Stealth Camping

Are We Lost · Guru

Stealth Camping

Ivan 01 · Guru

Reading meters for power on van park power poles is not new.

Many caravan parks have that facility now.

The problem is those who just up and leave or those that depart quite legitimately, early in the morning.

Collecting a power tariff becomes difficult and then you will get the one who denies using that amount shown on the meter,

To be honest a park manager in most cases does not want the hassle.
To reflect the cost of power in the daily Tarif is just so much easier.
The rate is paid per day at check in and they can then leave whenever they want or need to.

Over the years I have left on occasions a day earlier than I had paid for and except for one park I have never had any other park contact me and offer a refund.
My decision to leave early each time and I was prepared to forego the days rental.
The park that did phone me offered me a deal for next time.

I should add I was not making a habit of leaving sites before my rental period expired but I was travelling with an ill wife at the time, and at times we had to do this.

-- Edited by Ivan 01 on Monday 20th of June 2022 01:48:04 PM

Hitting the road · Senior Member

Sadly there will always be scumbags about...they do know who they are. Fortunately a couple of hours on power won't cost much anyway. It would be costing the park owner more with the low lifes that have to steal toilet paper.

I don't have an issue with the "stealth" camping allegations. in some cases there well may be a reasonable excuse for pulling up in an Industrial area or some other quiet place for the night only to move on very early in the morning.

If there is no harm done to anyone really what's the problem? It is when people leave a mess of any kind that it becomes a problem as Council staff will likely have to clean up...all costing money.
I haven't witnessed any of the extremes listed above fortunately.

deverall11 · Guru

Ivan 01 wrote:
Reading meters for power on van park power poles is not new.
.....

I was referring to parking style metres. Pay-As-You-Go. Coins or credit card. No need to read.

All Costco service stations are credit cars operated. Select a maximum amount, what you

dispensed id what you pay.

Ivan 01 · Guru

deverall11 wrote:
Ivan 01 wrote:
Reading meters for power on van park power poles is not new.
.....
I was referring to parking style metres. Pay-As-You-Go. Coins or credit card. No need to read.
All Costco service stations are credit cars operated. Select a maximum amount, what you
dispensed id what you pay.

Apology, I misunderstood what you were referring to.

I remember when I was a kid going to school I had a mate whose family, for want of a better term was of little means.

The house they rented had a meter that you had to put 6 pence in a slot to get power.

It was expensive power but worked well until the man of the house went to the pub after work on pay day and left them with no power at home.

Anyone who has ever had anything to do with park management can confirm that even keeping change for the washing machines can be challenging.

I would guess that should they need to use coins for power then the result would not be a lot different.

Some people couldnt organise wood in a wood yard. Credit card might be the choice of options.

deverall11 · Guru

Ivan 01 wrote:
...I remember when I was a kid going to school I had a mate whose family, for want of a better term was of little means.
The house they rented had a meter that you had to put 6 pence in a slot to get power.
....

I heard same many years ago. smile

Yes expensive but effective in terms of controlling wastage.

dogbox · Guru

some of the caravan parks i've stayed in had coin slots for hot water in the showers, dam dicky in the winter if you run out of coins before finishing shower.
if the power theft becomes a problem i'm sure they will come up with a way to prevent it, an some clever fellow will try an find away to get around it .
the price they charge for a site should more than cover a small amount of any casual pilfering , we all pay to make up any loss

yobarr · Guru

dogbox wrote:
some of the caravan parks i've stayed in had coin slots for hot water in the showers, dam dicky in the winter if you run out of coins before finishing shower.
if the power theft becomes a problem i'm sure they will come up with a way to prevent it, an some clever fellow will try an find a way to get around.
the price they charge for a site should more than cover a small amount of any casual pilfering , we all pay to make up any loss

For some obscure reason the words I've highlighted reminded me of a complaint I received from a couple I'd sold a solar system to. They complained that their savings were nowhere near what I'd shown they'd be, based on their usage patterns. They both worked during the day so I dropped by their place to take meter readings etc for them. As soon as I got to their meter box the reason was obvious. Their low-life neighbours had run an extension lead over the fence and were powering their own property from my customer's solar! Problem solved! Cheers

dogbox · Guru

yobarr wrote:

dogbox wrote:
some of the caravan parks i've stayed in had coin slots for hot water in the showers, dam dicky in the winter if you run out of coins before finishing shower.
if the power theft becomes a problem i'm sure they will come up with a way to prevent it, an some clever fellow will try an find a way to get around.
the price they charge for a site should more than cover a small amount of any casual pilfering , we all pay to make up any loss
For some obscure reason the words I've highlighted reminded me of a complaint I received from a couple I'd sold a solar system to. They complained that their savings were nowhere near what I'd shown they'd be, based on their usage patterns. They both worked during the day so I dropped by their place to take meter readings etc for them. As soon as I got to their meter box the reason was obvious. Their low-life neighbours had run an extension lead over the fence and were powering their own property from my customer's solar! Problem solved! Cheers

that would be an easy fix, but the neighbor probably thought "oh look at all that solar going to waste nobody home to use it "

yobarr · Guru

dogbox wrote:
yobarr wrote:

dogbox wrote:
some of the caravan parks i've stayed in had coin slots for hot water in the showers, dam dicky in the winter if you run out of coins before finishing shower.
if the power theft becomes a problem i'm sure they will come up with a way to prevent it, an some clever fellow will try an find a way to get around.
the price they charge for a site should more than cover a small amount of any casual pilfering , we all pay to make up any loss
For some obscure reason the words I've highlighted reminded me of a complaint I received from a couple I'd sold a solar system to. They complained that their savings were nowhere near what I'd shown they'd be, based on their usage patterns. They both worked during the day so I dropped by their place to take meter readings etc for them. As soon as I got to their meter box the reason was obvious. Their low-life neighbours had run an extension lead over the fence and were powering their own property from my customer's solar! Problem solved! Cheers
that would be an easy fix, but the neighbor probably thought "oh look at all that solar going to waste nobody home to use it "

LOL! Hadn't thought of that. Are you,by any chance, a lawyer? You'd do well. Perhaps a deal could be done whereby the neighbour bought power from the solar at a rate higher than the Feed in Tariff (FIT) but lower than the price the energy company charged, but it would be difficult to measure how much power was taken. Cheers

dabbler · Guru

A few years back I stayed at a new commercial campground near Stanthorpe. Even before opening they immediately had an issue with itinerant fruit/vege pickers who would camp in the scrub then sneak onsite to use the park's showers and toilets. The owners were somewhat sympathetic to this practice because they knew the trials and tribulations faced by these workers. However, not wanting to lose power to theft, they chose to install power outlets that could be individually isolated at the office. Part of their plan, allowed campers to select any free site sprinkled around the area then get the office to switch power on. I'm not sure if they are still operating under that plan or if it became too cumbersome.

86GTS · Guru

Took a shot of this sign yesterday at a lovely spot on Western Port Bay that has a problem with stealth campers.