caravan bookings

[Poppy]

Heard a while ago that some people are just making block bookings of sites and then cancelling if they don't fancy going.You don't pay a deposit with the caravan club. I didn't believe it at firstbut the other weekend I rang to book a cc site for the weekend on Thurs. Told no vacancies but ring back on Friday as there are often a lot of cancellations! I booked somewhere else. Tried to book Gibson park for the bank holiday weekend but no vacancies. I got a vacancy at the CCC at Moffat though. You do pay a deposit with them.

[david lloyd]

A couple of months ago the CC commented in their magazine (as they had obviously had quite a few members raise this issue) that they were not seeing any increase in misuse of the booking system but many of us still seem to experience it!

 

Most sites we have used - particularly at weekends - that are supposed to be 'full' usually have spare pitches indicating there have been 'no shows'. This is an even worse problem as, by the time the site wardens find out, it is too late to accept another booking for that pitch. If there is somewhere you particularly want to go they do have a 'late availability' function on the website but I often ring the site direct. Of course, that doesn't help if you are ready to go and have to wait until last thing on Friday to see if there is a pitch.

 

The CC are not renowned for always being on the side of members but it is worth notifying them with an e-mail complaint when it does happen. It may just show them that members are seeing a very different picture on the ground. One thing they can do to repeat offenders is cancel their membership.

 

David

[John H]

Poppy - 2008-04-29 5:32 PM

 

Heard a while ago that some people are just making block bookings of sites and then cancelling if they don't fancy going.You don't pay a deposit with the caravan club. I didn't believe it at firstbut the other weekend I rang to book a cc site for the weekend on Thurs. Told no vacancies but ring back on Friday as there are often a lot of cancellations! I booked somewhere else. Tried to book Gibson park for the bank holiday weekend but no vacancies. I got a vacancy at the CCC at Moffat though. You do pay a deposit with them.

 

 

I work with someone who does this. In January, he asked his wife to book 10 different sites and out of this 10, they will actually go to 2. I told him that because of people like him, other people who are looking for a CC site that isn't fully booked for the weekend, can't find one. He said that he isn't one of the 'no show' brigade because he cancels them. This may be the case but if you are planning to go somewhere and the sites are all booked up on the website, you either have to not bother or find somewhere else. If the CC insisted on taking a deposit, I think it would stop this selfish block booking and give the more genuine people a chance.

 

John.

[Tomo3090]

I recently tried to book a pitch by telephone direct with the site and was told there were no pitches available. I then contacted the booking number to see what was available in the surrounding area. I was told there were at least 2 pitches available on the site I had phoned. I booked it and when I arrived there, sure enough there were other empty pitches.

 

I ask the warden and was told they like to keep some aside for people who just turn up last minute!

 

Does the left hand even know the right one exists?

[HWO]

I tried to book a couple of long weekends at our favorite CC site (Rowntree Park) and could'nt get either of them.One was the Northern show weekend which is probably understandable( Pickering is to far out in the sticks for the Co-pilot to hit the shops) had to book both starting from the Sunday night and have our longweekend in the week. I then went thro the web site bookings pages and almost every friday and saturday for the year was booked up and this was in March. We like to have our xmas/newyear break in York and have to be on the computer at 9 am on first booking day.

Perhaps the camping club's £25 deposit would stop the bookers and no showwers.

Whilst on the subject of the caravan club, we all moan about the price, hook-ups and warders etc,( No not a spelling mistake some must have been trained at Parkhurst I imagine) Nobody comments about the amount of money they keep in the Sites reserve fund If my memory serves me right it was £70 odd million at the last balance sheet I looked at. that is the current members money and needs to be used for what it there for, providing pitches. I know they would answer that it costs a lot of money to provide a all singing all dancing site, so lets have some basic sites with volunteer wardens or even no wardens. How about that then?. In these days of compters mobile phones and keypad entry systems, something could be done that removes the human interface, and he just

comes along a couple of times a week the make sure everythings tidy.

Anyway moan over, if you see a Eura mobil 810 with his 25 year Caravan Club membership sticker in the back window its probably me on the way to a club site for a long weekend in the middle of the week.

As an aside I have been looking at the Camping Club's temporary holiday sites and they look pretty good value. There is even a couple in the middle of good old motorhome unfriendly Weymouth in August. Our excuse for going is that we have relation down there.

Any experience of them out there?

 

All the best HWO

 

Looking for my Nephelococcygia

( But I have ended up with Brown's Britain in 2008)

 

[Guest Tracker]

Some good ideas there Howard - specially about unmanned sites - but I can't see the control freak CC management allowing that one!

 

We use CCC THS and Rally sites a lot as they are free and easy with just enough organisation to prevent anarchy and chaos and, in our view, they represent exceedingly good vfm.

 

These temporary sites are always very basic - tap, bin, and pit - but we like 'em and the company is usually good and welcoming particularly the motor caravan section.

 

Not to say the caravan section ones are not friendly because they are, but there does sometimes seem to be more of a common interest between motor caravanners that seems to create more spontaneous conversations.

 

Best of all - most of them are 'no booking required' so you can decide to go the day before - or not if the weather is bad!

 

[passionwagon]

John H - 2008-04-30 9:36 AM

 

Poppy - 2008-04-29 5:32 PM

 

Heard a while ago that some people are just making block bookings of sites and then cancelling if they don't fancy going.You don't pay a deposit with the caravan club. I didn't believe it at firstbut the other weekend I rang to book a cc site for the weekend on Thurs. Told no vacancies but ring back on Friday as there are often a lot of cancellations! I booked somewhere else. Tried to book Gibson park for the bank holiday weekend but no vacancies. I got a vacancy at the CCC at Moffat though. You do pay a deposit with them.

 

 

 

 

I work with someone who does this. In January, he asked his wife to book 10 different sites and out of this 10, they will actually go to 2. I told him that because of people like him, other people who are looking for a CC site that isn't fully booked for the weekend, can't find one. He said that he isn't one of the 'no show' brigade because he cancels them. This may be the case but if you are planning to go somewhere and the sites are all booked up on the website, you either have to not bother or find somewhere else. If the CC insisted on taking a deposit, I think it would stop this selfish block booking and give the more genuine people a chance.

 

John.

 

8-) FYI the CC online booking system will not accept more than one site per member for a date(s). This was introduced very soon after launching the onsite system because some were block booking the same weekends etc for many sites. Good the club reacted and yes wardens will tell you deposits were forfeited under the old system and people did not seem to mind! Better to manage no shows by using the ultimate sanction of expulsion. ;-)