Surprising Late Availability
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"I live in Mevagissey in:Cornwall and the local commercial sites (and village) seem to be having a bumper year. On changeover Saturday and the night before there are caravans and motorhomes parked overnight all over the place and sites are full. "
The south coast must be doing something the north coast isn't then because most of the sites in the Newquay & Perranporth area are showing availability throughout the month! But I did just check Pentewan Sands in Mevagissey where Mrs M's parents spent many happy years back in the 80's and 90's and I see that a family of 4 can still book a pitch for a whole week in the middle of August - as long as they're prepared to pay the thick part of £50 a night for a non electric pitch about 20 rows back from the sea front next to the main road past the site!
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Forever the optomist Corners!, Take the blinkers off and look around a little more instead of just focusing on Club sites.
Perhaps it is not prices and perhaps it is a general downturn but the way I see it peak occupancy is definitely not so good as it used to be. When you have a downturn, for what ever reason you have to make your offering even more attractive to the customers who might want your product or lose out to the competition..
I don't think anyone has openly said they are happy about it, we should all be concerned not happy, after all if the Club cannot make ends meet it is, or will be, in trouble.
I think it is often said on here that the Club should provide sites/facilities to suit every taste, currently I believe it is lacking sites with facilities attractive to many families and it it needs to diversify more both in pitch types offered and facilities. One size does not fit all and it has to shake off an image of being a Club for just seniors..
peedee
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I’ve not looked at the sites in the Pentewan/Mevagissey area as SB has because they’re not on my route but I’ve certainly noticed that so far there’s not been so much traffic on the roads around the St Austell area this summer. Even our biggest supermarket has had ample space in the car park which is unusual for the silly season.
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Tavistock was like a ghost town yesterday, definitely the quietest we have ever seen it. We might venture off Moor and into Cornwall and towards Dartmouth in next few days, see if roads are quiet as well. Good for us, we can get about easier, and interesting places are not overcrowded. It was busy up here on Sunday though.
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Took a walk along the Wye to Symonds Yat yesterday and stopped at a riverside pub. Very few people about. The cruise boats appeared half full. When one considers that this is "peak season", many towns also seem very quiet.
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I've just received an email from the club suggesting that we may consider going to clumber Park as it has availability. A bit late really as we are already away and paying £20 on a private site but wouldn't touch clumber anyway at the £33 a night the club want. They must be trying to fill the gaps but the prices are more than we will pay.
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There are at least 5 CC sites that have over 100 pitches each available from this Sunday, and 16 others with 50 or more places available for the same date.
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The period after the initial first couple of weeks of the English school holidays have always tailed off until the next rush for August bank holiday for those who are at work,
As some may remember the last week in July and First week of August was when most of the countries industry closed down for "works weeks" now it is spread over many weeks and with "flexible hours" people can, and seem do, take more shorter breaks spread over longer periods rather than take it in one lump, also it seems that more children are away with grand parents,mid week, if this site is following a pattern
Not trying to excuse what seems more vacancies this year that may be just following the national trend of reducing the amount people have for anything other than keeping annual expenditures under more scrutiny
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What blinkers PD, if you read my post carefully again I said that without precise data all we can do is speculate. Like most you are basing your (rather negative I have to say) view on what you 'see 'around you. As you can't see that far from your local perspective perhaps it is you who is blinkered and ever the pessimist?
As Harry based his OP why should I look beyond club sites? Why as someone who used club sites almost exclusively should I bother to look at other providers? They will have to look after themselves.
As being a club for seniors I can only base my findings on what I see with my own eyes at sites this year in school holidays. That is club sites full of families as backed up by JK.
I don't know your touring habits but if you went to club sites in school holidays you would see a different picture perhaps?
Can you actually prove this downturn you speak of?
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Fair enough PD but as you have posted that you rearly visit club sites in peak at least my observations, through any coloured glasses, are based on what I have actually seen through them as opposed to yours.
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I actually agree with you!
SURPRISE.
Club sites that have limited play facilitys, are ideal for younger familys. My 6 year old grandson would be perfectly happy with swing, slide, squeaky this and that.
Today we took him to Wentworth Castle, with a similar play area, well things in it, as you would find on many CMC sites, packed with pre teen kids.
Trouble is tho, he also wants useable internet, even at 6.
If you then go up the children's age range, into almost and teen, as I've said before, CMC just dont cut the mustard, and never ever will.
Children aside, the main problem for me is sardines, I have yet to go to a CMC site that has a natural pleasant atmosphere, where as I've been to plenty of commercial sites that do, the spacing makes a person slightly competitive I've found. Wardens who my wife, an award winning retail manager says now and again that they shouldn't be in a customer facing role, she is after all an expert in a very competitive field, free advice!
Which brings me to Cornwall, we stayed at Little Winnick first two weeks in July, packed! Pitches emptied, next day some one else arrived, we are going back next year as are our 2 neighbours.
Very similar setup to CMC, but the atmosphere was there, explain it?
My thoughts, the CMC model is designed for a certain type, those types are becoming fewer and fewer, so many options to choose from now, we are renting a holiday cottage October, Charlstown Harbour Cornwall, around £375 for the week, not worth towing the caravan down there for that price.
By the way Pentewan is a very different kettle of fish to nearly all Cornish sites, own beach access!
The pitches arnt that great to be honest, walked through the place a few weeks ago, no dogs allowed on the beach either, and I think, only think on site too.
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Wardens who my wife, an award winning retail manager says now and again that they shouldn't be in a customer facing role, she is after all an expert in a very competitive field, free advice!
The value of free advice is always questionable IMO.
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And of course being an award winning retail manager and an expert in her field (is that a pun btw) makes her suitable to know what makes a good warden?
Well as a non award winning anything and never claimed to be an expert I've found that most if not all wardens are brilliant in a customer facing role🙂
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my guess is the efforts to attract more families to the Club are not producing the results hoped for.
Or perhaps they are attracting them, but driving numerically more of the established customer base away?
As for "customer facing" - surely that depends very much on the customers' attitudes.
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I think you will find that if the big yellow thing is in the sky most sites are full all week. People book later than they used to gambling on the weather...…….1
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Do they sell site pitches in Asda now?
Agreed, Corners, the two don’t correlate but I find it's extremely rare to meet a less than friendly warden.
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I'm here to help, again.
I cant claim huge years of membership, but I can claim to read what's on offer, an art lost.
Below is a direct copy from the list of CMC's requirements for a warden.
"If you’re passionate about delivering great customer service"
Which is exactly the same wording from, you guessed it, supermarkets.
So no Asda doesnt sell pitches, but they do require, promote, train colleagues in great customer services.
Retail is retail is retail....
The other aspect the club sites may be suffering from is the down turn in the pension pound!
The stakeholder pension is now a thing, the payments are considerably less than FSS, if the club income is focused too much around the retired, then the CMC surely will suffer the effects of reduced disposable income from its customers, resulting in less site occupancy.
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I do wish you’d tell that to some of the staff in our local Asda. 😦
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Apology accepted.
Been in your Asda several times this year, car park, no idea!
Colleagues very good.
Very helpful, smart, polite, nothing too much trouble.
A+
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Actually I don't go into supermarkets for customer service at all. I go in for good range of food and excellent prices. Interaction with staff really falls at the bottom of the list. You may want to mention that to your award winning wife. It might explain why Asda comes in 7th in the UK supermarkets chart while Aldi comes in first, see https://yougov.co.uk/ratings/food/popularity/supermarket-chains/all
All that great training may be misdirected it would seem?
Also rather naively I thought retail and the leisure business were two different things?
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I suspect I have a much fuller picture than you of my local shop.
Apology? In your dreams.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤪
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I didn't quote asda, another poster did
I was pointing out that customer services forms part of an experience in any retail environment, club sites being one such and if its poor this can lead to people not returning, the subject being poor site occupancy.
For example,
My own experience this year Sandringham in February, for us
Great location,
Great access to site
Easy drive from home.
Plenty of walks and things within driving distance to do.
Plus plus plus.
We arnt going back, we would have gone regularly year on year, weather permitting, but the customer experience we had was poor.
And from that we may not even join the club next year, Sandringham was the draw, and on the back of that I was taking out club caravan insurance almost now, my Frank Pickles insurance premium is now the same as CMC, so why not?
Well we may well not be members long enough.
So the club on the back of poor customer services has lost x+y+z of £'s times the number of other unhappy folk.
Hence the comments I made regarding my wife and her educated observations.
Pliers as a side note, I honestly cant remember you? Did you have another name? Should I remember you?
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