Cancelling a CL booking at short notice.

For anyone who hasn't yet clicked on it, check the link in the OP as the CL looks lovely.

We visited Lincoln a few years ago for the xmas market, which was a brilliant day out, and the town and cathedral are well worth a visit.

Well done Nicola

Would those who want total flexibility be happy to accept a CL owner responding on arrival for a three night stay by saying "Sorry, I've let your pitch half an hour ago to someone who has just turned up and paid for two weeks stay". I'm on the side of the CL owners. They are entitled to a reasonable return and late cancellations with little chance of reletting are tantamount to robbery.

I have no problem with paying a deposit and would also not expect a refund for leaving early. I have also paid the full amount up front when asked without complaint, if you intend honouring the booking I see no problem.

One particular site that asks for payment up front will in the event of a cancellation use your payment for a future booking.

IMHO, CLs are a very important asset to many members and It would be wrong to exploit what some consider to be a flexible booking system.  

No shows are a business risk, if it's one that you don't want to take then charge a substantial non-refundable deposit. 

This is a lovely CL. We were there earlier this year. 

Onepjg - you make an interesting observation about this issue, but comparing the 'refund policy' of a shop to that of an accommodation provider (like a CL) is not a fair comparison.  

If you purchase an item from a shop, and don't like it for some reason, you can normally return it - but only if it is possible for the shop to resell that item.  The shop (barring some admin fees) will not have lost much revenue.  

However, CL's - alongside Hotel's B&B's, Airlines, Ferries etc. may not be able to 'resell' a pitch, bed or flight that has been cancelled at short notice.  Hence, the majority of such organisations charge the full fee up front, or take the balance 4-6 weeks in advance.  

CL's are realising that they need to 'catch up' with the rest of the industry, if they wish to protect their income from cancellations.

FYI CL's  make about £5,000 - £10,000 per year (some a bit more, many a lot less)  so they cannot afford to be as flexible as the Club is with their policies if they wish to break even or show a small return.

The Club (by way of contrast) reported Group Revenue in 2015 of £109.6M (of which 44% or £47.9M was from Club Sites) with a surplus after tax of £4.1M.   

Avid CL users for the last 30 years, from very basic, to everything and more provided sites! We have a great deal of sympathy for CL owners who are experiencing late cancellations and no shows, and fully appreciate the impact it will be having upon their business model. Hence from a personal point of view, other than some slightly less robust wording, we would have no problem whatsoever with the booking/payment policy outlined in the OP. If we want to use a CL that is perfect in every aspect for us, then we are prepared to pay for it, and commit to turning up, staying for the duration, and even if we experience an extreme emergency, it is our emergency, not the CL owners, so we would look at insurance. 

Having said the above, would qualify it by saying that the sheer beauty of the CL network lies in its diversity, and that diversity needs to remain, including any booking/payment arrangements. Some CLs will be extremely popular, booked up well in advance, not easy to just drop into. We know, we used one such for 12 years running, booking the next year dates as we left to ensure we got a pitch. Others, such as the little hidden gem we are on at the moment, operate totally differently, we haven't paid a penny yet, but owner is trusting us. 

Hi

Whilst I completely agree that a shop and a CL are different, the point I am making is that it is the policies of a business that encourage people to use it. If you were confronted with this policy would you think, 'Blimey, that's a bit harsh, they have plainly had problems' or not ? Would you also think that they suffered from a lot of cancellations, and wonder why ?

It seems to me the OP is counting her chickens before they have hatched, by confusing bookings with turnover. Only money in the bank counts, not promises. This leads to people talking about turnover lost, but it isn't lost, as they never actually had it in the first place. No money has actually been taken from their bank account. Imagine a builder going home to his wife and saying that's a lovely £25k extension job we just got, who gets a phone call the next day to say the client has changed their mind. Would he write a letter asking for his money, and if so who would actually pay. That's a bit tongue in cheek, but you get my point. When booking a package etc, the company have often transacted on your behalf with a third party, say a hotel, and that is why they take a deposit. Also you have to consider what is relevant. Many people talk about paying the full amount, and yet having not used the water, the electric etc it isn't the full amount that the OP missed out on, but the profit portion of the stay. Surely taking more than that would be a poor way to treat your customers.

I suspect running a deposit taking system will then provide it's own set of issues, that the OP will end up wondering if it was really worth it.

Finally, the more posts I read, the less I understand the issue. The overwhelming majority appear to be happy to pay the full amount,regardless. Wouldn't it therefore be best to contact no shows and politely ask for the money. Just about everyone seems to say they will pay, in full, without a quibble, so surely getting 90% + of the money, without the hassle of having to run a deposit scheme is a better option.  Unless of course there are actually many who won't pay, in which case you come back to my point, would you keep or lose their business ?

Continued...(blasted time out!)

Personally, our plea is don't impose blanket booking/payment methods on CLs. The last thing they should become is mini Club Sites, not a good business model anyway.

Surely each owner is best placed through experience to set their own policy, something ranging from up front no refunds, to pitch up, owner will call! They will both work, providing the initial guidance to members is clear at the time of booking.

I do think that if somehow possible, those serial offenders in terms of late cancellations/no shows should be recorded, reported to the Club and some form of action taken. They do it because they can on Club Sites, without any serious penalisation, and are treating CL owners the same, with much greater consequences.

To be honest we don't  use a lot of CL'S but those we have used have not asked for a deposit.

I find the t&c's of this CL a bit off putting. We tour with our van as we like flexibility so tend not to book to far in advance. I'm not in the habit of paying in advance for campsites and avoid doing so when ever possible. I am not keen on paying on arrival either but that is the way of the club so have to live with it.

Much prefer to tour across in Europe where one can arrive, check it out first then decide if going to stay or not, then pay on leaving. Wouldn't  happen in UK of course but it works fine over here.