CLs - no membership card = no stay

We have run our CL for 10 years and always take membership numbers and full contact details when members book to stay on our CL.  As explained in a >separate discussion<, we see this as part of our ‘duty of care’.   

Most guests book in advance, but we have had the odd occasion when a van turns up in an evening without a prior booking.  We ask for membership cards, and if we have a spare pitch, we take details and gladly welcome them.  Occasionally visitors have not been able to produce valid membership cards: as a CL Owner I do not have a Caravan Club phone number to check their membership validity outside CC Head Office hours. 

We have turned-away those who arrive unannounced without a membership card.  It might be tempting for CL Owners to take their money -  turning them away means a loss of business – not just on the night, but we get a lot of repeat visitors and if they are genuine members, we could lose their future business and goodwill as well.

This might seem harsh, but we have a responsibility to the Law (Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960) and a duty to the Club and our fellow members to ensure that they have exclusive use of our CL.  I am a caravanner and Club member and I strongly believe in the exclusivity of the CL network.  This is what we pay-for when we join.

The ability to use CLs is an exclusive benefit for Club members.  To put CL Owners in an awkward position is not good for our business and no fun for the genuine member has inadvertently left their membership card at home, having travelled a long way.

I suggest 2 ways forward:

• CL Owners being allowed to enrol members on the night (perhaps with a ‘temporary membership’ status) – I’m told that the Caravan & Camping Club allows enrolment via their equivalent CS network and even pays the CS Owner a small contribution to cover admin costs – this would be an incentive to increase membership.  The Youth Hostels Association works in a similar manner with ‘temporary membership’ for those who have forgotten their membership cards.
• The CC introduces an out-of-hours telephone number for CL Owners to check membership details.  There are two potentials options for this –
  • using a call centre.
  • asking wardens of Club-owned sites to take turns to man a central out-of hours number.  The central enquiry number could be switched-over when Head Office closes each evening.  With over 200 Club-owned sites, this out-of-hours duty would come round less than 2 days a year for each Club-owned site.

Ian Kelly

www.BirchHill.co.uk

Birch Hill Farm - an award-winning Caravan Club CL in the beautiful lake-lands of Shropshire - exclusively for members of the Caravan Club