£3 extra

[firebird123]

Just spent our first night ever as we are "Newbies" in a Park, called "Lickpenny" near Tansley Derbyshire, we arrived earlier than expected on a Friday, 10.30 am and I was charged an extra £3 due to arriving before noon. (you would have thought as it was our first time she would have waived it) not a very nice welcome to this hobby !!
£3 is not a lot of money, it is just the cheek !
Nothing was mentioned about this in their leaflet or on their website, is this common practice ?

P.S we left Saturday morning before noon, they never came out with a refund !

 

[oldun]

Just spent our first night ever as we are "Newbies" in a Park, called "Lickpenny" near Tansley Derbyshire, we arrived earlier than expected on a Friday, 10.30 am and I was charged an extra £3 due to arriving before noon. (you would have thought as it was our first time she would have waived it) not a very nice welcome to this hobby !!
£3 is not a lot of money, it is just the cheek !
Nothing was mentioned about this in their leaflet or on their website, is this common practice ?

P.S we left Saturday morning before noon, they never came out with a refund !

So if you hire a car and arrive 5 hours early you will not expect any problems with the car supplier. You will expect to get an extra fives hours use all at the original price.

I have worked on site where weekenders expect to arrive on Saturday about 9am and leave on Sunday at 8pm and only expect to pay for one day's hire of the site. Why do some many people expect to get far more than they have paid for?

Nearly all sites state that " a day's site hire" starts at a particular time (such as 2pm and ends at a particular (such as 11am). Many site owners will not worry too much about these times when the site is not full but when the site is very busy a lot of arguments result from customers arriving on site only to find that their pitch is not available, either because they are too early or because the previous user has not vacated it on time.

The site owners set the rules associated with the use of the pitch not the customer. If you don't like these terms do as said above, move elsewhere.

 

[pappajohn]

All those not happy with the early arival charge (me included).......you all have a reverse gear.
Nobody is making you pay the excesses and you are free to go elsewhere....after telling them why you arent staying.

 

[Robert Clark]

Is it reasonable to arrive earlier than the published check in time at a camp site and expect to pitch up for free ?
There's too much of a 'something for nothing' culture nowadays . I'm all for getting value for money, but not at the expense of small business owners.

 

[jimiol]

Interesting views here. As a holiday home owner I've always had a depart and arrival time just to allow for cleaning. But when I've been on campsites and seen must leave by 11am and arrive no earlier than 2pm (for example) I've always wondered why there is minimal cleaning of a pitch. Now as a campsite owner I state that departure time is around noon but I am very flexible about this especially when we are not packed. But I've never specified an arrival time as most don't tend to arrive before noon but occasionally they do. Our electric is charged per day so I suppose if some one arrived at 10am and left at 3pm the following day they would have had more than 24hrs electric but this is balanced up by people arriving at 5/7 pm and leaving at 9/10 am all in all as a campsite we are offering a customer service and we should remember that without customers we would not have a business.

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[jimiol]

P.S I'm a small business owner that wants repeat business and value word of mouth and satisfied customers passing on their hopefully good views and opinions.
We have just registered with trip advisor, which was hard work but our first 3 reviews are all 5 out of 5, why, I hope it is because our customers can see we care!

 

[simbadog]

We are disheartened, I told them at the book-in desk this was our very first time. The laws on early arrival were given to us when we booked in !

Just move on a don't let it get you down Just remember that they won't be getting any more business from you & I have made a note not to go there PS. Don;t forget to leave reviews for them

 

[tambo]

Campsites are like concentration camps they're run by nazis and have too many rules

Only difference is you've to pay for the gas

 

[Tootles]

Once stopped at the Site Sandy Balls

Sounds like you had a gritty stay.

 

[mitzimad]

should be 24 hours from when you arrive 12 o clock arrival and departure time ruins both days

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[scotjimland]

Where's the 'Godwin's Law' smiley when you need it..

 

[jimiol]

Tambo where have you been staying? I've stayed on loads that I'd happily go back to.

 

[Wildbill]

Just spent our first night ever as we are "Newbies" in a Park, called "Lickpenny" near Tansley Derbyshire, we arrived earlier than expected on a Friday, 10.30 am and I was charged an extra £3 due to arriving before noon. (you would have thought as it was our first time she would have waived it) not a very nice welcome to this hobby !!
£3 is not a lot of money, it is just the cheek !
Nothing was mentioned about this in their leaflet or on their website, is this common practice ?

P.S we left Saturday morning before noon, they never came out with a refund !

OMG pack it in right away and cut your losses

 

[tambo]

Tambo where have you been staying? I've stayed on loads that I'd happily go back to.

Loads lol I've going camping since I was 3 months old ....my folks had campers and motorhomes all my youth and they always used sites all around Scotland lake district and Yorkshire .....Don't get me wrong some sites are ok ...but I've seen them rise from £8-£10 per night to £25-£30 ....not allowed camp fires ...radios after 9 full of noisy teenagers kids banging balls of my van etc ...all parked in neat little rows with nothing to do but nose at the neighbours or watch TV ...

It's just not my thing ...i prefer remote secluded places with great views no neighbours and as my vans self sufficient to my needs I don't need campsites and I walk cycle or mess around in boats

 

[oldun]

Campsites are like concentration camps they're run by nazis and have too many rules

Only difference is you've to pay for the gas

I suppose you could have added that all campers are like hardened criminals and need to be treated as such!!!!

We do have some very wired ideas expressed on this forum.

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[tambo]

I suppose you could have added that all campers are like hardened criminals and need to be treated as such!!!!

We do have some very wired ideas expressed on this forum.

Only around Manchester and Birmingham

 

[Badknee]

i would have just turned around at reception and parked outside the site, and if i had not already paid for the pitch i would have been off somewhere else....

Correctomondo.

 

[Kool Kroozer]

We have arrived at many CC sites early an never been charged any extra - saying that though - what they do charge should cover any early arrivals... cannot get my head around charging for early arrivals... if there is a pitch empty what the hell is the problem, sounds to me just another way of screwing more cash out of you !

 

[Scout]

Reading some of these posts and also having experienced some bad attitudes from wardens on CC sites in the UK, it makes us want to get across to France and try out the sites there........maybe next year if things go ok

The thing to remember with wardens of both major clubs and owners/managers of private sites is yes THEY are mostly knobs, but in their defence they do have to put up with the public, its no wonder their a bit frazzled and short tempered by this time if the season. A good deal of parents just arrive at a site and let their little darlings go wild, how their hasn’t been more accidents with bikes or god forbid, kids kidnapped for site in the summer. Then there the PXss head parents up till all hours not just social drinking ( I drink ) but heavy binge drinking with pals that have come to visit (and probably stayed over and not paid for this). Don’t forget the day time drinkers who then spend the early afternoon shouting and cursing at their (lack of) kids who are flooding the toilets or throwing stones nest to some poor sod new van.


In this respect France is no different, just the kids speak a different language


Nothing wrong with camp sites, it’s the people in them.

PLEASE NOTE: I said a good deal of parents , not ALL

Rant over

 

[Scout]

We have arrived at many CC sites early an never been charged any extra - saying that though - what they do charge should cover any early arrivals... cannot get my head around charging for early arrivals... if there is a pitch empty what the hell is the problem, sounds to me just another way of screwing more cash out of you !

I agree, I dont think any club site would be geared up for charging early arrivals, they in experance let you on if theres room to get you out the way of the entrance or park you and let you wait till the clook strikes 12... tic tic tic tic

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[jimiol]

I remember one site I stayed on about 2 years ago that had a very strict rule of no arrivals before one pm and vacate by 12 it did not bother me as I was not planning to get to the site til mid afternoon anyway. On arrival it bacame clear why they had this changeover period, the last 1/2 mile access road was single track bendy and very few places to pull over. I would not liked to have encountered a caravan leaving as I was arriving.

As a campsite owner it is handy to have a period of time between a pitch being occupied and empty as it gives me the time to walk around the pitch picking up anything that should not be there or doing a bit of gardening if needed. There is also the ability to get into the shower block and give the toilets a really good clean.
But in reality I have found that most people tend to arrive after noon and leave before noon and we tend to deep clean the shower block around noon, after doing a clean first thing then again early evening and last thing at night. This sounds like a lot doesn't it? But on busy days (we only have 20 pitches) it is needed and appreciated.

We have had people arrive first thing in the morning and at 10pm, we don't mind as I stated in a previous post it tends to even it self out. Note it is harder putting up a tent at night.

 

[Manic]

You should come To Bo Peep Farm Caravan park near Banbury, arrive anytime after 8.30 am and leave before 7 pm and park how you want on your pitch. Also clean toilets ( well I would say that as I clean them). Mowed dog walks around site, around 4 1/2 miles. Four pubs in walking distance, all dog friendly.

 

[rangi]

Good thread ,interesting views too

 

[ojibway]

Our daughter mentioned to some mums at the posh private school our grand daughter went to, that it'd be fun to go camping at a site nearby. Half a dozen decided to go.
The kids went feral, racing around until late at night. Parents oblivious to it all.
Our daughter was really embarrassed by it and never suggested it again.

 

[firebird123]

We have arrived at many CC sites early an never been charged any extra - saying that though - what they do charge should cover any early arrivals... cannot get my head around charging for early arrivals... if there is a pitch empty what the hell is the problem, sounds to me just another way of screwing more cash out of you !

Exactly my thoughts the site was a weekday and empty !!