Exploiting the members
Comments
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Stayed on a CL just over a mile from the Norfolk Broads site on the edge of Ludham and "close to the pub" for £14 pn. That's quite a saving.
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It is quite a saving but it is just a field. If we were touring as we do in France it is one we would consider, as we would know the weather. Booking ahead as we do here I prefer the security of a HS. Currently at the NB site this would mean booking a service pitch to be 100% certain. However, soon that additional expense will no longer be necessary.
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Admittedly not in Norfolk but we have been away for over 5 weeks which included the peak Christmas/NY period, on 7 CLs all of which had H/S and not paid more than £16 pn. I'm sure that we could have done something similar in East Anglia.
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Perhaps we all have to pay for the Yurts chalets etc that are appearing on sites and remain empty most of the year.
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Are they really empty most of the year? Do please share the details of the occupancy rates with us as I’m sure all members would like to know.
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I was looking to book Knaresborough last night for a few days from 1st April.
Adding my daughter & granddaughter was + £61.10 & £19.20.
Today however, after confirmation she was 'free' the prices went up to + £76.10 & £23.90 although the price for myself & OH remained the same....
Naughty
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Occupancy figures for the clubs alternative accommodation would disagree with Frenchjaqs' quote TW.
JK
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Interesting!! Is this maybe the start of dynamic pricing?
If you have not already booked, try deleting cookies, see if it makes any difference.
With the CCC dynamic pricing, we have noticed that if you look at some sites, get prices, but do not book, then go back a few days later to book, the price has often increased. Deleting the cookies does usually bring it back down.
Just last week OH was checking out a couple of their sites and when she went back to book one of them this week the price had gone up a bit. Deleting cookies returned it to what she had noted before. Worth trying!
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We have certainly done that now. No CAMC sites used last year, and I reckon none this year.
We are using CLs, so remain members, small commercials, and CCC sites instead, as we did last year.
If they just look at membership, then they will think we are loyal!
They need to look at the sites members are using.
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I tried x2 to book glamping units a few months ago & failed 🤷🏻♂️
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All full up then. They seem to be popular from what I’ve seen as also are C&CC's.
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Club do special offers November time on Glampers and Yurts. They get snapped up quickly, our friends use them a lot when discounted. Dynamic pricing😁👍
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I missed your post, JK.
Yes, I suspected as much.
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I have revisited this after taking your advice about deleting cookies & have to admit it appears to be an error on my part........
For some reason the days I quoted in my OP for my 'guests' were only 4 nights & not the 5 I had booked for ourselves... not sure how this changed during the process but have 'held my hands up' as to not blame the website on this occasion.....
It will make me more aware in the future tho'!
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It is becoming increasingly obvious that the CAMC 'Club' no longer exists for the benefit of its members & is clearly being led on a purely financial money-making basis; and by financially exploiting 'Members' to this aim
Thoroughly agree with Metheven's comment : "There's not much left on offer from CAMC to benefit being a member at present "
Spot on - 100% true0 -
With the end of the 'Midweek Discounts' I will remain a CAMC Member but for access solely to the CL Network
Now prices have jumped so massively (almost doubled), I'll no longer be booking CAMC Main Sites unless I have a very specific need to do so
For me this need is likely to be that I use the main site to visit & explore nearby CL's so that future visits to the same area will be to a CL that I like the look of, and not the CAMC Main Site
I can also visit non-CAMC network sites as listed on the many websites, and see what they look like
As a Member, I refuse to be financially exploited by a Club that is supposed to be there for my benefit - when clearly they aren't !!2 -
I do think there are significant benefits to being a member and the club is run for 'my benefit'. The first and foremost of these is the high quality and standards of the sites that I can use. I know this is subjective but this is a real benefit to me. I've also benefitted greatly by the offers but first to me are the sites.
I certainly know that I'm being not exploited and I can't think or work out how anyone else is?
It is a fact that there are many thousands of sites in the UK all at different prices and people are free to choose what they consider what is best for them. Isn't being exploited implies that there is no choice but to buy something not worth the price or being treated unfairly in some way?
How does this apply to joining the club? How is anyone who willingly pays to join and/or use a club site is being exploited? How is the club acting unfairly? The prices are there for anyone to see and compare and make an informed choice.
Club or business doesn't matter to me as I've said. I want to use a club site.
If something doesn't offer you any advantage or benefit, or one feels exploited then don't buy it. That's what I do in all aspects.
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The last time we used more than a couple of CAMC sites was in 2020/21. The only reason then was because we couldn't go abroad.
With the vat reduced and prices not to high we were more than happy to use the sites. They were at that time VFM, good facilities and well looked after sites.
Now however we are back to touring in Europe, so our use of sites in the UK has dropped dramatically. Really its just on the way to and from the ferry.
I checked a site for this year's drive to Portsmouth, in an area which would break the journey. The price was unrealistic. All we wanted/needed was a place to spend the night. Safe, clean and with ehu, don't need facilities as happy to use our own. Wasn't happy to pay the club price so found a CL not far off our route (nearer than the club site) it's less than half the club site, so happy with that.
If we were spending more time touring in the UK we would have to consider if the club membership is still VFM or just to use other types of sites.
Since the deposits has been introduced there is now no incentive other than CLs to remain a member. Shame really because we have enjoyed the sites we have used in the last 12 years.
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Well said! If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. There seems to me to be a significant minority of members who seem to think ‘the club’ is the only source of sites and membership is almost mandatory. I am not a blind defender of the club, there is plenty of room for improvement but to claim ‘exploitation’ is debasing the English language and an insult to poeple who are genuinely exploited.
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It is becoming increasingly obvious that the CAMC 'Club' no longer exists for the benefit of its members & is clearly being led on a purely financial money-making basis; and by financially exploiting 'Members' to this aim.
While it may not be exploiting members (depends on your point of view) its ethos has definitely changed. Not everything used to be run for profit. A prime example was the National Rally now replaced by Club fest. The National used to be supported by the Club and the cost of attending was always reasonable. It has all changed, the National got more and more expensive and less centre orientated and has morphed into Club Fest.. I haven't been to a Fest so I have no idea how membership orientated it is or isn"t but one thing I do know is those who run the Club have said it nust be run at a profit and that is reflected in the high prices now charged for attendance.
peedee
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+1👍🏻, the very fact using CAMC is optional & not mandatory proves no one is exploited in any sense of the word.
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Just another way that the "club" is now operating with a commercial bias rather than member focussed.
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Why can't the club be both? A commercial bias in operating a large network of sites, extending the offering on sites by way of Glampling pods to bring more people into on outdoor lifestyle. Then being a members club by offering rallies and events which are run by members for members.
I really don't see how the club would survive if it didn't have a commercial focus.
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