Booking a hard standing pitch
Why is it not possible to specify that a hard standing is required when making an advance booking. On a recent trip to the West Country we were directed to pitch in a sloping field some distance from the facility block.Several other members were unhappy that they had been unable to reserve a hard standing even though they had booked months in advance and the wardens were unable to advise if any were coming free in the next day or so. Members should be given the choice of available pitches when booking and pitches should not be allocated on a first to arrive on site basis, regardless of wether pre-booked and club member or not.
This is standard practice on most commercial sites.
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Well, I'd suggest that all those unhappy members who booked months in advance might have been better off booking a commercial site then!
I'd like to be able to book a pitch type ( and do, frequently with C&CC and non club sites) but the club has a well publicised booking system and a well publicised ( wrong, in my view) policy of not making it possible to book a pitch type.
So, knowing this, if a HS pitch is so important, why risk enjoying your holiday by booking a club site where you might not get one?
Sorry to sound unsympathetic, but that's just the way it is!
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The only solution then is to use commercial sites that offer the option, club sites with nearly all or all hard standing, or use Camping and Caravanning Club.
Which site was it Sandy? It sounds like one I used some years ago. Can't remember the name but the grass areas were very soft!
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Couldn't agree more. It's standard practice in the other club as well.
A trial was carried out which concluded that despite people liking it some members were confused so the trial was abandoned.
Cynics may say that bookings dropped as people went elsewhere if they couldn't get HS.
The best thing to do is to use non club sites between Easter and September as grass is in use then. I've been doing that for several seasons now.
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Because of when we holiday, the sites we use and arrival times we are always able to get hard standing.
If I consider that a site has limited hard standing then I avoid it. There are however all grass sites that I am happy to use because of good ground conditions
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what strange thing happens in Wareham on a Saturday that warrants an exclamation mark
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Strange , I've recently booked a hard standing pitch .......but not with this club .😜
Hard standing pitches are available to all CMC members .....but it's on a first come first served basis....I'm afraid .
Better luck next time ......😉
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if its important (and you cant get one) try Wareham Forest Touring Park or Birchwood, both opposite......
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You are not on a commercial site you are on a club site which does not allow the pre booking of certain pitches . its a first come basis, we have a few pitches on favourite sites which suit us because we have 2 dogs it would be nice to book but because of the selfish act of members booking and not turning up these favoured pitches could be empty all day.
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I think you've answered your own question in that last sentence. And also your own solution - go somewhere else.
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You could always select a site that has serviced pitches and book one of those as they do have hardstand.
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It is a very good question and one which I do not believe the Club has properly answered despite a trial last year. I am also a bit surprised at some the unsympathetic replies. It can't be rocket science to organise the booking of pitches by surface, if everyone other than the CMC can do it why can't we? The problem in the longer term might well solve itself as the Club install more and more hardstanding pitches. I am almost surprised the Club don't grasp the opportunity to charge extra for hardstandings!!!
David
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totally agreed David, its far easier (though unsympathetic, as you say) to tell people to 'go elsewhere' (incidently, an oft used expression dished out regularly on this forum.....) than for the club to invest a little in making the system more in tune with customers' requirements.
it might not be 'rocket science' but ........hey ho...
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You would think that with all the monies spent on the computer system it could by now allow choice of pitches ( It does awning or non awning), to meet CUSTOMER demand. Everyone knows Motorhomes are useless on any damp or slightly sloping grass. As the "new" inclusive club they would have spent the monies on making sites more motorhome friendly.
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I am quite happy to be on grass if reasonably firm but usually opt for a HS to protect the grass pitches from any possible damage.
In conditions such as the recent prolonged heavy rain we would possibly, at 3500 kg sink into a grass pitch if we were forced to use one... I for one would not be held responsible for any damage caused to a site's grass should there be no HS to choose on arrival.
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This is a forum, clearly it is totally OK for the OP to express their opinion. I also don't see why we should not be able to book pitch type. However, the OP only has two posts and no other activity to their name. Perhaps they could let us know if they have recently joined the club. If they have, surely that was not a good move, given the first come first served policy. Although having said that, when we joined 12 years ago I can't remember if we were aware or not, until we arrived on our first site.
Although the OP says West Country not South West, the site sounds very like the one near Tintagel. If it is, I suspect the complaint is more about the excessive distance to the facilities, from that sloping field. When we visited we also ended up in it. Although about as angled as we have ever had the van, it was OK and very well drained. What I didn't rate, not on a highly priced CC site, was the hike to the facilities, at least 300 metres. The temporary ones in the field had closed for the season, despite the site being full. I can't see us going back to that site, unless we can book pitch surface.
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Well I suggested that the OP goes elsewhere but it was not unsympathetic. In fact I sympathise completely and go elsewhere myself
If this club feels it's ok to charge £30 or so in peak period and members still have no way of knowing in advance whether the pitch surface will be suitable then I certainly don't.
i vote with my wheels.
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I guess there is insufficient demand to change the established practice and the Club does not charge a premium for hard standing.
Personally, I'm happy with the current system. I do not want all the hard standing pitches booked up when the annual booking frenzy occurs which is what is likely to happen if people could book hard standing in advance. Also, I prefer to see some grass rather than rows upon rows of hard standing.
I don't see the need to insist on a hard standing pitch if the warden is satisfied that the grass pitches drain well and are firm underfoot. Wardens look after their pitches and would make an effort to avoid pitching vehicles on their grass if it is going to suffer.
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I don't see the need to insist on a hard standing pitch if the warden is satisfied that the grass pitches drain well and are firm underfoot.
I have come across grass pitches that are anything but firm and in use! Only had to pitch on one such in the last 10 years. That was once too often
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There is more than sufficient demand for this but the club stated member confusion caused the trial to be dropped.
You may not see a need to insist on HS Aspenshaw but I certainly do. I don't care how firm the grass is and quite honestly I don't much care if the grass is damaged by us using it.
If I am required to pay +/- £30 per night and end up on grass then it's not value for money. Grass is worth no more than £15 to me. I don't even want to look at it. I have a lawn at home and I don't look at that much
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I believed you worked for Clarks BB?
If I went into a Clarks shop and asked to buy a pair of Converse shoes, or Dr Martins, or even Adidas? What would happen? As you would put it they would turn me away as they do not stock such items. I could then go onto their forum and complain that other shoe shops sell these brands why not Clarks? Clarks might reply that we’re fine the way we are, shops are doing OK, profits are good, customers are happy as they keep coming back due to our quality. I have no idea if this is true but you get the analogy with the club I hope.
I would have to go elsewhere to get what I want.
The club is no different; it sells what its sells. People join the club and come to sites of their free will. They know what they are getting. If they can’t get what they want from the club then they do have to go elsewhere. Why is that such a shocking and unsympathetic concept?
BTW I am a fully paid up member of the hardstanding pitch club. I do not, will not go, on any but hardstanding pitches. I will not go to any site that is not all hardstanding or that cannot guarantee an HS pitch. Some clubs sites do not give me what I want so I do not go to those sites, perhaps I should complain that this is so unsympathetic that I have to narrow my choices down so much? At the moment the club doesn't 'sell' booking a hard standing.
I also love Clarks shoes.
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+1
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Has anyone actually had a motor caravan become stuck on a non-hard-standing pitch on a Caravan Club site in the UK? I don't mean slipping about on wet grass or squidging the surface a bit - I mean stuck, as in up to the axles, chassis on the ground, stuck! If so, I would like to learn about a few things to do with the incidents.
Firstly, how was it finally extracted? The tractors used on sites are frightened by the prospect of a skin on a rice pudding, so it must have been something more substantial that was used. Who paid for the equipment, etc.
Who paid for any damage to the motor caravan, and compensation for being unable to travel, loosing deposist on next site, missing ferry, hospital appointment, etc?
Who paid for the restoration of the pitch(s), and compensation to those who had their booking for subsequent use cancelled?
There seems to be a situation of huge potential liability here that is just being ignored. A caravan sinking into a pitch would be evidence that it was not fit for purpose, and there is complex legislation about this to protect the consumer. Also, once something is not working as designed the potential for personal accident and injury increases rapidly.
Personal occurances and situations observed both welcome.
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I've seen people getting properly stuck in Malvern and Wirral. I think they called Mayday (or similar) as the tractors can't tow much.
The surface at both sites was like the Somme after a couple of days rain and a handful of units pitched there. Big job for the wardens in sorting it out but if there had been a roadway the damage would have been much less.
Not fit for purpose in either case. Both sites should have retired the grass pitches and cancelled bookings but that brings its own problems
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I have not witnessed this in the UK but have seen it several times in Europe where hardstanding pitches are quite rare. It has been resolved in a number of ways. The site tractor has been used which usually makes pretty short work of it. Otherwise there is usually a lot of self help from fellow campers. I have even seen a guy with a modestly sized non 4x4 car hitch up with a tow rope to get a motorhome moving. The other favourite method is just sheer man (and sometimes women) power with shoulder to the wheel so to speak!!! Much of this would be unnecessary if the motorhomers in question had spend a few moments assessing the situation before positioning their motorhomes!!!
David
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...... I can't abide hard standings. 
