New Booking System

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  • Chelty
    Chelty Forum Participant Posts: 48
    edited January 2023 #2762

    I too have just tried to amend a booking, shortening the number of days.

    The system then tried to make me pay for the whole shortened stay with a figure that was higher than the original booked price for the longer stay.  

    What a shambles.

    I'm not surprised the phone lines are busy - it's people like me who can't get the system to work as required. 

     

     

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,302 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2764

    I have made bookings in past weeks with no issues but not recently, so I tried a dummy booking. As you mention when I tried to quick checkout it whirred for about 15 seconds, then a second page came up and another 10 seconds of whirring, before in my case putting up the proper page for me to carry on. There is clearly something amiss, perhaps related to the maintenance they carried out this week.  My attempt was on a two year old iPad, running the latest operating system. Other devices and platforms may react differently.

    As to it putting your attempts into the basket, that is what should happen if a session is interrupted. When I cancelled my dummy booking it transferred it to the basket,  from where I Deleted User it. You say there were duplicates of your booking in the basket, I assume this is possible because you don’t have a booking for those dates, it is only an intention to book and will time out if you do nothing. As far as I am aware if you have a firm booking for specific dates it will not let you make another one.

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2765

    I've just tried it, I couldn't get as far as the basket, an error message came up and when I tried the back button my attempts were lost. That's on Android 12.

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2766

    Tried again and better on the second attempt. I think one of the problems is we're used to faster systems elsewhere and this is lumbering and requires too many actions.

  • Cornersteady
    Cornersteady Club Member Posts: 14,426 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2767

    Tried a dummy run on main computer and yes slow at times, kept me waiting, I didn't time it but well under a minute, maybe 15 to 30 seconds about three times, but I got as far as taking my bank details. It wasn't a slow as this two weeks ago.

    Post edit I selected quick checkout.

  • PandsGT60
    PandsGT60 Forum Participant Posts: 5
    edited January 2023 #2768

    Hi I've just tried to book a cl for an overnight stop I've given up after being dropped out multiple times. Looking at the map for sites close to my route is almost impossible as there are no road numbers shown on the map. What a shambles.

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,138 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2769
  • K Brown
    K Brown Forum Participant Posts: 33
    edited January 2023 #2770

    No, not really. Just a few ordinary folk trying to make a booking. Compared to the previous system which was was easy to use. Why do you think there are so many negative responses? We are not all not dinosaurs stuck in the past, but when the new system is so obviously flawed, surely it is time for “management” to accept responsibility for an ill judged roll out. You do not need to be an IT expert to see a badly designed, untested in the real world, system which should never have been signed off to go live.

  • JollyKernow
    JollyKernow Forum Participant Posts: 2,629
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    edited January 2023 #2771

    Posts are Deleted User for breaking the community guidelines KBrown, or if they are duplicated on another thread. Peoples responses about the new booking system are what this thread is about, be they negative or positive. Everyone is entitled to heir opinion unless it breaks those community guidelines.

    JK

  • K Brown
    K Brown Forum Participant Posts: 33
    edited January 2023 #2772

     Which is fine. No one wants to enable the key board warriors to dominate the site. However, we still have not seen or heard a sensible response from management regarding the new booking system. 

     

    Do you think it is an improvement? How is it going down with site managers booking in?  I a 68 year old long time member. I appreciate that you may feel that you need to defend the club, however you must accept that the new system is causing issues. 

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,859 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2773

    The problem is that for everyone who seems to be having difficulties there seems to be as many managing perfectly well. Several posts on Facebook groups recently have said this. If you think about it there must have been thousands of bookings since the new system was introduced so how have they managed, they can't all have rung through to HQ to book?

    David

  • Cornersteady
    Cornersteady Club Member Posts: 14,426 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2774

    I posted at the very beginning that I didn't like the way it was introduced, there were certainly problems in the first few weeks and I didn't then like the new booking system and found it cumbersome to use but in essence we were all stuck with it if wanting a club site. 

    Since then I have got to like it somewhat, there are some improvements, and once you have entered in your DOBs (are these being removed did I read?) and know how to use it, it is, if not good, then acceptable. I have done a number of booking and they went through quite quickly. Today was slow at times but no more than a minute or so at some parts. 

    I use computer with large screens and book only club sites but some people have reported issues other devices and/or CLs.

    There have been hundreds of thousand of booking made we are told so it must work at least some of the time for some of the members.

  • JollyKernow
    JollyKernow Forum Participant Posts: 2,629
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    edited January 2023 #2775

    Where do you think I'm defending the club? I merely advised why posts get Deleted User, that happens in all types of thread because those guidelines are broken.

    As DK says there are thousands of people successfully making bookings. There are also a lot who can't. No idea why.

    Our system is going ok, I think a lot is down to trying to forget the old and learn the new. I've had 13 years of the old system, sometimes it's hard to forget. 

    Personally I've made several bookings since November via the website, a bit clunky and slow but fairly straightforward.

    JK

     

  • K Brown
    K Brown Forum Participant Posts: 33
    edited January 2023 #2776

    Yes, it works. However that is not the same as it being a good investment of however millions. 

     

    We must just accept what we have and hope that in the end most members get the bookings they need, however fraught the process may be. 

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,859 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2777

    I suppose it might depend on how you measure things. The Club clearly needed new software (the old is no longer supported so could eventually lead to more serious difficulties as time goes by). The Club is also asking more of the software in that it requires it to take a deposit and arrange payment on the day of arrival which was not needed on the old system. I am not saying it's perfect and it is probably a bit rough round the edges. There is a rumour that it will be updated in February so we will have to see it that makes a difference? Like most things we often get used to the way they work and after a while accept them, that seems to be taking a bit longer with this system.

    David

     

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,302 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2778

    My gripe is not unique to the CAMC, it’s just that they seem more prone to messing things up than other organisations. 
    Up until recently I had a web booking system that I was happy with, it worked relatively smoothly on all my devices. OK it was a shaky start but they were getting there, things had definitely improved. I would even go as far as to say I liked it more than the old system. Now we seem to have gone backwards. Same with the App, although I couldn’t see the point of it as it was just another way of accessing the web site, it did at least work. Now after their update  a week or so ago it doesn’t.☹️

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2779

    https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/uk-holidays/uk-search-and-book/late-availability/#latetable 

    Late Availability is now working in list form where you can click on a chosen site. 

    Quite an improvement! smile

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,302 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2780

    Not really. Not updated since the 10th Jan and does not include Clumber and Poolsbrook. That’s just local to us, there are probably more.

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2781

    I've just reported this on feedback as I see they are missing from open all year info too. If there are further missing sites it might be worth mentioning them. Disappointing to find omissions. frown

     

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2782
  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,302 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2783

    There may be questions and complaints over the new booking system, however it is likely folk will get over them. From the staying on site point of view there are certainly a lot of satisfied customers and it is unlikely they are going to go elsewhere just due to inconveniences with the booking system.

    copied from Februarys mag

    Your feedback counts!
    We would like to thank members for taking the time to send feedback to the Club during 2022. Your feedback and suggestions help to shape the future of the Club in so many ways – here are a few examples.

    UK Club Campsites
    Between January and November 2022 around 60,000 of you took part in our Welcome Home survey, covering all aspects of your stays from arrival onwards. The average rating you gave us for ‘Overall experience’ was 8.9/10, while ‘Customer service’ scored a fantastic 9.3/10. Visitors’ likelihood to recommend sites was also extremely high.

  • Takethedogalong
    Takethedogalong Forum Participant Posts: 17,043 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2784

    The one thing to be wary of (in my experience) is asking Joe Public what he/she/they might think is a good idea. I can think of two recent examples that clearly indicate that Joe Public thinks only of No 1, no real regard for any implications further down the road to their Nirvana. One is the new booking system, and the second, well🤷‍♀️ Best not go there☹️

  • Rocky 2 buckets
    Rocky 2 buckets Forum Participant Posts: 7,101
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    edited January 2023 #2785

    +1 SL, I dropped my membership but it had nothing at all to do with the sites or even prices. Sites, staff, prices & general experience I’d score highly👍🏻

  • Cornersteady
    Cornersteady Club Member Posts: 14,426 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2786

    I've posted before that while sites keep up the high standards people will want to keep going to  them and keep booking them.

  • anglian
    anglian Forum Participant Posts: 46
    edited January 2023 #2787

    Having just clicked on the  Late Availability link, the page shows campsites beginning with Minehead and ending with York. Where are the campsites beginning with A?

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,302 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2788

    Hard to believe really, they update the list, find Poolsbrook but loose everything above M.

    Does nobody check anything? There are definitely vacancies at sites starting A to M.

  • DSB
    DSB Club Member Posts: 5,666 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2789

    Well, I shall soon be using the new system again to book (only used it once for real, so far!).  I've done a few 'dummy runs'.  For me, the main issues are:

    • The search will only show up the top 20 sites in list view.
    • Now that we can book pitch types, when I put my dates in, I want to be able to specify 'hardstandings', 'serviced pitches' etc and just for those sites with availability in my chosen pitch type to come up in the search results.  At present, I have to go into each site individually to check whether the pitch type I want is available.
    • I also miss not being able to specify sites within a 50 mile, 100 mile radius of the chosen 'location'.

    The Club are aware of these 'personal requests', but I guess the priority depends on the practicalities and how many others have flagged up these things up as 'requirements'.

    David

     

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2790

    I've used the system twice now but must admit I was forearmed due to discussions on here. I might find it a bit challenging if I discovered the set up without any prior knowledge.

    I see the Late Availability has altered, but it's not a proper update. Looks like the list is limited to ten sites at present. The feedback needs to continue. smile