Burrs Country Park CC site , warden from hell ............ (1 Viewer)

Adbt

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We returned from the cricket at about 9 p.m and saw that an A Class Carthago was parked outside the site ( Slovakian plates ) . We asked if everything was OK and the driver ( male with his family in tow) said he hadn't booked onto the site and was running very late due to border delays and just wanted to use the late arrivals area through the barriers prior to hopefully booking for a few nights . I said I'd asked the wardens. ................BIG MISTAKE................. I pressed the out of hours bell ( which warned me it was for emergencies only , there's me thinking that a foreign family 700 miles from home with nowhere to park up for the night was an emergency . )
The warden warned me as he left his enclave that this " had better be an emergency " , I explained the situation and his reaction was callous to say the least , he said they should of planned better and he had no intention of helping them out , what an appalling attitude .
We went back to the Slovakian family and asked them if they had enough of everything , water / food etc and explained that the warden wasn't prepared to help them .
Made me ashamed to be English TBH . What an awful man .
 

lorger

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Im sure the family will appreciate your help, I would email head office in the morning they might not do anything but at least it will highlight the issue. Also mention to the others to email about the way they've been treated .

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Khizzie

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Im sure the family will appreciate your help, I would email head office in the morning they might not do anything but at least it will highlight the issue. Also mention to the others to email about the way they've been treated .
Yep email CC ..the man wants booting out .also write in letters page of magazine.....post on face book as well ..
 

DBK

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The wardens of course have no interest in attracting customers. It's just a job to them. Of course not all are like that by any means but it does happen.

The late arrivals area should be outside the barrier. Bit pointless if it isn't.
 

Ivory55

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Or may be the warden has had a really bad day and was well pissed off before you rung the bell. But then nobody on fun has a bad day and it's perfect all the time. The weather has been very hot and I bet a lot of tempers have been frayed over the last few days
 

Gorse Hill

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Or may be the warden has had a really bad day and was well pissed off before you rung the bell. But then nobody on fun has a bad day and it's perfect all the time. The weather has been very hot and I bet a lot of tempers have been frayed over the last few days
Maybe he did have a bad day but manners cost nothing
 

lorger

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Or may be the warden has had a really bad day and was well pissed off before you rung the bell. But then nobody on fun has a bad day and it's perfect all the time. The weather has been very hot and I bet a lot of tempers have been frayed over the last few days
your perfectly correct he could have had a bad day like we all get at times, surely though he could have mumped and moaned about them arriving late and then let them in. Its not like they arrived at midnight.
 

vwalan

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cause it could have been they stopped outside last night and werent around during the day . but came back again in the evening knowing there is no entry after 8 o,clock and was really hoping to stay outside another night .
is there signage out side that explains all this . there might be .
mind i,m in cornwall its nice here .

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Bigmomma

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So the OP had a very enjoyable day out, which is of course what they should be doing if they are on holiday. The 'Warden from Hell' however had probably been working for the usual 11-12 hours day for a consecutive number of days and is surely entitled to 'time off', or should they be expected to be 'on duty' for 24 hours !! I believe that all CC Sites accept arrivals up until 8pm every day, seven days a week, but if a 'customer' phones in advance to explain that they have been delayed, due to traffic problems, accident or breakdown, the site will usually be more than accommodating. Did this family have a booking ? did they phone ahead to see if there were any vacancies ? Did they phone to say they were on their way but had been delayed ? I believe Burrs Country Park is North of Manchester, so which border crossing were they delayed at ? If Dover, the only delays that I am aware of, then why didn't they stop at another of the numerous sites across the Country much earlier ? Surely this would be the 'responsible' thing to do if they had a 'family in tow' ?

The person who has posted this already states that they knew the 'Out of Hours' bell was for Emergencies but still rang the bell anyway !! How irresponsible was this !! How could this have been an emergency, the Original Poster has stated that the family were in a 'A' Class Carthago, which from my knowledge of Motorhomes is fully kitted out for travel with a 'BIG' onboard water tank, toilet facilities, shower/washroom, cooker (Gas), large fridge, leisure batteries to provide more than enough on-board power etc, so what exactly constitutes this as an 'Emergency' ?

Finally, it seems to me from their own admission, that it was the Poster who approached the family and not them pleading for assistance.
 
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Hi.
On a site at Belchenblick Staufen ?.Black Forest. 3 Gypsy c/vans came in about 21.00 hrs. It would appear that in some areas,after a certain time,you cannot turn people away and leave them at the side of the road. Could be he/they thought this happened in England. However,this does not excuse the wardens lack of charity. Guess we stand no chance,with a Renault PVC. LOL
Tea Bag
 

Bigmomma

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Quite possibly, but at what time would you suggest that such charity should finish ? 10pm, 10:30, midnight or should this Warden be expected to be on duty for 24 hours a day. I believe that not all CC Sites accept Non-Members so what happens then ? Perhaps CC members should be canvassed to see if they would pay more on their Membership Subscriptions and/or site fees to pay for Night Duty Staff ?

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Doesn't surprise me at all - I joined the CC for one year but the attitudes and stories about it meant I never renewed membership...
 

Franck

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Sorry but it's a business like any other. It just happens to have the word 'club' in its title. It's a bit like expecting Marks and Spencer to open the door when I ring the bell after they've closed for the day because I've run out of biscuits. The hours of opening are clearly displayed.
 
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Adbt

Adbt

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:groan:

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Minxy

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The late arrivals area should be outside the barrier. Bit pointless if it isn't.
Totally agree .... what the heck is the point of a late arrivals area which you cannot access if you arrive late!

Whilst I have sympathy with the warden being disturbed when he's off duty his attitude was already bad judging by his mutterings that it had 'better be an emergency'! All I can say is thank goodness it wasn't a real emergency as I certainly would not have wanted someone with that attitude trying to sort something out for me!
 

TheBig1

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Quite possibly, but at what time would you suggest that such charity should finish ? 10pm, 10:30, midnight or should this Warden be expected to be on duty for 24 hours a day. I believe that not all CC Sites accept Non-Members so what happens then ? Perhaps CC members should be canvassed to see if they would pay more on their Membership Subscriptions and/or site fees to pay for Night Duty Staff ?
I take it from your first posts on the forum, you have a vested interest...maybe even a caravan club site warden
 

Bigmomma

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I find some of the responses in relation to this post quite interesting. Lots of judgements being made without actually knowing if their are any other facts that may be relevant to why the Warden reacted in the manner that they did. From my own experience of using CC Sites I know that not all actually have these Late Night Arrivals areas and where they do, I have heard 'stories' of people turning up deliberately when the office is closed, plugging in to the EHU, using the on-site facilities and leaving 'early' before the office opens without paying for the use of such facilities. I have also heard 'stories' whereby 'Customers' have rung the 'Emergency Bell' because they have lost the code to the door to the Laundry !! Perhaps the solution is to just leave Barriers Open at night and let anyone arriving late free access to the site, I for one would not be happy at that lack of Security but I guess we should all be much more trusting. It does also make me wonder how many people would be charitable enough to work a long day, finish work and then be happy to be called out some time later for an 'Emergency' only to discover that it wasn't really an Emergency, and, how many times would it need to happen before we got a bit fed up of it. Did the Original Poster mention how many 'false alarms' the Warden had reacted to that week or month, of course not, that wouldn't be Cricket now would it
 
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Can't see that being stuck outside in A class is an emergency. We arrived late at Alderstead heath a few years ago, parked up outside and waited till the morning. If the wardens are expected to let in every late comer, they would be working past midnight.

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Bigmomma

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Or maybe even the warden in question ?
Let me tell you a story................

I had been on duty all day until 8pm, doing what I do in my usual friendly and helpful way, emptying bins around the site, cleaning the toilets and showers, cutting grass and hedges to keep the site looking good for the comfort of all our customers, even helping some without motor movers to pitch their vans, providing information on local walking routes, bus timetables etc. and even at the end of the day, walking around the site and delivering barrier cards to 'customers' who had 'forgotten' to return to the site office to tell us what pitch they were on, all in a day's work. At 8pm that evening everyone who had booked onto our site had arrived, the computers were closed down ready for the following busy day, the safe was all locked up and the office was secured. Now we could go off duty, prepare, cook and eat our evening meal, the main meal of our very long day. Then we washed up and got our showers before hopefully spending a couple of hours relaxing before going to bed prior to yet another long and busy day. At 9:20pm my mobile phone rang, it was my mother, very distressed, informing me that my father, who suffers with Vascular Dementia, had been rushed into hospital with a suspected stroke. They discovered he had Pneumonia along with several other infections and that he was very seriously ill. Due to his condition he was unable to eat or drink and was far too weak to undergo surgery and that they could do nothing other than to make him comfortable and let nature take its course, he was dying !! At 9:25pm, whilst trying to console my mother and get as much information as I could, the internal Emergency Bell sounded, I told my mother that I was sorry but I had to go as I had to deal with an on-site emergency. When I got to the gate of my compound I saw two people stood at the office door, I shouted across 'Can I help you' to which they responded, "I know it's not an Emergency", to which I responded "Well I hope that it is". Now you know the rest of the story, and yes perhaps I was a little brusque in my manner for which I do regret in hindsight, however, your "I know this isn't an Emergency" and my real time personal Emergency were on different levels of urgency. I know that you could not have known what was going on in my personal life and I appreciate that you were trying to be a Good Samaritan, however, rather than go onto a public website and incite the kind of hatred shown here, you could perhaps have come into the office the following morning and stated your displeasure, at which point, having been able to explain 'my dilemma' you may have had a much more understanding opinion. I have a very pleasant, helpful demeanour, I have in the last month dealt personally with two real 'Emergencies' on site, both out of hours and both requiring urgent attendance of the Ambulance Service. I have helped customers who have locked themselves out of their vehicles and I go out of my way to go that extra mile, however, in one evening you have managed to make me look like an unpleasant ogre. I hope you never have a bad day yourself !!
 

jumar

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There you have it.......both sides of the story. Let the Jury retire to decide.
 

sdc77

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Well...
Cc and CCC wardens can have reputations as sticklers for rules for sure. Some have even been known to be a little rude too but one of the reasons were members is because of the rules. The security and organisation ... pitch sizes and cleanliness.
It's a fact that wardens are only available for emergencies in the evening and also that the late arrivals area is inside the barrier for hook up.. (you can often park outside or nearby without hook up). Late arrivals as far as we've experienced is by arrangement only.. that's a simple phone call to let them know you'll be late for your booking.
This wasn't an emergency by any means
It seems the foreign motorhome were fine before the op spoke to them.
If they had just driven from Dover they would have had plenty of 12v power left and I can't imagine water or food were an issue.
I'm on the side of the club and its rules here
It's not a 'charity' issue

I've seen what the poster @Bigmomma has posted. . (I wish your father well) and that really confirms my view that this incident was caused by the op ignoring the club rules which are quite clear and making out that a safely parked A Class motorhome couldn't survive for a few hours without EHU .. which is obviously not an emergency.
I am a CC (and CCC) member and this incident isn't going to change my views of the club(s).

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