iv been a member for 6 years and i wont be renewing my membership the reason being is people being allowed to block book then not turning up they spoil it for other members the caravan club should take a £10 booking fee and this will stop them they are the minority spoiling it for the majority so come on caravan club listen to your members if they carnt get people to pay a booking fee surley they can setup a system that will stop people block booking or charge them if they dont have a good enough reason for failing to turn up and if they do it regularly cancel there membership
people block booking
- Thread starter stephen_5096123
- Start date
Stephen, I never ever have any trouble booking sites, as people have advised you are black listed if you fail to turn up on more than one occasion ,as for
I presume you mean block booking different times at different sites, because the computor will not let you book different sites for the same time( I tried out of curiosity). I would be interested in the percentage of members who just don't turn up.Maybe the CC monitor this site and will answer.
On the odd occasion we have had to abort a trip, I have cancelled on website and rung site to confirm. Maybe I am the exception!!
On the odd occasion we have had to abort a trip, I have cancelled on website and rung site to confirm. Maybe I am the exception!!
Stephen,
Popular sites do get booked up well in advance for weekends. e.g. Chatsworth, Rpwntree,Southport ect. Even Low Park Wood was booked up at weekends while i was there recently.
However if you go on the late availability there are usually vacancies on quite a few sites.
Time of year also affects bookings. For example what my wife calls Christmas shopping sites, Southport.Rowntree, Chatsworth and a few others can get booked up at weekends during November/December.
The Caravan Club had a deposit system upto a few years ago. It made no difference to "no shows".
The only solution is after 1 or 2 "no shows" all future bookings are cancelled for the rest of the year.I believe the club are considering this,or a variation of it and as far as i am concerned the sooner the better.
I feel sorry for the Wardens who have to take the flack when cravanners ask to book on and are told the site is full.Then because of "no shows" their friends who have remained on site discover empty pitches.
Hamer
Popular sites do get booked up well in advance for weekends. e.g. Chatsworth, Rpwntree,Southport ect. Even Low Park Wood was booked up at weekends while i was there recently.
However if you go on the late availability there are usually vacancies on quite a few sites.
Time of year also affects bookings. For example what my wife calls Christmas shopping sites, Southport.Rowntree, Chatsworth and a few others can get booked up at weekends during November/December.
The Caravan Club had a deposit system upto a few years ago. It made no difference to "no shows".
The only solution is after 1 or 2 "no shows" all future bookings are cancelled for the rest of the year.I believe the club are considering this,or a variation of it and as far as i am concerned the sooner the better.
I feel sorry for the Wardens who have to take the flack when cravanners ask to book on and are told the site is full.Then because of "no shows" their friends who have remained on site discover empty pitches.
Hamer
I have been a memeber over 10 years and only recently - since the online system has been up and running - has it been a problem. I have written to the CC and suggested that - 2 strikes and you have to pay up front or no block bookings for weekends more than eg 4 weeks away or deposits. To stop people booking every weekend in advance for a year - with no intention of turning up. It was better when there was a payment system. It made you think. It is a club - for everyone but the members are not being listened to. Also the website is unreliable. I have had instances where a site is fully booked but then a couple of weeks later it is not. Obvioulsy some people will not be affected by this but there are a good many of us that are and its ruining it. Next year - if you can't beat 'em , join em. Block booking here I come!
It's only me getting my bum out!! Even though it makes me angry, I wouldn't do that. It can ruin a holiday - when you are trying to book for 2 weeks and the weekends are taken by eventual no show-ers. And I have had that - the site becomes miraculously free the week you were meant to go. Sometong needs to be done - like I say I ahev written. But until the unheard majority get off their bums and says something it will stay the same. Cheers - just going fo a lie down
Mandy
I agree this is a problem and seems much worse this year than when we joined the CC and C&CC 4-5 years ago. If seniors of either of the Big Two are reading this you have to take some deterrent action please!
Stayed at Longleat earlier this year for 10 days in non-peak. Good site and excellent helpful wardens. Some friends were going to join us for a long weekend but couldn't 'cos it was "fully booked". Reality was there were never less than 10 free spaces. For obvious reasons the weekends seem the biggest headache.
My advice would be to take a chance if you can get in on the preceding weekdays, especially on the larger sites. Once there wardens will usually give your request to extend priority if (When!) the block bookers cancel or no show. We're trying it at Brown Moor (Hawes) in Sept which is already supposedly full on 11-13 Sept.
And like Dustydog we have found many smaller and less well known non-club sites to be real crackers without the same problem - or at least it appears so. Not at all what I'd expected.
I agree this is a problem and seems much worse this year than when we joined the CC and C&CC 4-5 years ago. If seniors of either of the Big Two are reading this you have to take some deterrent action please!
Stayed at Longleat earlier this year for 10 days in non-peak. Good site and excellent helpful wardens. Some friends were going to join us for a long weekend but couldn't 'cos it was "fully booked". Reality was there were never less than 10 free spaces. For obvious reasons the weekends seem the biggest headache.
My advice would be to take a chance if you can get in on the preceding weekdays, especially on the larger sites. Once there wardens will usually give your request to extend priority if (When!) the block bookers cancel or no show. We're trying it at Brown Moor (Hawes) in Sept which is already supposedly full on 11-13 Sept.
And like Dustydog we have found many smaller and less well known non-club sites to be real crackers without the same problem - or at least it appears so. Not at all what I'd expected.
CC booking for main sites is a waste of time for us as well.
I think all members should be guaranteed some sort of booking quota for what we pay and non members should be barred.
I think all members should be guaranteed some sort of booking quota for what we pay and non members should be barred.
mandy where do you wanna book?. i do book the day its open on line because were away every school holiday and this year were away 5 weeks out of 6 for the summer hols. some days i couldnt get so i rang the site everyday and then eventually the extra days i wanted came free. i had to go through the site tho.
jo
jo
Folks,
This is the reply I got earlier this year from the club when I complained about blanket week-end bookings on popular sites blighting future bookings for 7+ days.
##########
I acknowledge receipt of your recent e-mail addressed to the Magazine. However, not all letters/e-mails can be printed due to the restrictions on space.
Along with Committees, staff have been looking at various options regarding the whole booking experience, although we have yet to come up with a panacea to all of the issues. Essentially this is because we have such a broad spectrum of membership within which is a range of groups who each want something different from the booking experience.
One suggestion was to look at holding back a number of pitches. However, we then encountered incensed members who wished to make bookings for these dates and what reason did we have for rejecting these as these members also argued they should have equal rights. Indeed, when the booking system was launched, the policy was quite simply to have a completely transparent process so that all members could see each available pitch on every site for every day of the year and, therefore, everyone had an equal chance to book what they wished. In doing so The Club took a financial risk. It could have chosen to contrive availability in a way which brought greater commercial return but decided instead that we should be here to respond to the majority of members actual booking patterns/wishes rather than to steer them in a certain direction. Interestingly the result has been greater occupancy across the network.
We are aware, however, that sadly some members abuse the system and trust of their fellow members by block booking and not turning up. You may be interested to know that we can and do identify such abusers and have already written to several suspending their memberships.
The deposit issue is much more involved. Other operators/clubs do charge deposits, as you mention. However, judging by their published letters, they still encounter the same type of issues. Also, from The Club's own experience we used to charge
This is the reply I got earlier this year from the club when I complained about blanket week-end bookings on popular sites blighting future bookings for 7+ days.
##########
I acknowledge receipt of your recent e-mail addressed to the Magazine. However, not all letters/e-mails can be printed due to the restrictions on space.
Along with Committees, staff have been looking at various options regarding the whole booking experience, although we have yet to come up with a panacea to all of the issues. Essentially this is because we have such a broad spectrum of membership within which is a range of groups who each want something different from the booking experience.
One suggestion was to look at holding back a number of pitches. However, we then encountered incensed members who wished to make bookings for these dates and what reason did we have for rejecting these as these members also argued they should have equal rights. Indeed, when the booking system was launched, the policy was quite simply to have a completely transparent process so that all members could see each available pitch on every site for every day of the year and, therefore, everyone had an equal chance to book what they wished. In doing so The Club took a financial risk. It could have chosen to contrive availability in a way which brought greater commercial return but decided instead that we should be here to respond to the majority of members actual booking patterns/wishes rather than to steer them in a certain direction. Interestingly the result has been greater occupancy across the network.
We are aware, however, that sadly some members abuse the system and trust of their fellow members by block booking and not turning up. You may be interested to know that we can and do identify such abusers and have already written to several suspending their memberships.
The deposit issue is much more involved. Other operators/clubs do charge deposits, as you mention. However, judging by their published letters, they still encounter the same type of issues. Also, from The Club's own experience we used to charge
- Jun 20, 2005
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Hi Paul
In fairness a reasonably balanced response from CC who can't please all the people all the time.
1. Ban Non Members at the most popular sites.
2. Two no shows and you are not allowed to book more than 4 weeks in advance for next 12 months.
3. Block bookers who hedge their bets should be banned as said by CC.
4. Heavily booked sites should perhaps be shared out , ie only one weekend allowed for two years.
5. Try the CLs , they are lovely .
Cheers
Dustydog
In fairness a reasonably balanced response from CC who can't please all the people all the time.
1. Ban Non Members at the most popular sites.
2. Two no shows and you are not allowed to book more than 4 weeks in advance for next 12 months.
3. Block bookers who hedge their bets should be banned as said by CC.
4. Heavily booked sites should perhaps be shared out , ie only one weekend allowed for two years.
5. Try the CLs , they are lovely .
Cheers
Dustydog
Dusty,
May I pick you up on one point......re.banning non members from the most popular sites.
The Caravan Club lease a lot of sites which are owned by local authorities,National Trust, etc.and there is usually an agreement that they allow non members on site.
May I pick you up on one point......re.banning non members from the most popular sites.
The Caravan Club lease a lot of sites which are owned by local authorities,National Trust, etc.and there is usually an agreement that they allow non members on site.
Check the CC handbook for any site. It tells you whether it's a 'Members Only' site or if non-members are accepted. I should think that this same info will be on the CC wbsite.
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