Booking ahead is unfair at some sites
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As I've said the 72 hour window is not long enough. We've just had 3 nights at Chatsworth over a weekend. Website said it was full. I called the site at 9am on the Friday morning to see if we could change to a standard or super pitch as all we could get was a non awning pitch when i originally booked.
Warden told me there was no availability and were full. I took the dog out after 8pm on both the Friday and Saturday nights and there were pitches free both standard and super. i can only assume this was down to "no shows". Deposits need to be brought in that are meaningful and the cancellation period extended to 30 days or lose the deposit.
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It’s happening, Mbee, although we don’t know the details yet, so all will be well……
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Deposits need to be brought in that are meaningful and the cancellation period extended to 30 days or lose the deposit.
Presumably you would be happy to forfeit your deposit should you test positive for Covid and could not turn up? Pitches may have been free for a number of reasons so do not assume its no shows you could well assume the people were abducted by aliens as its all supposition. Maybe you should write to HO and ask why they were free to find the real reason?
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It's good to talk
.Strangely some folk like to talk through social media, don't get it myself
JK
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mbee1 tells us that he called the site at 9 am on the morning of his arrival and was told there were no vacancies. That same night he saw some vacant pitches.
I am struggling to think of any reason other than no shows or cancellations between 9am and "after 8pm" (the only difference being that they at least made a notification) - assuming, that is, that mbee1 was given true information.
Abduction by aliens is unlikely, on the whole. Just possibly, a reason might be that they turned up but did not like what they found so departed immediately. Again, pretty much the same thing. It all comes back to no shows.
Of course, and this might be the point you were trying to make, we do not know the reason for the no show or cancellation. It could have been any number of reasons, some of them entirely benign, some selfish and some possibly because of some unfortunate event befalling the people concerned. But that does not alter the fact these were people who booked a pitch, but who did not use it and, as a result, people willing and anxious to have a pitch on that site have lost out, as has the club who lose revenue.
Deposits are a must in my view and I agree that the cancellation period should be much longer than 72 hours. I think I posted earlier that my understanding is that the CCC have a month's cancellation period and that sounds about right to me. Oh and, yes, I would be perfectly happy to forfeit my deposit if I test positive for Covid. Life is full of risks and one cannot expect others to pick up the pieces.
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Earlier this year ,we were on a club site, when on the Friday a member was unable to reset the bollard trips to get power,,when the site staff also could not reset them ,it was found that the whole bollard had a fault ,and so the members were asked to move pitches if they wanted EHU,as luck had it the two outer hard stands were within reach of bollards with extra hookups so only one needed to move, which to arrivals on a full site would see an empty pitch
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At what level of occupancy is a site deemed to be 'full'?
seems a simple enough question but I guess the answer isn't the obvious one...0 -
As I pointed out to a very "important" site manager 1last month when there was a real proble with the site WiFi as I was told when the site is full there is a problem with members streaming?
It did not compute when I said but the site is not full? As all the grass pitches are not being used
As other site staff had advised me to contact Air Angel which I had done
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Evening
I put my site full sign out when the computer says I'm booked to zero that night, not before. That's zero on the available pitches for sale on that particular day. There's lots of variables on that in my experience.
JK
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The reasons surely do not matter. I was told there were no free pitches only to see later on that there were. That’s lost revenue to the club at stops other members using those pitches.
As I’ve already said on this I’d be willing to lose my deposit if the reason for my not turning up was genuine. However, members would be less willing just not turning up if the deposit was high enough.
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I think that could end up being one of the problems, certainly as regards the issue of picking up a pitch late on. It would depend on what the procedure was with collecting the balance. If like the C&CC it was collected on the morning of arrival, most would not risk leaving it that late and cancel the day before. However, currently if it looked 50:50 that we could go, I would most likely cancel a week before and certainly within the 72 hours. If on the other hand I was going to loose my deposit anyway, I would leave it until the day before on the off chance we might be able to make it.
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Thanks JK, I guessed so....
who sets the level of 'available pitches' as this seems to be the limiting factor? Surely the site manager..?
as above, probably not the number in the book and subject to change for those 'variables' you mention.
now, if the site is 'nearly full' but 'variables' conspire to take 'available pitches' below planned occupancy level on a 'particular day', will some customers get 'bumped'?
** needs a list of 'definitions' this posts...😉
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How is it the same , that was an example off how it could be altered
and to claim it is basically the same is wrong
Under the present system you can cancel as many times as you want ,under my suggested alteration that no longer applies
I have no doubt that it will be resisted by those that do not like the idea , that the option to cancel as many booking , would no longer exist0 -
Ah, other bit of my earlier post. You need to read the job descriptions for the new posts. What these new appointees will be doing, responsible for, is in the job descriptions. The Club appears to be going to do a lot more analysis and looking at trends and patterns.
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If I understood it right you were suggesting cancel 3 bookings, and any bookings for the rest of the year are forfeit. When we had a caravan we generally stopped a week or more in one place. Now with a MH, in that week we would have 3 separate sites. Therefore if we had to cancel, for say a mechanical issue, we would be cancelling 3 sites rather than the one. To forfeit all your other bookings as a consequence, would seem rather draconian. Plus as JVB says, for 3 within 72 hours that option is already in place, after consultation with the offender.
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No system is perfect and applying a scenario which is unlikely to happen for 99.99% of members,is a weak reason
How you plan your holidays, or you use a motor home is your choice
Even with motor homes, most do not do three sites in three days, so we are probably down to, for 99.9999% of members, your scenario is unlikely .
Then as you post
Plus as JVB says, for 3 within 72 hours that option is already in place, after consultation with the offender.
So if what you posted, did happen you would not be punished0 -
Erm, we tour moving from a Site to another site every one or two days as well. It’s what a lot of MH owners do......
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Ditto.
Anything more than 2 nights is a long stay😀
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So that’s down to 99.98 % now😂
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I believe that the term "speculative" can be a little unfair. Yes there will be people who do book pitches speculatively but you would have to look into why they do it. I have booked a period in Black Knowl for next year on the basis that I want to go there at a specific time. It is a long way from the middle of Scotland but I know if I don't get booked in as soon as the site becomes bookable I won't get a pitch in the dates I need. I have no idea if something will crop up that prevents me from taking the booking as it did this year. Does that make me "one of those people"? There is a problem with pitch availability. It's caused by more members than there are pitches and this has been made considerably worse since last year with more members coming on board. Yes, deposits are good for CAMC cash flow, but not for the membership trying to get a pitch. I've been a member for forty years and liked the flexibility of the booking system but to change to a deposit system is going to cause a fair degree of complexity. And, by the way, I have never in forty years been asked by anyone for feedback.
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I’ve said before that all bookings have you be considered speculative as, even with the best will in the world, none of us can know for sure that we will be in a position o take up that booking. Illness or mechanical breakdown, for example, can strike any of us at any time.
I agree with your post, Net, but the deed is all but done.
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