Pitch reserving

crannman
crannman Forum Participant Posts: 101
First Comment
edited July 2022 in UK Campsites & Touring #1

while at sutton on sea club site a motor home that was 3rd in the que to book  the lady got out walked into the site with one of those reserved signs we where on our way back from walking . the lady checked out the empty pitches selecting one putting the sign on then returning to the reception . bit unfair in my opinion we also saw the same with a caravan where the lady stood on guard while the unit booked in . we did mention it to the warden who said it was not allowed but nothing they could do once the outfit has pitched up 

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Comments

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,829 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2022 #2

    When the club finally gets round to allocating  a numbered pitch at the time the reservation is first made - just as Brittany Ferries allocates me a numbered cabin - many members will find their blood pressure will subside.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2022 #3

    I very much doubt this club will or should go down the route of making a pitc number as part of the booking system,as the loss of income from pitches standing empty for possibly quite a few days would be untenable as far as income was concerned 

    It was a problem during the trial of hardstanding's a couple of years back with pitches being empty waiting for an arrival

    I think if I saw what you did the "reserved pitch" marker would have been lost

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
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    edited July 2022 #4

    just like the other club does 🙂

    But if we had a working search facility 🙄 this has been previously discussed at length .... those that already do so, see nothing wrong in it 🤐

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2022 #5

    Ccc reserve pitches? I think pitches are allocated by the site managers

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,138 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2022 #6

    "Bit unfair"? I think downright ignorant is a more apt phrase and recent threads have thrown up ideas for dealing with the those who pitch grab.

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
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    edited July 2022 #7

    as far as the 'customer' is concerned it amounts to the same thing ....

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2022 #8

    Really? undecided I do not think ccc members can chose their pitch before arrival

     

    We  normally tend to have an "allocated"  pitch with both clubs

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
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    edited July 2022 #9

    eurotraveller said 'When the club finally gets round to allocating a numbered pitch' ... I never said anything about members choosing their pitch before arrival

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,138 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2022 #10

    To be accurate, Euro said "When the club finally gets round to allocating a numbered pitch at the time the reservation is first made ". Those last few words make quite a difference. 🤔

  • Hja
    Hja Club Member Posts: 851 ✭✭
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    edited July 2022 #11

    Once you’ve booked in and are filling with water I see no problem with one of the occupants finding a pitch and reserving it.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2022 #12

    If you correctly  read the post you answered  from ET then your following posts would as posted not be required

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,138 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2022 #13

    I disagree as the pitch is not yours until you are parked on it and/or have the warden's agreement to your using it. Still, that’s old ground we are resurrecting.

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,387 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2022 #14

    Not so, they show you to the empty pitches from which you take your pick. It simply stops outfits driving round in cirles looking for a pitch which in my view is a good thing. It is a lot more relaxed than I remember from years ago. I have been on a C&CC site these past 3 nights and I have watched countless arrivals receive the same courtesy.

    Arrivals cannot do what the OP is complaining about either.

    peedeei

  • Graydjames
    Graydjames Forum Participant Posts: 440 ✭✭✭
    edited July 2022 #15

    I've got to say that that is not what happened to me when I was in the CCC for a short time. I was given a pitch number. Mind you, I will admit that, to the best of my recollection, I only stayed at four or five CCC sites in the two years I was a member. Perhaps I was just unlucky, but it was one of the reasons why I decided not to renew with them. (It was not the only one!)  

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2022 #16

    We have been on two ccc sites and both times we were escorted to the pitch allocated by the site not to any empty pitch but if you do not want that specific pitch ,they will after a conversation with the office give you another choice

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,387 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2022 #17

    This a large site, I would say overor very near 200 pitches. I am booked on a smaller one later, I will let you know how I am treated. Last Club site I was on I had  reserved pitch!

    peedee

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2022 #18

    I would think both St Neots and Sandringham. would be classed as large sites?

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,138 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2022 #19

    Absolutely agree. Obviously choice will be limited if only a couple of vacant pitches are available and I've noticed their franchised sites operate differently but, in the main, nearly 50 years of membership has shown the same experience as yours, PD. The added bonus is that the warden's presence makes sure vans are pitched in the right place.

  • Graydjames
    Graydjames Forum Participant Posts: 440 ✭✭✭
    edited July 2022 #20

    This is interesting; I am not sure I agree with TW on this one. I think those who reserve a pitch before they have booked in are well out of order, but, once booked in, I cannot help thinking it is not particularly bad form to reserve a pitch before necessarily driving on to it. In fact, I can only recall doing it once, because it is exceptionally rare that I need to fill up with water on arrival, but, at Durham, in January this year, I did bag a pitch whilst filling up with water. Mind you the site was not very busy at all. If it had been very busy, perhaps I would have felt more constrained against doing such a thing - especially if I thought people might disapprove. Ordinarily I am a stickler for the rules - as my posts in this place would affirm. 

    My view is that, wherever possible, people should choose pitches in order of booking in. I do get, however, that sometimes this cannot happen due to someone going around twice or something of that kind.  I would add that the order of booking in should also be in order of arrival. One of my pet hates is those people who go into the reception before those ahead of them in the queue. People should enter reception to book in when they reach the front of the queue and not before. Some sites have signs, or wardens out front, insisting on that, but only a few. All sites should have that rule. I get very hot under the collar when I see that practice, often leading to big gaps in the queue and vans potentially stretching onto the road.  

    I might have misunderstood this point, but are there any circumstances where you need a warden to approve your chosen pitch? I have not come across that notion before. If some pitches are not available to any party, that fact should be made known when booking in and not after it has been selected.  

  • Lukeledge
    Lukeledge Forum Participant Posts: 84
    edited July 2022 #21

    Allocating a pitch at the time of booking would surely solve a lot of the problems and make life easier for wardens.

    We don't usually arrive at a site that early so often end up just being given the pitch that is left, so it doesn't matter too much to us anyway.

    However it is possible it might reduce the mad rush of people who get to the site as early as possible, presumably to choose the 'best' pitches?

  • Geejay
    Geejay Forum Participant Posts: 232
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    edited July 2022 #22

    Maybe one day the Clubs will enter the 21stC. I’ve booked sites where they provide an online map of pitches and you can reserve a particular pitch. The other Club gives you the facility to make a special request although no guarantee it will be fulfilled. We have used that and have usually been accommodated. 

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,387 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2022 #24

    I have stayed at both, Sandringham for the second time was only last year and I have always been able to chose from those available.

    peedee

  • Tammygirl
    Tammygirl Club Member Posts: 7,957 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2022 #26

    Ref CCC sites where possible they will always give you a few pitches to choose from, sometimes that is not possible and you get what there is. It's happened 3 times now to us on twice we were told if something becomes available tomorrow that suits you better you can move. Third time we were only staying 1 night.

    I do not want this club to start allocating pitches, I like the freedom of choice.

    I do however not like when folk go and jump the queue, it's not right and I would if seen report that kind of behavior. Especially if I was in the queue waiting to book in. 

  • vbfg
    vbfg Forum Participant Posts: 504
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    edited July 2022 #27

    I am in complete agreement with you and would add that often where you pitch depends on the weather when you get to the site, which of course you won't know if you book some time before you actually visit a site. I arrived at Burrs and sited the van in the middle of the site but when I got out of the van to plug into the EHU, there was a very cold wind blowing so I moved to a far more sheltered ptich.  A few weeks later I visited Burrs again when it was very, very hot so pitched in the middle of the site with a lovely view, chilling out, reading under the shade of a tree. For other reasons as well, I just don't think that it is a good idea at all.

  • JillwithaJay
    JillwithaJay Club Member Posts: 2,485 ✭✭
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    edited July 2022 #28

    I once encountered a lady get out of a car which was behind us in the queue to book in.  She wandered off onto the site and I lost sight of her.  After I'd been booked in and set off to enter the site, yes, you've guessed it, the lady is standing on my favourite pitch which is empty.  I started to reverse onto the pitch and she didn't move so I had to get out of the car and tell her she'd likely be hit by the back end of my van if she didn't remove herself.  After a few choice words where I pointed out that I'd already booked in in front of her husband, she skulked off.

  • forsythia
    forsythia Forum Participant Posts: 38
    edited July 2022 #29

    We have read the many posts regarding the reserving of pitches on club sites and the fact that people think this is acceptable. We think this is petty and selfish and as we have not used club sites for a long time we were not aware that this went on, we find it quite unbelievable!!! We will not be visiting club sites again if this is how some people act now.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited July 2022 #30

    It has been going on for many years at busy times on a few sites

    Has got more prevelant with the large increase in LVs now using club sites with the staycations

  • cyberyacht
    cyberyacht Forum Participant Posts: 10,218
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    edited July 2022 #31

    I wish I could tell the difference between all these pitches. My powers of perception would appear to be lacking.