Another site not selling calor gas
Second site this holiday not selling gas, asked the chat line why , they responded by saying it was a calor gas supply issue. Spoke with warden they said no it is that the powers that be have made it the sole responsibility of wardens to sell on site including paying for insurance etc therefore some sites have decided not to sell it.
Gas if anyone at the club is unsure is a fundamental component of caravanning, why after asking people to cut back on electric and use your own source of power and not sell gas.
why hasn’t the club negotiated with calor a favorable deal for club members we pay £56 to join and £40 a night at you average club site ( 2 people toilet block site) and can’t get gas, as the man said “ I don’t believe it “
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I might be wrong but I have always understood that it is down to the site managers to operate any shop or gas sales in their own right. That's why you always need cash and it can't be done through the club PDQ machine.! (Except that maybe some enterprising wardens have their own card machines now as it is much easier and somewhat cheaper than it used to be.)
I don't have inside knowledge, but I don't think this is anything new.
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What you say is exactly what we've been told on here by a warden, GDJ. Apparently, the club provided the gas cage but nothing else.
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Both sites we stayed at this year in Cornwall both large sites sold gas and had card machines but sometimes they do not work due to mobile signal and as said a lot of staff will not use card machines lot of reasons from what we gathered this year.
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The stocking and running of most on site shops and selling of Calor gas has always been at the descretion of the site staff , ,but it seems from speaking to site staff that it is being made more difficult now by edicts from above hence the lack of what in the past members came to appreciate
It is now it seems larger sites with a high turnover that are viable
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Does anyone still pay Calor's exorbitant prices for gas? If CAMC were really 'on the ball', as they invariably have a large gas tank on site, they would install a pump that enabled them to supply members with gas for refillable gas systems, even if only for larger strategically located sites.
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Some folk only buy a gas cylinder once every 2-3 years, CY, so the price is not exorbitant for them.
If only it was as simple as you suggest to sell pumped gas!
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So information regarding the gas bottle situation on some sites. Pre covid early March, 2020, Site managers would have stocked up the shop including gas supplies. Once we went into lockdown, site managers had stock that they could see would be going out of date. The SM made the decisions with gas to return all the bottles to their supplier leaving them with no cylinders on site. So post covid, it is virtually impossible to buy new full cylinders from their suppliers. Therefore a lot of SM have chosen not operate shops.
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As you say, it will never happen. One of the problems is that Calor operate a franchise system which means retailers, like sites, do not deal directly with Calor themselves. Of course, once you buy into using a Calor bottle you’re tied in! Opting out later can be expensive!
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I’d not heard of the Flo Gas Key Sites system so looked it up. It sounds like a good scheme and, hopefully, it’ll be up and running again soon to take new accounts.👍🏻
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Who knows 🤷🏻♂️
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I know you've done it so how much does a refillable system cost to buy and install.
My gas bottle lasts about two years so it may not be worth it. Actually three years is my record.
Also is there a demand for such a service on club sites with EHU for people actually staying there to justify the expense of installation and of course its use?
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It isn't just gas sales that have been affected. We were a bit surprised / saddened when booking into Broadway the other day to discover that the handy little 'shop' in Reception had gone. The staff had been told by head office that they needed third party insurance to sell any food in case someone had an allergy which could result in legal action being taken against them. The only thing they are allowed to sell now is aerial leads!
Risk assessment gone mad - or what?
Yes - I know there is the garage / shop across the road - but it was just a nice gesture by the wardens to provide such facilities on site.
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I’m surprised you take that stance🤷🏻♂️. There have been many folk killed & hospitalised due to allergies, particularly nut specific. The major players actively check these things(yet still get it wrong). Someone popping to a food warehouse & reselling to help folk out can’t be expected to be as vigilant. I think it’s a smart move. Your convenience or their life & well-being🙁
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Totally agree, as one who had to ‘manage’ and protect those few with food allergies this could be a tragedy waiting to happen for both the sufferer and the person responsible for selling such items. I often wondered why on those multipack bags of chocolate bars and the like they had ‘contents not to be sold separately’ on them. The reason is all the food contents and allergy warnings are on the main bag and not the individual items.
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It’s up to those with the health to ensure those not so are supported as opposed to not caring. It’s what being part of a decent Human is about, good point re multipack MSF, well thought out👍🏻. Being even a tiny bit of someone’s suffering(or worse) is not for me.
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It seems an increasing trend and very inconvenient at some sites where you don't have a shop within easy walking distance. However its not universal, when we were at Poolsbrook recently they had a well stocked shop. I am not expecting a mini neighbourhood store but milk would be good!
Of course risks should be assessed but the main risk from food is when it is sold unpackaged where an unsuspecting customer won't be able to check the contents. Any packaged item will have the contents clearly marked. I therefore can't see an issue with the likes of milk and ice cream. Perhaps there is more to it than initially meets the eye?
David
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In my experience, wardens have often resold the contents of multi packs in site shops. Particularly so with ice creams where a multipack can be bought in a supermarket for as little as 25% of the price of buying individual ice creams.
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Morning
There is indeed a lot more to it which I'm not going to go into detail here. An awful lot of red tape and indeed having to buy insurance. Stocking and running a small shop aside from ever increasing site duties has become very time consuming and at times stressful. Maybe some site staff have the time and indeed patience to administer all the necessaries I don't know. Apologies to anyone who misses the convenience but personally it's just not worth it.
On the subject of gas, at the start of the season an order will be placed with either calor direct or a third party supplier for a loan stock and those bottles are exchanged through the season then returned at the end. Because of the huge shortage of bottles there is no stock to loan, let alone the unreliable resupply.
JK
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JK
As usual, thanks for informing us. Its just a shame that the Club doesn't keep members better informed. Everyone would have realised that selling things in site reception over COVID would have been a non starter. However the situation we are now in one would have hoped things would have reverted to what they were before, clearly this is not going to happen. What has changed, as we are not informed we don't know so we rely on people like you to share what you can but we appreciate that there are limits on how much you can share. Mind you it is a bit confusing with sites selling things and others not. I will soon be staying at three commercial sites on our next trip where prices are no more than the CMC charge so it will be interesting to see what they offer, if anything of course!
David
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There’s a general issue around small Calor Gas replacement bottles. We have a huge depot close to us, but even they don’t know what size of bottle they will get in. We have been trying to source a 3.9 size to replace our spare, but no joy. Luckily our other is full, and we have another in our caravan, so we aren’t desperate. We only cook with it usually.
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