Pitch availability

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  • mickysf
    mickysf Forum Participant Posts: 6,474 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2016 #32

    I am at a bit of a loss. The prices are too expensive, we get nothing for our membership fee, except a magazine filled with adverts! etc etc. Or at least that is what some would have you believe. Yet when the CC do something a bit different than the other operators, no deposit, penalty free cancelation, they are criticised for it.

    Steve, you wont please all of the people all of the time, i agree..

    however, this particular 'difference' doesnt really do anything for working families who cant change holiday dates as easily as some (you and I) can....

    having to cancel at 3 days notice for you and I because of (say) a family change of plan, is just water off a ducks back, we change plans all the time, so this 'difference' is great for us and the rest of the predominant CC demographic.

    however, when i was working (despite being able to, within reason, choose my own dates) agreed dates were expected to be honoured for the sake of the rest of the team.

    so holidays were booked earlier....and deposits paid...Wink

    so, the answer some give is that ALL members have the same chance to book sites in December....yet, here again, the bias is skewed towards those who have the time to be at a PC when booking opens....not those who are at work at 8:00....

    ...and then there is the age old Sunday Departure issue where those who can only 'weekend' have to be away on Sunday at midday (WD not withstanding.....Undecided

    so, thereare three examples where the club could easily be far more family focussed just by tweaking those three 'rules'...

    one.....make the cancellation period 7 days

    two....move the booking opening day to a weekend at (say) 9 am

    three...allow departures on a Sunday to be 16:00 by default.

    now, i dont want another SD thread, ive just given examples where tiny tweaks could easily change the 'perceived' bias towards families without incurring cost, nor impacting on any other 'groups' within the club.

    the club is trying hard to get over its 'family credentials' yet there are small procedural changes that could be made which would show they mean business.....and thats before they get stuck into any large cost incurring projects.

    Heaven forbid resurrecting SD after the unequivical and definative statement we have had. Some good points though  BB, but just to point out mind that point three does operate now, where circumstances allow. It has to be managed like this or move arrival/departures times forward for Sunday's making it no departures after16:00 and arrivals only after 16:00. Must say it seems to work as it currently is In my opinion!

  • KjellNN
    KjellNN Club Member Posts: 8,669 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2016 #33

    Agree with you Steve, also according to some posters club sites are empty, the club has trouble getting people to actually go to the sites as they are so expensive, yet now we have a thread saying that there were three empty pitches and others that they have trouble actually booking a pitch in the first place? Which is it?

    Unfortunately the answer is that it is both.

    Sites, in most cases,  are full in the school holidays, popular sites are pretty full at the weekends, but mid week in off peak periods they are fairly empty as many of those that can go at that time  are finding them too expensive.

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
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    edited July 2016 #34

    Micky, youre right, it'll have to be WD for now and no more SD chat.....Wink

    Jay has a point with the booking day bunfight....a tweak would help but perhaps a rolling diary might help more?

    .....but again, the release of the 'next batch' of dates (especially those encompassing the main summer dates) must not be released on a weekday at 9:00.....Undecided

  • kevinhrc1
    kevinhrc1 Forum Participant Posts: 81
    edited July 2016 #35

    "Computer say......."

    Some say that the wardens know their site better than anyone........apparantly not, in this case at least.

    Write your comments here...perhaps three people didnt turn up or cancelled at last minute or perhaps we should all be narrow minded and believe the wardens did it on a purpose i dont think so do you

  • Freelander359
    Freelander359 Forum Participant Posts: 107
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    edited July 2016 #36

    Is there any kind of reserve list system operated by wardens either individually at some  sites or acoss all sites ? Would this help both the member wanting to make a late booking and the  club filling vacant pitches ? 

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited July 2016 #37

    Agree with you Steve, also according to some posters club sites are empty, the club has trouble getting people to actually go to the sites as they are so expensive, yet now we have a thread saying that there were three empty pitches and others that they
    have trouble actually booking a pitch in the first place? Which is it?

    Unfortunately the answer is that it is both.

    Sites, in most cases,  are full in the school holidays, popular sites are pretty full at the weekends, but mid week in off peak periods they are fairly empty as many of those that can go at that time  are finding them too expensive.

    We were away from mid Jube to Mid July ad the sites tha twe used were pretty much full at weekends and not many spaces in the week

  • compass362
    compass362 Forum Participant Posts: 619
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    edited July 2016 #38

    Is there any kind of reserve list system operated by wardens either individually at some  sites or acoss all sites ? Would this help both the member wanting to make a late booking and the  club filling vacant pitches ? 

    Write your comments here...yes there is ........ it's called late availability , find it on the home page

  • dave the rave
    dave the rave Forum Participant Posts: 806
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    edited July 2016 #39

    The site is situatd near the end of one of Englands busiest airports runways! My son in law had tried to book a week orso beforehand but the computor system was down!We sat together outside my van at 2pm on the saturday and he used his mobile phone to contact
    the site office concerning pitch availability for saturday night.He was told that there would have been a pitch available but the occupant had had a stroke and the warden was unable to move the unit off site!As previously stated we were aware of several vacant
    pitches but assumed,in light of the telephone conversation,that they would be filled before the end of the day!THEY WERE NOT!!!!!!!!!.I have no intention of using this site again but as previously mentioned it is used by relatives for storage.....I am unwilling,therfor
    to "upset the apple cart!"

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited July 2016 #40

    So, a couple of gems about the vacant pitches on a full site conundrum.

    Firstly, if some seasonal pitches are unused they stay unused and vacant, even if all other pitches are taken and there are people trying to book for a few nights.

    Secondly, touring pitches are used for storage if the storage space is full. These also have to be left unoccupied as the stored outfit could return at any time.

    Seems barmey to me and possible a few others.

  • Wildwood
    Wildwood Club Member Posts: 3,581 ✭✭✭✭
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    edited July 2016 #41

    If I were a warden, and I could see that there were empty pitches out there, despite the computer telling me that the site was fully booked, I think I would deduce from this that some people hadn't turned up!

    The computer would probably even concur with that blindingly obvious deduction.

    I would therefore go out of my way to take late bookings in order to fill those empty pitches and to increase income to the Club.

    Is it just me, or isn't that how anyone with even a tiny bit of business acumen and willingness to do the best job possible (for both my employer and other Club members) would behave??

    A nice idea but you do not know if people are no shows until the morning. You could then sell the remaining days though although I do not know if these go back on the web site.

    If the computer shows space wardens do take people just turning up but beyond that I cannot see what more they can do unless they have a vacancies sign.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2016 #42

    Where we are now until Friday but want to stay until Sunday ,but site is flll from fridaywe have looked at late availabilty and site is full warden has advised to check in office friday am as some still do not arrive and any thursday NAs pitch is ours

  • IanH
    IanH Forum Participant Posts: 4,708
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    edited July 2016 #43

    If I were a warden, and I could see that there were empty pitches out there, despite the computer telling me that the site was fully booked, I think I would deduce from this that some people hadn't turned up!

    The computer would probably even concur with that blindingly obvious deduction.

    I would therefore go out of my way to take late bookings in order to fill those empty pitches and to increase income to the Club.

    Is it just me, or isn't that how anyone with even a tiny bit of business acumen and willingness to do the best job possible (for both my employer and other Club members) would behave??

    A nice idea but you do not know if people are no shows until the morning. You could then sell the remaining days though although I do not know if these go back on the web site.

    If the computer shows space wardens do take people just turning up but beyond that I cannot see what more they can do unless they have a vacancies sign.

    They could get their heads out of the computer and act as though they owned the site.......and help some late bookers along the way.

  • JollyKernow
    JollyKernow Forum Participant Posts: 2,629
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    edited July 2016 #44

    If I were a warden, and I could see that there were empty pitches out there, despite the computer telling me that the site was fully booked, I think I would deduce from this that some people hadn't turned up!

    The computer would probably even concur with that blindingly obvious deduction.

    I would therefore go out of my way to take late bookings in order to fill those empty pitches and to increase income to the Club.

    Is it just me, or isn't that how anyone with even a tiny bit of business acumen and willingness to do the best job possible (for both my employer and other Club members) would behave??

    A nice idea but you do not know if people are no shows until the morning. You could then sell the remaining days though although I do not know if these go back on the web site.

    If the computer shows space wardens do take people just turning up but beyond that I cannot see what more they can do unless they have a vacancies sign.

    They could get their heads out of the computer and act as though they owned the site.......and help some late bookers along the way.

    Write your comments here...

    Here's the thing. On club sites as you should already know, you can access your pitch on your arrival day up to 20.00. We don't accept arrivals after that time (take that up with egh) and I'm off duty then as well. If all of my available pitches are prebooked
    it's really beyond my control if people decide not to turn up or cancel. I must say though that on my site, empty pitches at the end of the day are a rarity.

  • Cornersteady
    Cornersteady Club Member Posts: 14,427 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2016 #45

    If I were a warden, and I could see that there were empty pitches out there, despite the computer telling me that the site was fully booked, I think I would deduce from this that some people hadn't turned up!

    The computer would probably even concur with that blindingly obvious deduction.

    I would therefore go out of my way to take late bookings in order to fill those empty pitches and to increase income to the Club.

    Is it just me, or isn't that how anyone with even a tiny bit of business acumen and willingness to do the best job possible (for both my employer and other Club members) would behave??

    A nice idea but you do not know if people are no shows until the morning. You could then sell the remaining days though although I do not know if these go back on the web site.

    If the computer shows space wardens do take people just turning up but beyond that I cannot see what more they can do unless they have a vacancies sign.

    They could get their heads out of the computer and act as though they owned the site.......and help some late bookers along the way.

    Write your comments here...

    Here's the thing. On club sites as you should already know, you can access your pitch on your arrival day up to 20.00. We don't accept arrivals after that time (take that up with egh) and I'm off duty then as well. If all of my available pitches are prebooked
    it's really beyond my control if people decide not to turn up or cancel. I must say though that on my site, empty pitches at the end of the day are a rarity.

    good informative post- thanks

  • IanH
    IanH Forum Participant Posts: 4,708
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    edited July 2016 #46

    So many people report empty pitches when the booking system shows that the site is full.

    The Club often tell us there isn't a problem with 'no shows'.

    Either members are seeing things......or the Club is in denial.

    By the way, this is the Club who resolutely refuse to reveal the number of cancellations just outside 72 hours cut off for cancellations.

    You be the judge.......

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited July 2016 #47

    From what I see on my travels I judge there is little problem

  • Cornersteady
    Cornersteady Club Member Posts: 14,427 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2016 #48

    From what I see on my travels I judge there is little problem

    as someone who uses club sites a lot, I agree with you.

     

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
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    edited July 2016 #49

    From what I see on my travels I judge there is little problem

    ...but in fairness, no one can make a judgement on the amount of late cancellations just by looking at the sites we all use...

    the pitches may well have been resold, presumably to those who can change their plans at a moments notice...hardly likely to be those who need to get holidays from work agreed well in advance...

    ian is right, the only way to understsnd the level of this problem (and indeed if there is one...) is to get a report from the clubs booking system.....over to you, CC. 

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited July 2016 #50

    If pitches are getting filled, which it seems to me they are then as far as I am concerned it is not a problem

  • Cornersteady
    Cornersteady Club Member Posts: 14,427 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2016 #51

    I think the club would act if there was a problem, this system has been in place a significant number of years, and as along as pitches are sold does it matter? If people need to book holidays well in advance then that is what they have to do rather than
    leaving it late then complain about no pitches being available

  • IanH
    IanH Forum Participant Posts: 4,708
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    edited July 2016 #52

    Except that many people report that sites have pitches stood empty......despite showing full on the web site. For exampke, the original poster......

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2016 #53

    If I were a warden, and I could see that there were empty pitches out there, despite the computer telling me that the site was fully booked, I think I would deduce from this that some people hadn't turned up!

    The computer would probably even concur with that blindingly obvious deduction.

    I would therefore go out of my way to take late bookings in order to fill those empty pitches and to increase income to the Club.

    Is it just me, or isn't that how anyone with even a tiny bit of business acumen and willingness to do the best job possible (for both my employer and other Club members) would behave??

    A nice idea but you do not know if people are no shows until the morning. You could then sell the remaining days though although I do not know if these go back on the web site.

    If the computer shows space wardens do take people just turning up but beyond that I cannot see what more they can do unless they have a vacancies sign.

    They could get their heads out of the computer and act as though they owned the site.......and help some late bookers along the way.

    Write your comments here...

    Here's the thing. On club sites as you should already know, you can access your pitch on your arrival day up to 20.00. We don't accept arrivals after that time (take that up with egh) and I'm off duty then as well. If all of my available pitches are prebooked
    it's really beyond my control if people decide not to turn up or cancel. I must say though that on my site, empty pitches at the end of the day are a rarity.

    ..Great post from the front line

  • Wildwood
    Wildwood Club Member Posts: 3,581 ✭✭✭✭
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    edited July 2016 #54

    We have turned up twice and been given a choice of one pitch so sites do fill up with no no shows sometimes.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2016 #55

    Ps

    We now have a pitch for friday and Saturday thank you who ever cancelled saturday nightWink

  • mickysf
    mickysf Forum Participant Posts: 6,474 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2016 #56

    The only way to eliminate that odd occasion of an empty pitch or two would be to adopt the overbooking system the likes we see on airlines and some hotels. Bet you though, the few 'bumped off' to the next nearest site would not be best pleased if all booked
    did turn up.  

    The current system works well with only a few empty pitches showing on what has appeared to be sold out site.

    If situations decree a non arrival surplus pitch hasn't subsequently been 'sold'! on occasions it may also help when an emergency or the like has precluded a departure untill after that 4:pm cut off or even the following day. Things happen, thankfully I've
    never been in such situations but I guess those that now best have to manage these on regular basis.

  • JollyKernow
    JollyKernow Forum Participant Posts: 2,629
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    edited July 2016 #57

    Mickysf re your last sentence, I can only say, nail on head