Price drop on over 1.5 million pitches

We’ve never stayed on a commercial site, in fact to be honest, I am not sure what a commercial site is. (I think of them as being places like Haven, the big East Coast sites with hundreds of pitches?) We have used a good few small private sites, run by either one family or as an individual site rather than part of of a group such as Haven for example. We have happily left a sometimes un asked for deposit with these to show our commitment, but have found most very accommodating if we have wanted to tweak our dates, with no penalties incurred. Same with cottages we have booked. Hence we have never used holiday insurance, other than knowing it was there as part of our Bank account type. Only holiday we had pre booked and paid for in full was on a CL, one we used on a regular basis, and on the single occasion we had to cancel, we were reimbursed for each night the owner managed to relet. We didn’t ask for or expect more.

The new booking T&C’s might seem generous to some, but sadly not to us. I don’t wholly blame the Club for what has been put in place, they may have had no choice with number of no shows or very very late cancellations, but I do think the main driver has been income generation rather than membership satisfaction. Maybe the vast majority of Members now have what they wish for from the Club, and are happily satisfied, folks like us after 30+ years of enjoying the previous set up are just collateral damage, and in numbers small enough to be discarded. We are happily adapting easily to different choices that are working out well for us. 

TDDA, to find examples you need to look at somewhere like Morris Leisure (who have six sites, I think) and see how professional but less regimented these types of sites can be...

yes, they have t/c to protect themselves against non arrivals etc but they can also be far more flexible than a club site....open to a phone call to arrive early if possible (we rang a site a couple of days ago to see if we could arrive early as we were only staying one day and wanted to get the most of the last day of Southern sunshine)...yes, no problem...

they also have clear 'seasonal' pricing and no frills offers when they come round...the 3 for 2 nights at Morris Leisure is across all their sites and runs from October till March...see photo and look at the the amount of discount compared to the Club offer and the 'daily' price that means for a top class site...£23 for a HS incl wifi, leccy etc..

they also are generally more staffed up with customer facing elements open for far longer, have far more facilities...check Swiss Farm in Henley against the club's Four Oaks site...similar price but one a big notch up on the other...pool, restaurant, bar, large shop, ANPR entry and exit, totally separate MHSP away from other traffic and near exit😉, closer to town than HFO etc, pitches in small 'enclaves' of 6 vans all separated by hedges etc...no 'race track' road system so pitches are quieter despite being a large site.

Yes, Haven etc are 'commercial' sites but there are many others that are just independent of the major players.

we stayed at one on the south coast recently so off peak, and we paid £50 for two nights across a weekend, got a 'late stay' till 4 pm, right on the beach etc

Like you, we are happy to chat to site staff to get the most of our time and almost all are happy to accommodate reasonable requests for (perhaps) and early arrival or late stay, if possible.

good luck. 

I haven't used a CAMC site for over three years. They will have to 'up their game' a whole lot more to lure me back.

TDA

When I mention a commercial site I mean any proper campsite which is not a Club site, CL/CS or a pub carpark. So any campsite that charges you to stay there is a commercial in my view. Doesn't matter whether its one of the excellent Morris Leisure sites or a site with 10 pitches with minimum facilities. They are in business so therefore commercial. You may find the odd one here and there who maybe happy for you to book with just a deposit but all of the mainstream sites I have been interested in also want payment upfront before you arrive on site. 

David

David, generally you're right but there will always be exceptions...

Our 'goto' small (25 pitch) commercial in the New Forest doesn't require a deposit nor even payment on arrival...cash, transfer whatever 'when it's convenient'. Of course, we and our pals are regulars there and this might make a difference.

the commercial we used on Tuesday night was 'pay when you get set up, no rush'...

there are so many different options these days, no real 'default' choice... commercials vary from Haven (rack em and stack em in the summer, but a 'haven' of calm and cheap as chips out of season) to tiny sites that are almost largish CLs.

we use another commercial in Devon which, in summer is pretty manic (not for us) but after the peaks we've sometimes been almost the only tourer yet the wonderfully modern facilities and HS with wifi are just the same when we pay around £15 a night as when the 'peak' visitors pay £50.

The Morris Leisure sites always look nice. We almost stayed at the Ludlow one a few years ago, but found a CL not far away. 🙂 Their 3 for 2 offer would suit. 

I suppose we don’t tour like many Club members, booking well ahead, staying for quite a while in one place, so we don’t seek to secure the dates or sites. I will pay a bit more attention to T&Cs if we do pre book something.🙂

Did spot that there are ten consecutive nights at YRP yesterday. All dates say low, but never seen that before. We passed Castleton site yesterday, around half full. I think there will be a bit of a MH backlash in Castleton soon though. Around 18 pulled in off road at bottom of Winnats Pass, and when we got to top, near Blue John Mine, around another 10 just setting up for night. Everyone behaving though, some overseas outfits. Heck of a walk  back from nearest pub😁

I’m quite puzzled by your constant comparison of site prices. The thread is about camc price reductions which I would have thought you would welcome. Why not embrace that for what it is?

We all know alternatives exist but thanks for reminding us👍.

Regarding YRP, I think I posted recently it was all full so I assume it's just one, maybe two cancellations. 

Of course MH might be off site at Castleton? 

The CL up the road wanted £25 a night, ML worked out at £23👍

OT but speaking of heck of a walk, we visited a well know 'attraction' and walked from the nearest site, pretty well all on roads...did over 30,000 steps, phew!

TW, dont threads morph along and I was responding directly to DK and TDDA.

folk are discussing what difference the lower prices might make and how they now compare to the competition, a valid theme I'd have thought?

You don't have to read the posts and they certainly don't require you to comment unless you feel the need.

others are allowed to respond and engage in 'conversation' but I don't see you pulling them up🤷🏻‍♂️