departure time on sites

[rayc]

Cheryl, it's no good complaining, some sites are run for the convinience of the owner and staff not the visitor. There is a demand from week end caravanners to be able to stay from late Friday till mid afternoon Sunday. Pitch availability etc are poor excuses for not allowing it in all but the peak periods. There is invariably no problem if you agree to pay extra. Just do what others have said, read the terms and conditions - if you don't like it don't go back.

I was at a site at the weekend, lovely warm and sunny on Saturday afternoon. People outside their units lazing around as you do when suddenly the noise of a motorized lawn mower starting up shattered the peace. The lady warden then cut the grass for 2 hours, requiring some people to move their chairs etc whilst she did so. I am sure it is important to cut the grass but do wonder if doing so on a weekend afternoon is really neccessary.

 

[Parksy]

Cheryl was on a Haven site with over 250 pitches and we stayed at Unity in Brean a couple of weeks ago which is another large commercial site with seasonal pitches, statics and three or four large tourer and tent fields.

Holiday Resort Unity (as it likes to call itself) also state in their terms and conditions that pitches must be vacated by 10am.

The wardens whizz round on electric carts every day to make sure that those who are due to leave do so. There's even a written board on the back of the cart to say that pitches must be vacated by 10am.

They are polite when they come round and for those who are having trouble they are prepared to help.

I have the feeling that the 10am rule with site staff checking up is more to do with making sure that people actually leave on the day that they're supposed to on these large commercial sites.

They must have come across somebody or other 'hiding' amongst the masses of campers at some stage and the wardens always have sheafs of paper in their hands when they go round to check the names off.

On the certified sites that we've stayed on so far there has been a much more relaxed attitude towards departure times.

 

[Guest]

Cheryl,

It can be even worse if you are on a package holiday where they throw you out of the room at 10 am, and your flight home is not until evening or nightime. It can be a long day.

I agree it seems slightly harsh on a campsite, but if you are going home then why not get an early start? Drive for 30 minutes and pull in somewhere for a long coffee break and a read of the newspapers. If you plan to stay for a late departure then pay the extra night charge and relax. Money is always important, but not at the expense of you getting stressed.

On the other side of the coin, it can be frustrating to arrive on a site at 2 pm, find a pitch and set up just to watch the people on a much better pitch packing and leaving at teatime. They are probably the same ones who arrived at 10 am the previous day.

 

[foshy]

OK, I agree that 10am is a little early and can understand that the owners/site team need to cut the grass, service the pitch etc. before the next guest arrives hence the times. If you want to stay on a site longer at a weekend the it is only right that you pay for this. If we know we are visiting somewhere that has an early departure time or lots to do and see that we will miss iut on we book and pay for the Sunday night. This then enables us to depart when we like - late afternoon or early evening.

 

[Ogre]

We stopped using Riverside at Plymouth because of this 10am departure on Sundays. Far too early.

As a handy "weekend" site for us, we were not at all happy at arriving on Friday evening after work, paying for two days, and then having to get up early on Sunday, bolt down breakfast, and then pack up the van and hitch and go, before 10am.

"Two days" was actually Friday 7pm to Sunday 10am, so lousy value in real terms. We know that they have lost loads of Devon and Cornwall based weekend caravanners over this issue.

11am is a far more sensible and acceptable time, and still allows plenty of time to re-service the pitch.

Vote with your wallet. Just avoid sites that have such stupidly early departure times. We do. There's plenty of more amenable site owners.

 

[SteveW77]

Vote with your wallet. Just avoid sites that have such stupidly early departure times. We do. There's plenty of more amenable site owners.

I have no doubt that these site owners think that there are plenty more amenable customers. The fact remains, If you want to make the rules buy your own site.

Steve W

 

[MartinJ]

"Two days was actually Friday 7pm to Sunday 10am, so lousy value in real terms."

Spot on Ogre - I have argued the same point myself on this forum before.

Steve W - buying my own site - hmmmm a bit over the top in my opinion. I'll just stick to the voting with my wallet option I think.

 

[mistermac]

Hi

We recently went to Searles' at Hunstanton.

For a weekend, this is fab. Why?

Friday to Sunday (departure time 5.30pm!!) =

 

[ShadySadie]

Surely you have all answered this yourselves. Look at the departure times and if they don't suit you don't go.

We've been to Riverside a couple of times and it was not a probelm for us and others. Friends take their caravan for weekends when visiting their mother who lives in a care home. They've had no problems leaving later on a Sunday as far as I know. I think they just ask if that will be OK, they say that the site always has plenty of users at all times of the year as well.

 

[v.meldrew2]

No-one seems to have asked or answered the question of what the heck you do with the caravan for the rest of your Sunday if chucked off the pitch at 10:00 or indeed 12:00 and you don't want to go home. Comparing the situation with staying in a B&B (as we did a lot until getting the van this year), we accepted the need to depart by this time to allow for cleaning etc. The big difference was that when using B&Bs we only had the car so could easily park somewhere and continue our weekend walking/biking or whatever. But what do you do with a 23 foot caravan? Car parks are generally not accessible, and who would risk leaving the caravan in a lay-bye unattended, if one could be found? The answer is (as mentioned by one contributor) for sites to have a parking area for day use (no occupancy of course). One CL we stayed on this year said the site licence did not allow this - the rule is 5 vans max on site at any time, not just overnight. Is this true? A 'proper' CC site would not allow us to put the van on the visitor parking area, but did allow us to stay on the pitch until 19:00 on Sunday evening on paying an extra night's pitch fee (the 'adult' fee was waived). I thought this a reasonable compromise - I wonder if this is a standard CC policy? The situation is even worse in winter - the short days prohibit the option of leaving after work of Friday evening, so a 'weekend' away means midday Saturday to midday Sunday - not an attractive proposition! (An aside - if you should want to visit Oxford while in transit, there are a couple of Park & Rides that have special places available for day caravan+car parking. We even did it free! See the Oxford council website)

 

[Hamer_5041128]

v.meldrew2,

Could you you please tell me which Caravan Club site allowed you to stay till 1900 hours by just paying the pitch fee.

Could solve other members problems.

Hamer

 

[v.meldrew2]

v.meldrew2,

Could you you please tell me which Caravan Club site allowed you to stay till 1900 hours by just paying the pitch fee.

Could solve other members problems.

Hamer

Hamer

This was Losehill, Derbyshire, in June. I imagine this was the warden's discretion rather than a CC policy, but I can't be sure. Obviously it was dependent on the the site having free pitches on the Sunday night. Losehill is a very difficult site to get on at weekends - we were lucky and booked the day before! Our experience with CLs is variable - one (Beverley)said it was ok to stay as long as we liked on Sunday and only charged us four quid for Saturday night/Sunday (no EHU). Others were a bit more strict with the deadline - but none before midday.

 

[caslau]

HIYA, i agree with you that we are being taken for a ride by site owners/managers when they say that you can stay longer for an extra fee, it is hard to be off pitch for 10am if you have kids in tow etc. A site i visited last weekend dont throw you off till 8pm the site has its own web page it is BALGAIR CASTLE and the reception offered a third night foc when due to bad weather i found i hard to get off the sodden pitch, the offer was so maintenance men would help next day.