1,000 TRAILS HOT IN HAVASU

No, not the ambient temperature hot, but rather my temperament became rather hot yesterday afternoon around 1:30 at the London Bridge Resort, where Patty and I were attending a Thousand Trail membership meeting.

This 1pm meeting was advertised as informational regarding the recent change in ownership of Thousand Trails, and the impact of that change on the members. When the first letter came in the mail, I had a suspicion that this so called information meeting was nothing but a disguise for an attempt to sell members an upgrade to their current contract. In fact, I promptly threw it in the trash can. A few weeks later, a postcard came in the mail reminding us that we had not responded to this important request for a get together regarding the changed ownership structure of 1,000 Trails. At that point I had enough curiosity to call the toll free number for more information. I was told that there were significant changes that affected all 1000 trails members, and a face to face was necessary in order to explain everything. When I asked the person to give me the information on the phone, I was told that wasn't possible, and we would both have to attend this meeting that was moving from area to area around the country. Still skeptical, I asked point blank if this was an attempt to sell members an upgrade to their existing membership. I was told that there would be information at the end of the meeting regarding upgrade options, but that was not the focus of the meeting.

Our Thousand Trails membership costs us a little over $600 a year, and our contract (there's over 100 different contracts) allows us 50 days of free RV spaces in all 60 or so 1,000 trails, NACO, & Leisure Time RV parks. If we camp over 50 days, then we pay $5 a night. We're limited to 14 days in any one park, but we don't have to stay out of the system for any length of time. We can go right to the next park. Our membership works well for us, and we have no interest in paying several thousand dollars to upgrade our contract.

When we sat down, there were 4 other couples present, and within 15 minutes, it was obvious where this was going. It was a slick presentation, with a couple of short videos, and the typical half truths, all geared toward relieving us of a bunch of money. The two fellows who were making the presentation were from another company, and contracted by 1,000 Trails to do these meetings. They were just doing their job, but as the presentation continued, my temperature was rising. About 20 minutes into the spiel, I leaned over to Patty and said "this whole thing is just a sales pitch for an upgrade".

For those that know me, I don't have short fuse, but I'm not shy about letting my feelings be known. Not wanting to make a scene in front of the other folks, I sat quietly, only challenging the presenter on a couple of occasions. When it was over, I walked over to one of the two guys, and took him outside of the room. In a nutshell, I told him that I had specifically asked on the phone if this meeting was focused on selling members an upgrade, and was told "no, it wasn't". If fact, the meeting was entirely about an upgrade, and there was no important information regarding the new ownership of 1,000 Trails. I told him I was angry that my time had been wasted, and that I was not a happy camper. Apologies were gushing, and I was assured that my sentiments would be made known to the corporate office. Yea, right!

I should have trusted my original instincts, and if I had, we would still be parked in the desert near Quartzsite with our friends. As they say, "live and learn".