What to Demand Before You Sign a Campground PMS

Paste this email before the demo hangover wears off.

``` Subject: Exit and export terms — please answer in writing

1) Can I export the full guest list as CSV anytime, without a ticket queue? 2) Can I export all future and historical reservations (site #, dates, rate, deposit, source, notes)? 3) Is there a fee for either export? If yes, exact amount. 4) Minimum contract length? Early termination fee schedule? 5) Auto-renew notice window (how many days before renewal must I cancel)? 6) After cancel: how many days of read-only access, and who deletes my data with what cert? 7) Payment cards: which processor, can PANs move to another PCI Level 1 processor, and what does NOT move? 8) Please attach the clauses that say I own guest and reservation data. ```

If they will only answer on a call, you do not have an answer.

Exit rights must be in writing before you sign: CSV guests and stays, open format, export fee of zero or a named dollar amount, contract term and cancel window, card-processor path, and a read-only week after cancel. An iCal of blocked nights is not an exit plan. A demo smile is not a clause.

TL;DR

• PitchCamp puts export fees, lock-in, CSV guests, reservation history, contract length, and early termination on the cost sheet for a reason. Ask in writing, not only in the demo.

• SaaS counsel treats portability as format, completeness, anytime export, a fixed return window, and no “premium extraction” fee (TOS Lawyer). Ownership and “do not hold data hostage for non-payment” belong in the same stack (Turley Law).

• Cards do not ride in your guest CSV. Stripe only ships PANs processor-to-processor under PCI Level 1 rules. Link credentials stay behind.

• iCal is blocked dates on a delay. It is not your exit file.

• Related: week-one migration is how you leave. 3-year cost is the invoice. This post is what you lock before the signature.

What counts as an exit right on a campground PMS?

An exit right is anything that lets you stop paying and still run the park: your guest list, future stays, site map, rates, and a money path that does not strand Saturday’s fifth-wheel. Features in the brochure are not exit rights. A dedicated onboarding specialist is not an exit right.

At a 20–200 site park the assets that matter are boring and specific:

PitchCamp names the sting: some platforms make data difficult or expensive to extract through export fees, lock-in periods, or a clumsy process. Their own public claim is no contracts and no exit fees. Treat every vendor’s claim the same way: get the clause, then test an export while you still have leverage.

If the phone is the only problem and the calendar is honest, do not buy a multi-year lock to fix voicemail. That job is keep the PMS, fix the phone. Exit rights matter most when you are actually changing the system of record.

What data must leave in a usable file?

Guests and reservations must leave as standard, machine-readable files you can open without the vendor’s app. CSV is the floor. JSON or XML is fine. A proprietary blob that only their importer reads is lock-in with a smile.

TOS Lawyer lists five portability tests: specified open format, completeness (not a thin slice of fields), export anytime during the term, a fixed delivery window after terminate, and no extra fee for the extraction. If the contract says “we will provide an export” and stops there, you have marketing language, not a right.

For a campground, completeness means park fields, not hotel room types:

1. Site number the guest booked, not only a rate-plan code.
2. Arrival and departure as dates you can sort.
3. Deposit amount and balance due.
4. Booking source (direct, phone, Hipcamp, walk-up).
5. Notes that carry pet, ADA, or “needs 50-amp pull-through.”
6. Guest phone and email that still work when the old portal dies.

Run one full export in the trial or the first week you pay. Open it in a spreadsheet. If site 22’s 50-amp flag is missing, you found the gap before Labor Day found it for you.

Turley Law adds the ownership stack: you own the data, you can access it without a special charge on demand, you can take it on terminate in a named format, and destruction after you confirm receipt should be certifiable. If non-payment lets them freeze your guest list, you accepted hostage terms. Push that line out of the agreement while the sales rep still wants the logo on their deck.

Why isn’t a blocked calendar enough?

A blocked calendar is availability theater. It does not move who paid, which pad, or the pet fee. Smoobu is blunt: iCal is poll-based, often hours behind, and carries check-in and check-out style blocks without rates, minimum stays, or guest details.

Use iCal as a temporary channel safety net. Do not accept it as your contractual exit package. When a vendor says “you can always sync out,” ask whether they mean a full reservation export or a public .ics URL. Those are different products.

The same trap shows up as “we will help you migrate when you leave.” Help is a promise. A dated CSV you can download yourself is a control. Prefer both. Require the file.

What contract terms turn a PMS into a cage?

Long auto-renew with a tiny cancel window, early-termination fees that never decline, export only at the vendor’s convenience, and silence on data ownership. Stack two of those and the 3-year cost sheet understates the real bill.

PitchCamp tells buyers to get answers in writing on minimum contract length, early termination, what happens to guest data on cancel, and export fees. Annual billing discounts of 15–30% are common in the category. Fine. Know whether “$99/month” is month-to-month or the monthly face of a 12-month prepay you cannot leave in August.

TOS Lawyer flags multi-year auto-renew with cancel windows as short as 30 days before renewal, vague export language, and API limits that throttle extraction during the term. Their practical advice matches the park reality: negotiate before you sign, when leverage is highest. After signature, you are asking a vendor you are leaving for favors.

Ask for these term shapes in plain English:

1. Term: month-to-month, or 12 months with a written early-exit fee that shrinks over time.
2. Cancel window: calendar reminder 60+ days out, not a 15-day trap buried in an exhibit.
3. Convenience exit: leave without proving breach, with notice. If they refuse, cap the fee.
4. Transition: read-only access measured in days you can state (30–90), not “reasonable assistance.”
5. Destruction: written cert after you confirm you have the files.
6. Ownership: guest and reservation records are yours, not a shared marketing database they can resell.

You are not being difficult. You are refusing to mortgage next July’s pull-through map for a prettier grid.

What about deposits and stored cards?

Deposits in the ledger and card tokens in the processor are different systems. The PMS export will not hand you raw card numbers, and it should not. Plan the money path in the contract conversation, not on the Friday a guest arrives.

Stripe will work with a new PCI DSS Level 1 processor, using that processor’s AOC and a PGP key hosted on the processor’s domain. Link-saved credentials do not transfer. Payment history is not inside the PAN package. You pull history from the old dashboard and you keep that account open through the last refund.

Put three money questions next to the export questions:

1. Who is the processor today, and is it captive (you cannot bring your own)?
2. Will they support a processor-to-processor PAN transfer, and who files the ticket?
3. After cancel, how long can you log into the old merchant portal for disputes?

PitchCamp also warns about marked-up processing and captive gateways. Exit rights include the right to leave the money rail without inventing a new gate script for every returning seasonal.

How do you test portability before you are stuck?

Test while you still have a trial, a pilot month, or a sales engineer who wants the deal. Do not wait for the angry cancel email.

A one-hour portability drill:

1. Export guests. Count rows against the UI.
2. Export future reservations for the next 90 days. Spot-check five stays: site number, deposit, notes.
3. Export or print the site list with amps and length. Walk three pads.
4. Create one test booking on the guest site, export again, confirm the new row appears.
5. Ask support (in writing) for the post-termination export timeline and fee. Save the reply with the contract.
6. Note the auto-renew date in your real calendar the same day you sign.

TOS Lawyer recommends quarterly full exports during the life of the contract so you know the file still opens. That habit is cheaper than discovering a broken exporter in shoulder season.

Lunaria Booking keeps property truth in markdown you can version: sites, hookups, rates, policies as text the calendar and guest site both read. That does not replace a reservation export. It means the map of 30-amp versus 50-amp is not trapped in eighty vendor form fields when you leave. Demand the same idea from anyone you evaluate: configuration you can read, stays you can download.

What mistakes lock a park in for years?

Five mistakes lock a park in: signing on demo vibes, accepting “we will export later,” confusing iCal with a guest file, ignoring the renew window, and treating cards as the PMS’s problem alone.

1. Demo as diligence. Features sold the hour. Exit clauses own the decade.
2. Export later. Later is when you have no leverage and a sold-out weekend.
3. iCal as the package. Blocks without deposits. Guests named “Busy.”
4. Silent auto-renew. You find out you bought another year because nobody watched the notice window.
5. Card surprise. Gate cannot take a balance because the token lived in a captive processor you never asked about.

A sixth: switching because the phone rings to voicemail. That is a Connect-shaped problem more often than a PMS rip. Do the fit test before you buy handcuffs.

When you do switch, week one still hurts if the files are thin. Exit rights are how week one inherits a real CSV instead of a scavenger hunt.

What should you do this week?

Do not renegotiate your whole stack this week unless a renew date is on fire. Get answers in writing and one clean export from whoever you already pay.

1. Find the renew and cancel-notice dates on every booking tool you use. Put them on a calendar with a 14-day buffer.

1. Send the eight-question email at the top of this post to your current vendor and any vendor in a live demo. Require email answers.

1. Run a guest export and a future-reservation export today. Open both in a spreadsheet. Fix gaps while support still smiles.

1. Write down the processor name and whether you can use your own Stripe (or equivalent). Ask about PAN transfer in the same thread.

1. If a sales rep refuses to put export format and fees in writing, pause the signature. That refusal is data.

1. Keep a park-owned copy of site truth: numbers, amps, lengths, pet rules. Markdown, spreadsheet, or printed binder. The PMS should mirror it, not be the only copy.

1. If you are mid-switch already, stop decorating the new theme. Finish the export checklist from migration week one.

A contract you will not read is a rate you will not like later. The cheapest hour in software is the hour before you sign.

FAQ

Do I need a lawyer to buy campground software?

For a simple month-to-month tool with a working CSV export, an owner checklist may be enough. For multi-year terms, early-termination fees, or captive payments, have counsel read the exit section. This article is operator diligence, not legal advice.

Is “we have no contract” enough?

Only if the terms of service you click still let you export and leave. PitchCamp markets no contracts and no exit fees. Still download a guest file and read the cancel paragraph.

Can I demand JSON instead of CSV?

Yes if your next system wants it. The bar is open, machine-readable, complete. CSV is the universal floor for a 40-site park.

What if they only export after I cancel?

That is a red flag. TOS Lawyer wants export during the term, not only at the funeral. Test now.

Will my guest credit cards come with the PMS export?

No. Expect a processor-to-processor path under Stripe’s PCI rules, or re-collect at the gate. Budget the awkward email.

Should exit rights matter if I love the product?

Yes. Love is not a strategy for bankruptcy, acquisition, price hikes, or a feature removal that breaks your gate flow. Turley Law frames ownership for when the vendor goes dark, not only when you get bored.

How does Lunaria Booking handle portability?

Property configuration is plain markdown you can copy and version in git: sites, hookups, rates, policies. Reservations and guests still need ordinary exports like any system of record. The point is you should never rebuild a 50-amp map from memory because it lived only inside a vendor form.

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Sign for the grid you need. Keep the keys to the guest list. If a vendor cannot answer the eight questions in writing, you already know how the breakup will feel.