No News Yet on the New Booking System
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Some people will read this and say I'm part of the problem - I am the reason they can't book Chatsworth for a week in August when they plan their holiday a couple of months before. It's up to the club to decide if people like me are the problem and they want to encourage me to take my custom elsewhere. I have no doubt that if non-refundable or non-transferable deposits are introduced, my spending levels with the club will dramatically decrease. They have to answer the question - will that spending be recovered elsewhere?
I think there is little doubt your spending would be replaced. Can you imagine all those new members looking to book a site within a few months of joining?
If I'd joined say in March of this year and then seen the amount of availability I would have been livid and demanding a full refund. Maybe the phone lines were red hot!
For deposits to work, they need to be significant. Say 25 percent up front and final payment 28 days before arrival with a full loss of any payments prior to cancellation. Like everything else we book, we are warned no refunds and to take out insurance!!
I like the current system, know how to exploit it's ideosyncracies but suspect for many it's a real barrier.
Perhaps bookings over peak periods will be for a minimum of 7 nights???
Lots of possibilities but all come with some significant IT risk implementing such change...
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The way the club is run at the moment makes it different from other sites / clubs, it has the advantage over them where it doesn't take deposits, do away with that and they will find they are then in competition with the rest of the field. In fact why pay for membership when you aren't getting anything over and above the rivals and please don't quote the £13 extra you have to pay if you are not a member.
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Joanie, some of us have been pointing out that the no deposit and easy cancellation system is indeed a USP of this club. Others don’t see it that way and it looks as if their voices have taken precedence over ours.
No deposits never made good business sense but we enjoyed the freedom while we could. Now it looks as if the club is returning to the way it was when I joined in terms of deposits. The decision has been made, so be it, I’ll go with the flow.
Nice to see you posting again. Stay around.
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No deposits never made good business sense but we enjoyed the freedom while we could. Now it looks as if the club is returning to the way it was when I joined in terms of deposits. The decision has been made, so be it, I’ll go with the flow.
Depends on how attractive it makes it to book a CMC site
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Naturally.
It depends on what you want - a decent site of known quality or an unknown entity.🤷🏻♂️
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Well, you’ll probably be able to get a pitch on a club site once deposits kick in if we're to believe the tales we're told.👍🏻
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I really wonder if it will make that much difference or as much difference as people make out? I still think that weekends and peak times will be booked up.
I remember the last 'big change' of going from one booking day to a rolling system and how many posters were in favour of the change, and now people complain about the current system?
Interesting how a few posters are now saying they'd like to keep no deposits and also how the ones that want deposits use club sites the least?
It won't change my booking habits in any event, but at least 12 months or more away?
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It won't change my booking habits in any event.
It won’t change my habit of booking / planning well in advance. Although it is very likely to influence which provider I book with. Unless the deposits system is substantially different to the C&CC. Unfortunately I just don’t think the CAMC has the IT system to cope with anything radical.
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I tend to agree, Corners. I don’t think it will make the booking situation any worse but it may not improve it in the way those who have been calling for changes wanted.
Wow, a whole year to debate the pros and cons before it happens🤣🤣
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So true! The eventual revelation becomes a relief as the gloom and doom mongers made it out to be so much worse than the reality 😆
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Steve
Just possible the Club don't want the same reaction they got to the name change? Which came out of the blue and was presented as a fait accompli which resulted in a lot of anger and hostility. The big difference is that the new booking system, including deposits, is multi dimensional. Is the Club just softening us up for what will be an equally big move in my view, by talking about it and saying they are consulting. Its been mention so many times over the last two years that it probably shouldn't be a surprise? Having said that I am sure it will be as big a surprise to many who perhaps don't spend much of their time reading the runes like many regulars on this forum?
David
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Are we all missing the real reason for deposits? The club had a bad year through lockdown. While it may not have lost money the coffers will certainly be topped up by taking deposits (say £25 ) a year in advance, given that most sites book up quite quickly. Do the maths 1 site of 100 pitches with, say 200 bookings in a month - by my reckoning that’s half a million quid in advance payments for 1 month on 1 site!!!!!
The accountants have the upper hand - not the membership here!!!
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I really wonder if it will make that much difference or as much difference as people make out? I still think that weekends and peak times will be booked up.
They most likely will be but not so fast as currently and if there are any cancellations or no shows leading to empty pitches, the Club will have least earnt something from them unlike now. if they are not taken up last minute which does happen.
peedee
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I think the questions in the 2020 minutes, ten of them in total, are what were asked/read out at the 2020 AGM and therefore included in the Minutes. The other couple of dozen or so of questions submitted, but not read out, are listed as you linked.
So I am guessing that the questions asked last week, either in person, or the couple or so read out from those submitted electronically, will be attached again to the 2021 Minutes, with the rest listed, with a response similar to your link?
Hope this makes sense😁 Some included in Minutes with response, others listed, with a response. All questions asked, responded to as promised.
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No, totally unlike now. If there are cancellations the club can sell that pitch to someone else. Also at the moment people are more often than not are telling the club they cancel and that pitch can be resold?
And remember no shows went down last time they removed deposits, I wonder what will happen this time?
Let's do an example. A three night booking is taken and deposits paid, they don't turn up, What happens to the other two nights? Does the site resell or as they have paid a deposit not dare to? I suppose it will depend on the T&Cs? A bit academic as deposits will now happen, but not for 12+ months
But PD you have often stated you don't use club sites often, will you now start?
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It was recorded (Zoom), so it’s all there for folks to watch, bar the extra questions submitted. Just needs Club to put up the video.
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What would be really bad news would be if they started to do minimum number of nights -obviously most nights are part of multi night stops but it would seriously impact against those using club sites as stop overs on journeys. And probably a greater proportion of motorhomers than caravanners stop single nights.
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My neighbour with a B & B won’t accept bookings for single nights months ahead - especially not weekend nights. She refuses them and waits for bookings for longer stays to come in, but if there are none, then nearer the time she will accept bookings for single nights. An idea for caravan sites?
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But PD you have often stated you don't use club sites often, will you now start?
I use enough Club sites to justify membership, very rarely use other services. Its the same with the C&CC so not unique to the C&MC. Whether there are deposits or not, it will not change my usage patern, Along with commercial sites CLs and CSs I like a good mix of sites for the variety.
My usage so far this year:
CMC nights 27
Continental 0
Commercial 26
Rallys 0
CL 6
C&CC 9
CS 3
Total 71 nights, hope that satisfies you.peedee
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