Price drop on over 1.5 million pitches
Comments
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Had a feeling that the great Staycation would dwindle away as overinflated pricing not only for sites but new and secondhand RV's hotels and holiday rentals etc got overtaken by the general cost of living and the alternative of foreign travel. There seems to be healthy discounts on many Holiday and leisure items now but unfortunately not to pre-covid costs.
I think many have migrated from club sites to CL's.
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And it makes no business sense at all to discount sites that are performing very well. What's the point of offering discounts at full sites, that's just losing money.
Glad to see you are agreeing CS. Like I said the reductions were done for business reasons not to help members.
peedee
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It was always clear that the high level of staycationism (I’ve invented a word!) we witnessed during the pandemic was an exception and was never going to be maintained. Irrespective of the cost of living, people were inevitably likely to return to their former methods of holidaying.
The difference in the volume of holiday traffic in the SW this year compared to, say, 2021 is markedly less.
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I can’t see how it can be described as a sharp business practice. The club doesn’t hide the fact that prices go up as you get closer to the date. In fact they encourage booking early to secure the best price. At not so popular sites they have introduced offers, but at popular sites like Chatsworth there is no need, they can sell the pitches easily. By booking a year ahead we have saved 15% on the prices quoted today. Although we would be hard pressed to get enough days together at this late stage. The same applies to Baltic Wharf, very popular so the club can ask and get top dollar. We paid the same per night in early October as we did for Morn Hill at the end of August peak, which was less than half full.
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I personally appreciate the club has recognised the problems the earlier changes have brought to the clubs finances and are actively working to encourage members to use the club again, the 10% deposit was the first positive and followed by various offers/price reductions are all going in the right direction, a comment in YTs post ref the Black Knowl site praise as contributing to their better performance was presenting the site in pristine condition at all times I would suggest that all club sites that observe the No Mow May take note of this comment and make sure their site still meets these standards, I suspect this will be one of the causes in the once very popular Putts corner is on the price reduction list.
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Actually I didn't say that just that at all PD, I just said there is no point in losing money by offering discounts on full sites.
The profit from them would be reduced and that certainly won't help other sites by perhaps subsidising and reducing their prices which in turn will help members in my view.
But to reciprocate the gladness I'm glad to see you now know why certain sites have been reduced and not others as you posted on page 1?
I find it bizarre they haven't applied a flat rate across all the sites.
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yes fully agree and also agrees with my own experience booking early as I posted.
There is certainly a good sized discount by doing so.
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It’s a “Members”club Steve, as in, you pay a Membership fee, and I for one expect membership like treatment, not the same kind of like it or lump it bargaining that I’d get from the likes of RyanAir.
We have been out near Castleton today, have decided a short break out there would suit us nicely, for some cycling, walking, Winter fresh air. I looked at Castleton Club Site, half a mile stroll into Castleton, we know it well. And I looked at Laneside, half a mile stroll into Hope. One was £6 a night cheaper for us, would have been £8 a night cheaper without our hound. Good dog walks on site, shop on site should we need it. Guess which one is the cheaper?
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As far as I’m concerned it’s a commercial organisation that charges an annual fee if you wish to use their products, including the associated CL network, insurance etc. I am under no illusions it is anything but. If its products suit our requirements in location and price we will use them. Otherwise we will look elsewhere. We have still used a fair few this year but less than in other years. Although this has been more to do with the loss of their USP rather than price.
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You're making it sound as if you have to? But if one can then the savings are there.
Off topic but tour in the way that suits? There's no correct way.
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I absolutely agree Steve. It is a commercial organisation now. And it ditched its Member friendly USP.
In short, it’s charging a Membership fee, that’s a decent few £m, it retains probably quite a bit more in deposits for those now unfortunate enough to have something occur within three weeks of arrival date, and it’s prices are at the top end of provision, even when compared with some commercial sites.2 -
it retains probably quite a bit more in deposits for those now unfortunate enough to have something occur within three weeks of arrival date, and it’s prices are at the top end of provision, even when compared with some commercial sites.
Although with quite a few commercial sites you would loose a lot more than your 10/20% deposit if you cancelled within 21 days.
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You have to be careful with commercial sites because the T&C's are no where near as generous as the CMC. Often full payment is required 4/6 weeks before arrival and if you can't honour the booking hard cheese as I mentioned up thread. OK some commercial sites may be a bit cheaper, not our experience this year, but you also have to take account of what the sites are actually like an many of them are not the same quality as you get with Club sites.
David
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We’ve never stayed on a commercial site, in fact to be honest, I am not sure what a commercial site is. (I think of them as being places like Haven, the big East Coast sites with hundreds of pitches?) We have used a good few small private sites, run by either one family or as an individual site rather than part of of a group such as Haven for example. We have happily left a sometimes un asked for deposit with these to show our commitment, but have found most very accommodating if we have wanted to tweak our dates, with no penalties incurred. Same with cottages we have booked. Hence we have never used holiday insurance, other than knowing it was there as part of our Bank account type. Only holiday we had pre booked and paid for in full was on a CL, one we used on a regular basis, and on the single occasion we had to cancel, we were reimbursed for each night the owner managed to relet. We didn’t ask for or expect more.
The new booking T&C’s might seem generous to some, but sadly not to us. I don’t wholly blame the Club for what has been put in place, they may have had no choice with number of no shows or very very late cancellations, but I do think the main driver has been income generation rather than membership satisfaction. Maybe the vast majority of Members now have what they wish for from the Club, and are happily satisfied, folks like us after 30+ years of enjoying the previous set up are just collateral damage, and in numbers small enough to be discarded. We are happily adapting easily to different choices that are working out well for us.
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TDDA, to find examples you need to look at somewhere like Morris Leisure (who have six sites, I think) and see how professional but less regimented these types of sites can be...
yes, they have t/c to protect themselves against non arrivals etc but they can also be far more flexible than a club site....open to a phone call to arrive early if possible (we rang a site a couple of days ago to see if we could arrive early as we were only staying one day and wanted to get the most of the last day of Southern sunshine)...yes, no problem...
they also have clear 'seasonal' pricing and no frills offers when they come round...the 3 for 2 nights at Morris Leisure is across all their sites and runs from October till March...see photo and look at the the amount of discount compared to the Club offer and the 'daily' price that means for a top class site...£23 for a HS incl wifi, leccy etc..
they also are generally more staffed up with customer facing elements open for far longer, have far more facilities...check Swiss Farm in Henley against the club's Four Oaks site...similar price but one a big notch up on the other...pool, restaurant, bar, large shop, ANPR entry and exit, totally separate MHSP away from other traffic and near exit😉, closer to town than HFO etc, pitches in small 'enclaves' of 6 vans all separated by hedges etc...no 'race track' road system so pitches are quieter despite being a large site.
Yes, Haven etc are 'commercial' sites but there are many others that are just independent of the major players.
we stayed at one on the south coast recently so off peak, and we paid £50 for two nights across a weekend, got a 'late stay' till 4 pm, right on the beach etc
Like you, we are happy to chat to site staff to get the most of our time and almost all are happy to accommodate reasonable requests for (perhaps) and early arrival or late stay, if possible.
good luck.
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I haven't used a CAMC site for over three years. They will have to 'up their game' a whole lot more to lure me back.
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TDA
When I mention a commercial site I mean any proper campsite which is not a Club site, CL/CS or a pub carpark. So any campsite that charges you to stay there is a commercial in my view. Doesn't matter whether its one of the excellent Morris Leisure sites or a site with 10 pitches with minimum facilities. They are in business so therefore commercial. You may find the odd one here and there who maybe happy for you to book with just a deposit but all of the mainstream sites I have been interested in also want payment upfront before you arrive on site.
David
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David, generally you're right but there will always be exceptions...
Our 'goto' small (25 pitch) commercial in the New Forest doesn't require a deposit nor even payment on arrival...cash, transfer whatever 'when it's convenient'. Of course, we and our pals are regulars there and this might make a difference.
the commercial we used on Tuesday night was 'pay when you get set up, no rush'...
there are so many different options these days, no real 'default' choice... commercials vary from Haven (rack em and stack em in the summer, but a 'haven' of calm and cheap as chips out of season) to tiny sites that are almost largish CLs.
we use another commercial in Devon which, in summer is pretty manic (not for us) but after the peaks we've sometimes been almost the only tourer yet the wonderfully modern facilities and HS with wifi are just the same when we pay around £15 a night as when the 'peak' visitors pay £50.
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The Morris Leisure sites always look nice. We almost stayed at the Ludlow one a few years ago, but found a CL not far away. 🙂 Their 3 for 2 offer would suit.
I suppose we don’t tour like many Club members, booking well ahead, staying for quite a while in one place, so we don’t seek to secure the dates or sites. I will pay a bit more attention to T&Cs if we do pre book something.🙂
Did spot that there are ten consecutive nights at YRP yesterday. All dates say low, but never seen that before. We passed Castleton site yesterday, around half full. I think there will be a bit of a MH backlash in Castleton soon though. Around 18 pulled in off road at bottom of Winnats Pass, and when we got to top, near Blue John Mine, around another 10 just setting up for night. Everyone behaving though, some overseas outfits. Heck of a walk back from nearest pub😁
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I’m quite puzzled by your constant comparison of site prices. The thread is about camc price reductions which I would have thought you would welcome. Why not embrace that for what it is?
We all know alternatives exist but thanks for reminding us👍.
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Regarding YRP, I think I posted recently it was all full so I assume it's just one, maybe two cancellations.
Of course MH might be off site at Castleton?
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The CL up the road wanted £25 a night, ML worked out at £23👍
OT but speaking of heck of a walk, we visited a well know 'attraction' and walked from the nearest site, pretty well all on roads...did over 30,000 steps, phew!
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TW, dont threads morph along and I was responding directly to DK and TDDA.
folk are discussing what difference the lower prices might make and how they now compare to the competition, a valid theme I'd have thought?
You don't have to read the posts and they certainly don't require you to comment unless you feel the need.
others are allowed to respond and engage in 'conversation' but I don't see you pulling them up🤷🏻♂️
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Perhaps others don’t post so persistently about prices and comparisons in thread after thread?
Anyway, it’s good to see camc reducing their prices as I’m sure you agree.
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Not the ones we saw up at BJ Mine, and on closed road. It was quite late on, and most looked settled in for night. We were very surprised at how many were there. Surprised re YRP as well.
Apologies, didn’t mean to go off topic.🙂
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folk are discussing what difference the lower prices might make and how they now compare to the competition, a valid theme I'd have thought?
Poster are certainly discussing the effects of these prices and their T&C which is a fair point.
However as far as I can see no one else in this thread is discussing how they now compare to the competition in relation to prices and in such great detail with actual prices over a number of posts except yourself?
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Not sure what the closed road has to do with the club site which I'm referring to or being settled in? If the club site looks half full then maybe other MH are off site,?
As I said YRP was full a few days ago very probably one cancellation over 10 days.
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