Taking Deposits - OK for CLs?

Out of interest BV, would you care to name the CL who's website you stumbled on?

Sure - it was the Durham Rowing Club; you can find the info within the club CL database, but the section I found the data is on their website at https://www.durham-arc.org.uk/facilities/caravan-site/

That is a very popular little site indeed. Location is very busy. If they are experiencing no shows there, I am not surprised they are taking payment up front. "On advice of Club" might just mean they have asked Club what to do for the best, and decided that this is the policy they want to follow. It's a site we have looked around, and following a very positive review by a trusted member, definitely one we will consider in the future, up front payment or not!

I tend to agree. If a CL were to consult the Club on this situation I am sure they would discuss a range of options including taking deposits or full payment on booking which the CL in question is perfectly entitled to do. The customer can always refuse and go elsewhere. 

I also suspect that when challenged on their policy of taking full payment on booking it is an easy deflection to suggest it was on the advice of the Club, probably ignoring the fact that, that was one of several options discussed. The Club didn't make the decision the CL did. 

David

We are staying on a CL in East Anglia this summer and have paid the whole fee upfront. Owners should feel free to run their sites in a way that suits their circumstances, small businesses have small margins.

You have explained things better than I did DK! 

We used to use the same very popular Cornish CL every year, and I made a point of paying in full before we arrived most years. The only time in our twelve years of using this particular CL that we had to cancel at short notice, I rang to apologise and said we had been called home urgently. The CL were more than happy to refund us the nights they were able to relet, we were fine about them taking the money where they couldn't. It was a booking for a month, and that is a lot for a small CL to lose. They knew we were committed to our bookings, no matter the weather, and unlikely to cancel on a whim. Respect on both sides of the booking.

Talking today to the owner of the CL where I'm staying, and he has had no such advice from his site inspector. He thinks that if it was the club that gave the "advice" it would have been one of the options that they'd put forward. However it could be that the site inspector was just being overzealous. It would seem that they have been "encouraged" to recruit more new CLs, because of the number that are disappearing, and that advice could be one way of ensuring the a CL remains in the system. 

That is a site we have considered in the past, but not used as yet.  Considered as the nearby Club site is generally very expensive.  However, if those are now the conditions we would not consider booking it.

We would not use any site that wanted full payment up front, especially if there was no refund available for cancelling well ahead.

When we book any site, we do genuinely intend to take up the booking, but life happens.  We like to sort our bookings well ahead, but  at our age (75+) there can be no guarantees that we will actually be alive in a few months time!

Right now, we are in good health, we have booked sites right up till October and we have booked a ferry crossing (refundable). We are optomists.

However......there is not just us to consider, we have children and grandchildren.  After we organised our trips  for this year, number 2 child unexpectedly decided to buy a new house, they will move in July.

Having just produced a grandchild for us in March, this move will seriously involve a lot of help from us, so we have had to alter some holiday plans, well ahead of the booking of course.

We have had to cancel 1 CL, move the dates on another, and cancel a CCC site, all with far more than  6 weeks notice, which in June/July I would think to be adequate notice for the sites to get the pitch booked.

None of the other CLs we will use have asked for any payments.

We are not adverse to a  say  25%deposit, but full payment up front would put us off a site.

I would pay in full for all my booking because i have no intention to cansel last minute

Intention or not, sometimes sh1t happens & bookings made in complete faith have to be cancelled.