Booking ahead is unfair at some sites

Chatsworth Site is what it is. If you want to look around the house and estate, got your own tourer, and don’t live close by, it’s possible a cheap way to visit. 

We wanted to visit Forde Abbey, Somerset, which is a long way from where we live. I found a nice CL, serviced pitches, loo and shower (clean and modern). We could have easily cycled to Abbey from CL, only a mile or so. That cost us £18 per night. You can tour a whole lot cheaper, even in this country, September if you want to do so. That was our dearest nightly fee over three weeks touring, lots of other options cheaper on the doorstep of what we wanted to see.

The Club charges prices some Members are happy to pay. Other Members, like us are going elsewhere. 

The whole point of the Chatsworth site is that it gives easy access to the Chatsworth Estate. Now for those that live reasonably close by, the simple answer is a day visit. However for those of us that live over a hundred miles away a day visit loses its attraction. Staying in the motorhome, even at what some would consider inflated prices is still cheaper if you have to factor in staying elsewhere and paying to park plus the fuel used to get there, it is just not worth it. I perfectly understand those that suggest the site is not a holiday destination but I suspect most people that stay there stay less than a week. It's horses for courses. I love the idea of having my personal key to the Estate. The Christmas displays in the house are very well done and the gardens are lovely. A couple of years ago we took my son's in laws, from Brazil, and they loved it. They drove up from MK for the day and we stayed at the site. I guess our visit was much more relaxing!!  

David

You might not be able to view bookings on the C&CC web site but as an IT guy you'll know they'll be in your e mail confirmations. Amending bookings with deposits is another ball game and requires another set of parameters. When I've needed to amend bookings and move a deposit a phone call is easy enough.

What might be interesting with CAMC is the availability of contact time, will it be normal office hours, weekends etc.

What might be interesting with CAMC is the availability of contact time, will it be normal office hours, weekends etc?

What's going to happen during Bank Holidays weekends, Easter, Whit,Christmas etc?

Also might prove rather time consuming. We have only changed one booking with the C&CC and it took about 10 minutes, including getting connected. If we need to amend an up and coming tour, due to say a vehicle issue, we might have 10 to 15 bookings that required changing. If it’s like the C&CC you can’t just keep the deposit to use later, it has to be used against another booking. Wether you could combine several deposits to pay for a future booking, I don’t know, as that would speed things up.

What ever happens, it’s going to make a simple system that works well for most, a lot more complicated to administer.☹️

Ive mentioned before about how some leisure businesses 'do support' differently to the Club.

to me, closing the main office at weekends and Bank Holidays is just so poor, these days.

having experienced a real requirement for help when ferries were being cancelled left, right and centre due to CV, I was delighted that at 6 pm on a Friday night (with us chasing across Spain to clear the French border) an informative message to call back on Monday wasnt what I wanted to hear...

well done Brittany Ferries for getting in touch separately....

+1, the world & life goes on 24/7 any business that wants not just to survive but to flourish needs to get with the programme. No room for dinosaurs in the 21st century, good point BB👍🏻

...it's not only the 'support ethos' thing, as CR mentions above, if this system is going to be subject to big changes to accommodate the deposits thing then we all know how much extra support is needed....not only for customers but also the system operators themselves...

of course, they might have gone out into the world, had a long hard look at how 'everyone else does it' and bought a market leading package?

less and less bespoke stuff being developed these days...the trade off is usually innovation and specific functionality against ease of support and 'commonality' with everyone else...

Thanks Rocky..............seems my days are up then 

The comet ain’t after you, relax👍🏻😊