CLs & the new Booking Service
It seems that the CAMC web services have been updated since I last looked for a CL.
If I look for a CL using links under "Search and book" I get a map view that allows me to drill down to find CL locations in my area of interest. When I click on a marker I get a popup that enables me to access information about the CL in a box on the left of the screen.
However, this doesn't provide:
- The basic price, plus any additions - e.g. for an awning, additional adults, etc.
- The size of the CL and local info - sloping, levelling blocks required
- Detailed access info from the owner, including specific routes and local hazards
I like to know the price and size of CLs as they help me make a choice. Local guidance on access is very helpful, sometimes essential. All this was available to me previously.
I phoned CAMC to ask about the information that was missing and was given a different route to find this. It seems that I wasn't the first person to call about this.
CL information is still available from the Home Page, Find a UK campsite, Certified Locations from where it's possible to drill down through several layers to get to details - e.g. https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/certificated-locations/wales/conwy/colwyn-bay/plas-onn-isa/
I used to be able to get to these pages from a map search at https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/uk-holidays/map-search/ but this now redirects to https://bookings.caravanclub.co.uk - i.e. a different web site.
I'm bemused by the references to "Book a Certified Location" as I thought CLs were managed locally by their owners. I wondered whether all CL booking admin had now been centralised, but then I couldn't see how to actually make a booking online. Maybe I've missed something?
On behalf of CL users and CL owners could I ask how the CAMC feel that they have benefitted their customers by the inclusion of CLs in the content at https://bookings.caravanclub.co.uk?
How many CLs are bookable? Is there a plan to roll out CL booking to any significant extent?
While I can see that it might be reasonable to include some basic info in the new CL pages, why has price been excluded and why is no link available to the far more helpful information on the main site at https://www.caravanclub.co.uk? I think that many members believe that this information has now been lost. It is still available, but a lot more time consuming to find.
Could CAMC reinstate the CL map search facility formerly available at at https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/uk-holidays/map-search/ to give easy access to the CL pages?
If CLs cannot be booked at https://bookings.caravanclub.co.uk it would be helpful and avoid confusion to remove them from the scope of operation of this site. If they are to become bookable, then it would be very helpful to provide links to the detailed information pages from the summaries now introduced.
I'm sure the new content was well intentioned, but it seems to have overlooked the way many CAMC members use the Club's web services. Maybe a case of administrative ease over customer needs?
Perhaps some changes could be made to restore much needed functionality and to serve members better?
After all, it's us that pay for all this!
Comments
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If only….
My nearest CL has only three reviews in the last ten years, hasn’t got round to submitting any photos on here, is also listed on Pitch Up but hasn’t submitted any information, hasn’t got a working website, nor any e mail address that I know of, and probably hasn’t told Club HQ what the prices are. The only way to find out is to phone the owner.
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Alan, most of what you say is correct. If I am searching for CLs, on my PC, I have the Club web site open on two tabs. On the one I use the map to find possible sites. On the second I put the name into the magnifying glass search facility which takes me to the original pages that used to be linked to the CL view info from the map (if that makes sense). This is more difficult to do on other computers.
If you go to the main web site, in the booking section, there is a list of intended fixes, one of which is to reinstate the link to the original info.
On the "New Booking System" thread on this forum there are numerous comments about the issues around CLs and the new web site.
There is no booking of CLs through the Club, but there is the independent https://clbooking.co.uk/ which is run by CL owners and incorporates a booking service. However it only has a fraction of the available CLs so far.
Your questions to the Club in your post would be better sent via the comment form in the booking experience section of the main site. The Club wont of course answer them here. It might not answer them at all!
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Sadly it is all overly complicated and anyone new to the system will struggle to find what they need. Long term members know where to look on the web site but the actual booking system for CLs is now a misnomer. A full explanation needs to be given, that CLs can only be booked via the CL owners details and they can't be booked on the booking system! Unfortunately by just starting with a "where do you want to go box" CL users are sent on a complicated filtered search from which many will emerge in a frustrated mood....!
The consultation process in setting up the new system must have been sadly lacking.
The alternative private clbooking.co.uk web site shows how it can be done. Also other web sites like pitchup.com are very helpful as this involves CL owners who are proactive in promoting their sites. Euror mentions the ones that don't and the communications maybe lacking in all directions, I presume all CL owners have been told about the changes?
Alan191, thanks for your detailed thoughts on this process, we live in hope that the club will have some too!?
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I find by using the map facility in the searchforsites web site that it is much easier to identify CLs in a specific area, and from there to access each of their details. I couple that with the clbooking website to seek out sites.
https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/webapp.php
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I think it would have been better to have not included the CL's in the new booking website but retain the old system for CL's. Or at least held off including them until they had fully sorted the Club site element. However the elephant in the room is how much longer the old pages will be available as apparently the original software is no longer supported which suggests that at some stage in the near/medium future those pages could disappear.
David
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If that is the cases feel very sorry for all those CL owners who have invested huge amounts in their caravan sites in the belief that there would be a decent system in which they could, for want of a better word, advertise their sites.
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What an appalling waste of time this new website is. Tonight, I tried to find directions to a CL which I booked many months ago. Can I find the information? NO. It even gives opening dates of 19/11/2020 - 19/11/2024 ... does this mean that the CL is shutting down on 19/11/2024... I hope not, I may want to go back on 30/11/2024 for a Christmas market nearby, and previously the CL was advertised as open all year.
I really wander if the IT nerds who put this stuff together actually trial this out using real members, or does the senior management just acquiesce to the 'superior' knowledge of the web designers. In my day if the information presented on my web pages prompted a question which required a written response, (as in this case) then I got my knuckles wrapped and told to redo the work.
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As I mentioned in another thread, if the 'short fix' is to perpetuate the link back to the old CL data pages then this data, software and hardware has to be retained and maintained. Who know how old the kit is that this runs on and whether ongoing maintenance of such is in 'the plan'....whatever that is. I thought the club said that one of the reasons for this new approach was that the old systems (which include CLs) was unsustainable, moving forward?
If the club isnt prepared to do this properly the only other directions are...
Hope new cL booking system as mentioned above takes off and becomes the go to site for research and booking of CLs...
hope customers gravitate (through boredom and frustration) to other third party sites like searchforsites
of course, the 'proper' solution should have been to migrate and reformat the old CL data to fit the new sites database, however.....
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Scarsdale, Perhaps the CL owner is closing on 19/11/24 to go away for a holiday himself. That’s most inconsiderate of him when he ought to have known you wanted to go to aChristmas market in a year’s time. Might it be better to ask him what his plans are rather than ask us? He might even give you the directions you are asking for too.
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Unfortunately Euror this is not the case it looks as though the web site developers have used catch all dates on all CL details and this is yet another "error" that needs reporting on feedback. It actually shows a lack of interest in what should be on view to users
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Scarsdale if you can put your screenshot on the feedback section it will help CAMC see the problem.
Sorry I can't add the link just now. Maybe someone could add it?
If the club intends removing the present web site details it's important that all these errors get sorted.
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Back when I was working for a Financial Advisers firm, I liaised with the IT firm dealing with the migration of our database. The bugs and issues from the 'first cut' were unbelievable and there were numerous subsequent 'cuts' before it became halfway workable. Not an exercise for those of a nervous disposition.
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