CL Booking problem
I have been trying to book a CL in Anglesey. The owner has confirmed they have my dates, but instead of the £10 deposit stated on the CC site, have asked for the full amount - £230 - upfront by bank transfer. I did send them the £10. The holiday is 5 weeks away and we do not wish to pay so far in advance, just in case of illness etc. causing us to cancel. I have emailed the owner requesting refund of the £10, but she is notoriously slow in her replies. What do you all think? Heard of this before? Thanks in advance.
Comments
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What’s to say really? It’s up to the CL owner to run the site to their own T&Cs but you should have been made fully aware at the point of booking.
I suggest you name the site to alert other potential users.
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Plenty of CLs now wanting deposits, which whilst I would rather not, I understand. I have had a couple who want full amount a few days beforehand, never 5 weeks beforehand. As TW says the T & C should have been made clear when you first enquired about possible dates. Hope you will find another site, I know Anglesey is expensive.
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Millie, CLs are run independently to the Club in the way of booking terms and conditions. Each will have their own set up regarding pricing, any deposits, if you have to pay up front, or on arrival. Also method of payment. Some CLs are notoriously late in changing what it says on their Website page, and sometimes things might not be as expected. All you can do is decide what is right for you, and if you want to commit to what is being charged and how it is collected. If the CL says payment up front 5 weeks before arrival, then that’s what you commit to unless it doesn’t suit, and then you walk away. It’s always best to get the full details around payment before you give any money.
For what it’s worth, if it was a CL I hadn’t been to before, then I wouldn’t be paying in advance, unless the reviews were excellent, and I had friends who might have stayed before. I can understand CLs wanting deposits and in some cases up front payments, possibly because they have been badly let down by Members previously. I do think if this is the case though, it needs a clear description of T&Cs, at the time of booking. 5 weeks in advance does seem excessive, I’d be walking away.
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I am also not keen on paying upfront for campsites but unfortunately it is the usual MO for most commercial sites. Losing £230 is a much bigger deal for a CL than it is for a large site and perhaps its a case of once bitten twice shy? On the CL Group Facebook pages CL's are always advertising availability due to late cancellations. Perhaps the problem for this CL is that the deposit charged was so low it was abused with people being willing to forego such a small down payment. Having said that you would have thought that it might be more reasonable to increase the size of the deposit rather than moving to full payment but we don't know what has prompted the move.
David
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Fasten your purse Millie, and put it back in your bag.
There are over 100 campsites on Anglesey and I’m sure you can sort out a place to stay the day before you set off - when you know you are fit and well enough to travel - and when the weather forecast looks good.
Best wishes.
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I suspect you’ve identified exactly the reason CL owners request either a meaningful deposit or full payment in advance, WTG.
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I think having cancellation insurance for campsite stays is probably unrealistic, unless the site offers it themselves in some manner.
As an example, one of the big commercial holiday park operators offers insurance covering illness for £10 per booking.
I did look into getting some sort of annual cover, but for someone of advanced years the cost was high and the excess high, so we just avoid sites that want full payment too far ahead.
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CLs have changed a lot WTG in the last few years. There’s a lot of investment goes into some, lots more overheads, lots more trying to get back on investment, so deposits and payments up front are a bit more prevalent, and possibly need to be in some instances if folks book then cancel at short notice. With only 5 pitches to let, that’s a lot of money to lose if someone cancels at short notice.
That said, there are still a lot of CLs out there where it’s done on trust, and that is down to the owners of course. We used a CL in Cornwall for a decade or so, often for five or six trips per year. We used to send money down periodically so that we had everything paid for by the time we arrived. We trusted the CL, they trusted us. We couldn’t make it one week (Dad taken very ill, we had to turn back.) I contacted the CL and said we didn’t want the money back, but next time, they gave us credit for the nights they had been able to re book.couldn’t ask for fairer than that. Must be so annoying though on a busy popular CL if someone cancels at very short notice. It does happen.We tend to book late nowadays, often day before. Usually no deposits required. We have never used insurance, except when I took Mum and Dad away in cottages.
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Thanks all for your replies. I have just booked a site practically next door to the problem site, with the same view of the bay. A couple of pounds a night more and no water on pitch, but no deposit required and pay when you get there! Now to see if I get my £10 deposit back.
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We are regular CL users and T&Cs vary from place to place. There is no one size fits all.
Angelsey is expensive as CLs generally go. However we recently stayed for a week on one on full service pitch and the owner didn't even want a deposit.
I've booked 6 CLs for an autumn tour and only 1 wanted a deposit of £10 but another did want full payment 3 weeks prior to going. The T&Cs were clearly explained to me and I particularly wanted that CL so I have agreed to the terms.
It all comes down to how confident and happy you are with those terms. If you are worried about them or regularly have to cancel due to whatever reason then make your choice based on what you want. No-one else knows how losing that full payment may affect you, only you do.
Like KjelNN we paid a £10 addition to a cottage booking as we are taking my 90 year old MiL and I have been known to have the odd wobbly.
Personally I wouldn't concern an insurer for £100 or thereabouts. Excess and hassle and future penalties for claiming would put me off.
Talking to CL owners I get the overall impression that they are experiencing not just more short advised cancellations but no-shows, which is just plain rude so I can fully understand their taking a deposit and maybe full price dependent on time of year.
No-shows should be reported to the club and some form of sanction threatened for future transgressions IMO. The club grant the licence so should help the CLs out in at least this admin part.
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In 54 years caravanning I can only recall 3 or 4 occasions when we booked and paid out money several weeks ahead . Are there really so few others who operate spontaneously and phone a site a day in advance ? I wonder why that is.
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We usually pay on arrival EuroT. The only time we might book a CL in advance is if it’s somewhere we really want to stay, and if we know it’s likely to be busy. When there are only 5 pitches, you do need to think ahead a little to get exactly what you want. We are out next week, winging it for a couple of nights, One is a pub stop with only 3 pitches, so I shall phone night before, and they will reserve a pitch for us. No deposit required….it’s free😁
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Do CL regular users arrange insurance?
WtG, the thought has never crossed my mind, and we use, and have used, CLs all year round for well over 30 yrs. We have just yesterday booked 3 CLs and 1 CS and not one has asked for a deposit, although it is mentioned at one on the web site. I think that at the moment there are many fewer units out and about and CL owners are just happy that members are choosing their CLs as opposed to others or club sites.
ET, it is much easier for the likes of yourself and other M/H owners/hirers to visit sites without advance booking, not so easy for those like ourselves with a caravan.
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Millie8,
From a CL owner point of view, what you are describing (we do not wish to pay so far in advance, just in case of illness etc) is the very reason CL owners are asking for hefty deposits or full payment on booking. Your comment implies you might want to cancel last minute, you don't want to lose any money but you consider it acceptable for the CL owner to be out of pocket. Hmm.
Why do members think the CL owner should be the one to lose out financially if the person booked onto their site cancels last minute? I fully appreciate things like illness, car breakdown etc. happen and have every sympathy but why, oh why, is it considered the responsibility of the CL owner? That is what travel insurance is for. It is also not the fault or responsibility of the CL owner if the cost of said travel insurance is too high (age etc.) or unavailable.
As you've said the total cost is £230, I imagine you've possibly booked for at least a week, maybe 10 days depending on the nightly cost. That would be a huge hole in their bookings were you to cancel last minute, for whatever reason and 5 weeks from now is the beginning of September(?) you've booked for - still peak season for caravan sites, especially somewhere like Anglesey.
This is an increasing problem for CLs and why more and more are tightening up their T&Cs to protect themselves. As mentioned in another comment, only having 5 pitches means one cancellation is a big hit for a CL owner.
I do agree, and fully support, the fact that T&Cs should be fully transparent prior to anyone making a booking with a CL and I do get frustrated when I hear CL owners complaining about cancellations when their terms are not clearly displayed. But you also have a responsibility to ask for all the information you require prior to making your booking if it's not available online. Ours are on our website and we ask (multiple times) during our online booking process that members read said terms and cancellation policy before they book/pay their deposit. We have a clear cancellation policy (as all CLs should have but many don't), and will refund if we manage to re-let the pitch but, every CL will decide their own policy.
We didn't used to take deposits (except for BHs) and accepted payment on arrival but our current system (deposit with balance 14 days prior to arrival) was born out of one year when one in every four bookings was cancelled last minute or even on the day of arrival. It's simply not acceptable for members to do that even if their booking/payment has been made on a 'trust' basis. Not only is the CL owner out of pocket but it also deprives another member of a pitch they might have wanted to book or stay on for longer.
If you don't want to pay anything up front to secure your pitch then seek out those CLs who still do everything on trust but, if you cancel last minute, please, at the very least, offer to pay for the pitch if it doesn't get re-let.
Good luck in getting the £10 back but you did make a booking and then cancel. Maybe their terms are no refund of deposit. They still had admin to carry out which involved their time (something folk seem to forget with CLs) booking you in and then cancelling your booking and they could possibly have lost other bookings in the meantime.
Skybarn Farm CL, Lincoln11 -
Stayed three nights at a CL recently at £15 a night. Deposit on booking of £30 (can’t remember whether this was an amount or related to number of nights). We were only booking the week before so I paid the total in one go. If the worst had happened and we couldn’t go, we are fortunate that whilst a loss of £45 would be annoying, we can afford it. Talking to the owner whilst there about their deposit taking and electricity metering she said she didn’t want to charge deposits but felt it necessary now. In her view those who complained about them were the ones that were most likely not to turn up. On electricity metering she was telling us about people using splinters etc . Unfortunately the trust that many of us have benefited from over so many years on CLs wears thin when too many abuse the system.
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We have stayed at around 10 different sites so far this year. A few CLs and privately owned larger sites. Most of them required a deposit, including some of the CLs. I think the largest deposit was around £45 on a 10 night stay and we paid the balance between 1-2/3 weeks before. We have been lucky and never yet had to cancel in the 13 or so years we have been caravanning, apart from Covid times of course. It took 2 weeks for her to at last confirm my dates, she took days to answer emails and a phone call. Perhaps I should have smelt a rat then, but I really fancied the site. I just wonder what her terms are if you book months in advance and have to pay the full amount or she will not book you in. Bit of a money making scheme going on there if you ask me! Oh well, we got our second choice of site and don't expect the £10 deposit back.
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Yes, I understand all this. Just to let you know, I did not make a booking, I was not allowed to until they received the full amount and my husband would not do this. I sent the £10 quoted deposit to show I definately wanted to book but did not pay the full amount of £230 so could not book.
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I'm a bit confused here. Did you send £10 when you already knew they wanted full payment? Surely the £10 was at that point considered a deposit on a booking 🤷🏻♂️
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She doesn't take deposits, only the full amount within 24hours. I thought she would take the £10 as quoted on her page, but we didn't have enough in the bank to pay the full amount and would have to transfer it from another account which I couldn't do to reach her bank in 24 hours. I was silly to make the £10 I know, so have kissed that goodbye. All's well now as booked in a similar site nearby. Discussion closed and thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply.
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The discussion isn’t closed, Millie.
It wasn’t wise to pay the £10, as you say but there might be an element of fault with the site operator for not making T&Cs clear and I urge you to name the site to alert your fellow members and maybe you could also advise the club.
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There are a lot of CL users so naming the site will help others?
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Yes, I suppose if her page had the right information on it, I would not have considered booking in the first place. I expected the price and deposit to have gone up, bearing in mind the times we are living in these days. So the site is Tyddyn y mor. It took me a week to get to the booking stage as she didn't reply to emails or phone call for days. I should have given up.
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Tyddyn y mor. Cheers, that may help others.
Here's a link to the email address of the club's CL section -
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I have a little CL site I don't take anything up front I I only charge on the day of arrival and I had one person book in January 23 arriving July 23, I also had one camper a lovely man book for the 6th September 23 for two nights and on the 6th the day he was coming phoned me to change it for the week after and that was fine by me. I always give people flexibility I always give a receipt. And all of them have said they fully intend to come back next year.
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