gordonhymer Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Heelo - I am new to motorhome world. Campsites I have been in touch with are looking for full pre payment for planned trips. Is the norm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Nope:D...............Where are the sites your looking at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 We don't normaly book anything acept when we want to be at a specific place during school holidays, and most times this would be for a weekend and usualy payment when we arrive but twice this year we have been asked to pay up front for a weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dave Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Only ever paid up front once for a pitch in Cornwall and when we arrived it was a thistle field in the middle of nowhere 'never again' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickt Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Never paid up front anywhere, mostly only pay when leaving site as i never know how long i will stay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 More and more private sites including some affiliated to the caravan club are going down this road. My view if that if you are booking a long while in advance it is not worth the risk of losing you dosh. The Caravan Club requires no deposits though they do now have some small penalty for late booking cancelations and no shows to address problems of members making lots of bookings and holding them to see what the weather is doing. I'm not sure what the Camping and Caravan Club do but it can't be much different. My advice is to look at both clubs decide which suits you and join one. The Caravan Club tends to be more expensive but with better sites and service. The Caravan & Camping Club tends to be cheaper, especially for pensioners but the sites and service are by and large not so good. We are members of the Caravan Club because we prefer the higher standard they offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Welcome to the Forum. Only at one site we use regularly are we asked to pay in full up front. It's a commercial site and spaces are so precious on it I don't blame them for charging. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pheasantplucker Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 We generally use CLs if possible and have found that consulting the CC handbook, were able to find one in the area we were in with only a couple of phone calls. This has been when looking for somewhere for just a night. Very few have drive-over grey water dump facilities though.We have also turned up at other sites, (mainly private/group sites) looking for a pitch for a night and have been accommodated. Some sites' staff seem to have poor knowledge of motorhome waste water requirements and either the site has no facility of a traversing drain or the staff haven't heard of it. We stayed at one site for a music festival and, when I enquired of a fairly senior staff member if what appeared to be a normal road-drain was a waste water dump facility, was told that it was. Good enough for me and several others who took advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Camping and caravan club charge £25 booking deposit, balance payable on arrival, it works well and stops the selfish people who blanket book at the begining of the season just in case they might want to go away one weekend. This apparently happens with the caravan club. We are members of both clubs and like them both but for different reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwendolyn Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Colin Leake - 2011-11-27 7:22 PM More and more private sites including some affiliated to the caravan club are going down this road. My view if that if you are booking a long while in advance it is not worth the risk of losing you dosh. The Caravan Club requires no deposits though they do now have some small penalty for late booking cancelations and no shows to address problems of members making lots of bookings and holding them to see what the weather is doing. I'm not sure what the Camping and Caravan Club do but it can't be much different. My advice is to look at both clubs decide which suits you and join one. The Caravan Club tends to be more expensive but with better sites and service. The Caravan & Camping Club tends to be cheaper, especially for pensioners but the sites and service are by and large not so good. We are members of the Caravan Club because we prefer the higher standard they offer. We belong to both clubs, and have done for over 25 years - and by far prefer the C&CC sites to the CC sites. Not sure that the latter offers "better" sites and service. More “authoritarian” perhaps....????? I don’t think that the one is better than the other. Both clubs have excellent sites. Both have some less than satisfactory sites. Also it is more difficult to get pitches on CC sites at weekends thus making it hard to book a 2 week break as the weekends are fully booked. There is also the incentive of the age concession rate on C&CC sites, available to members over 55. The C&CC do require a deposit that is sure. But it is refundable if you cancel more than 7 days before arrival. And also, after that if you write and explain the circumstances. They are very understanding [in my experience]. The CC do not charge a deposit, with the resulting difficulty of getting a pitch as many members book pitches ‘on spec’ as there is no financial outlay. The new rules may ameliorate that... we will wait and see..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Hi Last week my wife and I stayed at the C.C site in Southport, really nice site and will go again. On arrival we declared we would be staying 2 or 3 nights and had to pay the full 3 nights. I thought we would pay on departure when we knew exactly what the bill would be.Would not put me off going again though. derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel wood Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Gwendolyn - 2011-11-27 10:27 PM The C&CC do require a deposit that is sure. But it is refundable if you cancel more than 7 days before arrival. And also, after that if you write and explain the circumstances. They are very understanding [in my experience]. Under current rules, DEPOSITS ARE NOT REFUNDABLE IF CANCELLATION IS WITHIN 7 DAYS of the date booked. Otherwise, I agreed with all you said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Welcome Gordon :-D ...quite a few sites we use,have started to ask for money up front(..some just ask for a depsoit,whilst some ask for full payment)...I can't say that I blame them,if they've been let down and generally messed around by punters in the past..*-) ..and I can't say that I've ever been on a site that only expected you to pay on leaving..I should imagine they'll be few and far between....even the CC sites take the money off you on arrival.... :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 pepe63 - 2011-11-28 1:57 PM Welcome Gordon :-D ...quite a few sites we use,have started to ask for money up front(..some just ask for a depsoit,whilst some ask for full payment)...I can't say that I blame them,if they've been let down and generally messed around by punters in the past..*-) ..and I can't say that I've ever been on a site that only expected you to pay on leaving..I should imagine they'll be few and far between....even the CC sites take the money off you on arrival.... :-S I think that "payment on leaving " is more common on sites on the continent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Oh!..I see :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasgas Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 So far as I can remember the last time I paid to stay somewhere it was three shillings and ten pence for the night. Last year we went all round Europe, and didn't pay anything to anybody. We even found one free camper park in a French town with FREE electricity, FREE fresh water, and FREE toilet dump facility. That might have something to do with the fact that we deliberately bought a 5.3metre camper with a fold down double bed. You can park in a supermarket, regular car park, or anywhere you can park a car. Its a proper coach built vehicle with all the facilities you could want but whoever designed it realised that when you are travelling you don't need a bed, and when you are sleeping you don't need seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwendolyn Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 mel wood - 2011-11-28 1:44 PM Gwendolyn - 2011-11-27 10:27 PM The C&CC do require a deposit that is sure. But it is refundable if you cancel more than 7 days before arrival. And also, after that if you write and explain the circumstances. They are very understanding [in my experience]. Under current rules, DEPOSITS ARE NOT REFUNDABLE IF CANCELLATION IS WITHIN 7 DAYS of the date booked. Otherwise, I agreed with all you said. Errrm, isn't that the essence of what I wrote - "more than 7 days before arrival"? Although I agree that ‘arrival’ was not the best choice of word and ‘start’ is preferable. [And there's no need to shout btw!!] However if you read on - page 175 of current handbook, second column, second paragraph - it explains that if one believes that there are exceptional circumstances which caused the late cancellation then a member can write to UK Club Sites Dept for consideration. This I did when illness forced a cancellation 2 days before taking up a booking, and I was treated fairly and a refund of the deposit was given. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 gasgas - 2011-11-28 6:00 PM So far as I can remember the last time I paid to stay somewhere it was three shillings and ten pence for the night. Last year we went all round Europe, and didn't pay anything to anybody. We even found one free camper park in a French town with FREE electricity, FREE fresh water, and FREE toilet dump facility. That might have something to do with the fact that we deliberately bought a 5.3metre camper with a fold down double bed. You can park in a supermarket, regular car park, or anywhere you can park a car. Its a proper coach built vehicle with all the facilities you could want but whoever designed it realised that when you are travelling you don't need a bed, and when you are sleeping you don't need seats. So what make is your van then? Sounds just right for what we may want in future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel wood Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Gwendolyn - 2011-11-28 6:18 PM mel wood - 2011-11-28 1:44 PM Gwendolyn - 2011-11-27 10:27 PM The C&CC do require a deposit that is sure. But it is refundable if you cancel more than 7 days before arrival. And also, after that if you write and explain the circumstances. They are very understanding [in my experience]. Under current rules, DEPOSITS ARE NOT REFUNDABLE IF CANCELLATION IS WITHIN 7 DAYS of the date booked. Otherwise, I agreed with all you said. Errrm, isn't that the essence of what I wrote - "more than 7 days before arrival"? Although I agree that ‘arrival’ was not the best choice of word and ‘start’ is preferable. [And there's no need to shout btw!!] However if you read on - page 175 of current handbook, second column, second paragraph - it explains that if one believes that there are exceptional circumstances which caused the late cancellation then a member can write to UK Club Sites Dept for consideration. This I did when illness forced a cancellation 2 days before taking up a booking, and I was treated fairly and a refund of the deposit was given. Hi, I'm pleased to hear that CCC are being reasonable in genuine cases of illness. The policy of no refunds under any circumstances did /does seem very harsh for a Club. I'm thinking of your case and other serious cases eg; death of a close relative. Well done CCC and thanks for pointing out that they were helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwendolyn Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Yes it seems to work well as a policy If members decide not to take up a booking on a casual whim / something better turns up / weather is vile then I suppose they are prepared to lose their deposit. On the other hand, if there is a genuine and real reason then a member has to make an effort to write in - and it does require a bit more effort to write rather than phone / email I find. And the fact that members have to write in means, I suppose, that people will think twice about writing if the reason for cancellation is more ‘trivial’ than the ones you outline. If it had been a £25 deposit I am not sure I would have bothered, but the booking was for 12 days peak season, no age concession rates and the deposit was for a substantial amount. Better this policy I think than that of the other club where there is no real penalty if bookings are not taken up. I suspend judgement on the new policy – see how things pan out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redpen Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Two years ago I arrived at a C&CC site, without booking, in January, and paid in advance for two nights. That evening the weather forcasts gave warnings of heavy snow, up to 12 inches for the following afternoon. I thought it prudent to leave the following day. On enquiring at the office I was informed I would not be entitled to a refund or credit but I could write to head office.. I duly left the following day and arrived home a couple of hours before 12" of snow arrived here and at all surrounding counties (including the Site area) completely paralysing the roads for the next 2/4 days depending how remote you were. The response from the C&CC to my request for at least a credit were stonewalled. The attititude seemed to be 'you've paid, can't change the rules, tough luck' My mistake was to pay in advance as I suppose I should have gone with the intention of going unto the office daily and paying a day at a time. I could have understood if it was high season but this was an almost empty site in January. Had I not left when I did I would have been stranded there for goodness know how long and I wonder if the C&CC would have waived fees for those days, I think not! I am no longer a C&CC member Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwendolyn Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 redpen - 2011-11-29 10:38 PM Two years ago I arrived at a C&CC site, without booking, in January, and paid in advance for two nights. That evening the weather forcasts gave warnings of heavy snow, up to 12 inches for the following afternoon. I thought it prudent to leave the following day. On enquiring at the office I was informed I would not be entitled to a refund or credit but I could write to head office.. I duly left the following day and arrived home a couple of hours before 12" of snow arrived here and at all surrounding counties (including the Site area) completely paralysing the roads for the next 2/4 days depending how remote you were. The response from the C&CC to my request for at least a credit were stonewalled. The attititude seemed to be 'you've paid, can't change the rules, tough luck' My mistake was to pay in advance as I suppose I should have gone with the intention of going unto the office daily and paying a day at a time. I could have understood if it was high season but this was an almost empty site in January. Had I not left when I did I would have been stranded there for goodness know how long and I wonder if the C&CC would have waived fees for those days, I think not! I am no longer a C&CC member But is this not the kind of thing that happens in other areas of activity? Last winter we had tickets to see a gig at a venue in Cardiff. We had booked a hotel for the night. We were snowed in at home and couldn't get to Cardiff. The gig went ahead, so no refund of ticket price. As we didn't show at the hotel, they took a night's payment from the card we had used to guarantee the room booking. As misfortune had it, a few weeks later we had tickets to see a rugby match in Swansea. It was a local derby over the Christmas period. The match was postponed because of the weather conditions. None of our group could go to the re-arranged match. Under the terms and conditions of sale, there was no refund. It happens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klyne Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 derek pringle - 2011-11-28 1:11 PM Hi Last week my wife and I stayed at the C.C site in Southport, really nice site and will go again. On arrival we declared we would be staying 2 or 3 nights and had to pay the full 3 nights. I thought we would pay on departure when we knew exactly what the bill would be.Would not put me off going again though. derek Under current rules you could have paid for three nights and got a refund of one nights fees if you had decided only to stay two nights. However for 2012 you have to give 72 hours notice of early departure in order not to lose at least one nights site fee. The only exception is is the warden books you onto another CC site. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordonhymer Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 many thanks for the kind advice from all. I wll join one of the clubs. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Hi David, Thanks for the explanation. Seems to me the new system will take a bit of freedom and flexibilty away .If you work on a basis of staying 2 or 3 nights in a place at a time you are going to have to stick to it, as if you initially book for say 3 nights and wish to extend there is a chance you will not have a pitch or the same pitch anyway. Wonder if there will a policy change or charge on refunding to a card payment? good travels derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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