Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/28/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On November 13, 2020, I went to this business with the intent of getting 21 free days of camping that were offered with the purchase of my new RV.
  They proceeded to do a tour of the campground and offer a sales pitch for a lifetime membership package.
  This sales pitch was highly predatory, offering a one-time-only sales price, and the salesperson making misleading claims, such as being able to cancel anytime after the loan is paid off.
  I was under the impression that I would be able to use the "Sycamore Lodge" campground for free anytime I wanted as long as I paid the yearly maintenance fee, and that I could use the other campgrounds offered at a flat member-only fee. Then, after I had paid off the loan for the membership, I could cancel the Sycamore Lodge membership, discontinuing the maintenance fees, and continue to use the membership for the remainder of the 30 years to camp around America at any of the partner campgrounds.
  This was not the case. The contract and the salesperson failed to mention that the "membership" is intended to be more like a mortgage and that they want to trap the member into a lifetime of maintenance fees.
  Being in the military at the time of signing the contract, it was my intent to purchase the lifetime membership and have it paid off by the time I got out of the service and begin to use it to travel around the country. I paid off the membership September 26, 2022 and requested to cancel the "Sycamore Lodge" membership via the company's website. I never heard back from them, so I sent an email directly. They responded saying I needed to schedule an appointment to discuss cancellation options, which confused me at the time.
  After the appointment, I was informed that the only way to cancel was to pay $4000+ to "buy out" the contract. This also confused me, since it was never mentioned in the contract or sales pitch.
  After the meeting I did a search on ************com and **********.io to discover that this happens to a lot of people.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/02/2022

  ******, thank you so much for this opportunity to respond to your concerns. As you know you purchased a lifetime membership and the intent of the membership is for a lifetime. You have been given your options for opting out of the membership as you have stated. However, you stated your intention is to use the membership to travel. Your membership would need to be active in order to do this. I recommend contacting Member Services so that we can help you utilize your membership for your travel goals. Member Services can be reached at ************. We look forward to hearing from you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/18/2022

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  It does not address the complaint. 
  I do not want to be contacted by the business.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** ********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/03/2023

  We will make a note that you have rejected our response and we will no contact you other than the allowable billing statements. Thank you.