Departure from the norm ?
Anybody read my letter in the current edition of the Club magazine ? From memory I think that the letter has been edited (slightly) . We've been Club members for over 38 years and when younger we had lots of Friday evening site arrivals after the kids finished school. To have to leave no later than noon on a Sunday always left us feeling like we had only had one full day away. Now retired we can come and go as we please and the point of the letter was to suggest that there should be more flexibility on the part of older members to allow younger ones a bit more time on site.
In all our time as members we only ever made one request to stay later than noon on a Club site and it was turned down. If a member is willing to arrive on site later to allow somebody else to stay longer then the departure time could be adjusted to compensate.
Obviously , a bit of give and take is needed and the final decision will still be left to the wardens.
We're CL users pretty much al the time now and have never had a bad experience .
Happy New Year to all.
Regards
Andrew Sheard
Comments
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Ah, the booking deposits thread had run it's course....
Now we can debate Sunday Departures again......
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Yes, I saw the letter and thought "not again" and moved on. It appeared to be another case of "I don’t like the rules I signed up to so let’s change the system".
The facility exists to request a late departure, JnA, but I’m afraid you have to take your chances as we all do when things aren’t geared up to suit us personally. Rather than expecting other folk to make way for you, or for a change in the rules, why not pay for an extra night and then you can stay as late as you like?
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Why should I be flexible to allow younger ones on site more time?
My life is nearing its maximum and theirs has plenty of run time left, so I'll take what I can thank you
Just ask for extra time and if that is not possible then pay for it.3 -
Guess what? Some of us retired folk actually tour and so if we leave a site we possibly travel 90 mins to next site. If you would like us to arrive after 4pm we won't leave the previous site until 2.30pm. Actually I plan to arrive on site just after opening time.
I am surprised that you were unable to stay later on a site on a Sunday when your children were young. You sound a similar age to me as I have been carravaning for 37 years. Outside main school holidays many stayed late on a Sunday. We chose to book the Sunday night if the weather was good as a late departure was neither here nor there for us.
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We signed up to this rule and have kept to it since 1979 but that doesn't mean it can't be made more flexible. I accept that it's possible to pay for an extra night but doubt that younger members would want to do this. Caravaning is expensive enough.
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Like ET we tour.
We like to set out from home on a Sunday when possible, so if going some distance to our first site (we usually are) then would select a 14.00-16.00 arrival time, this would allow the warden to let someone stay till 14.00. In reality we would probably arrive around 15.00.
An arrival later than 16.00 would mean too little time for getting pitched, organised, and making dinner. Even worse when the days are shorter as we might be doing it in the dark.
However, when moving on, we are normally not going too far so would aim to arrive between 12.00 and 14.00 so we could have lunch and then get organised. We would not need a late stay at our previous site.
Your idea of allowing a later stay to compensate would just have an undesirable knock on effect on arrivals on that day.
I don't know about other retired folk, but we do not just do Sundays to Fridays and then go home.
The present system works, you say when you will arrive and then the warden can work out whether to allow any late departures.
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I tend to avoid the weekends if possible when the place is full of pesky kids (
), so tend to book a Sunday through to say a Friday for a short break. I like to leave home early on the Sunday and travel when the roads are quieter. I want all those "weekenders" off the site as early as possible so I get a good choice of pitch when I arrive at 12 noon.........
Andrew, I don't think you will ever get a consensus on this topic.....
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Arrival times and departure times for any site are well documented on the site information.
But under Rule 15 b, The warden, if asked, has the right to let somebody stay on site till 16.00 hrs for free, provided that it does not affect that day's arrivals. It does not however necessarily mean that people can stay on their pitch. The warden has the right to direct those staying on for free, to park up at a different place.
K
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The trouble is that one person’s 'flexible' is another person’s extra work or disadvantage.
I learnt many years ago that to give a concession to one person disadvantages others and I champion equity.
With respect, no one has claimed caravanning to be cheap but to want extra time on site without paying for it by staying late and inconveniencing others who you expect to bend to your wishes is definitely expecting something for nothing. If a late stay can be granted up to 4pm, that’s fine because the site has the space but I think it’s a cheek to ask others to change their arrangements to suit you.
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Good idea
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Andrew
Firstly congratulations for getting a letter published in the magazine, an almost impossible task and also welcome to Club Together where you also get answers
I think there is only so much juggling you can do. Sunday is a very popular arrival day. Often because there is less traffic about on that day allowing for easier journeys. Providing wardens are using the guidelines sensibly and allowing, where possible, members to stay a bit later on site there should not be a problem. However if there are a lot of units arriving on that day it is also sensible to apply the leaving by midday rule even if the numbers don't match up. There are two possible answers, firstly to select sites that are not so busy where there is a greater chance of an extended stay or secondly pay for an extra night and leave when you want. We often try and avoid weekends but if we are touring this can't be avoided.
David
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I’ve had a letter publushed as well......
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Afternoon Ken. I don't necessarily think that the rule needs changing. My letter was written in response to earlier correspondence from other members and was intended as a suggestion to provide flexibility. For example, take a family with school age children and working parents arriving on site in the evening , paying for two nights and having to leave by noon on departure day. The first evening is spent setting up, this is followed by a full day etc and then the final morning is spent packing up to be away by noon.
A few extra hours by courtesy of a member who has "offered" to arrive later than noon would I'm sure be very welcome and might in the long run encourage continued membership. In my experience, the majority of arrivals on a Sunday lunchtime tend to be "older" members who might be able to be more flexible with bookings. My suggestion was of course intended to help younger members but would apply to all and obviously at the wardens discression .
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That same poor warden who will need to juggle pitches and times to accommodate the whims of a few.
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Thanks, Easy, but it's really not something I’m proud of.
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If the site specific circumstances, which is that bigger picture we don't always have access too, allow those slightly later departures then they are allowed and granted as per the rules. That's how it's been since I can remember. Obviously, there will always be a few who cannot accept such requests when they are turned down or for that matter actively encouraged as they are. I've experiences both positive and negative responses to such requests and always met both with good grace and understanding.
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When I worked I always used to take a days leave so we could spend 3 nights, as personally I thought 2 a waste of time. We would not have wanted to stay later than 12 on leaving day in any event, as we had to put the van back in storage. Now I am retired I am not about to start arriving late on a Sunday, so others can have a free extension. If enough free pitches are available I don't have any problem with it. I am just not prepared to facilitate it. If you want to be sure of an extension, book an extra night.
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That's as it is, if circumstances allow so be it, if not then tough, just accept with grace. Of course to guarantee or stay beyond 4:00pm then book that extra night if it's available, that's the rules! It's a great rule! I accepted this when with young family as I do now in more mature years!
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Hi JnA, I applaud your considerate suggestion and understand, based on your experiences, why you made it. Have a Happy New Year, cheers, Alex.
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Whilst being in agreement with almost all of the responders I am left wondering how Andrews suggestion would work.
Say I decided to let the warden know that I would be arriving after 4, how would he/she decide which young couple could stay? What would happen if there were numerous families wishing to stay? Would straws be drawn? What would happen if there were no families but just other retired folk on site? Would my sacrifice be in vain?
No, I'm sorry Andrew if people want guaranteed extra time on site then they'll have to pay for it, just like I did. If you caravan (including M/H) then you can afford 1 nights fee.
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And what would you suggest we retired people who voluntarily look after other people’s children in the likes of the Scout Association do? We can only go away for the odd long weekend and School holidays. No I don’t feel bad about going to sites at weekends.
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We already have e.g. the ability to differentiate between types of pitches when making an on-line booking. If a number of pitches were designated as "late arrival / late departure" pitches bookable on the usual first come first served basis (and at the appropriate rates) surely this would sort out the issue ?
I agree that "guaranteed extra time" should be paid for. What about members who arrive late in the day having paid for a pitch from 12 noon - should they get a refund ?
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I think the current system works fine, if the site is not busy then it's up to the discretion of the warden.
However the opposing argument is if we aim to arrive on site just after 12:00 to get a good choice of pitches then the member who is allowed to stay later is inhibiting the availability of pitches to new arrivals.
That's without factoring in those members whose timepiece's run 30-45 minutes early and arrive at site well before 12:00 and are let in to pitch.
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