New Booking System
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It was all about cashflow - getting money in the till, in my opinion.
My analysis above is just the way I see things after many years of reading 'management speak'.
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25% did seem high to me but also shows how you can present stats to support your argument.
What would be a better/deeper analysis would be to look at reasons for cancellation, how far ahead they were cancelled, was the vacancy then taken up by other members and so on, all should be costed out with the net loss to the club and also some research done on the members who were cancelling, why etc to understand the behavioural aspects. Only then could you truly use the figures to bring about change. In the hospitality world the occupancy rate is key, to my knowledge not many work on 100% occupancy, that would just be asking for trouble in your business plan. If that sort of analysis has been done then it is invisible to the membership as only the headline figure has been used as a reason for change.
Que sera, we are where we are and if things don't improve around the whole package (booking system, communication etc) then members will be looking at what is the value of membership and making their own decisions.
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They’ll attempt to do it by pushing site fees and membership fees even higher.
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Which site are they ?
Would these sites , be on the pastures that are greener over the hill pastures ?We use private site a lot ,and have not come across any that do not require a deposit
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Which Norfolk site is that?
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I think CAMC did analyse the figures and the cancellations came from right across the board, this is detailed in their statements about why they decided to change the system. The percentage of cancellations were no doubt from a part of the actual bookings which didn't need to be 100% occupancy but must have left a considerable dent in overall takings.
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As an aside, it’s strange (or is it?) that the club suddenly changed its view that speculative/block booking wasn’t a problem to the opposite point of view.
As I suggested in another post the change came about after the "club" introduced the year ahead booking system, and the subsequent change in direction of their thinking on the matter, so I guess the increase in cancellations was one of their own making.
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We are currently on tour and of the 10 sites we have booked so far only 2 required a deposit, and one of those is a CC site. So Tmto they are out there, you only have to search for them!
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Just made a booking today for Red Lion Touring Park in Stafford for October. No deposit asked for, the same as the last time we used it.
Why do you need specifics? It's almost as if you don't believe people when they say that some CLs (like the one I am currently on and the next one I will be moving to) and Commercial sites do not need deposits.
Sure there are some that not only want deposits but the whole shebang weeks before arriving. We tend to avoid those as well. Only ones that we book very late and are committed to will get that but we'll continue to use sites that don't need deposits and some that do.
Just accept they are out there.
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But it was not really important how many were later resold from the point of view the Club were coming from. They were facing a lot of criticism that members could not book holidays because under the previous system it was so easy for others to book in advance and cancel without penalty. A large slice of those cancellations were very late in the day. I am sure many pitches were resold but it didn't solve the problem of people booking speculatively and then cancelling at the last moment. The Club wanted to improve general availability. They decided that a deposit system was the only way to achieve that. Now all that is history, we now have a deposit system and I would suggest there is no going back regardless how much we might like to analyse the reasons and motives of the Club?
David
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A deposit system and or. extending the previous system instead of trying to bolt a UK based system onto a Continental booking system and then trying to make them work was it seems not going work unless you it seems by reports are an IT guru I have spoken to quite a few members on the three sites we have used since the unanoused implemtation and some had no idea it was in operation and those that has tried to use it including some non IT site staff were unable to wade through what is requested to get any easy results
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Sorry, but I find you too confrontational to debate with, so as I said earlier, they are out there, all you have to do is look for them🤷♀️ I don’t fancy having my site preferences, my choice of how I holiday picked apart by others. We are away hopefully next week, and to date I haven’t parted with a single penny.
Regarding cancellations, I for one would have liked the Club to have provided more realistic facts and figures around the numbers of pitch nights that get cancelled at short notice. We have always made great use of picking up late cancellations, either by setting off early somewhere, or tagging on extra nights onto our holidays, and I am sure others out there will do the same. Therefore, we only have half a story used to justify the imposition of deposits and vastly extending the cancellation period.
It’s actually these huge changes to Membership terms and conditions, the cashing in on booking hardstandings, the disappearance of the MWD, the loss of being able to choose a pitch from a number of like options that I find more annoying than the pathetic if slowly improving booking system, along with the poor communications used. It’s still sugar coating itself with the “club” name, but it’s now just another commercial holiday agency trying to screw every penny it can from its customer base. ☹️
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There is no point in going over these questions about what the club did or didn't do but it's a fact that nearly a million cancellations occurred and many members objected to speculative bookings that filled the system. A deposit puts the brakes on speculation and allows others to book the holidays they want.
Regarding discounts mentioned by TDA apparently these are in the pipeline.
So that's it from me. It is a big change and change is always unsettling but it will settle down.
Comment from moderator: Part of this post has been removed
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I wonder if CAMC did any survey into what devices people use to access the booking site?
Screen size can make a difference in navigating the new maps and filters etc. Not to mention, the different operating systems between desktops etc and mobile devices.
I always use a large screen desktop for CAMC (because I can!), but I expect a substantial number of users just use the App on phones.
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A deposit puts the brakes on speculation and allows others to book the holidays they want.
Thats news to me brue. As we book well ahead, I regard all our bookings as speculative. It’s just now we may loose a deposit if we cancel due to unforeseen circumstances. Nothing else has changed. Well except for the fact we won’t be booking as many CAMC sites and more C&CC ones.
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I wonder if CAMC did any survey into what devices people use to access the booking site?
They will have a lot of information from their analysis of data detailing access to the web site. They will almost certainly know which operating systems and browsers are used and a breakdown of popularity along with IP addresses and which are popular search terms and pages etc.
peedee
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Actually, for their own sites, C&CC charge a Non Refundable deposit. That is why we rarely use them. My problem with the new system is that it does not suit us as going or not going away has to be flexible. I think that we are on the verge of giving up altogether.
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Can we have the old system back . Please
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We are going to trial a new method of using Club Sites possibly next week. We might continue to use them, but not book them. Not for the faint hearted or those who prefer/ have to have the security of knowing a pitch is there, but if the new deposit scheme is doing what folks seem to think it will, then we should be able to simple roll up and ask for a pitch on the day. I will check site availability as much as it allows me, and it will be mid week. There will be a Plan B backup as well.
Brue, thanks for the mention of discounts, not seen/heard anything about this. Fingers crossed they come up with something that suits🤞
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Adrian
Doesn't the C&CC have a similar system except that they have a 31 day deadline for cancellation without losing your deposit rather than the more generous 21 days of the CMC? I have no idea how easy it is to get a refund before you get to the 31 day mark?
For the last 15 or so years (since we last had deposits) booking a CMC has been very easy and risk free. That has now ended and the club have come in line with the majority of the touring campsite industry. From your point of view there will hopefully be more availability when you are ready to commit to a booking so you may be able to make decisions much closer to the time of going away, so maybe not all is lost?
David
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My point was PD nothing has changed for myself and a lot of others. We will still book ahead and cancel / amend in the event of unforeseen circumstances. The only difference is that we may now loose a deposit. Almost certainly a significant number of the cancellations / amendments the club used to justify deposits were of that nature. Yes there would have been the deliberately speculative ones as well, but as they had no way of differentiating they were just been lumped together into one figure.
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