william1 Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 When is the Caravan Club going to do something for retired motorhomers or caravanners similar to the CCC ? Everytime this subject is raised they fob it off by saying that they give 'mid week' discounts - yes only at certain sites and at certain times; and further more it is directed at all members. I have nothing against families or children, but they seem to go overboard providing facilities for this sector of camper with excellent baby changing rooms that would be a credit to Harrods, and play areas for children that any nursery would be proud of. The CC is moving away from its core values looking after all of its members- talking to Wardens, they also appear to be getting a raw deal whilst the dignitaries at the top are looking after themselves. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 Hi William and welcome. The CC have been looking after their own interests for years, despite it being called a 'club' it is very much a profit making business, like any other. Whether you choose to 'join' it is up to you, we only do so if it makes sense for us, ie if we are likely to benefit from using the CLs or cheaper sites for a holiday in the UK, if not, then we don't bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 I'm not a member so have no interest in CC rules, but surely as a club there must be some 'mechanism' whereby members can table motions for voting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klyne Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 William What would the justification be for treating one section of the membership differently to another? The Club already offer mid week discounts which retired people, and all other members of the Club can take advantage of. Since we have been retired we avoid weekends as its so less crowded. The Club also have sites available from £7 a night (2008) so there is a lot of choice if you want to save money. Of course the Club has to be run in a professional and business like way, it would not function efficently if it did not. There are also various ways that you can make your views known. E-mail is the quickest and I can always received a omprehensive answer to any questions I have raised. Members of the management committee usually attend the various shows. Had quite a long conversation with Bob Black the previous Chairman at one show. The Club organise regional meetings to discuss elements of the Club with members and of course there is always the the Club AGM where members have the opportunity to ask questions if they wish. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Dwight Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Klyne. Aint Bob Black the guy that told the French they should stop Wild Camping. Dont agree with there are plenty of sites re £7 a night there are only a few and if you want to get on one think of booking now for 2010. Duriong the late spring we had a had job to get on any CC site. But got good service from CCC sites. What annoys us is when you phone CC sites they go through the process of who you are, address, car number etc etc.. CCC sites give them your membership number they then wish you a good day and yes we have reserved you a pitch. Why cant CC do the same. Also who would pay CC £5 an hour for wifi, through a private set up, when they could do it a lot cheaper for members through there own server. David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Apologies for being slightly off thread but... We are just back from a 5 day stay at a CC site and our experiences whilst there have prompted me to e-mail the club. And yes, I do have better things to do since some of you may ask.. The attitude of two of the wardens, (who were partners), during the stay was, lets be kind, unhelpful. No, b****r it, it was appalling. Here's a list cut as short as I can of the service received. Upon returning to our van after booking us in, my wife commented on how unfriendly the warden was. A day later exchanging banter at a service point, a lady enquired of me as to whether I thought one of the wardens was unfriendly. No coincidence then. In 9 years of membership we have never received a visitor so thought it prudent as to ascertain what, if any, rules had to be followed in this highly regulated club. The wardens attitude was one of, "what on earth do you want I'm too busy to bother" Our visitors duly arrived and oh dear, were they treated poorly. My Brother and my 82 year old disabled Mother were left feeling very angry and worse still for my Mother, she had to walk the length of the site to our van. She was exhausted when she arrived, I was furious. Of course I'm trying to keep this brief, but I assure you all the facts are available and the warden on the day of the visitors debacle, well in my opinion wants some serious Customer Care training. I'll keep you posted of their response. Martyn >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly58 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Seems another problem with our employee's , as members of said club in effect we are all part owners having paid our membership fee's to join "The Club" therefore these wardens as employed by said "Club" in effect become our employee's as it is us who in effect pay their wages , so with any sector of public domain bad service needs to be addressed and the "employee" taken to task 3 strikes and you are out ,My staff were always asked to treat their / my customers with respect and show the same good manners as you would wish to be treated if you were the customer and treat all people as equals,lets hope you get a good reply at least this forum is the place to let other campers of the bad service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J9withdogs Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 One bad apple etc etc.. I've never had a problem with CC staff (in fact, quite the opposite!) and I find the sites good value for money. CCC staff always managed to wind me up by being inflexible as to where I wanted to park, so I don't use them anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapido-lass Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I have always found that the CC wardens most helpful unlike the C&CC wardens who seem to be rude and ignorant (no longer a member of C&CC because of wardens attitude) I can understand a warden on a busy change-over day may feel that they are run ragged as everyone wants the best pitches etc etc, but as I have always said, if you are in a service industry you are there to serve with a smile. Yes I am old fashioned in that respect. But it doesn't mean that they are there as a verbal punch bag for all and sundry to use. In my experience the CC wardens pass with flying colours, having said that I always treat people like I would wish to be treated, so maybe that helps. It's also fair to say and I have heard, members verbally laying into a warden as someone else is parked on the pitch that they fancied. In cases like that I do feel sorry for the wardens having to deal with that kind of member, at those times the wardens probably wish that person wasn't a member! However, sometimes you will come across the job's worth type who isn't able to bend and adapt to the situation - rules are rules - would it really have hurt for the car to be driven around to the pitch , even if requested that after dropping off the elder relative, to return the car to the car park? Would the visitors have thought that that was unexceptable? I very much doubt it, probably relieved that the wardens had appreciated the situation. I guess that in the end we are all human and have our off days....... no excuse tho. In respect of retired motorhomers - well, if you start giving one group discounts, then the unemployed will want concessions, the families too etc etc. The beauty of being retired is that you can go and get the midweek discounts that other working folks can't and use the sites when they are quieter - times when lots of us can only dream of. At the end of the day you choose which club suits you and your needs and join that one, luckily we are all different other wise we'd never all fit on the one site - or should they turn the M25 into one big site? - I know at times it seems they try that idea out!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william1 Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 If you get a reply Martyn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Martyn Everyone can have an off day. I know a CC warden well, he is a retired police officer and he has a fund of stories concerning the antics of members and how friendly and helpful they can be! However, you should not have had the problems you have outlined and are owed a full explanation from the CC. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I have not used any club sites for a number of years now but my feelings and experiences were that there are good and bad wardens/managers in both clubs - as in all things. Sometimes you catch a good guy on a bad day and sometimes you get a bad guy on a good day! The best you can hope for in all things in life is to get more good guys on a good day than you do bad guys on a bad day! As with the general public some club members can be very unhelpful, demanding, unreasonable, inconsiderate and sometimes downright dishonest and no doubt that winds up any normally good natured warden to the point of extreme exasperation. Not that he should then take it out on the next poor soul who happens to cross his path - but they are only human after all! That apart the higher cost of CC club sites, and many CLs, and the lack of old fart discount added to compulsory electric and the need to pre book every rally or weekend meet means that we will not be rejoining the CC unless the regime and attitude changes. Not a problem - it's their club and they can run it how they like - just don't expect me to subsidise it. Meanwhile the CCC does what we want albeit with less CSs than the CCs CLs, but with a lot more weekend meets and holiday rally sites which in the main are free from booking drudgery and usually very friendly. And the Carefree travel service is pretty good too! You pays yer money and takes yer choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Hello all, I've received 2 responses, first an automated one and now a more personalised one which promises investigation into our "observations", (my word). Michael, no problem with "off days" at all, and also to anyone who thinks I'm slagging the whole club/wardens/etc off - I'm not. I think the club is an excellent product and will continue to support it. What I am doing is highlighting diabolical service which needs addressing. I haven't mentioned the site or the wardens names so I'm not being vindictive before they've had the chance to reply. I can forget about "unfriendliness", when all's said and done, I'm not there to make friends with wardens, I'm there to holiday. No, what's really done my nut in is my Mother having to walk the length of the site because of a sheer lack of common sense being deployed. I'm done now, Martyn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly58 Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Good manners , politeness and common sense costs nothing , but certainly goe's a long way towards good customer relations , at least you have had a reply so thats a start in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapido-lass Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 kelly58 - 2008-12-31 12:11 PM Good manners , politeness and common sense costs nothing Well said - I believe that's what they call old fashioned standards and values - something that many lack in this day and age, and even if brought up with, feel it's acceptable to shrug them off to be trendy - I call it being disrespectful to another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howie Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 And hopefully this will apply to the 'customer' as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laikaman Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Hi all- am I being over sensitive? The CC good and bad re wardens. Like in life some are very nice others leave alot to be desired. One example of the bad was in Scotland at the end of October this year, we stayed on a really lovely but remote CC site in the Highlands. It was very quiet as you would expect for that time of year. The site had TV plug in points. I plugged my coaxial cable into the TV point but the reception was terrible. I enquired at reception if there were any problems re a signal and was told by the lady that there wasnt however she would get her husband to come and check the TV point. He duly arrived checked the post all was ok however it transpired that my cable was faulty, he kindly brought a cable over plugged it in and everything worked great. I asked him if I could buy a cable from the shop He told me that they had none left as it was the end of the season. I asked him if I could buy or borrow the cable he had ,he told me 'no' as it was his tester cable and he might need it, unplugged it and took it with him. Now I know that not having TV is not the end of the world however I do think that there could have been a bit of flexibility in his approach or am I just expecting too much? One other point I think the CC should take deposits when members pre book sites especially at weekends. I wonder on how many occasions pitches are pre booked and the member never turns up but the site is shown as full? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I can see the CC site warden's point of view regarding not letting you have the aerial cable - as it was his tester cable, if he needed it to test another member's TV connection then he wouldn't have it if you had it. Also, what if he did let you borrow it and it got damaged? He would then be without a cable at all. From your point of view I can see your problem, but he has to keep the requirements of other members in mind, not just one member I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapido-lass Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Hearing about your ariel situation reminded me of something that happened to us a while ago. We arrived and set up on a CC site, we plugged in our electric on the correctly numbered socket, unfortunately someone else had plugged there tv cable into our numbered point. They were out, and I didn't feel that I should take it upon myself to remove the ariel, so went and explained to the wardens that I didn't want to cause any problems etc etc, in short the warden came out and removed the offending tv cable. Later on as we were watching tv, our picture went dead, we went out to investigate and found the owner of the offending cable had pulled ours out thrown cable on the ground and plugged his back in. I said excuse me, and in return I received total verbal abuse and threats for having touched his cable. I stood there quite shocked and before I knew it the wardens arrived and told him that I had not removed the tv cable, they had and he had had no right in plugging into that socket anyway. He was abusive to them, I felt bad that I had caused the nasty situation. The reason that this person thought fit to pick and chose his tv point was that his cable didn't reach to his alloted point. Hence bugger everyone else as long as I'm ok attitude sprung to the fore followed by the abuse. The wardens were very good in this situation, not lowering themselves to his level and sorted the situation out. They said this level of abuse from some members was normal. To me this is totally unaccepteable behaviour from a member of the CC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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