pay before you view ?

[tffwkends]

after 6years away from touring my wife and i are very surprised over the number of sites that require payment before arrival regardless if your booking is for 10 nights or just the one .We appreciate that sites need to know how many pitches are availiable and for how long ,but what happens when you book a site for say 5 nights and when you arrive its neither like the pictures on internet or the brochures sent in the post and as with the last 4sites out of 7 their policy is strictly no refunds has anyone else come across this situation and what is your take on this subject many thanks for reading this

jim and karen

 

[MalcolmL]

I virtually always use Caravan Club sites (no children to keep amused!) and CC policy at the moment is not to take a booking fee. In addition, having arrived on site and paid your money for the expected duration, if the weather turns awful, you can leave early and get a refund for the unused portion of your stay.

Malcolm

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Jim,

Just as with any other contract, any feature of the supplied goods or service are not as agreed, then the contact has been breached, and you are entitled to redress. However, as part of your booking you must specifically include those items which are important to you and include them in writing so that the supplier is in no doubt as to the importance of those features.

As for refunds, even without a writen contract, the supplier would be hard pressed to resist a claim for a refund if some part of the service was significantly different to the suggestion or statemants laid out in a brochure or advertisment.

A 'no refund' policy is a restrictive practice, and would be viewed in court as an unfair contract - dependant on circumstances.

 

[tffwkends]

I virtually always use Caravan Club sites (no children to keep amused!) and CC policy at the moment is not to take a booking fee. In addition, having arrived on site and paid your money for the expected duration, if the weather turns awful, you can leave early and get a refund for the unused portion of your stay.

Malcolm

hi malcolm thanks for the reply its not just the booking fee we have been asked to pay,but the duration of the stay as for leaving a site early we would nt consider that your already out andabout yuo may as well make the best of it dont you agree thanks again

jim and karen

 

[tffwkends]

Hello Jim,

Just as with any other contract, any feature of the supplied goods or service are not as agreed, then the contact has been breached, and you are entitled to redress. However, as part of your booking you must specifically include those items which are important to you and include them in writing so that the supplier is in no doubt as to the importance of those features.

As for refunds, even without a writen contract, the supplier would be hard pressed to resist a claim for a refund if some part of the service was significantly different to the suggestion or statemants laid out in a brochure or advertisment.

A 'no refund' policy is a restrictive practice, and would be viewed in court as an unfair contract - dependant on circumstances.

thanks john,

i never thought of it that way,but dont you feel that when you have waited all week /year /half term to get away and relax, you turn up on site and its just not what you expected or described its 8.30 in the evening and your falling out with the site managers trying to get all your money back and your wifes on the phone trying to book another site and they want full payment and the kids want feeding ,so much for a bit of r and r!! thanks

jim and karen

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello again Jim,

Just as with any other purchase you do have statutory rights as detailed in 'The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982' the DTI has fact sheets on this andother consumer legislation.

http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/fact-sheets/page24702.html
In essence, as soon as you agree with anyone to use or to supply goods or a service, a contract exsists - it may not be written, but in civil law it is assumed that if a third person had overheard the conversation and understood that an agreement had been achieved to do something, then a contract is confirmed. To avoid confusion it is usually better to have a written agreement - such as a booking form

Written contracts are not as binding as you might assume, if it is later seen that a term or clause is unfiar, so a 'no refund' policy may be seen as reasonable if the purchaser simply does not use the full service, then the supplier can claim breach of contract and claim the unused part of the charge as compensation for loss of earnings.

However if the reason that the purchaser does not use the service is becuase the service does not match the prospectus, then that is a breach of contract and 'no refund' is unreasonable position.

 

[cooky1]

Jim, I wonder if sites charge before you actually arive is because of 'no-shows' where people do not actually arive at the site. This means that the site owners may lose money because they do not let the plot to someone else. thers have been many posts on here about empty plots on sites that display the full sign. This is fustrating for both the wardens and people trying to book the site.

I agree with you that if you have payed for a number of nights and don't like the site you should be able to leave and get some of your money back.

Graeme.

 

[Val & Frank]

A

 

[cooky1]

Val and Frank, I agree with you. I wish CC sites did do that. I would have no problem with it.

Graeme.

 

[Surfer]

I wonder if this would fall under the distance selling EU act?

 

[MalcolmL]

hi malcolm thanks for the reply its not just the booking fee we have been asked to pay,but the duration of the stay as for leaving a site early we would nt consider that your already out andabout yuo may as well make the best of it dont you agree thanks again

jim and karen

Hi Jim & Karen, I do agree with what you say but I would be unhappy at being asked to pay all the fees up front. I would be quite happy to pay a booking fee, though. We have now been caravanning for 20 years and have never cut our stay short but it's nice to know that you can get a refund if desired. It's nice to have fine weather when away in the 'van but it isn't essential. I spend some of the time catching up on magazines etc that I haven't had time to read at home so, sometimes, poor weather is a good thing! And dogs have to be walked whatever the weather and whether we are in the 'van or at home!

Malcolm

 

[COLIN_5095629]

if you everget to stop on rowntree c.c site in york ,check how many empty pitches you see,we stayed one weekend ,with the site full notice up,and there was 3 empty pitches,if people dont turn up they should be charged full fee.

 

[LMH]

Yes, but what about when you have paid a deposit and cancelled weeks before arrival date?

That happened to me recently, when I phoned to cancel (several weeks before arrival date), I asked if I could have my deposit back and the owner said 'well, if we can fill your pitch, you can have it back'. I never heard anything from them again. How do we know whether or not the pitch has been filled or not?

Lisa

 

[RogerL]

Caravan sites are no different to hotels and guest house. If you cancel a booking, they're entitled to compensation for lost income if they can't re-let the room / pitch etc.

The fact that the Caravan Club operates totally differently is a bonus for their members, which commercial sites aren't obliged to follow.

We got stung over cancellation charges at an award-winning CL in Pembrokeshire this year, so the hard-nosed commercial approach is spreading.