Harassed By "Manager" - Never going back…read more
I was staying with family in Yale (20 minutes away). Friends of mine were staying at the Kawkawa Campground so I came by this Sat to visit. Upon entering the grounds, there was an office window with a gate. No one was at the window and the gate remained closed. A man sitting close-by the office stood up and looked at us, and then sat back down. I turned around and parked in the visitor parking outside the site since no one came to greet me. My friend was waiting at the visitor lot and we proceeded to her campsite past the man who was looking at us. He stood up and rudely yelled: "Can't you read?" we were taken aback at the attitude he gave us. He continued and rudely repeated, "What, you can't read the sign? All visitors MUST report to the office." I apologized and tried explaining to him that I didn't see the sign, and was just visiting my friend for 15 mins. He continued being rude, and yelled at us to go into the office to check in. We asked the man not to yell or be so rude to us, as we were unaware of the visiting rules and did not mean to cause any problems. He was offended, and said: "I am the manager, I can do what I want and if you don't go into the office right now, you can get the F*** out of the campsite" (also directed at my friend, who had already paid him $120 to stay the wknd, this is how he treats paying customers). We got into a bit of an argument, with me saying that is no way to treat visitors to his campground, and that he simply could have said "Welcome to the campground, you'll have to get a visitors pass if you would like to stay here". He seemed to think he still wasn't being rude to us, and continued swearing at us. We asked why he was swearing in front of the many children that were around, and he grunted and walked away. We went into the office, and the very nice office staff gave us a 15 minutes parking pass.
The next day, we returned in the afternoon to visit our friend again and go to the lake. This time, we went right into the office for a visitor pass. They asked us how long we would be visiting, and I said 2 hours. They asked that I pay $15 this time to visit the campground. Even though I thought that was kind of steep, I paid the $15, and the office lady instructed me to park my car on my friend's campsite. She kindly opened the gate for me and I drove my car in. Less than 5 minutes after I arrived at my friend's site, the "Manager" rolled up in his Segway Scooter, and again, very rudely told us to get out of the campground, as we were not allowed to be inside. I advised him that I paid $15, and that his office person opened the gate for me, and that my car is displaying a pass. He said that he is the manager, and they made a mistake, and that I had better get my car the F*** off his property. I told him no, this is the 2nd time he had been unreasonably rude to us, and that I paid the nice lady, so if she wants me to move my car, I will. He started swearing profusely again, (there was a 7 year old present at the campsite.) We told him again not to swear around children, and he again grunted,and left. The office lady then came over, crying. She pointed at me, and called me an asshole for making her Boss yell at her and for her to walk all the way over to tell me to leave. I told her I had no problem with parking my car in the visitor lot, and that I only came in at her instruction. And asked her why she is calling ME an asshole, when it is clearly her mistake. She apologized and said that she has let visitors in many times before, and that there is no actual rule about this, just that the manager makes up his own rules "on the spot" and that he yelled at her so much that she started crying. I thanked her for her apology and advised I would move my car to the visitor lot.
After moving my car, we had a great time at the lake; however I would NOT recommend ever visiting this campsite unless you want to be bullied and treated like vermin. If you want to camp in the area or visit this lake. I would recommend staying at the Coquihalla River Campground nearby, and visiting the picnic area of the Lake that is not controlled by the Resort. The Coquihalla staff will make you feel welcome and not harass or swear at you. (and IMO, the campsites are better!) I will never be going back to the Kawkawa campground, and neither will any of my friends who stayed there this weekend. Even other campers who witnessed the Manager yelling and swearing said they would not ever be back because of his behavior. I am sharing this story because it is not fair for this man to belligerently bully around whoever he wants just because he is the manager. I realize that it was my initial mistake to not check into the office as a visitor, but if he had been welcoming and politely asked that I check in, there would not have been an issue. He is out of line to swear at his customers, and threaten to kick out his paying campers by swearing at them.