Caravan and Camping Club-disillisioned member?

[laikaman]

We ask ourselves is it worth being in this club? we have just tried to book one night on a site only to be told that to book we had to stay a minimum of 2 nights, and to phone on the day to see what is available, along with non-members who can also do this (although at a slightly higher price) albeit not alot more. For what benefit is the annual subscription? We get p****d off by what we think is pure greed of 'our club' to the detriment of its members!!! Can anyone come up with any reason to belong? 8o|

[chas]

Hi Laikaman- Like everything else today, making money seems to dominate common sense. I have been a CCC member for 35+ years and things have changed in the club a lot. Why do I stay a member, well for one thing membership brings probably the best campsite guide in the country, Also being over 55 we qualify for reduced rates in mid and low season, which is also a saving, we can also obtain the camping carnet easily and at a reduced fee. Apart from good deals on ferry and booked sites abroad. I like a site which includes all campers, like the sites abroad, tents/trailer tents/motorhomes and even caravans (lol) I think what you are experiencing at the moment with this min 2 night rule is because of the season being so hectic. IMO the worst time to go away over here. I do feel that all the CCC sites should be members only, and at one time there used to be a certain % piches left empty for tourers to drop in for the night, but not any more. Its all swings and roundabouts, only you can decide. chas

[John H]

I agree with you Laikaman. I let my membership lapse this year for the same reason as you. If you work full time and you want to get away for the weekend, there's not enough time to get anywhere decent after work on a Friday night after you have got back home from work and it's back to work on Monday morning. I did phone them and mentioned this to them and they weren't bothered. I suppose that if their sites get full anyway, why should they.

 

Most of the popular CC sites are booked well in advance but at least they will let you book a single night. I think the CC ought to charge a deposit when you book a site because I think a lot of members book a long time in advance and cancel at the last minute or not show up at all which obviously spoils it for everyone else.

 

John.

[MandyAndy]

I rang a caravan and camping club site today, got a central booking agent who let me go through all the procedure of booking then askied if I was a member , I had no idea it was a CCC site . Told him yes so it knocked £5 off the weekend, but then he had to add £1.50 administration fee because I only wanted 2 nights.

 

This was after he told me the site was very quiet with 86 pitches left that didn't have EHU and 13 that did, he blamed the weather, at £37.00 for 2 nights without electric I'm not convinced that was the only reason. It is a site in the Forest of Dean. If any one knows places to visit or rivers we can test our new canoe out on I would be grateful.

 

Mandy

[rogerra]

Have a look at UK campsite uk co. There are stacks of other places to go at half the cost AND NO HASSLE!! Some of the pub sites are great, not noisy, well cared for and clean. Try The Grouse and Claret. Better than most of the CC and CC&C sites and the food is scrumptious.

[colin]

I always refer to C&CC as the 'unfriendly club' after being refused entry to a site in wet weather when any commercial site would have allowed temp parking on hardstanding next to toilet block. But may have to rejoin soon as they seem to be cracking down on CS's letting non-members use sites

[Delfin Driver]

We have followed the above with interest and wholeheartedly support Laikaman's views. Although we are not members of the C&CC we have experienced the same response from 4 separate private sites. Clearly, they have to make a profit and they have to balance the risk but we feel that many Friday afternoon workers are being penalised because they cannot get away in time to meet Friday evening reception/office closure times. We think that it is very much a case of supply and demand as the motorhoming and caravanning numbers have increased significantly in the past few years, whereas the number of sites may not have grown so quickly thus giving site owners the upper hand. Maybe, the attrocious weather this Summer and presumably a downturn in bookings might concentrate the site owners' minds and force a rethink but we doubt it. At least the Caravan Club has not gone down this route yet ( we wonder how long it will be!) but we have certainly noticed a trend for later arrival times (12 noon or 1 pm) at their sites and the heavy bookings are often restricting the wardens' flexilbility to extend hours of stay on a Sunday (we would gladly pay a small premium to do so if it were possible). It makes for a very short weekend away.

 

DD

[Ralph]

Although it's not to everyone's taste the C&CC is very good for it's rally program. It may be worth considering this as it can fit well for those who just need to get away for the weekend.

For longer periods they do Temporary Holiday Sites which are extremely good value and can make the cost of membership worthwhile.

 

As for the club sites I agree with the opinions above. Like the caravan Club they are too expensive and often restrictive. Woste of all for the C&CC must be it's magazine. What a load of rubbish! It's mostly adverts for all the things the C&CC want to sell you and I'd happily have a reduced price subscription that didn't include it.

 

 

[Guest caraprof]

Ralph - 2007-07-20 2:04 PM Although it's not to everyone's taste the C&CC is very good for it's rally program. It may be worth considering this as it can fit well for those who just need to get away for the weekend. For longer periods they do Temporary Holiday Sites which are extremely good value and can make the cost of membership worthwhile. As for the club sites I agree with the opinions above. Like the caravan Club they are too expensive and often restrictive. Woste of all for the C&CC must be it's magazine. What a load of rubbish! It's mostly adverts for all the things the C&CC want to sell you and I'd happily have a reduced price subscription that didn't include it.

Not commercial sense I'm afraid! Those adverts will probably be responsible for lowering your subscription as I've no doubt that the magazine makes a healthy profit.

The club, by sending one to each member has a guaranteed circulation figure, which in turn allows it to charge commercial rates to advertisers.

It may seem a paradox but if all the members opt for having less service, in the shape of no magazine, they will then have to pay either a higher subscription or higher site fees to make up the difference.

[Ralph]

I realize that Frank but I can't help wishing.

That's one point where the CC scores heavily over the C&CC. OK the mag is mainly about caravans (hence the name) but it's a much better read and more professional.

 

 

[Brian Kirby]

Interesting comments above from frustrated club weekenders.

Illustrates a little frustration of mine, that I have tried to get both clubs to address.

Weekend bookings create the illusion that club sites are full.  However, most weekdays they are not: if you want to tour the UK using club sites for anything over 5 days, you consistently find that you can't find space over the weekends.  Bit of a problem, that!

A truly commercial organisation, of course, would raise the weekend rate a bit, and drop the weekday rate a bit, and play around with upping and downing until the demand was flatter.

However, as most of those running the clubs, and many of those on the committees, work weekdays, they want to use the site at weekends themselves and the status quo suits them rather well.  Thus, the weekending "bed blockers" prevail, with the result we have two clubs charging relatively high pitch rates, while trying to expand their networks to keep pace with the weekend demand, and recoup the cost of running and maintaining sites that are (mostly) only consistently full 2/7. 

It seems there's no great likelihood of a workable solution to this under present circumstances, but equally that the outcome of the present policy isn't all that popular either!  I'm fairly sure that better use of pitch resources could be encouraged by charging variable rates to manage demand, and that ultimately this would be in everyone's interest.  On the other hand, however, I wouldn't wish that to be carried to the level of "lottery pricing" currently being indulged in by the ferry companies.

There must be a middle way somewhere, that would work better and more equitably than we have at present.

[Guest caraprof]

In my opinion motorhomers are probably in a much better position than caravanners in that I'm fairly sure a much larger proportion of motorhomers are retired and able to take advantage of the quieter, weekday bookings.

Caravanners often have children and are more likely to be in work and can only get away for a short break by going for a weekend.

As it happens we're going to Durham in August for my wife's annual old school reunion and we decided that we'd take the motorhome this time. I visited the CC's website and booked, without any hassle, three nights at the Durham City site - Saturday, Sunday and Monday evening!

Maybe I'm just lucky!

[John H]

We were due to go to Cirencester Park C.C. site in the morning but the way the weather has been today in the midlands, I thought I would phone the site to make sure there weren't any floods in the area. I got a message saying there was a fault on the line so I phoned the head office in East Grinstead who told me that Cirencester Park hadn't got any power because lots of trees have been blown over and damaged the power lines. They advised me not to travel which I thought was very decent of them.

 

Anybody going to Cirencester in the morning? Forget it! :-(

 

John.

[Ralph]

caraprof - 2007-07-20 4:24 PM

In my opinion motorhomers are probably in a much better position than caravanners in that I'm fairly sure a much larger proportion of motorhomers are retired and able to take advantage of the quieter, weekday bookings

True, but only partly so. Once you get to that stage you also want to spend weekends away with the (working) family, take grandkids etc.

[Guest caraprof]

Yes, good point, I hadn't thought of that.

[laikaman]

thanks for everones feed back. we have now completed a "contact us" to the CCC ie

 

"What a pleasure it was to book for a one night stay with the caravan club. Why is it we are unable to do this with the CCC?

As members this should be our privilege. On requesting a one night booking with our 6 yr old grandson from Oz, following a visit to Legoland, we were told no not even if we paid and that should a non member arrive prior to us they would obtain the pitch. This ruling needs to be changed other members agree.

Please change this restrictive and unfair rule."

 

May be some of you could do the same and we could then bring about a rule change?

:$

[John H]

I'd like to think so Laikaman but i think we would be peeing in the wind.

 

I was a member for a year and only used two of their sites when we toured Scotland last September. The other two weeks were used up in Brittany so all I had left was weekends. I may consider joining again if they do change "2 night weekend" rule. I prefer the CC but they get really busy during the summer months (or days).

 

John.

[laikaman]

but i suppose i am being naieve in thinking it is our club funded in part by our subscritions so therefore it is up to the members what rules etc are in place *-)

[davenewellhome]

Now here's a radical idea, go along to the next AGM of the C&CC and make your point there.

 

D.

[laikaman]

thanks dave, yes we have thought about doing that

[laikaman]

by the way are you a member?

 

[Guest caraprof]

One thing worth remembering about the two major clubs is that they are run by the members. They have various committees which decide on policy, whether it be sites, finance and other services. There is no employed jobsworth making arbitrary decisions on behalf of all the members.

If therefore a club decides that it will not take single-night bookings, or that electricity is to be part of the package, it's because a largish committee, made up of the keener members, has so decided.

I say 'keener members' by the way, as those who end up on these committees are obviously the ones who take a greater interest in the club.

So, if there is part of a club's policy that you don't like, you have three choices:

1. Leave.

2. Get involved and go to the AGMs or even try to join a committee.

3. Lobby the existing council to try to persuade it to change its mind.

Personally, I do not like this 'two nights' rule but the two sites that I've used this year allowed me to stay just one night. Is this because it was April?

[laikaman]

yes you are right caraprof however and i know it is a bit of a lame excuse but i am still working long hrs etc etc etc and time is limited but who benefits from not being able to book just 1 night??? do the club members?? (?)

[davenewellhome]

laikaman - 2007-07-21 7:08 PM

 

by the way are you a member?

 

Sorry, no I'm not. We were members of the CC for a few years until they decided to hide the electric charge in with the pitch fee so we left the CC and joined the C&CC. We were then members of this club for a year but we came to the conclusion that due to work commitments we didn't get the opportunity to use the sites enough to make it worth the annual subs cost. I know there are other benefits like insurance services and cheaper ferry crossings etc but as we already had a good deal on insurance and we don't go abroad they didn't add up to anything like the membership costs. By the way, the latter part of this drivel is also part of the reason we dropped out of the CC, it wasn't just about pitch charges and electric.

 

D.

[laikaman]

yes, probably