Is it a rip off?
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Kj - with the greatest of respect (and I mean that) - that post does seem a bit at odds with your earlier statement that you're being "priced out of club sites".
At the risk of repeating myself, doesn't this whole matter come down to personal choice and one's perception of value for money. Let's face it, none of us on this forum is exactly on the breadline (or are we?
) so it's a question of choosing how and where we spend whatever resources are available to us. Frequent claims hat the club charges "premium prices" for "basic facilities" are, IMHO, just silly.4 -
"it's a question of choosing how and where we spend whatever resources are available to us. Frequent claims hat the club charges "premium prices" for "basic facilities" are, IMHO, just silly."
Fullyagree
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"Are you suggesting the clubs stops these discounts.?" No - I have made no such suggestion.
As far as I am aware mid-week discount is available to be booked by all members working or not. Everyone makes personal choices as to when/where and how they use their leisure time/outfit.
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What discounts are you objecting to JO, actual or suggested?
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Suggested. My post page 27 - last one on page
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Selling date/time sensitive commodities at a heavy discount?
Its a very common practice, can’t be many folks who haven’t benefited from buying something out of what we call the “whoops” shelf. It enables seller to obtain some return for the item, and benefits the buyer who gets a desirable item for less money. Works with cheese, meat, in fact most foods, hotel rooms, nights away etc...... Open to all, no restrictions.
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"Why is it “silly” to make such a judgment? I happen to agree that sometimes, the prices charged do not give (me) value for money. During periods outside high season I sometimes make that judgment call and go elsewhere."
I said the "claims" were silly, WTG, not ones "judgement". (I thought that was made clear in the second part of my post!)
Silly in the sense that the claims are almost always made without any supporting evidence. Name me a club site - any club site - and I could quite easily find several examples of nearby sites which are both less expensive and more expensive, particularly at peak times. (I gave the example of Treamble valley earlier). So often in threads on this subject I am reminded of that quote of Oscar Wilde's - "a cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing"
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I should have added, BTW, that like you, we pick and mix sites - we're off on a 6 site tour later next week - 2 club sites, 2 other club site and 2 CLs. The site costs average out at around £22 per night. The club sites are the most expensive because the other club gives us a discount and the CLs aren't competing against main sites, but the club sites are where we want to stay.
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That's the way to do it! Us too, going on a four week tour in two weeks time doing exactly the same. It's the areas visited not the sites themselves that's important. Being in the right places and being able to stay as many or as few nights as required is champion for us.
Others will of course do it differently.
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Or-enjoy your trips away on the IoD👍🏻😊
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If last minute reductions were introduced, they would also be available for booking by all members, working or not. The only difference is they couldn't be booked in advance as with MWD.
Folk who can't plan ahead because of work or other commitments would still be in the same boat. However it might benefit them, in that they could pick up a pitch at a substantially reduced fee. I honestly cant see how this creates any inequality.
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🐶 🐶 🐶
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Actually, I was thinking doing away with booking for a late turn up. If you can book it, it’s not worth discounting it, it’s booked. But if someone touring pops in say 4.30pm onwards, on the off chance there is a pitch, then highly unlikely that late in day it will be booked, so sell it cheap. Not on all sites, don’t include popular ones like Baltic Wharf or YRP, but if it’s a site that’s half full, try it there. It would give some help to those who might have a longer booking at the site, but who has made an early getaway and benefits from that first night at a reduced rate. It would perhaps make Club Sites more attractive to those who tour spontaneously and randomly. But it wouldn’t impact on existing bookings, it is merely a pricing tool to fill late pitches. Thereby selling a few more pitches for the Club, which benefits everyone, but impacts little on those who like to book well in advance.
I doubt the take up would be huge, and it could certainly be managed at site level without too much fuss. If a member turns up between 5.30 and 8pm, no need to go through all the motions of booking in, treat it as a late arrival, and if no one in office, take membership card, hand out a leaflet and sort it out in morning, when office is open. If this doesn’t suit, then member can find somewhere else.
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indeed BB as I never said that in the first place, why did you misquote me anyway?
I wrote: going away over there and spending £50 per day
and then you wrote I had written:
who has specifically said they are 'going over there and paying £50 a night'
I left your quotes in. I won't report it as I am sure you were not trying to be misleading or mischievous
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+1
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In that wonderful weather that was Easter we were on a busy site which showed full throughout the period and I saw one or two 'off roaders' turned away. Thing was there were perfectly serviceable empty pitches to be seen If I had been able to choose grass, which these were, I would have gone on one thereby freeing up a bookable pitch. The reason was they 'grass' hadn't yet come on the system despite the ground being rock hard and the forecast excellent. That spell of good weather had also been forecast two weeks prior to Easter. Maybe individual sites should manage such things given the specific conditions they face. Obviously folk would need that opportunity to switch only if they wanted. Knowing how fickle our weather can be from year to year its probably best they were kept off the booking system mind but being able to offer them to those of us willing to take one would be helpful if the ground and weather is promising.
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If I was managing that site, I would be seriously worried. That’s like saying we only sell cheese on Thursdays. The cheese is there, fit for purpose, but it isn’t a Thursday, so you can’t have it.
I can understand taking grass pitches off booking system, but to turn down a random visitor, who possibly only wants one or two nights is like watching money notes blow away in wind. Micro management stifles initiative.
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IMO "last minute" price reductions to fill unbooked pitches could benefit both seller and customers, especially senior citizens as they are most likely to be able to take up such offers.
My reference to non-members was because I found the post unclear. (Your ref to ‘senior citizens’.) Hope this answers your question [Deleted User User]
At this moment in time all future and current members are able to book mid-week discount pitches and child discount pitches if they wish to do so.
I appreciate that not everyone will take advantage of the child discounts as choosing to have children is a personal choice.
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Not necessarily, and I don't know how that conclusion can be reached. It might be that we are the issue. Some of us don't like grass, others want standardisation, you can't please everyone all the time and some may just choose a 'convenient' point of blame to such conundrums. Maybe that somewhat spurious 'Ltd' mentality is to blame.
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Area always comes 1st for us also. Mixing pitch providers as needed.
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and another +1.
Many times I have shown that club sites are middle of the road (I would median) in terms of prices, so extremely silly to suggest anything otherwise
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You could indeed be partly right. The fact that most aspects of Club Sites, from layout to facilities, arrival times to little models on the reception desk might just be what attracts most members, and if that is so, then it’s a brave HQ that tinkers with a successful model. But the core business is providing and filling pitches. And to ensure this is maximised, something well managed, but slightly different depending on individual sites, those that might be struggling in some aspect or other, might give another pitch filling option.
However, as with anything new, it’s not easy. Selling it to members would be three quarters of the battle. I think there’s new booking procedures planned for sometime on future, so best wait and see what that brings.😁
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No, I do not think so. We set a budget for our trips and have a pretty good idea of what we will spend, so we have a maximum price for sites. In UK this is an average of £20 per night, elsewhere we aim for no more than the equivalent of £15.
Do other people not set themselves any spending boundaries?
On our recent 4 week trip in Scotland, we could not have achieved a £20 average, and have used only Club sites, and the same will apply on our next trip. We did check prices carefully before booking anything.
Yes, we were away in the period leading up to Easter, from 25th March, but this is the same time as we usually go away each year. Easter weekend will of course be a peak period for prices, but the "peak" is much longer here than we find in other countries, and peak prices seem to be being charged for longer and longer periods these days.
As a result we used one Club site before the prices increased for Easter, two CCC sites as they do not charge peak prices in Scotland for Easter, plus we get the age related discount, and two CLs, one £15 per night and one £12 per night.
Had there been any suitable no facility Club sites in the area, we could have used them, but there were not. The Club sites that we did not use because of the prices were Stonehaven, Culloden near Inverness, Forfar Lochside, and Balbirnie in Fife.
Our next trip starting in June will use probably only one Club site, we have booked Garlieston as our first stop. After that we may possibly stop a couple of nights in the Lakes, that will be a CCC site, then we are heading to North Wales, where we used to use LMP at Chirk, but will instead book the same CL we used there last year, which has toilet, shower and serviced pitches, not that we will use the shower as we prefer to use our own.
Beyond that we have decided nothing, but are thinking to roam around Wales using either CCC sites and/or CLs as this will keep us within our budget. OH has checked Club site prices and found that most are beyond what we are happy with.
When DD was at school we always headed south, using Club sites, as late June and the first 2-3 weeks in July were not peak in England, but this is no longer the case on many Club sites. Peak periods are increasing and additional higher priced periods have been introduced, outside of school holidays, and this is what makes us feel that we are being priced out of using Club sites for much of the year.
Everyone obviously has their own spending priorities and their own take on good value.
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,we would go earlier but C/van service next week
