New Booking System
Comments
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Agree Tinny. If it wasn’t for the CLs, we would have been long gone. As it is, we have found a touring style and other websites that have made our life much easier, so all the changes to T&Cs, deposits, lack of communication aren’t really affecting us. We are a gnat’s whisker off not renewing, it’s only the CLs we need. We terminated our Membership during COVID without a qualm. I feel no loyalty to this so called Club, and it certainly has none for me after decades of Membership. Caveat Emptor.
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Used the new website for the first time. What a backward step - and all because they are chasing profit with the new deposit scheme with its ridiculous Terms and Conditions. The old website was brilliant and enabled very easy tour planning as you could retrospectively adjust bookings depending on various sites availability etc. They now want start keeping your deposit if you cancel less than 21 days out. This is for a campsite! I can book a hotel and not be penalised for cancellation with just a few days to go. The very reason I don't use the camping and caravanning club is because they have had this type of "Unfriendly System" for some time and I always stuck with Caravan and Motorhome club because, up until now, had a much superior and fair system with 7 day limits and an extremely easy to use website to make changes in just a few clicks. Now they have flushed all of these advantages down the toilet! Incredible! I have just renewed my membership, but will be cancelling and moving to smaller sites from now on. If the M&CC want to redeem themselves they should put a cap on membership numbers, which in my opinion is a major factor for the scarcity of pitches &/or build more sites and pitches. Then scrap the deposit scheme. The government has made some spectacular U-turns, why not the C&MC? At the very least reduce the 21 day trigger point down to 7 days again.
Please address the issues I raise directly and convince me as, one of your long term members, that I'm now getting a better deal - cos it sure don't feel that way!
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It was the same with the name change it seems those at HO think as then the controversy will mainly go away if they keep their heads down
The big difference this time is it directly affects many members and even more of the older members who had a very flexible USP that allowed for medical and other age related problems
The only members it seems to be anything like user friendly are those with it seems IT and computer skills
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I have not used the new system to make an actual booking, I will wait until next year before I start thinking about what we will be doing. That is not a change, we tend not to book that far ahead anyway. I don't envisage that I will have a problem using the new system although it will, of course, be different from the old.
As to giving up membership I wonder if that is just an empty threat, especially for those that before the change used Club sites almost exclusively? If people think that sites similar to Club sites will in some ways have more generous T&C's they will soon find that not to be the case. We will have to wait and see how the deposit system pans out and how widely it is accepted. Will it change booking behaviour or will people come to terms with it. It is equally possible that people have only used sites Club sites have only done so because of the liberal booking policy and perhaps in future might decide they now have a better choice of sites as T&C's have levelled out? We will probably have to wait until the 2024 AGM to see what the impact of the change has been.
David
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Empty threat?, I agree, we all know how some people use their membership withdrawal as some sword of justice. . .They use it too regularly to actually have an impact. Accept the change or don’t but to annually mention not renewing is not a good look🙁
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That's a good point about loyalty during the pandemic, TDA. You were wise in taking a membership break whereas we were foolish enough to support the club by paying membership fees. For what? To now be treated like dirt by CAMC who have chosen to use members to sort out the new booking system and iron out its wrinkles with hardly a word from anyone in acknowledgement of the mighty goof they have made.
People seem to think I'm objecting to the taking of deposits - I'm not as I'm well used to paying deposits and money up front for other types of holidays. What I object to is paying money to an organisation that treats its customers/members in this manner.
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My mother had a strop like that when the BBC took Mrs Dale’s Diary off the air in 1969 and told BBC boss she would never listen to BBC radio again. BBC survived.
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CAMC previously had a 3 day limit, which was ridiculous. Had it been, say, 10 days, it might have worked better. Registration of a credit card with the club and penalties applied for late cancellation/no shows would have saved all this chaos.
As ever, CAMC love to do things the hard way and cock it up to boot.
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DK
As to giving up membership I wonder if that is just an empty threat, especially for those that before the change used Club sites almost exclusively
It may turn out to be an empty threat I've said it myself but for members who almost exclusively use club sites it was the flexibility of the TCs that kept them booking club sites but now they are angry and probably as I have done look elsewhere and from what I've seen the grass is greener.
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What a sham, what a shamble, its disgraceful, and at a time when costs are increasing day to day.
Will have to think seriously about renenwing membership, may even try the dark side C &CC, or try more commercial; sites and are cheaper.
NOT Ideal.
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If the club want to bring themselves in line with the rest of the holiday sector generally then what is the point of being a member. Surely the club needs to have something that sets them apart from the rest of the holiday sector in order for it to be worthwhile paying an annual membership fee.
We have been members since 1976 and the old booking system and the flexibility it offered was probably the main reason we stayed members for so long. Now I am seriously questioning what benefit there is in continuing our membership especially with the likes of pub stop overs and aires being readily available for motorhomes and camper vans.
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We will at present keep our CAMC membership, but for the CL network.
We are considering joining the ccc, partly for their CS network, but also because they seem to have more non electric pitches than this club.
Others will remain with the club for a myriad of reasons e.g. insurance.
Whatever aspect of the new site people dislike, hate etc what gets members most, I believe, is the way members have been treated. This surely makes people less committed to the Club. Hence the many declarations of intent to leave. These may or may not come to fruition in numbers sufficient to register with the club. What is more likely is that because the club has given away its usp ( for good or for ill) people are more likely to look around at other sites. Yes, some charge deposits, some won’t. But that now becomes less of an issue if the club is charging deposits. So perhaps a better measure of member dissatisfaction is not the number of non renewals, but the occupancy rate of club sites.
As I have said before the credibility of the club is shot to bits. It will take a lot to reclaim. given the lack of communication to date I am not hopeful. I was told recently that each department of the Club will definitely have reps at the forthcoming NEC show. I do hope those members able to attend visit the stall and make their views known. And then let us on this forum know what was said!!
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The new booking system we are told was introduced to try to reduce the amount of late bookings by some not giving enough time to fill the pitches?
Which when the question was first asked of the club it was stated there was not a problem as most pitches were filled
Then after the club's bright? Idea of allowing members to book up to twelve months in advance there was a change in this clubs response to late bookings (shooting in the foot comes to mind)
So instead of extending the cancellation period it seems was a good idea?to spend how many millions? in trying to "bolt?" the UK booking system onto a system designed and used for continental holiday bookings
Which has ended even after several false starts the shambles that we the members have had to endure and it seems no light at the end of a long tunnel
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The C&MC justify the introduction of their punitive deposit scheme by saying, and I quote "almost half of all members who made a booking each year made at least one amendment or cancellation". Really - shock horror! That's exactly my point - the touring lifestyle means you need to make last minute adjustments to schedules (especially when you are a Motorhomer or Campervanner). But don't they realise that for every day cancelled there is another booked at another site. Its swings and roundabouts. In the big scheme of things, on average, they don't lose out!
Please C&MC answer the following:
1.Why don't you cap the membership, so that you can improve pitch availability to your existing members?
2. You have allowed a never ending stream of new members to join, now we all have to book sites many months ahead, some even into next year. What exactly are you planning on doing with our deposit money, and the huge amount of interest it will earn you? When are you going to give members ’interest’ on their deposits if you hold them for a period longer than say 3 mths?
3. When are you going to start acknowledging the needs of the biggest (and fastest growing) segment of your club - namely us Motorhomers and Caravaners? Show willing and adjust your punitive cancellation policy so that a deposit is only required when you book 5 or more days. That at least would be something to show you care and understand the needs of all your members!
4. The 21 day cancellation deadline is unacceptable - we’re campers for goodness sake and you now ask that we book many months ahead (sometimes even a year in advance) and set our plans into stone for at least 21 days before arrival! Here is what the Savoy Hotel in London does: "Guests can cancel up to 72 hours prior to arrival, free of charge." – this is the SAVOY hotel and they will allow clients to cancel up to just 78 hours before arrival. What makes you, the C&MC so special that you want to start taking our hard earned money from day 20?
The C&MC used to be run BY the members FOR the members. They have sadly become corporate and are chasing profit. A sad day!
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Good post, RR, and I’d love to see the reply but there’s unlikely to be one🙁
However, although I’m not anti deposit per se, you’re right about it flying in the face of spontaneous touring.
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I agree. We are pretty tech savvy and can recognise a "clunky" website when we see one. We gave up trying to make a booking, joined the dark side, "CCC", and all was well, albeit their website is not perfect. Our website used to be fine. They are suggesting the changes are for the better! They clearly aren't!
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Excellent post RR. You have said exactly what I and probably many others have thought. The problem is I don't believe the club really listens to its members. My father who has now passed away was a member for over fifty years. He would turn in his grave if he could see how the "club" operates now. I don't particularly like to moan but as use say, A sad day!
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this is a club and we pay a membership fee. The club has c. 1million members with probably half paying the membership fee, this amounts to a a fair bit to have in the coffers before anyone books a pitch. We expect something extra , something over and above the commercial sites. The fact that we could cancel and amend the bookings was a big draw. Anyway enough of all the moans, my membership is due to be renewed next March, so how do I cancel my membership as I cannot find how to ?
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There’s no point in cancelling, Joanie. You won’t get a refund so you might just as well let it run until it expires.
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Oh dear ,it looks like the “club” has upset a few members
, club sites are only a small percentage of sites that are out there , so makes no difference to me , with plenty of choice i wonder how many members who have thrown their toys out the pram will actually walk away
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We'll see. It’s not nice when it appears we’re being taken for a ride while paying for the experience. I hope people's principles will stand firm and those who've said they’ll walk do so.
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In my opinion, virtually none of them.
£54 a year is a drop in the ocean for access to some excellent sites, and they'll be shooting themselves in the foot.
They best way to get change is by fighting from within. I recieved my voting form today and made my opinion of the board clear. I also had a survey email from the club today, and did likewise. Will they listen? Don't know. But I've got a better chance of being heard than non members
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Well, we will never know, especially when CAMC doesn’t keep those avatar banners up to date.
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Spot on Roger. Totally agree.
Shock Horror - our members enjoyed the rights of being members ... now that will be taken away from us.
I wonder what will happen?
Everyone will leave the club? No, not immediately, but the majority will indeed look further afield before making their bookings as now there's much less advantage in booking club sites.
Such a shame.
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We saw the writing on the wall a few years ago to be honest, more to do with the ever rising cost of a Club Site pitch than anything else. The name change and rebranding exercise didn’t bother us to be honest (money could have been used on Sites but heyho, it sort of dragged Club into 21st century), but the loss of simple no facility sites, the Racecourse Sites, the set in stone 7 hour arrival window doesn’t make for our kind of touring.
If you like moving around, linear touring as opposed to staying on a Site for days on end, then £30-40 a night to arrive at 7.55pm, and depart by 9.30am isn’t value for money. So we now primarily use CLs and small private Sites, or new to us this year, legal stopovers of one kind or another. It’s another touring world, hard to imagine how easy and pleasant it is if Club Sites are your mainstay, admittedly easier with a MH than a caravan, but there’s just no stress, no deposits, a whole lot less in terms of do’s and don’ts, every stop is a voyage of discovery, lots of sharing of great places to stop with likeminded others along the way, and our money for stays now goes a lot further.
We are currently touring East Anglia. Nothing booked until night before we set off. So far seven night away, that’s 1 Britstop (daytime loos, delicious cafe) free, 1 basic CL (water, waste and free fruit and veg, lovely church), £8, 3 nights on a CL (HS, hook up, shower, loo) £16 per night, 2 nights on a CL (HS, tap on pitch, hook up, toilets, walks direct from site, fishing if you want it) £18 per night. That gives us a lovely little average so far of just £13.15 per night, enjoying lots a variety, safe pitching, quiet, nice views, and interesting people to talk to and share a conversation with.
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