caravan club - all change !

[Kups]

I can never get my head round the multiple charging options that the CAMC have. You only really need two. Hard standing or grass electric optional. Or am I missing something. Yes. Perhaps I am. The opportunity to make money!!
I am currently at Dezenac on a Camping Car Park stopover. 11 euros full services inc laundry. Formerly a municipal Site now taken over, fully automated.
Another point with the CMCC. Veg Preparation area !!! Washing up area!
and of course Showers closed for cleaning , having said that we don’t use them anyway.
How refreshing it is to be back over the Water in civilised Motorhome Country!

Where are you? Dezenac doesn't show on the CCP website.
We use CCP a lot and enjoy the price and facilities.
However you only ever get 6 amps electricity which is restricting.

 

[DDJC]

Member of both, but not for much longer. I will choose one or the other (undecided) because they can both shave off a hundred quid on a channel tunnel crossing. We have found both clubs to be rather officious, specially the more popular sites. Add to that is that UK seems to become more and more shortsightedly averse to motorhomes, daily.

I don't mind paying a deposit. And I wouldn't mind losing it if I couldn't get there.

 

[Kups]

yes eddie im happy to pay a deposit - but saddened its become neccessary in todays world

Just spent 3 nights on a CL in north Norfolk, it's part of an adults only site. Full payment up front. Happy to pay. What's the problem with paying a deposit? Camping pitches don't have a shelf life, once the daylight fades, they have no value if not purchased. So if some b... reserves and doesn't show, the owner loses out.

 

[roadwarrior]

In the last couple of days i have been made aware of antics folk get upto that has created this sad situation , perhaps I an too old, too naive, and too trusting for todays world. I have absolutely no doubt it has affected private campsites and so far as i recall they have always had to ask for a deposit to combat this, but that was not my beef. This was a shout at the latest crumbling of the wall of society so well described by Capt Jack Sparrow " take what you can - give nothing back" I was always very happy to belong to a club that treated me like an adult and trusted i would turn up on the day. As simple as that.

 

[St3v3]

" take what you can - give nothing back"

Hopefully I can help, I see a lot of different people, from customers to randoms getting drunk in town.

Hand on heart I meet more nice, honest people than not. The trouble is, you only ever hear about the idiots...

Society isn't necessarily as bad as the press will have you believe, so don't worry

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[Neil S]

I've been led to believe that some couples have a membership each and therefore can book 2 different sites on the same day and then pick the one they go to dependent on weather etc.

If that was the case they would need to have two separate memberships and paid two separate membership fees .
I have membership , my partner also has membership but we both share the same membership number
If I booked a site and my partner tried to book a different site it wouldn’t work.

 

[Neil S]

You are correct.

I’d like to know where you heard that

 

[Bluemooner]

If that was the case they would need to have two separate memberships and paid two separate membership fees .
I have membership , my partner also has membership but we both share the same membership number
If I booked a site and my partner tried to book a different site it wouldn’t work.

Just checked yes we have the same membership numbers

 

[Neil S]

It was bonkers allowing people to book more than one place for the same night without losing deposits. It might well be the facility to easily overbook at no cost caused a shortage of availability and caused more overbooking just in case.

the online system doesn’t allow two bookings on different sites on the same date by one member

 

[bigtwin]

Deposit taking? Not before time!

Treating members like adults? Have you not seen the plethora of signs around sites instructing one how to behave?

Ian

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[Wack]

of course i dont begrudge a profit.. but as i say - if the eu can do it for 16 and make a profit .. The answeR of course is that they are all independant and not controlled by a ruling body like CCC. I feel sure they will explain away the thinking but for me its a couple of bridges too far.

How much do the land, rates and overheads cost in the EU

Whenever I've been to a CAMC site I know what I'm getting , we're booked into rowntree in York next week , 3 nights is £110 , you wouldn't get one night in a hotel for that , and if losing the £25 deposit for canceling a few days before stops those that book every weekend 12 months in advance then cancel if it's raining I'm fine with that.

 

[muddygig]

I agree with the change as only speaking to a family member and a friend they did it all the time ( block booking) so that’s 100% of my close friends so to speak. Perhaps is more wide spread that some think.

 

[Captain Birdseye]

It seems the cravan club has had a major shakeup and not for the better.

i have just used the new booking form on Caravan Club - with great difficulty as well.
Not only has it thrown away my outfit details and forgotton who i am ect. They now want a 25% deposit or all of it at the time of booking. This of course flies in the face of the gentleman club that they used to be where they trust you to turn up and treat you like grown ups. NO MORE it seems.
This has now placed them equal footing with " the friendly club " which of course isnt . Having just returned from south of france where we stayed at a 4 star site with 3 pools, a club, and a lake for 16 euros im more than pissed off to be told to pay 28.20 at Brean sands in October.
The - by comparison, fleecing folk for every penny for any reason make me sick of uk sites and the mentality of charging for people children and dogs to push up the profits - if europe can do a good site for 15 quid - why does a site in the uk think 30-40 quid is ok ?? no wonder we all bugger off abroad..

I agree, but they have long ripped us off.
Around ten years ago I waded through their financial statements at AGM time. I was shocked to read that they had refurbished two sites at a cost of £12million and proudly announced that they did not have to bottom a penny.
£12million seems a lot for a "not for profit" organisation.

 

[MichaelT]

I agree, but they have long ripped us off.
Around ten years ago I waded through their financial statements at AGM time. I was shocked to read that they had refurbished two sites at a cost of £12million and proudly announced that they did not have to bottom a penny.
£12million seems a lot for a "not for profit" organisation.

Thats why they do not make a profit

 

[VXman]

aires are wonderful, but they vary from a drain in a corner to water and hifi and free leccy in a huge field with a lake or beach - most i have seen is 16 euros

Actually came across 25 Euros in Italy but that was an exception. (Actually there was a 45 euro one but that was at the top of Tre Cimes so is a even bigger exception - not even a water tap for that!)

As I said 20 euros in very popular tourist destinations. 8 or 10 is more common. Plenty of alternatives though.

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[DumfriesDik]

The erosion of trust? That started with the arms race I'm afraid.

I was amazed when I joined the CAMC that no deposit was required, it seemed odd at the time and I couldn't understand it.

Will it improve the no shows? Will it improve membership numbers? Place your bets . . .

 

[The Wino]

I think it probably will reduce no shows. I doubt it will have a huge effect on membership but I suspect both clubs could well find people who seldom use them decide it's something they can easily save as they look for things to cut back.

 

[Chris Summers]

Fully support taking deposits. Chatsworth is a good example where it’s always booked and late availability is the only way to get in

 

[Maudy]

All the clubs should add a late (very late) availability page onto their sites and send emails out to members , I’m sure there’s lots of us out and about just going with the flow and pick somewhere along the way .

 

[Chris Summers]

The new website is terrible and not user friendly

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[The Wino]

All the clubs should add a late (very late) availability page onto their sites and send emails out to members , I’m sure there’s lots of us out and about just going with the flow and pick somewhere along the way .

The problem is that might make it difficult to arrive while reception is open but there must be ways around that like online payment and an entry code. There will be a lot like us with a smallish (6m) MH who would just accept an allocated pitch rather than choose. Another option could be paying the wardens extra to allow out of hours arrivals (at the wardens choice). I think it's hopefully the start of quite a few changes the dropping of the term "warden" like it's a prison could be one good step.

 

[joe and sue]

the online system doesn’t allow two bookings on different sites on the same date by one member

It did a few years back but people just made lots of bookings and just turned up if they wanted to, otherwise just left it unused

 

[Neil S]

It did a few years back but people just made lots of bookings and just turned up if they wanted to, otherwise just left it unused

How far back ? Must have been before the online system became widely used
I been a member 20 years and only seem to remember booking via the internet

 

[AdrianChen]

Moving away from the argument about deposits …… I tried to do some booking on new website. First of all you seem to have to put in arrival date, but that is not kept through to the site selection stage so no point to it.
I tried to book Cheltenham race course and fair enough, on the calender, some dates marked as closed, so I started choosing random other dates all the way through to August 2023, no dates I selected even if one night, were available - but that does not show on the calendar. I’m not sure that site would be fully booked all next year anyway.
So then I tried another site - Cirencester. Managed to get a night selected and moved on to completing the booking. Had to put in each person’s name AND date of birth, already stated as an adult, I don’t see why they need DOB. Anyway decided to proceed so attemped to add husband’s DOB. Unfortunately you are not allowed to get the keyboard and type it in, you have to use the displayed calendar which shows current month, October 2022 and goes backwards one month at a time ! After skipping back a few months, I gave up and left his date of birth as somewhere in 2020 . Tried to proceed but it wouldn’t as age of person did not meet requirements of being an adult
How am I supposed to skip back to 1946 without getting RSI??
Have given up!

Found the same issues - terrible website design!

 

[Neil S]

Moving away from the argument about deposits …… I tried to do some booking on new website. First of all you seem to have to put in arrival date, but that is not kept through to the site selection stage so no point to it.
I tried to book Cheltenham race course and fair enough, on the calender, some dates marked as closed, so I started choosing random other dates all the way through to August 2023, no dates I selected even if one night, were available - but that does not show on the calendar. I’m not sure that site would be fully booked all next year anyway.
So then I tried another site - Cirencester. Managed to get a night selected and moved on to completing the booking. Had to put in each person’s name AND date of birth, already stated as an adult, I don’t see why they need DOB. Anyway decided to proceed so attemped to add husband’s DOB. Unfortunately you are not allowed to get the keyboard and type it in, you have to use the displayed calendar which shows current month, October 2022 and goes backwards one month at a time ! After skipping back a few months, I gave up and left his date of birth as somewhere in 2020 . Tried to proceed but it wouldn’t as age of person did not meet requirements of being an adult
How am I supposed to skip back to 1946 without getting RSI??
Have given up!

The racecourse sites Exeter, Thirsk Cheltenham and the rest haven’t released the race dates for 2023 hence the no availability at the moment
I’ve tried to book Exeter for April the 11th as we’re coming off the Plymouth ferry but as of yet not possible
Called the site and they said the dates will be online by the end of the month

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[Coolcats]

All the clubs should add a late (very late) availability page onto their sites and send emails out to members , I’m sure there’s lots of us out and about just going with the flow and pick somewhere along the way .

If you visit the sites they do have late bookings

 

[Harrietliberty]

I must admit that I found the ability to switch sites at short notice really useful last year. We had planned our trip but had to move things around while we were in Yorkshire because our son was ill and we couldn't see him on the planned day. And then we had to switch again when our younger dog started her first season. We did cancel the sites we didn't use but at short notice and none of them were that busy. It was a one off situation but it was why we booked all CMC sites for that trip rather than C&C sites.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Deposit taking? Not before time!

Treating members like adults? Have you not seen the plethora of signs around sites instructing one how to behave?

Ian

We were on a site in Ötzal Austria . Been a few times.

I asked my wife to come and look at the washing up facilities. I said to her, what’s missing. She looked all over, all around, up, down. I kept it going for a while, then she got a bit angry and I told her.

There is not a single sign anywhere.

No signs to say,

Water may be hot,
Water may be wet,
Caution, slippy floor,
Please leave the drains clean

Just a nice pristine wash area. All complete with private bathrooms.

 

[tonyidle]

How far back ? Must have been before the online system became widely used
I been a member 20 years and only seem to remember booking via the internet

In terms of the average age on this site 20 years isn't long ago. I've been a member for 50 years - not only was there no website; there was no Internet to host one .

 

[FatNav]

It seems the cravan club has had a major shakeup and not for the better.

i have just used the new booking form on Caravan Club - with great difficulty as well.
Not only has it thrown away my outfit details and forgotton who i am ect. They now want a 25% deposit or all of it at the time of booking. This of course flies in the face of the gentleman club that they used to be where they trust you to turn up and treat you like grown ups. NO MORE it seems.
This has now placed them equal footing with " the friendly club " which of course isnt . Having just returned from south of france where we stayed at a 4 star site with 3 pools, a club, and a lake for 16 euros im more than pissed off to be told to pay 28.20 at Brean sands in October.
The - by comparison, fleecing folk for every penny for any reason make me sick of uk sites and the mentality of charging for people children and dogs to push up the profits - if europe can do a good site for 15 quid - why does a site in the uk think 30-40 quid is ok ?? no wonder we all bugger off abroad..

It's pure greed all ways have with caravan club

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