Early arrivals - action at last?
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No it's clear that according to the thread they have been apparently suspended for refusing to follow an instruction from the site manager to leave the site, actually it was the second time they had been asked to leave.
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As far as I can see the defendant posted the following:
I am a member of the Caravan and Motorhome Club. Yesterday 01/09/2022, I eft the Exeter Racecourse CMC site. I waited until the 12pm deadline in order that my arrival at the CMC at Hillhead was not early. Despite taking my time I found myself arriving slightly early. As previous visitors my know the route in to Hillhead is through a busy road system. There are no useful lay-bys once one has left the A380 to pull in and wait especially is you have a 12meter unit (Car & Caravan). My wife and I duly arrived at Hillhead at 12:45pm and parked in the long two lane arrivals area. We were at that time the only arrivals. Shortly approached by two wardens who directed us to leave the site immediately , and return after 1pm. When asked where we could go were told to turn left out of the site, toward Kingswear and the ferry terminal. Having attended the site previously, and knowing the geography of the very narrow and steep lane, I declined to do soon the grounds of safety to my wife myself, my car and caravan.
Five minutes later 12.50pm(still 10 minutes early we were approached by a gentleman stating that he was the site manager. He instructed me to leave immediately and return after 1pm(Less than 10 minutes).
I again sited the relative safety issues and refused to leave for the sake of 10 minutes. I was very polite with the man. The site manager then told me that my booking was cancelled with immediate effect, and my CMC membership suspended.
I left without further argument , both my wife and I very upset at our ruined holiday , and CMC loosing £449 in site fees.
I am aware that CMC has recently brought in this policy of no arrivals before 1pm, but surely common sense must prevail!
If that is substantially true then my reading the the situation was a couple of members of staff out to make an impression overreacted to a relatively minor indiscretion. Once the site manager had been called he would have had little choice but to support his staff whether he agreed or not. A storm in a tea cup became a major incident.
What intrigues me is that looking down from a Google maps flyover I can see the entrance lanes and out bound lane in total not more than about 12m wide. Just how was the defendant with a 12m rig expect to U turn there without a lot of faffing about?
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Agree with your comments David. You are all spared further thoughts from me as I've just lost a long post!
However the reviews for Hillhead this summer speak for themselves.
I can only compare the action of CAMC management towards staff to that of a night club employing bouncers! What is the point of arrival lanes if they're not put into use, especially in such an awkward and unsafe arrival spot like Hillhead.
Have senior management tried these actions for themselves?!
And yes of course everyone should try to arrive on or after the stated time but it's not a major incident if they time things within a few minutes either way.
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well but not the same as usually argos don't own the car park and/or waiting in the car park wouldn't cause any queues with large outfits.
But as always as been stated if one agrees to the T&C why should they break them or think they don't apply? Plenty of other sites out there we're told?
This member knew how long it would take and as posted upthred there are plenty of places to wait, some just outside their starting site.
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We have met in the past in this club, what some would call "jobs worth" normally those those who have not been in responsible jobs and given a bit of that it goes to their heads
As for the member in question as I posted ,the journey from Exeter to Hillhead can be good or dependent on time of day and as it seems during the busiest time of year in Devon an absolute nightmare as we have encountered even after the relief road was opened ,as as stated at our second home "All departures by 1200" and as for asking if a later departure.is possible we have encountered the negative as "your pitch will need to be checked before we can use it again?" We were on a hardstand?!!!! So common sense is it seems ,in very short order recently
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What has Southport got to do with it?
I would expect the wardens' powers to start/end at the any site's entrance, as anyone using a site agrees to. So being allowed to waiting outside is not the warden's problem or concern it's the driver's and/or the police.
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But it's stated in the rules that it doesn't have to be on a pitch, or the pitch you've been on. So perhaps had they told the site staff the reason for wanting for wait 30 minutes they might have allowed to wait somewhere even if hitched up. If not then as said plenty of places to wait just outside the site on the laybys after that.
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Indeed but I've haven't seen many car plus caravans and they are usually manged but an outside parking company.
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No. They don't work because of people trying to arrive early and thinking the rules, T&C, somehow do not apply to them? These are the people that should be held to account not the rules, and thankfully they are, they are asked to come back in accordance with what they have agreed to and if they refuse then suspension is possible.
For me go for it and more and sooner or later the message will get through.
What you're saying is that if a black and white rule is being broken then the rule is somehow broken? Ok so speed limits, parking violations... Now I suppose they are imposed and we have to abide by them but this is something that people of their own accord tick a box to say they will, if they don't like them why book with the club?
If they don't arrive early then there are no problems?
I'm reminded of an episode of Airline when someone said, this is supposed to to EasyJet, and the brilliant reply was, it is easy if you keep to the T&Cs.
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😂😂😂😂👍🏻
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It is worth considering the arrival time was not as stated. He may have been earlier than just 15mins. People do try and pinch a bit when it comes to stating times to make their case more favourable.. Mind you even if accurate he was still too early.
peedee.
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Having worked at Exeter Racecourse I know there's enough ground away from pitching areas for at least 30 outfits to park safely, free of charge, all day long. No reason at all to arrive at any site anywhere before the stated arrival time, so yes you're right, common sense in very short order
JK.
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I don’t follow your point about late departures as Exeter Racecourse has ample waiting space outside of the CAMC site.
23 miles from there to Hillhead and it’s dual carriageway most of the way - a route I know well. Why even break the journey that close to his destination?
You keep talking about common sense but we've covered that aspect a few times and I say yet again that with all sites being different, a blanket ruling seems to be applied by the club in the interests of standardisation. You surely cannot be suggesting a warden should disobey his employer and jeopardise his employment.
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JK, we do not know if this person asked for a late departure from Exeter. He has not indicated that he did.
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Actually they do, been a few cases up here I can think of, and then it was but I was only doing 31 mph... as if that was some form of defence in law, which it wasn't.
But again this idea that somehow arriving before 1pm is acceptable just because it's only a few minutes, (and remember this was 15 minutes) is OK just leads to further problems, 5 minutes OK, so 7, 8...
This is a rule which one agrees to (and really it has to be the simplest rule about - no arrivals before one) yet appears to be totally incomprehensible to some members that they have to abide by it
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We do not know anything to be fact, PD. You make a good point but, as we can only read one side of the story, we'll never know.
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and your point is?
We have done that journey at a similar. time of year and normally. is a nightmare , not quite so bad since the relief road has opened,After passing Newton Abbot ,is there any place to stop at that time not full of HGVs on their legal break!!! if the member was truthful. about his arrival time ? it would have taken quite some time to exit Hillhead let alone go via Kingswear
Ps have the overnight arrivals at Hillhead now been stopped
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You posted previously about not being allowed a late departure so I explained about a waiting area negating the need for a late departure at all.
The LNA at Hillhead has been gone for over a year.
JK
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Irrespective of ifs and buts, there is always another side to the story. I thought I’d made that plain way back up thread. It’s a given.
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It would appear from the other thread that the CCC are also doing the same - turning away early arrivals.
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It’s obviously a problem for both clubs and they seem to be grasping the nettle in an effort to deal with it. I wonder what, if any, sanctions C&CC impose?
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So common sense would tell me to plan for the shortest journey time. If it takes longer then so be it, at least the arrival wouldn't then be early
JK
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I dispute that but why are you dragging this into reasons for bad time keeping when the crux of the thread is about the club imposing membership penalties on early arrivers?
That's a rhetorical question, btw, meaning it does not require an answer.
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