Are some Caravan Club CL's losing the plot?

My bad ... it is a CS rather than a CL, but who cares, that's just semantics ;)

The main point is that it's a small 5 van site with no facilities other than water and chemical disposal. One of the main reasons wilders visit these kind of sites is for a decent charge off the hook up anyway. To charge £9.00 for one night's hook up is a complete rip off. The fact that they are charging £2.50 extra per dog is further evidence of the desire to fleece their customers. Some members here have two or more dogs. This is just complete extortion. And £2.50 extra per child, how can that be justified? It's not as though they have any toilet or washing facilities for children to use anyway :lol-053:


I totally stand by my post. For a 5 van site with no facilities this is a Rip off with a capital R. At the current time, with hook up, 2 dogs and 2 children you'd be paying £28 a night for a patch of grass. CL, CS, 5 van site, or whatever you want to call it, that's a disgrace.:yeahthat:

I propose that this site shall be named, shamed, and boycotted by all concerned :hammer::lol-049::hammer:
 
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The site looks lovely and I for one do not think that £8 a night from March to October is unreasonable.

Its all a matter of personal perception (and income!) but I do think this is high. For a space in a field I never pay more than £4 or 5 per night and I have certainly never been charged (and would never accept) an additional £9 for electricity! Some people run CLs/CSs because they are enthusiasts and motorhomers/caravanners themselves (and there are many good value sites out there) but some are rip-off merchants who don't care. Which leads me on to one of my favourite rants: why is it that the so-called members clubs charge much higher prices than nearby private sites that presumably have to make a profit? I rate the people who run the Caravan Club higher than bankers on the scale of hate figures!:D
 
Mmm, could it be that they don't want dogs and children? There's no denying though that £8.00 a night for a 'van and two adults is not expensive and compares favourably with most other CLs/CSs. No family with two children and two dogs would ever contemplate staying there, which is probably the intention.

I just wanted to point out what I thought was a slightly unfair post in that only the most expensive option was given, when there is a much cheaper one.
 
Well, the other funny thing was that one or two of the locals I spoke to basically said 'Good luck to you.' I also noticed a few MHs overnighting in a car park along the harbour road where there were prohibition signs. People may not agree with me, but I don't think that sets a good example. It was kind of like a blatant defiance, which is the kind of thing that gets people's goat - especially in a conservative town like Southwold. I parked inconspicuously, in quiet side streets. I always try to choose spots, too, that are shielded by hedges, trees or walls (i.e. not bang in the centre of someone's window view).

The other thing is... just because a motorhome or camper is parked in a side road, it doesn't mean there's anyone living/sleeping in it. Plenty of people I know park theirs on the road outside their house because they don't have a garage or driveway. I think there's a double standard in operation in the heads of these 'thought' police. It's ok to PARK your vehicle overnight - just not ok to BE INSIDE it overnight. Aesthetically, motorhomes and campers look a lot nicer than many of the other agressive, macho monsters people drive around in - yet they can park where they like, when they like, and no one takes a blind bit of notice. The average family saloon nowadays wouldn't have looked out of place in a war zone a few years ago!


Could be that the carpark over night campers (I'd call them overnight parkers) used their initiative and judged that they would upset less people overnight parking in the carpark, rather than overnight parking in the street.
After all, during the day that's where they may well be parking. Apart from it being darker what's the difference at night? Getting something for nothing (ie free camping)is what often gets the goat of the "thought" police, although to be fair, a long line of vans does the same.
I reckon you'd have a hard job argueing the aesthetic virtues of the average motorhome over that of the agressive macho monster to their owners and admirers! Think vicious coloured decals, alloy wheels, bike racks, silver screens, overhead cab, Thetford door etc. Furthermore non of these help if you want to keep a low profile when wildcamping.
 
My bad ... it is a CS rather than a CL, but who cares, that's just semantics ;)

The main point is that it's a small 5 van site with no facilities other than water and chemical disposal. One of the main reasons wilders visit these kind of sites is for a decent charge off the hook up anyway. To charge £9.00 for one night's hook up is a complete rip off. The fact that they are charging £2.50 extra per dog is further evidence of the desire to fleece their customers. Some members here have two or more dogs. This is just complete extortion. And £2.50 extra per child, how can that be justified? It's not as though they have any toilet or washing facilities for children to use anyway :lol-053:


I totally stand by my post. For a 5 van site with no facilities this is a Rip off with a capital R. At the current time, with hook up, 2 dogs and 2 children you'd be paying £28 a night for a patch of grass. CL, CS, 5 van site, or whatever you want to call it, that's a disgrace.:yeahthat:

I propose that this site shall be named, shamed, and boycotted by all concerned :hammer::lol-049::hammer:
ouch, i wonder how many people just turn up, then hit with a shock at the prices. if i was being charged 9quid a night, i would pop home and bring everything i could lol.


someone recently asked me if i wanted to go camping for 3 nights, 18 quid a night for a tent!!! i said noooooooooooooooooo.
 
There's no denying though that £8.00 a night for a 'van and two adults is not expensive and compares favourably with most other CLs/CSs.

Yes there is - I'm denying it! I would accept that £8 per night is reasonable if hook-up is included but it is totally unacceptable for just a patch of grass - and fortunately it does NOT compare favourably with most other CL/CSs.
 
Could be that the carpark over night campers (I'd call them overnight parkers) used their initiative and judged that they would upset less people overnight parking in the carpark, rather than overnight parking in the street.

Yeah... ish...

The difference is that the roads where I chose to park had plenty of spaces and were unobtrusive - and the place where they chose to park was exposed and was specifically designated as a 'prohibition' area for doing what they were doing.

I'd call them 'overnight parkers' too. But they were also eating and sleeping there, which constitutes 'camping' - and that's how the anti-lobby, and the prosecutors if it comes to that, will define it.

Don't get me wrong - I'm on side. But I agree that sometimes we can mess our own beds, as it were, by making ourselves too obvious a target.
 
Probably what we have to do with this kind of site trying it on, is hammer out a deal. Tell them on the phone that £28 is far too much. We want pitch + EHU for £8 to £10 max on a 5 van site, dogs inclusive. If they are slack for business they may be tempted to do a deal. Show them the power of the market. If people give in to these silly prices we'll soon be paying as much for a few m2 of grass as for a room in a guest house!
 
Probably what we have to do with this kind of site trying it on, is hammer out a deal. Tell them on the phone that £28 is far too much. We want pitch + EHU for £8 to £10 max on a 5 van site, dogs inclusive. If they are slack for business they may be tempted to do a deal. Show them the power of the market. If people give in to these silly prices we'll soon be paying as much for a few m2 of grass as for a room in a guest house!

The problem with this is that they pushed their prices up that high in the first place because some people are willing to pay. If they didn't have any customers they would have either reduced their prices or closed down. I'm not saying don't bother to try a deal but it might be better to simply boycott the site and move on. There are, after all, plenty of better deals to be had and most CLs charge between £7 and £10 for a pitch with EHC. As long as there are 5 idiots around, sites like this will carry on hiking their prices. Fortunately, many CL owners are enthusiasts themselves and wouldn't dream of scamming their customers - support for them might be the best option.
 
My bad ... it is a CS rather than a CL, but who cares, that's just semantics ;)

The main point is that it's a small 5 van site with no facilities other than water and chemical disposal. One of the main reasons wilders visit these kind of sites is for a decent charge off the hook up anyway. To charge £9.00 for one night's hook up is a complete rip off. The fact that they are charging £2.50 extra per dog is further evidence of the desire to fleece their customers. Some members here have two or more dogs. This is just complete extortion. And £2.50 extra per child, how can that be justified? It's not as though they have any toilet or washing facilities for children to use anyway :lol-053:


I totally stand by my post. For a 5 van site with no facilities this is a Rip off with a capital R. At the current time, with hook up, 2 dogs and 2 children you'd be paying £28 a night for a patch of grass. CL, CS, 5 van site, or whatever you want to call it, that's a disgrace.:yeahthat:

I propose that this site shall be named, shamed, and boycotted by all concerned :hammer::lol-049::hammer:

I disagree with your sentiments slightly.

We have a CHOICE.............the fact you or I for that matter dont see value for money is personal opinion and perception of what is good value.

There is no need to boycott, the laws of supply and demand will dictate.

I have found official CC sites to be more beneficial ...I.e Clumber Park mid week 7 quid a night...Including unlimited EHU. A good shower block and washing machine facilities at 3 quid.

It seems some Cls are trying to run a business and dare I say make a profit which is not a dirty word in my World. They are entitled too.

Value for money will rule the roost ultimatly ....However the perception of VFM will vary from individual to individual .. ..If you choose to spend £ x per night who am I to criticise ?

There is no need to boycott? Market forces will prevail ?

Channa
 
Depends on your perception really, to set up a CS or CL site is not cheap, to have electric hook up installed is mega expensive,and they have to be tested and certified regularly, grass has to be cut,so the cost of the grass cutting machine, time and labour to do this, water to lay on and supply, Elson waste to get rid of, must go into a pumpable tank if not on main drainage,so pump out charges,rubbish disposal, etc, I guess a CS or CL is only occupied for about 6 months of the year, so not a lot of profit to be made I would guess and on top of all that one would have to deal with the whinging public who want all that for about a fiver a night, I think not.
 
I was talking to a CL owner near Doncaster who allowed a van to come onto his site last Christmas. He normally does not open but did it as a favour. Site fee s £10 per night inc EHU. He checked the electric and found the guy in the van had used £9 of electric by the next morning. He went to him and told him he was going to bill him for the excess electricty used and the guy lost his rag and drove off the site. The site will now remain closed during the winter season.

On another CL I use from time to time, a van used £5 overnight, this site is metered and I used £1.38 in the same period.

If we play fair site, owners will not charge high fees but you cannot expect them to subsidise your EHU useage. Meters are the fair way to go and do not cost a fortune to install.
 
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Yeah... ish...

The difference is that the roads where I chose to park had plenty of spaces and were unobtrusive - and the place where they chose to park was exposed and was specifically designated as a 'prohibition' area for doing what they were doing.

I'd call them 'overnight parkers' too. But they were also eating and sleeping there, which constitutes 'camping' - and that's how the anti-lobby, and the prosecutors if it comes to that, will define it.

Don't get me wrong - I'm on side. But I agree that sometimes we can mess our own beds, as it were, by making ourselves too obvious a target.


But if they are just sleeping and eating how would any one else be aware and can you define these actions as camping..... in my book they are parking. Just as I may do in my car. What exactly was being prohibited, overnight camping, overnight parking or both?
You have to exercise your own judgement otherwise you might as well assume that sleeping in a motorcaravan, (in England at least) is verboten except in authorised sites.
Thankfully 95% of my motorhoming is on the Mainland
 
You are quite right of course, but I suspect that many motorhomers and caravanners simply do not realise how much electricity they use. My monthly electricity payment at home is only £20...admittedly that is with us travelling for 6mth of the year, so say £40 pm.

Even if I left the heater on all night in the van, I can't see I would get to £9.00 a night.



Polly
 
There is no need to boycott? Market forces will prevail ?

Agreed... hence my use of the smilies to convey that the suggestion of boycott was somewhat tongue in cheek ;)
 
You are quite right of course, but I suspect that many motorhomers and caravanners simply do not realise how much electricity they use. My monthly electricity payment at home is only £20...admittedly that is with us travelling for 6mth of the year, so say £40 pm.

Even if I left the heater on all night in the van, I can't see I would get to £9.00 a night.



Polly

A 2kW heater left on for 18 hours would only use £4 or so.

You would have to use 4KW for over 18 hours to get your £9.00 worth. Since 4KW is 17A, that is almost certain to trip any normal site supply, it follows you can't actually physically use your £9.00 worth and therefore they could well be selling on electricity for more than they purchased it for.
 
But if they are just sleeping and eating how would any one else be aware and can you define these actions as camping..... in my book they are parking. Just as I may do in my car. What exactly was being prohibited, overnight camping, overnight parking or both?
You have to exercise your own judgement otherwise you might as well assume that sleeping in a motorcaravan, (in England at least) is verboten except in authorised sites.
Thankfully 95% of my motorhoming is on the Mainland

Ah, the questionable wonders of Google Street View. I've just checked, and the sign says 'Motor Cars and Motor Cycles Only'... so you'd then have to argue that you were one of those!

In my book they're parking, too. But these authorities will all have their own clear definition of what constitutes 'camping', and I'm sure we can all guess what that would be. A traffic warden I spoke to said as far as he was concerned, camping meant eating and sleeping in a vehicle overnight. But then you could argue that you were just resting, rather than being a danger to other road users because of tiredness. Aren't they always telling us 'Tiredness can kill. Take a break.'? You could also argue that you weren't taking up any more space than an average van, that you weren't pitching a tent, or hogging two spaces by having a caravan in tow.

I guess we can all swim in a sea of semantics, implications, suggestions, etc., and whether we're right or not will only ever be answered if any of us is unlucky enough to be prosecuted, and whether any appeal we make on the grounds of vagueness of definition is successful or not.
 
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I was talking to a CL owner near Doncaster who allowed a van to come onto his site last Christmas. He normally does not open but did it as a favour. Site fee s £10 per night inc EHU. He checked the electric and found the guy in the van had used £9 of electric by the next morning. He went to him and told him he was going to bill him for the excess electricty used and the guy lost his rag and drove off the site. The site will now remain closed during the winter season.

On another CL I use from time to time, a van used £5 overnight, this site is metered and I used £1.38 in the same period.

If we play fair site, owners will not charge high fees but you cannot expect them to subsidise your EHU useage. Meters are the fair way to go and do not cost a fortune to install.

Agreed meters are the way to go. However I know of 2 CLs (in Essex where else) where the owners calibrate the coin in the slot meters to overcharge, they have been reported over the years, but the fines aren't enough to put them off for long.
With a 16Amp supply it wouldn't be so difficult for someone determined to get their money's worth of electricity. Over 24 hours even @ 10p Kw/hr. it will cost c.£9.21.
 
'Motor Cars and Motor Cycles Only'

I am curious...what is the legal definition of a motor car? Can't seem to find it on Google.



Polly
 

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