Opinions please - gas not available on site

24

Comments

  • MikeyA
    MikeyA Forum Participant Posts: 1,072
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    edited August 2020 #32

    Whilst I agree with everyone else that the OP is to blame and not the Club it does again highlight the situation that the Club provides no gas on site. I simply fail to understand how, the so called leading provider of sites in this country, relies on the goodwill (and financial nous) of the wardens to provide Calor Gas, using their own money and pocketing the profit generated to supplement their income. 

  • Rufs
    Rufs Club Member Posts: 4,072 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited August 2020 #33

    Significant difference i feel, on most sites i have visited over there you pay when you depart not when you arrive and you only give an estimate of the time you will be staying on pitch, so no money changes hands until you leave, so no need to provide a refund.

    On CAMC sites you pay on arrival and reception on some sites can be busy enough without having to dole out refunds.

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited August 2020 #34

    I thought that toilet fluid, gas etc was still sold

    From the website

    Will Club campsite shops be open?
    Whilst we are aiming to provide the ability to purchase LPG, toilet chemical & rock pegs at all campsites via a telephone order and collect service paid by credit card, unfortunately, many of our campsites will not be providing the usual grocery shop offer. Therefore, please ensure you are as prepared as possible and bring all your grocery essentials with you.


    For details of all those campsites where shops will not be opening please go to www.camc.com/reopening'

  • ForestR
    ForestR Forum Participant Posts: 326
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    edited August 2020 #35

    From discussion with wardens on site last week the club has told them no shop sales at all Inc gas.

    Since one bottle was empty and we are out again soon I tried all five local calor  dealers to obtain a 3.9kg propane bottle without success. Rang Hesfords at Ormskirk about ten miles away who normally have a large stock who confirmed smaller bottles of propane in very short supply but had small number in stock. Drove over within hour and changed bottle. 

    Assistant in shop said demand was outstripping supply and there are reports of severe shortage in south west. Maybe someone in that area can confirm.

     

  • moulesy
    moulesy Forum Participant Posts: 9,402 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited August 2020 #36

    But let's be clear that this business of refunds  (in the UK) is general and not restricted to (either) club.

    In David's example above, were it possible to book for 6 weeks and leave after 4, you would lose 1 nights fee. Most commercial sites specifically say something along the lines of "no refunds in any circumstances". So to describe the club's system as "restrictive" is simply not true.

  • Rufs
    Rufs Club Member Posts: 4,072 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited August 2020 #37

    From discussion with wardens on site last week the club has told them no shop sales at all Inc gas

    my understanding also, it is unfortunate if the web site has not been updated, but it does say "aiming to supply" with the additional workload for wardens coping with covid-19 i guess some perks of the job have had to go by the wayside.

  • ForestR
    ForestR Forum Participant Posts: 326
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    edited August 2020 #38

    We were at Blackpool which is on the list as "shop closed" and on booking in it was obviously empty and we were told no gas supplies.

  • MikeyA
    MikeyA Forum Participant Posts: 1,072
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    edited August 2020 #39

    During our recent trip to the South coast from Portsmouth to Dover, I did see plenty of Calor gas available at numerous petrol stations. Is everyone looking at the wrong places?

     

  • Unknown
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    edited August 2020 #40
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  • davetommo
    davetommo Forum Participant Posts: 1,430
    edited August 2020 #41

    And even a meal deal for £3. 

  • KjellNN
    KjellNN Club Member Posts: 8,670 ✭✭✭
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    edited August 2020 #42

    No need to eat out as such.  Drive MH and park near fish and chip place/ Indian takeaway/Chinese takeaway, eat in MH if return to site would take too long.

    Or drive/cycle/walk/ get lift to Spar or Co-op and buy cold food if the fridge was bare.

    For the future.....invest in a small electric hotplate!

  • moulesy
    moulesy Forum Participant Posts: 9,402 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited August 2020 #43

    It may be true where you go David, but the OP was staying at Chirk and this is the UK section. As you say yourself, you have little current knowledge of UK commercial sites but the club's system is considerably less restrictive than most others in the UK - which, you'll note was the point I made in my post. Also remember that with most commercial sites in the UK one has to pay the full amount often several weeks in advance.

  • lornalou1
    lornalou1 Forum Participant Posts: 2,169
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    edited August 2020 #44

     Microwave. 

  • Rufs
    Rufs Club Member Posts: 4,072 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited August 2020 #45

    we are going off piste now...but your statements are correct, and it is impossible to compare e.g. the Spanish business model with most of the sites in the UK, but would certainly back the club with this one "No hay reembolso"

  • Unknown
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    edited August 2020 #46
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  • KjellNN
    KjellNN Club Member Posts: 8,670 ✭✭✭
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    edited August 2020 #47

    May be a continental van which does not have a microwave?

     

  • Unknown
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    edited August 2020 #48
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  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,864 ✭✭✭
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    edited August 2020 #49

    If I recall correctly I think the model of motorhome the OP has, does have a microwave. However it would depend on whether the OP and his wife had food suitable for cooking in the microwave? I think we are all aware that the OP had other choices available to him but his situation was that he didn't want to pursue those alternatives and was just asking for opinions on his situation, which he appears to have had in spadefuls!!! Until we have been there perhaps there is a need to be a little kinder?

    David

  • moulesy
    moulesy Forum Participant Posts: 9,402 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited August 2020 #50

    Not really "off piste" since the request for advice was entirely about the justification for a refund from the club. And I think there is, for once, pretty much universal agreement that there is no justification for expecting a refund in this case. However it has to be said that, had the OP wanted to leave 2 or 3 days early he would only have lost one nights fee with the club, but the whole lot with virtually any commercial site - you are correct in that whatever happens in Spain is of no relevance at aLloyd to the OP, interesting though it may be to some! wink

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited August 2020 #51

    Maybe somebody like me who does not do microwave cooking other than scrambled eggs

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited August 2020 #52

    I think that the OP wanted gas not a sarnie

  • Unknown
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    edited August 2020 #53
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  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited August 2020 #54

    According to the website most sites appear to have open shops but a few do not

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited August 2020 #55

    The present system has worked for me for nigh on 40 years. I see nothing wrong with it as long as the wardens are happy to sell gas. If the warden makes a bob or two so much the better. 

  • InaD
    InaD Club Member Posts: 1,701 ✭✭
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    edited August 2020 #56

    Agree with others, it was unfortunate, but as I understand it, it was your last day, so couldn't you have improvised a little and got something from one of the shops in Chirk?  Salads spring to mind, perhaps a cup-a-soup.  Usually, where there is a will, there is a way.  

    We once stayed at LMP for just a weekend and forgot our towels, but we improvised by using the teatowel in turn!  Maybe not something everyone would have done, but returning home wasn't an option as far as we were concerned. 

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited August 2020 #57

    Maybe he didn't wish to make do. 

  • MikeyA
    MikeyA Forum Participant Posts: 1,072
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    edited August 2020 #58

    What would you think if you went to a managed pub and the crisps were provided by the owner or brewery but the barmaid bought the peanuts and sold them privately. I would definitely think it was a "right carry on"

    Yes, the system with the gas does work but it is not the system I would expect from a multi million pound organisation. Do the wardens pay tax on their profits or are you partaking in a "cash in hand" enterprise. 

  • InaD
    InaD Club Member Posts: 1,701 ✭✭
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    edited August 2020 #59

    In that case, end of story, but expecting a refund is IMHO unreasonable, when there were alternatives.  I wouldn't class that as an exceptional circumstance.

     

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited August 2020 #60

    What would you think if you went to a managed pub and the crisps were provided by the owner or brewery but the barmaid bought the peanuts and sold them privately. I would definitely think it was a "right carry on"

    I would not care less.

    Do the wardens pay tax on their profits or are you partaking in a "cash in hand" enterprise. 

    I suggest that you ask them! Why assume that they would not? Does my window cleaner or gardener pay tax? I presume so

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited August 2020 #61

    He asked a simple question on here and nothing more.