New Booking System
Comments
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The two we have booked for next year niether wanted a deposit just to call as early as possible if we could not make it
and to answer those who say why do we not tell what the sites are? Why do the work we do for those who would like the same and then take advantage of our work
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Why? Because we're all sharing the same hobby and helping each other out, perhaps? And you talk about the selfish ways of younger generations! 😤😤😤
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We've never booked a site based on payment terms. We book a site based on where it is, the facilities it provides and the reviews of people who have stayed there.
The deposit system is now in line with the rest of the industry, and has come about because a minority of members have abused the previous one. CAMC is a business, with employees to pay and pensions to fund. Empty pitches means lost revenue, and that hole has to be plugged.
It still has, in my opinion, some of the best sites in the UK and it has my full support. Perfect? No. Far from it, but neither is the other side of the fence.
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Yes it certainly was but there is still a huge difference between club sites and others, as been said there is no full payment till (the day) of arrival, you will get your deposits back under what are really very generous terms to other comparable providers and where you would very probably by 21 days before the holiday have paid everything and could lose everything.
There are still advantages to the club's offering, and of course not the least of which are the sites themselves.
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I thought a lighter look at the topic might be in order … judge for yourself! 😊
A CAMHC Executive Committee meeting sometime in early 2022 in deepest East Grinstead.
CHAIRMAN – Right Jack, I see you’re next on the agenda, “Changes to the club UK site booking policy”. That old chestnut. What have you got for us this time?
JACK – MARKETING DIRECTOR - Our members have had it too good for too long sir as we’ve discussed many times. No other organisation in our market offers deposit-free bookings and a mere three day notice for cancellations. There’s no easy way to say this – we’re scrapping it and replacing it with a 20% deposit paid for at the time of booking and increasing the notice period from three days to three weeks!
CHAIRMAN – But Jack, that then, as you marketing folk would say, removes our USP – our “Unique Selling Proposition”. We’d be no more than a booking site – no clear advantage over any of our competitors out there. I know it would help increase cash income by ensuring members were forced to fill our sites that they’d booked come rain or shine or granny’s funeral but let’s remember, they are “Club Members” after all. We should be driven by what’s best for them. What possible reason can we give them for it?
JACK – We’ll tell them it will increase site availability. Now you know and I know the improvement will be marginal and will not come close to the downside of reducing their flexibility but we’ve been training our call centre staff for six months to repeat the “Better Availability” message and most of them can now do so without even the slightest giggle!
CHAIRMAN – I don’t buy it, they’re be uproar when we launch it. They’ll be no hiding it.
JOHN – HEAD OF IT – That’s where my team come in Mr Chairman. We’ll announce the change to booking policy at exactly the same time that we launch the new Website Booking System. But what we’ll do is throw some well aimed spanners into the new booking system. It will be the booking system from hell. Alan Turing himself wouldn’t be able to work his way through it!
JACK – That’s right. They’ll be such a commotion about the IT system that most members won’t see that we’ve craftily changed the policy as well.
CHAIRMAN – Brilliant – when do we launch? April 1st?
JACK – Even I think that may be a bit obvious. Sometime in September perhaps – on your birthday sir?
CHAIRMAN – What a lovely birthday present! Done!!
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Sadly, I expect now that the estate of the member who booked will receive no refund at all for the booking and certainly not for the unused portion of the year's "membership".
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Likewise, Timbo. Apart from the main summer holiday, we tend to book last minute anyway, so barring a real emergency, we don't cancel.
....and I also, if I was going to roll out a new system, September seems to be the best time to do it, at the end of a season, when there are fewer bookings. Hopefully giving the space to address problems with the system. However, it is unfortunate this has coincided with a hike in prices generally (electric, gas, fuel etc), and therefore folk are going to have far less cash available for leisure activities. As a result, I would guess that there may well be less folk getting away, so it could well be be easier to get a pitch, for those able to take advantage of an autumn break.
The thing I am really pleased about is that we can now book a surface type (Ii.e. grass or hardstanding etc)... another good reason to roll this out in September, now that folk are less likely to want a grass pitch, or as sites begin to close down grass pitches, because of more unsettled weather.
David
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I was on site when the new system was implemented and was really scared that all my forward bookings were lost. The site staff couldn't even find us as members.
Since then I find the new system very hard to use. When previosuly it was possible to track through a few consecutive months to find availability, can't seem to do that now. Also feel that compared to some really good commercial sites I know the deposit, at 20%, is way over the top, as is the 21 days before cancelllation policy. What, for example, happens to the deposit for a winter booking if there is heavy snow?
We have been members for 25+ years, but are now seriously researching commercial sites. The one 1/4 mile down the road from the CAMC site we were on was £20 per night, as compared to £37, the site was well kept and the spacing etc. acceptable. .
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Depends on CL DK. If it’s one that’s been stung by folks not turning up, they may have a deposit policy in place (and can’t blame them). We find it tends to be the one’s that have invested lots of money, and are busier, so they don’t want no shows, quite rightly.
We have just sorted first five nights for our next tour, no deposits required, and we are averaging £11.20 per night so far. All HS, two no hook up but last one has showers, loos, wifi and HS with hook up. Couple more site to find now for last part of tour, but we are in no rush to finalise, will do it while away.
I think there are a few CLs that operate like your example, seems a fair way of doing things if it’s a busy CL.
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pleased about is that we can now book a surface type (Ii.e. grass or hardstanding etc).
It is not CAN but MUST.
We're more interested in the location of the pitch we use and its outlook than the surface as we have the equipment and experience to live on either surface. Yet we must book a particular surface many months in advance and then have to sit on it even though there are many much nicer pitches of the other type lying empty.
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Good luck with that one. The Club can be very hard nosed at times, and I strongly suspect that the first question asked should anyone seek to get a deposit back inside the 21 day cut off will be “did you take out holiday insurance?” And of course we know who can provide holiday insurance don’t we? (Other companies available).
I might be convinced to change my views once folks come back with tales of how helpful the Club were, and how easy it was to get a deposit refunded inside that 21 days, but until then, I reserve judgement.
Winter bookings? Bad winds, snow, ice? My advice is don’t book ahead, wait until you get closer and and can view a weather forecast for coming week. Sites are usually only busy Xmas week. That’s why the prices are sky high.
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I have emailed the club to ask if you book a Site and pay the deposit, but then need to change to another cmhc club site within 21 days of going if you can transfer the deposit paid. I am still awaiting there reply.
This has happened to us a couple of times due to family reasons and having to head south , when We had bookings in the North and it was straightforward the cmhc still had a booking and income from us.
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Fact. We booked a week in Malvern last October. On the second day we had a call to say my Mother in Law had had a stroke. We told the wardens that we had leave urgently, and they refunded all of our money on the spot.
Fact. We were treated fairly, and with sensitivity.
Fact. No one asked us if we had insurance. They showed sympathy, compassion and wished us well
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Fact. That was last year, no deposit scheme in place then and this is a new booking system with deposits taken up front.🤷♀️ And the balance on arrival.
I know how good the on Site staff are, they will go the extra mile for most Members, and do it willingly and with compassion. But things have changed. You will still get the help and compassion from on site staff, but it probably won’t be their call to instantly refund your money.
I doubt you will be dealing with on site staff now should something similar happen, it will be referred to HQ, and you will have to fight your corner from there. Surely this is the case, otherwise why have a 21 day cut off in place?
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Thankfully, I don't share your cynisism. I don't believe that a change in the booking process equals a hardening of CAMC's position when refunding money. The scheme at the time said that I was liable to pay for next 3 days, or 72 hours. Not only did they not charge me that, they didn't charge for night we had been there.
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I’m surprised you got a full refund, Timboc, as I believe the rules last year were that you forfeited one night's fee unless you gave 72hrs notice of leaving early or were moving to another club site.🤷🏻♂️
Edit: Just seen your latest. They gave you a free night by refunding the first night you’d already paid for and stayed? I can’t help feeling there’s a little confusion somewhere along the line.
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I used to work in the Leisure industry, so perhaps I am a bit cynical, but I have also had dealings with CAMC insurance dept as well, which is why we seldom consider them as an option.
As I say, I have nothing but praise for the wonderful on site front of house staff, but I just doubt that they will be in a position to refund post 21 day deposits.
The new bookings scheme is driven from HQ, that’s where decisions on refunding are going to be made. Whether the Club will be seen to show enough compassion to fully refund a large number of post 21 day deposits (and there are likely to be a lot given the demographic of the core Membership, lots of over 65’s, lots of folks caring, etc…) remains to be seen. It might well happen, but it might not be as easy as it was with this new scheme. That’s a very open to interpretation statement at the moment, and only time and examples will tell.
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This question has been asked in the new booking system FAQs
Can I swap my booking at the last minute and stay at another campsite?
Yes, you can cancel your stay at one campsite to then book another campsite during the same period. You won't be charged for late cancellation but we do ask that where possible, you do this with as much notice as possible so that your pitch can be freed up for another member.0 -
Presumably only possible to action in working hours, mid week and not on a Bank holiday, as I assume it will require a phone call to the booking line. If it’s possible online, (which you could with the old system) there needs to be some instruction about how to go about it.
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Well this new booking system has really been value of money and worth every penny as many of the above experiences and contributors reveal.
Extract below from the October issue of the Club's magazine; see Club Performance Review 2021, page 105, last four lines under heading 'Investing in Club Sites and (wait for it, such a quaint but inept phrase) Capabilities,' "In addition to our UK sites investment of £12.1m, the club invested a further £5.7m on central IT infrastructure, including the new Booking Capability system going live in 2022."
Well there you have it and can see that this really is value for money; about time we had some annual meeting resolutions calling for heads to roll and a return to systems that worked and T & C which are not to money punative. (Retention of deposit monies if leaving early, one example) Only personal opinion of course and possibly a view not shared by many!!!!!!!!
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I have now tried twice to book next weekend away and both times after getting to the payment section it comes up payment cancelled 😡 I have since rang the site to be told they cannot book it anymore and you have to go through the main booking office which only opens on week days. This booking system is awful and we probably won’t even bother now what a let down so frustrating!
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You could drop into the alternative site as an option, we did this with Bolton Abbey. We were on our way to Lower Wensleydale, the scenic route via Bolton Abbey, so had a night there on way. Staff sorted it for us. Pre NBS* though. Folks need to make sure that they know which sites are Affiliated, and which are pure Club, as you probably can’t move between these without penalty.
Agree with brue, you do need to read all the new T&Cs.
NBS* New Booking System😉
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