Booking ahead is unfair at some sites

Fully agree with that, our usual pattern is midweek to midweek. During the week I'm one of the youngest but during the weekend I'm the oldest!

And +1 to the rest.

with pitches only being returned to 'stock' 72 hrs before being due to be used, it's more likely they will be snapped up by those who have the time to 'keep an eye on' the late availability...that won't be working mums and dads...

Certainly happened when I released two days of my Chatsworth booking (a good four weeks ago)...snapped up on same day. Looking at Chatsworth for next year , w/e are almost fully booked..as are full weeks as weather months improve.

Some eagle eyed posters may know that Chatsworth is virtually our back garden..so why should I stay there..simple, we meet up with friends who have come to tour in the area...

FYI...walked in the park Friday to have a pre opening visit (Yesterday) of the Xmas market. Looks good..Hard standing 'trackways' and car parks better organised this year. £10 per car in the week , £20 at the w/e.

 

Two solutions to the Chatsworth situation - put the price up for that site,  or restrict the number of bookings per year at Chatsworth that any one member can make. Or both.

That’s three possible suggestions to run alongside deposits, and you can bet the Club are mulling over all three😉

Restricted bookings for certain Sites

Premium price for certain Sites (I suspect this is in use already)

Premium price certain days of the week, and certain times of the year. (Already in use, but it’s termed mid week discounts, and high season)

All the above are common to a lot hospitality businesses. The Club is unique however in that it needs to retain its core Membership, those that have supported it through thick and thin, whose fees have helped keep it going through difficult times, and then trying to build on newer, younger Members who they can rely on for the future. Both are needed, and need to respect each other’s contribution. 

It would be interesting to know how many members book multiple times at the same site throughout a year, especially the honeypot sites like Chatsworth? Perhaps there should be a limit, perhaps no more than 3-4 times a year on the really popular sites. Whether in reality it would improve availability for the likes of the OP I don't know?  

David

 

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OK this is off topic I know, but I am amused at the notion of Chatsworth being a "honeypot" site. It is seven years since I went to this site and, unless it has been markedly improved, I have no plans to return. I just re-read my review of the site (I stayed on a super pitch) and it is one negative after another. The only positives in my review were the friendly wardens and Chatsworth House - the latter nothing to do with the club. If I want to visit the house again or the various events they hold, I am fortunate to be able to do it as a day trip from my home. 

On the topic: I find the OP confusing. If all he wants is deposits then I agree 100%. If there really are more than a very few who will stop using CMC sites because of deposits, which I seriously doubt, then so be it. Hopefully that's more space available for the rest of us. But no one has mentioned the headline to the post, wherein the OP describes advance booking as unfair. This implies that busy sites (or even all sites) should not have advance booking. I think we must all agree that that would result in chaos and is surely impracticable.

Some of the criticism of the OP, especially early in the thread is unfair and unkind. If he is recently joined, he has a right to be disappointed at the difficulty in finding pitches.

Premium price for certain Sites (I suspect this is in use already)

I don’t suspect, it is.

Prices for next years summer hols (one night on standard pitch) for 2 adults and 2 children:-

Buxton £41.6
Castleton £46.6
Chatsworth £50.3

 

"But no one has mentioned the headline to the post, wherein the OP describes advance booking as unfair"

I did near the start of the thread. I took "unfair" to mean not being equitable to all members and that is far from true as we all have the same opportunities to book.

However, I agree that, if the OP is a new member, he/she may indeed have been disappointed with the short notice choice available but will be more able to select early in future now he/she knows the ways of the club - new systems permitting, of course. I hope he/she fares better in future.

I may be wrong but I can’t help feeling that the OP may well have heard the term "speculative booking" from someone else and assumed that to be the case at Chatsworth. We all know there are many reasons for cancelling and we have no way of knowing how many bookings were cancelled way in advance and the pitches rebooked to the benefit of people like the OP. 

Maybe the way forward is for the club to charge non refundable full price for all weekend bookings, to also include just the weekend part of full week or longer bookings. In that way any weekends booked would be serious wants for a break and not just maybes, it does seem to be the weekends that cause most problems. I’ll duck now while people post that this is unfair to anyone who works. In my view it isn’t and obviously something does need to be considered now that there are more members all looking to book.