C&CC getting on my nerves

What is it about this so called 'friendly club'? The website is a pain in the butt. I've been looking for a local(ish) site for an overnight getaway. As wife doesn't finish work until 8pm on a Friday any spontaneous getaway is limited to just a Saturday night. Had a look at the nearest sites and because of Easter school holidays almost all insist on a two-night minimum stay. The only one that doesn't has only grass pitches without hook-up. And now they've changed the rules on arrival times - no arrivals now before 1pm, leaving time still 12 noon latest. This is 'to allow pitches to be made ready for new arrivals'. They should use this hour to clean the loos instead of closing them at 11 so you can't use them before you set off home. I know I could use CS's more but it is the 'not knowing what it's like' compared with the almost guaranteed good facilities on a club site.
I used to prefer the C&CC to the CC as it was more relaxed, less regimental. Not any more, the C&CC have forgotten that it is supposed to be a club for members, (I know its not really a club but a business).  Rant over, I feel better now.

Good rant Paul.

Can't argue with any of it!

Dave

Paulmold wrote:almost all insist on a two-night minimum stay.

In case you've not encountered it yet, some C&CC sites now operate a 5 day minimum stay! I got hit by this wanting to meet up with a mate for 2 days climbing in the Lake District last year on my way up to Scotland. "Sorry, we've got lots of spaces but you can't book any unless you stay for 5 nights".

If it spreads any further I will be leaving the C&CC.

What's the CC like by comparison?

I joined the C&CC and so far haven't had any issues in the ones I visited last year or booked for this year.

I'd heard people say that the CC was a little too regimented as you mention above?

Is it worth joining both out of interest?  If the CC is generally better thought of I might move to them next year.

I found the CC regimental and not MH friendly  on one site I stayed at year before last, my very first trip away , reversed on to pitch, as the warden seems a bit off putting I went and ask her if I was sited ok, after a long and hot journey too bad if it wasn`t, and she promptly went over to the pitch and looked all round the van, then said thats perfect,  last year was different could pitch in either forwards or reverse in, drove in forwards as was right on the sea front just a picket fence between van and sand dunes a lovely site would go back again, that was CC, again different site and area, think it depends a lot on the wardens,
I am in both clubs , I have the RAC with the C&CC, will have to try the  CLS`s and CS`s

I dropped out of the C&CC when they brought out their silly pricing policy where it might cost this per night, but then again it could cost that. If I'm going to a site, I want to know how much per night its going to cost, no ifs or maybes.
The chairman made a video to defend this policy saying that an independent campsite owner could wake up in the morning, realise that it was raining and so reduce his prices. It left me wondering what planet he was on?

Traficlady has had no end of problems with them when organising club rallies for the RTMR. One site told her she couldn't settle the 'bill' by club cheque, and she would have to pay with her personal credit card! Needless to say, that was not going to happen [it was several hundred pounds].
They did take a cheque in the end, because they would not have been paid otherwise.

Frank

I don`t like the C&CC booking or pricing system, I have been a member for 21 years, and it has certainly changed in that time and not for the better. If I am touring I like to just go and not plan where to stay, as I might find a lovely place I haven`t been to before and decide to stay for a day or two, if everything is planned in advanced might as well go on an  organised holiday, just my view at one time could just turn up at a campsite if they had room stopped, everything is so organised so as a business I suppose they have to be , it is not the friendly one for campers anymore, like it use to be, times have changed and not for the better in my book. Rant over.

If you joined the N.Wales Group of the MCC Paul you could go to Oswestry for Easter, no need to book and if you joined and mention us we would get a fiver ( I would go halfs with you hi hi)

30 years in CC,    26 in C&CC     and agree they both need to seriously look at what they are doing with prices, the CC is not as bad though

We remain members of both the CC and C&CC, but mainly to be able to use the CLs/CSs and to get the various discounts on ferry/tunnel bookings, M6 Toll, motorway services, etc. as we seldom use club sites, other than some in Scotland.

However, the clubs' regimented pre-booking and onsite pitching rules are the reason that our main holidays for several weeks twice each year are spent on ACSI discounted commercial or municipal camp sites in France, where you can just turn up, not have to decide how long you want to stay and may locate yourself in any position and direction you wish on your pitch, according to wind direction, sun shade, view or whatever.  

Plus we can often enjoy five-star sites with heated indoor/outdoor pools, spa etc. for lower nightly fees than the UK clubs charge for zero on-site facilities apart from very clean toilet/shower blocks and manicured grass.  The one time we used a UK club site with a swimming pool we had to undergo a 10 minute elfin safety lecture before we were allowed in the water! This was the same site where a warden told off my daughter for not wearing her helmet whilst she was PUSHING her bicycle!!

Then there's the weather, which in fairness we can't blame on the clubs!

cheers
Roger

But apart from that Roger . . . . . ?

Have to say (seriously) I can't argue with what you said either!

Dave

roli wrote:If you joined the N.Wales Group of the MCC Paul you could go to Oswestry for Easter, no need to book and if you joined and mention us we would get a fiver ( I would go halfs with you hi hi)

30 years in CC,    26 in C&CC     and agree they both need to seriously look at what they are doing with prices, the CC is not as bad though

Roger,
I will join the MCC but it'll be after Easter now and to be honest we've been to Oswestry many many times (lived in Chirk at one time) and will probably go there again at New Year.
I haven't look at the joining form , I assume there is a place to enter you as sponsor or the like.

Noggin wrote:
I'd heard people say that the CC was a little too regimented

I've stayed on lots of their sites and very rarely have any issues at all. The rules about parking in exactly the right way are perhaps a bit OTT, but there is a safety element to it too (maintaining an adequate distance to the outfit on either side) and as Margaret says, it's as much down to how the wardens try to enforce it as anything else - most are light-hearted about it and it's only a few that really take it too seriously.

The C&CC are no better in my experience. I was told at a C&CC site last year that my behaviour was "totally unacceptable" because I had hung up one shirt to dry on a branch of a tree that hung over the fence at the edge of the site!

You get 15% off at Cotswold outdoor if you are a CC member.
I have noticed that you do get as many MHs as caravans on the club sites so they have had to change, they could do with extra MH points though.

I think the problem with C&CC is that it is now a business not a club. A member for 26 years I am beginning to think its time to leave, booking difficult and it would seem that providing a wider range of camping options is more about money making than looking after club members.

Paul 300358 wrote:You get 15% off at Cotswold outdoor if you are a CC member.
I have noticed that you do get as many MHs as caravans on the club sites so they have had to change, they could do with extra MH points though.

Same as C&CC. 15% off at Mountain Warehouse as well through both clubs.

"The rules about parking in exactly the right way are perhaps a bit OTT, but there is a safety element to it too (maintaining an adequate distance to the outfit on either side) "

I get that but what frustrates me is that many pitches contain a massive caravan with a huge awning and a large tow vehicle; each of those three occupy around the same space as (or more than) my motorhome, so why can't I select which of those three 'virtual' spaces on my pitch I want, as in any of those I'd be no nearer the adjacent unit than they would be and hence no less safe.      

I completely understand the need for rules, what I despair of is their application in a way which lacks any common sense whatsoever.  

cheers
Roger

Been with both clubs on and off for years, prefer the online booking system with the C & C and its easy to amend or cancel your booking with the C & C .
We have tried to amend with the CC & C and failed, i find cancelling a booking a nightmare and often didn't get a refund because the head office said we were inside the 7 day period.
I've met some dodgy characters on seasonal pitches on some CC &C sites in Scotland. Don't have a problem with the on site pitching rules, some wardens are abit over the top on rules sometimes.
Boaby

CC have just launched a really easy to use app for finding/booking sites/CS's. Leaves the C&CC years behind.

Agree wholeheartedly, c and cc has changed greatly over the last 20 odd years that we have been members and not for the better. I noticed the change a few years ago when they trumpeted the moving in to a new headquarters that no doubt cost a  great deal of money whilst we saw sites that badly needed upgrading , even a lick of paint, clearing mould in toilet blocks etc. That to me showed where their priorities lay.
          We have tried to get a one night stopover which are common with motorhome travel only to be told that although there was ample availability , there was a minimum 2 night stay ! Finally to arrive at a site after a mammoth 9 hr drive to be met by a sour faced  warden who then sarcastically examined my Scottish bank notes as if I had wiped my backside with them beforehand did not give a good experience of the friendly club .He did get the point when on handing over my change I made a point of checking each note inturn .......
            Variable pricing , no family deals, extending high season etc smacks of a new style of  management desperate to maximise profit before considering the service given in return.  My wife now says we pay more to park on a grass field than it would cost to stay in many travel hotels etc with more facilities. Cl/cs access is the one jewel available to members.As motorhome owners with our own facilities perhaps more owners should support these sites.
            Perhaps the C and Cc need to be made aware of these threads so theycan see what members really think. It used to be a club where there was flexibility to go at a moments notice and travel between sites easily, now you need to book months In advance.......

Have to agree with all comments which is why we don't use any commercial sites. Just CS's and CL's which are great. And of course the various discounts available from both clubs.

Looking at how members of the CC and CCC are so digruntled with each club for various reasons. (me included)  Perhaps we should all bombard each head office with our gripes, rather than here, which they will never get to see.

I bumped into an official of the CC on the NEC showground site last October and challenged him on the way motorhomes have to park on site, he did promise to take this up with the club.

Paulmold wrote:Had a look at the nearest sites and because of Easter school holidays almost all insist on a two-night minimum stay.

It's not just peak periods - it seems to me that the majority of 'friendly club' sites have a 'minimum 2 night stay' policy all year round.

This means that those of us with full-time jobs simply cannot visit these sites for a weekend away except by taking time off work.

Good idea Shargrea, but will it have an effect or they are too busy taking our money?

And with the CC,  if you shop at Sainsburys you can actually make a profit on your joining fee!!

Im a member of both CC and C&CC  in five years of membership I think I have stayed at CC sites maybe half a dozen times - and two of those were because I had "free night" vouchers - I really do not like the atmosphere on their sites and hate their "go find a pitch then tell us where you are" approach I do like their range of CL sites however.

C&CC club sites in my experience are more friendly they show you to your pitch and will help you park up (yeah usually you dont need any help but its nice to have it offered)  One notable exception to this was at Skye where they pointed at the site plan and told me where to park.....and then came out half an hour later to tell me to move closer to the peg (first and only time I have been told that at a C&CC site) I swear I only had to move it a foot!  Another thing I didnt like at Skye was the constant "tin rattling" in aid of "help for heros" yes a great charity but please dont badger people!

I do agree though that both clubs are becoming expensive - although C&CC give us the wrinkly discount (over 55s) which really helps.

these days I spend maybe 75%of my nights either on Britstops or wild so it may be getting close to time to ditch both clubs