Poor service York Rowntree warden
arrived at a private site today at 5.15, Fulford caravan park,off Fulford road, york, they took my booking a month ago. On arrival the site was closed and clearly under renovation. No one about. Phoned a number in the gate and the man on the phone said he
had sold the site and hung up
its five minutes from York Rowntree so I rang them, a female warden answered and I asked if there was any vacancies for the night, this was at 5.30 pm.
Sorry she said I think there are but I have shut the computers down and am in my caravan having tea so I can't tell if anyone has late booked on line. Can you not logon and check for me I asked , we are in York city centre 5 mins away and need somewhere
to stay urgently, I explained what had happened.
The best I can do ( she said ) I can take your number and ring you back ( after her tea i presume ) .
parking in York with a van is not possible so I told her not to bother.here in Yorkshire it's still the Easter holidays so sites are busy, I'm genuinely shocked that they shut the office down at 5.30 in such a busy period and also in the poor level of customer
service from this individual.
We then phoned up Beechwood grange who immediately took our booking, on arrival they were the most friendly and helpful wardens, just what was needed. I related the story of Rowntree and they were shocked and suggested I make a formal complaint to the club,
which I will be doing.
All the warden had to say at Rowntree was drive down and see us and let's see what we can sort out for you, simple customer service.
Comments
-
Why couldn't you have let the lady eat her tea, said you would pop in to see if there was any clarification over her thoughts on late arrivals due. Or have awaited her returning your call as she offered, a simple customer service, in a suitable lay by nearby.
You were only 5 minutes away after all. You might have got in where you wanted to instead of throwing your toys out of the pram and going onto a public forum telling all and sundry you are going to make a formal complaint. Which probably took longer than
the 5 minutes to drive to the site.This episode goes to show what a thankless task wardens have. Also how unreasonable people can be
0 -
Amen to that, will this post descend into 10+ pages of pointless debate like numerous others are currently doing. Probably. Keefy has hit this nail squarely on the head, yet another OP posting yet another whinge, more complaining about wardens but this time,
the first response has put the moaner firmly in his place. Pity a few other threads haven't gone the same way. Sure, I don't have to read this rubbish, but there are a good many posts that are useful and imformative, plus entertaning. It seems there are a
minority that use this forum for no other purpose but to bash the club, which is a pity.0 -
Why couldn't you have let the lady eat her tea, said you would pop in to see if there was any clarification over her thoughts on late arrivals due. Or have awaited her returning your call as she offered, a simple customer service, in a suitable lay by nearby.
You were only 5 minutes away after all. You might have got in where you wanted to instead of throwing your toys out of the pram and going onto a public forum telling all and sundry you are going to make a formal complaint. Which probably took longer than
the 5 minutes to drive to the site.This episode goes to show what a thankless task wardens have. Also how unreasonable people can be
What a load of Sandra Bullocks. David wanted a site to book into, warden is customer facing & there to represent the Caravan Club ... not sit and eat her tea
0 -
Are you serious, you think it's right to shut computers down at 5.30 on a Thursday during a really busy time? What business condones that? I'm not here to slag the wardens off, just the poor service offered by this one warden. the wardens at beechwood are
incredulous that this has happened.The wardens at beechwood were great.
0 -
I thought site offices were open until 18.00. I do think the warden could have been a bit more understanding under the circumstances, we know that when things go wrong at that time of day, after travelling you, are feeling a bit out of sorts and really need to hear a friendly voice being helpful.
This is the 2nd complaint on CT in the last few days about the new wardens at this site.
Dave if its the same wardens at Beechwood as were there when we stayed YES they are very good.
0 -
WHAT? Unbelievable! You expect the warden to drop everything in that moment and sort out this enquiry, she told the OP she'd call him back. We're talking about Caravan Club wardens here, on little more than the living wage, not the Fire Service. What has happened to a little patience? No more to add to this thread, I've dealt with less petulant children. Over and out.
0 -
WHAT? Unbeleivable! You expect the warden to drop everything in that moment and sort out this enquiry, she told the OP she'd call him back. We're talking about Caravan Club wardens here, on little more than the living wage, not the Fire Service. What has
happened to a little patience? No more to add to this thread, I've dealt with less petulant children. Over and out.now who's being petulant
0 -
Why couldn't you have let the lady eat her tea, said you would pop in to see if there was any clarification over her thoughts on late arrivals due. Or have awaited her returning your call as she offered, a simple customer service, in a suitable lay by nearby.
You were only 5 minutes away after all. You might have got in where you wanted to instead of throwing your toys out of the pram and going onto a public forum telling all and sundry you are going to make a formal complaint. Which probably took longer than
the 5 minutes to drive to the site.This episode goes to show what a thankless task wardens have. Also how unreasonable people can be
What a load of Sandra Bullocks. David wanted a site to book into, warden is customer facing & there to represent the Caravan Club ... not sit and eat her tea
Write your comments here...exactly, that's my point.
Amen to that, will this post descend into 10+ pages of pointless debate like numerous others are currently doing. Probably. Keefy has hit this nail squarely on the head, yet another OP posting yet another whinge, more complaining about wardens but this time,
the first response has put the moaner firmly in his place. Pity a few other threads haven't gone the same way. Sure, I don't have to read this rubbish, but there are a good many posts that are useful and imformative, plus entertaning. It seems there are a
minority that use this forum for no other purpose but to bash the club, which is a pity.Write your comments here...I just wanted to go to a site that I am a member of. There were vacancies, she said so, you can't park a 4 x4 and a caravan in the centre of the city of York Waiting for her to finish her tea.
this is not a rant about wardens, just one example of poor customer service , generally wardens are great.
0 -
WHAT? Unbelievable! You expect the warden to drop everything in that moment and sort out this enquiry, she told the OP she'd call him back. We're talking about Caravan Club wardens here, on little more than the living wage, not the Fire Service. What has
happened to a little patience? No more to add to this thread, I've dealt with less petulant children. Over and out.David was in his car with a caravan on the back .... guessing at about 40 feet long. I can think of NO lay-bys where I live where I could park up while Mrs warden finishes her tea and I know the area. He wasn't in a position to sit & wait!
0 -
Oh dear , never mind at least the member got sorted in the end
perhaps we all shouldn't take things for granted
0 -
im just relating a story about what happened and an example of poor Cc service. I would have thought the caravan club forum was the ideal place to share. What else is a forum for? I expect no resolution or conclusion from it. Just telling a story. Would
be full if all we had was ' Sunday departures ' or ' dogs' to discuss.0 -
im just relating a story about what happened and an example of poor Cc service. I would have thought the caravan club forum was the ideal place to share. What else is a forum for? I expect no resolution or conclusion from it. Just telling a story. Would
be full if all we had was ' Sunday departures ' or ' dogs' to discuss.It is only poor service to you and a few others David. I can understand your frustration especially as you travelled to the site you had booked to find it closed and as you were not made aware of this, you must have been thinking, what the hell do we do?
I know I would have been thinking along these lines. I'm guessing you were parked up somewhere in the village of Fulford, near to the site that was closed when you made the calls to Rowntree and Beechwood. In your eagerness (maybe a little desperation too)
to find somewhere to pitch for your holiday, the warden at Rowntree didn't tell you what you wanted to hear in that instant, she was obviously eating her dinner and didn't want to leave her food to go cold at the time of your call, but did say she would call
you back. Maybe she could have suggested you make your way to the site in the meantime. You then had the time to call and ask the question at Beechwood as you wasn't prepared to allow any grace to the Rowntree warden, I can only guess you were still parked
up when you made the call to Beechwood, and wasn't driving around the city centre talking to the site over your car's bluetooth? Beechwood were available to deal with your enquiry immediately so they gave excellent customer service, in comparison to the Rowntree
warden who gave appalling customer service as she had asked you to wait just a few minutes for a call back.So many of us want everything in an instant in todays world, if our enquiries aren't dealt with in our own personal timeframes, we call it poor customer service. I own and run my own business, I see this attitude every single day, it's not pleasant.
0 -
It all depends on what time reception closes if indeed it should be 18.00 then I would be complaining it's one of my biggest pet hates places wrapping up early
If it was 17.00 then a bit of patience could of been used
If someone had rang me half an hour after my working day and paid hours of work had finished and I was sat eating my dinner I too would of asked could I ring back after my dinner
OK I would of also said make your way to the site and ring when your here
As said earlier all depends on the closing time of reception
0 -
Wardens are a strange breed. Generally 99% are great, courteous, helpful but there's always the odd one whose a bit of a "jobsworth". We were on a site last year where the female warden who checked us in must have had a bad night's sleep as I'd never seen anyone so curt and sharp.
A few weeks ago I went away with the dog for a few days and my wife decided to come out for a couple of nights. I went to pay for her and the warden had already cashed up and was getting ready to close even though, according to the sign on the door, the office was open for another hour! Told me in no uncertain terms to "come back tomorrow".
Then some go the extra mile. Cheery waves when you see them on the tractor, few minutes to chat, always smiling. The awkward ones should remember that they're the face of the Club and good customer service goes a long way.
0 -
Wardens are a strange breed. Generally 99% are great, courteous, helpful but there's always the odd one whose a bit of a "jobsworth". We were on a site last year where the female warden who checked us in must have had a bad night's sleep as I'd never seen
anyone so curt and sharp.A few weeks ago I went away with the dog for a few days and my wife decided to come out for a couple of nights. I went to pay for her and the warden had already cashed up and was getting ready to close even though, according to the sign on the door, the
office was open for another hour! Told me in no uncertain terms to "come back tomorrow".Then some go the extra mile. Cheery waves when you see them on the tractor, few minutes to chat, always smiling. The awkward ones should remember that they're the face of the Club and good customer service goes a long way.
Write your comments here...I agree, it's the poor service people remember and let's the club down
0 -
im just relating a story about what happened and an example of poor Cc service. I would have thought the caravan club forum was the ideal place to share. What else is a forum for? I expect no resolution or conclusion from it. Just telling a story. Would
be full if all we had was ' Sunday departures ' or ' dogs' to discuss.This is far from just a story. What you have done is charged, tried and convicted the warden and they have had no right of defence or appeal. IMO that is just wrong. Occasionally in a supermarket I have been concerned by the level of service I have received.
However, I would never publicly take the individual to task, however much I might like to. Again in my opinion the correct approach is to mention it to their supervisor, in this case the CC, either informally or a formal complaint is up to you.0 -
The first thoughts on this subject is - how many wardens are at Rowntree. If one warden is having a cuppa one of the others can man the office.
Customer service is important in all aspects of business. The wardens are paid there to represent the face of the CC.
Customers are entitled to good customer service.
K
0 -
If this individual had had a booking and arrived at that time, he might reasonably expect there to be a warden on duty to process his arrival. The warden may choose to eat his meal during 'working hours' but has to accept that interuptions may occur. Eating
at one's desk is a common, if not entirely satisfactory, practice. Is a warden's mealbreak during opening hours sacrosanct?0 -
im just relating a story about what happened and an example of poor Cc service. I would have thought the caravan club forum was the ideal place to share. What else is a forum for? I expect no resolution or conclusion from it. Just telling a story. Would be full if all we had was ' Sunday departures ' or ' dogs' to discuss.
It is only poor service to you and a few others David. I can understand your frustration especially as you travelled to the site you had booked to find it closed and as you were not made aware of this, you must have been thinking, what the hell do we do? I know I would have been thinking along these lines. I'm guessing you were parked up somewhere in the village of Fulford, near to the site that was closed when you made the calls to Rowntree and Beechwood. In your eagerness (maybe a little desperation too) to find somewhere to pitch for your holiday, the warden at Rowntree didn't tell you what you wanted to hear in that instant, she was obviously eating her dinner and didn't want to leave her food to go cold at the time of your call, but did say she would call you back. Maybe she could have suggested you make your way to the site in the meantime. You then had the time to call and ask the question at Beechwood as you wasn't prepared to allow any grace to the Rowntree warden, I can only guess you were still parked up when you made the call to Beechwood, and wasn't driving around the city centre talking to the site over your car's bluetooth? Beechwood were available to deal with your enquiry immediately so they gave excellent customer service, in comparison to the Rowntree warden who gave appalling customer service as she had asked you to wait just a few minutes for a call back.
So many of us want everything in an instant in todays world, if our enquiries aren't dealt with in our own personal timeframes, we call it poor customer service. I own and run my own business, I see this attitude every single day, it's not pleasant.
Whatever type of business you own I sincerely hope never to be a customer of yours if you treat your own customers in this way.
There is a lot about the modern world the older amongst us regret but todays version of customer service isn't one of them, that warden and you in support of it is displaying exactly the type of treatment we regularly used to encounter in the bad old days. If that were a private site I and most people would have taken our business elsewhere and made sure anybody we met knew about it.
im just relating a story about what happened and an example of poor Cc service. I would have thought the caravan club forum was the ideal place to share. What else is a forum for? I expect no resolution or conclusion from it. Just telling a story. Would be full if all we had was ' Sunday departures ' or ' dogs' to discuss.
It is only poor service to you and a few others David. I can understand your frustration especially as you travelled to the site you had booked to find it closed and as you were not made aware of this, you must have been thinking, what the hell do we do? I know I would have been thinking along these lines. I'm guessing you were parked up somewhere in the village of Fulford, near to the site that was closed when you made the calls to Rowntree and Beechwood. In your eagerness (maybe a little desperation too) to find somewhere to pitch for your holiday, the warden at Rowntree didn't tell you what you wanted to hear in that instant, she was obviously eating her dinner and didn't want to leave her food to go cold at the time of your call, but did say she would call you back. Maybe she could have suggested you make your way to the site in the meantime. You then had the time to call and ask the question at Beechwood as you wasn't prepared to allow any grace to the Rowntree warden, I can only guess you were still parked up when you made the call to Beechwood, and wasn't driving around the city centre talking to the site over your car's bluetooth? Beechwood were available to deal with your enquiry immediately so they gave excellent customer service, in comparison to the Rowntree warden who gave appalling customer service as she had asked you to wait just a few minutes for a call back.
So many of us want everything in an instant in todays world, if our enquiries aren't dealt with in our own personal timeframes, we call it poor customer service. I own and run my own business, I see this attitude every single day, it's not pleasant.
Whatever type of business you own I sincerely hope never to be a customer of yours if you treat your own customers in this way.
There is a lot about the modern world the older amongst us regret but todays version of customer service isn't one of them, that warden and you in support of it is displaying exactly the type of treatment we regularly used to encounter in the bad old days. If that were a private site I and most people would have taken our business elsewhere and made sure anybody we met knew about it.
I do ok thanks, 10 years and going strong, through a recession etc etc. On occasion I have to ask a client if I can call them back. I make sure I do call them back within a reasonable time frame, without fail. I've never been berated for doing this.
edit, apologies, my iPad has doubled up the quote for some reason and I don't seem to be able to correct it
0 -
..... I own and run my own business, I see this attitude every single day, ....
and do you turn custom away because you're eating your tea/dinner?
I wouldn't tell a customer what I'm doing, I'd just ask if I can call them back. It's not turning a customer away
0 -
If the computers had been shut down it would have taken a while to get them back online to check the booking situation. I would prefer to be called back than hang on while a CC system boots into life
The OP presumed that she wanted to finish her meal and everyone is happy to go along with that. Maybe, maybe not.
0 -
If the computers had been shut down it would have taken a while to get them back online to check the booking situation. I would prefer to be called back than hang on while a CC system boots into life
The OP presumed that she wanted to finish her meal and everyone is happy to go along with that. Maybe, maybe not.
indeed, maybe the warden was being too honest for her own good. A reply along the lines of, we've shut the computer system down, give me a few minutes and I'll call you back, without mentioning the fact she was eating, might have been a better option. A
little inexperience on her part.0 -
..... I own and run my own business, I see this attitude every single day, ....
and do you turn custom away because you're eating your tea/dinner?
I wouldn't tell a customer what I'm doing, I'd just ask if I can call them back. It's not turning a customer away. And I've rarely been phoned back when buisnesses say they'll phone me back.
It would have been in this case as David needed somewhere to stay & he was driving around York with his caravan
0
