arthur49 Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Anybody seen or studied the new rates? This year I seem to recall the rates being about 10% greater than 2010. Now, using Silverbank as my guide - we use it to visit relatives and friends - the rates are 9% higher in the low season compared to this year. So up almost 20% in two years. I've tried to get a sensible answer from the CC on my queries but all I got was marketing bluster. The December CC Magazine includes reports from Annual Members' Meeting on 22 October. The Treasurers Report stated the Club was working to contain costs wherever possible but gives no details. The Director General stated that the Club would do its best to keep site prices in check but again gave no details or examples. The site details leaflets used to refer to the cost of electricity being £4m and asked members to be considerate....... For us, we're allowing our CC membership to lapse as my experience trying to obtain facts/examples of cost cutting/containment was met by a deaf ear. I've seen nothing on CC sites either demonstrating cost cutting/containment - a sign asking users to switch off hot water is not cost cutting/containment. On a positive note though the Wardens are generally very good. Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Its not a club anymore:-(........... its a big business being run for the benefits of its directors*-).................and they are milking the staycation market for all its worth;-).............I'd rather be in France:D.......MUCH better value for moneyB-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur49 Posted November 27, 2011 Author Share Posted November 27, 2011 pelmetman - 2011-11-27 6:28 PM Its not a club anymore:-(........... its a big business being run for the benefits of its directors*-).................and they are milking the staycation market for all its worth;-).............I'd rather be in France:D.......MUCH better value for moneyB-) Tend to agree with your first line with the proviso that 'badly' be inserted before 'run'..............! Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dave Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Its not just the Caravan Club that seems to think its members have bottomless pockets, the Camping and Caravan Club is just the same they don't bat an eye at charging £20-£30 a night for a club site and when you consider that we only use the tap and disposal points that makes it blooming expensive. Why i ask as an example should the members have to subsidise the installation of wi-fi (i use my dongle so don't need it) and then charge members if they want to make use of it. The clubs i think are run by wealthy people out of touch with reality with no idea we are in the mist of a credit crunch. The good thing about being a member of the clubs are the CS and CL sites and of course the meets where you can camp for a reasonable price although these prices are creeping up. And to continue the rant the 'motorhome turn around facility' at £6.50 is just taking the mick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 The caravan club is despite claims to the contry a club not a profit making business with the profits being milked off. The accounts are published openly each year so members can see just where the money goes. Yes the site fees are high and have been increasing lately but the standards are high and investing in improved facilities, hard standings and new sites does not come cheap nor does the cost of maintaining them to the level we members expect. You pays your money and takes your choice. Some private sites may be a little cheaper but the best with standards comparitable with the clubs sites are most definatly not. Then if you book mover a hundred days in advance there's the small matter of deposits and in many cases the fulll site fees being paid in advance which will be lost if as happened to us this year unforeseen circumstances cause you have to cancel bookings. The ever increasing membership of the club along with a high site occupancy means the club must be doing something right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Colin Leake - 2011-11-27 7:03 PM The ever increasing membership of the club along with a high site occupancy means the club must be doing something right.Yep.............Right Place................. Right Time;-) To milk the members*-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klyne Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 pelmetman - 2011-11-27 6:28 PM Its not a club anymore:-(........... its a big business being run for the benefits of its directors*-).................and they are milking the staycation market for all its worth;-).............I'd rather be in France:D.......MUCH better value for moneyB-) Absolute rubbish! The site network makes a loss every year and from memory the loss for 2010 was over £1 million. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Klyne - 2011-11-27 8:01 PM Absolute rubbish! The site network makes a loss every year and from memory the loss for 2010 was over £1 million. DavidWell if it makes a loss*-) then it makes a loss because their accountants want it to;-)................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Perhaps if the CC did something about the no-shows to stop them happening, and then others could stay there they would reduce the supposed 'loss', then they could look to keep the costs down to encourage more use by those who WILL turn up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postnote Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 I’m another member that will let my membership lapse, never been able to book a site at short notice when touring UK always full but when there they are partially empty? As you correctly say it’s now a business. There plenty of independent publications out there we site that are just as good and in most cases better Surprise, surprise I have always found the MMM site guide good and nearly never fails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 I don't care what the CC do I will not rejoin unless they remove the compulsory EHU - and even then having discovered the joys of mainland European holidays I doubt I would return to UK holidays for more than the odd weekend - which the CCC holiday sites and weekend meets takes care of very nicely and with no faffing about booking! Works for us, although I do appreciate that we are all different in our needs and perceptions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur49 Posted November 27, 2011 Author Share Posted November 27, 2011 Colin Leake - 2011-11-27 7:03 PM ....are high and investing in improved facilities, hard standings and new sites does not come cheap nor does the cost of maintaining them to the level we members expect. ..............The ever increasing membership of the club along with a high site occupancy means the club must be doing something right. Colin I've no idea what "we members expect". There is a Member Research Panel ongoing - I participate - but full results are unknown. In the meantime, I can only voice my opinion and concern about the Club and so called cost cutting/containment ie what have they done? What are they doing? I simply want to see the evidence that the CC report at AMM. In 2010 the membership fell by 2700 (0.7%). It did not increase. I've no idea what the current figure is. Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Klyne - 2011-11-27 8:01 PM Absolute rubbish! The site network makes a loss every year and from memory the loss for 2010 was over £1 million. David Not surprising can't stand their sites, give me a field with a water tap any day & if I did want to stay on one it would be impossible to book anyway. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Mel B - 2011-11-27 8:16 PM Perhaps if the CC did something about the no-shows to stop them happening, and then others could stay there they would reduce the supposed 'loss', then they could look to keep the costs down to encourage more use by those who WILL turn up. They have taken action. Admittedly very modest action to avoid inconvenience to regular members but it should help prevent abuse. Every one is entitled to their opinion and is free to use the Club or not for those who object to the fees the answer is simple do not renew your membership, don't use the sites and make other arrangements. We remain amongst the many thousands who are satisfied to pay the fees and use the services of the club. The other thought that occurs to me is that the club officials are actually elected so if anyone objects strongly enough they could always stand for office and set about changing things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 We stopped at the CC site at Brighton which was quite expensive for us but it was Brighton after all. The worst thing was which greatly embarrassed me was that a German couple and friends in two motorhomes where booking it at the same time and were charged £38 per couple for one night stop over. They asked if there was a discount for membership of a German club where given a sharp NO!. What a difference to mainland europe. No wonder we struggle to attract eurpean travellers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwendolyn Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Agree with much written here. The CC is just losing the plot….. Recently….. Turn up at 5pm, having booked a pitch, and stated arrival time as 6pm, only to be “told off” by the wardens as the till is now “shut down for the night” and I’ll “have to pay in the morning”….. Fine.. but they don’t open until 9am and we have to be away – a pre booked function with family – by 8 am as someone is collecting us from the gate….. Lot of huffing and puffing from the wardens. I offer to leave my membership card with them until we leave, and pay on departure…. Nothing doing…. So with VERY bad grace they open the office and take my card payment….. Only reason we still belong I reckon is because there are a handful of sites we use on a regular basis, and, yes pelmetman, we would rather be in France – and we do spend 6 months of the year “away” [i.e. not in the UK] but sometimes circumstances dictate that we need to be here in the UK at certain times for certain reasons. And it would be pleasant to be able to use those sites without all these hassles…… But the time has come when we are wondering why we bother… after 25+ years of membership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 I've been a loyal supporter of the CC since 1990. In the last two years I've changed my insurance from them as they no longer acted as a broker and only seemed interested in renewing with the same insurer at a much higher figure. Last year I compared their main site rates with the option of renting a flat and found the latter cheaper. They don't seem to realise they could cut their electricity bill by providing a few pitches with no hook up. I fear the club's march towards higher and higher site standards, at higher and higher fees, will end up with them catering for a smaller number of high value members with woppingly big caravans with all the gizmos who then don't need the better facilities anyway. It's common in all service industries. Chase the high value customers. Then the budget operators appear and low and behold, the market stabilises itself with everyone getting what they want. Trouble is for the CC, the money is not as free flowing as in the past and they may lose out in the longer term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postnote Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 David Not surprising can't stand their sites, give me a field with a water tap any day & if I did want to stay on one it would be impossible to book anyway. :D Maybe you could be interested in buying a Bumper Dumper then :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvin Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Hi, I am going to upset a lot of people with my comments. I think the Caravan Club prices are quite reasonable and justified, if you look at the price increases you will find it has only increased 0.50 to a £1.00 per night, unfortunately it is a sign of the time and price increases are inevitable. The majority of the Wardens work very hard and keep the sites to a high standard, following an accident several years ago I became disabled I could not believe how helpful and supportive the site warden were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemoss Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 In the week before Easter last year, the CC wanted to charge me more than £40 a night to park our motorhome on a patch of gravel at their Looe site in Cornwall. They'd decided that it was high season because one or two schools in some remote area of the UK had already broken up. I declined, and the only time I will even consider using CC sites now is in the depths of winter when a hard standing and EHU is definitely desirable. Too many of their sites are now no more than glorified car parks with patches of grass here and there. Thank goodness for CLs and CSs - and indeed for many commercial sites which we have found, to our surprise, are now much to be preferred to the CC 'standard' of different-coloured gravel with a few trees and shrubs pruned and chopped to within an inch of their lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I am quite happy with the CC, at least you can SEE where the money is being spent, in more sites,and improved Facilities, some bought off of 'failing' private site owners (Brynich, Brecon) others 'Brand new' in nice areas, and all that 'in the middle of a recession'. Yes the charges on full facilities sites are expensive (but no more than similar 'Private' sites) BUT they do have less facility sites (some run by Volunteers) which are only £11 a night including EHU, and they have 'Economy' pitches without EHU. On the whole I am satisfied that the Club does a good job, I was NOT so happy with the C & CC, and HAVE let membership lapse. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I tried to let my CC membership lapse, but magically my debit card was used without my authority to renew it! I am in dispute, of course. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 postnote - 2011-11-27 8:19 PM I’m another member that will let my membership lapse............. For the first time, I'm grateful for a piece of information that you've posted. I shall now retain mine! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manu Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Why oh why would you need to be ripped off by CC or CCC when you have a motorhome...lots of other places to park, and all facilities on board....not much between CC and B & B i suspect . Only people i feel sorry for is the poor old wardens ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur49 Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 Melvin - 2011-11-28 9:22 AM I am going to upset a lot of people with my comments. I think the Caravan Club prices are quite reasonable and justified, if you look at the price increases you will find it has only increased 0.50 to a £1.00 per night, unfortunately it is a sign of the time and price increases are inevitable. The majority of the Wardens work very hard and keep the sites to a high standard, following an accident several years ago I became disabled I could not believe how helpful and supportive the site warden were. I'm not at all upset with your view re value for money Melvin. As I said at the outset nobody at the CC has been able to demonstrate what cost cutting/containment has been implemented so I am left to assume that their words are hollow talk. Now, after posting here, nobody on either side of the debate has given me examples of what they've seen to justify the CC claims. (ex Mel) I first raised cost cutting/containment with the CC over a year ago. I gave an example - 2 halogen heaters blazing away all day in an awning in January this year ............and the occupants were out! Response was marketing waffle. So unless and until the CC can demonstrate good management at HO level I can't accept its sites are value for money because they can clearly do better. Again, as I said in my initial post, the wardens are generally very good.............so we agree on that Melvin. Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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