Renting riding carts.. Charged twice for 1 cart?

[8602081]

Do we just accept this and move on or question it.

I have always wondered and no one seems to have a definite explaination on renting carts.

Example:

I play a 18 and rent a cart for $13. If my partner wants to ride the same cart, he is charged $13.
So, they are charging $26 for 1 cart.

They got mad one day, because We both rented carts and decided to drive our own carts.. ($13 each)..

I'm not saying that the partner should ride for free, but at least they should give discounts for sharing carts.

Am I wrong on this? Should I accept this and move on (which I basically did)?

[Furrankee]

I think the more carts that are rented out by single riders, the less carts available for golfers later on in the day. Less carts mean frustrated golfers, especially for hilly courses. And if golfers frequently find out that that golf course "runs out" of carts, they'll probably forego going there in the future. Loss of business.

 

Personally, I hate sharing carts because it means not being able to access your bag if you decide to change your shot, even by grabbing 3-4 clubs.

[Smooth spin scott]

Great point 8602081... I'll try that one next time a buddy and I play!

[golfernut78]

furrankee is right, you run out of carts. in theory, if you have two groups on a hole (one teeing and one putting), you have 2 carts per group, 2 groups per hole, 18 holes, thats 72 carts. i design country clubs for a living and that is what we design the cart storage for, 72 carts per 18 holes. with this, you leave no room for a broken cart, so sometimes a couple extra carts are included.

 

while i understand some of your frustrations, wouldn't you be just as frustrated to pay $13 for a cart because you friend had to cancel at the lat minute were the other 2 in your group pay 1/2 that because neither one of them canceled at the last minute. i think charging each person is the only fair way to do it. however, charging $20 for a cart for 18, and then requiring you to use a cart is bogus, but thats a whole other topic all together.

[tm8838]

My facitlity has 75 golf cars. For the exact reason as stated above. You will always need an extra car for ranger/starter or cart staff to do running around in. We charge each golfer $16 for cart fee for 18 holes even if there are two players riding. That is just the way it works at our place.

[animalistic]

that never even occured to me!! :yahoo: ..in my place its like 20 euro for a buggy no matter if uve 1 , 2 or 20 people in it :yahoo:

[nunee]

Most courses charge for the cart on a per person basis.

 

The $13 per cart is a per rider fee. Therefore a cart 'really' costs $26. You are getting adeal by only paying for HALF of it.

 

Would you rather try to collect the $13 from your buddy or a stranger?

[rhnh7063]

I think it should be one fee, no matter how many use the cart. You don't get charged extar at Enterprise if you have a passenger in the car, why pay for someone else to ride in the cart? When my wife and I play a course that charges per rider for the cart (she has to ride due to a leg injury) I just use my push cart and walk. I've found I can keep up with a cart, anyway. I haven't found a course in this area that requires you to rent a cart so far...

[TourPro21]

because that's how it is, everywhere... plain and simple... don't question it...

[pmas93]

Having worked in a pro shop I always hated this question. Think of a cart as two seats. There is a potential to rent the two seats in the cart. If you are the only one playing, the course can pair you up with somebody who will pay for that seat. Think of it in relation to a movie theater. If there is 500 seats and it cost the theater $500 per showing for a movie, they don't charge $1 a seat. They charge the same admission whether it is Friday night with 499 people in the theater or a Tuesday morning with 2 people. Is it fair? We will never reach a firm answer on that. But that's the way I have always seen it done and I don't complain. Just live with it and be glad they don't charge you more than that!

[phillypete]

heres the one that really killed me...

 

back before my girlfriend started playing, she would go to the course with me on the weekend and ride along.

 

we would usually go out late afternoon on a saturday or sunday and I'd have no trouble walking on as a single. And most courses hand no trouble with my girlfriend tagging along except for one course that tried to charge me an extra $15 for her cart fee. I walked out and never went back. Was my girlfriends presence that day going to cause the golf course any extra overhead, or were they just trying to score an extra $15 out of the situation.

 

I understand the cart fee thing in general though... you cant think of it as paying to rent a cart, you are paying for the opertunity not to walk.

 

On another tangent I feel that the USGA should ban golf courses from mandating that patrons ride, on the ground that it undermines the integrity of the game.

[8602081]

I'm glad that many agree with my question. But I am also feeling that everyone just accepted this and moved on.

 

I wouldn't mind it as much if they gave little discount for second person on the SAME cart.. example..

$13 for one person $6.50 for second on SAME cart..

 

 

I just think it wasn't fair . Either way, it's not going to stop me from golfing.

[tm8838]

The reason that we charge every person a cart fee that is the same is because of the costs that the course has into the carts. Think of what you pay for your lease or purchase payment, electricity to charge the cars or gas for the cars, hourly wages to pay your cart staff and mechanic to work on your carts. There are a lot of costs for the course that go into just sending a cart out for 9/18 holes. That money has to be made back somewhere.

[tanj]

Why not just walk. I always walk. Only the old and those with medical conditions and certificates use carts. In fact, during competitions, almost everyone frowns upon people who have nothing wrong with them, with the exception of the old, who use carts.

 

Josh

 

BTW, I live in Australia

[housey]

cart? what's a cart?

[mrjrs]

At our course we think of it as you are basically paying for the gas/maintnance of the cart. You each pay a fee because you are going to be driving that cart to each of your balls. 2 riders will use more gas and cause more wear and tear so they are each charged a cart fee.

 

If your girlfried rides along, I don't care. You are only going to drive around for 1 player. That changes however, if you aren't a single. Let's say you and a buddy go out and you each have your gf's. Now we have to send out 2 carts instead of one, so you are going to pay double the cart fees.

[phillypete]

The reason that we charge every person a cart fee that is the same is because of the costs that the course has into the carts. Think of what you pay for your lease or purchase payment, electricity to charge the cars or gas for the cars, hourly wages to pay your cart staff and mechanic to work on your carts. There are a lot of costs for the course that go into just sending a cart out for 9/18 holes. That money has to be made back somewhere.

 

 

It carts are such a costly operation than why do so many courses force their patrons to use them? Wouldn't it be in there best interest to have people walking? Or have these courses probably turning a profit on their cart fee?

[martineli69]

Here on my course we rent "by the cart", which means that we rent the cart for $20... if you are a single, you pay $20, if your girlfriend is riding with you, you pay $20.. if you have 2 players, each pay $10, for a total of $20 cart fee... We keep the privilege of paying 1/2 carts for our members, which only pay $10 if they ride by themselves, but if 2 members ride together, they still pay $20... I think it makes more sense to rent by the cart than by player...

and I agree that "forcing" players to ride is ridiculous...