Pitch pricing
My question to the Club:
"Please explain the reason why the pitch fee almost doubles overnight? eg from £8.10 on 23/5/2019 to £15.40 on 24/5/2019. In my mind this is a typical example of an organisation profiteering from it's members".
The Club response:
"We are a members club, here to serve our members, but we are also a business, and we need to make money in order to reinvest back into the network.
Demand for pitches is naturally higher during certain times of the year. In the main summer months, June to September and Easter, more people want to come out to site and enjoy the wonderful network of sites; and of course the longer bank holiday weekends are a natural draw for many.
However in the cooler months, less members want to come out and demand is therefore reduced. In the quieter periods, we regularly run our sites at a loss just to keep them open and provide this facility for our members.
So at some point in the year we need to be able to recoup the losses, and it’s during the busier months when demand is stronger that we then tend to charge a higher fee. This is a normal business model for so many industry sectors, not just travel related ones. Supply and demand causes price increases in order to generate increased income so that we can ensure that the sites simply break even each year.
Any additional income generated will then be reinvested back into the network to keep facilities up to standard."
Who else thinks that the price increase is a little on the high side(almost 50%) and should be spread over the year so as not to give the impression of profiteering when demand is high, ie school holidays? I personally would expect to pay more in the cooler months, as I would be using more electricity to keep warm.
Comments
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Your right, as is the club.
We stayed at Sandringham CMC in February this year, I personally thought it cheap, as in fees.
I say that even though at that time of year I have paid less for a weeks stay, but the sites had other income producers, seasonal pitches, restaurants and bars open to off site people etc to offset running costs.
The club is also correct, simply because as a business they are allowed to turn a profit, which isnt a dirty word.
When we joined they had a product we wanted, so we paid our money. I dont actually see it as a club, at the moment only the booking cancellation rules attract me, not any club like feeling.
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24th May was the start of half term week so not totally an arbitrary change of prices, just from whatever it was to peak. It is a practice that is done by most holiday companies. Most club sites are very very popular in peak prices so it is a case of supply and demand. The price is what it is as set by the club, you, or one has to decide if it is worth it or find a site that is ?
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Some people say club sites shouldn’t raise prices in peak season but should even them out across the year while others say site fees are already too high in quiet months. They can’t all be right!
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Very true, are prices ever?
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It is becoming more noticeable how many commercial sites are now cutting down on touring pitches and installing holiday homes,where there is a good income for minimal work to keep profits up, where touring pitches are less profitable, whereas it seems with some posters that when the club try to do the same to increase income that would be invested in new or upgrading sites it is heresy,and try to keep prices within the prices of comercial sites without resorting to selling pitches at a loss off peak as they do ,then sting far higher prices than the club at peak times
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I'm not sure about 'good income for mininal work' as the sites where I see this happening (and it certainly is) tend to be largish ones with a different staffing model to CC...that is, larger.
i see many 'maintenance men' involved in keeping customers happy when things go wrong (appliances failing, etc) as they do...not a lot different from the large commercial campsites abroad.
i don't see the club model, with its specific task list/timings and bare bones staff numbers accommodating the 'please fix it now' culture....
sites like Sandy Balls, who have removed touring all together now, have always had a huge staff to support their operation, even when touring was included, as do sites like Henley Swiss Farm....the staffing difference there between it and the adjacent Henley Four Oaks is like chalk and cheese.
if you're going into the 'static/lodge/pod' type operation it has to be with eyes (and wallet) open...yes the rewards are good but it also requires some depth of resource to keep the thing well oiled.
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Have you tried the clubs CL 5 van sites , they are available with mixed facilities good value for the cost.
We are on one this weekend staying 7 nights , was going to book Sandringham as we usually do , but came across this cl in a village we know quite well stayed in cottages there before.
£15 a night 2 adults + electric we tend to use our caravan washroom & shower even when on CMC sites.
The cost is effectively half Sandringham price so have booked another week August.
As a bonus I'm pretty sure it's the same price all year round on most Cls.
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Compass, don't forget to write a review of the CL on it's web page, and are you willing to name the site on here? We are always interested in CL's that posters on here have used.
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Nobody seems to be asking the question "why is it so expensive to cut a bit of grass, clean a few bogs and rake the gravel or whatever one does with HS pitches. Until we have a detailed breakdown of operating costs, we are whistling in the wind.
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Coca Cola David.
CMC charge as to what they think the market will stand, as does the site you are on.
I'm sure if your site could make more money by increasing fees they would.
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Not a direct comparison but close enough, Cofton Country Park, the excellent indoor pool is extra too as is the gym.
As of 1st of June std pitch starts at £32 pre discounts.
We've been about 4 times now, off to mid peak.
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But then the pricing is in line with the staffing levels that would not be "acceptable?"by some who post on here
Haven in Norfolk wanted £5000 "rent" for 10months? and that is for your own holiday home then there were services on top of that
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Sensible post
but one that some will try to say is wrong, with a lot of maintaining.that in the past was carried out by site staff now needs specialist?qualified staff to from outsourced companies to comply with legislation,,site staff are still required to be regularly assesed on how they use ground maintenance equipment, and the File on cleaning chemicals is huge,When i was working it was very evident from meetings with our company scientists, even then (1990s)how things were going in workplaces, and why chemicals that can be bought off the shelf for home use ,would not be allowed in the workplace as being to dangerous
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Hi nelliethehooker.
Holly Tree Cottage cl
Burnham Road , STANHOE.
Norfolk. PE31 8QD
Lovely little north Norfolk village
It's about 30 yards to the the pub next door . The Duck inn
I'll certainly do a review when we are back.
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Thanks, Compass, duly noted.
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We have had some retired wardens duo visit us today, and surprise surprise, the conversations included site prices and cost from 1994 when they were first year assistant wardens,on an 8month contract ,seasonal site,with a salary between them of £680 per month to work as many hours as req to run the site , and no working time directive then, the majority of on site maintainance carried out by the wardens and themselves,
Today there is the WTD, which has meant sites now need to have more staff, to the min wage, also a lot of on site maintenance has to be out sourced to specialist companies who employ "qualified certificated " staff
And still some question why prices have increased,
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do what I do get the wife to pay
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Alan, my point was just in response to JVB who felt going the chalets route was easy money....it isn't, it needs to be resoursed.
the two Henley sites are different (and as are the customers) but HFO isn't geared up (resource wise) to do as he suggests....
HSF has a large staff partly because of the fact it services many chalets.
there is no 'on the cheap'...
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Basically the clubs pricing is in line with the industry in general. You cannot stray far off this without losing out badly as your pricing does not then work. There are a few sites that keep a fairly even pricing across the board but they are rare and small so can manage this to some extent.
If the club did not follow the pattern and evened out prices you would find that they were very cheap at periods of high demand and impossibly expensive out of season The result of this would be they were full in high season when they would be near enough anyway but with far less income and empty in winter when they would be very overpriced. The club would then lose heavily on the sites throughout the year and could not continue to run them.
The club and just about everyone else in the travel industry is locked in to the system with no obvious way out.
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I understand all sides of the argument. The pitch prices do seem high nowadays, but the club have to make profit to plough back into the sites. We’re on a beautiful site at the moment, in France. Our pitch is about 3 x the size of a CC pitch, there are 3 pools, one is ideal for swimming lengths. The loo block that is open is huge, no queueing here. Each year that we return we see an improvement, as the owner always ploughs back some profit. Our 6 week holiday has cost us (booked through the club), just under £1367 & that includes all pitch fees, ferry crossing (Brittany Ferries) and Red Pennant Plus insurance. We know we couldn’t get that, on a CC site for 6 weeks. Oh & I forget, free WiFi on site - that’s 2 of us on it at the same time. Of course I’m well aware that there are more expensive sites in France and lots with smaller pitches.
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