1426!

[ThePlotter]

With the latest magazine from the Caravan Club is a supplement on the cover is a storage site with high fence,lights,cameras and rising ramp inside it is promoting storage on their sites none of which will have this level of security.

On a more contentious topic it also lists their sites and the number of seasonal pitches available at each.These total 1426 pitches that will not be available to those of us who use a tourer for touring and not as a small static van.If this was restricted to under used sites then it would be more acceptable but some of the sites listed I have tried to book onto in the past but they were always full presumably helped by all those empty vans with faded awnings and long grass around the van and the flower pots and garden gnomes ( very attractive )all writen with tongue in cheek but it must make you think.

 

[RogerL]

The Caravan Club isn't a club for members, it's a commercial operator of sites, insurance and finance products for which there is an annual admin fee! I'm surprised that most members don't realise this.

Empty caravans on seasonal pitches still produce revenue for the site as they've already paid their fees for the season. Sites get little return from leaving pitches empty, just in case a tourer wants to use it, often just for a weekend.

By matching pricing to demand a successful site will be full every night from March to October.

 

[Val & Frank]

Hi Plotter,

I agree 100% with what you have written, BUT you like me didn't bother to find your local area chairperson and request them to put your views at the CC AGM??

So like me you have to grin and bare it, and just bump your gums on this forum. That's life!!!

Val & Frank

 

[Guest]

Our family experience with CC sites this summer was that sites considered were all full when trying to book.

Yet splitting a trip between two sites we found the first site with a dozen vacancies and the 2nd had people arriving all day as pitches that had been booked were left empty with no call to cancel. So if you called direct on the day you wanted to start your stay you got a pitch.

My daughter stayed on a site with over thirty empty pitches as people had just not turned up.

She was told by a relief Warden that 4 pitches that were booked were empty as the people were at another site he'd just come from.

He mentioned people booking Easter and Weekend breaks way in advance and then deciding which one they used at the last moment. Not sure how wide spread this is, but payment should be taken on booked pitches.

 

[RogerL]

I don't understand why the Caravan Club dropped booking deposits - I don't see the point either for the Club or for members.

No-shows were a problem when the deposit was

 

[JeremyClarksson]

Not only should there be a loss of a deposit if the pitch is not cancelled at least 7 days before occupation but no shows should still pay at least 1 night.

We are all paying for these people!

 

[RogerL]

Not only should there be a loss of a deposit if the pitch is not cancelled at least 7 days before occupation but no shows should still pay at least 1 night.

We are all paying for these people!

I agree wholeheartedly!

 

[Val & Frank]

Garry wrote

Not only should there be a loss of a deposit if the pitch is not cancelled at least 7 days before occupation but no shows should still pay at least 1 night.

We are all paying for these people!

Agree 100% I still don't know why the CC won't do this!!! I can't see it increasing admin by very much, unless they are concerned at Travel Insurance claims or something like that?

Val & Frank

 

[ThePlotter]

I would agree I thought that when booking CC sites you were always asked for membership details so the club knows who is failing to turn up.That said it doesnt alter the fact that a 'touring'club is using a large number of its pitches for static vans that often spoil the appearance of a site for those that manage to get on one of the remaining pitches.This has I know been debated before but I personally feel that if someone no longer wants to tour for whatever reason then they should buy a static on a static site and leave tourer pitches for tourers!

 

[MikeP]

On the subject of CC no shows, I think I read somewhere that you are allowed only one booking per day and that the membership number must be given at the time of booking. This should stop multiple bookings where people book more than one site and then decide nearer the time which site to stay at. (Selfish gits).

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[ThePlotter]

I think the no show problem was something that occured mainly on CLs where people booked several at different parts of the country and then chose which had the best weather but with computerised bookings at club sites I would have thought that it was now not possible only on Cls if it isnt then bring back deposits and put software in place to prevent multiple bookings.

 

[VIP2006]

I beleive you will find that with the main sites you cannot now double book different sites for the same dates. That loophole was closed not long after computer booking was introduced.

STORAGE

I also beleive that storage facilities are available at some but not all CC main sites and this is for a space and not a pitch. If you take your van out of storage and onto a pitch the pitch fee must be paid for each night of occupation just like any other member etc.

Seasonal pitches are available for many of the sites with the numbers issued in the main being only a small proportion of the sites total number, and I suspect that the pitches allottd are at the discretion of the warden

CL's cannot be booked online, they must be booked direct with the owner. and if a member double books sites for the same date it is no wonder that CL owners also double book for the same date the paradox being that the CL owner is exceeding his licence whereas the member gets away scot free. IMHO Deposits are the answer and maybe cancellation insurance may have be introduced!!!

 

[Val & Frank]

We will Drink to that Shiraz.

Val & Frank

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi

If members are having difficulty getting pitches, should the club not consider making more sites 'members only' Longleat is open to all and is always difficult to get in to in my experience,I am sure there must be other popular sites that turn away members even though they have non members booked,I know members get first chance to book from 1st December but we can't all book 6 months ahead.

 

[RogerL]

The computerised system MAY stop advance double booking but once sites are open they can be booked direct. Even the computer system won't stop no-shows and CC may know who they are but they don't penalise so they keep on doing it!

 

[Ogre]

Got to be honest and say that in the 22 years that we've been caravanning, we've never once even thought about joining the Caravan Club.

Roger has it right "The Caravan Club isn't a club for members, it's a commercial operator of sites, insurance and finance products for which there is an annual admin fee!"

Now what the hell would we want to give these operators money for? We can choose our sites (and if they are full we simply go elsewhere), we can deal with our own finances thank you very much. We can arrange our own insurance etc etc etc.

We just don't subscribe to this type of selling, because that's all it is. Basically you are paying an organisation to do what you can easily do for yourself, and it just beats us that more people don't tumble to it.

 

[Guest]

Got to be honest and say that in the 22 years that we've been caravanning, we've never once even thought about joining the Caravan Club.

Roger has it right "The Caravan Club isn't a club for members, it's a commercial operator of sites, insurance and finance products for which there is an annual admin fee!"

Now what the hell would we want to give these operators money for? We can choose our sites (and if they are full we simply go elsewhere), we can deal with our own finances thank you very much. We can arrange our own insurance etc etc etc.

We just don't subscribe to this type of selling, because that's all it is. Basically you are paying an organisation to do what you can easily do for yourself, and it just beats us that more people don't tumble to it.

Keith.

All though we are not UK residents we find CC membership more than pays for itself.

We book travel all around Europe directly. But on some ferry crossings by far the cheapest deal is made through the Caravan Club and when we use their sites we find them well kept and offering value for money.

We saved over

 

[Guest]

Keith.

All though we are not UK residents we find CC membership more than pays for itself.

We book travel all around Europe directly. But on some ferry crossings by far the cheapest deal is made through the Caravan Club and when we use their sites we find them well kept and offering value for money.

We saved over

 

[Oldfogey]

I joined the Caravan Club this year because we wanted to stay on their Cambridge site.

I added the membership fee to the member rate for the intended weeks stay, and the total came to less than the rate for non-members, so I joined - a simple commercial transaction and why would I not join? Especially as we actually ended staying 2 weeks.

I take no interest in the "Club" aspects of either club (I am in both), but find that the value to me of what I get is greater than the membership charge, so I pay.

 

[RogerL]

Joining the CC should be a hard-headed financial decision.

I joined because caravan insurance, for the cover I wanted, was cheaper even adding membership fee to the premium. At the time we just used a small selection of commercial sites for their family facilities.

Getting access to their CL network, which we now use, would also justify the membership fee for us. As for their Club sites, the Simply Six group of seven non-facility sites are good but we only use their other sites for overnight stops on very long hauls.

 

[Guest]

Compared to some the CC magazine as part of the mebership package makes for good value in my book, the manuals and campsite guide as well add to that to.

 

[RogerL]

Compared to some the CC magazine as part of the mebership package makes for good value in my book, the manuals and campsite guide as well add to that to.

Full of promotional material with very little of interest. I applied to CC to NOT get the magazine and get a reduction in fees but they wouldn't!

 

[Guest]

I have to differ, it has some reasonable articles and the usual ads as with most magazines. Most of the ads are relevant to caravanners and there are a lot less than other magazines.

For the small fee each year it is very good value having the magazine as well.

 

[RogerL]

All the articles are promotional - sites, caravans, towcars etc - when did you last read anything critical? The magazine gives the impression that all products are virtually perfect.

If you value the magazine, that's fine - I just wish I could opt out and get a refund!

 

[vernon]

I agree with RogerL, look at this months "Tests", a