Proper Site Reviews
i do wish we could have more informative reviews instead of members using the review section as a place to moan and winge about Club Policies.
If the Wardens are efficient and business like with the booking in procedure and not nice and "loverly" - it's an unfriendly welcome.
If there is a sign "no arrivals before 12 o'clock" - the site is unfriendly.
If the reviewer spots a sign "dogs on a leads please" - it's not a dog friendly site and on and on.
For some the remit seems to be 'i don't like being told what to do' and 'the rules don't apply to me'. My wife and I use reviews regularly. Many are accurate and helpful but, like satellite navigation systems, have to be used with caution.
John
Comments
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There are people who write very good and useful reviews because they understand what is helpful to others. Then there are folk who seem not to understand the purpose of a review and write something that would be better posted on the forum, written as a story, or addressed to head office as a complaint.
With the best will in the world, I don’t think we can insist people write ‘proper’ reviews and it’s down to the reader to ignore the chaff.
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Yes indeed TW, like other reviews sites you have to take the overall view
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I do wish we could have more informative threads on this forum instead of people moaning and whingeing about people moaning and whingeing, particularly when reviewing sites. We've had threads on people cutting across pitches, not picking up after their dogs, wardens driving mini tractors too fast. Where's it all going to end?
Can't people just start threads about happy topics, like, um...? And, um...?
Right, yep, I agree with the OP. Write proper reviews you lot.
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Surely it's entirely up to the writer what they write? If there are enough reviews its easy enough to form a view of what the site is like. As a motorhomer I likely to look for different information to a caravanner although the bulk of the information will be useful to both methods of touring. If members have a moan in a review its obviously important to them and the rest of us can make up our own minds. Sometimes that moan can flag something up to the Club so it can be useful.
Having said that there is nothing like leading by example.
David
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I’m a suck it & see type. Yes I read good, bad, moaning too but they’re just a guide. If it’s an area I want to be in I’ll give it a go & make my own mind up👍🏻, I must be easy to please as not much has let me down.
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It is a fact of life that some happen to be better at writing objective reviews than others. It is also clear that what attracts some members to some sites will equally put others off. For us, the trick is to be able to get a "flavour" of a site from the posted reviews to see if it will suit what we ( or you ) like, and perhaps pick up a few ideas of things to see and do in the area along the way. I have to admit, however, that we do sometimes chuckle at how opening remarks say that the wardens are friendly and helpful..... I'm afraid we presume that should always be the case all the time and we have rarely been disappointed.....
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Reviews are helpful if well written and include vital information, but they are only one person’s views, and a snapshot in time. Some are very useful, especially if you happen to know and trust the reviewer. We seldom read many Club Site reviews, as most Club Sites (but not all) tend to have a lot in common, and it might only be the location and surrounding area that differs. Plus of course likes and dislikes vary hugely, as does tolerance levels. It’s a given for us that pitching on most Club Sites during busy periods will be tight, that those close to airports and major roads will have some background noise.
Reviews aren’t of any value if all they do is focus on the bad behaviour of others, or rant at the Wardens for perceived slights. These issues should be resolved elsewhere.
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These are written by different people with their own views and basically you take what is important to you from them but do realise their are always people who will find fault with anything so it is the overall picture that counts and not the odd silly criticism.
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I agree. However, my experience is with CL sites rather than club sites.
Experience has taught me which reviews are useful (any by Nelliethehooker 😊) and which are not.
I try to leave useful reviews, but I've noticed with one particular site I made negative comments towards (all completely accurate), another reviewer said the comments were unfounded and came back with "the owners are lovely"?! Since we never met them I can't disagree, but I stand by my observations of their site.
If I comment that there is road noise or the toilet leaks water onto the floor or the shower is broken, I'm not being deliberately unfair, I'm just trying to warn others who would be put off by this. It isn't useful for someone else to say "what do you expect for £- per night"!!
When we first started caravanning I booked a few sites based on glowing reviews regarding how "lovely" everything was. Now I use Google maps and read between the lines of reviews before I book😀
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thebells, thanks for your kind words. I try to be accurate and comprehensive with my reviews, with both cravanners and M/H owners in mind, although I do tend to place some emphasis on the things I'm interested in. I realise that CL owners are more reliant on the number of visitors they get than club sites, so if there are minor deficiencies on a CL which I think won't harm anyone's stay I may well omit mentioning them. Major ones I will certainly point out, though.
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Agree Nellie. If it’s something that could seriously impact upon a visit be a lot of folks, it’s worth mentioning, but if it’s just a minor irritant, that others might not even notice, or might have changed when the next person visits, it needs careful consideration and choice of phrasing before damning a small site entirely. We have only ever driven away from a single place we had prebooked, (stayed one night, but paid for two) purely because we found it overwhelmingly noisy, but there were others there that didn’t have any problem.
In 35 years of touring, using all sorts of sites, I think we have only been disappointed by four. One was the site above, road noise too much for us, very first one was a tiny one we rolled into in the days of our little camper van. We found it in the dark, desperate for somewhere to sleep. Stumbled to loos in dark, had a sleep, got up to have a shower in daylight.....😱had a quick wash back in van and left the showers to the creepy crawlies! Second one was a Club Site, a big one. Had a row with the jobsworth in charge, he got a second dose from his partner, as we were very much in the right, and we haven’t been back since, but I know others love the place. (Mr Nasty is probably long gone now, we need to go back) Third one we phoned on the road, only to find we just couldn’t level up MH no matter how hard we tried. But it was perfectly nice place, wouldn’t dream of giving it a bad review. Not bad in all those years, we tend to do our homework before staying.
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“I try to be accurate and comprehensive with my reviews…”
Nellie, you succeed 👏🏻
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It's like any any other reviews on the net.
You get a feeling after a while of reading them and read the best and worst reviews then make up your own mind.
Plus in time one gets to know the reviewers you like and the ones which, well, one takes a pinch of salt with.
It's how life is in the end you know the people you trust for a good story and those who frankly aren't that good.
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- There are a few reviewers that I look for when researching a CL, and I also take notice of recommendations made on here by regular contributors.
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I often find those few 'improper' reviews help give me an insight into the different and sometimes odd ways of a few folk. Yesterday I overheard a lady chuntering about people, particularly the men, sitting in the drying room where she wanted to hang up her laundry to dry which included her 'smalls'. This she felt worthy of comment and complaint. To be fair her 'friend' did try to explain that the room was really for drying wet weather leisure gear and the tumble dryer in the laundry next door was what she really needed to use for her 'delicates'. She also pointed out that the drying room on this site doubled up as the wifi hot spot and that was why folk were sitting in there. The lady then replied that she would pretend not to have heard this and that she would carry on anyway.
I'll keep an eye out for that possible 'review'.2 -
I often trawl through the reviews to find some factual useful information, ...village closeby has a different meaning for caravanners jumping in a car and motorhomers wanting to safely walk with a pavement as there is no suitable parking. I have suggested to the club for site information to be more specific.
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No, I think the reviewers provide the most up to date info, on the ground so to speak and nearly always accurate...except for some of those ten minute walks to the shops, town or beach that take 40 mins and the climb back takes even longer.
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