"Club" membership and CT
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I agree entirely David. Not got any strong feelings about allowing or not allowing non-members to post on here. I use my phone almost exclusively for 'social media' and emails etc... even word, excel, pdf documents. I usually find it quicker and more convenient. [I use the laptop mainly for running 'big' programmes like Sibelius (music software), video and audio editing, midi connection etc., so the laptop still has a place]. I can access all my documents via the phone which, together with the laptop all sync with Google Drive.....
I think the CAMC app will improve over time - I'm sure there must be a snagging/ improvement list......
There are now so many different social media platforms, resulting in a drop in numbers on the 'traditional forums'. However, I think we are busier than most, on here - we're 'holding our own'!!
David
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I joined the club in 1979. Never before over all those years have I felt less of a member of a great club than in the last six months or so.
Something has changed, and I now feel we are regarded simply as customers of a commercial organisation now . Sad that I should feel this way - it's not a sudden realisation either.
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We are in our 18th year and I’ve always regarded myself as a customer. The club bit is just a way of getting money out of you even if you don’t use the sites. However, any profit is ploughed back and we like the sites, so we are happy enough to carry on, even if we don’t favour them quite as much now they’ve lost their USP.
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Likewise I'm coming up to 24 years of membership and I wanted to use club sites so I had to join the club, it has never felt like a traditional club as really it's far too big but on site there is a shared feeling of belonging as it's mainly (if not all) like minded members.
I do enjoy the benefits of membership though, like the offers and the advice lines.
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I have some sympathy with that view. I have been a member since 1982 and the Club now is very different from what it felt like all those years ago. There are two things that have changed in those years. Firstly the "Club" has professionalised by which I mean they have been more promotional of its services. Secondly we have had the widespread use of the internet, what with online booking and social media which has changed many things. I don't think the Club could go back to what it was like because other things have changed also. Sometimes the Club does not help itself and a particular shortcoming is communication with members. That might be because it is too managerial in the way that it thinks, we make the decisions and the members just have to follow along or vote with their feet?
David
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I think perhaps some see CAMC from the perspective of using sites and maybe insurance or travel abroad but there are many out there who belong to local centres and take part in rallies and gatherings which still carry the social ethos of the club. They appear to be the ones who join the centre groups and committees that contribute to the way the club is run. Possibly those who only use sites will indeed feel like customers, those who get a bit more involved might see it differently?
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"Sometimes the Club does not help itself and a particular shortcoming is communication with members."
I'll second that, David, and the lack of communication transmits as an air of arrogance, high handedness and disregard of the membership. It’s the main reason I quit.
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As Brue said earlier, if you just feel you are only a commercial customer the answer lies in the Local Centres and the rallies they run. Some have been celebrating Chinese New Year and Burns Night already, and others have walking weekends, a beer festival and dinner dances still to come. They sound like Club activities to me - and all run by volunteers instead of complainers.
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Complainers? 🤔
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They have no interest for us either, but a lot do like them and in that respect I suppose the organisation still functions like a club. Don’t the participants get concessionary rates? I think it is admirable that the CAMC still continue supporting such events. However, in other respects and certainly in relation to how we use their services it is a purely commercial organisation. Although it’s a shame it can’t act more like one. Website turned off just after 10 pm last night and not back up until around 8am and not a word of warning or why. Hopefully it didn’t catch anybody in the middle of a booking. The Nat West always tell me and they don’t usually go down until 2am.
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Not all rallies are such😁 Never done a Club rally (although seen a few), but we used to do an Off Road weekend rally every year. Took both van and tent, thoroughly good fun. Mud and mayhem and lots of laughs by day, then good music, shared beers and trying to rebuild broken Jeeps by evening🤣
Lots of rallies involve like minded people sharing a common interest/hobby, coming together to have a lot of fun that is safely organised and well run. Some activities need lots of folks as well to be a success, and are a huge change from the quiet, peaceful holiday choices we usually make. Sometimes they are nothing more than a cheaper rate for something you like, which again makes sense. I never took a ball gown, hard to hang it up in a tent😁
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Steve, it's another example of camc's shabby treatment of members/customers.
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Rallies vary greatly and if some enjoy these aspects because they can keep up social contacts and have friendships then this is something to be commended. The club has always encouraged social contacts, much the same on here too.
There are families with children who enjoy rallies, I can think of the family Christmas rally at Hillhead, I think party games are part of the fun provided. All on a volunteer basis.
However I would like to think the club supports all their loyal membership so I think they have been lacking in communications in general especially on the web site. It has been very disappointing to see Trust Pilot and Facebook used as the communication channels rather than the main web site or even the magazine where blandness reigns supreme.
It would be great to see a general update area on CT, updates often get lost in individual sections.
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Yes SteveL. If you stay with a club rally on a site you will generally pay a lot less for the same facilities! And no-one has to participate in any of the activities.
PS we have just missed out on £10 ( ehu) per night Cornish rally with the opposition, on a good site too. It's fully booked as many are already this year.
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We joined the cub in 1991, after buying our first van following years of tent camping, to be able to use RP.
Our first rally was in 1995 after buying a new van and it was, like many experiences, enjoyable but not without fault, in our eyes.
We have enjoyed many rallies over the years and they are as varied as the people who take part, and the extent to which they interact-want to just get a bargain pitch on a decent site, no problem-but want to be fully involved, again no problem.
We continue to be club members to be able to rally and, whilst the massive discounts on ferry/sites are no more, we have saved nearly £100 on this years trip booking via the club,so that's a benefit as well as is the ability to use the CL network.
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Many years ago, when we were boat owners, we used to Rally with the IWA (Inland Waterways Association). Whilst those rallies obviously had a social element they were more about campaigning to save the waterways. I suspect Club rallying is somewhat different? The main point of them seems to be the "Social" aspect rather than touring, it is the latter I am more interested in. It would be interesting to know whether the people that run the Centres and Rallies feel they get enough support and encouragement from the Club? Perhaps they do but not being involved I have no idea. Club members are strange beasts as on the one hand you have those involved with rallies, perhaps nearer the origins of the Club and those that just use the Club's sites and beyond wanting a nice campsite and an easy booking experience really want no further involvement. Many, from observations on site, don't want much interaction with other members! I am not sure it will happen but perhaps the Club need to be more customer focused rather than we know what's good for you, take it or leave it? Perhaps they can get away with it because of the "Club" aspect where the Club Committee rule supreme?
David
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Removed by me
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+1
I've said this before the treatment of 'members/customers is poor in terms of communications and the way in which the booking system was introduced, not to mention the early faults in the system.
But the treatment of members or customers (whatever one prefers, I don't think it matters) on actual club sites, and the standard of the sites is still very good, and while this continues then people will 'tolerate' for want of a better word the shortcomings. That's not to say I don't want things to improve.
In fact when I'm on a site all appears great with the club
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"What none of us can see, of course, is how many people who are not members actually view Club Together. The Club might have that information as I expect they have web stats that show how many looking at the forum are actually logged in?"
well they should be able to collect such information, but i suspect many members view CT but seldom log in, i am one of those.
I do sometimes find useful information but a lot of stuff that is posted, has been posted before, and some posts i find totally irrelevant as the information can easily be found, and sometimes in more detail, using search engines such as google.
If I am home i maybe look in whilst having coffee in the morning and maybe before i switch off early evening but if away i very seldom use CT. If the weather is not good i might pay more attention to CT but i certainly do not watch for new posts 24x7x365.
"but I don’t think the Club has the forum aspect of CT high on its “must keep” list. " neither do i TTDA
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Thankfully, some ex members still post on CT (I include myself as one, though very infrequently)
However, back in 2015 (when I was a member) I was extremely grateful for the knowledge and advice offered to me by some of the other members, particularly as I was interested in venturing ‘over there’ Along with the Caravan Club’s advice and members such as Dianne T, Deleted User User, RoynSharonT and chasandcath (along with others) I was able to glean so much helpful information and it really ‘felt’ like I belonged to a ‘Club’ or community.
I did travel “over there’ and my main reason for leaving the Club was I enjoyed it more ‘over there’ and have stopped touring over here. There were other issues which helped in my decision not to continue membership and most have been mentioned by the OP and other posts within it.
Once the rose tinted Club spectacles are removed, it’s not difficult to see how Caravan Club Limited is being run. Essentially, you’re not members of a Club, but a fee paying individual in a business which just wants to extract as much money from you as possible under the guise of a ‘Club’. (At least with a Tesco Clubcard there are real benefits) Good luck to them. I voted with my feet (and wallet) and how I giggle at the comments about club sites and facilities And YES! They’re more expensive in comparison and in the main of poorer quality than ‘over there’ The attitude at HQ was another driver along with promises of an IT upgrade. Sitting on the M5 for 7 hours not turning a wheel, the M6 for longer (not at weekends or in season) was the final straw. This Island is overcrowded, overpriced, over and out.
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And YES! They’re more expensive in comparison and in the main of poorer quality than ‘over there
We tour in both areas and utilise club sites as well as others and whilst I agree with the first point, the second is certainly not the case. The provided facilities, in my opinion, are generally as good or of a higher quality than over there. The fact that there are usually no swimming pools, bars, clubs or restaurants isn’t an issue, as that is not why we choose to use them and although a pool is occasionally nice, we generally keep well away from such sites in both areas.
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If you got the e mail from CAMC yesterday there was an opportunity to express an opinion about the club. There have been more of these surveys recently and I hope the club is listening. They are certainly responding on Trust Pilot but whether action is being taken is another matter.
On the subject of sites I don't think the club has ever been in the business of providing the type of large "all in" sites found here and abroad. I think it's been successful in providing smaller simple sites in areas people like to visit including the opportunity to use CLs.
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Not sure that the Email I received invited me to express an opinion. It did however encourage me to spend my 'hard-earned' with the club, including 'discounted' overseas sites.
The problem is that one can usually get a better deal with those sites outside of CAMC. They are also deceptive. A glossy picture purporting to be Les Genets near St Jean de Monts bore no resemblance to the actual site or its location. Anyone accepting the CAMC's blandishments and booking on the basis of that E Mail would have a clear case for misrepresentation.
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Hi everyone,
A polite reminder to keep conversations free from arguments as we want this to be a friendly place for forum member's to communicate.
Also, we totally appreciate that posts will drift off topic from time to time and there may be some comparisons to overseas touring when relevant to the conversation however we do want to make sure this doesn't then dominate the thread. Please feel free to start new conversations in the relevant areas though and keep this discussion on topic. Many thanks.
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As I posted earlier, I don't think there is a simple answer to Nellie's question. There are numerous reasons why folk no longer post on CT or leave CAMC. Extugger has stated several reasons from his own point of view but, for every Extugger, there will be many who think the opposite. It's something that cannot be absolutely defined.
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