How do you feel about paying a deposit on CL site

Yes we hope so TF as well. Caravanning has evolved so much since we first started 30 plus years ago, and people require so much more on the whole nowadays. It must be a fine line for a lot of CL owners, balancing expenditure on certain aspects over income they hope to generate. I have to think that location is still the prime consideration though, somewhere pretty and well maintained, with lots of things to do and see will probably still thrive with few add on extras such as Ehu and maybe HS. Our favourite CL has nothing more than a tap, waste and EHU, but to guarantee a pitch April-Oct we always had to book a year in advance. Others we have visited have lots of extras but are no where near as popular. Very difficult sometimes for CL owners to know just what to provide. We always paid up front for our stays as well, happy to do it as we never changed our plans.

Years ago the Caravan Club used to charge a deposit for all sites whether a Center rally, a CL or main site.  There was never an issue of no shows, nor of multi booking then cancelling just before departure.  The system worked very well!   

Charging of deposits on rallies and for CLs is and always has been at the discretion of the centre committees or CL owner. Since the club stopped charging deposits for their sites cancellations and no shows have gone down.

I think that CL's are the jewel in the CC's crown and we do need to do everything in our power to keep them happy.

For most of them the season will be very short and their ability to make a reasonable income from their investment in time and money very limited,  For that reason to lose just one out of the five permitted is an immediate reduction of 20% of income. Not good!

For that reason alone I would support the request for a deposit system.

The maximum of 5 rule is very limiting for site owners, and as I understand it, it is based on the law rather than an arbitary club ruling. If that is correct, then the law would have been formulated many years ago, - long before the surge in Caravanning and the annual seasonal pressure on sites.

 Perhaps now is the time to pressurise for a change in the law to allow perhaps up to 8-10 vans instead of 5.

TF

The problem with campaigning to up the limit is that, given the general antipathy towards caravans amongst the general public (and politicians) due to the association with the traveller community, any change may remove the excemption altogether. There would actually be a high risk that trying to alter the law would be counterproductive.

The 5 van limit also does serve a purpose for some people who like the quiet of a small site. These people would not be in favour of increasing the limit.

On the whole, I think deposits on CLs are not a problem. Slightly different scenario for Club Sites. We had a couple of interesting conversations yesterday with two sites, both reasonably close in area we want to visit. Both were fully booked for one of the days we needed. The first we tried, an AS site, took deposits. We asked what was the likelihood of getting a cancellation, answer was "none at all, because we take none refundable deposits, and people nearly always turn up." We contacted Club Site in same area, no deposits taken. Same question, "yes, more than likely someone will not arrive or cancel late if weather is poor, shouldn't be a problem getting the night you need". We have booked Club Site. 

We used to pay a 10 pound deposit per booking for cc sites,as for paying a deposit on a cl why not.

Whilst I don't have a problem with C/L's taking deposits, particularly for peak periods when they need to maximise their occupancy, I think there is an aspect to this issue that hasn't been addressed, namely whether the CL is actually suitable for the unit.  Allow me to explain.

We tour in an 8m long motorhome, hardly an unusual unit. 

On a number of occassions, having phoned in advance to check availability and ease or otherwise of access, we have met with problems when we arrive at the C/L.

We've met low trees; narrow gates off narrow lanes; pitches no more than 6m long with a hedge at the back; and diagonal pitch slopes that totally defy levelling in a motorhome.  And then of course there's soft ground. 

In every case the response has been on the lines of "I didn't think you meant that big".

I'm not having a go at C/L owners, the vast majority of whom do an excellent job and are not in it for the money.

But there is definitely an education issue here. The Club C/L inspectors need to make sure site owners are aware of the size of many modern units (including some twin axle caravans).  If the site can't take the unit, that's fine.  Just please don't say it can when it can't.

It's bad enough having to move on and find an alternative site in those circumstances.  If a deposit had been taken based on assurances given at booking, then I can see some quite unpleasant conversations becoming necessary to get a deposit back.

We have been to a few cl sites that we would not attempt to get in narrow lanes with hedges hanging over the lane. To my mind the inspector's are not looking at the bigger picture how to get a combined length of 40 feet down these narrow lanes and narrow gateways. Sorry to go off the subject but carrying on with the latest thread 

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I think you are correct AD, we remember Club Site deposits being £5 per booking, which was a rather paltry sum in terms of the total amount of the booking overall. But back to CLs, personally we are happy to go along with whatever the CL owner decides is best for them to manage their site. If it is a busy, popular site where a no show would cost money, then charge a deposit. If it is a quiet, can nearly always get a pitch CL, then we will just take pot luck and either book late or just roll up and enquire.

We always research new to us CLs carefully, and nearly always phone and ask relevant questions, such as access, ground conditions, and we use Google Earth etc... To try and work out what to expect. Must be more difficult though with larger units. But if a bus, bin lorry or artic can get in, then we will give it a go! 

We've only been asked for deposits when booking in advance for peak periods eg. Cornwall in July/August and I certainly didn't have a problem with that. Neither would I have a problem with paying deposits for weekends etc either - for what we pay and what we get in return its a no brainer - long live the CL.