Club card v new technology
I'm sure like me you find it a challenge to keep up with new technology and there is no doubt we now have more information at our fingertips than we could have imagined a few years ago. It des have a negative side but in general it is a positive influence on our lives.
This year I have started using an app on my phone which means my wallet is much slimmer and not because it is expensive. I have got rid of a host of loyalty cards including my club membership card. The app scans the bar code or takes a picture and stores it in an easy to access file and you can present this when buying in store.
But not on the M6 toll. I have only just found out about the discount so confidently arrived at the toll booth and showed my card only to be told she needed the actual card to apply the discount. No card, no discount. The offer is being withdrawn at the end of the year but on the same day The card was nearly refused again
We arrIved at the site we were heading for and the warden very politely pointed out that this could be a photo of someone else's although I have used on other sites without problem.
So the issue here is similar. I could have taken a photo of a friends card in order to obtain the benefit. The answer however is not to go back to carrying a wallet full of cards but to have, and be prepared to show, evidence you are the person on the card. I still carry photo ID my driving license and happy to show this.
And before you argue that it doesn't take up much space just have a look at all the cards you own. Also consider the other options. I might have just borrowed the card from my friend /neighbour for the day as I knew I was going on the M6 toll. The card has no proof or link to me. I could use the automatic barrier and press the button for assistance (see terms and conditions) how does a physical card mKe a difference here? My site booking is linked to the vehicle I arrive in but the card doesn't prove my identity.
So a very simple plea either make the card tech friendly. This doesn't have to be at the same level as my credit card / contactless payment but can prove I am the member. Or simply ask for proof of identity e.g. Credit card payment or driving license. Please don't force me to dig the out the cards again.
Comments
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Membership cards are just a leftover from the days when this was a Club. So I would go further than you, Andy, and drop them altogether.
Other campsites, hotels and guest houses are happy to welcome me without any sort of membership card at all - whether high tech or no tech. They ask for no proof of identity and no membership - they are just happy to have me as a paying customer.
Best regards to you.
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What is required is for Tesco to take over the Club. They know what I want to eat before I do, and send me specific vouchers to save me money! The dogs have their own discount card elsewhere, freebies on their birthdays, special events to attend, samples to try out......
All the cards I have, not a lot really, around half a dozen, allow me to get access to cash, pay without cash, or save money in a variety of ways, so I am quite happy hauling around a few micro grams of useful plastic.
OH seems to collect bits of plastic at random, probably has three times what I have. They make good ice scrapers in an emergency.
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indeed but the good news is actually double this time
you don't have to go these club sites where a membership card is needed, club sites only have about 10% of the market so plenty to choose from (and usually have plenty more pitches than club sites but that's different story), but even then on most club sites you do not need to have a membership card/be a member, just pay the extra £10 per night, win win!0 -
As a membership 'card' is needed yes an electronic version would be a good idea.
PS you can turn up on a club site without your card but you need some form of ID with your address on it.
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Banks for rescue/recovery and travel insurance and other benefits?
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I can sympathise. I've taken to having a separate wallet for caravan/MH related cards. There are 7 caravanning related and that's before I include stuff like NT, EH, and vehicle specific - tracker etc.
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There’s a pattern emerging here, gentlemen.........
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I have an app that looks after and carries all my NT, EH, club, sainburys cards.... Its called Mrs C
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I would be very interested... if it's in the UK?
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If I ever want to be near Portsmouth I'll try and remember (both seem highly doubtful though)
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You need to be more adventurous CS!
No matter....back to the subject....this sounds interesting as we too seem to have an excessive number of cards.
OH tells me she has a main stash and a reserve stash.......she does get out and about more than I do.
Like DD we sort them into categories, mainly UK and abroad, and change them out as required.
We also have a plethora of bank debit cards that we never carry with us, they live in a bundle each at home.
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I have much sympathy with the opening post. I have tried using an app to store cards - I've tried Stocard. Sadly not all shops can read the card from the app. It rather depends on the technology available at the shop. I find it works about 50% of the time, but quite often the cashier has to enter the number in manually. The worst for us, locally, is our local Co-op who just won't accept anything other than the real card!
David
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A bit offensive there Kj, you do not know what my adventures entail or consider? And if the limit of my 'adventure-ness' is going to Portsmouth then I would shoot myself now.
Your comments smacks of the 'timid' label so often given out
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I do agree with you David. I have found the train e tickets to be one of the greatest inventions ever, buy on line and it's there, no need to collect or even print it out. You can get any price of ticket as a e ticket, Chester-le-street to Newcastle is under a fiver.
You know I was going to write about stopping fraudulent use, that is giving your e-card to another but then that is true of your current paper cards? Maybe a photo won the e card would help?
PS yes I realise that you cannot comprehend how someone would voluntarily use someone's else card to get into a club site
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I have one of those I.D. badge holders so beloved of conference organisers into which I have put my Caravan Club card, and the one from the other friendly lot, and this I have on the lanyard of the keys for the caravan that are only needed when setting up or departing. That way the cards are to hand (or neck, actually) when needed.
I suppose in this joined-up electronic world that if someone books through the club their identity is sort of verified by having to log-in on the web-site to make the booking. And when they then turn up at a site with the vehicle and caravan listed in the booking it is unlikely they will be anyone else, especially if they pay with a credit/debit card in the same name.
Or perhaps their pal made the booking for them and lent the charge card and PIN. Now who would do something like that, apart from someone trying to establish an alibi for being somewhere else that they should not be.
Hmmmm.
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There is no reason the National Trust, or the CC for that matter, could not include a copy of your membership card within your registered account. For the CC it could be included as part of the sites App, which requires email and password to log on. Not so many folk would be willing to pass these onto others, as they give anyone who has them access to all parts of your account. They are not being used with that much frequency that it would make it inconvient to use them in this fashion.
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So you get yourself to the entrance to somewhere and your battery is flat? It's a bit like people being rescued from mountain sides who used their phones as maps and then found they had no power left. Although phone technology is good a card at the moment is "gooder."
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