Would It Work ? – Open for sensible debate.

SteveL, you write "Even if you take up all your bookings,  for some it would be a large outlay at a time of year they cannot afford it." surely spreading the cost of a holiday over two payments is far better than having to pay the full amount at one time. Perhaps this is why some cancel when they realise how much they have got to pay out at one go.

To safeguard against deposits being paid but which then result in 'no-shows', the easy way around this, (assuming that most people pay using a credit / debit card), is to state that a deposit will be taken from the card at the time of booking with the balance taken the day that arrival on site is due unless 72 hours notice of cancellation is given. We wouldn't even have to remember to pay it, it would be done automatically.

two points here, why are you (or one) so keen to hand over your money to the club so early in the form of a deposit? Isn't it better to keep the money in your bank account? Especially as the club has stated that deposits don't work? I can understand the need in booking a thousand pound plus holiday but not a £25 per night weekend 

Second I personally don't like the idea of giving the club or anyone permission to take money out of my account sometime in the future. Would you be happy to buy a car this way? 

John

Just to be clear I wasn't promoting speculative booking per se. However if you know you want to be somewhere around a certain date but are awaiting work holiday confirmation it is an option. 

However I would question how difficult it is to book sites. OK there are going to be some sites for which there is a greater demand and even if there was a deposit system it would be unlikely to make it easier to book those sites. We are retired, and have been for the past 10 years, and we rarely book a long way in advance as circumstances tend to conspire against you at our age. We have just returned from a ten day trip to Clumber Park, Bridlington and Poolsbrook. In order to book we had to go a week earlier than planned but otherwise we had no problems. However those bookings were only made three weeks before departure so if you can have a degree of flexibility there are always options. We do use C&CC sites as well and they use a deposit system so we rarely book more than a week in advance. 

I think there is another issue at play here. The CMC  always want there to be a point of difference between the two Clubs and a major one is that of deposits. In my view the C&CC system is very member unfriendly. Those wanting to book a couple of Bank Holidays and a two week summer holiday would have to invest a lot of money upfront.

David

'In my view the C&CC system is very member unfriendly'

I assume you are suggesting that as much as £100 deposit in this day and age is not affordable to all the poor members of the CC?

Although it does allow some members to book up every weekend in the year to the detriment of many. 

The only practical difference I find is that the C&CC allow tents on most (?) of their sites.

"Second I personally don't like the idea of giving the club or anyone permission to take money out of my account sometime in the future. Would you be happy to buy a car this way? "

Corners, youre joking, arent you?

surely millions of people buy cars (and plenty of other stuff) in this way...never heard of PCP or Hire Purchase or a 'car loan'?

agreed, the 'well heeled' (i slipped that in as you liked that one) core membership might just pay cash for their cars (and caravans and MHs) but very many dont operate in this world, with PCP deals for cars (and now MHs) becoming a way into new vehicles for those on more moderate incomes.

i also agree that this point about 'having to shell out for xxx deposits in December' is not the issue some make it out to be, after all, the holidays have to be paid for and, as has been said, paying a percentage in December isnt anywhere near the actual outlay when going on tour.

a 30 day tour might cost, say, £300 in deposits, yet in that 30 days on site, fees of approx £700-£1000+ would be due.

we dont here much moaning about having to pay this huge amount, do we?

i dont necessarily agree with deposits, but using the 'cost issue' as an argument doesnt wash....IMHO, of course.

From a business point of view a non deposit system doesn't make sense even though it's a very attractive idea for the customers. It must be based on the fact that the club feels confident it can fill cancellations and no shows at peak times. Presumably they lose at non peak times.

The C&CC ask for a minimum £25 deposit, or a total payment on a short break or 25% of the total holiday cost. Cash flow and revenue are balanced out.

I don't know how the club accounting system works, maybe they are offsetting losses but it doesn't make financial sense to me.

However I'm not going to be a turkey voting for Christmas.

Steve, yes I was advocating total loss of deposit but variations in this means more effort and probably cost for the Club. Apart from Moris Leisure I think the C&CC allow you to retain the deposit for use on another site if you cancel early enough. I stand to be corrected on that as I have never had to cancel so not entirely sure of the procedure but the procedure is what seems to generate the complaints.

The reason the deposit system failed when the Club used to make a charge was the deposit was not big enough. As ET has pointed out, £10 was niether here or there when it came to not turning up. I would make it a percentage of the holiday cost with a minimum charge and charge the full wack for short stay bookings.i.e. less than three nights. That way with short stay no shows the Club has lost nothing. Paying a deposit up front being unaffordable doesn't hold water, you are paying part of the total costs with less to pay on arrival, a bit like HP really. It is not making the cost of the holiday any more expensive.

Finally it is worth noting that even with a deposit system the C&CC has been more profitable than the CMC over the last 4 years even though the CMC pitch bookings have increased.  Given that in both Clubs a very large slice of revenue comes from selling pitches, the C&CC must be doing something right. (source of statement, both Clubs' accounts)

peedee

The thing about threads like this is that they seem to revolve around two recurring themes/myths (pick your own description!).

One is that huge numbers of folk block book speculatively on frenzy  and the other that (possibly related to that) all club sites are booked up within 24 hours.

As far as the first is concerned the club have produced figures which seem to show that only a handful of members make more than 3 or 4 bookings on that day and, leaving aside, say Rowntree, Chatsworth and Baltic Wharf, the second is simply not the case. Most sites have full weeks pretty much throughout the year well into January and even later.

So, by and large the system seems to work well for most members and I can't see a scheme such as the one suggested helping at all as far as those "honeypot" sites are concerned.

The problem, such as it is, comes back to the fact that there are insufficient pitches available for a growing membership.

 Surely it is the perception of the customer that counts Moulesy? I don't think the Club produces enough evidence to support its system and what is produced is doubted because of individuals experiences.

peedee

I was referring to a large outlay at Christmas time if bookings are made in December as we do. Potentially 100 nights at £10 (£1000) we are fortunate in that we could afford it, many probably could not. So if the club offers no incentive over other providers they may well loose out.

As to using your card as you suggest. If the Club went down that route I would not have a problem with that. We already do this with ferry companies. Brittany ferries have a different approach. A small initial deposit, then the rest paid about 6 weeks before. After that any cancellations are handled on a sliding scale with so much back as money and so much as a voucher against future travel. At a week before you loose it all and have to claim on insurance.