Recreation.gov sued

[Rockskipper]

Lawsuit Alleges Recreation.Gov Is Cluttered With "Junk Fees," Seeks Refunds

A lawsuit seeking class-action status alleges that Recreation.gov, a national portal for accessing recreational activities on federal lands, is cluttered with unauthorized and possibly illegal “junk fees.

www.nationalparkstraveler.org

 

[Kmatjhwy]

Have noticed all the added fees on recreation.com and good someone is challenging this. It seems everything is going up in price and a few dollars here and a few dollars there adds up to a bunch of money. Do get tired of all the collaboration between the government and some private contractor and then we do not have a say in the matter. Hope this lawsuit succeeds personally. Thanks for posting Rockskipper.

 

[scatman]

Good!

 

[RyanP]

Have noticed all the added fees on recreation.com and good someone is challenging this. It seems everything is going up in price and a few dollars here and a few dollars there adds up to a bunch of money. Do get tired of all the collaboration between the government and some private contractor and then we do not have a say in the matter. Hope this lawsuit succeeds personally. Thanks for posting Rockskipper

100% agree

 

[fossana]

It would be one thing if the bulk of the fees were going to the parks, but instead they're going to shady defense and NSA contractor, Booz Allen.

 

[canadug]

Sue them out of existence!! The fees and lack of refunds is totally ridiculous. The government handing this all over to a private company is total BS.

 

[wsp_scott]

I hope that actual data will become public with this lawsuit. How much is Booz making off this contract. I'd like to see actual revenues as well as costs from recreation.gov

 

[regehr]

I hope that actual data will become public with this lawsuit. How much is Booz making off this contract. I'd like to see actual revenues as well as costs from recreation.gov

I'd mostly just look at revenue, a concern like Booz Allen can easily make their costs as high as they need to

 

[wsp_scott]

I'd mostly just look at revenue, a concern like Booz Allen can easily make their costs as high as they need to

There is no doubt that cost numbers can be manipulated (deciding what is a variable vs fixed cost is difficult), but revenue by it self presents an incomplete picture. In a perfect world we'd see lots of data like call center volumes, staffing levels, server costs, ... but we don't live in that world. Honestly, I doubt reliable numbers about anything will actually come out, but it would be nice.

 

[Bob]

It will just get worse. ................... Plenty of great places to go without going down the recreation.gov rabbit hole.

 

[TheMountainRabbit]

There is no doubt that cost numbers can be manipulated (deciding what is a variable vs fixed cost is difficult), but revenue by it self presents an incomplete picture. In a perfect world we'd see lots of data like call center volumes, staffing levels, server costs, ... but we don't live in that world. Honestly, I doubt reliable numbers about anything will actually come out, but it would be nice.

I can understand that there are some things are more efficent to outsource to a third-party, but that should come with a high level of transparency and accountability to all stakeholders. And when it comes to national lands, "stakeholders" would be all of us.

The most exciting part of this lawsuit - if I had any faith in the judiciary - would certainly be the discovery process.

Sadly, I expect this will be the last we hear of it.