The future of the club
last year we lost one magazine, we have now been told it’s going to reduce to eight only in 2025.
WHY ??????
We have stopped using club sites as they are now so expensive. This club has now just become a commercial company. I have been a member of both clubs Caravan and Camping for many years. The other club still produces 12 Mags a year, is cheaper, and the paper quality of the magazine is much better. I along with friends are seriously thinking of not renewing at the end of the month. WHAT DO OTHER MEMBERS THINK.
Answers
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@sj123 I think that if the main reason for you considering leaving the club is the reduction in the number of issues of the magazine, and you no longer use club sites, then perhaps the CC is definitely not for you. What about the other benefits one gets from being a member such as access the the great CL network, and the discounts offered by being a club member to the likes of Mountain Warehouse and to many holiday attractions?
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I’m not a member so I think nothing other than whether it’s worth leaving a club because they’re going to save you putting 4 magazines per year in the recycling.
PS - please don’t shout.
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Reading the magazine takes me all of 5 minutes. I am really not going to miss it at all.
As for using club sites, I don't use them either as I much prefer adult only sites and ones that are less regimented. However I will keep my subscription going, just in case I need a club site at some time in the future.
The subscription is really not that expense so treat it like insurance. A necessary evil.
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There has been a survey asking views about the magazine content and the frequency. Although the details of the survey have not been published as far as I can see, I assume there must have been some acceptance of fewer editions? When you have been a member for more than 40 years there is rarely anything really new in the magazine beyond some of the news stories. I have to say that the cost of membership hardly enters my consciousness and I can't see getting fewer magazines being a deal breaker? We gave up touring seven months ago but we remain members as we want to try out Experience Freedom once my wife has had and recovered from a hip replacement. If we find that does not suit then we will probably give up our membership.
David
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The magazine while interesting to read is not at the top of the list for possible reasons for leaving the club. Well it's not even on the list actually. The quality of the paper doesn't enter in anywhere. If it went completely that would be shame but it would not affect my enjoyment of club sites, which is somewhere near the top of the list
Club sites expensive? That's been debated many times, club sites are still middle of the road and in any event expensive is a relative personal measure set against value for money and quality.
Membership fee? Personally I get that back in free sites nights and discounts from various outdoor shops.
So it's really up to you as the OP to decide, if you thinks sites are expensive, membership is no benefit to you then surly the answer is clear, we can't decide for you?
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I think it’s clear that digital membership is coming. Being able to request not receive magazine and site directory and also having to request a physical membership card. There just won’t be any discount for having it, as the physical elements mentioned will simply cease.
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@sj123 all you simply have to do is make a value for money decision. If the Club isn’t giving you what you need/ like at the moment, then simply take a break, see how you get on, and take it from there. There are no penalties for leaving, and you can always re join if you so wish. Same with the other Club. Businesses evolve, they have to to survive, attract new customers, maintain sound financial practice. Products and services will change, there are very few aspects of life nowadays that can survive by standing still or ticking along at a crawling pace. 🙂
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Hi Folks,
The point l was trying to make is, the other club has not changed, so where is the Caravan club going wrong?
The other club also charges less for annual membership fees, and recognises loyalty and age , by offering large discounts to pensionersBefore irate members tell me to go to the other club, as l have already said , l have been a member for even longer and used their CL’s a lot this year.
Club sites used to be superior to commercial sites , but l believe that a lot have now caught up or surpassed some of our sites. And more importantly , they are usually cheaper. Our club keeps offering 10 to 15% off site nights, if they lowered the price to start with, I’m sure more people would use them.1 -
so where is the Caravan club going wrong?
Club sites used to be superior to commercial sites , but l believe that a lot have now caught up or surpassed some of our sites. And more importantly , they are usually cheaper.
Are the club going wrong? Surely just your opinion @sj123 It does not concur with mine.
I would dispute the usually cheaper claim (like for like) and point out that the T&C’s of many commercials are not as good as this clubs. Also important for us, the CAMC allows one night stops, something not particularly common amongst other providers.
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so where is the Caravan club going wrong
Is it going wrong? How? Because it isn't giving you what you want from it?
In my view club sites are still superior, your view is different and that's the main point, everyone will have their own view on this and base where to spend their money accordingly.
The other club also charges less for annual membership fees, and recognises loyalty and age , by offering large discounts to pensioners
l believe that a lot have now caught up or surpassed some of our sites. And more importantly , they are usually cheaper.
But I'm confused as you main complaint or point? You have other the other club which is cheaper to join and use and other benefits, and now you believe that other non club sites have caught up and surpassed the quality of some club sites so surely you're in a win win situation? Just use non club sites and don't rejoin?
Seriously if I was in your position and believe as you do I would stop using club sites.
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All us non irate Club members, past and present can do @sj123 is repeat what we have said. It’s your choice to go or stay, it’s your perception of how much better/worse either Club or Commercial sites might be. Prices have changed hugely since the COVID pandemic, but if you think about it, so has the whole World from many different aspects, some of which will impact upon the Club and it’s customers, past and present. Some of us had this conversation a few years ago, and made changes to how we tour, where we stay, how much we will pay. It’s merely become your time to make (or not) similar choices.
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"so where is the Caravan club going wrong?"
Surely one person's 'going wrong' is another's 'leading the way'?🤷🏻♂️2 -
If the club suits you then stay, if not leave. There is no point paying to be a member if you do not use the services. I am not sure what you would make you suddenly need its services apart from possibly the help lines and for most others you could just re-join and then use them then.
I would agree that losing one magazine edition is neither here nor there for most of us and it certainly makes not the slightest difference to us. For those who do no read it, go for the on line version and save both yourself and the club a few pence.
I know the cost of the sites is a hot topic every now and then, The simple answer is that the clubs sites charges are generally in line with other larger operators where the overheads are inevitably higher. It is generally the single privately owned ones that can be cheaper, they can cut costs the club cannot.
If you want adult only sites then unless CL's work for you the club is not for you. The adult commercial ones I know of though are not generally cheaper than the clubs and one I know is far more expensive.
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we retain our membership, and that of the CCC. We very rarely use CAMC club sites because we find them too expensive for what we want. We do use CCC club sites because with the age discount they are much cheaper. I do think that a lot of commercial sites seem to provide superior toilet facilities to club sites but as we rarely use them, I don’t care.
We use CL and CS sites with both clubs and this is the main reason for our membership. We occasionally use the club discounts but not enough to cover membership. We do get May Day breakdown from CAMC.
The CAMC does increasingly irritate me. I do think it has lost site of being a members club. I don’t think it supports divisions and centres particularly well. It seems to centre around club sites to such an extent I don’t think many members are aware of other aspects of the club. As for the magazine, I flick through it but rarely find much to read, so the absence of a couple of issues is not a problem.
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@sj123 You are right the other Club hasn't changed but I am not sure that is a good thing? I am still a member until it runs out in the new year. I expect the pensioner discount came about to try and fill excess empty space on their campsites at quiet times of year. Don't forget they are/were essentially a camping club so many members would probably only use their sites in better weather. OK, of late they have embraced caravans and motorhomes simply because that is probably where the bulk of the customers now come from. They are even worse at communicating with their members than the CMC. Unlike this forum they don't seem to encourage public feedback from their members and they even closed their forum!
You are right that there are some good commercial sites out there that equal or even exceed what the CMC has to offer but I have not found many of them cheaper than the CMC. A particular bugbear for me has always been their T&C's which usually require full payment 4/6 weeks prior to arrival and if you become ill and can't get to the site you can say goodbye to quite a lot of money. The CMC has probably the most generous T&C's regarding bookings and payment. 2023 wasn't a good year and we lost a lot of money by not being able to honour our bookings a commercial sites enough to pay for many years of Club membership.
David
PS Always good to have a lively discussion😉
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I agree with your first paragraph @Hja except for the breakdown service, I use Comfort. I also find the Club increasingly irritating and while I have thought about leaving, my mood swings from dismay to acceptance depending on the degree of irritation. I am still just hanging in there but my use of what the Club offers has diminished over the years such that these are rarely my first choice. I am just down to using the odd site or CL, usually because they are the only option left.
The mainstream revenue is Club sites and I think that is what most join the Club for, it is therefore only natural this should be the focus. It is only about 10 percent of members who bother with centres, some centres are in fact struggling for members. The Club lost members in 2023, maybe that will continue to be the case with the increase in site choices available, especially for the growing popularity of campervans/motorhomes.
peedee
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I see many reasons to fear for the future of this Club.
In every field of business one sees some companies moving ahead - and others falling by the wayside and dying. The holiday/leisure business field is changing fast , but the Club is not nimble enough or ambitious enough to move forward. The Club is trying to perpetuate a rather stuffy system and style which is not to be found anywhere else in the western world.
There seems to be an assumption that people will always tow caravans about - even though the evidence is that that hobby is shrinking fast. The sort of sites the Club has always provided are not as popular as they once were. A 15% drop in site occupancy was reported for 2023 and it would be no surprise if that decline has happened again in 2024. Motorhomers will increasingly go to locations which suit them - and those options are widening already.
The membership is aging - I once called it pensioners with dogs - and that is not a sound business base for the future. The next generation is already making different choices of how to spend their money and their leisure time.
The Club has clung to a CL network for reasons of its own. It’s not a trendy model and long outdated. The under fifties are already choosing between glamping sites with outdoor hot tubs or taking a tent to a festival instead.The one stop shop the Club once offered - UK sites, insurance of car, caravan, motor home and house, motor breakdown cover, ferry bookings and overseas sites all from one provider - has fragmented into a hundred parts. The internet has won.
I guess the Club will continue for a few more years of managed decline. But if they were selling shares I wouldn’t invest.1 -
We don't see any evidence of the membership being 'pensioners with dogs'…quite the reverse. We've stayed exclusively at CAMC sites this year, and have been heartened by the number of younger members that we've met. We met one couple who had a tent on the top of their Mini.
Its inevitable that as an ageing population, the number of retirees staying on sites will increase, especially in term time and during the week, but we've seen full sites at weekends, swelled by younger members.
As for the 'other club', we're not members because we don't like the sites, and we cancelled this clubs magazine some time ago and don't miss it.
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sj123 - you are right to express your views, and thankfully most replies have positively commented on what they get out of being CAMC members.
Each of us will have differing uses of their membership, but sj123 does highlight that many of the site charges are increasing, especially when compared to other sites (UK and EU).
The magazine frequency is less important to me than content that I find informative. Possibly we all need to submit articles, especially those that comments on the journey or local attractions.
My final comment for today - I see that online pitch (not site) booking is becoming more available. Should the club invest in this technology to free up the wardens from waiting for members who may (or may not) appear?
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Agree fully with @TimboC
I use club sites a lot and depending upon the time of year and even which days you see a different set of members. During school holidays and weekends it young families while during term time and weekdays it's the older jet-set. I suppose if you only use club sites at the same certain dates/times then one could get the mistaken idea that's it all one and not the other. As I've posted before during weekdays I'm one of the youngest on site while at weekends I'm one of the oldest.
Of course it has to be said that if you don't use club sites at all and haven't for a while, or base your views of club membership on the small subset that is CT, then I can't see how one can make any reasoned view at all?
I've been a amber for over 25 years now and the spread of members ages hasn't changed. Also on CT every year these type of posts have appeared for a good ten years now. I can certainly recall one poster (that ended with an H) who said club sites would be all closed by now and taken taken over and how expensive they were becoming and other sites are better… yet he's still using club sites!
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