Posted on 06/11/2021 09:02
Hi everyone,
Not sure if it’s just me but since starting caravan life I have found one site which is busy most of the time and this site is chatsworth park. What is frustrating is you can book space here well in advance but noticed that people release their booked space indicating that they only booked in case they want to go. Maybe a small deposit would stop the crazy booking system.
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Posted on 09/11/2021 10:20 by mbee1It's the "looking elsewhere" bit i don't understand. If you go to a commercial site or C&CC you would have to pay a deposit and either take the booking or lose the deposit. What's the difference if or, possibly, when the CAMC introduce deposits?
Posted on 09/11/2021 10:30
Currently the C&CC charge £25 deposit. Plus we get age related discount much of the year, saving around £8 a night. You were talking about a deposit of at least £50. At the moment this club is our go to choice of the two. If the deposit is £25 that is unlikely to change, although as we have to pay a deposit anyway, if two sites were in the same area the C&CC would probably win out if age related discount was available. If the deposit is double the C&CC my bookings will reduce dramatically.
Posted on 09/11/2021 10:32
"and as afew it seems would like non returnable deposits it would have meant we would have lost deposits' on five bookings"
JVB that's a choice you make. Using club sites where you know you currently don't have to pay a deposit is using the system to your advantage just like I book some weekends that i know I may not use. There really isn't much of a difference. If it was run on a proper commercial footing you would have to pay a deposit and either use it or lose it.
Let's say you didn't have a caravan and booked a cottage. You wouldn't expect to book it without paying a deposit and potentially forfeiting that if you didn't go. I don't see the difference.
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Posted on 09/11/2021 10:33
It’s going to be a big change JV for people who tour like you. You spend lots of money with the Club, but probably can’t afford, or don’t wish to afford losing a lot of money due to circumstances beyond your control. Not sure if holiday insurance would be easy either. Lots to think about.
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Posted on 09/11/2021 10:34
Deposits are a problem only to personal cash flow if one is able to take up the booking in full. However, if one cannot make use of the booking and money is forfeit, then insurance is a very sensible precaution.
I would be most surprised if "The Club" was not to offer cancellation insurance should deposits be introduced. Remember, insurance can be very lucrative and it has happened that businesses that were trading very well have gone bust simply because they made little profit on the day-to-day activities and did not make money selling insurance based on that activity.
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Posted on 09/11/2021 10:30 by SteveLCurrently the C&CC charge £25 deposit. Plus we get age related discount much of the year, saving around £8 a night. You were talking about a deposit of at least £50. At the moment this club is our go to choice of the two. If the deposit is £25 that is unlikely to change, although as we have to pay a deposit anyway, if two sites were in the same area the C&CC would probably win out if age related discount was available. If the deposit is double the C&CC my bookings will reduce dramatically.
Posted on 09/11/2021 10:39
I still don't understand your rationale of why the level of deposit should make a difference. You said the CAMC would be your choice so, if you know you want to go to a particular site and you're going to honour that booking, why does it matter if the deposit is £0, £25, £50 or pay in full? You've admitted that, where there are two sites, one from each club, in the same location, you would probably save money using the C&CC especially with the age discount
The only reason i can think of is the possibility that you might not take up the booking and therefore not lose anything.
Posted on 09/11/2021 10:27 by GTP(Cant believe that we can be mentioning “holiday insurance” etc... to pitch up somewhere in UK for a few nights away. World’s gone mad🤪)
TDA..Unless you are referring only to club sites....that is what is recommended, and has been for quite some time, by most commercial sites when you book....some even offer their own package...on average £10-15 per stay.
Posted on 09/11/2021 10:05 by mbee1Take Chatsworth as an example. We had 9 nights there at the end of October (generally half term week and the second week of the Nottinghamshire half term as we get two weeks). As everyone knows Chatsworth is always full according to the website apart from an odd night here and there.
I'd have a walk out about 10.30 pm to take the dog for a last walk and it was never full. On a couple of nights there were 3 super pitches empty - something almost unheard of, in addition to standard pitches. and this was during half term. On one night I counted 6 empty pitches! This is unheard of at this site!
Empty pitches at a site like Chatsworth I suspect is down to no shows rather than cancellations. Deposits, as long as they're meaningful, would stop that.
Posted on 09/11/2021 10:43 byWhen I collected my new van from a dealer I booked onto a nearbye club site for 3 nights. I would estimate the site was between a third and half full. As we had parked under a tall tree and rain was hammering on the roof when it fell. I asked the warden for a move out into the open. His response was "we are fully booked tonight but will see what I can arrange".He did but It was still less than half full next day and the day after.
Posted on 09/11/2021 10:42 by TakethedogalongYes I was thinking primarily of Club Sites, and of course it’s standard for cottages etc....
But I just find it crazy that a patch of land to stick a van/tent/camper on has come to this. 😂
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