Cancellations

rogher
rogher Forum Participant Posts: 609
500 Comments
edited December 2015 in Club Membership #1

If I failed to arrive on my intended day, I assume that my name would go into the little (but expanding) “black book” as a “no show”, but I wonder what would happen to my booking. At what stage should a warden consider my vacant pitch becomes available for
someone else’s use?

«134

Comments

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,303 ✭✭✭
    5,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited December 2015 #2

    I would assume it would be the next day. If you were not in the late arrivals area and had not phoned, your booking could be considered void. Would be interesting to know the official line though.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #3

    But of course that would not apply to the responsible people who post on here would it ,as the site would have had a call,the wardens and ex wardens we know,say that there are very few "No,Shows"people will phone to say they cannot come,even after real disasters,including
    partner deaths ,even on the day!! and its not unusual for the site to be contacted,after serious accidents by the police or hospital to advise

  • Jooliepie
    Jooliepie Forum Participant Posts: 9
    edited December 2015 #4

    We used to wait till the next morning. If no one on LNA or a phone call then the booking would be "no showed" and therefore all remaining days cancelled.

  • TheAdmiral
    TheAdmiral Forum Participant Posts: 506
    edited December 2015 #5

    How often is the Web Site updated, as a few tiws I have tried to book online it shows the site is full, if you call the site immediatley after trying online there are vacancies

    Admiral

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,303 ✭✭✭
    5,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited December 2015 #6

    Admiral I think that is often due to pitches being held back because of weather conditions. If the conditions are suitable they can be released at the last minute. Or as in your case when you phoned.

  • TheAdmiral
    TheAdmiral Forum Participant Posts: 506
    edited December 2015 #7

    Admiral I think that is often due to pitches being held back because of weather conditions. If the conditions are suitable they can be released at the last minute. Or as in your case when you phoned.

    Not so sure Steve as we only try to book Hardstandings.

  • rogher
    rogher Forum Participant Posts: 609
    500 Comments
    edited December 2015 #8

    We used to wait till the next morning. If no one on LNA or a phone call then the booking would be "no showed" and therefore all remaining days cancelled.

    That's just what I'd rather expect.

  • Lukey
    Lukey Forum Participant Posts: 6
    edited December 2015 #9

    Didn't know that you could book hardstandings.

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,387 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited December 2015 #10

    Didn't know that you could book hardstandings.

    Only at 5 trial sites.

    peedee

  • Lukey
    Lukey Forum Participant Posts: 6
    edited December 2015 #11

    Can you reserve an  individual pitch,or do you have what's available.

  • InaD
    InaD Club Member Posts: 1,701 ✭✭
    500 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited December 2015 #12

    You can't reserve indvidual pitches, on arrival you choose from what is available at that time.

  • Lukey
    Lukey Forum Participant Posts: 6
    edited December 2015 #13

    Would i then assume that one  would always be available,even if it was the last one.

  • moulesy
    moulesy Forum Participant Posts: 9,402 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #14

    Lukey, there will always be a pitch available if you've booked and except at the very busiest times you're likely to have a good choice when you arrive.

    Happy. Use left and right arrows to navigate.

  • JollyKernow
    JollyKernow Forum Participant Posts: 2,629
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #15

    Hi

    If some one has a prebooked pitch they can gain access until 8pm on the day.If that person hasn't turned up by the time reception closes and there's no prior communication or an appearance in LNA, then the next morning when reception opens it will receive
    a no show.

    Whatever people think of the 72 hour rule, my opinion as a warden is this has helped greatly in reducing folk who don't bother to turn up or phone the site late on the day. (I don't have figures sorry)

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #16

    interesting...how short was the period of notice before this?

    many think the 72 hr rule is way too small as it is...

    it might not be an issue for the club, as most of those pitches will get resold, but it really only helps those who can arrange to take advantage at pretty short notice....not likely to be those who operate around a work/holiday diary.

    what was the 'free cancellations' period prior to the club changing it....?

  • InaD
    InaD Club Member Posts: 1,701 ✭✭
    500 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited December 2015 #17

    Would i then assume that one  would always be available,even if it was the last one.

    Lukey, as Moulesy has already said, if you have a booking then there will be a pitch for you.  If you arrived late on a Friday on a BH weekend there may indeed only be 1 pitch left, but normally, if you arrive sometime during the afternoon, there will be quite a few more than 1 pitch to choose from.

    Exceptions to this could be the popular sites such as Baltic Wharf and Rowntree, which are normally always full and so you may only have 2 or 3 to pick from.

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,387 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited December 2015 #18

    what was the 'free cancellations' period prior to the club changing it....?

    There were no rules BB you could cancel 30 secs before you were due to turn up or not even bother. There were no penalties. I have no doubt there has been an improvement, I think the Club gave us the percentages a couple of years back. I would still like to see the latest figures though along with some indication of the number of cancellations before the 72 hour deadline.

    peedee

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #19

    thanks, Peedee....one might ask, 'how could there not be an improvement' over their former 'rules'.....

    still not particularly stringent, IMV.

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,860 ✭✭✭
    5,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited December 2015 #20

    If we go back to pre internet booking days when deposits were taken the experience was that many people, if they changed their minds, just didn't bother to let the campsite know. So I suppose many more people missed out on taking up a possible free pitch.
    It was also rumoured that in those days, if you paid a deposit direct to the site that is was possible to multi book campsites for the same dates. Technology has put an end to that and also made it much easier for the Club to take action against those that
    misuse the booking system. 

    David

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #21

    Before tinternet booking ,and when deposits were taken  ,according to several known to me sources, it was not unknown for some "members" on long journeys to book several sites ,and stop at nearest. to when they had had enough, and not cancel the others, this is one good thing that has been stopped,so could be one reason "no shows" have reduced

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #22

    ....so, presumably, the club would keep the deposit, mark the booking as a no show and resell the pitch.

    nowadays, they can mark the booking as a no show and resell the pitch.

    as Meatloaf might have said.....two out of three aint bad.

    why anyone would pay deposits on several sites and then just not bother to take up the bookings seems odd.

    I'm really dont get why making a financial commitment to a booking (or bookings) would (apparently) make it easier to break.

    all logic and received wisdom says otherwise, irrespective of clubs 'figures'....

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #23

    As I have been told when I queried the same,"never try to understand members logic"on anything,and some of the story's of members antics that i have been privy to could never be published !!!! 

  • nelliethehooker
    nelliethehooker Club Member Posts: 13,644 ✭✭✭
    5,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited December 2015 #24

    Didn't know that you could book hardstandings.

    Only at 5 trial sites.

    peedee

    No, you can also book a H/S pitch by booking a serviced pitch, on the sites that have them, although of course you'd pay more for that.

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,860 ✭✭✭
    5,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited December 2015 #25

    ....so, presumably, the club would keep the deposit, mark the booking as a no show and resell the pitch.

    nowadays, they can mark the booking as a no show and resell the pitch.

    as Meatloaf might have said.....two out of three aint bad.

    why anyone would pay deposits on several sites and then just not bother to take up the bookings seems odd.

    I'm really dont get why making a financial commitment to a booking (or bookings) would (apparently) make it easier to break.

    all logic and received wisdom says otherwise, irrespective of clubs 'figures'....

    BB

    We are talking pre internet days here when everything was done by phone (landline) and post. There was no collection of reliable data as that would have had to have been done manually. The evidence came from reports by wardens who were really the only ones
    that knew what was happening as they were at the sharpe end so to speak. The deposit used only to be £5 but later increased to £10 and even in those days some members were willing to sacrifice their deposit to suit their own needs which included not informing
    the site about their change of mind. That seemed to be instrumental in the Club's decision to abandon deposits when they moved to online bookings.  

    David

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #26

    I think a lot of members would find it useful and it could also reduce over booking, if a certain number of pitches are kept available as freedom to roam. This would mean that you could just drive without having to worry about being in a certain place by a certain time. Just play it by ear and when you feel tired, you look for a site to stay the night. That's what caravanning used to be all about. If pitches were always available, there would be no need to pre-book at all!

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #27

    can you really see someone in the 'pre-internet' days spending, say, £50 on five bookings and then not taking them up....

    £50 would have been a large sum of money then....

    i just cant see that taking away the 'commitment' from the member would 'encourage' them to take up more bookings....

    seems 'bass akward' to me.....but, hey ho, its ChristmasWink

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,860 ✭✭✭
    5,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited December 2015 #28

    I can't remember exactly when online booking started but it must have from around 2004, maybe later, as we were at Hawes and I recall discussing it with the warden. £10 in 2004 has a current value of about £14. Therefore there will be some who think £10
    is a relatively small amount of money in the scheme of things and if they had to give it up to achieve what they really wanted they wouldn't give it a second thought. However there are many of us who would consider it a waste to write that amount off!!!

    David

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,303 ✭✭✭
    5,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited December 2015 #29

    I think it was the back end of 2005 David, we bought our first van in February of that year and joined the CC. Initially we had to book by phone as the Internet service had not started. We did not have to pay any deposits though.

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,860 ✭✭✭
    5,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited December 2015 #30

    Steve

    I am sure you are right as I think my discussion with the warden was how it was all going to work. Another reason for them not taking a deposit was at the time the point of sale systems at HQ and on sites were different so there was an issue with seeing
    whether a deposit had been paid when someone arrived on site.

    David

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #31

    I wonder whether there'll be any cancellations of seasonal pitches at Northbrook Farm, I'm on the waiting list for that.