Camp Refund | Imamother

amother

Peach

Mon, Jun 22 2020, 12:16 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Don't the camps realize they are hurting themselves if they don’t treat the parents right? I doubt pple will be so quick to send in deposits and payments in advance next year...

Who knows how many camps will be around next year? Losing a full seasons income is big, who knows how many will recover...

amother

Brunette

Mon, Jun 22 2020, 12:21 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Don't the camps realize they are hurting themselves if they don’t treat the parents right? I doubt pple will be so quick to send in deposits and payments in advance next year...

It's not about trying to be difficult.

I (used to) work at a girls camp in the Catskills. The decision to close was made pretty recently, because many camps were waiting on the governor's decision etc.

In between, they were working on getting everything ready - the grounds, repairs, etc. Also, many camps have mortgages and will have to pay their staff partially for the work they've already done. It's not like parents' deposits just sit around in a lock box.

Of course, it's frustrating for parents, who certainly need the money. But a bit of understanding is called for, in my opinion.

amother

Orchid

Mon, Jun 22 2020, 7:41 am

Quote:

This 100%

I work for a camp that is opening, but a lot of parents aren't sending because they're scared or finances or whatever.

Although we are opening, we feel refunding them in full, including the "non-refundable" deposit, is the right thing to do.

The camp (like most camps) has absolutely no money and this year is going to be really difficult for them because they have to run the program with half the number of kids. They're going to give refunds anyway, but it will take time.

And btw, my relative's flight to Israel was cancelled before Pesach, and they have yet to see their refund. They're "in the queue" according to the airline.

This is a hard time for all industries, and yes, patience and understanding is the name of the game.

amother

Ginger

Mon, Jun 22 2020, 8:15 am

No refund yet the camp keeps trying to be creative to come up with a way of opening even though at this point it's not going to work for us because we're not paying for a full summer. We keep asking and explaining these plans wont work for us but still nothing doing. I understand that it might be hard to give a full refund right now but most of us mostly paid up some of us might have been even all paid up they only stop payments April so we only have three more payments. And we started in October . We payed over 70% of the camp fees already. Only going one half. Now even if they started paying people and started to upkeep the grounds and such. You can't tell me all the money was used up even before camp started especially when they knew they probably weren't going to open. I'm sorry for the camps and it completely sucks but I shouldn't have to pay for a service I didn't get. Right now there are many government programs to recoup loss of your business. I can tell you that if parents don't get their money back sleepaway camps will be in more hot water because people will be more nervous to pay until the summer instead of paying through the year. It's not about being mean or ungrateful or whatever it's a lot of money and some of us have to come up with other plans or barley had the money to put it in the first place.

amother

Peach

Mon, Jun 22 2020, 10:16 am

amother [ Brunette ] wrote:

This is absolutely true. I'm involved with one camp, and I know that they have invested plenty of money this year as they had assumed they were opening. Every year the grounds need to maintained, the buildings need repairs, paint, cleaning from the winter, etc. Camps also have mortgages that have to be paid, regardless of whether they open up.

Honestly, the first thing I thought when I heard that camps are not allowed to open this year was - I don't know if some camps will survive financially if they can't open. There are a lot of expenses to swallow, and not everyone has deep enough pockets.

They should still refund the money, though, IMO. But like another poster stated, it just might not be there for some camps.

amother

Gold

Mon, Jun 22 2020, 10:24 am

My son's camp recently announced they are opening for my son's age. But they didn't say yet when or with what guidelines.
I would need to know those before I'm ready to commit again and I'm mostly paid up.
I'm nervous that if the dates and guidelines make it worthless for us, I will have a hard time getting refunded because after all they ARE opening.
The camp promised to refund if they don't open but I don't know what their policy will be if they do open but only halfways.
We're all stuck.
Oh, and also I'm totally not ready shopping wise and labeling stuff. It's chaotic.

amother

Floralwhite

Mon, Jun 22 2020, 12:30 pm

Let me say that I feel terrible for all the camp owners and directors who are losing a huge part of their yearly parnasa plus incurred costs. But the writing on the wall was there for months and it was not a big surprise that camp was canceled. Why did they invest so much into preparations and fixing when everything was so up in the air?

amother

Silver

Mon, Jun 22 2020, 12:33 pm

amother [ Floralwhite ] wrote:

Some things are yearly. Morgage. Taxes. Insurance. Those don’t go away because there is no camp. And some changes start the day camp ends when staff is still there to make improvements and weather is warm before the winter.
I know a local day camp reserved his attractions a full year in advance - not all are refunding.

amother

Lemon

Mon, Jun 22 2020, 12:41 pm

amother [ Floralwhite ] wrote:

if it was "so up in the air" then "the writing wasn't on the wall". Your cliches mean different things.

So why?

They are contracted with the parents to run a camp. The expectation is they will run unless they are shut-out.

amother

Jetblack

Mon, Jun 22 2020, 12:46 pm

amother [ Lemon ] wrote:

There are many camps that cancelled a while ago, maybe none of the Yeshivish or Chassidish ones, but many just the same. No one has contractural obligations to run a camp during a pandemic. The only obligation is to either provide what was paid for or refund the monies.