Don Madge Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 For those who have ordered the 2009 ACSI Guide Vicarious Books they will be dispatching them on the 9th December. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hol Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 For those who haven't used the ACSI camping card before, please be aware that there are hidden EXTRA costs that you wouldn't know about until you pay your money and obtain the book! These are shown in the small print and can be well in excess of the stated price for a given campsite. Also, in our experience, some of the claimed facilities are NOT always available! Mike Hol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Hi, Can you please elaborate on the extra charges as I have been using the ACSI camping card for the last 3 years and i have not noticed any significant hidden extra costs, but it would be helpful if you could point them out as i may have just been lucky Thanks Mike Hol - 2008-12-04 7:46 PM For those who haven't used the ACSI camping card before, please be aware that there are hidden EXTRA costs that you wouldn't know about until you pay your money and obtain the book! These are shown in the small print and can be well in excess of the stated price for a given campsite. Also, in our experience, some of the claimed facilities are NOT always available! Mike Hol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klyne Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Firstly, thanks Don for the info re distribution. Funnily enough ACSI have only just cashed my cheque from last year! Not a problem with Vicarious Books. I would also like to know what these hidden extras are as we have also been using the ACSI Card for a few years and have only paid the price as per the campsite price in the book. The only thing I have paid extra for is WiFi although sometimes even that was free! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooty10 Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Yes I too would like to hear about these hidden extra charges. I have been waiting for the new book and have not used them before. Up to now I have only heard good reports. Sooty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooty10 Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Yes I too would like to hear about these hidden extra charges. I have been waiting for the new book and have not used them before. Up to now I have only heard good reports. Sooty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatterdog Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 The only extra charges I have ever had to pay ACSI sites for is wifi at some sites and the local tourist tax levid by the local council at some sites which is usually only a few cents a night, and i have had to pay the same at some camping cheque sites as well as sites belonging to neither group, and i can understand why all facilities described in the books are not available early and late season when the card and cheques can be used Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Me to please, what extra charges? I have used it last two years and providing you stay within the clearly stated dates prices always as given. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffers Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Mike Hol - 2008-12-04 7:46 PM For those who haven't used the ACSI camping card before, please be aware that there are hidden EXTRA costs that you wouldn't know about until you pay your money and obtain the book! These are shown in the small print and can be well in excess of the stated price for a given campsite. Also, in our experience, some of the claimed facilities are NOT always available! Mike Hol. waiting with baited breath ? like the previous users. only extras have been tourist tax [occasionally] and usual reduction of facilities in off peak periods. altthough I guess these can come as a bit of a shock if you're a newbie thanks for the info Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MandyAndy Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Hi, He could have children or animals, we have never paid the standard price on ASCI site as we usually have 1 or 2 children with us and 1 or them was on occasion classed as another adult . Not sure about dogs and wether they can be charged as extra on some sites. Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Madge Posted December 5, 2008 Author Share Posted December 5, 2008 Mike Hol - 2008-12-04 7:46 PM For those who haven't used the ACSI camping card before, please be aware that there are hidden EXTRA costs that you wouldn't know about until you pay your money and obtain the book! These are shown in the small print and can be well in excess of the stated price for a given campsite. Also, in our experience, some of the claimed facilities are NOT always available! Mike Hol. Hi Mike, In our experience the extras never amount to more than a couple of Euros per night to cover tourist tax etc. For the first time users here are some details from the 2009 guide. Key Features * The Card is part of the front cover of the campsite guidebook. * Completely written in English. * Camping fees only €11-13 or15 per night. * 269 new campsites for 2009. * Now 1601 sites, over 1000 more than Camping Cheque. * GPS now printed in this format, N44.04658 E28.50102 * Only 3 campsites in the UK. How it works On presentation of the ACSI Camping Card to the campsite reception the price per night will be €11, €13 or €15. This covers 2 people, caravan and car/motorhome/tent, 6amp hook-up, use of showers, VAT and a dog. Small charges can be made by the campsite to cover tourist or environment taxes and waste disposal. I personally know motorhomes who only use campsites and save a vast amount of money using the guide and usually the cost of the guide is recovered after two/three nights on sites. Safe travelling. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hol Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 The point that I am making is that the website only shows the various prices that you pay using ACSI. In 2008, for example these were 10,12,14 euro's. You have to pay your money before you receive the guide. On page 8 of the 2008 guide, there is info about possible extra's. I don't know about the rest of you, but I regard this as dishonest. If the website was to show this info, then, fair enough, but it DOESN'T. It is only after you have paid for and received the guide that you know about it. We used the ACSI card in the Netherlands on two sites. One was shown as 14 euro's and this charged 15 euro's. The next was shown as 10 euro's and this was 12.50 euro's. In addition we chose this site for washing facilities. There were none, unless you include the old mangle. The guide showed washers/dryers. Across the border, we camped in Germany. This site had a typed sheet of info on their noticeboard about ACSI. It showed that there would be a supplementary charge for electricity ( electricity should be included, according to ACSI ) . Also rubbish disposal incurred extra charges. All this meant that we paid 16 euro's instead of the stated 14 euro's. All I'm attempting to do is make my fellow motorhomers aware of the HIDDEN charges. Many people will probably think the excess charges are reasonable. I would NOT dissagree, but it is the principle that you SHOULD BE TOLD BEFORE you buy, that I am highlighting. Mike Hol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatterdog Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 At the end of the day all you are buying is a guide book of campsites which happens to also have a DISCOUNT card within it for use in conjunction with the sites in the book at certain times of the year. All it guarrentees is that you can have a pitch for a certain price as long as your outfit/party fall within the guidelines. The price of the guide book is no dearer than any other you might purhase and other guide books dont offer discount cards. What i do know is that earlier this year we were charged 14€ a night for a pitch with the card and our neighbour who was English was charged 20€ a night without the ACSI card and we both had to pay the tourist tax which was 75cents a night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Mike Hol - 2008-12-05 9:57 AM The point that I am making is that the website only shows the various prices that you pay using ACSI. In 2008, for example these were 10,12,14 euro's. You have to pay your money before you receive the guide. On page 8 of the 2008 guide, there is info about possible extra's. I don't know about the rest of you, but I regard this as dishonest. If the website was to show this info, then, fair enough, but it DOESN'T. It is only after you have paid for and received the guide that you know about it. We used the ACSI card in the Netherlands on two sites. One was shown as 14 euro's and this charged 15 euro's. The next was shown as 10 euro's and this was 12.50 euro's. In addition we chose this site for washing facilities. There were none, unless you include the old mangle. The guide showed washers/dryers. Across the border, we camped in Germany. This site had a typed sheet of info on their noticeboard about ACSI. It showed that there would be a supplementary charge for electricity ( electricity should be included, according to ACSI ) . Also rubbish disposal incurred extra charges. All this meant that we paid 16 euro's instead of the stated 14 euro's. All I'm attempting to do is make my fellow motorhomers aware of the HIDDEN charges. Many people will probably think the excess charges are reasonable. I would NOT dissagree, but it is the principle that you SHOULD BE TOLD BEFORE you buy, that I am highlighting. Mike Hol. Mike I used 9 acsi sites last May/June and not one charged any extra. Electric should be included if it is not walk away and report the site. Rubbish disposal, new one on me, how do they check this. If the site does not charge the price quoted report the site or query it at the time. You seemed to be very unlucky but a guide book is just that and makes mistakes, what do you suggest they print something 'saying this is the price agreed with the site but it may be more and you may be charged for things you should not be.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Mike Hol - 2008-12-05 9:57 AM The point that I am making is that the website only shows the various prices that you pay using ACSI. In 2008, for example these were 10,12,14 euro's. You have to pay your money before you receive the guide. On page 8 of the 2008 guide, there is info about possible extra's. I don't know about the rest of you, but I regard this as dishonest. If the website was to show this info, then, fair enough, but it DOESN'T. It is only after you have paid for and received the guide that you know about it. We used the ACSI card in the Netherlands on two sites. One was shown as 14 euro's and this charged 15 euro's. The next was shown as 10 euro's and this was 12.50 euro's. In addition we chose this site for washing facilities. There were none, unless you include the old mangle. The guide showed washers/dryers. Across the border, we camped in Germany. This site had a typed sheet of info on their noticeboard about ACSI. It showed that there would be a supplementary charge for electricity ( electricity should be included, according to ACSI ) . Also rubbish disposal incurred extra charges. All this meant that we paid 16 euro's instead of the stated 14 euro's. All I'm attempting to do is make my fellow motorhomers aware of the HIDDEN charges. Many people will probably think the excess charges are reasonable. I would NOT dissagree, but it is the principle that you SHOULD BE TOLD BEFORE you buy, that I am highlighting. Mike Hol. Thanks for the info Mike. It doesn't sound like a major issue, but well worth knowing about. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppy Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 We used this guide last year for the first time and found it excellent.Two sites gave us showers tokens, one each per day because they charged for their showers but using the ACSI card we were entitled to one shower per day included in the price. Will definately get 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred grant Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 dus you av to buy a new guide every year poppy me ansum. or can us just use the old one. there cant be many changes year to year can there. f Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Hi, There are additions and subtractions from the lists of sites that will accept the card every year, but the main point is the card has a date/year on it so in answer to your question Fred yes you do need to get a new card every year, it comes as part of a small guide book showing all the sites and includes a very useful map showing the same hope that helps fred grant - 2008-12-05 8:15 PM dus you av to buy a new guide every year poppy me ansum. or can us just use the old one. there cant be many changes year to year can there. f Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Two points. At £10.50 it is quite a good camp site guide in it's own right and at least it should be virtually up to date with predictable prices unlike many site books. £10.50 is about 13 euros so unless you use it several times during the fixed calender year there will be no savings at all - just the convenience and peace of mind of knowing where the sites are - even if Professor Soddes famous law applies and there is not an ACSI site within 100 miles when you need one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homenaway Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Hi, We have used the ACSI discount guide for three years and have found it to be excellent value easily recouping the cost of the guide after a couple of nights. We prefer it to Camping Cheques which have to be paid for "upfront" and have generally found the standard of sites to be fine as we rarely need all the facilities anyway. As far as laundry/washing machines on site they are always hit or miss can take hours and can cost €4-6 so we rarely bother with them. In the Netherlands at one ACSI site we paid extra for the tourist tax but were given back a couple of Euros for the showers B-) At a couple of their listed sites in Italy we haven't been allocated the best lakeside pitches which are at a premium charge anyway. We met an ACSI site inspector at a site in the Czech Republic this year and he was very interested in our views of the site and the discount scheme which we enthused over ( thought we might get a free site book :'( B-) I believe they inspect the sites annually. I'm sure they would take any complaints seriously if you contacted them! We had to pay a €2 waste (rubbish) disposal charge this year at a stellplatz in Germany in addition to the €6 parking fee. Enjoy your travels Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hol Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 In answer to some of the points made, No I am not a "newbie". I have camped since 1962 and been a motorhomer since 1980. No we don't have any pets which would incur extra charges and we were camping well within the off season covered by the scheme. Because of the language difficulties it wasn't easy to have a meaningful discussion with the various campsites.Also, I camp for enjoyment, so don't want to spoil my trips with aguments or avoidable issues. I did contact the UK suppliers, who acknowledged my e.mail, but, for reasons best known to themselves, haven't addressed the issues concerned. They have, however said they they will pass the details on to ACSI, when, quite clearly themselves, as the suppliers, are resposible for what they sell. The principal of making clear the price of goods/services before you buy is enshrined in UK customer protection regulations, so in this case I have felt it necessary to inform the relevant people. Previous to my experience, I too hadn't heard of any problems. Where did I hear about ACSI ? - from reading this forum. Buyer beware! Mike Hol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Mike Hol - 2008-12-05 9:03 PM In answer to some of the points made, No I am not a "newbie". I have camped since 1962 and been a motorhomer since 1980. No we don't have any pets which would incur extra charges and we were camping well within the off season covered by the scheme. Because of the language difficulties it wasn't easy to have a meaningful discussion with the various campsites.Also, I camp for enjoyment, so don't want to spoil my trips with aguments or avoidable issues. I did contact the UK suppliers, who acknowledged my e.mail, but, for reasons best known to themselves, haven't addressed the issues concerned. They have, however said they they will pass the details on to ACSI, when, quite clearly themselves, as the suppliers, are resposible for what they sell. The principal of making clear the price of goods/services before you buy is enshrined in UK customer protection regulations, so in this case I have felt it necessary to inform the relevant people. Previous to my experience, I too hadn't heard of any problems. Where did I hear about ACSI ? - from reading this forum. Buyer beware! Mike Hol. Sorry Mike, now I am going to upset someone again, but this really is rubbish. To quote the Collins dictionary; Guide- indicator. It is just that and indicator of the site and is not cast in stone. Would you go in to Smiths book shops and point out the story in The Sun was not true or the item on page 164 of, choose your own book here, is not correct. Please, do you seriously expect a supplier of guide books to scan every one visit every camp site to make sure all the details are correct. The supplier acted correctly it would report your concerns to ACSI. Not sure who the people you intend to report it to are but if it is trading standards you are going to get laughed out the door on this one. I agree with you about not making a fuss over a couple of euros but would inform ACSI if overcharged, as I said in previous post never have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hol Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 Hi Rupert, An interesting observation, but I am afraid that you have missed the point. In this instance, it is NOT a guide that is being sold, but a service. I would have thought that everyone, except perhaps some suppliers, would have supported customer protection, but, as with all internet forums, there are often differing viewpoints. Incidentally, you haven't upset me, you are, after, all entitled to your view. Mike Hol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 Hi all- Well I have ordered ours and hope to make a saving, it appeares there are 95 sites in Spain offering the service, and hope some of them will be the ones we wish to use in January 09. and hopefully be open. With the cost of ferries and fuel, £10.50 for the card seems insignificant. We always purchase an international camping carnet as well. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyreman Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 Surely if its just used as a camp site guide its still worth the money,just ordered mine....Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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