New booking system with deposits
Comments
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I wonder is this weekend is the best time to book some sites up to next May?
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I just booked two train tickets ..and do you know what…I had to pay for them…it’s outrageous. Where can I complain?
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Very likely although I suspect there'll be a lot of Essential Maintenance afoot.
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Surely the whole point is that you have a choice? I am puzzled why anyone books so far ahead (the exception might be a special occasion like a wedding) The evidence suggests that a lot of sites booked so far in advance are cancelled under the current system which restricts availability. The hope is that deposits will solve that issue. Whilst I was happy with the old system I can see that the Club were unusual in not taking deposits as the majority of campsites do. Additionally other than the other Club most campsites insist that they receive the full payment 4/6 weeks before arrival. On that basis the CMC and C&CC are quite lenient in what they do with regards to deposits. In order to make sure we got away more this year than last I booked a lot of sites earlier in the year, both Club sites and commercial sites. I got my fingers burnt when I had to cancel a commercial site because I got COVID. As I had paid in advance I lost £175 with no prospect of getting it back. Even with a deposit the CMC are still offering a fairer deal in my view.
David
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Even with a deposit the CMC are still offering a fairer deal in my view.
That is certainly the case, but they have lost their USP and as such are likely to loose bookings we would otherwise have made. Only time will tell if it will be beneficial to the CAMC financially.
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I agree with that Steve.
I can understand David's reluctance now to pay the whole lot upfront. I was going to stay at a commercial site in September but they wanted the whole lot upfront and there is too much going on medical wise at the moment to chance it so a non deposit CL it was instead. Might have used a club site if there was one available in the area but isn't and if there was and needed a deposit might well have gone down the CL route as a result.
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The opportunity to book online without paying a deposit was a unique selling point for the Club. It is a shame that because some members abused the system we have lost this, what I considered, a very useful facility compared with other clubs.
It seems to help those that don't book ahead. However, you have to wonder if the Club is struggling financially and that this is one idea to try and help.
One issue I had was that although you could make a booking using the app, when you thought you had cancelled a booking using the same app, it did not register and a last-minute phone call from the site made you feel that you had let the Club down. The only way you can cancel a site booking is on the website, so don't be fooled by the app. How many cancellations could have been processed on time and new bookings lost because of this we may never know.
I was not approached for my views on the change of booking system like some were, however there are probably other things the Club could have done before removing the current booking system.
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I’m not sure some people did abuse the system. If they booked and cancelled within the permitted timescale, that’s within the rules and I don’t see how it can be classed as abuse. It may have not been ideal from the club's point of view but it wasn’t abuse of the system in my opinion.
Were people approached for their views? I’ve not seen any comment on this forum confirming that.
People often say they weren’t consulted but that shows they do not appreciate the club's governance. We have the opportunity to vote to appoint council members and we empower them to make decisions on our behalf. The club staff then implement the resulting tasks. There is no format for consulting the membership about changes, nor need there be with the present system in place.
However, that’s all water under the bridge now. It’s a done deal and we are where we are.
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Now't here!!
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Steve
Of course that is true but the CMC obviously felt they had to do something and deposits were one of the options. No doubt they are banking on the fact that if it hits members in the pocket they will be more likely to follow the rules? We may have to wait until next year to know whether it has worked. With the exception of some CL's deposits are almost universally required for campsite bookings so are the Club putting themselves at a disadvantage? It seems that some only use CMC sites because they didn't have to pay a deposit, how widespread that is we don't know. As I have said many times before (and I think you have said it as well) location is often the deciding factor for us. That was the reason we went for some commercial sites this year. Whilst I am happy to pay a deposit one thing I won't do in the future is book a site that requires full payment weeks before arrival, a few days ahead maybe. Funnily enough the site where we lost the money I know (from a another members post on here) was probably nowhere near full during the time we would have been there.
David
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I don't think the Club will lose money, all it will do is change members booking habits to making bookings to nearer the time unless there is a very positive reason to make the booking much earlier. In my experience with the C&CC that seems to be the pattern and it has even been possible to get bookings within the week of arrival at three of their sites I used this year. Two were full and the third only had grass none electric available during my stay.
I have just paid the full price to a commercial site for a stay. If it turns out I cannot honour it, I will be looking to my travel insurance to recover most of the loss as I do with any other type of holiday where payments are required in advance.
peedee
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I find it ironic that you wonder why Briang books so far in advance then you admit to booking "a lot of sites earlier in the year" I don't think we have ever booked a site more than two weeks in advance, frequently days in advance. Maybe we are wrong, who knows.
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+1. No you aren’t wrong MA, I think most folk will do as you do. I don’t need to be at a specific place anytime, that level of forward booking jars with the ethos of freedom to travel(to me) If it’s not available I’ll scout elsewhere👍🏻
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I book ahead because I stay for 2 weeks at a time from February through to November just to make sure I get my time away. If I leave it until a few weeks before I want to go I won't be able to get my holiday for the 2 weeks. This is why I always book well in advance.
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Don’t know if they all do, but when we cancelled a Eurostar holiday to France the excess was applied twice by red pennant, as the insurance is on the person not the holiday as a whole. It was £40 each at the time, so a total of £80. Worth checking the small print.
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As I have posted a number of times previously, if it was to address the 'speculative booking problem', it could have been easily resolved by requiring all members to register a debit/credit card with the club noting that a late cancellation/no show would result in the card being debited with a penalty charge. The cancellation period should have been extended to 14 or 21 days. Deposits would then have probably been unnecessary and saved a lot of IT disruption that CAMC have clearly struggled with.
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You are thinking with your logical bankers brain CY, I’m convinced most folk wouldn’t like their cards electronically held/controlled by a system that can’t cure buffering & has constant page loading failures ongoing for years. I would never consent to my cards being held.
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I think the club already has bank account details for many of us, most payments will be by direct debit. It will be good not to mess around with card payments on arrival etc it will be automatic for most. The new terms are quite reasonable re cancellations.
Generally I see this as streamlining payments apart from a few exceptions.
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I think that would be a good idea. Perhaps they need to have a sort of Red Pennant insurance for the UK, at suitably lower price of course! I once booked a site on the IOW which included the ferry crossing and they offered insurance for £15 which I though quite reasonable .
David
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I suggest they scrap it to avoid wasting any more of our money on it. Extend the cancellation period from 72hrs to 3-4 weeks and, otherwise, leave it be. I suspect the recession will reduce bookings anyway which will solve the supposed problem of speculative booking which CAMC previously denied existed. Ah, but it won't get the cash rolling in early🤔
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+1
A few days away and it's being put back? If true there must be so many last minute problems, issues, glitches, bugs... that keep appearing or not being fixed that really must mean the new system is not fit for purpose.
You have to laugh!
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....or cry.
It's unconfirmed yet but, if true, it's turning into a farce.
I hope they're rethinking the release of next summer's bookings.
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