Robinhood Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Searching not much more than a week ago for a pitch for a short break next week (half term for many), it was almost impossible to find even one pitch/night free on the great majority of sites which are currently open. As I look again today, using the late availability section of the website, everything has miraculously changed! There is almost no open site on which I could not book a reasonable break, and, where the numbers of pitches free are openly shown (i.e. over the weekend), surprise, surprise the availability isn't just ones and two but significant numbers. Of course, there is no problem with the Caravan Club booking system, the changes recently made to policy have resolved all the issues, and the level of late cancellation is now very low. Discuss! :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 So...are we saying that folk booked ..and then,possiblle on getting "spooked" by all the "The end is nigh" weather forecasts,decided to cancel?... ...well,if that means that sites are now availble for you to book,then isn't that a good thing...? (...surely the real problem arises,when it shows fully booked and then no bu**er turns up!? (lol) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 pepe63 - 2012-02-10 1:04 PM So...are we saying that folk booked ..and then,possiblle on getting "spooked" by all the "The end is nigh" weather forecasts,decided to cancel?... .....they don't do that do they? 8-) pepe63 - 2012-02-10 1:04 PM ...well,if that means that sites are now availble for you to book,then isn't that a good thing...? ....this looks remarkably similar to the use the book "1066 and All That" makes of the phrase "a good thing", and about as apposite. e.g. "Massacre of Glascoe The Scots soon began to squirl and hoot at the Dutch Orange (English monarch Williamanmary), and a rebellion was raised by the memorable Viscount Slaughterhouse and his gallivanting army. Finally, the Scots were all massacred at Glascoe, near Edinburgh (in Scotland, where the Scots were living at the time); after which they were forbidden to curl or hoot or even to wear the Kilt. (This was a Good Thing, as the Kilt was one of the causes of their being so uproarious and Scotch)." ;-) ....actually, I do find the late availability page useful for last minute breaks, but the nature of the beast means that they are usually very last minute, due to the behaviour you've already highlighted (which, of course, nobody exhibits anyway). Being able to plan last weekend for the coming week would have been much nicer. pepe63 - 2012-02-10 1:04 PM (...surely the real problem arises,when it shows fully booked and then no bu**er turns up!? (lol) ) .....or because no bu**er turns up to occupy the cancelled places, because they have been cancelled too late for people to easily react. (and in any case, it all depends on whether you are on the supply or demand side). :-S (I acknowledge that people do genuinely have to cancel bookings at short notice sometimes - I have had to myself, but only once, and only because a change of 'vans was delayed - out of my control). I was booked on a popular site (one of those that yesterday there was little or no availability on, and today there is full availability, throughout the week). As soon as I knew I wasn't going to make it, I 'phoned the site (rather than cancelling online) in order to maximise the possiblity of someone getting the pitch for the weekend. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 The same happened to me with the London, Abbey Wood site for the half term break next week. One minute it was fully booked, except for one day, then not long after the whole week was suddenly available. I can't believe there was a mass exodus due to the weather, as it would have taken rather a lot of people to have made the same decision at much the same time, when the snow hadn't yet arrived, and in any event was expected to have cleared by then. So, yeah, I'm also wondering what the Caravan Club are playing at when this happens. Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 The answer may be simply that the CC are making more pitches available to be booked on-line. I found out years ago that not all pitches which are available are actually shown, so it is quite possible for a site to be shown as full, when in fact there are spaces free. I suspect that the ratio of pitches shown full to those actually available can be varied at will and that this is the answer to Robinhood's observation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobalobs Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Food for thought and doubtless many will disagree. I have always thought campers as a rule fall into two categories. The first like myself who were originally attracted to camping by the spontaneity and turn up without booking or at worst at short notice. The second group are those who seem to want to book their life a year ahead just as many do with package holidays. Is it possible that the clubs are releasing pitches nearer the actual date to stop the second group block booking back in January and so annoying those like myself that we cancel our membership and their income reduces? If I am right well good on the clubs but put it as declared policy in the club magazines or would that loose membership??!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 As I understand it they do keep a few back so that the problem of a warden booking someone in only to find the pitch has disappeared to an on line booking while they do it. They also only open some grass pitches when the wardens tell them they are fit to be used. Given the dry weather we have had it is possible that more of these have become available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 But as the Club actively encourage people to use the on-line booking system, what is the point of holding back availability until the "late booking" period. I can understand not making every pitch as available to stop the block booking, but surely it is not beyond the realms of technology to make available pitches bookable from say 4 weeks in advance. or 1st of the month for the following month. Or is that to simple for tuggers to grasp. >:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peedee Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Surely the place for debates like this is now on the Caravan Club's new discussion pages! There is a similar thread already running under "Club Membership" peedee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Hi, We get quite frustrated by the CC booking system. Couldn't believe my luck as I've just been able to book next Friday & Saturday night at Abbey Wood using the late availibilty search. It's about time they started taking a small deposit on bookings, maybe £5 per booking ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Yes they should take a deposit on booking, we were going to go away this week for a few days but not bothering due to weather...not really surprising is it that there is late availability wit weather like this *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Whenever I have a query about the Caravan Club, I email them. I always get a full, and polite response. I may not agree with the response though. I don't think they'd take kindly to all of us emailing them though! As for deposits, the benefit of this depends on the cost effectiveness of the fee collection. Sometimes it can cost more to collect a fee than the fee is worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 flicka - 2012-02-10 10:24 PM But as the Club actively encourage people to use the on-line booking system, what is the point of holding back availability until the "late booking" period. ......I considered the "holding back" as a possibility, but my view is the same as yours - it would possibly make sense to hold a few back, but not the swathes of pitches that appear to have come available at the very last minute. Likewise the view on releasing more grass pitches - given the frost we've got here, as soon as the thaw comes those are going to be a quagmire, and I suspect would remain closed due to that possibility - yet popular local sites such as Castleton or Chatsworth that were ostensibly full up to mid week now have (or had yesterday) "oodles" of space. (and are all hard-standing anyway!). Whilst the workings of the CC sometimes seem to defy all logic, I find it difficult to believe they are deliberately holding back the numbers of pitches that are available until the very last minute (if they are, then it appears to have resulted in a large number of vacant pitches which might otherwise have been occupied) and so my suspicion, given the weather at the time of their appearance, falls firmly on last-minute cancellations. The appearance of large numbers at the same time may well be explained by the fact that there is a deadline (72hrs in advance) beyond which the supposed penalties kick-in. When considering weather, people tend to get close to the deadline before cancelling (whilst not normally in the same numbers, this 72hr phenomenon is routinely noticeable if you use the late-booking page). flicka - 2012-02-10 10:24 PM I can understand not making every pitch as available to stop the block booking, but surely it is not beyond the realms of technology to make available pitches bookable from say 4 weeks in advance. or 1st of the month for the following month. Or is that to simple for tuggers to grasp. Your suggestion is one possible way of providing a more level playing field. Given that the booking system is effectively fully computerised, there are many ways in which it could easily be "tweaked" to be more equable, without unduly penalising those people who like to book their main holidays in advance with certainty, or make much use of CC sites throughout the year. A simple example would be to constrain the number of forward bookings to a given number (or a number of days in total, or some combination of the same - e.g. no more than 4 forward bookings and/or 32 pitch nights - as examples, other numbers might be better). That would allow people to pre-book two main holidays of 14 days, and a couple of weekends, but no more until they actually used one of those bookings, at which point they could book again up to the limit. IF there is no latent demand from those members who currently complain of not being able to get a pitch, then current bookers will still be able to get most of the bookings they otherwise would (albeit generally at less notice). If there is latent demand, then it will spread the pitch booking more evenly across the membership. I think the reference to "tuggers" is probably becoming less and less relevant. To paraphrase a previous post, there are two types of motorcaravanners, those who tour "randomly" and stay, say, only a couple of days on a site, and those who pre-plan long stays, and use sites much more like traditional caravanners (possibly with a toad). I see much more of the latter nowadays than I did in my early motorcaravannnig days. Indeed, there are clearly posters on this site who "block book" large numbers of CC sites on "booking day" (and whilst I don't particularly like it, frankly if the system allowed it and it suited me, I'd probably do it myself!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundowner Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 We tried to book two nights on the Black Horse site in Kent a couple of weekends ago. The website was down, so rang the booking office at HQ, to be told that the site was full, but to try the site direct. The site accepted our booking, commenting that there was plenty of room. When we arrived, the site was virtually empty, The problem is IMO, with the website itself, because the lady at HQ, did her best, but had to rely on the info. on her computer screen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopesy Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I work shifts including weekends. Sometimes i book a CC site a few months in advance as i like something to look forward to and like to do a bit of planning for the general area, sometimes i like to just go and see where we end up. Sometimes my weekend off is cancelled and i always cancel the CC booking as soon as i can. So this non-deposit system suits me. When i mentioned this on this forum before i got called selfish and other similar things. So for some the CC system works. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I tried to book onto the CC site at Chatsworth and I noted that it was fully booked - even during the week - for the months of Jan, Feb and part of March. I have managed to get booked in for the end of March, which suits me. I have since found out that they have been refurbishing the site during Jan and Feb and that is why the site was blocked out. Perhaps that is what is happening on other sites and the refurbishment didn't take as long so the pitches became available. My question is, if the above is correct, why didn't the site show up as closed instead of fully booked. By the way, Chatsworth is an open all year site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 Hopesy - 2012-02-11 11:25 AM I work shifts including weekends. Sometimes i book a CC site a few months in advance as i like something to look forward to and like to do a bit of planning for the general area, sometimes i like to just go and see where we end up. Sometimes my weekend off is cancelled and i always cancel the CC booking as soon as i can. So this non-deposit system suits me. When i mentioned this on this forum before i got called selfish and other similar things. So for some the CC system works. ;-) I don't particularly have a problem with the no-deposit working (as already posted by someone, sometimes the bureaucracy just makes it not worthwhile), nor do I have a problem with an element of cancellation (as long as it isn't routinely last-minute, and for no other reason than - combined with outstanding block-booking - next weekend looks better!). The main issue for me is that the system as it is instituted at the moment does nothing to inhibit the combination of block-booking and routine late cancellation which IMO, is to the detriment of the large number of members who (for one reason or another) can't or don't likewise "abuse" the system. In reponse to the other post about contacting the club, I can assure you that I have responded to every request for input into the booking policy, (as have no doubt many others), but I see little or no will to change anything much. I also see it working to the detriment of the club as a whole, as I've seldom been on a site which purports to be full without there being significant numbers of free pitches (many more than a warden would rightly need to allow for some flexibility). I don't really want to sound bitter and twisted about it, (even if I am ;-)) I simply think there are better ways of running a club (or a business if you consider it so) than that being evidenced at the moment. I also thought there might be a practical interest in the sudden appearance of pitches for next week, for those who had previously been unable to find any. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopesy Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Robinhood - 2012-02-11 11:44 AM Hopesy - 2012-02-11 11:25 AM I don't particularly have a problem with the no-deposit working (as already posted by someone, sometimes the bureaucracy just makes it not worthwhile), nor do I have a problem with an element of cancellation (as long as it isn't routinely last-minute, and for no other reason than - combined with outstanding block-booking - next weekend looks better!). The main issue for me is that the system as it is instituted at the moment does nothing to inhibit the combination of block-booking and routine late cancellation which IMO, is to the detriment of the large number of members who (for one reason or another) can't or don't likewise "abuse" the system. Perhaps the main problem is that the club thinks all members are responsible, thoughtful adults, but thats another problem ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 We returned a week ago from Bristol CC site, and i had tried over a course of a couple of weeks previously to book on line, but it showed full. I then rang the wardens on site, and they fitted me on no problem. It was then again showing full, but all of a sudden spaces appeared, and from chatting to the wardens when we checked in, I think there had been a problem on the CC booking system, and in effect it was showing pitches which didnt exist! In fact they had severe problems and the wholeof their sites was unobtainable for several days when they modified it!! Of course, although the weather was OK in Bristol (we were there from Thursday to Monday of last week) it showed full for all those nights, in practice every night there were spaces, and, Sunday night was half empty due to people cancelling at the last minute and not expecting to be able to get there with the possibility of bad weather. However, we are looking at other sites for later in the season, and so many are 'blocked out' (ie full??!) for some months and certainly all weekends, and I think if we phone HQ we shall get nothing different to the computer - and of course at present since they are mostly closed, you cannot phone the wardens...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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