New Booking System

Yes it certainly was but there is still a huge difference between club sites and others, as been said there is no full payment till (the day) of arrival, you will get your deposits back under what are really very generous terms to other comparable providers and where you would very probably by 21 days before the holiday have paid everything and could lose everything.

There are still advantages to the club's offering, and of course not the least of which are the sites themselves. 

I thought a lighter look at the topic might be in order … judge for yourself!  😊 

A CAMHC Executive Committee meeting sometime in early 2022 in deepest East Grinstead.

CHAIRMAN – Right Jack, I see you’re next on the agenda, “Changes to the club UK site booking policy”.  That old chestnut.  What have you got for us this time?

JACK – MARKETING DIRECTOR  - Our members have had it too good for too long sir as we’ve discussed many times. No other organisation in our market offers deposit-free bookings and a mere three day notice for cancellations.  There’s no easy way to say this – we’re scrapping it and replacing it with a 20% deposit paid for at the time of booking and increasing the notice period from three days to three weeks!

CHAIRMAN – But Jack, that then, as you marketing folk would say, removes our USP – our “Unique Selling Proposition”.  We’d be no more than a booking site – no clear advantage over any of our competitors out there.  I know it would help increase cash income by ensuring members were forced to fill our sites that they’d booked come rain or shine or granny’s funeral but let’s remember, they are “Club Members” after all. We should be driven by what’s best for them. What possible reason can we give them for it?

JACK – We’ll tell them it will increase site availability.  Now you know and I know the improvement will be marginal and will not come close to the downside of reducing their flexibility but we’ve been training our call centre staff for six months to repeat the “Better Availability” message and most of them can now do so without even the slightest giggle!

CHAIRMAN – I don’t buy it, they’re be uproar when we launch it. They’ll be no hiding it.

JOHN – HEAD OF IT – That’s where my team come in Mr Chairman.  We’ll announce the change to booking policy at exactly the same time that we launch the new Website Booking System.  But what we’ll do is throw some well aimed spanners into the new booking system.  It will be the booking system from hell.  Alan Turing himself wouldn’t be able to work his way through it!

JACK – That’s right.  They’ll be such a commotion about the IT system that most members won’t see that we’ve craftily changed the policy as well.

CHAIRMAN – Brilliant – when do we launch? April 1st?

JACK – Even I think that may be a bit obvious. Sometime in September perhaps – on your birthday sir?

CHAIRMAN – What a lovely birthday present! Done!!

What happens if I cancel due to illness?
The Club will sensitively manage cancellations due to exceptional circumstances.

 Sadly, I expect now that the estate of the member who booked will receive no refund at all for the booking and certainly not for the unused portion of the year's "membership".

Likewise, Timbo.  Apart from the main summer holiday, we tend to book last minute anyway, so barring a real emergency, we don't cancel.

....and I also, if I was going to roll out a new system, September seems to be the best time to do it, at the end of a season, when there are fewer bookings.  Hopefully giving the space to address problems with the system.  However, it is unfortunate this has coincided with a hike in prices generally (electric, gas, fuel etc), and therefore folk are going to have far less cash available for leisure activities.  As a result, I would guess that there may well be less folk getting away, so it could well be be easier to get a pitch, for those able to take advantage of an autumn break.

The thing I am really pleased about is that we can now book a surface type (Ii.e. grass or hardstanding etc)...  another good reason to roll this out in September, now that folk are less likely to want a grass pitch, or as sites begin to close down grass pitches, because of more unsettled weather.

David

I was on site when the new system was implemented and was really scared that all my forward bookings were lost. The site staff couldn't even find us as members. 

Since then I find the new system very hard to use. When previosuly it was possible to track through a few consecutive months to find availability, can't seem to do that now. Also feel that compared to some really good commercial sites I know the deposit, at 20%, is way over the top, as is the 21 days before cancelllation policy. What, for example, happens to the deposit for a winter booking if there is heavy snow?

We have been members for 25+ years, but are now seriously researching commercial sites. The one 1/4 mile down the road from the CAMC site we were on was £20 per night, as compared to £37, the site was well kept and the spacing etc. acceptable. . 

Depends on CL DK. If it’s one that’s been stung by folks not turning up, they may have a deposit policy in place (and can’t blame them). We find it tends to be the one’s that have invested lots of money, and are busier, so they don’t want no shows, quite rightly.

We have just sorted first five nights for our next tour, no deposits required, and we are averaging £11.20 per night so far. All HS, two no hook up but last one has showers, loos, wifi and HS with hook up. Couple more site to find now for last part of tour, but we are in no rush to finalise, will do it while away.

I think there are a few CLs that operate like your example, seems a fair way of doing things if it’s a busy CL. 

pleased about is that we can now book a surface type (Ii.e. grass or hardstanding etc).

It is not CAN but MUST.

We're more interested in the location of the pitch we use and its outlook than the surface as we have the equipment and experience to live on either surface.  Yet we must book a particular surface many months in advance and then have to sit on it even though there are many much nicer pitches of the other type lying empty.

Good luck with that one. The Club can be very hard nosed at times, and I strongly suspect that the first question asked should anyone seek to get a deposit back inside the 21 day cut off will be “did you take out holiday insurance?”  And of course we know who can provide holiday insurance don’t we? (Other companies available).

I might be convinced to change my views once folks come back with tales of how helpful the Club were, and how easy it was to get a deposit refunded inside that 21 days, but until then, I reserve judgement. 

Winter bookings? Bad winds, snow, ice? My advice is don’t book ahead, wait until you get closer and and can view a weather forecast for coming week. Sites are usually only busy Xmas week. That’s why the prices are sky high.