Slight of Hand "Head Line" Pricing
We've recently returned from a Coast to Coast, Irish Sea to North Sea, trip; Blackpool to Scarborough. Both of the sites were lightly populated but it was High Season, £28.70 and £30.30 respectively per night Standard Pitch two adults. We thought this was excessive due to the Obvious lack of demand.
I downloaded the Prices Leaflet, a new introduction this year. This made for Interesting reading. Headline From prices for Pitch plus one, for example Borrowdale £10.10, we'll visit then; but that applies for One Day Only, 3rd Nov. The next higher price is only £1.20 more, so why bother Fiddling one day cheaper? There are 44 dates available at £11.30, shouldn't that be the Headline?
What's going on with this club of ours? I've given just the one example, but more similar can be found. I wonder what the Objective was in such pricing? Some answers from the Hierarchy would be good.
Comments
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The club were maybe following the example of certain independent sites (as often recommended by some on here) such as Woolacombe Sands which advertised in the March magazine "pitches from just £6 per night". Have a look at their website to see what the prices actually are!
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The recent change to pitch plus 1 instead of the previous pitch & 2 is just deceitful & misleading
Does it not say price from? Does that not imply the lowest possible price and would that not be with just one adult. Seems sensible to me. All such a price can ever hope to give anybody is some relative pricing between sites. Certainly 'Prices From' never have given me false hope
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Just read the "from" price and multipy by the appropriate factor - 2.5 seems about right - to get what you will be expected to pay.
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Well, the lowest price would be for the situation where (by agreement with the warden) a caravan is left for a night with no occupants and only the pitch fee is due.
So why not advertise "Pitch fee from £nn". I suspect this is the same marketing numptie that thinks Ordnance Survey Grid References are of no use.
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The OP is correct though in as much as the price stated in many cases is only available for 1 or 2 nights in the year. For many sites that is the first and last night.
A pretty despicable way to treat members.
I also noticed that next year the per person price has gone down by a few pence but the pitch price has gone up by much more.
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I'm not actually sure that I've previously noticed this "prices from headline banner price". That just shows how well it has worked (or not) as a promotional ploy. With this club I always look at the menu of dates and prices on each sites page, and add up the pitch and two adults to see what it will be during our intended stay. Once I know what the price is, I either book it or look elsewhere. Similar method applies to all the sites we have ever booked, that way we never feel that we have been misled or are surprised when we get there.
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I think most would do the same with any such details from any site. I suppose that there are some that use a CL where on the club site it is advertise as from £12 a night and get upset when they arrive to find that the owner asks £17 for the BH nights rather than check with the owner when booking.
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The club is now run by the 'bean counters' and it is a tactic to obfuscate the real price increases.
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I agree that, if out in the public domain it might cause somebody to consider a site. I doubt that most would see a price advertised as from £14 a night as a reason to book if they were getting prices of £35 a night on further investigation unless they considered it to still be of value. It might be attract interest but it is not a deal closer
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"With this club I always look at the menu of dates and prices on each sites page, and add up the pitch and two adults to see what it will be during our intended stay." Quote from justus2
It looks like you haven't noticed the other Slight of Hand? The prices have been removed from the "Book" To view prices a Leaflet needs to be downloaded, or I believe one can be requested from HQ.
My post was mainly about these tactics of Confusion. Who, at HQ, dreams these things up? The Club must move with the times, but what's the Ultimate Aim of all this Marketing guff?
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It looks like you haven't noticed the other Slight of Hand? The prices have been removed from the "Book" To view prices a Leaflet needs to be downloaded, or I believe one can be requested from HQ.
Well this makes sense to me as the books were doubtless sent to print before the latest price update, and prices will likely change twice and at least once more before the next issues. I think that an updated price supplement was available at end of february, free on request.
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I for one don't miss the prices not being in the directory. The overarching factor in my choice of site is its location. Then I consider available sites, from Clubs and otherwise, and the facilities on offer. Thirdly, comes comparing prices.
As an example, I could be considering the Club site at Troutbeck Head, but would also be considering the commercial site close by. Since the latter has views across the loch from every pitch, and four bathrooms (that contain an actual bath) the decision could well be made before I even look at price.
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Why did the club change from the per night for 2 in the 2017 book to the from price in 2019. In my opinion it can be for no other reason than, as CY says, to disguise the soaring cost of club sites that is receiving so much complaint from members.
The from £7.10 price that has been mentioned if for Stamford and has been noted to be for one night only at the end of the season. In the last handbook the same site was stated as from £11.90 for 2 adults and spanned a lot more dates than the one in this years book. Clearly a lot more noteworthy to members.
What is the precentage of solo bookings to that of the two adult bookings? That is what matters and no doubt the latter will be the larger so why disguise the price for that particular type of booking. That type of member is where the true price should be aimed at.
So lets look at another unfair price structure and this does affect solo members. "Tour For Less" sites. Now these 11 sites do state price for 2 adults and also + 4 children. Price, £15, wow! that does look cheap and I agree it is. However, how much for 1 adult. Still £15, now that can't be right. So look into the price structure. 2 Adults @ £4.50 each and pitch fee of £6.00 and that gives the £15 per night. Now the price for 1 adult is still £4.50 but the pitch fee suddenly increases to £10.50 which still equals to the £15 stated but a pitch is a pitch same car, same caravan, same awning. so suddenly in this price band the from price penalises the solo caravanner.
The pricing structure of club sites is absurdly mind boggling and in the latter case unfair. It would not be that difficult to simplify the whole system, would it?
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That sounds a bit discriminatory towards solo travellers, I think it would have been better to have put the basic pitch ehu price on rather than the non ehu price but that's all. However it's a difficult one and the club needs to start somewhere.
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I'm starting to think I must be missing out on some of the excitement others experience when booking sites. I choose where I want to go, look at suitable sites, input dates and then make a decision about whether to book or not. But in future I'm going to spend hours, even days maybe, poring over price lists with my calculator to establish what, up to now, has taken me less than a couple of minutes to decide.
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, there are other sites out there that offer cheaper prices ,your not compelled to use club sites 
