Be careful what you say when you review a CL
We stayed at the Gamekeeper's Cottage CL near Alsagers Bank in Staffordshire in August. It was in a lovely location with splendid views, and had EHU and water to all pitches. The price was also very reasonable for the facilities available. Yes there were
some relatively minor access issues, including sloping approaches to the pitches, but not anything like as bad as one reviewer had said - and until then not something which most people had rated as a problem. As a result of his review, bookings collapsed to
the point where - taking insurance into account - it was no longer viable for them to keep the CL open. It closed for good at the end of the season.
When posting reviews, please could you think carefully about the effect your review might have on future bookings. Try to concentrate on positive aspects where possible (in this case lovely location, great walks in the area, a five minute walk to an excellent
pub, water points on all pitches) rather than get carried away with perceived issues with the CL. Sadly we will be unable to make a return visit to this CL.
Comments
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Sad story, not aware of that particular CL, but it is obvious that some people would be better staying in an Hotel rather than a campsite.
Any review should be balanced and honest, but it is also the responsibility of the reader to interpret reviews sensibly.
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Without being controversial what actual evidence is there that this one review caused the callapse of the CL. I write quite a few reviews and hopefully write truthfully how I find a site but obviously it is my personal view and someone else my have a contrary
view. I never look at a single review and take it as gospel0 -
Unfortunately the reviews have vanished from the web site along with the CL, so I cant reference it. However if you took the review literally, you would conclude that it was dangerous to attempt to drive to the CL in a motorhome and access a pitch, and virtually
impossible with a caravan. It was the owners who told us about this while we were staying there. The bookings dried up immediately after this particular review appeared.0 -
There are two sites, one a CL the other a CS. Both have some horrid sloping pitches, but you can still us the pitches. Both owners help you with pitching etc. But hey! they are CLs, cheap, fun etc. etc. I would not dream of commenting on these issues as
a big negative, more of a feature. The one thing I would like to see changed though. I would make it mandatory for ALL operators to publish accurate pictures of their sites. I would also urge people to use google to look at the general location of any site.
I see lots of reviews about noisey roads. As I say, use google.
I would expect a negative review to be more about something that is not as described. ie Grass pitches, and it's a gravel car park. Down a quite lane and its next to the M1. Sheltered spot and its on the top of Ben Nevis.0 -
Without being controversial what actual evidence is there that this one review caused the callapse of the CL. I write quite a few reviews and hopefully write truthfully how I find a site but obviously it is my personal view and someone else my have a contrary view. I never look at a single review and take it as gospel
Customer reviews have a huge impact on on how others view a particular business and the sales that business achieves. Behavior Begets Behavior, if one person comments about a gently sloping pitch, it doesnt take long before reviews come in decribing it as the north face of the Eiger. It has to be said, eBay is one of the masters of using customer feed back as part of the business model. You are correct to use all of the reviews, good and bad to form an overall picture.
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The truthful reporting can be a dilemma at times. One of our stays this year was on a CL, which is widely mentioned on here, but in we would not revisit due to traffic noise. We did write a review but did not overplay this aspect. I hope prospective visitors
did manage to "read between the lines"0 -
I have never did a review of any CL over the many years of using them. I have been happy with every one visited. Cls are NOT 5* campsites they are somewhere in scenic locations to park your van while you enjoy the surrounding area.
Forget the showers and public lavatories. they are not needed.
Cls have their own character and should be enjoyed as such. Those who want all singing all dancing campsites should go to either club sites or commercial sites and stop complaining that CLs cannot give you that type of accomodation on the cheap.
k
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We stayed several times at a small family-owned hotel in Jaipur, India, and then one day got an impassioned e mail fom the owner, "Have you seen the critical review some Americans have left on Trip Advisor?" She was writing to ask all her regular customers to send in a review of their own and drive the offending Americans way down the page. We all dutifully did. Campsite owners need to learn the trick.
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..... Both have some horrid sloping pitches, but you can still us the pitches. ...
The last time we went to one of our favourite CLs, I'd to build a small wall under one wheel to level the caravan, but it would never put us off going back there. The whole site has a slope to it ...... it's a field, but it's position & views more than make
up for a small inconvenience when pitching.0 -
Kennine, whilst partly agreeing with your sentiments do you not think CLs that are a "credit to their owners" deserve to be highlighted so the owners hopefully will see an increase in custom.
I quite agree that CL owners have no need to go down the route of providing showers etc, well cut grass (and electric!) will satisfy me anyday
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The one thing I would like to see changed though. I would make it mandatory for ALL operators to publish accurate pictures of their sites. I would also urge people to use google to look at the general location of any site. I see lots of reviews about noisey roads. As I say, use google.
You make an interesting point there. The CL was shown on the little map on the club web site in the wrong place - further down the lane than it actually was. Unsure where it was, I did some googling, and found a cottage rental site that had a picture of "Gamekeeper's Cottage", very close to where the CC web site said it was. Unfortunately this wasn't actually Gamekeeper's Cottage at all, and was also several hundred yards too far down the lane, and I wonder how somebody towing a caravan would have managed to turn round at that point. Google earth showed nothing where the actual CL was, and the OS map I had showed that there was a "colliery" there. It's a good job that the owner had a sign at the entrance!
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They may be closed as Cls but like many others have they now moved on to Commercil Sites?
You might be right and can readily check that. However,
if the business failed to attract enough vans for a CL to be viable then investing all the necessary money to become a commercial site seems a surprising venture.Sadly we have lost countless CLs in our 30 + years of using them; the last thing we need is over stated criticism.
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It is an odd situation is the reading of reviews, I have never come across wholly negative views, I have come across wholly positive views, I have come across(this is the odd bit) a 5* review followed by a 1* scathing review. Re negative reviews-most are
a little nitpicky generally. 'The Chooks didn't lay eggs in Winter', 'I should have been told to bring my wellingtons because of the heavy dew in the Autumn', 'the Farmers Cows were moo-ing at Sun rise, I couldn't sleep', the best/worst was-'the Village Shop
was more expensive than Tesco we won't stay at this CL again'. It really does take all sorts to make a World
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You make an interesting point there. The CL was shown on the little map on the club web site in the wrong place -
Happens quite a lot, and its something that needs addressing imho. Its not hard these days to get accurate gps fixes. I offer to help if it appears to be out of the operators skill set. I'm wondering if others, especialy site owners would feel some help
on this issue would be welcome0 -
Yes it is odd what some people will complain about. Not a CL but Berwick is right alongside the east coast main line. In the site important info it says there may be some rail noise. Yet although the vast majority of reviews are extremely positive you get
the odd one saying their stay was ruined by the trains and they will never be back. Strange they never say we didn't read the info and follow it up with a check on Google. Easier to blame the site I suppose.0 -
Yes it is odd what some people will complain about. Not a CL but Berwick is right alongside the east coast main line. In the site important info it says there may be some rail noise. Yet although the vast majority of reviews are extremely positive you get
the odd one saying their stay was ruined by the trains and they will never be back. Strange they never say we didn't read the info and follow it up with a check on Google. Easier to blame the site I suppose.Write your comments here...Steve, with ref to your comments on the CC site at Berwick, the handbook does say " there may be some rail noise" It would be more accurate to say there would be considerable persistent rail noise. I have stayed on that site
twice and wont go back. I now use a lovely CL just outside Berwick whenever I go want to spend time in the Berwick area.0 -
Yes it is odd what some people will complain about. Not a CL but Berwick is right alongside the east coast main line. In the site important info it says there may be some rail noise. Yet although the vast majority of reviews are extremely positive you get
the odd one saying their stay was ruined by the trains and they will never be back. Strange they never say we didn't read the info and follow it up with a check on Google. Easier to blame the site I suppose.Write your comments here...Steve, with ref to your comments on the CC site at Berwick, the handbook does say " there may be some rail noise" It would be more accurate to say there would be considerable persistent rail noise. I have stayed on that site
twice and wont go back. I now use a lovely CL just outside Berwick whenever I go want to spend time in the Berwick area.We have used it several times, once for a week, and we both have good hearing. I suppose different people have varying reactions to noise types. My point was more that if you have an intolerance and the info mentions trains it might be best avoided. As with
a CL on a farm with cows, they can make a din when being milked, but it is something one should expect.0 -
Yes it is odd what some people will complain about. Not a CL but Berwick is right alongside the east coast main line. In the site important info it says there may be some rail noise. Yet although the vast majority of reviews are extremely positive you get the odd one saying their stay was ruined by the trains and they will never be back. Strange they never say we didn't read the info and follow it up with a check on Google. Easier to blame the site I suppose.
Write your comments here...Steve, with ref to your comments on the CC site at Berwick, the handbook does say " there may be some rail noise" It would be more accurate to say there would be considerable persistent rail noise. I have stayed on that site twice and wont go back. I now use a lovely CL just outside Berwick whenever I go want to spend time in the Berwick area.
Write your comments here...The site info actually says "some train noise from adjacent rail line can be expected"as today noticed when booking for next year
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Without being controversial what actual evidence is there that this one review caused the callapse of the CL. I write quite a few reviews and hopefully write truthfully how I find a site but obviously it is my personal view and someone else my have a contrary
view. I never look at a single review and take it as gospelI agree and I don't think you are being controversial at all. I find it very hard to believe that one bad review would have that impact.
I rarely use CLs but in my reviews of CC sites I am , I hope, balanced but if there's a problem I would have no hesitation in pointing it out. I will point out the positives too but if the negative spoiled my stay then that would be my overarching point
and I would make no apology for that.0 -
With reference to Berwick (I know this is going way off the thread but someone else started it!!!) I suppose some people go knowing about the trains but not expectng it to be too bad. In my veiw isn't bad at all. It all depends how these things affect you. However,
I agree that anyone who does not realise that the East Coast Main Line will be busy and that the site is adjacent to the line must be living on Mars." It would be more accurate to say there would be considerable persistent rail noise."
Persistent (in this context) means "continuing to exist or occur over a prolonged period". It means continuous, uninterrupted, unbroken, incessant. None of those symonyms fairly describe the train noise at Berwick.
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I review nearly all the sites we stop on and try to point out what, for us and I think for others, are the good points but also those that we find poor or disappointing. In my opinion if a review which gives little information of what the site is like and
what there is round about then it's of no use to me or others. I would hate to think that a review I've written has ben instumental for a site to close, but also that others have visited a site because of my review and found that it was, in their opion, a
pack of lies.0 -
With reference to Berwick (I know this is going way off the thread but someone else started it!!!) I suppose some people go knowing about the trains but not expectng it to be too bad. In my veiw isn't bad at all. It all depends how these things affect you. However, I agree that anyone who does not realise that the East Coast Main Line will be busy and that the site is adjacent to the line must be living on Mars.
" It would be more accurate to say there would be considerable persistent rail noise."
Persistent (in this context) means "continuing to exist or occur over a prolonged period". It means continuous, uninterrupted, unbroken, incessant. None of those symonyms fairly describe the train noise at Berwick.
...We have passed Berwick site numerous times normally "Quite Fast!!"in both directions we always look for it, blink and we miss it, and it always been very full (when open) so this next year its on our list of bookings
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Writing a good review, being honest but fair is not always easy, especially if it for a small independent business trying to make the best of what they offer and finances will allow. I do reviews for all of sites we visit, Club, CL, private, mainly to try
and help others have an enjoyable experience and make the most of what is available in a given area. But we choose sites based upon our needs, likes and dislikes, and these are personal preferences. We do our homework as much as possible to avoid any bad experiences,
but of course sometimes things aren't always as expected. But we do discuss them with owners and hope that if a problem has occurred, it can be amicably resolved.CLs are the real gems of the Club network, offering much needed individuality, catering for all tastes, abilities and likes, they need our support, they also need our feedback, but it must be honest, well thought out and meaningful for both owners and visitors
to be truly valuable.0 -
As for Berwick Seaview Site, if you want to sit outside your van in peace and quiet, this isn't going to give you that experience. Nothing more than a few metres seperates it from the busiest long distance rail line in the country. But the noise isn't continuous
or persistent as GJ says, just high speed trains passing very fast at regular intervals! Views are good, site is rather bleak and boring in my opinion, but close to some lovely interesting places, and of course...... has excellent transport links! Every downside,
has an up side!0 -
The truthful reporting can be a dilemma at times"". One of our stays this year was on a CL"", which is widely mentioned on here, but in we would not revisit due to traffic noise. We did write a review but did not overplay this aspect. I
hope prospective visitors did manage to "read between the lines"XTB907, How did you manage to stay on a CL? They are for members only.....
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The truthful reporting can be a dilemma at times"". One of our stays this year was on a CL"", which is widely mentioned on here, but in we would not revisit due to traffic noise. We did write a review but did not overplay this aspect. I
hope prospective visitors did manage to "read between the lines"XTB907, How did you manage to stay on a CL? They are for members only.....
Perhaps XTB meant a CS and is a member of the C&CC
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The truthful reporting can be a dilemma at times"". One of our stays this year was on a CL"", which is widely mentioned on here, but in we would not revisit due to traffic noise. We did write a review but did not overplay this aspect. I
hope prospective visitors did manage to "read between the lines"XTB907, How did you manage to stay on a CL? They are for members only.....
I have taken the advice of a CT member who I met on site. He recommended never joining CT as a member as expulsion can then affect your use of the CC main site for bookings etc
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