Booking ahead is unfair at some sites
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With the other club it's a £25 deposit or the actual cost up front if only a one night stay. I don't find this a problem and have never wanted to go anywhere over and over again for weekends etc to the same place. It is possible that the local weekend bookers are making it less possible for others to enjoy popular places like Chatsworth if they can book ahead speculatively and then cancel easily. This is too late for some who need to plan and book but it gives further leeway to those who can book at the last minute. I presume a balance now needs to be struck somewhere and deposits may even out the advantages that some have enjoyed? It might be fairer to all in the long run.
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I admit brue, the site at Chatsworth is like our second home It's 20 miles from home so do we really need to for the weekend - no. But we do. And often if we get the chance. My wife also had elderly and somewhat trying parents so it meant we could get away but be near enough for her to pop back if they needed her.
We don't do much when we're there. We walk the dogs in the park. Over to the stable for a coffee and a cake then a leisurely walk back. Wander around Bakewell and, generally, just relax. Sometimes we don't even go out. We take books, have the TV and I take the dogs for a wander.
We could do the same at Clumber which is also close but we need to be in contact with her parents and there is no mobile signal there at all.
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Commons wood has both awni g and non awning pitches if you had booked either then you may well have been told they were fully booked of the type you were on, ,we tend to book a non awning pitch there as most are as here better than some awning pitches it seems with that site now the regular staff do not do "what iffs?"
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Empty pitches at a site like Chatsworth I suspect is down to no shows rather than cancellations. Deposits, as long as they're meaningful, would stop that.
Sorry disagree, we have in the past due to circumstances we could not control had to cancel some sites at the C&CC but as their useless system does not allow a change within 30 days we chose not to turn up and just lost the deposit so the site lost out on a full night fees, others lost out on booking the sites so no one was a winner.
Deposits or lack of are the clubs USP why would you change that and potentially lose out on full nights fee's if someone does not turn up. At least now if you cancel the pitch is available for others to use.
I am sure there are a few who book a year in advance (because you have to now if you want to guarantee a pitch at certain time) and then maybe cancel nearer the time as they fine tune their plans but these are few and far between so the club should maybe monitor this if they do not already, but if I say book Chatsworth for every weekend and then cancel the ones I do not want what difference does it make if the cancel period is 72 hours, a week or a month the site still becomes available for others to book which may not happen if deposits are introduced.
Seems it is those that cannot plan in advance that are the most vociferous as they cannot book the so called honeypot sites then suddenly think a deposit will open up hundreds of pitches but it won't as those sites will always be fully booked whatever you do so seems to me a sledgehammer to crack a nut for 3 or 4 sites.
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Not turning up doesn't help anyone. In most cases cancelling at 72 hours doesn't help many people particularly if they're touring. it really only helps the retired members who might have a look at the website, see a pitch has become available and decide to go. Certainly doesn't help working people who may have to plan leave in advance.
Change that to 30 days may help lots more members and bringing in deposits to stop speculative bookers.
To any club or site a deposit retained is better than an unsold pitch. Common business sense to me but then, I'm in business and perhaps know what I'm talking about.
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😁 Thats my very point mbee. Whatever happened to camping as a cheaper alternative. We have actually given up on taking tourer somewhere on occasion, we have found a cottage (direct through owners) for not much more, so it’s better value to us.
Bubble will burst in a couple of years, lots will be back off abroad, outfits up for sale, Memberships given up. Sanity will return👍😉
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Not turning up doesn't help anyone. In most cases cancelling at 72 hours doesn't help many people particularly if they're touring.
If I am touring I look on the day for a site/pitch so 72 hours is fine and I am sue many others will find the same but we have a MH so more flexible I guess and most caravans do not tour speculatively?
To any club or site a deposit retained is better than an unsold pitch. Common business sense to me but then, I'm in business and perhaps know what I'm talking about.
Being in business you must know what a USP is then, if not look at Dragons Den!! Gaining say £25 for an unused pitch is fine but getting £40 or £50 is much better I would say but that's common business sense. If a person is going to lose a deposit whatever there is no incentive to cancel is there so at least with the present system someone not going to take up their booking can easily cancel so it is available for others.
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I am trying to think back to what DG said at AGM, but I don’t think that it was mentioned that no shows were an issue, more that deposits might make bookings fairer for more people. It is giving up on a much loved USP though, and we have always picked up lots of cancelled pitches either on day of setting off, or adding to a stay when somewhere like YRP. Can’t recall ever seeing YRP not almost fully booked, other than when a few pitches were out of use for maintenance work.
All that’s going to happen is that there will be a monthly scramble a year ahead for certain Sites, at certain times of year, and those unable, or unwilling are still going to be at the back of the queue for those Sites unless they can sort something out. Deposits won’t solve this. Nor will putting a cancellation deadline of a month in place. Folks booking their Summer holiday won’t think “oh I didn’t get my booking in July 2022, and I will wait to see if a cancellation comes up in June 2022”, they will have sorted something else out months before this, either elsewhere, or with another business.🤷♀️4 -
But you as I posted do not know the reason.
And I would have thought if some one at half term wanted Chatsworth but as it showed full when looking, ,so maybe took another site as second choice
Common sense would prevail and if pitches became available at short notice would have canceled the other site and snapped them up
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I don't know the reason the pitches were empty but that isn't the point. Had those pitches had a £25 deposit the Club would have had £150. As it was they had nothing.
Chatsworth is an expensive site so I'd be in favour of a higher deposit.
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I think you might just be looking at things from a caravanners view point mbee (nothing wrong with that at all by the way😁), but generally, those with MH’s, campervans might just be a tad more spontaneous in their choices, tend to stay on one Site for a shorter period, and are happier booking a stay later, if they book at all. Some of course, will do things differently, I accept that.
When we used caravan, I would book our stay a year in advance (a very popular CL, tweaking the dates ASAP to suit work). We seldom book anything more than a few weeks, more usually a few days ahead with MH, so I can fully understand what MichaelT is saying. A lot of cancelled pitches are picked up by those properly touring around, or adding onto somewhere they might just have rolled into. We do this regularly, always ask for any cancellations that might come up at YRP, to add on another night or two.
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Not at CW but at Sandringham site we wanted to change to a non awning pitch as it was much nearer the facilities for OH the lady in the office was most insistant that it was not possible,even though it showed on the website that there was vacant non. awning pitches
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The pros and cons and different versions of booking systems and deposits have been discussed quite sensibly by contributors to this and the other thread. As yet this is still a relatively small number of people. What we don't know is what happens when the subject reaches a wider audience? I know the idea of deposits has been in the offing, probably since the 2020 AGM but it does not seem to be part of the wider debate out there on social media and regular forums. So what quite happens when it becomes a reality is difficult to guess? Obviously those that have been calling for deposits will no doubt rejoice that they have been listened to but will the silent majority be so keen?
Some might suggest a mass desertion from the ranks of Club members. But where do they go? The Club is a very big player in the campsite market and inevitably anyone leaving the Club is just going to encounter the situation with deposits elsewhere and perhaps more rigorous requirements to pay up front 4/6 weeks prior to arrival. I imagine it will be met with some disappointment but probably accepted. Perhaps some older members whose thoughts might be whether it was time to give up might just hasten that decision. After a period of reflection I am sure it will all settle down?
David
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Two things there DK, first is communication with the majority of Members. I think you said earlier that little as yet has been put to the Membership, other than one or two threads on here, a quite controversial thread on another forum a while ago, and the tiny few snippets picked up via the AGM. The Club isn’t renown for its communications of things as big as this, (think back to the name change😂) so I suspect many Members are going to be offered a fait accompli, take it or leave it. How that will go, as you say remains to be seen.
We look long and hard at our Membership each year now. Being canny, it costs us nothing as I get my £54 back in partner deals like Mountain Warehouse, some of the money off attractions. But from a personal point of view, other than in the Winter months when prices drop, or looking at Sites with MWD, we seldom use Club Sites now. They no longer represent value for money to us. The small, no facility Sites are a dwindling resource, Sites are (outside of Covid) closing earlier, so places like Bolton Abbey are no longer available. We aren’t interested in Bridlington, Clumber isn’t safe to take a bike to, and that’s about it close by🤷♀️ Chatsworth and Castleton ok for a one off visit, but we don’t sit about on Sites, we go to see something, do something. So we use far more CLs and small private sites nowadays. If the CLs broke away, formed their own network, we would be off like a shot. We simply don’t want to pay £30-40 for 12 hours on a pitch. We can get much better value elsewhere. I can understand folks new to touring, coming from package holidays overseas, etc.... thinking “this is cheap” once they have purchased some sort of tourer, but the jury is out on how many will keep that lifestyle before the lure of something easier calls again.🤷♀️ There’s nothing Club like at all now beyond the rallies, the committees and the AGM, great if you like that sort of thing, and possibly better value, but beyond this, the Club is a very big business, about to have a major rethink that won’t suit everyone. We have never had a romanticised “belonging to the Club” view of our Membership (nothing wrong with that if you have), but we will be as ruthless with our thinking, as the Club is with theirs. We won’t be missed, no illusions on that score, but we will survive as tourers, simply because there are more options, and we have been using them for a while.😉
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We always fully intend to take up our bookings, none are speculative. Other than in booking 6 months to a year ahead none of us can be sure we will be able to go.
I should have thought it was blindingly obvious. We make a lot of separate bookings, over 30 CAMC sites this year. Slightly different to when we were working, when it might have been 10. Why would I want to tie so much of my money up with the club. Even when we bought our current MH and they were installing a refillable gas system and several other add ons, we only parted with a 2.5 % deposit. Folk seem far too eager to hand over their money. I don’t mind paying in advance but I would expect a discount. Remind me just what is the £54 a year membership for.?
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