Am I being unreasonable?
I was in touch with a CL over the weekend to book a 7 night stay next May. Looked very good, toilet/shower, dog friendly, great reviews, ideal for where we wanted to stay and just £15 a night. Ideal for us I thought ......
.....until I had a reply saying, yes a pitch was available, please let us have the usual details and "a deposit of £60"! 
Now I've got nothing against being asked for a reasonable deposit and I can understand particularly why CL owners might want to do so. But, really, the equivalent of 4 nights for a 7 night stay! Is that reasonable. Needless to say I'm looking elsewhere in the same area.
(Out of interest, no other CL booked for next year has asked us for a deposit of any sort.)
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Hi Moulsey
I don't think you're being unreasonable. Whilst I doubt you will cancel without good reason and the site is protecting it's income, that is a huge deposit. We've booked a lovely site for 10 nights next August and we didn't pay a deposit at all, however I would have been happy to pay one night fee if needed as it was a longer booking.
I suspect it will soon be the way that all sites, CMC, CCC and CL/CS's join the commercial world and ask for a deposit on booking.
In the meantime, I would probably avoid anywhere that wanted such a large deposit.
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Perhaps the CL owner has been let down too many times , and as a small business myself I can understand why they ask for a deposit , I have ordered items in for a customer (not taken a deposit) and they don't come back
personally ,if it was a site I wanted I would pay it, but were all different
P.S.... where was it ???????
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The decision of any cl owners to ask for a deposit ...is their choice .
Indeed we have stayed on cl's where no deposit as been requested that's fine , but those who require a deposit is just their way of handling their bookings in case of no shows or members cancelling at a later date .
If you don't accept the cl's booking requirements , you simply go elsewhere.👍
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Just to add, that, of course, I accept that CL owners have every right to run their business in whichever way they like, but this was so in variance with any other CL we've used over the years that it just came as a bit of a shock. And it wasn't even for a bank holiday period. The site is in a popular holiday area and there are plenty of alternatives so we'll find something to suit.
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I wouldn’t have paid that large a deposit without having the terms in black and white. That is, in what circumstances and time scale would it be refundable or non-refundable.
I’ve no objection to paying a deposit but the terms should be set out especially if it’s a substantial sum.
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Difficult one. We used to send a deposit of a third for our 28 night stay on a very popular CL in Cornwall, but it was super busy, and we had to book a year in advance to get the dates we needed. I used to send full amount sometimes, so we had nothing to pay on arrival, but we did know the site and owners very well.
If it was a new to us CL, I would waver at £60 to be honest, but check it out when next in area, and if as expected book it next time with a deposit if it suited. They could have been badly let down, it does happen, so perhaps super cautious with new visitors. Nowadays, because of caring duties, we book nothing more than a couple of days in advance, other than the occasional Club Site for a special date.
Is the deposit refundable with good notice, or can be transferred to other dates M? We could do this with Cornish CL.
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About half the sites we have used during this year have required a deposit, and a couple payment in full at the time of booking. We judge each it its merits.
Possibly charging a deposit keeps no shows to a minimum and therefore helps the owner to keep their pitch fee to a minimum.
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There are a lot more CLs being run on a business footing nowadays, so it doesn’t surprise me that more are requiring deposits. My only concern would be getting somewhere and something not suiting us. It might be something particular to us, but not bother anyone else. Road noise is our hang up. Don’t mind background drone, but constant roar drives us mad. We live somewhere quite quiet, so not used to traffic noise close by all the time.
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Moulesy, Iwouldn't dream of calling you unreasonable - that would be rude - but I would simply say the site owner is being businesslike and sensible.
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A willingness to pay any sort of deposit or even pay in full I suppose depends on how badly you want to be in that place. If it was a top priority to stay there I am sure you would have paid but as there are alternatives I could understand being reluctant to pay such a large deposit.
BTW did the CL make any comment when you told them you were not continuing with the booking?
David
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This year we had to pay the full amount for a CL in advance, we accepted this because we wanted to go to that particular CL. It was on their booking details and we decided it was worth it. We enjoyed our stay there too, all was ok as I did my research beforehand and knew what to expect.
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Thanks for all your replies. To answer a couple of specific points, there is no mention on the CL's website entry of a deposit being required and I have heard nothing back since explaining why we'd decided to look elsewhere.
Just to reiterate that I've no objections to paying a (reasonable) deposit and if it was a site we'd visited before or if there were no alternatives we'd be more likely to pay.
I have no problem with any CL owner deciding their own terms and conditions; if it suits them and they have plenty of takers good luck to them.
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Here's ours Moulesy by the Gt Ouse, in Cambs, the owners also had a small van site close by and I think it was a sensible business practice as it was obviously all very popular with a reasonable amount of security added in. Entry codes were given out after payment.
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Hi, M.
Unreasonable? Toi? Mmmm.
No, I don't think you are. We have booked 6 different places for a round robin tour from end May to early July. On 2 sites I was asked to send a deposit, both for 1 nights stay. Happy to do so. However, I know from personal experience that life does tend to get in the way of enjoyment sometimes and we have had to change our plans at short notice. 4 nights is a lot to lose and I wouldn't pay it, but to each his own.
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Having been bitten in the past, I don't think you're being unreasonable at all. I don't mind paying a small deposit - as a gesture of good will / good faith - but the amount they're asking makes me suspicious that they've got something to hide.
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The level of deposit requested by a CL owner might reasonably reflect the potential downside. That could be influenced by the ability to relet the pitch in the event of a cancellation. This is also influenced by the probability factor of being able to do so, the general level of occupancy etc. Having said all that, I would be rather surprised if I was asked for more than say £25 as a deposit for what is generally a space in a field.
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Are you being unreasonable ------- Yes.
As a small business , A CL owner has to ensure that he is using his business model wisely. I see no reason to object to paying a deposit to back up your booking. If you do turn up when you arranged, then you will have much less to pay on arrival, only the balance. If you decide not to go, then the CL owner can use the deposit to offset his loss of revenue. It's good business practice.
K
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I'm reading this thread with great interest.
We have (very reluctantly) introduced deposits in the last few weeks. The reason is solely down to last minute cancellations. We are a busy CL offering quality facilities (not just a space in a field) and a last minute cancellation is not only depriving us of income but also, and more importantly in my book, it is depriving someone else of the pitch they wanted and, it turns out, could have had.
You may remember my posting on here last year about a gentleman who cancelled a stay of several weeks with us because he'd 'forgotten' about the booking, only reminded when he received my pre-arrival email two days before he was due here. This was peak caravanning season and whilst we managed to re-let some of the nights we obviously couldn't re-let them all.
Previously we have only ever charged deposits for Bank Holidays and special events along with those occasions when 3 or more outfits book to come together (usually, if one cancels they all do). However, between January and September this year our cancellation rate was 1 in 4. One in every four bookings cancelled and frequently that was within a few days of arrival or even the day they were due to arrive. Would that many people have cancelled if they'd paid a deposit?
I fully appreciate that folk often have genuine reasons but to get emails which simply say "sorry, we've had a change of plan so won't be coming to you tomorrow" is very difficult to stomach.
After long discussions with other deposit charging CL owners we decided to charge a deposit of two nights (£30) or 30%, whichever is the greater. (Obviously, if you're only staying a night you pay in full for the one night) We set it at this rate after advice from other owners who said people don't worry too much about losing a deposit of one night, £15 in our case but two nights....
It was a tough decision as clearly it's much more admin for us. Chasing deposits is time consuming as I've already learnt....one booking I texted 3 times and emailed twice over the course of a week with no response at all so I was forced to cancel their booking because I could only assume they weren't commited to turning up.
Another person phoned to book a couple of weeks ago....we had a lovely chat and they said they'd been trying to visit us for a while but we're always full. However, when I mentioned about the deposit they basically said "oh no, I don't want to pay a deposit, I may have to go into work on the Friday and we've been having problems with our caravan....I don't want to lose £30". Should I have taken the booking without a deposit? Would you have done?
When we introduced the deposits we also devised a clear cancellation policy which visitors are encouraged to read prior to paying their deposit. This is available on our website along with a clear explanation of the deposit required.
We run our CL as a business and losing a fifth of your income due to last minute cancellations is quite significant.
I hope this helps explain the point of view of a deposit charging CL owner.
Nicola
www.skybarnfarm.co.uk
Telephone: 01522 681218
Email: enquiries@skybarnfarm.co.uk
Site 965, page 402 of the 2017/2018 Sites Directory
Read our many wonderful reviews!11 -
There are a few CL owners who take the wee wee when it comes to deposits. I think 20% max is sufficient. Any that ask for more than that I just don’t book. One of the most popular CLs here in Norfolk is booked up to 2 years in advance and no deposit taken. If a gap does appear in their calendar the days are usually snapped up.
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Nicola, I have every sympathy with your position and have no quibble at all with your stance on deposits.
Do you set out the booking/cancellation terms in an email to your customers?
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Hi Tinwheeler
Yes. Our T&Cs, cancellation policy and privacy policy (now required for GDPR
) are all tagged onto the end of our confirmation email which is the email requesting payment of the deposit.
Our website also sets out what deposit is required and advises people to read our cancellation policy which is also available on our website.
Oneputt, if I only charged 20% that would equate to £3 for one night and £6 for two nights....I don't believe that would discourage people cancelling last minute. We've 'suffered' from one person who used to book a saturday night and on several occasions cancelled less than a week before....very annoying when our weekends are usually always full in the summer.
We're not here to rip folk off.....but I do sometimes feel like some people are ripping us CL owners off.Nicola.
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Thanks again everyone.
Just for the benefit of anyone who might not have read what I've said carefully enough, I've no objections to paying a deposit -:on this occasion it was the scale of the deposit which I found surprising. But I'll say again, it's entirely up to the CL owner to decide. This CL has lost a 7 night booking from us - if they can make that up with other bookings good luck to them.
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Nicola, thanks for that. You seem to have it all covered. 👍🏻
I've seen several cases of CLs, and other privately owned sites, requesting a deposit without any mention of the terms and that really isn’t on.
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