Elk Creek Resort – Piedmont, SD

The Elk Creek Resort in Piedmont, South Dakota is beyond unsatisfactory!

On March 25th we received email confirmation of our reservation for a one-night stay on May 18th. When we arrived in the late afternoon on that day the first thing that happened is that the person in the office was unable, even after several tries, to charge our stay to my Visa. As we were very tired after a long day’s drive I wound up paying cash to move things along.

After parking in our assigned spot, both my partner and I wanted to use the bathroom. I discovered two men’s rooms, one of which was locked, the other being open but out of service and without working lights. I couldn’t see a thing with the door closed. My partner found a similar situation in the Women’s bathrooms: one out of service, the other working but with an adjacent shower section without any working lights. I went back to the office to try to straighten things out and found the person who had been there had left. A note on the door, however, had three phone numbers for guests to use in case of problems. I called the first number and got voicemail. I called the second number and again got voicemail. The third number resulted in some kind of phone company message that I didn’t listen to. We then left.

The next day we called to try to arrange a refund. We were told by whoever answered that they would have to “check with the boss” and that they would call us back. When no call had come by the middle of the next day we called again and were told the same thing — they would check with the boss and get back to use. Again, no return call. We called a third time the following day and were for a third time told the same thing.

We never did receive a return call. Elk Creek Resort is far and away the most poorly managed place I have encountered. In addition, to stiff an unsatisfied customer for a $28 fee shows very poor business judgement.