CAMC Rip Off

[TheTwoOfUs]

We needed a sight near to the NEC for the show. The C&MC temporary sites were full and the nearest site available was a C&CC site near the Belfry. As non-members it was £37/n on grass, no electric, money up front and no refunds regardless of the reason.

 

[busbuddy]

Have you an insight on how many \ percentage of members were actively seeking this change, revised booking process, deposits, etc, as I asked on a number of occasions but with no response?

Way before the new system arrived they were saying deposits etc were needed due to the vast number of no shows and cancellations over the previous few years...the covid years
I asked for a breakdown of the cancellations between sites that were still open and sites that had to close because of staff shortages etc because they always asked you to cancel the booking after they had decided to shut the site.
I explained that just one of the sites that they shut (that I had booked) would mean a 'possible' 5000 cancelled nights in just a couple of months so the whole site network could have staggering numbers.......never did get an answer

 

[seasideBill]

We needed a sight near to the NEC for the show. The C&MC temporary sites were full and the nearest site available was a C&CC site near the Belfry. As non-members it was £37/n on grass, no electric, money up front and no refunds regardless of the reason.

That’s comparable to CMC rates which were £37 - £42 except for Sunday and that was a members price. On top of that they threw in a booking/admin fee!

 

[TDub49]

What did you expect the response to this shambles to be ? Are you suggesting whatever ridiculous mistakes they make ( even after being warned ) that members shouldn’t complain or voice an opinion?

Of course not and where have I even suggested it? My comment is about the people who delight in things being wrong and in this case when we don't even know for sure where the particular fault lies. Could be the OP made a mistake, could be the CAMC is knacked in some way or could be a combination of both. Personally until I know the actual facts of a case, I think it prudent to reserve comment but that's clearly not the case for everyone . . .

 

[TheTwoOfUs]

We've experienced no shows at several of the C&MC popular sites. We wanted to go to Rowntree Park but could only get one night. When we arrived, we were told that we could have another night as 11 had not bothered showing up. I had to explain that we had made alternative arrangements. We have seen many empty pitches on sites which were showing full on the website, so something had to be done so I for one am pleased that they are taking deposits. I wouldn't expect to book any other sort of stay without paying one so why should the C&MC be any different.

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[Coolcats]

Just update everyone. I tried using the CAMC app again this morning to change the arrival date to 2-days later than originally booked, and reduce the length of stay from 14 to 13-days. The app reduced the stay charge by £40 for the reduced stay (correct) and then detailed additional fees of £64 and cancellation charge of £104. I attach a screenshot.

Had a chat with them. They apologised and confirmed that there should be no additional charges for making the amendments. All sorted out during the chat. Dates now all altered and £40 deducted for the reduced stay of 1-night.

So, be very wary of using the app for making amendments to bookings. I have left feedback so hopefully it will get sorted out soon. View attachment 684550

You got off lightly this was the bill from my electric company, to be honest they sorted it pretty quickly, you tell me one organisation that has never under or over charged for something or their web site hasn't had a glitch ( this was for a £50 bill)

 

[RAS]

Hi all,
I have been experiencing frustrating website and app issues with searching and navigating to find suitable sites. Are you all experiencing the same as a result of the new website and app?
They are quite simply hopeless and unworkable. I am now using searchforsites as a means to find suitable sites/pubs or certified locations for my motorhome.
CAMC seem to have well and truly screwed up their new website and phone app.

 

[Janine]

Hi all,
I have been experiencing frustrating website and app issues with searching and navigating to find suitable sites. Are you all experiencing the same as a result of the new website and app?
They are quite simply hopeless and unworkable. I am now using searchforsites as a means to find suitable sites/pubs or certified locations for my motorhome.
CAMC seem to have well and truly screwed up their new website and phone app.

Yup! There are a couple of threads detailing all of our frustrations

 

[TheAleMan]

Hi all,
I have been experiencing frustrating website and app issues with searching and navigating to find suitable sites. Are you all experiencing the same as a result of the new website and app?
They are quite simply hopeless and unworkable. I am now using searchforsites as a means to find suitable sites/pubs or certified locations for my motorhome.
CAMC seem to have well and truly screwed up their new website and phone app.

Yep, gave up on them now..total waste of space.

 

[Arnside037]

What an appalling waste of time this new website is. Tonight, I tried to find directions to a CL which I booked many months ago. Can I find the information? NO. It even gives opening dates of 19/11/2020 - 19/11/2024 ... does this mean that the CL is shutting down on 19/11/2024... I hope not, I may want to go back on 30/11/2024 for a Christmas market nearby, and previously the CL was advertised as open all year.

I really wander if the IT nerds who put this stuff together actually trial this out using real members or does the senior management (still in the steam age it seems) just acquiesce to the 'superior' knowledge of the web designers. In my day if the information presented on my web pages prompted a question which required a written response, (as in this case) then I got my knuckles wrapped and told to redo the work. The website should convey all the information required on the subject, clearly and accurately and any written questions it generated was just adding to the workload.

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[68c]

Arnside037 , very well put.

 

[Otter Spotter]

It has been suggested by staff at CAMC that the booking website and app were bought 2nd hand from a hotel group and was codged together into the mess it is today. If this is true then the ‘club’ have only themselves to blame, what is worse is the that that their attitude to anyone voicing concerns, complaints or offering suggesting is to blank them and ignore without any response or if they do respond, and I can say this as it happened to me, they lie through their teeth.
The management and some members of staff are not professional nor are they honest and the whole pretence that it is a club for members is a corporate lie which should be debunked and the organisation should not be allowed to get away with it.
My disappointment was the fact that I couldn’t not attend the AGM in Chester because if other commitments otherwise I would have chirped up and tried to get some response.

 

[DT]

Microsoft updates always riddled with bugs that they let customers find before they fix. Give the club a chance maybe a year or so to iron out any issues. Seems the new system is freeing up pitches from the greedy serial bookers which is a good thing.

 

[sgl5gjr]

Terrible experience..... Trying to book/search for a site is nasty.... It seemed okay to begin with but they seem to have changed the fill in the party's ages etc .....phone app is hopeless.... I've not book as in the past .... usually we book way ahead as Mrs is NHS and with 24/7 365 needing cover she works around colleagues. I'm okay with paying deposit/ in full but not happy with booking as it's such a slog now. We've decided to opt for CL's as much as possible now but we are heading back over the channel this summer using Aires and a couple of campsites. We were in Broadway in October and there was plenty of room there, dunno if that was booking system or folks reigning in spending but I've never seen it so quiet

 

[andyt21]

Like others I am a member and agree the new app is dreadful. Using the map is like trying to read a book through the letterbox. You need to put your van info in and ages when they already have these. The current bookings shows everything but the site name. I can well believe this is an off the shelf product installed by someone in the office’s 14 year old who is ‘good with computers’. I left a complaint on the Club Together site along with over 1500 others in a single thread. Shockingly bad.

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[Arnside037]

Microsoft updates always riddled with bugs that they let customers find before they fix. Give the club a chance maybe a year or so to iron out any issues. Seems the new system is freeing up pitches from the greedy serial bookers which is a good thing.

Let's not go off topic but suffice to say that at least Microsoft have a Beta Test programme to try to identify issues. I would not be surprised if the CMHC have never used any sort of Beta Testing with members, and perhaps they assumed that the bought-in software would be bug free. It may be bug free but it's the design, and implementation e.g. the need to duplicate information that they already hold, viewing a map through a letterbox (nice analogy andyt21), lack of directions to site etc. that is unsatisfactory.
Whether you agree with deposits, booking slots etc is another policy matter which they are at least trying to address, but it's this website/App that's so appalling, and I don't think we should wait a year for the to get it right. (DT) They should have a week at the most. Did the senior Web/App manager present his work to the senior Executives and they signed it off with a 'Good work, well done, our members will be pleased with your work.'
I wonder what the CL owners think of it all. Are they being inundated with phone calls from members seeking the information that isn't available on the website/app?

 

[Otter Spotter]

Like others I am a member and agree the new app is dreadful. Using the map is like trying to read a book through the letterbox. You need to put your van info in and ages when they already have these. The current bookings shows everything but the site name. I can well believe this is an off the shelf product installed by someone in the office’s 14 year old who is ‘good with computers’. I left a complaint on the Club Together site along with over 1500 others in a single thread. Shockingly bad.

Was there any response from management to this thread?

 

[wyliecyotee]

I have just tried to change a booking we had made at a CAMC site booked for July 2023. Due to some recent commitments we wanted to push back the arrival date by 2 days, keeping the length of stay the same period of 2 weeks. Used the online app. All went well except when I got to the checkout there is an extra £120 cancellation/administration fee! All I am trying to do is move the booking 2 days later. I gave up. It will be much cheaper just to keep the original booking and not turn up for the first 2 days, albeit we lose 2 days holiday of course. How can they justify such a ridiculous charge. Contacted them using their Web form and they will try and respond within 10 working days. Bet I don't hear anything from them.

 

[Janine]

When I was booking into a site not long after the change, I was told that they were using an ex-ferry website and when checking in, I was actually departing

 

[hja]

It has been suggested by staff at CAMC that the booking website and app were bought 2nd hand from a hotel group and was codged together into the mess it is today. If this is true then the ‘club’ have only themselves to blame, what is worse is the that that their attitude to anyone voicing concerns, complaints or offering suggesting is to blank them and ignore without any response or if they do respond, and I can say this as it happened to me, they lie through their teeth.
The management and some members of staff are not professional nor are they honest and the whole pretence that it is a club for members is a corporate lie which should be debunked and the organisation should not be allowed to get away with it.
My disappointment was the fact that I couldn’t not attend the AGM in Chester because if other commitments otherwise I would have chirped up and tried to get some response.

I think the AGM was in London. I viewed it remotely. All the questions had to be in beforehand. Two very innocuous ones were answered at the AGM. There is now a list of written questions and answers on the AGM part of the club site. More questions asked than for many years, I believe. The answers don’t tell you much, though.
As ever, the club’s communications are more than rubbish. It is shown time and time again good communications help overcome feelings of hostility, even if the problems don’t go away.
The site works, mostly, if you know which site and when. It does seem that some of the info required is more related to ferry booking that site booking!
For finding information about individual sites, once you have found some possibility, the magnifying glass search facility is useful and takes you to the old pages with all the info we used to be able to get easily.

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[GMLS]

Let's not go off topic but suffice to say that at least Microsoft have a Beta Test programme to try to identify issues. I would not be surprised if the CMHC have never used any sort of Beta Testing with members, and perhaps they assumed that the bought-in software would be bug free. It may be bug free but it's the design, and implementation e.g. the need to duplicate information that they already hold, viewing a map through a letterbox (nice analogy andyt21), lack of directions to site etc. that is unsatisfactory.
Whether you agree with deposits, booking slots etc is another policy matter which they are at least trying to address, but it's this website/App that's so appalling, and I don't think we should wait a year for the to get it right. (DT) They should have a week at the most. Did the senior Web/App manager present his work to the senior Executives and they signed it off with a 'Good work, well done, our members will be pleased with your work.'
I wonder what the CL owners think of it all. Are they being inundated with phone calls from members seeking the information that isn't available on the website/app?

Spot on. If this occurred in another business, heads would roll

 

[Sageman]

I have just tried to change a booking we had made at a CAMC site booked for July 2023. Due to some recent commitments we wanted to push back the arrival date by 2 days, keeping the length of stay the same period of 2 weeks. Used the online app. All went well except when I got to the checkout there is an extra £120 cancellation/administration fee! All I am trying to do is move the booking 2 days later. I gave up. It will be much cheaper just to keep the original booking and not turn up for the first 2 days, albeit we lose 2 days holiday of course. How can they justify such a ridiculous charge. Contacted them using their Web form and they will try and respond within 10 working days. Bet I don't hear anything from them.

If you cancel within 3 weeks of going to site you should get a refund, also got to watch at checkout that there is an option to pay deposit only, other wise they take full payment, agree the site is not user friendly

 

[SaltySeadog]

good question…I’m struggling with that one.

If you are motor home or campervan user you could try the much smaller but more traditionally operated Motor Caravanners Club

 

[jess12]

I guess we could all hope for better but things really did need to change before deposit taken some members would book several sites whith the intension of only going to one so just maybe these are the folk that things had to be changed for our fellow members just a thought

 

[Janine]

I guess we could all hope for better but things really did need to change before deposit taken some members would book several sites whith the intension of only going to one so just maybe these are the folk that things had to be changed for our fellow members just a thought

Impossible to do with CAMC for many years.

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[Folkranger]

Mistakes aside, the basic intent on deposits is good as it helps fix one of the (my) major gripes with CAMC that you can never book a site at short notice due to people making "just in case" bookings. Then when you go to a full site, they never are.

 

[seasideBill]

Impossible to do with CAMC for many years.

Are you sure about that? I thought prior to recent changes you could reserve however many sites you wanted, pay no deposit and cancel within 72 hours. If you made a habit of it, particularly cancelling sub 72 hours, you’ll get a ‘stop being naughty’ letter from the Club which you could ignore and carry on exactly as before.

 

[seasideBill]

Mistakes aside, the basic intent on deposits is good as it helps fix one of the (my) major gripes with CAMC that you can never book a site at short notice due to people making "just in case" bookings. Then when you go to a full site, they never are.

Agreed, it’s an entirely reasonable line for any organisation to take. Shame it all went pear shaped when CAMC tried to execute it, but that was always going to be the case.

 

[BillandHelen]

Are you sure about that? I thought prior to recent changes you could reserve however many sites you wanted, pay no deposit and cancel within 72 hours. If you made a habit of it, particularly cancelling sub 72 hours, you’ll get a ‘stop being naughty’ letter from the Club which you could ignore and carry on exactly as before.

Yes. You could only book one site at a time, issue was people late cancelling which gave the club little opportunity to resell the pitch.

 

[seasideBill]

Yes. You could only book one site at a time, issue was people late cancelling which gave the club little opportunity to resell the pitch.

Yes, only 1 site at a time but I think the issue was advance block booking several locations at different times just in case they fancied a last minute trip I’m not sure if CAMC ever operated the same system as CCC when you could just turn up on the day and, more often than not’ get a pitch following a cancellation or no-no show?

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