New booking system with deposits

Posted on 13/08/2022 06:48 by peedee

I don't think the Club will lose money, all it will do is change members booking habits to making bookings to nearer the time unless there is a very positive reason to make the booking much earlier. In my experience with the C&CC that seems to be the pattern and it has even been possible to get bookings within the week of arrival at three of their sites I used this year. Two were full and the third only had grass none electric available during my stay.

I have just paid the full price to a commercial site for a stay. If it turns out I cannot honour it, I will be looking to my travel insurance to recover most of the loss as I do with any other type of holiday where payments are required in advance.

peedee

 

Posted on 12/08/2022 20:32 by DavidKlyne

Surely the whole point is that you have a choice? I am puzzled why anyone books so far ahead (the exception might be a special occasion like a wedding)  The evidence suggests that a lot of sites booked so far in advance are cancelled under the current system which restricts availability. The hope is that deposits will solve that issue. Whilst I was happy with the old system I can see that the Club were unusual in not taking deposits as the majority of campsites do. Additionally other than the other Club most campsites insist that they receive the full payment 4/6 weeks before arrival. On that basis the CMC and C&CC are quite lenient in what they do with regards to deposits. In order to make sure we got away more this year than last I booked a lot of sites earlier in the year, both Club sites and commercial sites. I got my fingers burnt when I had to cancel a commercial site because I got COVID. As I had paid in advance I lost £175 with no prospect of getting it back. Even with a deposit the CMC are still offering a fairer deal in my view.

David

Posted on 13/08/2022 07:10 by MikeyA

I find it ironic that you wonder why Briang books so far in advance then you admit to booking "a lot of sites earlier in the year" I don't think we have ever booked a site more than two weeks in advance, frequently days in advance. Maybe we are wrong, who knows. 

Posted on 13/08/2022 07:10 by MikeyA

I find it ironic that you wonder why Briang books so far in advance then you admit to booking "a lot of sites earlier in the year" I don't think we have ever booked a site more than two weeks in advance, frequently days in advance. Maybe we are wrong, who knows. 

Posted on 13/08/2022 07:29 by peedee

Holiday insurance is worth having but you are unlikely to be able to recover the full amount because of the excess charge or have you found one that does not charge?

I did say most of the loss DD. The excess is £50.

peedee

 

Posted on 12/08/2022 20:50 by

As you say Steve they have lost their USP and I'm at a loss to understand why they have gone down the deposit route 😕.

Posted on 13/08/2022 08:47 by cyberyacht

As I have posted a number of times previously, if it was to address the 'speculative booking problem', it could have been easily resolved by requiring all members to register a debit/credit card with the club noting that a late cancellation/no show would result in the card being debited with a penalty charge. The cancellation period should have been extended to 14 or 21 days. Deposits would then have probably been unnecessary and saved a lot of IT disruption that CAMC have clearly struggled with.