Cancelling a CL booking at short notice.

I think this is very true re serial offenders, but I must admit I had always presumed that the same rules as applied at CAMC applied at CL's, and that a late cancellation would result in contact from the club etc etc

I would have thought many experienced CL owners would have a list of serial offenders, at their site, near the booking diary, with an appropriate means of dealing with them !!

I'm sure 99% of members don't book with the idea of cancelling so I'm not sure that draconian methods need be applied.

It would be interesting to hear from CL owners what % of booking end up as cancellations or no-shows.  Those that have high rates of cancellations may feel the need for deposits those with low rates may decide to leave as is.  

I know for sure if someone wanted 50% or more as an up front non returnable deposit they won't be visited by us.

One reason we use Club sites is the ease of altering or cancelling a booking.  We always book with the intention to travel, but with advancing age, health problems can get in the way.

When looking at CLs, we would not book one that required a deposit if we were not 100% certain we would be able to start the trip, or indeed book any CL if we might have to cancel at very short notice.

This trip we had to leave booking till the day we actually went away due to a Dr appointment that day, so missed out on a couple of the CLs we had in mind.

I can see that this is a tricky issue for CLs.

Slightly different, but the other problem we find is that it is often not easy to make a booking, or just initially  to find out whether  there is availability.  I wish more CLs had a booking website, or even just an e mail address.  

I wish CL owners with email addresses would check and reply on at least a daily basis. Many don't so I prefer to ring.

Yes that too! Ringing is fine, unless you get an answering machine......and still do not hear back.

At least an e mail can give you some proof of booking, and something to refer to later.

No reply to an answering machine message or an email means I go elsewhere. I know I'm not alone so it's something CL owners might like to think about. 

As a CL owner, it's extremely encouraging to read the majority of the responses on this thread.  

I'm delighted that most Members seem to appreciate the difficulties CL owners have when faced with a 'no show' or 'late cancellation' and that most members taking part in this discussion would offer to compensate an owner if they had to cancel.

I have some facts to share that may enlighten the debate.

Firstly though, I need to point out that the policy posted by the OP does NOT apply to the OP's own CL near Lincoln.  If you look it up,  the policy (in italics) comes from a popular & award-winning CL in Cumbria, which no doubt can afford to be fairly 'robust' in their approach.  It might not suit many members, but it seems to suit them..    The OP goes on to specifically asks "Do CT members feel this is an extreme policy or is it a fair one?"

Onto some useful information to assist this discussion.

The Club's Policy for cancellations (to my mind) doesn't make it clear that it specifically relates to Club Sites.  In my view the policy could be clarified so that Members don't assume the same rules apply to CL's.

A growing number of CL’s are investing in Booking Systems.  This helps Members looking to see availability and then book without waiting for a busy CL owner (who may be getting his harvest in) to reply.

However, even with a confirmed booking in writing and automated reminders, it still seems that some members forget they have booked, turn up at the wrong CL or simply change their plans at the last minute on a whim.

The effect of a late cancellation on a CL is threefold;

1. They likely lose 20% of their expected income - unless they can re-sell the pitch very quickly
2. They are involved in additional admin / marketing effort to un-book and then re-sell the pitch
3. They may have denied another Member the opportunity to book that CL.

In August the CL Owners Group conducted some research on this topic.  90 CL owners took part..  

• 65 CL’s reported that they had had cancellations or early departures where no compensation was forthcoming.  Of those 65, 44 CL’s reported in detail on 71 different booking cancellations.  Those  44 CL’s lost a total of £5,584 and in total 464 pitch nights.
• 43% of the 71 cancellations were attributed to Illness or bereavement, 13% due to mechanical breakdown, but 41% were because the Member had forgotten about the booking (see OP), or left early because they didn’t like the Pitch.  
• In most cases the Owners were left entirely out of pocket as the majority (67%) had not taken a deposit.  Some attempted to recover some ££ through politely asking the member concerned, but had nil response.  

The Club has been asked (July 2017) to assist CL’s to address this issue by recording the names of no shows (as it does with Club Sites), but citing both ‘resources’ and ‘data protection issues’ the Club has declined.

The Owners Group will be seeking assistance from the Club to address this issue in other ways, perhaps by drawing up some common-sense guidelines that we (Member and CL Owners) can all agree on that reflect much of what has been said in this thread.

The group will continue to monitor this issue. We are encouraged that Members realise we are small businesses, trying to cover our costs whilst delivering a valuable network across the UK where members can stay.

Hi Cholsey Grange

'As a CL owner, it's extremely encouraging to read the majority of the responses on this thread.'

I would point out that as far as I'm aware, every post has been positive in their view of CL's, and that those who have suggested keeping the non deposit aren't necessarily people who just book regardless, with no care as to if they use it. They appear to be people who like and use the CL network and want it to continue, but value its flexibility.

I think it is important to remember that you are using the CAMC to access its members, with a view to promoting and selling your sites. I understood that you only allowed members of the CAMC on site. Surely it's not unreasonable of those members to view you in the same way as the CAMC with regards to its booking systems. I presume that those CL owners who wish for a deposit system would still want to promote themselves through the CAMC, but that is a bit cake and eat it !

You are at the sharp end, and presumably via your group, would know if CL's charging deposits have increased, decreased or kept the status quo with regards to their overall bookings. I think people on here who are suggesting keeping it as it is, are merely suggesting that it could decrease visits overall, as they would look elsewhere. 

Remember that many 'vanners, by their very nature, like the freedom it provides, because otherwise they would probably book hotels, cottages etc.

As a regular CL user I don't want to upset any owner, but sometimes you have to cancel due to unforseen circumstances. This happened earlier in the year with ourselves whereby stays at 3 CLs had to be cancelled within a month of departure due to my MIL having an operation and us needing to care for her. We did give the owners as much notice as we could and lost 2 deposits, which I thought was fair, particularly as one was over a Bank Holiday. I offered to pay for the extra lost days but the owner declined saying that 3 weeks notice should be sufficient for re-booking.

I don't think there should be hard and fast rules as most members that I come across are quite fair and don't seem to play the system in the same way as you find on CC site bookings. I can quite understand it if the CL owner kept a log of frequent cancellers and refused them entry but agree with a lot of posters saying that the wording in the OP seems very heavy handed and would put me off going to the CL.

Thanks, Cholsey. I realise it's not Nicola's site we're talking about but this is very much a sounding board exercise.

I also realise that CL owners have other strings to their bows and I don't expect an instant response but some are extremely tardy at replying.

Personally, I have no problem with paying a deposit, or fees up front, but please see my post at the start of this thread pointing out that trying to extract payment from a no show is unworkable if that person refuses to pay. I reckon you need a black list available to all CL owners.