mirage Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Is it my imagination or are some campsite owners getting a little carried away with their prices on the back of the current popularity of caravaning/camping. Internet prices for a pitch near Bath came in at £132 for 4 nights, I appreciate its a popular area, not so popular that there were vacancies at the end of July, I won`t be filling any. Even with the drop in the value of the Euro, France is still a better bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duetto owner Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 just been quoted £35 a night for one in devon and a couple at £25. worst of all C&CC charge £7 a day for wifi when its only 50p to £2 a day via mobile broadband operators. The camping industry is jumping on the RIP OFF Britian bandwagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornishjojo Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 We regularly camp weekends with the CCC, even then campsite owners are getting greedy, especially times of years when they wouldn't have anybody else on their sites. Definately cheaper to camp on Temporary holiday sites, we were looking at going to a commercial site we like for my birthday in August, at £55 per unit per night.......... I don't think so!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 duetto owner - 2009-07-06 9:16 PM just been quoted £35 a night for one in devon and a couple at £25. worst of all C&CC charge £7 a day for wifi when its only 50p to £2 a day via mobile broadband operators. The camping industry is jumping on the RIP OFF Britian bandwagon. Internet access has been the subject of several previous threads. Search should bring them up. WiFi isn't the same as mobile broadband. You're not comparing like with like. The C&CC and the CC are both unlucky that they brought in their WiFi services just before mobile broadband took off but their prices are simply what the operators who provide their services charge to anyone else. On the general subject of pricing - another perennial subject - the level is determined by supply & demand like any other free enterprise market. We all have the choice of take it or leave it. If people charge too much they won't sell their pitches. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinehead Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 If the charges go beyond £25 a night I for one won't be paying it. At that level is ceases to make sense.. You can get a decent B&B for similar money or not a lot more. I know it's not the same and I do prefer a campsite to a hotel or B&B but even so..... Last month in France I paid between euro 7.60 and euro 18.00 per night for a van and two people. The higher price was for a superb site with a pool and top-level facilities and 100M walk to the beach! (On the Med) Site owners in UK and Ireland are definately going to damage their business in the long-term. (I do understand the principal of supply and demand though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 machinehead - 2009-07-06 11:52 PM If the charges go beyond £25 a night I for one won't be paying it. QUOTE] Better not bother booking in here then.. http://www.holgates.co.uk/middlebarrow/prices Travelodge it is then? :D Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Just got back from eight weeks in Spain/Portugal. on the subject of WiFi, in Portugal, all the sites we visited were free. I understand that the govenment provid it free to all . Must say we were very pleased with the ACSI sites, saved us a fortune in site fees.Fist time we have used it, will certainly buy again next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROND Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Typical rip of Britain. I think £15 max for one night is all a campsite is worth and anything more i wont pay unless i have to. For the cost of 2 nights camping in britain at £35 per night i can get a ferry across to France and save a fortune, no parking charges to pay, no site fees to pay, cheaper fuel. If i go anywhere in the UK then i have to pay for 2 parking places every time i park, in France or Germany i hardly ever have to pay. All those lovely aires in France and stella platz in Germany to enjoy and most of them either free or at a very modest cost, why would anybody in their right mind want to give their cash away. RD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I'm guessing with all the new vans that have been sold in last few years some site owners are thinking "If they can spend £30/40/50,000 on new van I'll have some of that" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I know Aires and Stelplatzs are cheap, and I know camp sites in England can be a rip off, but simply comparing on that basis is not a fair comparison ,firstly you have a Ferry return to add to costs, then Insurance, then fuel costs etc. which must all come into the equasion. Not many of us would nip across the Channel just for a weekend or even a week I suspect,so we then have to find a camping place here for our leisure,I personally use CCC ralies THS or CL/ CS sites even then you have to structure club membership fees in the costs , our chosen lifestyle I.E spending time in our Motorhomes will never really be cheap, but then is that why we choose to do it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuwsmith Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 The C&CC and the CC are both unlucky that they brought in their WiFi services just before mobile broadband took off but their prices are simply what the operators who provide their services charge to anyone else. Dornafield Caravan Site near Newton Abbott, a CC affiliated site provide Wi Fi access free of charge. Admittedly on some parts of the site the service was a bit iffy but it worked and it was FREE. I would reccomend this site, in my opinion the provision of free WiFi indicates the attitude of the owners wanting to provide a good service to their customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 vindiboy - 2009-07-07 8:48 PM I know Aires and Stelplatzs are cheap, and I know camp sites in England can be a rip off, but simply comparing on that basis is not a fair comparison ,firstly you have a Ferry return to add to costs, then Insurance, then fuel costs etc. which must all come into the equasion. Not many of us would nip across the Channel just for a weekend or even a week I suspect,so we then have to find a camping place here for our leisure,I personally use CCC ralies THS or CL/ CS sites even then you have to structure club membership fees in the costs , our chosen lifestyle I.E spending time in our Motorhomes will never really be cheap, but then is that why we choose to do it ? Think you may have missed Ronds point, as he quite rightly said for the cost of two nights camping in UK at (his quote) £35 per night, that will pay your ferry return and leave money to spare (our last return crossing was £45 RETURN), diesel is still just cheaper and the Aires are free or 5 -8 Euro per night. We have been across for the weekend (on an e-mail special offer saver at £24 return, £19 standard plus £5 suplement for motorhome) and often go for the week. Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Totally agree, head for France. Better class of Croissant! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Stuwsmith - 2009-07-07 9:17 PM The C&CC and the CC are both unlucky that they brought in their WiFi services just before mobile broadband took off but their prices are simply what the operators who provide their services charge to anyone else. Dornafield Caravan Site near Newton Abbott, a CC affiliated site provide Wi Fi access free of charge. Admittedly on some parts of the site the service was a bit iffy but it worked and it was FREE. I would reccomend this site, in my opinion the provision of free WiFi indicates the attitude of the owners wanting to provide a good service to their customers. OK, so a private site (which just happens to be a CC affiliated site) took a commercial decision to provide free WiFi - i.e. it is included in the price which everyone pays (even those pitched in areas where coverage is iffy) whether or not they want it.That is much akin to the fact (to which I have seen objections in various threads on various forums) that everyone on a CC site is charged for EHU whether they want it or not.The CC & C&CC took commercial decisions to charge those who want it separately for WiFi access. The provision of WiFi access (and I assume the provision of EHU a few years ago was the same) presumably came about in response to demand from a sufficient percentage of members.The point is that all those decisions are commercial decisions based on what the site owners perceive as necessary to satisfy the demands placed upon them.If we don't like it we go elsewhere.Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 GJH The point is that all those decisions are commercial decisions based on what the site owners perceive as necessary to satisfy the demands placed upon them. Graham Yes Graham, I agree. But what is your view regarding site owners perceptions of reasonable profit margins versus (possible) blatant overcharging? I do appreciate that your comment above is regarding Wifi etc but the site fee arguments apply equally in my view. We were in business long enough to fully appreciate the different financial constraints on different businessess, but again, that word, reasonable springs up. Two local sites provide a good example. One's charging £11 a night for a site with all (new) facs except a shower block, a superb site. Not a quarter mile away from it is a (very) tired run down site which does have a shower block, £17 per night. You can guess where our dosh goes.. Ok, you can argue that the shower block justifies the extra fee but I hope you'll take my word when I say there is no comparison whatsoever between the two sites, the cheaper by far the best & also best value for money. Comparisons are nigh on impossible of course, we don't and won't ever know the financial issues around either (any) site, unless we buy one ourselves of course, but I find it difficult to comprehend the huge differences in some sites pricing. Whingers Corner, over & out :D :D Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 LordThornber - 2009-07-08 9:47 AM Yes Graham, I agree. But what is your view regarding site owners perceptions of reasonable profit margins versus (possible) blatant overcharging? (snip to shorten length of post) In general it is up to any business to decide what profit margin they wish to try to achieve. Whether they will achieve that margin should depend on whether they are offering value for money in a competitive market. Your point about the two local camp sites is a very good one. If enough people follow your lead then the owner of the higher priced site should get the message and do something about it. Blatant overcharging generally comes about where a monopoly (think of BT prices before the advent of cable companies) or cartel (think of milk prices in supermarkets which were in the news a few months ago) exists which works against the public interest. In general shopping terms we buy different things from different places. Today we happened to go to Morrisons because it was convenient & not wasteful of fuel to go there rather than Tesco or Asda. There were certain things on our list which we simply did not buy because the prices were significantly higher than Tesco and we know we don't actually need those items before a visit to Tesco will be similarly convenient. We tend to apply the same judgement when looking for camp sites and go to those which we think gives us best value. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapido-lass Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 vindiboy - 2009-07-07 8:48 PM I know Aires and Stelplatzs are cheap, and I know camp sites in England can be a rip off, but simply comparing on that basis is not a fair comparison ,firstly you have a Ferry return to add to costs, then Insurance, then fuel costs etc. which must all come into the equasion. Not many of us would nip across the Channel just for a weekend or even a week I suspect,so we then have to find a camping place here for our leisure,I personally use CCC ralies THS or CL/ CS sites even then you have to structure club membership fees in the costs , our chosen lifestyle I.E spending time in our Motorhomes will never really be cheap, but then is that why we choose to do it ? Insurance - if you are talking motor then you could be covered anyway for the continent, if you're talking travel insurance then we cost an annual multi-trip policy into our annual costs of service/insurance/recovery etc. As for the ferry well that again is part of the travel costs so in our books goes with diesel/toll charges etc. We then weigh up travel costs & campsite costs and with cheaper diesel on the continent and free or minimal costing aires/sites/stellplatz it is much the better option than paying the inflated UK prices - subject to availability! We worked out that most 2/3 nights on a UK site is equivelent to the ferry return, so on that assumption, 2/3 nights on a totally free aires makes you quits and then you can choose whether to pay for more campsite or cheaper diesel after that and travel further! We also think if we have paid for the year insurance etc wise, then why not make use of it as often as possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 There is a huge difference between what you are asked to pay and what you need to pay and it boils down to what you are happy to pay in return for what you need or enjoy. If you like site sitting all day and enjoy the environment with all the other campers and you use all of the facilities fully then maybe £35 a night is acceptable? If a site is just somewhere to kip and do the watery bits before leaving then why pay more than you have to - so we don't - and about £6 is quite enough for us to pay to arrive at 6.00 pm and be off at 9.00 am? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantom Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Hey Guys just back from our first two weeks camping in England and it was great - great prices too. TRY CAMPING IN IRELAND!!!!!! It was cheaper for us to pay £250 for the ferry than to travel over the border and pay for campsites in Euros this year. Most sites - and they are very basic and at times just rough are 25 euros. Thoughth English camping was great and will be back next year. Our favourite was Riverside Campsite at Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxon hall in Shrewsbury. So stop moaning and take pity on your Irish neighbours. Apps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potjoe Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Hi,all have to say when you think about prices £20-£25-£30 a night to say in field is alot of money or is it me. >:-( >:-( >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little-jack Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 As said earlier,Why pay these silly uk prices. Just back from France, where ptches on decent municipal sites at under €15 and diesel €1.01/litre. We were getting €1. 17/ £1. I doubt we'll stay on uk sites for more than the odd couple of nights next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelmaker Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 last week stayed on a nice sit in cambrian moutians very quiet 5 pounds a night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chudders Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I agree that prices are generally too high but where are all these ferries to get to France so cheaply. I live in Cornwall and in beginning of June went to Brittany (plymouth to Roscoff) £510 return Could spend quite a few nights in UK for that money even at these expensive site prices Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 I'm with Rond & Rapido-lass on this one, living on the south coast it's cheaper to pop across the channel for a few days. I hate having to pay more than £10 for a pitch, I've had to bite my bottom lip for the August bank holiday as 'er indoors wants to go away with her sister who is a tent camper & I've got to pay 18 quid a night on a commercial site. In the UK we nearly always use CL's or CS's & some of those are getting expensive & won't give you a discount if you don't want electric. Off season we often go to the new forest being a CC&C member getting the over 55 discount makes the Forestry Commission sites reasonable value if you use the ones without facilities. For every new shiny new Motor home on a site there are probable 10-20 older Motorhomes & Caravans occupied by younger people, in the current market the prices being charged for pitches is just going to kill future business. Perhaps the site owners ought to introduce a two tier system were those who require full facilities pay more than those that don't, trouble with that is there will always be some that pay the lower price & try to use all the facilities. I may have spent 50k on a Motorhome but that was a big chunk of the life savings & the rest has gone down the pan with the present market crash. Was planning on retiring next year at 60 fat chance of that now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Chudders - 2009-07-31 11:14 PM I agree that prices are generally too high but where are all these ferries to get to France so cheaply. I live in Cornwall and in beginning of June went to Brittany (plymouth to Roscoff) £510 return On the short crossings. Newer pay more than £30 each way. Even though when we come to the UK we visit relatives in Devon, there is no way we could afford to do the longer crossing to Plymouth. The total cost of diesel/ferry from Valencia to Devon return, is way less than £510!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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