Why no site shop ?
Stayed on two Cmc sites so far this Season, Lady Margrets Park in Chirk and New England Bay in Dumfries and Galloway neither stocked essentials any longer ?? Why is that ? IE. MILK, BREAD, EGGS, coffee, tea, Ice Creams etc., now in Chirks case shops are just about a Mile away, a nuisance but 'do able' at a push provided you are not disabled. HOWEVER at New England Bay the nearest shop is in Drummore more than 5 miles away really too far and NO public transport.
Why are Wardens not bothering with selling essentials any more ? It was scorching for 3 weeks at New England Bay lots of children all wanting ice creams ?? Let alone us Adults ! And you couldnt order newspapers for the following day by paying in advance
Seems you dont realise what a treasure you have until you lose it. That was the PREVIOUS wardens at New England Bay OH Yes AND they closed half of the toilet facilities half way through our stay, not for repairs but to save money...we were told.
Chirk has a 'new' toilet block but have closed off the large Rallyfield/ dog excercise area. Is this a 'New Breed' of Site Wardens who are NOT customer oriented ? Viewpoints please !
Moderator Edit:
As we already have a thread running on site shops, I'll lock this one and invite any further discussion on the original thread.
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I found this in the last couple of days. Having checked in we said we would be back shortly for an ice cream. We were then told, no shop any more.
Apparently this is in readiness for the site going 'self service'
No warden, book and pay in advance, self check in, we were told.
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Viewpoints -
The shop issue has been discussed at length and the situation regarding H&S and liability explained by a site warden. It’s no more than that.
I don’t imagine for one moment that site facilities are being closed by wardens without them being told to do so. This is really a question you need to address to CAMC Sites Dept.
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It's the wardens' choice to run a shop or not and also, perhaps more importantly, it's their money that is used to set it up and their own time to keep it stocked.
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As JK will no doubt remind us the provision of a site shop is entirely down to the site staff being willing to finance the purchase of stock and make provision to keep food stuffs chilled or frozen and also willing to spend their own time administering the running of the shop. It was mentioned a while ago that New England Bay has fairly low occupancy for much of the time it is open so hardly fertile basis on which to run a shop? Some sites do have shops.
David
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Maybe the C&CC approach will prove to be more customer friendly. They are going to supply sites from stock with the same basics eg tea, coffee, loo rolls etc so that customers will find the same things available at most sites.
Much depends on different approaches to customer service.
Wash facilities are a separate issue but it would be good to let customers/members know beforehand.
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Ray, just the changing face of CAMC.....a couple of threads re shops and the changes..
Things 'Club' are different now.....new booking system, new deposits, new harsher T/C with regard to cancelling or amending dates of your trips...
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We've recently come back from New England Bay and didn't find the lack of shop a problem - but we have a caravan and car. Even so, we plan what food to take and when and where we might need to replenish. So, one trip to Drummore (4 miles) to a very well stocked shop, and then we called into the shop at Sandhead (5 miles away) on the way back from a day out.
The shop issue has been well discussed, so it was no surprise. If I had been a bit more organised we wouldn't have had to shop at all.
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If I recall correctly a certain number of things like toilet fluids and other caravan/MH essentials will still be sold so no need to worry David.
These are bought by the club for the site to sell on and that's why when one pays for an ice cream and toilet fluid (an odd choice I know) the money for them goes into different tills, or cash boxes.
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Here Ray :
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/club-together/discussions/sites-touring/uk-sites-touring/site-shops/
And to quote JK this sums it up:
So to run a site shop has always been a voluntary decision by the staff. Moving on, in the light of "Natasha's Law" we cannot sell any home made produce, only items that are prepacked. Moving on further any staff wishing to have a shop selling anything, be it papers, milk, accessories etc etc have to run it as their own business. It's a liability thing. Working hours will come into it soon a s well. In my opinion running even a small shop is labour intensive and the upfront cost at the start is a choker so I must admit it's quite liberating not having to run around on your rest days getting stock and sitting forever on the phone ordering stuff and actually to have a days rest.
And from later on:
We still supply Calor where available along with green toilet chemical and rock pegs, all these are supplied through the club.
I fully support that, yes it's nice to have a site shop but I fully respect the warden's choice to not give up their free time and money just for me.
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That’s a cop out by the Club itself. Whether or not to provide a shop - and how to stock it and staff it - should be a decision at senior management and executive committee level.
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It is correct:
We still supply Calor where available along with green toilet chemical and rock pegs, all these are supplied through the club
As to your second question, I've said this before - both.
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Well the senior management and above have decided and they have decided it's up to the wardens. Quite rightly in my view.
I've said before in this and other threads but having a site shop is nice for ice creams and milk, whatever, but it is not essential for me in a caravan/MH campsite holiday. If a shop is for someone then choose a campsite where it is certainly going to be provided.
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Perhaps the reason for low occupancy is the fact that site has aquired a 'user unfriendly' attitude to Club Members?
This site is a particular favourite of ours and yes it is a long way from our home......thats the point.
Its ok if you have a car and caravan, you can use the car for shopping but campervan and motorhome users , its pack up and drive 5 miles into Drummore or into Stranraer. Your ice cream will be melted by the time you get back to site lol
This particular site NEEDS a site shop selling food essentials. By not selling any the Warden is causing inconvenience to the Members
And yes, I did complain to the Warden both about the loss of the 'well used' shop AND half of the toilet facilities during our stay.
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I've stayed at a CCC site and found I'd forgotten to bring the toilet flush fluid on going to the site office to get some found the shop shelves empty the warden told me the ccc had taken the shops over and were going to stock them themselves but so far it hadn't happened so it seems the ccc is going the same way.
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Ray
As a fellow motorhomer I do understand the point you are making about not going off site. We reckon we can be food self sufficient for about four days in our current van (previous van had a lovely large fridge freezer). I will admit that it does influence where we stay. We would only stay somewhere like New England Bay for about 2/3 days if in fact we went there at all. I do like to be able to buy fresh milk, dislike UHT. Interestingly others have mentioned the C&CC providing shops but it does seem those shops will only sell "dry goods" so no milk or ice cream as I understand it so I am not sure how helpful that will be?
David
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I wonder how many people actually stay on site 100% of the time for 3 or 4 days? If you have a caravan & car, then no problem. We have a 6.4 m PVC. If we are staying on a site for 4 nights, unusual and probably a CL, we are likely to be taking to van off site to visit somewhere, so fit in shopping with that. We can always shop when moving from one site to another. Many motorhomers seem to have bikes, so presumably a trip of a few miles is not a problem?
Gas for those with swappable cylinders I understand. I understand that those new to motorhoming/caravanning might forget the toilet fluid or loo rolls. If a site requires green liquid, a few spare bottles or packs is probably sensible. But don’t others leave their units primed and ready for off between trips? Ours is stocked up with essentials at the start of the season and we have a check list we use before we go off on a trip which includes things like fill up containers (pasta, rice) etc, check loo rolls.
Yes we have a carton of uht milk, we also take enough bread, frozen, for an about four days and a pack of bread mix to cook in the Remoska if on ehu.
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It’s all about being prepared. We have tiny fridges, and nothing more than an ice box in both our old outfits, and we are usually to be found out in the wilds on a CL or more remote site. Longlife emergency milk (keeps without a fridge for months), enough meals for at least four days, (meals made from scratch, not frozen), box of bio pods for loo, possibly some “bake at home bread” packs. Tinned staples. (We have a decent weight allowance to be able to take such things thankfully). Rare for us not to go out at least in three days, but we travel light and can pack up MH to roll in 10 minutes. Occasionally, at moment we take car, but only because I am commuting home. I think only thing we have bought from Club shops in past is an ice cream, we don’t rely on them.
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We have a MH but are out most days on the bikes or walking (or both) and even in the van for NT locations etc....
as I've said in another thread, if you don't take the vehicle (car or MH) off site, don't/can't ride bikes or have a restricted walking range the choice of sites starts to shrink markedly.
Some will (have to?) rely on passing busses (not for us, despite bus passes) but now I see some are suggesting a lack of site shop would also influence site choice.
there won't be any suitable site choices left at this rate....👎🤷🏻♂️
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Well its becoming increasingly tilted in favour of the Wardens . I dont carry a smart phone phone. Just an ancient mobile so i wont be joining the 'fully Automatic checking in sevice ' either, a smart phone or a laptop is a bit superflouous on most Ckub sites at present anyway. (Why end Air Angel cover BEFORE its replacement was installed ??)
Ray
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Ray, don’t blame the site staff. Most of the changes that are happening have little to do with decisions taken by site staff themselves, all they can do is to work and respond as fit to guidance and policy that is set by Club officers and Executive from HQ. Site staff have to deal daily with visitors who are not aware of a lot of the changes, and it’s unfair, and to be honest, misguided to blame them for decisions that they have possibly only been on the periphery of inputting towards, if at all.
On site shops were always at the whim of do or don’t by Site Staff, but things are changing, their duties and work expectations are changing, and as a current Site Manager pointed out in a previous thread on this topic, there’s quite a lot more than Members think around “running a shop”.
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So you're basing that on the fact that some wardens decide to actually take their days and time off rather than spend it stocking a shop? And deciding not to spend their money in setting it up in the first place, I don't see that as anything going in their favour.
As one doesn't need a smart phone for paying in advance or to use the new ANPR. If you're posting on here you have everything you need. In any case the vast majority of sites will still have wardens and payment in the office will be available.
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I dont begrudge Wardens their time off I didnt say that. If there are not enough staff then the Club needs to employ more. And site shops on remote sites are vergeing on being essential, especially if you run out 0f gas halfway through a meal !
Newspapers ordered and dropped off by a local newsagent are not a huge work burden on the Wardens as is getting a local trader to drop off Milk to pre order ? It just takes someone to CARE.
Its that that seems to be missing.from the present Regime running the club. IMHO Ray
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