New Booking System
Comments
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The new app is awful. I am visually impaired , but with the help of on screen magnification the old app was clear and easy to navigate and make bookings. The new app is virtually impossible to use with magnification, the map will not scroll and jumps from one end of the country to the other. I have enjoyed being a member of the Club, but if I am unable to make bookings it's pointless being a member, the website is no better..
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Yesterday we tried to amend the dates by one day for a 4 night booking made on the old system. As it switched to the new system, it increased the price too. No reason for a price change AFAIK. We were not too pleased but, more importantly, decided that the new price was just not good value for such an ordinary serviced pitch on such an ordinary site. A few minutes later we found a good serviced pitch (you chose your pitch number from an interactive site map) on a commercial site with better site facilities, at roughly the same price as our original Club booking. Cancelled the Club booking. We only now have one Club site booking in the diary, and probably will not bother with Club sites again.
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The ease of booking with the old system, its flexibility, the fact that no deposit was required and the brilliant 72 hours window for changes or cancellations were key reasons why we remained loyal club members for many years and why we always used club sites.
We'll now look around for non-club alternatives as a matter of course and will book very last minute on the fewer occasions we still use a club site.
It's such a shame.
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Speaking to other members us included it is very evident that many are now seriously looking at other pitch suppliers
We have already booked two sites for next year one of which with the user friendly USP of this club was who normally would book with , especially at our age
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Just spent a very frustrating 20 minutes booking and paying deposit on a site. Can’t find any directions to the site on the new website. The advantage of the club has now gone and I also object to giving my age and the name of the person traveling with me.
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Pigs have been seen flying over Clacton on sea. Also in reply to my quire to the club about not being able to view site fees without booking I was told the new system allows flexible pricing and in future it will allow the club to POTENTIALLY set LOWER pitch fees. I'm wondering which is more likely.
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But you do realise that most non club sites will not only require a deposit but most will require the full payment weeks before you arrive on site? To me that still makes the CMC and for that matter the C&CC, a better option? OK we often have people on here saying that they have booked sites that require no deposit but they all seem very reluctant to share the name of the sites in question. So far this year we have used almost as many commercial sites and one CL as we have Club sites (generally because of location) and all have required deposits and full payment, either on booking or at least six weeks ahead of arrival on site. How is that better than the new system?
David
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Do other pitch suppliers give you the same benefits you get at present as the club does though jvb?
JK
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David, as I have stated elsewhere, on our current trip in England, we have booked 10 sites so far, and only 2 have asked for a deposit, with one of them being a CC site, so there are many not requesting any form of advance payment.
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Steve, There’s no need to bother with dates of birth. Just book for yourself - as a logged in member the system knows your date of birth already. Then when you get to the site you say to the warden that you have brought a woman with you but you don’t know how old she is. Pay the fee for that extra person to the warden when you check in on arrival.
For directions to site Google CAMC plus name of site, or look in handbook.
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Just checked my bookings to find a payment is due for a site booking in 2026,now that is what I call a really advanced booking system especially when you couldn't book for 2023 from May until now.I can only agree with the previous comments that 1. It is a great opportunity for the club to increase prices and get some money in the bank,2. The people implementing it never use it at the coal face.
I also agree with a previous comment about the old system which was very usable.What's the old saying "if it ain't broke don't try to fix it".I wonder what this change has cost us the Club members.
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However there has been sufficient feedback on here to suggest the system is now running reasonably well.
Really??? I have been trawling through countless posts on this thread, VAST majority are of the opinion that the new system is not fit for purpose!! and not user friendly and is a shambles to use!. The positive reviews & opinions that I have read seem to be repeated by a only a small number of members. Just because one member repeats and defends a good opinion of the new system countless times does not qualify as "sufficient feedback" - that is only the opinion of 'one' member.
I also find it worrying that the club doesn't seem to be responding to the members concerns on this new booking system.
I also would like to know, as others have asked [and what the club are not making transparent] - what percentage of cancelled bookings are 're-sold' ??? So the club just claiming that 25% of bookings are cancelled is kind of irrelavent in my opinion.
TBH - ------- as for the 21 day non refundable deposit , i'm not ok with that !!! why not make it, if the club 're-sells' that booking then i think that the club should refund the deposit to the 'original' booking person!! [as has been suggested by other members on here] --- this is a 'CLUB' after all... for the members who pay their yearly membership fees. , so I think it's only fair that the club would consider this [but they won't] .
If the club is going to down this road , and prices they now charge [yeah - i know , energy prices and all that] , then maybe scrap the membership fee??? as site fees are now at the level of some of the similar commercial sites.
This evening is the the first time I have used the new booking system, it is appalling to use!!! I gave up in the end for reasons as previously mentioned by other 'club members'.
My membership is due for renewal in November - I very doubt i'll be renewing.
Rds
SK
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CLs DK, it’s as simple as that. Many still don’t want or ask for a deposit, particularly if you are a returning visitor. Same with some small private sites. 👍😁
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TBH - ------- as for the 21 day non refundable deposit , i'm not ok with that !!! why not make it, if the club 're-sells' that booking then i think that the club should refund the deposit to the 'original' booking person!! [as has been suggested by other members on here] --- this is a 'CLUB' after all... for the members who pay their yearly membership fees. , so I think it's only fair that the club would consider this [but they won't] .
That only works if the pitch type you booked is 100% full. Otherwise members are just booking an available pitch, not the one you cancelled. Of course if the pitch type reaches 100% before the date of your booking it would technically have been resold, but not easy and probably costly to administer what you suggest. Especially if more than one cancels and not all are resold.
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There are some very pleasant alternatives when you look beyond Club sites and I am sure you will enjoy them. - for example Highfield Touring Park near Cambridge is much nicer than Cherry Hinton so we went there many times. But please don’t kid yourself that you can book at that sort of site without paying a deposit, or that you will be able to reclaim it.if you change your mind. Highfield Park charges a £30 deposit on all bookings and it is non refundable in all circumstances.
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I haven't yet been to a commercial site that didn't need a deposit. In fact, the majority want paying in full before you arrive. Even CAMC affiliated sites like Damage Barton want a deposit. I still have £25 outstanding from a booking I couldn't complete because of Covid.
When I read some of the posts above, I'm incredulous. What's most important here? The booking process, or the holiday itself?. There are CAMC sites that I would walk over hot coals to book....Chatsworth, for example. Lets not throw the baby out with the bath water.
When I talk to people who have just flown back from a foreign holiday, they show me photos of beaches, bars and beautiful scenery. They may refer to the fact that the flight was delayed for 2 hours and they had to sit in a metal tube next to a sweaty drunkard, but it doesn't detract from their fortnight away.
Ok, the system isn't perfect. Just work around it and enjoy your trip
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Ditto...for example...
Swiss Cottage vs Henley...better layout , fully serviced pitches ( q few non service and a tent field), Restaurant, Bar, Pool and a ten minute walk into Henley..similar prices to CaMC site.
York Naburn Lock Caravan Site vs Bingham Grange or the claustrophobic Rowntree site ....Better layout, very spacious service pitches, canal/lock walks direct from site. Bus or River Bus into York from site..better access to Yorkshire villages (Malton etc) and 1 hr to Scarborough..
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If it was any easier to get your deposit back it would defeat the object of minimising speculative bookings. You have to draw the line with deposits somewhere. At least with the Club you can get your deposit back if you cancel before the 21 day deadline and full payment up front is voluntary.
peedee
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Surely that is the whole point of a deposit? If it's going to be refundable, there's no point in taking it. 21 days is quite generous in the leisure industry.
What is wrong is not so much the rules of the new system but the implementation and operation of it.
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Full +1 there, especially your second paragraph which I actually said to someone this week.
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But surely, that is the whole point of the Club putting deposits in place🤷♀️ To dissuade folks from changing their minds, cancelling if the weather changes, etc…..
I cannot believe all those who clamoured for deposits hadn’t thought about the impact for them personally once deposits were put into place. Particularly if they have health issues, or are carers for someone, meaning that having to cancel at short notice might be foreseeable🤷♀️
Careful what you wish for springs to mind.
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TDA
The only CL I have used this year wanted full payment on booking
Their T&C's were that you would get a refund on a reducing amount if you had to cancel depending on how close you were to arrival. I imagine that not so many CL's operate in that way?David
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We have stayed on a number of CLs this year. One required a deposit. Another required a deposit and payment in advance.
I get the impression that newer established CLs are more likely to charge deposits. Unfortunately we have collectively brought this upon ourselves. And before someone screams, not me, I’ve never not turned up, there are plenty who have just not arrived. CLs only administer deposits because there have been problems. We did have to cancel a CL at very short notice a few years back because I was I’ll. We did ring up, but obviously lost income unless they were very lucky.
It seems to me that the payment of deposits now for this Club simply removes a USP and so psychologically encourages people to explore other options. Only time will tell which sites people prefer.1 -
Apartfrom no longer having to pay membership what benefits would that be for OH and I ? We used a ccc site nearer to us than our usual getaway this year and it was cheaper than the cc club site (even with the now no longer available mid week discount)
The big advantage that this club had over most other pitch providers was the USP if nil deposits and the availability of at our age group as many members seem to be? of putting a tour together before some sites filled up making it difficult but now quite a large amount of money is needed to do the with deposits
We have no objection to extending the cancellation period to 21days
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I totally agree with the fact that most sites charge a deposit but the point is that before it was a big benefit of our club that they didn't. We've now lost that advantage so we'll no longer only consider club sites we'll look around and no longer think of the club sites as special.
Such a shame!
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