New Booking System

Posted on 22/09/2022 08:15 by Bene

At what point would it be reasonable to expect a formal acknowledgment of the concerns that people are experiencing when trying to navigate the new website?  With all due respect to Rowena, I suspect she is not a particularly senior member of the hierarchy.  If she is monitoring the discussion and transmitting the feedback upwards, who might we expect to come forward and own these problems?  Or are we simply being left to sort them out ourselves with creative work-arounds?  

Posted on 22/09/2022 09:48 by wedgy

FYI nowt was done due to unforseen major medical issues at home. I have to prioritise my time but will eventually sort a new thread 

I don't appreciate your attitude at a time like this 😡

Posted on 22/09/2022 09:56 by SteveL

I took nellies comments to mean nothing was done about the original thread that ran and ran. Not to do with setting up a new one.

Posted on 21/09/2022 13:12 by peedee

Too many cancellations is what really did it not the minority of complaints which simply helped to highlighted problems. Just in case some have not been observant this is what the Club said:

Why has the Club introduced deposits?
Back in 2018, to improve availability for all members, we changed the way we put pitches on sale to enable you to always book at least a year ahead, all year round. This new system has proven very popular, with over one million nights already booked for stays in 2022!

We’ve now introduced deposits coupled with cancellation terms and conditions as the next step to improving availability. This helps address the rise in cancellations, which has been a growing problem that has increased in recent years.

In a normal year, we were seeing over 25% of all bookings being cancelled (that’s over 950,000 cancelled nights...every year!)
Of those cancelled nights, over 25% were made within four days of arrival, so it was very difficult for other members to take advantage of the newly vacant pitches.
And it wasn't just a small minority of 'block bookers' who were cancelling, almost half of all members who made a booking each year made at least one amendment or cancellation too.
As you can imagine, a lot of members all cancelling a few times a year soon added up! After reviewing the market, speaking to members and looking at other campsite providers, the best solution to reduce speculative bookings was to introduce a deposit system. This reduces the number of speculative bookings and creates more availability for members.We know plans sometimes do have to change, so if you cancel or amend your booking at least 21 days before arrival, your deposit will be fully refunded. This will give other members enough time to make a new booking and take advantage of the newly available pitch.

Club members and staff have worked together to create this new approach, and we’re all confident it provides all members with more availability and an easier booking experience.

So far it appears to be working because there are plenty of pitches available after May2023 even on the popular sites.

peedee

 

Posted on 22/09/2022 10:00 by wedgy

You may be right but not what I saw at  stressful time. 

Posted on 22/09/2022 09:49 by SteveL

Experience shows that we are likely to end up sorting out most problems for ourselves. Yes major failings will eventually get sorted, but more minor niggles will just get left and we will have to work around.

If I look at my Telegraph App there is a report a problem function. Click on it and it brings up a form with all the details of my device and operating system and a box to describe the issue. This is the same for several other Apps but I can’t find anything on the CAMC one. If they were really bothered about sorting things they would have an easy “report a problem” function on both website and App versions. The fact they haven’t says it all really.

Posted on 22/09/2022 10:04 by JVB66

It says25 percent  of ALL bookings were cancelled then goes on to say and 25percent of those were within 4days of the booking as many have said it just needed the 72hrs cancellation period extending to the 21 days as now 

Posted on 22/09/2022 10:15 by Takethedogalong

You can make statistics justify anything you want to change things. I would be more convinced if there were later take up of pitch figures alongside to be honest. That’s 99% of our Club Site stays, and I know there are others like us.🤷‍♀️ 

But, it’s a done deal now. Club and Members have to live with it.

Posted on 22/09/2022 10:31 by DavidKlyne

If they had done that it would have just moved the problem back by 18 days? OK you could argue that it would allow more time for the cancelled pitches to have been resold but it would not solve the problem. What the deposit system does is make people think very carefully about whether they will genuinely take up the pitch and want to invest in the deposit many months in advance. OK there will still be cancellations but hopefully many less than under the old system. 

I appreciate that this thread has been used as a vehicle to reignite the debate over deposits but we all have to accept this is the new system and other than minor tweaks it is not going to change. I think it would be more productive to now concentrate on the useability of the system rather than trying to rewrite history?

David