writing all of this down). That prompted my brother to ask why that was even relevant. The owner stated it was easier to keep track of who is who considering our situation is “different than most”. That made me extremely uncomfortable. How is our situation different than most? Do people not come as a Family to camp or was it because I’m a gay man enjoying vacation with my partner. Either way, it’s none of his business.
Our first night there, my brother showed up late and not with our group because he is a over the road trucker and he was not sure if he would be back in town to join us. So when he arrived he parked at the gate, paid his $8 to stay. Second day after our boating excursion we left for a little while to go to my moms nearby to swim as it was very hot that day. When we returned my brother was riding his motorcycle instead of the car he had drove in the night before. The “office manager” refused to let him through because he did not pay his $8 for that day. My brother tried to explain to her that he needed to get to our camper to get his wallet and would bring the money up. Well she refused his entrance and had him park by the office and walk to our site. When he got to our site we were having problems with the AC in our camper and my mom had asked him to hook it up a different way. ( it was almost 100 degrees). Only 20 minutes had passed as he was figuring out the AC and the owner and one of his pals rolled up and blocked my sister in law in as she was attempting to back out of her parking spot to bring money to the gate. The owner approached aggressively stating he was here to “settle up”. Told my brother to pay the $8 or leave or they could call the police. As my sister got back out of the car and said well if you hadn’t blocked me in I was bringing you your money ($8 in hand!). Owner said he did not block her in but his truck was LITERALLY blocking her only way out.
We as a family come from a long line of bluegrass festival goers, as my mom has been a mandolin player for 30+ years and even ran her own festival in Berkshire for nearly 10 years (Busy Bird). In all our years traveling and camping together we have never encountered people like John and Bonnie. Very rude and aggressive right off the start for no reason. We will never be returning and will be sure to spread the word to the rest of our family and friends to steer clear of this place. I can’t wait to read what he writes to justify his and his wife’s actions.
Side note, the campground is a nice place and we did follow all the rules and were respectful.
Hope this helps anyone who is thinking of...
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