Pricing is a minefield
Comparing Club sites to CL sites from a pricing angle can be very misleading. Don't be fooled by the prices on the club site like I was. It looks like the club, or "massive holiday corporation," as I now like to call it, is trying to lure members to its club sites (which of course is good for their revenue) by advertising the lowest possible price for a club site pitch.
The headline (advertised) prices for club sites assume that we punters are travelling alone, don't need electricity or an awning, and are happy with a grass pitch. I know that some people are OK with a grass pitch, but in my experience the vast majority would rather have EHU, and unless they are just stopping for the night, many want to set up an awning or canopy of some kind.
But what really bothers me is that 95% of members travel with another adult rather than by themselves. So, basing the price of a pitch for a club site on a single adult sounds like something Ryanair would do. Even worse, it's very unfair to the CL network, which usually has a simple "Pitch Price" based on two adults and rarely charges extra for things like awnings, children, etc.
For example, I wanted to stay in Dorset for a week. We are a couple of adults who prefer EHU and, now that we are older, a Serviced pitch on hardstanding. Hunters Moon says it is 'From £21.50 - but in reality in June, a serviced pitch with an awning at the Club's Hunters Moon site costs £43.20/night.
By comparison, a serviced h/s pitch at Cherry Cottage CL in Dorset costs just £21 for two adults (and 2 children). Even though we'd have to pay for extra EHU (unlikely in June), the facilities are almost the same and cost only HALF as much as the club site.
I think it's unfair that Hunters Moon pricing is advertised as £21.50 per night, when it should really show pricing starting at £31.40 per night for a couple.
Looking at TrustPilot it seems I’m not the only one who thinks this way. Perhaps it’s time for the club to be a bit more transparent with its pricing.
Comments
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It's a standard tactic across the industry and beyond, the club has been doing it for some time now? A year or more?
As PD says most will know it only applies at perhaps one time in the year.
But even then so what, all it does is waste time in doing a booking and finding the real price which then one can refuse?
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The whole pricing structure is far too complex. A year or so ago they started charging more at weekends. Then there is no low, medium, high seasons as on many commercial sites, or ccc sites of similar sizes and facilities. The slightest hint of a school holiday or bank holiday and it’s another price range.
There is no visible pricing chart or table. The only way you can get a price is to formulate your potential stay and see what the cost would be. And if you want to see if by tweaking it slightly it comes out cheaper, that is another minefield.
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Can’t say I have noticed them charging more at weekends when the prices are released on the new booking system. As a result of mid week discount, at a few sites and times, that did happen on the old system but has now ceased. I have noticed that as dates fill up and show low availability the Friday / Saturday are often priced slightly higher.
I can’t say I find it particularly difficult to establish prices. Just select pitch type and number staying and scroll through the calendar.
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"The headline (advertised) prices for club sites assume that we punters are travelling alone, don't need electricity or an awning, and are happy with a grass pitch. I know that some people are OK with a grass pitch, but in my experience the vast majority would rather have EHU, and unless they are just stopping for the night, many want to set up an awning or canopy of some kind."
Thing is, Berty, CAMC doesn’t (yet) charge extra for EHU, awnings or dogs so the 'from' price will include those items which many other operators charge extra for. Grass pitches do have EHU, in case anyone thinks otherwise, and there are very very few non-EHU pitches on the club site network so most 'from' prices will include EHU as well as awnings and pets.
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The Club quote what is the minimum that can be charged for a pitch. Under the Club system that means one pitch plus one member and at the cheapest time of year. It is debatable how useful that information is but surely the Club are just trying to illustrate a starting price. In fairness to the Club, in the latest Site Directory have, in addition to the single occupancy started to quote for a couple and also give base prices for children so they are being pretty transparent. You could argue that the information provided is of not much use if you want to go in peak season when its likely prices could be double. Also as the Directory lasts for two years the original information quickly becomes out of date. I suppose the only important price information is what you will be charged for the time you want to go away, the Club can't second guess that?
David
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Can you advise where you get the "95% of members travel with another adult" please? I think you'd be surprised by the number of single travellers.
The club started advertising the "from" pricing with one adult 3 years ago so nothing new.
The price of a CL isn't at all comparable to a site in my opinion.
JK
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Billy no mates me brue
Good value though, we have a "singles" rally type thing on this spring, £13.50 a night, bargain
JK
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I remember the "good old days" when the tariffs for each site was in the handbook. That was when there was a high/mid/low season before CAMC went into "Eric Geddes" mode.
A good rule of thumb for all but peak season is that sites will cost double what the handbook says.
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I have my first ever handbook from 1999 and even then there were six pricing bands.
As they say - nostalgia isn't what it used to be
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Isn't the internet a wonderful thing
JK
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I have just had a week at Commons Wood site.
Unknown to me at the time of booking there is a "TICK" box that you have to "Untick" or you will pay for your entire holiday before you get to the site.
So if there are any changes during your stay (like going from 2 adults to 1) you end up paying all the way through for two people.
In this case we were having two nights away to see family leaving the caravan on site.
On checking in I advised the warden that I needed to change the booking as we would not be on site for two nights (hoping to save £17.40) so wanted to pay for just the caravan on site.
The warden struggled to sort this out so I said leave it I will contact the club the sort the refund.
Just been informed that they will not refund even though we did not make use of the facilities other than the plot.
Rule 5E applies! So if it happens again I will say my other half is not on site for two nights and save myself £8.70 instead of losing the £17.40.
The booking system is an "Off the Shelf" package from a hotel system I'm told and it's not fit for purpose. I often go away on my own and my wife joins later.
After 17yrs of being a member I have just cancelled my membership and will look at alternatives. The C&CC offers so many discounts and I will look at more Private sites now.
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Stinky Pete, And you think those private sites will give you refunds if you chop and change your numbers? Do please let us know how you get on.
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Rule 5e does state that normal rates will apply when a pitch is unoccupied. In my 13 years with the club it's always been that way. It's surely up to you if you don't make use of the facilities you've paid for. There are sites with storage facilities other than using a touring pitch that might have suited you better?.
JK
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I wouldn’t have expected any discount if I left the van unattended for a couple of nights. No more than we did when we had a seasonal a few years ago, you paid a set fee and it was up to you if you used the pitch / facilities. SP I doubt you will find the C&CC any more accommodating, although there sites do work out very good value if you qualify for the Age related discount and you would probably save £8 a night anyway.
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One wonders how fluctuating occupancy would be monitored anyway. Turn up solo and check in. Collect OH from the station a few days later, returning to the site. Would a warden notice that instead of one person in the car there were two. Very much reliant on the integrity of the member, I would have thought.
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To answer your fourth sentence, Yes.
JK
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When Mrs C was still working I would set up on say a Friday during the day and stay until Monday morning, my wife would arrive after her work and would leave late Sunday night so I would be on my own then but I never asked for, or booked paid for one less adult for that Sunday night as it seemed a bit petty as she would have been there most of the day.
If however I was staying on (sometimes through the week till Friday) then yes I'd only pay for myself then.
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A persons integrity being the most powerful aspect I think👍🏻. It’s worth pushing for reductions in costs but knowingly stealing is not a good unless it is acceptable to the individual then they really have no place with decent folk🤷🏻♂️. If I think something is overpriced I walk away I don’t take it regardless & I'm convinced the vast majority are like me.
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+1
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There's always the odd tryer Rocky, 13 years experience I can spot them a mile away
JK
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I have no truck whatsoever with the OP. Using minimum price as the flagged price, shown clearly as the "FROM" price, has been used by traders since trading began. Moreover, comparing club site prices with CLs is plainly invalid; they are different products.
I am interested though in StinkyPete's post to which you respond. Rule 5e actually states that "normal booking fees apply" when the pitch is unoccupied. So what does that mean? I would have expected it to mean the minimum fee that would have applied - in other words the pitch plus one adult. I don't see how the "normal" fee can be defined by a particular booking - or something that would have applied, but for the change, rather than the applicable (minimum) fee on the basis of what actually happened..
If I am right, then Pete's suggestion that in future he will book for, and pay for, just one adult if he will not actually occupy the van, whilst on the pitch, is perfectly valid. If I am wrong, then the rule seems to be based on what might have been and, in my view, that's not how rules work.
Of course, the separate point is what refund he would be entitled to having booked for two adults and having paid in full and then changing his arrangements at short notice. Under the new regime (which by the way, lest there be any doubt, I am entirely in agreement with), I am not sure, but the mere fact that he has paid in full before arrival, rather than just having paid a deposit surely doesn't change his rights to any possible refund - does it? It certainly shouldn't.
I am being devil's advocate because I don't really have much sympathy with Pete. Maybe in the same scenario I might have expected a refund of 75% of the cost of one adult for one night (because one loses the first night). Such an amount is not worth arguing about.
But I am a pedant, I freely admit, and it would be nice to have absolute clarity about the rules.
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👍🏻, gladly-birds of a feather. . .They roam in packs😊
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Thank you all for your comments. They just confirm my thoughts that pricing is a minefield and one that many members (clearly myself included) do not fully comprehend.
An interesting observation from Graydjames : I have no truck whatsoever with the OP. Using minimum price as the flagged price, shown clearly as the "FROM" price, has been used by traders since trading began. Moreover, comparing club site prices with CLs is plainly invalid; they are different products.
I'd agree with you, from my limited experience of Club and CL sites, they can indeed be very different products. On the other hand, some CLs can offer a similar level of facilities to a Club Site and if you happen to chance upon a less popular Club Site mid-week or out of season, you may not see more than a few vans in your patch, or even have the place to yourselves. So are we comparing Apples with Oranges or Satsumas?
My core issue is that the new booking website attempts (though not very well) to put these different products on the same platform, which suggests (to the less well-versed viewer) that they might be the same product and that a price comparison is justified.
Potential solutions could be that CLs show their 'From' price assuming 1 adult (as per the club and other commercial operations) or that some greater clarity is brought to the headline pricing element at first glance, because right now (as many comments point out) it is almost meaningless, unless you are a solo traveller.
On the one hand I'm pleased that CLs will now be more visible to members as I think they need our support and have been hidden away too long, on the other hand, I think the average member (or new member) needs to understand that they can be very good value - but I guess that's not in the interests of the club?
Greater clarity from the club on prices, deposits, rules for refunds etc. is needed, and on this point I wholeheartedly agree with my fellow pedant.
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It would be nice, Berty, if you'd respond to the points put directly to you in a few posts. We've taken onboard your OP but you haven't clarified some issues which could bear further discussion.
I think we all know pricing is a minefield and dynamic pricing will not enhance that situation.
Have you any suggestions for getting CL owners on board with your idea of them showing 'from' prices for one occupant? I think camc currently struggles to get CL owners to update their prices.
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CLs are separate individual businesses. They set their own price tariffs, their own operating procedures, and the owners/ managers run them accordingly.
To my knowledge, there are few that operate a complex tariff, where each individual component is priced, the norm is to give a fee that usually includes pitch, two persons and possibly hook up (although this is changing depending upon if metering is installed). Beyond that you might get a seasonal price difference, and possibly the odd extra like a fee for an awning, dog or extra person, etc….
Outside of this, it might pay to contact the CL, and see if they have extra charges for some aspects, or might even offer a small discount for a small, single tourer. In our experience, this does occasionally apply, although to be fair, if the “all in price” is very low, we wouldn’t dream of asking for anything off for single occupancy. It would also depend on the popularity of the CL. Somewhere busy isn’t going to want to drop a price that is carefully budgeted, and not overly high anyway, quite rightly.
This is where the Club’s budget Sites came into their own, and were a popular choice for single person touring. Many are no more, the rest are part of the DP system now.
There are independent campsite providers who base a stay on number of occupants, and not anything like as costly as Club Sites, but just as nice.
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Are you sure JK🤔 I know I really shouldn’t doubt a Member of staff, but I am sure that when we stayed at Marazion years ago, and folks went across to Scillies and stayed, they only paid for pitch plus one?
We have done this ourselves when I spent a couple of years commuting around the country to meet up with my OH. He would book in x number of nights at single occupancy, x number of nights with the two of us staying together, then back to single occupancy when I left to come home. Admittedly, we did it via separate booking dates, as back then it was the only way. Not sure if same applies now.
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Apologies I'm now not sure
. Another thing to check on next weekJK
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