Caravan Club and grilling (1 Viewer)

[Techno]

The diagram used by CC for pitching up is a GENERIC image from Dicks days before motorhomes were conceived and is not meant to be so literally interpreted. It is just showing the vehicle position in relation to the peg.
I guess that CC don't think it necessary to do a drawing for every circumstance. Does your motorhome have a draw bar on the front for example NO so not applicable

 

[Larrynwin]

I reverse in and move the peg to suit , sorted

 

[Techno]

I reverse in and move the peg to suit , sorted

Living dangerously Larry The warden knows where the peg lives as there is a more solidly fixed marker driven in the ground where it should reside. Borrowed time there

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[iandsm]

It is like a frames, grey waste, a class, coachbuilt etc.. You takes your choice, if you dont like CClub , dont subscribe and dont complain!

I would have thought that having paid a membership fee of £46 to become a member for a year, a member is perfectly entitled to complain about aspects of the club, they belong to, to whosoever he wishes. There is nothing wrong with complaining about poor service or staff when one is a paying member. Similarly, nothing wrong with complaining about poor food and service in a restaurant. I don't subscribe to the British tradition that when asked if everything is alright, I am duty bound to say, oh yes it's lovely, when it may not be.

 

[TheTwoOfUs]

I didn't realise that the price of a pitch was based on the weather. In that case should we have expected a refund for the time we had a stream running through our awning after a thunderstorm in Spain.
We have also been on sites in Germany and Italy which were barely large enough to get our motorhome and trailer on. The toilet facilities on most sites in France don't come anywhere near to those of the CC. And the further south you go the less grass you have. We still love going to the continent, despite their sites, not because of them.

 

[Eeyore]

I don' t particularly like being parked so close to someone that I can hear their conversations. I put up with it on aires etc because there is an unwritten but usually observed rule that people on aires don' t disturb their neighbours. This isn' t always so on campsites.

Club wardens ask you to keep a set distance from your neighbours partly for fire safety reasons but also I suspect so that the inevitable person who turns up with big rig, massive awning and 4x4 doesn' t overwhelm the VW camper in the next pitch. While they are not usually bothered too much if you are not dead centre on your pitch they can, if the need arises, invoke a rule and prevent pitch hoggers doing this. Some sites do have smaller areas and, if people park haphazardly then there will be conflicts so the wardens do have to ask people to park in a certain way if necessary.

Only where a site is full have we not been given a choice of pitches. On sites where we have had a pitch allocated before we arrive I can' t think of a single time when we have not been able to move to one that we like better with no fuss or bother. Indeed, we have often been told that pitch x has been allocated to us but if we don't like it then make our own choice. I always go to the office and ask first rather than simply moving and then telling them.

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[Bobby22]

The OP , in my opinion, is right to air his views about poor reception from wardens. It can make the difference between a good or bad visit.

If the CC have problems with members abusing memberships then they should deal with it.
To be stroppy at reception is unacceptable, these people are up to speed with all the booking procedures, not every member will be up to speed with the ins and outs.

When you arrive, you want to be put at ease to enjoy your stay, not made to feel your cheating the system and stealing.

Join the C&CC and visit the THS and meets....the wardens here do it for the love of it and are always welcoming and friendly and make the start of any visit a pleasure.

 

[OllieUK]

When I see a warden walking around a site stopping children doing things wrong, or telling drivers to slow down as its 5mph inside the camp, reminding pet owners their dogs should be on leads etc, we all appreciate they are doing their job, making the site safe for everyone to use and enjoy. There are of coarse people who think rules do NOT apply to them and take umbrage when questioned or reminded of the rules.
If I had a bad experience with any organization I would stop using them the only person that would effect would be me. It's called cutting your nose off to spite your face.
All of the wardens and their staff on all the sites I have stayed on have been polite, helpful and hard working.
Would I recommend the Caravan Club sites to people.... Yes definitely and too be honest I would also recommend C&CC sites, CL's and wild camping.

 

[Shrimp]

We went to York CC site, quite a few years ago now, the wardens there were definately not in the business of being pleasant!
We pulled up and a chap marched up said "driver stay there, passenger go into office" there was no welcome/hello/smile.
I went into office and had a grilling from the female half. Apart from anything else she wouldn't listen/take in that our van is a 'lefty' so the Hab door is on the other side!
We did stay but it was more like a boot camp than a holiday.
We've stayed with the CC as the CLs are great and the bods that run the THS are brilliant, the last one we went to was on the banks of the Avon at Evesham and the organisers had only just got back from France 2 days earlier but it was all relaxed and happy.

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[Judge Mental]

again..its not a Club...Clubs make you FEEL welcome!

al I can say is that some peoples expectations are very low indeed!

 

[peterc10]

Maybe if all the rule breakers were banned we would find booking easier

Andy, the only way to make booking easier on CC's site is when they start insisting upon deposits. Was a problem 30 years ago when I was a member and still is.

 

[Cobweb]

We do not spend a lot of time in this country but when we get back it is always a relief to get a decent size pitch and good toilet block when on a CC site . We have not encountered a jobsworth warden in the 14 years we have been members quite the opposite..... always service with a smile .

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[peterc10]

Wardens are people, and people are people. I don't believe that all of them are jobsworth devils, although a few may be. And I don't believe all of them are guardian angels, although a few may be.

 

[MattR]

The last time that we stayed on a CC site, the warden tried to make us pay for damage to the electrical hookup unit behind our mh; it was leaning over, probably after being hit by a reversing vehicle. I told him that it was like that when we arrived. He said that it wasn't. I asked how I had managed to do a bodge repair on it using gaffer tape splattered with mud that had dried in the 10 mins since we arrived. The conversation ended.

Unrelated to this, we did not renew our membership; the membership fee and higher cost of the pitches per night compared to other sites that we used wasn't worth it for us.

 

[9526]

We're in the CC purely for the CL's

Our son is in the forces and there are always several CL's near his bases which allow us to have 3-4 weeks a year near him at a tenner a night.

The site near his current base is £30 a night so it's a no brainier really.

In our opinion there is nothing worse than your average CC site - awful places.

As they say though, each to their own.

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[Robert Clark]

We're in the CC purely for the CL's

As they say though, each to their own.

Same here
It makes the membership fee worthwhile even if you never stay at a club site

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

If you only use CSs, there is a way to get 2 years membership for the price of one - but maybe unwise to give details here.

 

[Robert Clark]

If you only use CSs, there is a way to get 2 years membership for the price of one - but maybe unwise to give details here.

Could you please PM me the details ?

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[Sphgmo]

We have been CC members for over 40 years and I regret to say that in that time have met a number of ill- mannered,, churlish and discourteous wardens.
By the same token we have met some good ones- but the C & CC ones seem to win hands down for a friendly welcome.
On the whole commercial site ones have been the best. Maybe they are more aware that their income can be at stake.
As one of my good friends says, going into the warden's office is like being summoned to the headmaster's room.

On arrival at a site I take a deep breath, get all the paperwork and membership cards ready and go in with a friendly smile.
Twice I have been told "oh dear, we haven't got a pitch for you. The one that was reserved for you has not been vacated"

At one site I urgently needed to use the van's facilities so I asked my wife to do the booking in.
She came out of the office astounded.
She could not believe the way that the female warden had spoken to the man in front- even getting to the point of slamming her hand down on the counter.
Many of our camion friends, nice- friendly easy going folk- have encountered the same problems.

I could write many words about the issues for which I have been told off.
Sometimes you do wonder who is the club member.

But we stay with the club because many of their sites are in good locations- the standards of cleanliness are good- and maybe we are just sadists and gluttons for punishment.

 

[weejohnw]

Having moved on to Glenfield near Leeds and experienced a warm welcome, we then moved on to Witches Craig near Stirling in Scotland....again we were met with a warm friendly welcome and again clean facilities at a reasonable price - apart from the leccy which had we needed it would have been 4 quid a night. But the attitude in both these sites was a stark contrast to the aggressive behaviour my wife experienced for the CC site in Wales. It was a case of being welcomed as guests as opposed to "I'm in charge here and you'll adhere to everything I tell you." Witches Craig supplied a written leaflet with expected behaviour, but no one here had to behave like a prison warden to enforce them.
CC over and out.

 

[Lenny HB]

In our opinion there is nothing worse than your average CC site - awful places.

Totally agree, can't relax on them you might get told off for crushing the grass with you feet, I have vowed never to stay on one again.

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[jimlagos]

Reading all of these comments, I'll never stop in UK for my tri-annual holiday. One day getting to Dover, and crossing to France, then I can relax and start enjoying my tour of Europe. No expense either. Free Aires and cheap fuel let me explore all of mainland Europe. Winter is reasonable in France too. A surprising number of Aires let you use free electricity which runs my little fan heater for free.
It's a pity but Britain doesn't give a feeling of welcome. Too many "you can't do that here" people for my liking!

 

[Mags52]

I've just read the whole thread and it seems that several people have never had a problem with a CC warden. That's great but it doesn't make it any better for those of us who have been at the wrong end of a warden's bad temper. When we were tuggers a warden waited until we had the awning up before telling us we were 4 inches to the left of the marker and really he should have told us to move. However, out of the goodness of his heart he let us stay there but move the car into the car park. Eventually we saw the funny side of it. One of them gave us a telling off for being an hour later than our 'estimated time of arrival'. In my opinion the issue isn't the club per se, it's the lack of training in customer service. Once a person working with the public gets defensive it's all down hill.
Slightly off topic but yesterday having lunch in a busy hotel restaurant the couple in the table next to us got angry because they'd been kept waiting for 40 minutes for their food. The head waitress was clearly having a bad day and we watched her bodge the whole thing up by being defensive. It came over as surly and indifferent to the customers and they asked to speak to the manager. If she'd been trained to approach them differently it could have ended so much better for her as well as them. Yes the wardens have a difficult job, yes their customers can be rude and obnoxious but they still work in customer service and need to know how to leave the last interaction behind them and treat every new customer properly. We've stayed with the club because a couple of our favourite places are on the network and there are no nearby alternatives but I've had to take deep breaths a few times when spoken to like a naughty 12 year old before I've even finished booking in.

 

[Lenny HB]

One of them gave us a telling off for being an hour later than our 'estimated time of arrival'.

You were lucky they let you in.
At the Winchester one, on the way there we got stuck in a traffic jam for over an hour, tried phoning the site at least 7 or 8 times to let them know we would be late, but they don't bother to answer the phone and no answer phone.
We arrived at 8:08pm, warden was standing outside the office, I walked up to him and said "good evening I'm sorry we are a bit late" couldn't believe the reply, he looked at his watch and said "you are late you can't come in" a total arsehole, then his almost human mate took over must have seen I was about to explode and directed up to the late arrival area outside the gate and said you can use that EHU it was at least 50m away (good job we didn't need it). Also at that site a urinal was leaking in the gents took a pee and washed your shoes, obviously been leaking for some time, if they can't repair it they could of a least put a sign on it, showers were small and none too clean.
CC sites not a place I would want to spend my holiday.

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[sdc77]

We were at one once ...
[[Insert bad thing]]
[[Confirm future non attendance ]]
Or
[[Cancellation of membership ]]

We were at one once
The place was dusty and surrounded by fences with security
We will not be attending again as we couldn't relax
In fact we might cancel our asci membership



Oh wait..

 

[weejohnw]

Isn't it strange that when I put this message on this forum to highlight the dreadfully rude manner manner in which my wife was treated by a jumped up s**** in a logo outfit, there are those who actually defend them!!!!
Yes wardens can have a difficult task at times - but we are not rude and when "dealing" with folks in a service industry - just like someone on a till in a shop - a smile can often brighten up someone else's day!
However I am complaining about dreadfully rude and aggressive behaviour.
If you have never experienced this, well that's great - however we did and it was dreadful and a sharp contrast to the friendly cheerful welcome we received on two other sites.
I can remember a union rep attending my place of employment some years ago to try to resolve a dispute between to members of staff who took a dislike to each other - they went into the meeting to try to resolve the issue but emerged with this bit of advice - "In life there are times when you have to put up with being treated like a piece of s***, but don't ever allow yourself to be treated like a piece of s*** by a piece of s***!"
The manner in which my wife was treated reminded me of this.

 

[sdc77]

I think you'll find no one is excusing rudeness to your wife. Quite the opposite. But other members are putting their alternative or similar experiences across which seems fine on a public forum?

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[chaser]

The main problem , as I see it , is that most of the members are caravaners and have never been to other sites or abroad and they think this sort of thing is the norm and they just put up with it year after year and are sort of drawn into this way and get to be that way themselves , reporting little things to the warders, and disapproving of anyone who might not fit in with their ingrained ways.
Motorhomers who want the free life style that their vehicles are made for are better off staying well clear of cc, ccc, in fact if anyone has started up with a van and stayed at campsites like these and think that this is motorhoming it could put them off for life.

 

[weejohnw]

Well I have voted with my £££££'s and cancelled CC membership.
Rules are rules and they are needed - however the delight in which some enforce them is beyond belief and OTT.
Perhaps pumping membership fees and profits into warden training might well be money well spent. - although---
However in the case of this particular character - there's an old saying - "what do you expect from a pig only a grunt" and there's only so much training can achieve - it cannot change character!!!

 

[Popeye]

but I've had to take deep breaths a few times when spoken to like a naughty 12 year

So nicely put Mags, however customer care isn't all about training, it's more about an attitude to fellow humans. Training can help with a skill deficiency or a knowledge gap but it rarely helps with attitude.

Having said all of that if training helps the individual do there job role more efficiently then that same person should have more time to develop better people skills.

I haven't met a bad one yet but they obviously do exist, I find it is my attitude on arrival that promotes a less than confrontational attitude in others....... I'm a Happy Camper.

Edit: weejohnw has just written this.... there's only so much training can achieve - it cannot change character!!!

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