"Club" membership and CT

Ug! If I was considering rallies then this description just confirms my worst fears.  Dinner dances!!!  How 1950s is that. Socialising - yes.  Organised party games, definitely not.

They have no interest for us either, but a lot do like them and in that respect I suppose the organisation still functions like a club. Don’t the participants get concessionary rates? I think it is admirable that the CAMC still continue supporting such events. However, in other respects and certainly in relation to how we use their services it is a purely commercial organisation. Although it’s a shame it can’t act more like one. Website turned off just after 10 pm last night and not back up until around 8am and not a word of warning or why. Hopefully it didn’t catch anybody in the middle of a booking. The Nat West always tell me and they don’t usually go down until 2am.

Not all rallies are such😁 Never done a Club rally (although seen a few), but we used to do an Off Road weekend rally every year. Took both van and tent, thoroughly good fun. Mud and mayhem and lots of laughs by day, then good music, shared beers and trying to rebuild broken Jeeps by evening🤣

Lots of rallies involve like minded people sharing a common interest/hobby, coming together to have a lot of fun that is safely organised and well run. Some activities need lots of folks as well to be a success, and are a huge change from the quiet, peaceful holiday choices we usually make. Sometimes they are nothing more than a cheaper rate for something you like, which again makes sense. I never took a ball gown, hard to hang it up in a tent😁

Steve, it's another example of camc's shabby treatment of members/customers.

Rallies vary greatly and if some enjoy these aspects because they can keep up social contacts and have friendships then this is something to be commended. The club has always encouraged social contacts, much the same on here too.

There are families with children who enjoy rallies, I can think of the family Christmas rally at Hillhead, I think party games are part of the fun provided. All on a volunteer basis.

However I would like to think the club supports all their loyal membership so I think they have been lacking in communications in general especially on the web site. It has been very disappointing to see Trust Pilot and Facebook used as the communication channels rather than the main web site or even the magazine where blandness reigns supreme. 

It would be great to see a general update area on CT, updates often get lost in individual sections.

Yes SteveL. If you stay with a club rally on a site you will generally pay a lot less for the same facilities! And no-one has to participate in any of the activities.

PS we have just missed out on £10 ( ehu) per night Cornish rally with the opposition, on a good site too. It's fully booked as many are already this year.

We joined the cub in 1991, after buying our first van following years of tent camping, to be able to use RP.

Our first rally was in 1995 after buying a new van and it was, like many experiences, enjoyable but not without fault, in our eyes.

We have enjoyed many rallies over the years and they are as varied as the people who take part, and the extent to which they interact-want to just get a bargain pitch on a decent site, no problem-but want to be fully involved, again no problem.

We continue to be club members to be able to rally and, whilst the massive discounts on ferry/sites are no more, we have saved nearly £100 on this years trip booking via the club,so that's a benefit as well as is the ability to use the CL network.

Many years ago, when we were boat owners, we used to Rally with the IWA (Inland Waterways Association). Whilst those rallies obviously had a social element they were more about campaigning to save the waterways. I suspect Club rallying is somewhat different? The main point of them seems to be the "Social" aspect rather than touring, it is the latter I am more interested in. It would be interesting to know whether the people that run the Centres and Rallies feel they get enough support and encouragement from the Club? Perhaps they do but not being involved I have no idea. Club members are strange beasts as on the one hand you have those involved with rallies, perhaps nearer the origins of the Club and those that just use the Club's sites and beyond wanting a nice campsite and an easy booking experience really want no further involvement. Many, from observations on site, don't want much interaction with other members! I am not sure it will happen but perhaps the Club need to be more customer focused rather than we know what's good for you, take it or leave it? Perhaps they can get away with it because of the "Club" aspect where the Club Committee rule supreme? 

David

Removed by me 

+1

I've said this before the treatment of 'members/customers is poor in terms of communications and the way in which the booking system was introduced, not to mention the early faults in the system. 

But the treatment of members or customers (whatever one prefers, I don't think it matters) on actual club sites, and the standard of the sites is still very good, and while this continues then people will 'tolerate' for want of a better word the shortcomings. That's not to say I don't want things to improve.

In fact when I'm on a site all appears great with the club