spospe Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Just booked Easter 2013, quick and easy; a marked improvement over the last two years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWO Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I do wonder sometimes if all members are treated the same, or some are higher up the pecking order than others. Me and the Co-pilot thought that we might like to go to the Bristol Balloon Festival next August. Try and book into Baltic Wharf me thinks. HA Ha !! I got logged on to the system within 20 mins of the supposed opening time (9am yesterday) but all pitches already taken . I know the site is small, but it stretches the imagination to have it filled up in that time. Anyhow won't loose any sleep over it, If we still have the urge next August someone will probably run a temporary site for the weekend. The upside is that £100 I don't fork out in site fees will be half the Tunnel ticket for Sept. HWO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 To be fair to 'em, HWO,it should hardly come as much of a suprise that a relatively small site,gets booked up over the weekend of a major event,especially one which is held during the summer holidays.. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klyne Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 There seem to be far more positive reports this year compared to before. Even their forum, which is embedded into the main website, kept going! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirage Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 There again of course with the current climate perhaps people actually are`nt booking to the same extent as perhaps a couple of years ago especially with the club prices as they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 To HWO The Avon Centre of the Caravan Club are running a rally to coincide with the Balloon Festival in August 2013. From the description it sounds as though the school they are using is adjacent to the Festival site. www.avoncentre.co.uk for more information and booking form Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 HWO - 2012-12-06 7:14 PM I do wonder sometimes if all members are treated the same, or some are higher up the pecking order than others. Me and the Co-pilot thought that we might like to go to the Bristol Balloon Festival next August. Try and book into Baltic Wharf me thinks. HA Ha !! I got logged on to the system within 20 mins of the supposed opening time (9am yesterday) but all pitches already taken . I know the site is small, but it stretches the imagination to have it filled up in that time. Anyhow won't loose any sleep over it, If we still have the urge next August someone will probably run a temporary site for the weekend. The upside is that £100 I don't fork out in site fees will be half the Tunnel ticket for Sept. HWO I know from personal experience that not all pitches are bookable on-line. If you had spoken directly with the site the story could have been different. In a similar way that train reservation websites do not offer all available seats to on-line bookings the CC keeps a fair number of pitches 'free' for personal callers (not everyone has 'net access). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWO Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 JohnP - 2012-12-06 8:23 PM To HWO The Avon Centre of the Caravan Club are running a rally to coincide with the Balloon Festival in August 2013. From the description it sounds as though the school they are using is adjacent to the Festival site. www.avoncentre.co.uk for more information and booking form Yes thanks for that John. I thought I had something in the back of the head about rallies being held thro the event. Will look into it I must of had a moment of madness last Wednesday to try and book a full site in the middle of August Once again thanks for info HWO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWO Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 spospe - 2012-12-07 9:25 AM HWO - 2012-12-06 7:14 PM I do wonder sometimes if all members are treated the same, or some are higher up the pecking order than others. Me and the Co-pilot thought that we might like to go to the Bristol Balloon Festival next August. Try and book into Baltic Wharf me thinks. HA Ha !! I got logged on to the system within 20 mins of the supposed opening time (9am yesterday) but all pitches already taken . I know the site is small, but it stretches the imagination to have it filled up in that time. Anyhow won't loose any sleep over it, If we still have the urge next August someone will probably run a temporary site for the weekend. The upside is that £100 I don't fork out in site fees will be half the Tunnel ticket for Sept. HWO I know from personal experience that not all pitches are bookable on-line. If you had spoken directly with the site the story could have been different. In a similar way that train reservation websites do not offer all available seats to on-line bookings the CC keeps a fair number of pitches 'free' for personal callers (not everyone has 'net access). Hi Spospe Thanks for that. As I said in the previous post the moment of madness has passed. Over £100 site fees for a long weekend was a bit silly. If we go we will join the rallier's HWO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Hardly.......Can you still make mass bookings for various sites without a deposit? *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 JudgeMental - 2012-12-07 1:55 PM Hardly.......Can you still make mass bookings for various sites without a deposit? *-) Unfortunately Yes!! Weve dropped the CCC this year and thinking seriously about this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 maggyd - 2012-12-07 3:10 PM JudgeMental - 2012-12-07 1:55 PM Hardly.......Can you still make mass bookings for various sites without a deposit? *-) Unfortunately Yes!! Weve dropped the CCC this year and thinking seriously about this one. Are you dropping the right one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Sometimes wonder why the Clubs are so expensive, when for say around 15euro you can get a site in France with Wi fi , swimming pool, restaurant , tennis court, bar etc etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Caddies104 - 2012-12-07 4:39 PM Sometimes wonder why the Clubs are so expensive, when for say around 15euro you can get a site in France with Wi fi , swimming pool, restaurant , tennis court, bar etc etc... in the summer? *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Booked up 115 days at 35 different sites on the first day of booking with no real problems. Wanted 2 days at Chatsworth as a stop over on the way to Scotland in May but one was a weekend so had to settle for the Friday only. Started booking at 10.00am and was finished by 1.30 pm. Only negative is that in previous years one could go to the how to get there section and simply print the page. For some reason now when you do that it prints out up to 16 pages of information that is not required. Only option is to select view print then decide which one or two pages you need and print them only. This works on most sites but oddly not on all. For some sites it is simply impossible to print the directions directly so one needs to copy the relevant pages and paste them into say Word and print from there. Not much of a problem for us as we only needed the directions for a few sites that were new to us or difficult to access. Must say its a bit odd and an area that the CC staff, who do seem to be a bit useless, to look at. Sorry to all those people who think we should not,be able to book so many sites like this but it's what we always do and with the exception of 2011 when I had to cancel some whilst I had a hernia repaired we use all the days we book. I must say the ability do do this without risking loseing a deposit or in some cases the whole site fee if we were ever forced to cancel is one of the main reasons we use CC sites in preference to commercial sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin Man Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 spospe - 2012-12-06 12:13 PM Just booked Easter 2013, quick and easy; a marked improvement over the last two years. Yes, me too. It took about 10 mins. I see you have been to Oradour sur Glane spospe. An horrific event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Colin we are not talking about booking holidays you actually intend to use.....just the block booking merchants. If we want to get on our favorite Italian site for the summer we have to book now or we will not get on, but we have to pay a deposit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 202 Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Colin and other block bookers, "Quote - Booked up 115 days at 35 different sites on the first day of booking with no real problems. Wanted 2 days at Chatsworth as a stop over on the way to Scotland in May but one was a weekend so had to settle for the Friday only. Started booking at 10.00am and was finished by 1.30 pm. Quote" Question: How many of the 35 sites do you actually turn up at --- All of them, this year and what about previous years ???. Question: If you had to pay a Non refundable deposit how many sites would you have booked.???. Good luck to you and you may always turn up at every booking, but there are a lot of " I'm allright jack, got in early" sod the others and if I don't turn up it is no loss to me. That is why we cancelled our CC membership. C&CC make you pay a deposit - stops the I'll get in quick brigade who just book every W/E Just in case they may want a W/E away. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 No matter what booking system anyone has in place...it's always the case that, those who get pitches(or tickets)think it's great..but those who "lose out",think it's "sh*te!"... (lol) Besides,I thought the CC had brought some new "rule" in anyway?.. ...something that meant that if you cancelled within 2-3? days of the arrival date, you risked having your remaining bookings cancelled..?(..and the ability to re-book suspended?) Having said that,I suppose the fact is,popular sites/locations are always going to be oversubcribed,whether they require a deposit or not... True,you'll always get some folk who book dates "just in case"...but it would be interesting to know just how much of an impact they really have.... :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 sshortcircuit - 2012-12-07 4:27 PM maggyd - 2012-12-07 3:10 PM JudgeMental - 2012-12-07 1:55 PM Hardly.......Can you still make mass bookings for various sites without a deposit? *-) Unfortunately Yes!! Weve dropped the CCC this year and thinking seriously about this one. Are you dropping the right one? Not sure about that either :-S as we pay by direct debit the CC club it was just easier not to renew CCC !! we didnt use a site at either last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 mike 202 - 2012-12-08 10:16 AM Colin and other block bookers, "Quote - Booked up 115 days at 35 different sites on the first day of booking with no real problems. Wanted 2 days at Chatsworth as a stop over on the way to Scotland in May but one was a weekend so had to settle for the Friday only. Started booking at 10.00am and was finished by 1.30 pm. Quote" Question: How many of the 35 sites do you actually turn up at --- All of them, this year and what about previous years ???. Question: If you had to pay a Non refundable deposit how many sites would you have booked.???. Good luck to you and you may always turn up at every booking, but there are a lot of " I'm allright jack, got in early" sod the others and if I don't turn up it is no loss to me. That is why we cancelled our CC membership. C&CC make you pay a deposit - stops the I'll get in quick brigade who just book every W/E Just in case they may want a W/E away. Mike Im 100% with you on that Mike :-S if when booking you intend to go to all these sites then O.K but Im afraid Im very skeptical unless someone is untethered by obligations to family etc and know that they are definitely going !! I look on it as selfish and on par with hording when there is a food shortage !! Off course C.C dont mind as it is only a money making exercise after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 mike 202 - 2012-12-08 10:16 AM Colin and other block bookers, "Quote - Booked up 115 days at 35 different sites on the first day of booking with no real problems. Wanted 2 days at Chatsworth as a stop over on the way to Scotland in May but one was a weekend so had to settle for the Friday only. Started booking at 10.00am and was finished by 1.30 pm. Quote" Question: How many of the 35 sites do you actually turn up at --- All of them, this year and what about previous years ???. Question: If you had to pay a Non refundable deposit how many sites would you have booked.???. Good luck to you and you may always turn up at every booking, but there are a lot of " I'm allright jack, got in early" sod the others and if I don't turn up it is no loss to me. That is why we cancelled our CC membership. C&CC make you pay a deposit - stops the I'll get in quick brigade who just book every W/E Just in case they may want a W/E away. I did say that with the exception of 2011 when we had to cancel some bookings to get a hernia repaired we always use the bookings we have made. In 2012 we did have to leave Henley one day early when our old dog was taken ill but we did not claim a refund. Sadly she had to be put down that night when we arrived home (happily we've got a great replacement to take us for walks). We also had to adjust our bookings at short notice in Scotland once when bad weather shut nearly all the roads making travel impossible. Yes we do block book but the same option OS available to any member who wants to take advantage of that facility. I would agree that those who used to block book with no intention of turning up if the weather was less tha perfect were a menace but by and large the change to the rules last year has almost illuminated this. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 maggyd - 2012-12-08 3:09 PM mike 202 - 2012-12-08 10:16 AM Colin and other block bookers, "Quote - Booked up 115 days at 35 different sites on the first day of booking with no real problems. Wanted 2 days at Chatsworth as a stop over on the way to Scotland in May but one was a weekend so had to settle for the Friday only. Started booking at 10.00am and was finished by 1.30 pm. Quote" Question: How many of the 35 sites do you actually turn up at --- All of them, this year and what about previous years ???. Question: If you had to pay a Non refundable deposit how many sites would you have booked.???. Good luck to you and you may always turn up at every booking, but there are a lot of " I'm allright jack, got in early" sod the others and if I don't turn up it is no loss to me. That is why we cancelled our CC membership. C&CC make you pay a deposit - stops the I'll get in quick brigade who just book every W/E Just in case they may want a W/E away. Mike Im 100% with you on that Mike :-S if when booking you intend to go to all these sites then O.K but Im afraid Im very skeptical unless someone is untethered by obligations to family etc and know that they are definitely going !! I look on it as selfish and on par with hording when there is a food shortage !! Off course C.C dont mind as it is only a money making exercise after all. One of the great advantages of being retired. Before that I was the boss so that helped as well. We do not book up for any sites in August to give those with kids a chance and make ourselves available to look after our own kids dogs whi St they are away on holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownsat259 Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 “This booking was due to arrive in 47 hours and has been recorded as a late cancellation against your membership. This late cancellation is in breach of The Club's policies stated in our booking terms and conditions. You will be contacted by The Club if there is more than one occasion of a late cancellation between 01 Jan - 31 Dec this year. However, if you book another of our Club sites within 24 hours and within the same date range of this late cancellation, it will not be counted as a breach.” The above is what you get from the Caravan Club if you cancel within 48 hours of intended arrival. In our case it was due to sudden illness resulting in a hospital stay and was particularly galling as it happened at the weekend when the CC offices are closed. They said you could have cancelled online. But online is my department and I was the one in hospital. OH phoned again 1st thing Monday. No sympathy. I expect they thought he was making it up – but we also had to cancel a C&CC booking which cost us £25. Not something we would do willingly! We would never book a site without every intention of honouring the arrangement and prefer the more business-like approach of the C&CC - you pay your deposit and lose it if you cancel at the last minute. The email from the CC sounds as though they are chastising a naughty child, with no recognition of the fact that sometimes people cancel for unavoidable and unpredictable reasons. Ok, whinge over, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Sorry to hear about your stint in hospital..and hope you're all sorted now.. To be be honest that email doesn't seem that unreasonable to me... :-S What would you rather?...Just an email informing you that the late cancellation(or "no show") has been logged against your membership...or the loss of *25 quid?... People want the issue of "late cancellations/No-shows",looking into and sorting out..So really, an email stating that it's been noted down,would be the very least I'd expect... :-S (* Just out of curiosity, is that "£25 loss" with the C&CC, the end of it as far as they're concerned then?..or are the number of "late cancellations/No-shows",still noted down, with additional penalties for repeat "offenders"..?) :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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