"AITA for forcing people out of the campsite we booked?"
My husband and I planned a camping night last Saturday at a campsite about an hour from our house. We arrived at the campsite, only to find that in the site we reserved there was already a tent and camping supplies all set up in the site.
We thought we might be at the wrong site, so we drove around the campground and returned, realizing they were definitely in the site we booked. We got out of the car to check out the situation, and a woman immediately came up to us and right off the bat was hostile before we even said two words.
Once we explained and showed that we had the site booked, she started swearing up and down that she booked the site for the whole week and waving papers in our faces. She said "I booked 4 nights for my birthday, and then we decided we wanted to stay so I added on 3 more nights. We don't have to leave until Monday."
My husband asked to take a closer look at her papers, and he realized that she made the mistake of not including that one night that we had booked- she stayed 9/30-10/4, and then added on 10/5-10/8, so she just missed 10/4-10/5 which is what we had booked.
We acknowledged that it's a mistake anyone could have made, and offered to drive 20 mins back to the check-in site to see what other campsites were available for them to move to. We explained the situation to the staff, got a list of the available sites, and returned, and in almost an hour they had packed up nothing.
They suggested that since they were already set up and we weren't, that it would be easier if we moved to one of the open sites instead of them because we'd have to wait an hour for them to pack up.
We replied that we understand the frustration and hassle, and were happy to help with moving the supplies, but we hoped they could understand that we only booked for one night whereas they'd already been there for four, and we really would like to have the site we booked for the one night we booked it.
(truly, it would not have been a big deal except the site we booked was the most private one on the whole campground, as well as closer to bathrooms and water compared to the available sites - which was the reason we chose that site).
Finally they agreed to pack up, not before making a host of remarks that we were being selfish and ruining their weekend. They ended up not even moving to another site and just going home. I feel pretty badly that they ended up leaving which has me wondering, are we TAs?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
H_Lunalata wrote:
They made a mistake, and were dicks about it. But I also think you were unreasonable - it's a one-night stay and there were other camp sites. I think you could have easily accommodated the derp, got another camp site and maybe a bit of a refund for your trouble. It was one night. So yeah, while you were technically in the right, I think you were an AH about it. So ESH.
Your_Daddy_1972 wrote:
NTA. For whatever reason whether it was sentimental or principle that was the site you booked. If it were me I might've changed sites IF they hadn't been confrontational from the jump. The minute they started being rude, you best believe they're packing up.
West_Organization_23 wrote:
NTA. At the very best they made an honest mistake. But with the immediate hostility and then not even attempting to get ready to move, they were trying to bully you into keeping the site. This happens far too much. Thank you for standing your ground, people would stop doing this if they didn’t get away with it so much.
ReadMeDrMemory wrote:
NTA. They screwed up, not you. Literacy is good. The decision to go home butt hurt to pout, apparently because they were too lazy to set up camp again, was entirely their decision: not your fault. You were entirely entitled to the chosen site you had gone to the trouble of booking.
DevilsAdvocaticorn wrote:
OMG NTA!!! Entitled campers like that are the bane of my existence as a CG supervisor. That and "bear proof" coolers. Lol. The employees should have been the ones to make them beat feet & not left it on other (innocent!) campers to handle.
threebecomeone wrote:
NTA. The campsite people also should have noted this. When they were scheduled to check out - gone and made sure the site was cleaned and ready for you. If they wanted to change the reservation most camp grounds have policies that allow them too! So really it’s not on OP. It was on the camp ground to be better organized.
theracicbunk wrote:
NTA. Her reaction to your arrival makes it clear they knew they didn't have it booked for that night. They could have been nice, maybe offered a bottle of wine or something, instead they were entitled AH. I'm glad you stood your (camp)ground. We should stop rewarding bad behavior.
xloganxlogan wrote:
They knew exactly what they were doing. They had planned to stay the entire time. Wanted that site but couldn’t have it for the entire time they wanted to camp. So they reserved it. Skipped the day they couldn’t have and then reserved the other days hoping to force OP to another campsite. Good for OP in making them move.
pandawithoutpride wrote:
NTA. But I feel like maybe you should’ve just had the staff come by & deal with it to save yourself the hostility. When booking campsites it’s very clear when a spot is taken. They booked it hoping either you wouldn’t come or you would just take another site since they were already set up.