Caravan & Camping Club - 3 nights minimum stay policy (1 Viewer)

[TheCaller]

I thought this issue was just my rotten luck and limited to certain sites.
Now I know it is policy I have just phoned up and cancelled my renewal for next year..

I believe it is only certain sites & at certain times of the year. I have certainly stayed on C&CC site for just one night lots of times. If I'm on my own, with age concession, I nearly have enough change from a tenner to get a beer as well.

The club's duty is to its members. That means that having as many pitches occupied for as many nights as possible. Keswick is almost always oversubscribed & I imagine the planners are against any expansion - National Park & all that. So they have to adopt a policy that maximises pitch use - which the three night rule achieves. Yes, it's tough on those only wanting one night but it means that the pitches are fully used.

You could argue it the other way - if they said that you could only stay one night, then the maximum number of individual members would get to stay on the site, but anyone wanting to stay the weekend would lose out.

Just goes to show that with a limited resource, you can't please everyone!

 

[New Dawn]

I agree with the "rip off Britain" theme. Perhaps a system, as we have pointed out to C.CC of adopting a deposit scheme of say 50% on a booking , non refundable. It's the case then of "use it or lose it"
There is going to be cases, such as medical emergencies etc, where there are genuine reasons for cancelling. But certain, that some form of scheme could be put together to alleviate the minimum term syndrome.

 

[Jaws]

I agree with everything you say Caller.. If it was just the three night thing then membership would have been renewed.. but as we do not actually make any use of our membership it is a bit pointless to continue.. Should the need arise we shall rejoin as I have no real issues with CCC at all ( other than lack of use by us )

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[scotjimland]

I agree with the "rip off Britain" theme. Perhaps a system, as we have pointed out to C.CC of adopting a deposit scheme of say 50% on a booking , non refundable. It's the case then of "use it or lose it" There is going to be cases, such as medical emergencies etc, where there are genuine reasons for cancelling.

The C&CC operate a 'deposit system' and have a cancellation policy ..
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What is the Deposit Policy?
The deposit policy is 25% or £25 per booking.


What is the cancellation period?
To be fair to all members, the cancellation period is 30 days so that the Club has enough time to make any cancelled pitches available to other members who may wish to camp at those locations. The Club will continue its policy of flexibility and understanding when extenuating circumstances necessitate a cancellation.

What is the cancellation policy?
To be fair to all members and non-members, the cancellation period is 30 days so that the Club has enough time to make any cancelled pitches available to other campers who may wish to camp at those locations. The Club will continue its policy of flexibility and understanding when extenuating circumstances necessitate a cancellation.

 

[New Dawn]

@ScotJimland. Oops I stand corrected. Having not joined the C.CC until Late on, I must get my secretary to go through the fine detail.
I sold my complete set of encyclopaedia brittanica last year. "As wife knew everything". Clearly Not !!!!
Thanks Jim.

 

[scotjimland]

I must get my secretary to go through the fine detail.
I sold my complete set of encyclopaedia brittanica last year. "As wife knew everything". Clearly Not !!!!

maybe it was down to 'user error' ?

or you were thinking of The Caravan Club who don't have a deposit scheme

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[New Dawn]

@ScotJimland. Yeh, think you maybe right !!! "User error". Having said that. Due to age thing, don't "user" that often now. It may have been CC was thinking of.

 

[Nel]

I was just going to tell them when my renewal came up that this was the reason for not renewing. I have seldom been successful in getting on their sites for odd nights and I think their booking site is outdated and cumbersome as well so I just stopped using them. However,you are the better man and I will stay with them for now and hope that you get the support you need to encourage them to keep a few one night spaces for us travellers.

 

[Sphgmo]

Sadly I think the term "The Friendly Club" has become a misnomer.
I thought that the were supposed to have an ethos of being a "touring club".
Their wardens (HSMs) are usually very friendly and helpful and we like a lot of their sites which are less of a "car park" than some of the CC ones.
The problem seems to come from the top where they give the impression of having changed from being a club to being a business mainly concerned with their finances.
They ask for a £25 deposit per site and so if you are touring using their sites you can run up a substantial deposit.
If, for any reason, you have to cancel your bookings with less than 21 days notice you can lose the lot.
We found this some months ago when my wife had a tooth extraction and had nasty infection. They would not even allow us to save the deposits by rebooking for a later date.
A friend had a similar problem when his father was rushed to hospital with heart problems (later died).
I was talking to some HSMs about it and they said that if it happens again to ring the site. No promises but they will often let you rebook if they can.
We did once try to book a site just for one Saturday night. It was allowed but they said we could not have an electric hook up. Understood the ruling but it seemed a bit off when we counted at least 20 unused pitches with hook ups.
It all seems a great shame when it used to have a much more free and "friendly" attitude.
So we remain members but cautious about booking dates.

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[scotjimland]

Not C&CC member .. but tested booking for one night on 2 different sites

the first one I tried said.. no.. minimum two nights
the second..

Tarland by Deeside
no problem ..

so there cannot be a 'general' rule.. of 3 nights minimum booking.

 

[Cal54]

I believe the rule is that single nights cannot be booked at a weekend or high season. I have, in the past, booked a single mid week night.
The 3 night minimum only applies to specific sites and isn't across the board.

 

[Zepp]

Weekends is a 2 night min but you can take a chance and just turn up for one night if they have space you can have 1 night only. ( maybe full )

You can book a grass only pitch for 1 night anytime of the week

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[MichaelT]

It tends to be weekends, sometimes a pitch is wasted as someone only wants One night.
You are better off speaking to the site directly for bookings.
They will be more flexible than the computer at central bookings.
It's still better than the caravan club, where members book several sites on the same weekend, as no deposit is requested, and then choose at the last minute, again, stopping others from booking up.

You can only have one valid booking for the same period with the CC so not sure where you got that from

 

[Flook]

You can book a grass only pitch for 1 night anytime of the week

Not in Oxford you can't, they are all grass, at this time of year they use the hard road between the grass pitches. I know as I spent this last weekend there. Though caravans and cars can pitch on the grass, even though it was sodden with water.

A warden said I would have to park between another MH and the wast bins, and directed me onto the grass not with the four wheels though. I said about cutting up the grass, he reckoned it would be fine, pull in my mirror, move close to the othe MH and drive past using two wheels on the grass. Long story short, grass not only got cut up about four inches down with a soggy rutt, mud over the passenger side of MH and mirror, and just got out backwards. He moved me to the next one in front of a Hymer. Later another warden told me off for washing off the mud from the tyre, I tried to explain but he insisted the water was going to make the ground soft, I treid again, but he was starting to go off on one, so I said, "fair enough, your the warden and you know your site".

Now back home, the drive way is full of there mud and crud.

Previouse warden was a good laugh, these seem to be the opposite.

Flook

 

[Dorwyn]

I haven't been on a C&CC club site for years*, all this nonsense puts me off, but I do like the THS sites.

*Actually, 2 years ago we went to Minehead off season, and it was very good.

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[Huwmari]

If you're going to embrace the motorhome adventure properly surely you don't book at all because you never quite know where you're going to be at any one time. If you book, you have set yourself a timescale and to me that spoils the holiday. I do the same when motorcycle touring and have never not been able to find somewhere to sleep.

Agree absolutely. Why would you go through the hassle of using club sites (vastly overpriced and don't cater for motorhomers) when you can nearly always find a CS (which provides everything a motorhome needs at a fraction of the cost). A quick phone call a few minutes before you arrive makes sure of a space and there is no need to book in advance - job done. We are members of the C&CC and have never used a club site yet.

 

[Doctor Dave]

I have used quite a few sites belonging to the Camping and Caravanning Club and have never been prevented from booking as few or as many nights as I wanted. I do understand that on some sites there is a minimum of two or three nights at weekends and this is perfectly understandable. As for a blanket ruling, I have never come across it.

As for saying they don't cater for motorhomers I can't say I have noticed a problem.

Dave

 

[MichaelT]

Interestingly on the Caravan Club forum there is a thread about service points and everyone says the C&CC ones are much better. I have never seen a service point on a CL/CS though but maybe as a caravanner I have never really looked that hard.

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[7735]

We have never had a problem booking only 1 night at either of the 2 clubs but then we never go away in August. The main problem with both the clubs is in the name CARAVAN.

Spongy

 

[MichaelT]

I believe the restriction is only in high season.

 

[scotjimland]

Interestingly on the Caravan Club forum there is a thread about service points and everyone says the C&CC ones are much better. I have never seen a service point on a CL/CS though but maybe as a caravanner I have never really looked that hard.

a service point is a 'point' on the site where you get .... drinking water, black waste disposal, & rubbish bin.

that is the very minimum requirement to be listed as a CL/Cs

So what will you need to provide?

• Level land of ½ acre or more in a well drained position

• Safe access for caravans and motor caravans to include a 3.66m (12 feet) minimum width entrance gate to the CL and safe approach road

• Safe drinking and rinsing water taps

• An emptying point for chemical waste

• A bin for dry rubbish

• Public Liability Insurance

• A breathtaking view would be a real bonus

what did you think it meant ?

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[MichaelT]

a service point is a 'point' on the site where you get .... drinking water, black waste disposal, & rubbish bin.

that is the very minimum requirement to be listed as a CL/Cs

So what will you need to provide?

• Level land of ½ acre or more in a well drained position

• Safe access for caravans and motor caravans to include a 3.66m (12 feet) minimum width entrance gate to the CL and safe approach road

• Safe drinking and rinsing water taps

• An emptying point for chemical waste

• A bin for dry rubbish

• Public Liability Insurance

• A breathtaking view would be a real bonus

what did you think it meant ?

Sorry perhaps I was not clear but as this is a Motorhome Forum I assumed everyone would be thinking about a M/H service point rather than a general one i.e. probably a grid type affair where you can drive over and dump waste water along with a tap to fill up etc. New to M/Hing but I have seen M/H service points on lots of sites but never on a Cl/CS

 

[scotjimland]

Sorry perhaps I was not clear but as this is a Motorhome Forum I assumed everyone would be thinking about a M/H service point rather than a general one i.e. probably a grid type affair where you can drive over and dump waste water along with a tap to fill up etc. New to M/Hing but I have seen M/H service points on lots of sites but never on a Cl/CS

understand what you mean now ..

nor have I, and I doubt you ever will.. that sort of infrastructure costs a lot of money.. not financially viable on a small 5 van site ..

a motorhome drive over drain is handy, but not that important.. a drain hose can usually used to reach the grey water drain.. failing that.. a bucket or wastemaster

also, many CLs prefer you to dump grey into the hedge to save them the cost of emptying a cesspit

I have two pieces of drain hose x 2.5 meters each.,.can reach the hedge from most CL pitches. ..

 

[angusboy]

Where is jim site please

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[scotjimland]

Where is jim site please

Jim the Boss ?

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[cruiser]

I agree it is now very money based now. we only use it because we get our RAC. through it.

 

[angusboy]

thanks handy to know just got back from area thanks

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[Larrynwin]

Not exactly the "friendly club" when service provided is based on its own needs and not the needs of its members.
Hardly use C&CC so probably won't renew next year.