What RV Campgrounds Taught Me About Losing Customers
When we made our first military move, we didn’t technically have a house yet. What we did have was an RV, two dogs, and a timeline that didn’t leave room for error. The RV seemed like the perfect solution: keep our essentials close, let the dogs travel in comfort, and stop at campsites along the way.
I imagined it would be like booking a hotel. You pull up a site, check the amenity list, click “reserve,” done.
Reality? Not so much.
I had six browser tabs open at all times: one with a map overlay of our route, another with gas stations, another with Google results for “RV campsites near ___,” and multiple tabs for individual campgrounds. Each time I had to piece together basic details:
Do they have bathrooms, and are they open 24/7?
Will our small RV actually fit in their sites?
Can I book online, or do I need to call someone from a spotty cell signal on I-40?
And here’s the kicker: the first night out, it was below freezing in Georgia. The bathrooms? Locked at 8pm. No code on the check-in slip. No one in the office. Nowhere nearby to go. We toughed it out and left first thing in the morning.
From that night forward, I called every single campsite to ask about bathroom hours. Spoiler: nobody else locked them. That was just one place’s “quirk”, but their lack of clear info nearly ruined our trip.
Meanwhile, KOAs consistently won me over. Their websites had everything upfront: site sizes, bathroom access, booking options, even reliable Wi-Fi info. Booking was one click, not six open tabs and a prayer.
The UX Breakdown
What went wrong? A few classic UX principles at play:
Jakob’s Law: Users spend most of their time on other sites. I expected a hotel-like booking flow because that’s what I knew. When campgrounds broke that pattern, it made my experience harder.
Error Prevention: Cancelling and re-booking when our move-in date changed should’ve been seamless. Instead, it was a game of “find the phone number, hope someone answers.”
Stress compounded when cell service was weak. Poor design became not just an annoyance, but a real barrier to meeting our most basic needs.
What This Means for Small Businesses
So what does this have to do with, say, your Etsy storefront or your small business website? Everything.
Your customer might not be stranded on I-40 in the middle of a PCS, but they are trying to make a decision quickly with limited mental bandwidth. If your site doesn’t answer their top questions, they’ll bounce.
Think about it:
Bathrooms open 24/7 = Your shipping info. When will it get here? Where do you ship?
Site sizes = Product fit. Does this item come in my size? Will it work for me?
Booking online = Clear checkout. Is there a “Buy Now” or “Book Now” button? Or do I have to email you first?
Ask yourself:
Can customers easily find how to contact me if something goes wrong?
Do they know what to expect after hitting “Buy”?
Am I forcing them to dig or reach out for info they should have at a glance?
If not, you’re creating friction. And friction means lost sales and lost trust.
| What I Needed (User Goals) | What I Got (Typical Campsite Website) |
|---|---|
| ✅ Are bathrooms open 24/7? | ❌ A paragraph about how the owners’ grandparents bought the land in 1973 |
| ✅ Will my small RV fit? | ❌ A vague “accommodates RVs” with no site sizes listed |
| ✅ Can I book online? | ❌ “Call during office hours to check availability” |
| ✅ Wi-Fi speed (I had to work!) | ❌ “Wi-Fi available” (with no details on speed or reliability) |
| ✅ Simple, quick checkout | ❌ No booking button at all — just a “contact us” form |
The Big Takeaway
RVing is not for the faint of heart, but we did it again, because it was also one of the most fun ways we’ve ever traveled. What sticks with me, though, is how many beautiful sites we probably missed out on. Not because they weren’t there, but because their websites didn’t make it possible to book while barreling down I-40 with no cell signal.
Don’t let your customers miss out on what you offer because your site is unclear, incomplete, or hard to use.
The fix doesn’t have to be complicated:
A clear Book Now or Buy Now button.
Straightforward filters for choices (size, date, product type).
Obvious, upfront info about what matters most (yes, bathrooms — or in your case, shipping, sizing, or service details).
Simple, clear, trustworthy. That’s all your customer really wants.
👉 So let me ask you this: if someone landed on your site today, could they answer their “bathroom open 24/7” question in less than 10 seconds?
If not — let’s chat.
