# Caravan Club Member Welcome



## Johnstorm (Sep 23, 2006)

Not sure if this is posted in the correct section as I rarely post here.

My wife had a early hospital appointment for day surgery at a hospital a considerable distance from home, so we decided to book at a Caravan Club site on the North Wales/English border, so we only had a short distance to travel to the hospital, and then stay overnight for a second night before heading home.

Please picture the scene on arrival. A site that was probably 2/3rds empty, windy and wet. We booked in and was told to find a pitch, and let the office know what pitch we are on.

On the way round we stopped at a water point to put some water in our tank. Having got our hose out and begun to put water in the tank, along comes the warden to tell us to move to another location to put water in our tank as we are blocking the driveway. We look around at a site with no vehicles or people in sight, nor any signs stating motorhomes should not fill up there.

We recoil our hose, put the cap back on, and move to the next water point, still blocking the roadway, although the warden said there was a narrow shingle patch here where another vehicle could get past. We put some water in our tank, put our hose away and drive off to find a pitch. There have still not been any vehicle movements on the site, nor have we seen any other people braving the wind and rain.

We find a pitch, and my wife goes to the office to let them know the number of our pitch. She explains that we will be going out early the next morning and coming back later in the afternoon after her hospital visit. 

The warden then asks if she has got a sign to put up on our pitch so no one else parks on our pitch. My wife said we did not have one, and she did'nt feel we really needed one as there were plenty of empty pitches. It was then explained to her that we should carry one or could loose our pitch and in the circumstances should leave our electrical cable on the pitch. My wife said well its not a problem as we would park elsewhere on the site. My wife was then told we would not be able to do that if the site was busy, she looks out at the rain falling and the wind hammering the rain against the window of the office, at a desolete near empty site, wondering what the point of the lecture was. We also noticed that not one vehicle used the drive were we moved on from when getting water during the whole evening.

The outcome of this was we decided to head home after the hospital visit, even though we had payed for two nights. Obviously welcoming members to sites is not number one priority at all Caravan Club sites.

We tend to enjoy our own company, and do not regularly use Club owned sites. If we ever need an excuse to continue to enjoy our wild camping in quiet desolete locations this must be it.

Do the Caravan Club have such customer focused wardens on all their sites


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## 04HBG (Dec 9, 2007)

Having been a CC and CCC member for some years i have come across a few wardens just like that and to be honest also some very nice and helpful ones too but i have often wondered what sort of customer training do these people get.
If the ones like you met had been running their own business and that business was dealing with the public on a daily basis then they would have soon gone bankrupt.

I think both clubs could do with a damn good trainer to take potential wardens on a course for a week on how to treat customers and make friends not enemys it would certainly pay huge dividends all around.

RD


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

The CC will henceforth be known on this forum as the

Rules R Rules Club


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## ThursdaysChild (Aug 2, 2008)

come on Pippin -

Rules is Rules


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Miserable old G1t.
I would send a report to HQ

Dave p


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

OK, so may be it should be the

Rules R Us Club


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

I wonder what the Camp Kommandant, sorry, warden would say if you went back with a printed copy of your post.

Was it the Orthopaedic at Gobowen?


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> Miserable old G1t.
> I would send a report to HQ
> 
> Dave p


Oh I don't think Johnstorm's post was that miserable - and old git is a bit strong! anyway, I don't think MHF HQ would be interested


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## machilly (Feb 10, 2007)

I have also found that a few of the Wardens are just that Wardens, they see themselves as police Judhge and Jury on their site, we had an experience in Culloden last year, arrived on the monday, sign on the office said find a pitch and at 4pm inform the warden,did that, shen told me because our little toad had advertising on it it would have to stay in the car park. Well we have stayed on a good few CC sites, and never had a problem, so we politely informed her of this, after a while she said well it would be OK, (the site was nearly empty as this was November), She kept banging on about rules of advertising on a CC site, I then asked what the position was regarding hired motorhomes, as they are usually signwritten, at that she finally buttoned up.
Later in the week when we were ready to leave, our Aframe had been stolen, turns out there had been a hired MH on site, not a member of the Club and had not left reg no.now I do not know who stole the aframe but I can guess, 
I wrote to the club complaining about the warden, that is what I suggest you do.

regards


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

This is a straightforward question, with no hidden agenda, but comments would be interesting.

Is it my imagination, or do motorhomers receive a better welcome (in the broadest sense) when one or more of the Wardens are themselves motorhomers?

I think they probably do? :? 

Dave


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

There is another thread running at the moment about France.

I quote from a post made on there today:

_We spent 6 weeks in France this year - our *first trip abroad *in our MH - and like others could not believe how MH-friendly the place is.

We found the campsite owners obliging - no paying in advance or "no refund if you leave early" as is so evident in UK campsites.

I felt that MHers were treated like adults, for example, no specific instructions on how to park the van on a pitch, but no one seemed to abuse the sytem._

The contrast with the OP on this topic is stark.

Any savvy site owner or warden on a site open at this time of year should be bending over backwards to make visitors welcome.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

What a Di.k Head. One good reason not to use campsites (out of many I can think of). Try a CL next time you have to go somewhere. Lurverly


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## Johnstorm (Sep 23, 2006)

Hi Pippin

Yes it was the Orthopeadic at Gobowen.

With these large organisations I often wonder if it is worth complaining. In this day and age until it hits the membership figures they are not really concerned. Often people join for other reasons than the sites. I find their ferry booking service very competitive and the staff on the end of the phone very helpful and informative, thats why I am a member.

Perhaps if you have good customer skills you are given a telephone rather than a site in North Wales to run..


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## hero (Oct 31, 2009)

*ccc*

Hi,we belong to the ccc,last year at a site in cornwall we turned up an hour and a half early,where we had been away already for a week the wife thought we could do some washing of our towels etc.oh no how wrong we were,they came out like a bull in a china shop.Have you got the correct site sir,12noon is when you should be here NO earlier,off you go,theres a pub car park down the road,well then the shriek looking man of a warden started to tell me hes in charge here and im Bill what ever his name was.so i told him who i was and im a some body and did my window up while hes still carrying on,even told the wife we could have our money back.As we drove away there were 3-4 empty pitches,We went back at 11.45 finally got our pitch,one of the empty ones,but the arse didnt cut the grass,Even after that we watched anyone who turned up early he flew at them saying you got the right site,what a jobs worth he was,
Anyway we got a big complaint going on with ccc at moment but head office said they got a big back log to sort out.cheersMatt :roll:


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## 126537 (Aug 4, 2009)

We have used Caravan Club sites for years now & are very happy with their clean well maintained conditions, We have had caravans for 16 yrs & just changed to a motorhome this year and love it. My Wife & I have been told to make sure we display our pitch in use sign on a number of sites this Year but we fail to see how anyone else could take our pitch as the wardens mark your pitch, name & departure date on a white board in the reception? I know there are some cheeky people out there but If we returned & found someone had moved our belongings to get on our pitch the wardens would be our first port of call.


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## AndrewandShirley (Oct 13, 2007)

Warden slagging time again it appears, from some of the posts here.

As wardens we have to say we can only act on the instructions we are given.

If we are told no one on til 12 noon, then thats what we have to apply. We have no choice whether we agree or not.

Having said that, why do people turn up when they know they cannot get on? The earliest this year was at 4am only 8 hours early.

Having said all that we are m/h so are also on the other end of things, when we use sites.

So when we can, we adopt the stance, that if we can accomodate someone early or a strange request, we will do so.

If arriving early is an issue, just imagine what we face when trying to get them off on time.......

PS we are not CC wardens


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

micyb said:


> We have used Caravan Club sites for years now & are very happy with their clean well maintained conditions, We have had caravans for 16 yrs & just changed to a motorhome this year and love it. My Wife & I have been told to make sure we display our pitch in use sign on a number of sites this Year but we fail to see how anyone else could take our pitch as the wardens mark your pitch, name & departure date on a white board in the reception? I know there are some cheeky people out there but If we returned & found someone had moved our belongings to get on our pitch the wardens would be our first port of call.


The wardens might know which pitches are taken but their usual procedure is to send you off to find the pitch you want and then go back and tell them which it is. When driving round looking for a pitch you can only tell which empty ones are not available if there is a marker of some sort. Whenever we drive off site we leave our bucket (full of water so it doesn't blow away) with our vehicle registration number on it.

In the circumstances described by the original poster you would have thought the warden could accept that the chances of the pitch being taken was fairly remote and as long as they wouldn't mind using another pitch when they came back there should be no problem.

It is perhaps easier to accept and comply with Rules if they are explained in a friendly rather than officious manner. Likewise though it is easier to be friendly if the other party doesn't take offence too easily.

Chris


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Its a wonder they let you camp at all when you told them why you were staying. I rang a CC club earlier in the year to ask about staying whilst attending a course despite the fact that my missus would stay on site with the van. They told me that their site arent supposed to be used as accomodation connected with business activites and were meant for families...note familes was the words used....on holiday.


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## hero (Oct 31, 2009)

*ccc*

The wardens at this cornwall site were worst than coppers.Yes i no the rules say 12 noon but i can tell you at this site we went in cornwall if every one turned up at midday the roads would of truly been blocked,We didnt turn up to nick a bit of extra time,just to do a bit of washing,what happens if like some people we spoke to had travelled for hours with kids but had a good run ,should they stay away and wait to 12,no dont think so.These were just rude miserable old gits. 8O


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## Telbell (May 1, 2005)

> They told me that their site arent supposed to be used as accomodation connected with business activites and were meant for families...note familes was the words used....on holiday.


New one on me! As the Wardens seem content in quoting their Rules, where's that in their Rules, then? :roll:

And what about all those tuggers who turn up at fruit picking time in their white vans? Not for business??


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## neilbes (Oct 16, 2006)

A little power can be a dangerous thing


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## Vennwood (Feb 4, 2007)

There is a word in our language that all areas of society seem to be ignoring or don't understand its meaning the word is COMMONSENSE.

I think this applies to a few of the wardens but mainly the CC management that dream up these rules in the first place.
Sadly it will never change as the long suffering membership just keep on renewing their subscriptions and booking their sites. So from a management point of view all is well with the world 

I'll start a crusade to have the word "commonsense" withdrawn from the English dictionary - well we don't use it anymore....


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Telbell said:


> > They told me that their site arent supposed to be used as accomodation connected with business activites and were meant for families...note familes was the words used....on holiday.
> 
> 
> New one on me! As the Wardens seem content in quoting their Rules, where's that in their Rules, then? :roll:
> ...


I doubt it is in their rules Tell
Sometimes they just seem to have a bad day. Most of them i hasten to add are perfectly OK by the way. usual case - you only remember the orrible ones

Phill


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## suedew (May 10, 2005)

We spent the weekend at a CC site. my first time on a club site for more years than i care to remember. The warden was very helpful, gave a map with occupied pitches marked, said to pitch up then let him know where we were.
Not sure if the warm welcome had anything to do with my favourite site being one where he used to work, though not at the time i used to use it.
You get 'jobsworth' anywhere.
Note club rules do say something about advertising, but can't find them think they may be in the van.
Sue


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