Disrespectful Travelers

[Bankabanka]

Hello My partner and I manage Banka Banka Station in the NT, The other day we had the misfortune of meeting some very bad mannered travelers who happened to be traveling in a Kedron van.

They threatened to tell all Kedron owners not to stay with us so we thought we would tell you what they said to us..

This story is taken straight from our blog at Banka Banka Station

We have unfortunately just conducted our first eviction of the year. Two couples were asked to leave due to very poor attitudes before they had even booked in!

To cut a long story short they were both traveling in very large vans (Bushtracker and Kedron) instead of coming in they blocked the driveway and unfortunately Fiona was returning from Tennant Creek and was left stranded on the highway.

She Beeped her horn twice and the vans moved off, they then turned around and came to book in at the kiosk.

The wives were very nice at first but when the husband jumped out of the car his first words were "I'm not sure if i want to stay here anymore with that F***ing Bitch beeping at me!" I asked his wife if he was normally like that and she said he was a bit mad at getting beeped at.

I explained that it was dangerous to block the driveway and Fiona had no option but to beep I was then hit by a tirade of expletives from both husbands and wives.

I then told them we would not be able to accommodate them and asked them politely to leave, I was told I was a F***ing P***k and to F**k off.

On leaving they shouted that they would tell all Bushtracker and Kedron owners not to stay here, obviously you are all welcome but any form of abuse will not be tolerated and you will embarrass only yourselves.

We are certainly not tarring all Kedron and BT owners with the same brush and you are all welcome to stay with us but we thought we would bring the incident to your attention.

The story has been posted on the Bushtracker forum also but was just removed by the administrator, we did receive lots of support from the BT owners though before removal so we thank them for that.

safe travels

[Webby]

Hi Alex and Fiona,

I could not imagine anyone turning away business without good reason and you are certainly within your rights to evict anyone being aggressive or displaying abuse.

I trust our members will make their own decisions when visiting your area and not be swayed by hopefully a one off incident.

[Adam S]

There are bad apples in all groups I hope this type of action does not restrict access to more places. You have to wonder why the Bushtracker moderator would remove this post from there site.

[Chris]

I am sorry you had this experience. It can be very upsetting to encounter hostility and this certainly sounds as though it was an unsettling experience.

As we know many Kedron (and BT owners for that matter) I can vouch that they are generally courteous and kind people. As someone said, there is always an exception.

Chris

[Winnecke]

I remember Banka Banka very fondly from the years I spent working the Barkly Tableland, and in particular I remember "Missus" Ward. Mary Ward had a large built-in refrigerator on the verandah, chocka with soft drinks and delighted in offering her unique hospitality to all who passed by. She devoted much of her life to the local Aborigines who adored her.

During a return visit to the NT a few years ago I was delighted to see that Banka Banka had opened a Campground. I did not stay there as it was early in the day, but it is high on my "list" for my next trip through that area. A beautifull and extremely historic area.

Banka Banka and Mary Ward both earn their own entries in Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banka_Banka_Station

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Alice_Ward

I guess there are some people who think they are somehow entitled to throw their weight around. A shame!

http://www.bankabankastation.com/

[Bankabanka]

Hello all,

Many thanks for all of your replies and supportive words.

Rest assured we do not discriminate against one and you are all welcome anytime as long as you have a good attitude.

Last year we had over 15000 campers through our gates and only a handful caused any trouble so we are looking forward to another fantastic year.

hope to see you all soon and safe travels

alex and fiona

[Gordon and Chris Carter]

Hi Alex & Fiona, We were annoyed to find that two caravaners could cause so much distress. Do not know what would cause them to block the driveway common courtsey would tell them to leave the driveway clear. We had the pleasure of staying overnight at Banka Banka in 2006 and had a wonderful time especially with the very friendly Emu and Turkey, we would not hesitate in staying there again when we go back to the NT. Once again thank you for your kind hospitaility.

[Kimbo]

Hi Alex and Fiona

Sorry to hear that you had to suffer this terrible attitude that some members of the travelling public have and hopefully they are in the minority.

I was considering calling into banka banka during our travells thru the NT in the next month or so.

Read about Banka on another forum and all the reports were good so looking forward to calling in soon

Regards

[ATV42]

Hi there Alex and Fiona

Very sorry to hear about this and hopfully, an isolated incident. As others have said, you are perfectly within your rights to evict anyone who is abusive and swears at you.

Everyone has the right to be treated respectfully.

Peter

(ATV42) :shades:

[Glen and Debbie]

Hi

we stayed at Banka Banka in 2007 with Deb & King and was very impressed with the campground, the information slideshow and the emu (I'll make sure I stock up on more bread next time).

Looking forward to spending more time there down the track.

Cheers

Deb B

[King and Deb]

Hi also, just seconding Deb's opinion Deb & I often talk about the great camping at Bankabanka. Ive got some great photo's of Ernie"the Emu" doing strange things to my chair it's a pitty he's not around anymore. Keep up the good work and don't worry too much, some people wouldn't know what it takes too be polite. :thumbsup:

King.

[gracey277]

Hi Alex & Fiona

We are sorry to hear about your unfortunate abuse from those other caravaners. Paul & I would just like to say what a wonderful time we had, when we and another Kedron owner stayed at Banka Banka just 2 weeks ago. I don't know if you remember us but we did have a really good time and would thoroughly recommend staying at Banka Banka to any caravaners we meet and thank you for your hospitality and the great show you put on for us that evening.

Regards

Paul & Cheryl

[Kiwi]

There are bad apples in all groups I hope this type of action does not restrict access to more places. You have to wonder why the Bushtracker moderator would remove this post from there site.

I'm not sure that there's a lot of cause for wonder, Adam. It was a legitimate posting by Banka Banka in the face of a threat to turn Kedron and Bushtracker owners away from their facility. There's only one way to do that and it is to the KOG's credit that we can read it here and form our own opinions. In contrast, the BT company site (not to be confused with the BOG site) is carefully sanitised by its company administrator who dismisses Banka Banka by suggesting that the Bushtracker owner was probably a secondhand van owner. That says a lot about the company's opinion of people who buy its product secondhand. I wonder how many of them are happy to be seen in such a poor light?

Michael

[Webby]

Thanks to everyone for their comments on this subject, but I think it might be best now to close this topic as all that can be said ... has been said.

I'm sure Alex and Fiona have appreciated our feedback and thoughts and as discussed, we all look forward to visiting Banka Banka and many of the other great places out that way just as soon as we can.