New Booking System
Comments
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I wasn’t annoyed with you PD, but you did sort of ask why I am fed up. I rather get the impression that you aren’t wholly satisfied with things as they are, but are muddling through as best you can, which is all we can all do one way or another.
T&Cs have made Club Sites difficult for us beyond simply turning up on the day, which is no great issue as we use so few. No great shakes, it’s how we tour in in the UK with no issues.
No amount of moaning, complaining, hopeful wishing is going to change things now. The Club has decided it’s direction, taken it’s stance, some will love it, others grit their teeth or walk away.
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https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/booking-experience/
Link to updates and fixes. Scroll down for info.
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I thought also thought that might be the case. However, it would be so easy to put a link below the accessibility guide, site plan and activity guide. At the moment the link would take you to the old site pages, which I suspect will be discontinued at some time. It could then be modified to take you to whatever replaces it.
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Sorry JVB I just don't understand the context of your response as it doesn't address the question asked. If the club hasn't stated that it is reviewing the use of dynamic pricing then your statement that it is, is just pure speculation and rumour mongering.
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I rather get the impression that you aren’t wholly satisfied with things as they are,
Indeed that is true, some information is incorrect i.e numbers of pitch types and the biggest glaring error is the lot is lack of a link to directions which I have said all along is very surprising but the functionality is there, not in the same way a before but you can book sites, check availability by pitch type and are immediately presented with the price for your chosen type and number of occupants, both of which are easy to change.
CL search does work even if you haven't the faintest idea of where you want to go. So you only get a list of twenty if you search the whole of England but you only have to zoom in on the map to narrow down your search and update the list or use the filter to find types to suit you. True the filters are lacking but hopefully filters like hardstandings available and no EHU will be added.
It all works much better if you are more precise at what you want.
I too am a member of long standing and in recent years have been using Club sites less and less, mainly because I changed to a motorhome and Club sites don't offer the value for money that I got with a caravan. With the introduction of the rolling booking system and the speculative booking that resulted,it was not easy to get pitches unless you booked way in advance or gambled on last minute pitches becoming available. Neither really suited me so I am hoping the new system will improve pitch availabilty if not value for money.
peedee
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I understand what some people are saying re making it work, but having only just discovered the change a couple of days ago and from reading some of the comments we now understand that it has been up a month, so much is still not working which should have been resolved in testing before going live.
So to be positive the following is not working:-
1. If you search for late availability and type in an area of the country it gives you sites all over the place!
2. When you try to look at UK sites you get a pick list including sites outside UK!
3. The availability option for site has gone from site page so you have to start on a booking before you know what's available when.
4. No price list that we can find anywhere on the website so you have no idea which sites are more affordable.
5. The terms and conditions are very much changed and not clear especially regarding deposit,
6. Having to put in a 1 hour arrival slot is stressful as on the day anything can happen and this may result in the club having to field so many more calls from people delayed for many different reasons.
Additionally it’s a PR fail, as the club are constantly sending promotions via email, but not important information such as a major change to site booking and the terms & conditions. Something like this needs handling with clear information, communicated effectively to members prominently in the magazine not vaguely with a mention of a deposit, with clear and fair T&C's, and also emailed.
Having read some of the Club responses to members I looked back in magazines and eventually found some references to changes planned but it doesn't explain it and its fairly tucked away.
The other thing that strikes me is that I now expect the club will be selling holiday insurance, so that people can cover their deposits when circumstances change!
This is really going to affect people who can least afford the cost of a lost deposit if you make a change to a booking within 21 days of travel - high winds, Covid, accident, hospital appointments etc.
The other major concern is that members who kept to the rules of making changes or cancelling a booking in the required time are being made to feel guilty for sticking to the rules, if it was really costing the club in empty pitches perhaps a tweak of rules would have been better. I am not convinced it was the problem that is being made out, the real problem might have been solved by only allowing so many bookings in advance per member, the site availability is obviously a problem due to increased holidaying in UK and more ownership of caravans and motor homes.
Final point, do we really want people on sites with Covid so they don't lose their often quite sizeable deposit?
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In reply to Peedee. If you look at the next fixes planned there is still a problem with pitch searches. CL searches aren't functioning well at all, a list of twenty isn't good enough when the map is difficult to access for some devices. Typing in a county search and only finding 20 CLs on the list isn't a working system.
However I'm glad to see the improvements and fixes being listed. People need to report their difficulties in the improvements section although this thread has been useful in alerting problems to other users.
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I understand what some people are saying re making it work, but having only just discovered the change a couple of days ago and from reading some of the comments we now understand that it has been up a month, so much is still not working which should have been resolved in testing before going live.
I agree and so would most.
So to be positive the following is not working:-
1. If you search for late availability and type in an area of the country it gives you sites all over the place!
Zoom in to narrow the area of interest and use the filters to exclude that of no interest.
2. When you try to look at UK sites you get a pick list including sites outside UK!
Hide the overseas sites, the default is to show all sites except CLs
3. The availability option for site has gone from site page so you have to start on a booking before you know what's available when.
Agree but it helps to be as precise as you can when checking availability
4. No price list that we can find anywhere on the website so you have no idea which sites are more affordable.
Using the "Compare" option helps
5. The terms and conditions are very much changed and not clear especially regarding deposit,
In what way, I don't have a problem with them
6. Having to put in a 1 hour arrival slot is stressful as on the day anything can happen and this may result in the club having to field so many more calls from people delayed for many different reasons.
Was this not the case with the old system as well?
Additionally it’s a PR fail, as the club are constantly sending promotions via email, but not important information such as a major change to site booking and the terms & conditions. Something like this needs handling with clear information, communicated effectively to members prominently in the magazine not vaguely with a mention of a deposit, with clear and fair T&C's, and also emailed.
Agree
Having read some of the Club responses to members I looked back in magazines and eventually found some references to changes planned but it doesn't explain it and its fairly tucked away.
A lot of the help was added on the web site as an after thought,
The other thing that strikes me is that I now expect the club will be selling holiday insurance, so that people can cover their deposits when circumstances change!
Perhaps it is to come?
This is really going to affect people who can least afford the cost of a lost deposit if you make a change to a booking within 21 days of travel - high winds, Covid, accident, hospital appointments etc.
The Club it has said it will view incidents sympathetically
The other major concern is that members who kept to the rules of making changes or cancelling a booking in the required time are being made to feel guilty for sticking to the rules, if it was really costing the club in empty pitches perhaps a tweak of rules would have been better. I am not convinced it was the problem that is being made out, the real problem might have been solved by only allowing so many bookings in advance per member, the site availability is obviously a problem due to increased holidaying in UK and more ownership of caravans and motor homes.
This has been discussed ad infinitum many times
Final point, do we really want people on sites with Covid so they don't lose their often quite sizeable deposit?
No
peedee
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In reply to Peedee. If you look at the next fixes planned there is still a problem with pitch searches. CL searches aren't functioning well at all, a list of twenty isn't good enough when the map is difficult to access for some devices.
Its not that bad as to be unusable but I do acknowledge that if you have a very slow internet connection you can have problems. I have used the 4G mobile network at 10Mbs download without any difficulties. Devices without processing power may also be a problem but I would have thought they would have to be very very old to cause significant difficulty.
I have not noticed any ommissions on my trial searches of locations. I would have thought they would be using the same database as the old system but there may well be some. It does help to be as precise as you can in making searches.
peedee
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I can only speak for myself on these things Peedee, I have a very up to date smartphone and a new chrome book. The functionality is to do with the set up on the system not the devices.
There will be some attempting access on older equipment and no doubt this will affect access.
However none of us can access details which aren't there in the first place!
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Slow internet is not just "old equipment" there are still quite a few areas in the UK with slow/poor connection speed which was not a problem with the previous booking system when touring, but it certainly is now , and that is not just me finding so ,I have was having problems at FM
I had to go out of the site to get a signal in my phone and while doing OH had another fall , helped by other members thank goodness
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It does compered to the previous system which although slow to access in some areas did not need so much information inputted which now we are finding in poor internet areas as we lose connectivity before completing bookings so have given up
a phone call to comecial sites as we have now done for three sites is more reliable
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Peedee
I think we agree on most things, though I don't remember having to choose an hour slot for arrival, but I may be mistaken.
Not sure what you mean by narrow in your search, if I type into the late availability search for UK sites (not adding CL's) using East midlands for example I get 20 sites listed below, that include all over the country as far as Wales and London! I can see if you want to go to a specific town or site it might work but with late availability we want to see what's available over a wider area which we could previously.
Re terms and conditions, other half is a contracts manger and he has read them and he found them heavy going, and especially unclear about deposit refunds.
And the list that comes up under UK sites in the drop down box the first looks as if its in France!
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Ecocamping, by narrow your search I mean zoom in on the map and click and drag it to area of interest if necessary. The list on the left should change as you do so.
I agree the T&C are heavy going, aren't all such documents.
I have had to read them carefully, at least section A, which is probably of most concern, and don't have a problem with them. I hope I never fall foul of them but the only way to find out about refunds is if you do.peedee
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If they really need to know what systems/makes/models work, then I can tell you that it doesn't work well on my Samsung Galaxy 4 or my Motorola phone, both only about a year old. The worst bit is the map. I have given permission for my location to be known but for some reason the map starts on Northumberland coast despite me being in North Wales. Moving the map is so slow that it either takes me Russia or middle of Atlantic and expanding or zooming loses the map altogether.
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We stopped on several CAMC sites between the 12th September and 16th October and on none of them could I get the booking system running on the free side of the WiFi. It just kept crashing or locking up. I’ve no idea if it works if you pay, as I no longer subscribe. The WiFi was working OK to access CT, just not the booking site.
On C&CC sites where the WiFi was included, it was very clunky, particularly the map and would have taken a long time to book a site. Presumably because of a broadband speed of only 1 / 2 MB, as it worked OK on 4G. I therefore assume it would also be difficult to use on many CAMC site WiFi’s, which have similar speeds.
Not a good advert to develop something that isn’t fit for purpose on your own system.🤔
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But why do members have to an alternative method to find that out? The new system is no more than a fudge, an expensive tool to extract as much money as possible from members, and a very poor one at that.
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2 days ago
Congratulations
Congratulations, there is now lots more availability on club sites, probably because members cannot use the website or choose not to give child's date of births away. We found a non camc site 500m from the club site, same standard of facilities but 38 percent cheaper!, this site only needed to know if the children were between an age range. 1st time on a commercial site for us. £250 loss for camc.Date of experience: 14 October 2022
You really couldn't make it up could you? The above is a trust pilot posting made a few days ago. Nothing unusual in that except that the poster misunderstood the star system and gave it 5*. It was obviously a mistake.
However the CAMC are using this posting in all it's glory as an advertisement on the front page of their website. Here is a post that berates the club for the new booking system and rejoices in the fact that they have found a better priced alternative. Currently found on membership page!!!
So which member of staff in the communication or membership section has not fully proof read the post?
Just about sums up the organisation as far as I'm concerned. Did give me a chuckle though.
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For goodness sake! The incompetence is streets ahead of all competitors.
One could be forgiven for thinking industrial sabotage is at work here destroying CAMC from the inside.
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Maybe heads will roll for that when someone in authority realises what that been displayed, unfortunately it won't be those of the ones that are responsible for the diabolical mess that is the new booking system.
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I saw the review yesterday. My first thought at the stars was it was probably a site review. Couldn’t believe it when I read the actual review, but decided not to mention it on here as it’s obviously some poor soul who hasn’t a clue how to submit a review properly.
Looks like the Club have excelled themselves with not proof reading stuff again. Another egg on face own goal🤣🤣🤣
Its like the voter who voted for the party that gave their town more Food Banks…..🤷♀️ Strange……
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Oh Lord🤣🤣🤣🤣 It just gets better. There’s a review from Kwasi Kwarteng on TP now. Only one star mind.
I’ve changed my mind about the other review. I think someone is being deeply ironic, rather than made a mistake.
(For anyone who doesn’t know where to read Trust pilot reviews, scroll right down to bottom of page)
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This new booking system is rubbish. On the old system as soon as I inquired on a site I could see what days were available on the calendar. This helped me to construct my travel plans to fit availability. Now I have to check dates individually which is a much slower and time consuming method.
I have just tried the late availability search. It would not accept a county "Norfolk" but came up with addresses in the USA! I entered "UK" to get it to search and the map indicated 5 sites in Norfolk for the date I required. However, when I tried to book every one of the 5 showed no availability. What is wrong? Is it your search engine or the site booking records? This is a very bad and frustrating user experience. I am now planning to search for a private site.
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Just looked at the TP reviews and over the last two pages, going back to the 3rd Oct there have been one ironic 5*, one 5* for a site, one 2* and the rest 1* for the new booking system. I think that says everything about it.
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I have logged a number of problems which I hope will be dealt with.
I really only use CLs and the search facility is dreadful. Why does the default filter setting not include CLs but does include Overseas? Then, having set CLs ON and Overseas OFF why are the settings not retained, but continually default to the the original ones?
The app doesn't work offline which is a major deficiency as mobile data is not always available.
On the old app one could set up a search within a given radius of a selected point. Invaluable when one is looking for a CL in relation to where one is going.
There is no information on distance or accessibility to a bus stop.
Using a Post Code is a poor way to find a site entrance. Why isn't a lat/long given? Unless the site owner gives specific directions in their info, there is no guidance on how to access the site.
There are other problems which I hope are being dealt with. It seems that there was little testing with members before going live which is obvious from the huge number of complaints.
Dick
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In short I have found the User Interface (UI) to be very poor making the User Experience (UX) irritating.
The device used and the speed of the internet seem to be mostly determining members perceptions, User interfaces can be one mans poison and anothers elixir. You can get used to anything DD.
As a matter of interest I loaded the App version 1.03 onto an old 7 inch Samsung Tab 2 running Android version 7 yesterday. A quick check, a bit slow but it worked ok.
peedee
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I have just tried the late availability search. It would not accept a county "Norfolk" but came up with addresses in the USA!
It was there a couple of days ago, something must have changed to increase the "Norfolk" places on the list. I think it is there but off the list because if you put in "Norfolk UK" it appears on the list. Another problem for IT to sort out because even if you add UK the list of places in the UK could hide what you are looking for.
peedee
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