Monday, August 16, 2004 11:26 AM
4J River Way Cabins & RV Camp P.O. Box 4 Rio Frio, TX August 16, 2004 Do not go to this campsite. These owners/managers are hostile, rude and unpredictable. They are dishonorable. Your vacation can be ruined like ours was. This is our story. My brother arrived at 4J River Way on August 5, 2004 at 9:00 p.m. He called the owner prior to arriving and asked if he could grill this late since they had not eaten. She told him he could grill until midnight. He, his girlfriend, and 4 children arrived around 9:30 p.m., grilled and went to bed. The next day, me and my two children, my parents, and my brother and his son were to arrive. We had rented a cabin for seven under my name and I had placed an $80 deposit. My brother who arrived on the 5th was going to have two children leave on the 6th so my sister-in-law and two other children were going to stay with him. He had a cabin for seven also. There were 14 of us altogether. Two cabins for 7. Around 1:30 p.m. (check in is at 3p.m., guests can use the facilities for $3 each)my brother and his family arrived(whom we were going to share our cabins). Also, a nephew and a cousin who were going to Garner State Park to get a site came temporarily to the cabin. My nephew left shortly with his cousin for Garner. The owner would not allow my brother and his family to get the second cabin because it was under my name. She also told them the cabin was for five. They asked her if they could clarify the accommodations when I arrived at 3 p.m. She agreed without complaint. I arrived at 3p.m. My brother who had arrived at 1:30 greeted me and told me the owner told them the cabin was only for five. I told him I had my contract with me and that she must be confused because the cabin I placed a deposit on was for seven. I was not at all worried as I thought she had made a simple mistake. My brother also showed me on paper the accomodations they had figured on as to who was staying in which cabin. The two children who were suppose to leave were getting ready to go. My children, my brother and me walked into the office. I layed my paperwork down and when I was about to speak, the owner blurted out that she was going to give me a refund of my deposit and I could find another place to stay because I had lied to her. As you can imagine, I was shocked. I asked her what the problem was and she stated that we were all lying to her, that the cabin was for only five people and we had too many people. I told her it was my understanding I had a contract for a cabin for seven people. She ranted off about how the cabin only had beds for five people and how people stopped up her septic tank and broke her beds, etc. I asked her then how many people could stay. She said she didn't want to do business with our sort of people. She specifically used the workd "you people." I then became upset and said "I have a contract I want the keys to my cabin." She said you can find somewhere else to stay or she would help me find somewhere else to stay. I told her I could not go home because I had driven 4 1/2 hours with my children and questioned where she was going to find me a place to stay on a Friday during high season in the Garner area. She just kept fiddling with her machine attempting to give me a credit. Then she realized that my credit was $80 (a deposit for seven)and not $45 (for 4) which is what she was attempting to do. I gave her my contract and walked outside to call my husband. Prior to this, my brother who was very calm told her to just rent me the cabin and he would leave. She told him to get out of her office. I walked outside and asked my children (who I'd forgotten were right behind me with horror on their faces)to go outside with me. I spoke with my husband on my cell phone and was walking in talking to him. I told him the owner thought there was some conspiracy to destroy her property and she thought we were lying to her. She yelled out, "You should be ashamed of yourself for lying to him." I asked for my refund. My other brother who had arrived the night before walked in the office and asked very calmly what was the problem? She told him we were lying to her. She also said, "Your guests(2 children)were suppose to leave by noon." He told her he would gladly pay the extra $16 for them. She told us to get out. My brother exclaimed this was not the way to do business. She said she rather not have business than do business with our type of people. She did give me my deposit refund. My children and I got in my van, I turned on the engine and her husband approached me driving his golf cart and told me to get out of there. I told him that was what I was doing. This man had such viciousness, and hatred in his eyes. Later, my brother who arrived on the 5th tells me that when he went back to his cabin, the husband told him he was welcome to stay. He told him the point of the vacation was that we would all be together. He further told him he thought they had treated us unfairly and that the owner had approved them clarifying the accommodations when I arrived. The husband responded that was then. My brother told him he still didn't understand how we were lying to her. At this point, he asked my brother to leave or he would call the sheriff.
I want to reiterate that none of us rose our voices in the least. It appears the owner and her husband have some real issues. They are extremely rude, presumptious, judgemental, and in the wrong business. There are other negative reviews. Supposedly, the sheriff gets calls all the time. It's very sad that people get one vacation and it is ruined by people like them.

Friday, July 11, 2003 10:59 PM
We stayed at 4J River Way Campground in Rio Frio, Texas. The Frio river is popular for vacationers tubing, swimming, and relaxing. Each year for 45 years my family of 8-10 people have looked forward to our vacation in Garner State Park during the summer. It has become a source of many wonderful memories with grandparents who are now deceased, and other fun times. This year Garner State Park was booked and we went on the internet to find other accomodations, where we found 4J River Way. We planned to stay June 29-July 6th. We booked a cabin $140/nite, a shelter $50/nite, and a trailer spot $45/nite. The first night we built a 24 inch fire ring(as the rules stated), used charcoal(no gathering firewood allowed), and 2 kids roasted marshmellows. I laughed because the fire was so small. The next day as we were leaving the park to visit some family in another town, the owner approached our vehicle saying, "You have 5 minutes to put each rock back where you found it and clean up your fire ring." "This is my property and you do it now or you can leave." He went on to say, "In fact let me give you your money back and you're leaving now." My father (63 years old) was stunned. He is very good natured and was able to get the owner to calm down, and we put back our rocks. His wife said she could file vandalism charges on my husband for "mutilating the trees." He found 2 small sticks to hold the marshmellows. At this point we all knew the owner and his wife were not normal in the way they addressed their customers, but we laughed about the situation and went on. One night we got locked out of the park because we arrived at 11:32pm. The owner locks the gate at 11:30pm and will not unlock it for you. They do not give their guests a code, key or anyway to enter or exit after 11:30pm. They live on the premises, but I found it terribly uncomfortable to know that I had paid money to stay in a park and I could not leave to go to the store if needed, or if an emergency arose I was locked in. During the ne xt few days we heard other people complaining about problems they were having with the owners like having more than one vehicle parked at their cabin, riding their bikes on the grass, and having to many people at their cabin. On July 4th we had two friends coming over to watch the fireworks display over the river bridge. They arrived at the gate at 11:30pm only to be stopped by the owner. I told him they were with us in cabin #2 and he rudely exclaimed, "No they are not with you." "They are leaving now." "You cannot have company at this hour." (as he was pointing his finger at my chest) I explained that we had had company another night, we had played cards in our cabin and the man left at 12:30am with no problems. He then told us "Get your ass's out of here. I own this property and your leaving." I told him he did not have to talk like that to his customers, and he shouldn't lock us in the gate. He proceeded to rage on as he stormed towards his house. It occurred to me he was unstable enough to pull a gun on us so we went to our cabin. I then began walking to my parents trailer when the wife approached me and asked what the problem was. I told her I was very confused about her husbands explosive nature, and I thought he was completely out of line. She proceeded to tell me about the 2 pages of rules they have and that I should read them. I explained we were not aware of our breaking any rules. At this point the husband comes up and informs us he has called the sheriff and that she is wasting her time talking to me. When the sheriff gets there the owner says he wants me off his property. Turns out he wanted the whole family to leave, this was about 12:30am. When asked why he wanted us to leave now(we were leaving the next morning) he explained because we had broke the park rule the night before about having guest after 10:30pm. We packed and at 2:00am we drove out of his property, 2 adults and 3 kids. The sheriff department has informed me that this happens all the time at this park and just a we ek before this incident the owner made them ask a fellow police officer to leave for having too many people at his cabin during the day. I want to say the sheriff department was very nice and helpful, even suggesting a place for us to spend the night, and asking us not to make any assumptions about other park owners in the area based on this experience. No one in my family has ever been asked to leave anywhere at any time for any reason. We all have our own businesses and would never dream of talking to our customers in this manner. There is a way to address people that is friendly and respectful even if they are breaking the rules. Most campers are not out to break park rules. I only want to warn other families about these park owners. They are absolutely the rudest. Since this incident I found other reviews on this park and they all discuss the owners harassing them during their stay. This is so unfortunate for families since most only get one vacation and it is ruined by people who are supposed to be welcoming you. Thanks for giving us a site to share our experience with other unknowing families.