Rally Chat Confirming Your Rally Bookings

chrisboyo

chrisboyo

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Anyone that has ever set up and run a rally will know how frustrating it can be when those that have booked on do not turn up or let you know they are not coming
Those of us that have organised rallies/meets, know how much time and effort go into setting up and running rallies
In many cases there has been a reserve list of those wanting to attend a rally that is fully booked up and then there is a no show rate of up to 50%, especially on rallies where there is no 'up front' payment asked for.
Motorhomefun has to be the best deal around, all of the meets and rallies are organised by the members for no personal payment or gain, the rally fees members pay are what the rally site charges, with no additional costs for anything other than additional events that may be organised by whoever puts the rally on, that you can chose to be part of or not.
It is understandable that between booking on and the rally date that circumstances can change and there are reasons for not attending.
A common reason is, having booked on a particular meet early in the season, it then gets forgotten about or members book on for another meet taking place at the same time.
Please remember, we are all part of the same club and all have the same responsibility to respecting the time and effort that members put in that make MotorhomeFun the great club it is.
So, Check Your Bookings and tell the organiser of your booking change.
Thanks Chris
 
I think deposits are the way forward. Not just on here , but all site/camping bookings. If you don't turn up , for what ever reason, you lose your deposit . Should be the same with dentist , doctors and hospital appointments too.
 
You are so right Chris, I do sometimes think that folk forget that those funsters putting on meets/rally's are just that ordinary funsters who invest a lot of there time into making rally's special and no different from any other member. It is appreciated that you can book a rally and circumstances change, then the very least you can do is send a pm to the Funster organising the meet and put a note on the appropriate thread saying you will not attend.

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Thanks for all your support on this issue

I know from speaking to a recent ex Caravan Club warden that they have major problems with 'no shows' Weekends and Bank holidays being booked solid for the season a soon as the booking period opens as they do not take deposits. then vacant pitches due to 'no shows' that they cannot let to others wanting to stay as the booking has to stay open until the end of the day that is booked.

The Caravan and Camping Club do take a deposit and after speaking to a CCC warden there 'no shows' are few and far between, plus if folks are not able to attend they do tend to ring and cancel their booking.

The rally at Country Park that is being organised for Sept 25 -27 this year will be the last we will be involved in without deposits being paid.
 
I have to agree as the forum get bigger and rallies more popular..
Many sign up at first, then drop out or change plans at last minute...
Ok most are pretty genuine with health / family issues etc but there has to be a line somewhere.
My Spanish rally back in March 2015 went from being double oversubscribed when I announced it but in the end I had to reduce the pitches as it looked as we would not meet the agreed number.. Luckily it all worked out fine but I was conscious about not letting the campsite down as they held open the pitches in good faith.
 
I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from organising rallies or meets. They are a great way to get to know people. They can be great fun too especially if you get the sort of "weird" people whom complain or tell you what your doing wrong. The thing to do with these are to laugh out loud and make it part of the fun of organising something. Most of our rallies are always interupted by one or two that do things like pick up on the fact that your mention of the shop didn't include the fact it closed at 8pm and was 40 yards further than I led them to believe, or the bit where you say no arrivals before 2pm to find a q on a main road at 1 pm. There's nought as strange as folks for sure but I say embrace it and enjoy it and you will find it really rewarding.

There are always non shows and some with very genuine reasons as to what happened and how things changed since they first booked and I wouldn't want to slam them types. For me it's always those that don't attend a full subscribed meet and prevent someone else from being able too. Its rare that this happens at Warners events when everyone is paid up before going which is why that since we started requesting payment we nearly always seem to accommodate a reserve list and fulfill their desire to attend. Paypal is really easy for this these days and out of over 65 attendees at the upcoming B&B only 11 were paid by cheque.

so go for it I say and organise something, I wish we could come to Penbury Chris but this work thing gets in the way. :-(
 
We've had a surprising number of drop outs for the Hartlepool Rally which starts this week. I had to collect deposits for this rally as I had to pay the council up front for the hire of the location which was £700.
No way would/ could I have funded it without deposits.
 
We had "no shows" this weekend at the steam fair. Whilst all payment went to the organisers of the steam fair it does not help when catering for the bacon on Sunday. Also waiting and leaving space for "no shows".

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I think it's the waiting around for no shows that is the most frustrating.
If people would just send a message, post on the thread, anything, it would save the marshals from standing around and wasting time that could be spent in the pub or socialising with people that HAVE turned up.
Perhaps people book on rallies sometimes months in advance and just forget that they have booked?
However there are some that must actively ignore PMs as we had a few for the Hartlepool,rally that despite being sent several PMs asking them to confirm, no answer was the reply.
 
I really don't mind paying up front. but we have to foster kids at short notice. so I cant always go the meets I want to. but to get in we have to book very early. so if I cancel its because I have no choice.
 
I understand where you are coming from cruiser
Even if a rally is shown as being full, It is always worth getting in touch with the organiser to see if there is a place available. I am not having a go at anyone cancelling after booking, that is sometimes unavoidable.
It is booking and then not informing the organisers that you have changed your mind or are unable to attend.
 
cruiser said:
I really don't mind paying up front. but we have to foster kids at short notice. so I cant always go the meets I want to. but to get in we have to book very early. so if I cancel its because I have no choice.
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I've no problem with people cancelling as long as they let the rally organiser know (as you did, for which I am grateful).
Things happen in the time between booking and the event happening and most people do Get in touch as you did, but there is always at least one who doesn't let you know they are not going to turn up.
 
I think because of the very nature of motorhomers some of whom are away for weeks or months at a time that them responding to a simple forum post might not get the response you need.
Sending out pms to each one is a time consuming ba**s a*** but perhaps thats the only way. Deposits tend to focus the mind to some extent but the amount required should cover organisers so they are not out of pocket.
No one seems to mind paying up front for things like Stratford or Malvern so why not for other rallys?

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makems said:
I've no problem with people cancelling as long as they let the rally organiser know (as you did, for which I am grateful).
Things happen in the time between booking and the event happening and most people do Get in touch as you did, but there is always at least one who doesn't let you know they are not going to turn up.
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absolutely
 
Obviously I am not suggesting that we name and shame but I expect that if we did it would be repeat offenders. It shows a degree of arrogance I feel to not bother to tell anyone, I am more important than you type of thing. We ended up on the fantastic Norden Farm rally due to someone elses misfortune and someone took our place on the Bagwell farm rally. There are very few excuses for "forgetting", we've all seen some people who have suffered some pretty awful things who still remember to contact the rally organisers. I'm not brave enough to organise one but I am very grateful to those who do. Rant over, think I had better go to the gym now with all this adrenaline.
 
We don't mind paying up front :) happy to pay but for us it would have to be cash or cheque. This has not been a problem on Fun as yet but if However it got like a Warners and you could only book on line then alas it would be a no go for us :( Kate xxx
 
berni109 said:
I think because of the very nature of motorhomers some of whom are away for weeks or months at a time that them responding to a simple forum post might not get the response you need.
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Not the nature of motorhomers. As has been said, most do get in touch even where circumstances are extreme.

Rather, it is the nature of a minority of people who simply don't care about others (and probably wouldn't even realise they had done anything wrong even if their names were posted in flashing coloured script).

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With MotorhomeFun growing and evolving the way it is I am sure that there will be more small regional meets that make for less traveling for say, a weekend meet and people that have never run a meet would be able to cut there teeth on. Rallies can be restricted to as many vans as one thinks they can handle.
If any member has, for instance, been on a small CC or CCC rally at a venue near to them and want to run a Fun meet, all that it takes is to contact the site owner, see if there is a free date available, put it on Rally Chat see what the response is and away you go.
With the greatest respect to our glorious leaders, Jim & Sian
It is the members that make MotorhomeFun what it is, not committees and top table directors, it is unique among all the other clubs and as members allows us the freedom to do things, within reason, as we want.
I am sure that rally organisers or potential rally organisers will be glad of any input/ideas that will make the job simpler and less stressful
So lets keep this thread positive and give us your ideas
 
What I have always done Chris is ask Jim to knock up a form. When he does so, I wait for them to come back. if they don't I then send them a PM and politely ask them if they still intend to come. If I have no contact a week prior I give up their space to someone else.
It should be kept positive because organising a meet is really great fun.
 
Having just organise & held a very successful rally at Misterton a few weeks ago, we and our many helpers, are now relaxing before deciding whether to take up the challenge of doing this rally in 2016.
Why oh why is it necessary to post about rallies 12 months in advance let alone ask for deposits as no one can foretell what is around the corner for any of us. Surely after Xmas is the better time to post forthcoming rallies, as we all know that people put their names on threads and then forget they have done so, resulting in no shows at rallies. Rallies are great fun to take part in and to set up but do take a lot of hard work behind the scenes and we personally would like to have time to plan our own holidays without thinking about whats happening in the distant future.
Will Misterton happen in 2016, yes or no, will post after Xmas and the New Year. X
 
runrig said:
Why oh why is it necessary to post about rallies 12 months in advance
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I quite agree with your word`s.......... BUT......... having organised and run rally`s at popular Camp Sites/Rally fields, It is sometimes a Need to ask the question "Shall we do it again" so soon after the rally has finished so as to secure the rally field/site, before it get`s booked by another party. ..

Hence my asking the question Bagwell Rally 2015-2016..

I know for a fact how popular this site is, and how easy going the owners are for us to do what we want..(y)

.
 
Totally agree with what you say about securing a rally field for the following year so maybe we are lucky that we can book Misterton provisionally for the following year without up front cash being asked for and not having the possibility of being gazumped by other organisations, and being allowed to do our own thing. X
PS
Excuse the pun Mo really sorry you are having so many problems xx

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chrisboyo said:
Anyone that has ever set up and run a rally will know how frustrating it can be when those that have booked on do not turn up or let you know they are not coming.
clear.png
:( :( :(
Those of us that have organised rallies/meets, know how much time and effort go into setting up and running rallies
In many cases there has been a reserve list of those wanting to attend a rally that is fully booked up and then there is a no show rate of up to 50%, especially on rallies where there is no 'up front' payment asked for.
Motorhomefun has to be the best deal around, all of the meets and rallies are organised by the members for no personal payment or gain, the rally fees members pay are what the rally site charges, with no additional costs for anything other than additional events that may be organised by whoever puts the rally on, that you can chose to be part of or not.
It is understandable that between booking on and the rally date that circumstances can change and there are reasons for not attending.
A common reason is, having booked on a particular meet early in the season, it then gets forgotten about or members book on for another meet taking place at the same time.
Please remember, we are all part of the same club and all have the same responsibility to respecting the time and effort that members put in that make MotorhomeFun the great club it is.
So, Check Your Bookings and tell the organiser of your booking change.
Thanks Chris
Click to expand...
Well put Chris. (y)

We can't understand how folks can just "not turn up",
clear.png
nor how they cannot get a simple message to the organisers to say they will either be delayed, or can't make it.
clear.png


Up front deposits are the way to go.

Because I (Jock) broke my leg and couldn't drive the MH, we stood to lose 3 x deposits for meets we had booked for, which we both expected anyway. One kindly organiser did return our deposit, (due to the authenticity of our situation) for which we are very grateful. (y)

Paying up front is a committment to actually attend, and we are happy to do so where required. :)

Cheers for now,

Jock & Rita. :)
 

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