Is it worth renewing CAMC membership

[Deleted member 58274]

Rob, yes we know...use CL's all the time...(within walking distance of pub obviously !!) Looking forward to exploring new ones soon. Mark

 

[jann]

If you are short of money then I would cancel. If not carry on. Camc have an offer on with gift vouchers. We rarely use the sites so will not buy the vouchers. But we enjoy the magazine and have saved money in the past with ferry bookings and insurance.
Do what suits you, there is no right and wrong answer.

 

[Nabsim]

I am a member of both and didn't even think about cancelling. Sites may be closed now but it wouldn't make any difference if they were open, you couldn't go. If you have SKY tv and suchlike you pay it when you aren't watching. Up to the individual but I think it important to keep cash flows going at the moment.

 

[John H]

As a reluctant member of the CMC (we use the CLs a lot but otherwise have very little time for the organisation) I find it interesting that the C&CC could immediately offer their members an extension because of site closures but the CMC could not. I have long held the view that it is misleading to call this organisation a members club when it is clearly a profit-making business which generally charges more for its facilities than nearby truly private businesses. Those private campsites have no such regular income to rely on but are expected to make the best of it, while the "club" continues to rake in money from us without providing the service we have all joined for. At the very least, I would expect it to do what the C&CC have done - but, on past experience, I am not surprised..

 

[Vanterrier]

I am a member of both and didn't even think about cancelling. Sites may be closed now but it wouldn't make any difference if they were open, you couldn't go. If you have SKY tv and suchlike you pay it when you aren't watching. Up to the individual but I think it important to keep cash flows going at the moment.

Ah but if Sky went off air and you couldnt use their "facilities" for 3 to 6 months would you still be happy paying your full subscription to keep good old Rupert in the lifestyle he is accustomed to?
K

 

[Vanterrier]

But if Rupert wrote to me and said " tell you what, as you cannot watch sky at the mo, I will suspend your subscription until you can" I would be thinking fair do's...
Thats the difference.
K

 

[wildebus]

But if Rupert wrote to me and said " tell you what, as you cannot watch sky at the mo, I will suspend your subscription until you can" I would be thinking fair do's...
Thats the difference.
K

And they actually did this... Sky Sports Subscribers had the option of pausing their Sports sub due to the lack of live content.

 

[Nabsim]

Ah but if Sky went off air and you couldnt use their "facilities" for 3 to 6 months would you still be happy paying your full subscription to keep good old Rupert in the lifestyle he is accustomed to?
K

Sky charge a month almost what I pay for a year with CMC so its not anywhere near the same cost but I know what you mean. CCC are giving free extension for every month they are closed so nothing lost with them, not sure if CMC are going to do something similar. If it was £40 or so a month then I may look at cancelling but not what they charge

 

[Deleted member 58274]

Hmmm.....some good points here....hope the CMC does do something decent like CCC ...though we have been supporting independent CL's and sites more anyway lately. Sky ???!!! ...surely not....who'd help finance prem footballers wages eh.....never LOL. Back to subject...spose worth being in one club or other.........for now ????

 

[TeamRienza]

Never been a member of the C&MC, but have been with C&CC for 24 years. Living in N. Ireland there is little reason to be in the former. The C&CC at least have one site and a handful of cl/cs sites. I think that both organisations seem to perform like many charities, ie, they exist to employ their employees with a mere nod to their paying members, However;

I believe the membership fee (C&CC) is worth it to have access to all of the events organised voluntarily by the district associations and specialist sections. Access to basic services at all sorts of interesting locations for less than a tenner with a welcome and often a social event included. Could not beat it with a big stick. Four choices of location each weekend in season.

I also find the Arrival breakdown and recovery great value. £300 for 5 individual family members anywhere in Europe including many of the extra options. If only all the kids paid their share we would unlimited size/weight European cover for the whole year for £120 self and wife. She doesn’t pay her share either!

Davy

 

[Moped]

We do not wild camp during the main 6 week school summer holidays as too busy. We have reconciled that we will not be off to France this summer so have already booked up C&MC sites to cover the school holiday period, taking advantage of the vouchers. No deposit required and pitches now reserved.

If sites have to remain closed until September or later so be it but at least we have July and August covered in case they can open. If others think like us it could actually be a boom time for the various clubs once U.K. restrictions are eased if travel outside the UK is not possible this year.

What has surprised us is how much cheaper C&MC sites are when compared to CCC sites during the 6 week seasonal peak. In Dorset and Devon anyway which are the areas we have booked up for. We are members of both and did price comparisons when online booking using the various club apps.

The bottom line is, for us, it is well worth retaining C&MC membership.

 

[chrismilo]

When I left C&MC (over their appalling insurance scam) I was concerned about that.
I got in touch with Green Flag, who were happy to offer the same cover, at the same price, without the C&MC membership. I guess they wouldn't have to pay C&MC the commission, so it was a good deal for them.
I still cancelled at the end of the year, though. Nationwide met my needs rather better.

Yes Nationwide did me very good when I broke down in Italy put me and dog up in hotel for 3 weeks did all leasing with garage taxi to and from hotel all I had to pay was repair

 

[in h]

Yes Nationwide did me very good when I broke down in Italy put me and dog up in hotel for 3 weeks did all leasing with garage taxi to and from hotel all I had to pay was repair

I've only had to use the Nationwide service. It was excellent.
They sent a man in a van to look at the problem. He said it needed recovery. They sent a truck to recover it. They sent a taxi to take us to a car hire place, who gave us a car to drive home in (we were going home that day anyway).
They kept us informed all the way through.
The motorhome was recovered to my choice of local garage.
The hire car used so little fuel that I didn't need to top it up before dropping it off.
The garage discovered a small fault that cost less to fix than the fuel saved by not driving home.
And it wasn't the man in a van's fault: you couldn't see the detached heigh sensor linkage without the motorhome being on a ramp

 

[wildebus]

Does the Nationwide service allow for vehicles over 3.5t?

 

[Val54]

Nationwide Flex account breakdown cover is up to 7.5 tonnes ....

 

[Biggarmac]

Yes Nationwide did me very good when I broke down in Italy put me and dog up in hotel for 3 weeks did all leasing with garage taxi to and from hotel all I had to pay was repair

When I read the Nationwide terms and conditions it said they did not cover dogs. Did you have any hastle because you had your dog?

 

[Deleted member 39129]

CAMC are having a year without paying business tax on their sites, but not passing anything down to it's so called members.
I'm not renewing with them, also we only use CL sites who never ask if you are a member, we have the site directory which will be okay for many years to come.

 

[Moped]

CAMC are having a year without paying business tax on their sites, but not passing anything down to it's so called members.
I'm not renewing with them, also we only use CL sites who never ask if you are a member, we have the site directory which will be okay for many years to come.

Rightly or wrongly I feel very strongly that you are either a member of a club or you are not, and if you are not a member you do not have the right to enjoy its benefits!

If they are not paying rates great! I would rather the club uses any cash retained for member benefits such as the discount on club vouchers, rather than it being passed on to local councils.

Any CL accepting non members could invalidate their liability insurance and their certificate to operate as a CL.

Do members who do not renew their membership and subsequently abuse the goodwill of CL’s who take your booking on trust wish to put the CL at risk of closure or massive financial liability? If you are not a member please do not use a CL so that those of us who are, are able to!

Read the following extract from the C&MC website:-

“There are eight basic rules of operation:
Rule 1: Visitors to your CL must be members of the Caravan and Motorhome Club (1960 Act)
This is a condition of your Certificate, breach of which could also put your cover at risk should a claim arise under your public liability insurance.
All members carry a membership card so please ask to see this as evidence of current membership. Check the expiry date and note the member’s name, address, telephone number and membership number in your booking-in diary, just in case any queries arise. Quite a lot of members complain to us that owners do not ask to see their cards. They like to know that CLs are for their exclusive use.
Whilst visitors to your CL must be current Club members, non-members do occasionally ask to stay. They must join the Club before staying on site by calling the Club on 01342 318 813. If a new member wishes to stay before receiving their membership pack it would be acceptable to take the membership number alone which can be checked with head office or using a texting service.
We do not supply application forms to CL owners as experience has shown that they are not used quickly and can become out of date. This can be misleading, for example, when subscription”

 

[antiquesam]

I suspect a lot of people will not rejoin until things are back to normal and leave the club to cover the cost of keeping the sites up to scratch over the summer months for right or wrong.

 

[bartman]

We joined the Caravan Club (as it then was) in ouy first year of motorhome ownership 5 years ago. We very soon abandoned using their own sites due to the officious wardens, petty rules, and noisy tuggers - but as others have said the CLs are normally good value and a haven of peace and quiet, we never had a problem with them.
We have since joined the C&CC and although we have only stayed on a couple of their own sites we found the wardens to be the complete opposite to the other lot, friendly and accommodating. We have found the Certificated Sites to be just as good as the CLs, although perhaps there are fewer of them.
The attitude to their members in the current situation is an indication of the different attitudes of the organisations, and for that reason alone I wouldn't renew with CAMC if I was still a member.
I don't mind continuing to subscribe to the likes of the National Trust, they are a charity and will be continuing restoration and maintenance throughout this current period. CAMC are very far from being a charity, they are a profit making organisation who at the moment are taking money for nothing