Keith T Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Have just received the new 2015 ACSI discount guide, and interested to see a considerable number of Uk sites now accept the discount card. The prices - even in Uk- are quoted in Euros, and I am wondering if anyone has experience of what happens if you offer Euro cash or a Card in euros not UK pounds when paying on these sites. Do they convert to UK £ at a (current?) rate of exchange, or accept the Euro cash. IF a card in Euros, do they process that in Euros? It would appear that the Euro price may be more competitive than paying in UK £! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel wood Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Someone may be able to answer this from experience in UK. Otherwise, you could check with individual sites where you wish to stay. Outside of the euro zone eg in Croatia, we found most sites wanted payment in local currency although some sites were happy to accept euros and at least one gave us the choice of which currency to use.. (Prices in ACSI book for all sites were in euros) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 I don't suppose they can bill you in Euros. I wonder what exchange rate they use, though? I went to a Coop petrol station in Switzerland earlier this year and paid with my Santander 321 cc and the pin pad offered me the option of paying in Swiss francs or Sterling. Never had a choice before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Dwight Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 We asked at a site once a few years ago about this thinking great we can get a cheap night, no way they would charge us the going rate they said. Don't forget this is rip off England!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 derek500 - 2014-12-07 3:32 PM I don't suppose they can bill you in Euros. I wonder what exchange rate they use, though? I went to a Coop petrol station in Switzerland earlier this year and paid with my Santander 321 cc and the pin pad offered me the option of paying in Swiss francs or Sterling. Never had a choice before. At lot French supermarkets give you a choice, nearly all the ones near the channel ports do, every restaurant I eaten in in Ireland has. I always take the Euro option as NW CC can be relied upon for a good exchange rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 derek500 - 2014-12-07 3:32 PM I don't suppose they can bill you in Euros. I wonder what exchange rate they use, though? I went to a Coop petrol station in Switzerland earlier this year and paid with my Santander 321 cc and the pin pad offered me the option of paying in Swiss francs or Sterling. Never had a choice before. As Lenny said , close to chanel ports, youoften have a choice I also have a Nationwide card, and find you get a better deal if you pay in Euros, as you get the commercial rate of exchange and not the tourist rate Some camp sites I have found ask if you want to pay £ or Euros. At Calpe mar in Spain they do, as I pay in euros and get a good rate of exchange I believe that in UK sites you have pay in £. Technicaly the euro is not a valid currency in UK Think it may be euro value you pay in £, maybe some-one can confirm this. PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 I used one in Cornwall two years ago, they charged in pounds converted at the current rate. They used the days tourist rate which was fair enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Just phoned the ACSI site in Cheltenham and they charge £14 with the ACSI card, it's 16€ in the book. Current tourist rate of 1.37€ equates to £11.67. Bit pointless being in the ACSI scheme if they don't honour the quoted price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 derek500 - 2015-04-23 12:12 PM Just phoned the ACSI site in Cheltenham and they charge £14 with the ACSI card, it's 16€ in the book. Current tourist rate of 1.37€ equates to £11.67. Bit pointless being in the ACSI scheme if they don't honour the quoted price. Did you ask them if they'll accept euro's? ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 derek500 - 2015-04-23 12:12 PM Just phoned the ACSI site in Cheltenham and they charge £14 with the ACSI card, it's 16€ in the book. Current tourist rate of 1.37€ equates to £11.67. Bit pointless being in the ACSI scheme if they don't honour the quoted price. But they can't be expected to change their price every week as the pound/euro rate fluctuates and at the moment it's better than it's been for years. On many sites in Europe we've been charged the ACSI price plus a loading for a 'local tourist tax'. The worst one was in Bavaria where they added five euros. In the UK it was often accepted that sites charged pound for euro, but it appears that this site at least is now lower than that, presumably because of the better exchange rate and I suspect that they fix prices at the start of each season. I think that the important thing is the saving. If your Cheltenham site is say £17 for non-ACSI clients then £14 is a good deal and well worth them being members of the scheme and let's not forget that ACSI is primarily a euro-based scheme. It would be interesting to know what sites in other non-euro countries charge and I'd expect it to be good in places such as Morocco or Poland, where prices for everything are much lower and possibly higher in richer countries which have their own currency. Edited to say: Just checked the site in question and its normal price is £16 in low season and £17 in the mid season, so it's well worth using ACSI. It does look to be a really good site as well. Unlike many European ACSI sites wi-fi is included and ACSI members get the same-sized pitch and same EHU as everyone else. In Europe we have often found that getting the lower ACSI price means a basic (smaller) pitch, low amperage EHU and extra for wi-fi. This was certainly the case at our last site in Portugal. 6 amps ehu with an extra charge for more, and a smallish pitch with an extra charge for a larger one. Wi-fi was also extra. It's not always so clear cut with ACSI I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 BUT..what happens if you wish to pay them in Euros. I have a stock of Euro cash, plus a card denominated in euros, so I guess if I offer to pay them with either of these, they would have to honour the Euro ACSI price!?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Keith T - 2015-04-25 5:56 PM BUT..what happens if you wish to pay them in Euros. I have a stock of Euro cash, plus a card denominated in euros, so I guess if I offer to pay them with either of these, they would have to honour the Euro ACSI price!?? No they don't. It's made quite clear in the book that non-Euro countries can demand payment in their own currency. As I said earlier, sites may also add for tourist taxes, reservation fees and extra large pitches and electricity supply over 6 amps. On sites such as the one in Cheltenham you'll have a large pitch, more amperage on the EHU, free wi-fi and, unlike sites which have showers by token, more than one shower a day if you so wish. You have to make up your own mind whether a site in a non-Euro country is worth a bit more than the standard euro conversion rate and if that sites offers far more than the ACSI minimum standard, I don't mind paying a bit extra. As I said, in Portugal my site with ACSI was a small pitch and only 6 amps ehu. Larger pitches and more power were extra, as was wi-fi. These extras would have made it much more than the site in Cheltenham that was mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 No they don't. It's made quite clear in the book that non-Euro countries can demand payment in their own currency. As I said earlier, sites may also add for tourist taxes, reservation fees and extra large pitches and electricity supply over 6 amps. As I said, in Portugal my site with ACSI was a small pitch and only 6 amps ehu. Larger pitches and more power were extra, as was wi-fi. These extras would have made it much more than the site in Cheltenham that was mentioned. /QUOTE] Ah I hadn't read the small print far enough obviously! I was aware of the 6amp probability but that's fine by us....we've been on some French sites with only 4 or 5a, which is rather marginal. I've never been conscious of having been given a smaller or inferior emplacement though, and yes, wifi is often a chargeable option if available at all in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 This week I used a site about 50 miles from the Dover ferry. They refused to honour the ASCI price of €18 saying the published dates were wrong (both in the book and online) and charged me £25 for one night. I was desperate for the electric hook up (my alternator had failed) or I would have told them where they could stuff their piece of wet muddy grass. I will be contacting ACSI about this in due course, maybe VISA as well. This sort of thing is why I only use CS/CLs in the UK, on the rare occasions I am forced by SWMBO to holiday in the UK. These sites like the publicity of the entry in the book but are not so keen when it comes to honouring the deal. If I don't get my money back I will name and shame :-D H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 hallii - 2015-04-26 9:06 PM This week I used a site about 50 miles from the Dover ferry. They refused to honour the ASCI price of €18 saying the published dates were wrong (both in the book and online) and charged me £25 for one night. I was desperate for the electric hook up (my alternator had failed) or I would have told them where they could stuff their piece of wet muddy grass. I will be contacting ACSI about this in due course, maybe VISA as well. This sort of thing is why I only use CS/CLs in the UK, on the rare occasions I am forced by SWMBO to holiday in the UK. These sites like the publicity of the entry in the book but are not so keen when it comes to honouring the deal. If I don't get my money back I will name and shame :-D H I would contact them ASAP, if they are not honouring the price. They are trading under false terms, and should be stopped PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 PJay - 2015-04-26 11:56 PM hallii - 2015-04-26 9:06 PM This week I used a site about 50 miles from the Dover ferry. They refused to honour the ASCI price of €18 saying the published dates were wrong (both in the book and online) and charged me £25 for one night. I was desperate for the electric hook up (my alternator had failed) or I would have told them where they could stuff their piece of wet muddy grass. I will be contacting ACSI about this in due course, maybe VISA as well. This sort of thing is why I only use CS/CLs in the UK, on the rare occasions I am forced by SWMBO to holiday in the UK. These sites like the publicity of the entry in the book but are not so keen when it comes to honouring the deal. If I don't get my money back I will name and shame :-D H I would contact them ASAP, if they are not honouring the price. They are trading under false terms, and should be stopped PJay It's really not as simple as that. Let's give a couple of similar scenarios: You advertise your car in a magazine that also has a website. You tell the firm that you want to sell it for £20,000. There's a typo and it appears in the adverts for £2,000. Do you have to sell it for £2000? I'm a retailer and a ticket for a product in my window that's priced at £100 is dislodged by someone banging on the window. The price ticket drops in front of a product that sells for £500. Do I have to sell the £500 item for £100? The answer in both cases is a firm no. Advertised prices are known as 'An invitation to treat'. They are not bound by law and the dealer cannot be forced to sell a product or service at those prices. This is because the law is sensible and acknowledges that mistakes can be made. Of course if a dealer consistently advertised low prices to lure in customers and refused to honour them, advertising standards laws would be applied, and vigorously. So, as far as this campsite is concerned, if it has an agreement with ACSI that its ACSI season is between two dates and ACSI gets it wrong and puts in a date that's say, a month too late or too early, the site has no legal obligation to honour the ACSI price if it can prove that the error is not of its own making. I also doubt that ACSI could be prosecuted if it is obvious that this is a genuine mistake. It is still 'an invitation to treat' and the customer is free to walk away if he learns that the price is wrong. So before anyone starts to accuse the site of doing anything illegal, just think if it was your car that had been advertised at one tenth of its price. You and the advertiser would be very grateful for this reasonable legal position that an advertised price cannot be enforced in law. Having said all that though I find this whole thing very odd. Every ACSI site that I've checked in the UK offers the ACSI price far beyond the end of April and sometimes until July, although lack of time means I can't check every one. I would normally assume that the OP used the site on a Bank Holiday weekend, when it's well known that such periods are not covered by ACSI but the last bank holiday was Easter, which is more than seven days ago. Finally, the accusation that the site only uses ACSI to get in the book and then deliberately refuses to honour the price makes no sense. They'd be thrown out of ACSI immediately and no sensible businessman would willingly antagonise many customers by such a policy. In the days of the Internet, Trip Advisor and site reviews everywhere, they'd soon have a very bad reputation with a resulting very bad affect on business. And the OP says, 'these sites'. Does he have evidence that this is more than a one-off occurrence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EJB Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Well said Had Enough. The deal is actually done when you, the customer, offer to pay a price and the seller/shopkeeper accepts your offer......and only then! :-D The final word is always the sellers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I just had a phone call. It appears that the "boss" made a mistake with the dates on their computer. Cheque is in the post, result :-D It's always worth asking, and sometimes it works out. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Given that poster had checked prices in both book and on line and arrived with what he understood was correct price then putting all legal niceties aside would not it have made more sense for site to have settled for that price? If had done this as a good will gesture then would have generated positive publicity for site and possible repeat business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Good result. Earlier post crossed with post confining your refund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Stayed at two ACSI camping Card sites in Devon last week. Both 16€ sites. Smytham Manor charged £13.50 and Wooda Park £12. Couple in the next pitch to us at Wooda paid £24 per night. They'd heard of ACSI but thought they were only abroad. One night would have paid for the yearly membership!! We also overnighted for £3 in one of the private carparks in Tintagel. Very economical and enjoyable week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanS Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 We are going to use a UK site this weekend until Wednesday next week and this is also an ACSI site. I was pleasantly surprised on booking that we have a £10 discount applied per night - the pitch being hardstanding and having water and electric on the pitch. Facilities on the site are excellent and include WiFi. This makes it £16 per night which compared to the Caravan Club, of which we are members, is a 'bargain'. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabino Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 Alan S Which site are you referring to, and what is the ACSI rate? THanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanS Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 The one near Bedford and is shown as 19 Euros. I will let you know what it is actually like when we get there. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanS Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 The site we were on was Henlow Lakes near Hitchin which is just off the A1(M). Pitches were very good and the site very clean and tidy. There are over 20 hardstanding pitches and the remainder grass but the site is flat. Mid-week is good as not too many there but we were told that weekends do get busy. If you are a coarse fisherman the facilities and the lakes look excellent. Trains and buses are within a little walking distance in the nearby village of Arlsley. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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