Why does it have to be so difficult to book.....
We are almost finished planning and booking a couple of trips this year and are using more CLs due to costs.
Some CLs have been really easy to book, we sent an e mail, they replied promptly, we confirmed....job done.
But a few seem to want to make booking more difficult or complicated.
One gave an e mail for contact, and had a website, but insisted that we ring them to book, and wanted a 50% deposit, which was not mentioned at all in their details.
Another also gave an e mail for contact, but no website link. They replied after a short delay saying they had availability, but that to book we must either phone, when no deposit would be required, or book via their website, which would ask for a deposit.
By the time they replied, we had found their website, but the booking system was not easy to understand so we had decided to wait for the reply to our e mail.
On another, the details on here said they had hardstandings, but turns out they do not, and we also noticed one which appeared to have all sorts of facilities but turned out to be a very basic site!
We are still waiting for one to reply to our e mail.
It is all rather frustrating! 
Comments
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Yes, a lot of them don't help themselves do they, Kj?
Our recent trip away only needed 3 cls but we had problems with 2 of them, one not returning a message left on an answerphone (why do people have these things if they don't check them?) and the other not replying to an email, both chased up via more phone calls.
I've always found that a phone call trumps most other ways unless the owner knows how to run their own website well.
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Phone call is always easier. You can ask the relevent questions as well before booking. I wouldnt blame the CL owners for incorrect details in handbook or on website. We have come across CLs listed in a totally different location to where they actually are!
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We've been fortunate then with our bookings recently. For our next trip a couple of phone calls, and 2 e-mails which were responded to within 18 hrs have secured us a pitch on each of the 4 sites. A couple wanted deposits, one of 1 night's fee and done over the phone, and the second for 2 night's fee and could have been by bank transfer or cheque, which we used.
Would you be willing to highlight the sites which had incorrect info on the CC's web site, Kjell?
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What's most annoying is when you leave a message on an answerphone and then not get a response....as has happened to us.
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Thanks, Kjell. When are you down in Lincolnshire?
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Yes, can understand farm CLs and similar taking a day or two, but if it is a pub, hotel or country park, I would expect thm to be more on the ball.
No problem with a deposit, we have paid several, but like to know about it beforehand.
Some really put very minimal details on their listing, and often no pictures.
We tend to avoid those with no details, or without pictures, and those with no or very few reviews.
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We're very similar in our choises, as we too like to view what the site is like, but will visit one if there are decent reviews or a recommendation from friends or other posters on CT.
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Ah well we'll have been and gone well before then. Hopefully we'll get a H/S pitch at Diamond House next month.
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We have used a few CLs previously, but this year we are using far more as we have to be away partly in the school holidays and Club sites are in several cases just far to pricey for our budget.
Garlieston and Chirk are not too bad in June, and, for a couple of stopovers, Thirsk (£14) costs no more than a CL so they are booked. For Easter we are using CCC sites as in Scotland Easter is not peak season so we also get the wrinkly discount.
Same in June and up to 20th July, so we have splashed out on Derwentwater, which is quite expensive, and Haltwhistle, which is not expensive.
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Bookings all made now.
We have free calls at weekends so OH rang the one that wanted us to ring, they then needed 10 minutes to fire up the computer so took our number and rang back. All booked quite quickly then, and, as per their original e mail reply, no deposit requested.
There was still one who had not replied to e mail after a few days, so OH also rang them and booked successfully, price confirmed and no deposit requested.
She did mention that she had e mailed, so that they would not be trying to book us twice, and the reply was along the lines of.....e mail....oh.....haven't looked at that recently!
I must say, if it is always this frustrating trying to sort consecutive bookings for a trip, I admire your perseverence Nellie!
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Kjell, I've plenty of time to sort things out, so it doesn't bother me too much if there's no response immediately. As it is I'm hoping to add an extra site into the list and see if I can delay the arrival at one site to fit it in. Hopefully I'll be able to do the change tomorrow, fingers crossed.
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- OH is really getting into the CLs now!
She has rung today, immediate answer, and booked a CL near Chester, so Lady Margarets Park will be getting cancelled. Another £19.50 saved.
Will actually save quite a bit more than that as we will not be taking the van as far off the route to our next stop, and it is 5 miles each way less to drive to visit our friends.
However....much closer to retail opportunities, so I can see the saving being used up quite quickly!
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We have an online booking system and I would be interested to hear your feedback on it.
We are 9 miles from Lady Margaret's Park at Chirk and charge £12 including EHU. There is no charge for using our Wi-Fi.
Ian Kelly01691 622951
Holiday@BirchHill.co.ukBirch Hill, The Cross, Ellesmere, Shropshire, SY12 0LP
www.BirchHill.co.ukBirch Hill Farm - an award-winning hideaway in the beautiful lake-lands of Shropshire - exclusively for members of the Caravan and Motorhome Club
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Managed to book two more CLs and alter a date for a third. One took over two days to respond to an e-mail and we had to confirm our booking by phone while the other one took just one phone call. Neither asked for a deposit, as it happens. Only a couple more to book but we'll do that while we're away.
Kjell, we did get into Diamond House so will be able to give you our impression of it.
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Hi Ian,
I looked at your CL last time we were going down to Chirk, looks really nice!
Unfortunately you are even further away from our friends who live west of Ruthin, so we had to rule you out for that reason. However we make it there one day as there is plenty to see in your area.
Hope you have a good year.
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Maybe as a CL Owner I can help with some of your problems relating to making contact by telephone especially. We get a large number of calls in Summertime from Owners on holiday who leave their home number on our answering machine while they are away. A number also cannot remember their mobile number and we can try various commutations without success. There is then the other group who know their number so well they can quote it in seconds, but we cannot interpret what figures are given even replaying it 10 times over !. Local accents can sometimes be hard to understand as well. The other one is somebody standing next to the person on the phone saying tell him this and tell him that, so we don't understand what is being said at all. One simple request is please speak slowly and say your telephone number twice to ensure it may be right once. Hope this helps as we love your calls and it is the same price as in the book.
David www.perthshirecl.co.uk
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We are going to Diamond House in May Nellie
.I would also be grateful for your opinion of the site.
We have booked 7 or 8 CLs for this year so far and each have a different booking system, one even wanted full payment up front.
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Will do. I'll write a review and post it on both forums.
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David - I agree with everything you say. Happens to us all the time!
Luckily most of our bookings now come online, where there is no room for error. Confirmations are sent as soon as we approve the online request and emails sent 4 days prior to arrival with arrival details.
If potential visitors want to have a chat to us, that's equally fine, but like most CL's we are running other businesses, so may not always be in.
At £10/month for a booking system, it's the best investment we ever made.
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That's fine CG if you are computer savy but some of the site owners are not that well up with what can be obtained and rely purely on e-mails &/or phone calls. These too are fine if the CL owner use them fully but we've had a few occasions where booking inquiries have been made on both and still we've not had a response. Those sites are then add to our list of ones to avoid.
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Yes, agree.
If a site gives an e mail address then we expect that they check it each day. A reply within a couple of days is surely not too much to expect.
If they do not want to do that then they should not give an e mail address.
We are well into our 70s but have embraced things like e mail and on line booking, on line banking etc etc.
We prefer not to phone as we have no calling plan, but weekend calls are free, so we do use that.
OH does the calls and I would say that she has very clear speech, very little regional accent, and certainly does not talk quickly. No CL owner would have a problem understanding her.
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Am afraid I am not the most computer literate but try and respond as fast as possible. Unfortunately my wife does not use the computer at all therefore whilst on line booking system would be good, my wife could not use it. Also find that the majority of our repeat users like having a chat on the phone whilst making their booking if only to enquire about dogs and ducks and as we are Adults Only tend to prefer phone to computer if in the older bracket. This year we are getting a lot of advance bookings so many folks are determined to get away whatever the weather is going to be.
David
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In the past we haven't used many CL's but that is now changing.
The ones we have used before we send an email if we know that's their preferred method, some of them are quiet happy with a TEXT to their mobile phone.
With new CL's if they don't have an online booking system I usually call them, its good to have a chat and get a feeling for the owner and the CL.
We did send an email to an independent site last week, so far we've not had a reply
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We did send an email to an independent site last week, so far we've not had a reply.
TG just a thought but have you had a look on your Spam folder? I've found that some responses from sites I've sent an enquiry to have ended up in there.
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I must admit that if a site doesn't have an on-line booking system I generally give them a miss.
I have found that more sites do now require a booking fee and quite a few demand full payment in advance. So I may yet overcome my aversion to booking by phone.
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