Cost of C & MC sites
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Hi folks. I'm closing this thread temporarily until we have had chance to do some cleaning.. Please avoid personal 'digs'...
David
Edit: Thread re-opened: I've done my best with this, folks - please try to stay on topic and be kind in your comments. I'm going to clean the car now and weed the back garden. I'll come back later to take a look... I really would prefer not to have more cleaning and weeding on here later... 😀😀
Have a good day, folks.
David
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But then it seems facilities are a "hot topic" for some when it comes to sites ,as said many times "you can please the majority nearly always, but a few nitpickers never and it matters not what or where they are
"The majority of those in LVs want the knowledge of consistently finding a Good standard , rather than chancing it will be alright for them , hence clubs sites are in the majority very busy
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We were on 3 CAMC sites this school summer holiday period: Gowerton, Chapel Lane and Coed-Y-Llwyn. As oft reported, none of them were full, around 80% at best. CL was like a car park with large swathes of tarmac to pitch on. Gowerton was lovely with grass pitches overlooking the estuary if you pitched nose in, as we did. CYL was lovely with mostly HS pitches separated by large grass areas to enjoy the glorious sunsets.
Lots of growth through the gravel on HS pitches on all three sites. But didn't detract from the holiday experience. No constant buzz of mowers or tractors. Different waste facilities on 2 sites than the third. No hardship to use them.
Other than for a wee, didn't use CL facilities. Gowerton and CYL both perfectly useable with clean loos and showers. Buildings in keeping with locale, an area of mining / quarrying doesn't lend itself to glass and chrome 5* hotel type buildings.
Staff at all sites welcoming, friendly and full of advice. Unlike the reviews.
CYL was less than £27 per night for a family, good value for school summer holidays.
We had a fab pair of holidays with majestic scenery, loads of things to do and see involving steam trains, mountain railways, piers, harbours, lighthouses, castles, quarries, rivers, lakes, beaches, ice cream, fish & chips; a right proper summer holiday in school holiday time.
It would have been nice to have a serviced grass pitch, but what we had was more than sufficient and didn't detract from our holiday experience in fab weather. Only rain was on transit day twixt CL &CYL.
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We used Exbridge Lakeside CAMC and Putts Corner CAMC, during the summer. Both had a handful of spaces, but fairly full - I reckon 90-95%. I guess there will always be spaces as I would think it is really quite difficult to accommodate everyone for exactly the number of nights they require, therefore the odd pitch becomes vacant for a handful of night until the next occupant arrives. We also stayed at Devizes C&CC site, which had more spaces (I guess around 80% of hardstanding and much less than that for grass pitches. I reckon the one private site we stayed at was around 85-90%, but the other was more like 95+%
The other thing is that I think some may not book CAMC sites during the main season because most of the CAMC sites will not allow you to book a 'surface type' - although there appear to be one or two sites where you can do this from what I have spotted, (i.e. hardstanding or grass) - and therefore folk will go for non-CAMC sites where it is possible to book grass or hardstanding.
David
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And that was before the deposit system was introduced,
It will be interesting how the deposit system this club is going to introduce is going to operate
,Has any body else also noticed the September 2022pitches are already open ?earlier than in previous months
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The CC jury will be out re:deposits but one of the best and worst things about the system (which im sure CC will have evaluated) is the 72hr no penalty cancellation which is great for those cancelling but blooming annoying for those who had to book fairly early but couldnt get their booking (and had to get something else) only to see pitches on their first choice site start to appear...
again, great for those who can change plans at short notice but too late for those who had to plump for 2nd choice following a full site...
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But if people have to cancel - illness, mechanical breakdown etc - they will do so regardless of any penalty.
C&CC have had deposits for many, many years and I'm sure they still get cancellations.
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Deposits ARE coming, had it straight from the horses mouth. Couple this with the return of full rate VAT, and next year’s price rises, and you get what is going to be a bit of a shock to most existing Members pockets. The Club have a new Head of Sites, things are going to change. It won’t make a blind bit of difference to new Members, but long standing ones like us, will be looking to alternatives. Meanwhile, we are making the most of some cheap prices per night. Deposits won’t affect us very much at all. It’s extremely rare we go to a Club Site booked weeks, months, in advance. We shall just continue to look a couple of days forward, and it there’s a pitch, grab it, if there isn’t, go elsewhere. We have found some great new alternatives to Club Sites down here, forced into it to be honest if Club shuts Marazion. Sennen is too out on a limb for us, Godrevy too expensive. Carnon Downs isn’t for us. Fine if the Site is more important than the location, but it’s inland, in a not really nice bit of Cornwall, and pales alongside other locations. Probably has good showers though..........whatever floats your boat🤣
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I think Carnon Downs is in quite agood spot twixt Truro and Falmouth, just up from Devoran, Trelissick, the King Harry ferry and the cross country cycle track etc but it will never be a cheap place to visit. It's always been a popular central spot in a nice leafy area.
We can rarely up sticks and go, we mostly have to book ahead and deposits will affect us. We're used to the C&CC system so it won't be a big change for us but I think many will find it less appealing.
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CD is well connected, especially for Cornwall, but you will need a car, a bus pass or a bicycle to get around to see the best of Cornwall. A good central location for getting a day to other places. Good luck in the Summer traffic though. We would rather be in a particular area, and not have the hassle of driving far to get somewhere really lovely. But I do respect many are not like us.
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Even if a certain post on another forum was a complete wind up there have been sufficient "noises off" from the Club Magazine and the last AGM to think there is quite a lot of substance to the idea that deposits will soon be introduced. The 72 hour cancellation is more a polite request than something that will get you a punishment providing you don't do it too often!!! Of course what we don't know is how many cancellations there are in the month prior the site visit. There will be a proportion of cancellations due to issues of health or perhaps vehicle malfunction that prevents someone honouring a booking but are these really the main cause of cancellations? Only the Club have the figures which hopefully they will share with us to justify any changes. Whilst we can't second guess I imagine any deposit won't be returned if a booking is cancelled within a month of arrival on site. They might tweak it to allow you to swap your booking to another site for the same period? What impact it would have on advanced bookings is difficult say particularly as someone who doesn't book that far ahead. But there are many members who do seem to like to book months if not years ahead. What we don't know is how many members do book speculatively and then cancel nearer the time. If that is a larger proportion than we think then it is possible there will be better availability throughout the year?
Imposing deposits will come as quite a shock to tens of thousands of members I imagine. It could go either way, people could resignedly accept the idea or will be up in arms about it much as they were with the name change. I suspect we don't have much later to wait to get the details?
David
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Deposits are on the way ,as I have been informed when i asked when? a statement about the changes to the sites booking system information to members is iminent,
but no answer is yet available about what is to happen with bookings already made for next year
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Don't hold your breath, then.
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If it's anything to do with money I would suspect that HO will get it sorted a lot quicker than the problems encountered on here!😁
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Deposits need to be introduced, practical use of both systems has learnt me this
As a member of both clubs, the difference is stark.
This clubs popular sites get booked up many months ahead , especially weekends ,however as yet i have not been unable to get in to these sites, due to the high number of cancellations that then follow ,especially in the period two weeks prior to those advanced speculative booking
The other club does not suffer from this speculative advance booking issues, as their sites do not get heavily booked many months ahead, and the tactic of waiting until the last weeks for cancellations ,rarely works, if ever works0 -
As a member of both clubs, the difference is stark.
As a member of both clubs I find the CAMC system of booking and T&C’s far superior. However, if deposits reduced the costs of sites to members, then there introduction would at least have a positive benefit. Unfortunately I think there is zero chance of that. Possibly they might be advantageous to the accounts bottom line, but I’m not holding my breath that that will impact prices.
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I suppose it could slow the rate of increases but again, I'm not banking on it.
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I wonder how many thousands of booking there are going forward into September 2022? If deposits are introduced will they be affected, or just new bookings.
I suppose it would be a huge cash boost in they are applied retrospectively and pay a deposit or lose your booking type of thing, but that would cause bad feelings and also would need a system set up to take them? Or could the new system be used?
I may be wrong but I assume it will be for new bookings and from the other forum from January?
So to avoid any deposits get booking now to avoid them, making even more 'speculative' bookings perhaps (if they happen of course).
A few more points, one the deposits need to have some 'bite' to make them effective, will the club offer it's own 'cancellation insurance' for longer stays (a nice little earner?) and there was mention of the earlier one books the cheaper?
When we booked where we are atm we had two choices - a cheaper price with no cancellation possible and a payment, or a more expensive price but with cancellation up to 3 days before and pay on arrival. I wonder if the club with do this?
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I did read of the success' of the new overseas booking system and that this might influence the adoption of some of the things mentioned here when the new UK system is introduced.
however, as ive not use it (or even viewed it) i cant comment further.
for example, does booking there now require a deposit?
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It was going to be from November?, and it is understood that those already with bookings next year will not be asked for retrospective deposits, only from when the New? booking system is itroduced
that is the end of todays news update that i have been given
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Are you saying that deposits are to be introduced on the Overseas system ?
if so, then there is already a template for managing them and a migration to this version seems obvious for the UK sites following any 'official' deposits announcement
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Steve, ive used it regularly for ferry crossings but have always paid the full price up front, no experience of using tge club for sites, we are unlikely to stick to any planned schedule so dont book in advance
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Even going back to 1987 when I booked my first overseas holiday with the Club there were always deposits with the balance six weeks before departure. I am not sure how the new system differs except, of course, its all online. I think the last time I booked anything via the Club for Europe was in 2009 when I booked a couple of sites in Italy because the currency had changed so much in value year on year I saved quite a lot of money doing it via the Club. However the overseas booking system will be different in quite a few respects. Firstly it won't subject to anywhere near the same level of cancellations as the UK system. Usually any late cancellations are covered by insurance which, thus far at least, is not the same in the UK.
I would have thought it would be a logistical nightmare to apply deposits to existing bookings. Would the system be set up for retrospective deposit taking? I somehow doubt that as it would only be needed initially. I am pretty sure the Club don't have the staff resources to do that manually? So the sensible way forward would be to only apply deposits to new bookings from a particular start date. It might also have a possible advantage to the Club in that the "shock" of deposits being required might be dissipated by a long introduction period?
David
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