Proportion of Serviced v Standard Pitches
Comments
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"We always use serviced pitches, partly due to the convenience but also because you are guaranteed a hard standing pitch. We really don't like grass pitches."
wouldn't the best way to acheive this simple request be for the club to change the booking process?
however, because the club won't set up the booking system to book a hardstanding (which would be the same price as grass) this is a great way of extracting an extra £3.90 a day for the same result...
this seems a more likey reason for not changing the website than "confused members"
the more members tell the club this is how to get a HS (and pay £3.90) the less inclined the club will be to sort it properly, and fairly.
all of our five trips in the uk this year (since we returned from Portugal at the end of March) have been on grass pitches (two CL, two Club, one Commercial) which have all be in perfect condition and (in our opinion) far nicer than chippings....and a saving of around £100 against someone having to book an SP just to get an (equally priced) HS....
we are moving on to another Commercial in a day or two and we will be on a HS pitch....to be with our pals who prefer HS in their large van.
obviously hourse for courses but the club should really be giving those who refer HS the opportunity to book one without the additional cost of a SP.....
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This is Carnon Downs in Cornwall price
All Service Hard Standings:
£2.50 per night (including Mains drainage and Water point on each pitch)If they can do it why don't the Caravan & Motorclub do it. £3.90 too expensive.
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On my last visit to a site with SP during the week, there was actually a greater occupancy on one day on SP rather non service pitches. Most sites run at about 10% SP but this one has a third of pitches being SP. Again just one day and the SP were full before the rest of the site was. They do appear to get booked up early and before non SP pitches on sites where the number of SP is about 10%
Also while it may be true that people book them to secure a HS, but on the sites I go use are all HS and again SP go first, with motorhomes and caravans too, often 50% MH on SP.
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Possibly because Carnon Downs basic pitch price for 2 adults & 2 children in August is £41 a night, whereas, for example, Treamble Valley is £33.40!
The club clearly has a pricing strategy which works as far as service pitches are concerned. On our recent stay at Putts Corner there was never more than 1 vacant serviced pitch, even midweek. They're not for us but certainly seem popular with lots of vanners and MHers.
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We generally prefer to use serviced pitches and pay the premium. I find it bizarre that people are happy to spend £40k or more on a motorhome or car and caravan and then constantly moan about club pitch prices or paying another £4/night. Out of the annual costs of caravanning it is minimal. We are all consumers and until caravanning is nationalised or outlawed still free to take our custom wherever we wish and pay less if the club is deemed so extortionate. Sometimes we go on private sites (as we will be next month in Cornwall), sometimes we use club sites.
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....F, I think some folk do vote with their wheels and use CL/CS or THS sites to spread the revenue cost over the year..and some will also not pay a £3.90 premium for a pitch if their van can be filled for nothing at the MHSP...you can include me in both the above groups...
and many folk don't by their £40k (or indeed £100k) MH from revenue, their state pension perhaps?
this is a capital cost like house buying and has little to do with the day to day life running costs from which pitch fees are likely to be funded.
...and to that end, being a little cagey on site fees might free up revenue cash for other things....those odd trips to the Bahamas for example.
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Does careful pitching of MH, and a long hose constitute a semi serviced pitch? We have done this for years, one of our caravans had an onboard tank. We just make sure we top up at a time convenient for other site users. A lot of CL users seem to take this approach, no one has ever complained to us or to my knowledge site owner/manager. Only applies if we aren’t moving MH nowadays, which is quite rare as we do go off site in it most days.
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Bolerboy .thanks for stopping roundabout ! can concentrate on cricket ,,Both clubs @ commercial sites @ cs cls seem to be investing loads of money in glamping and other posh stuff , surely the market is not that big ?
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I guess your comment was to Peedee and his avatar?
I don't normally stop on roundabouts....
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Hi David. I have posted this elsewhere, so apologies for duplicating - here it is again, in case it helps. The device I have recently bought from Colapz is pictured below. If you take out the 'ball cock' device the 'bucket' folds right down. It is extremely light. I've also added a photo of their waste pipes.
David
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good man, David
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all the money saved on not using overpriced sites
I don't use overpriced sites. Where can I collect the money saved, please?
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That's the same thing my father came across at is photography club, they would spend thousands on equipment but did not take many photographs because of the cost of film and developing, I agree with you, from the total cost of investment,fuel , insurance etc it is ridiculous.
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Are you saying people buy expensive LVs without giving thought to the cost of using them?
Surely the sensible folk will have sussed out the running/using costs in advance and, if necessary, bought less expensive units so there’s something left in the pot for using it. Is anyone really going to splash out an enormous sum on an LV they can’t afford to use?
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I was asking exactly what you were saying because what I described was the implication I picked up. Thanks for clarifying.
Actually, if you read Hooker’s post in context it was about the ridiculousness of people spending mega bucks on an LV and then scrimping on site fees in general, not just SP fees.
I find the concept of different pots of money rather odd. What you (and others) describe is a bit like buying steak because the food money pot is flush and turning the heating off because the lekky pot is empty. It suggests poor budgeting skills to my mind.
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Were there not comments in another thread earlier this month about the theory that SOME people who have bought expensive motor caravans grudge paying site fees at all and try to ovenight for free somewhere?
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Yes, that is why we bought the van we have, and the one before it.
Our previous van (1998) had a very good full width end shower room which meant we could be totally independent of site facilities, or the lack of them, if necessary, so we looked for something at least as good when we decided to change to a fixed bed model (2008).
The great strength of Club sites is that you can generally depend on there being good disabled facilities, something that is not always available abroad, so as we planned to tour in Europe for extended periods, not needing to worry about such facilities was essential.
Although we had not thought of it at the time, 11 years back, it also means that we can use no-facility sites and CLs in UK, which we have been doing increasingly in the last few years to keep site costs down.
Previous van was purchased with money from savings while I was working, current one was from pension lump sum, as was the towcar we bought when I retired in 2007, Current towcar was purchased with savings from pension income in the previous 9 years, we make a point of saving enough to replace capital used on such purchases, and of living within our income.
This is becoming more difficult each year as my pension is not rising as fast as inflation, so we are increasingly focusing on site costs as one of the things that we can choose to do something about.
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We have used "serviced pitches" on CLs and sites where there is no option, but we have never paid extra to use one and never intend to. Being both fit and able, I really don't see such a huge benefit in paying an extra £4 just to save 10 or 15 mins each day. As we are away for around 90 nights per year, if we paid and stayed on CC serviced pitches every-time ( which we don't ) that is potentially an extra cost of £360 per year... For us there are far better ways of spending that money, and for us every charged for service pitch is a pitch lost which we will never ever use. If some find that bizarre then so be it. We each have a choice...
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