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 Topic: Hidden site charges
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31/8/2014 at 12:05pm
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Avoid paying fees for ice blocks by eating chilled/frozen food as you buy it and not trying to store it.
Although there may be a charge for the hot showers the cold showers will be free, shower immediately after returning from the beach and the cold will not feel so intense. A thorough sponge bath at a free hot sink also saves money.
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01/9/2014 at 4:45pm
Location: Cornwall
Outfit: Outdoor Revolution Ozone 6.0 xtr Vario
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We had the same i was told nope everything is free, you pay your money and after that no charge etc, then we arrived and were told it was 50p per block as the shop froze the blocks not the campsite...ahh the small print.
Since that time we bought a Sunncamp EHU new £20 on ebay and a table top fridge mint for £20 on gumtree.
Ok we have paid out £40 so far, but the beer, food, wine and beer are cold, this kept at a consistent temperature and the electric is a similar cost as freezing the blocks, oh and the beer is kept cold have I mentioned that.
I have avoided sites that charge per shower, mind you with my son of 10 years old maybe I would have saved some money.
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01/9/2014 at 6:42pm
Location: East Sussex
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The ones that get me are the sites that charge for dogs, sometimes as much as £3 per dog, per night, and don't provide so much as a poo bin in the way of "dog facilities!
I vote with my feet and refuse to go to them.
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02/9/2014 at 12:34am
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Same hear I vote with my feet at sites that charge for kids under 4 and not provide and play areas for them or changing tables and what really gets up my nose is sites that charge for under 4s and have no changing tables or play areas but then let dogs stay for free and have dog bins and dog walking fields I mean really ?
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02/9/2014 at 5:33am
Location: Scotland.
Outfit: Conway Camargue Lots of Vangos. .
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The highest charge I've ever seen to use a campsite washing machine? £6!!! I rolled up my sleeves and did the laundry in the sink. I also complained at some length in the office during a busy check in period, I must have peed a few folk off that day. I can cope with the usual £2.50-£3 but £6 is just ridiculous. They had four washing machines in an immaculate (till I did my hand washing) laundry room. I didn't see any of them get used during my stay.
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02/9/2014 at 1:32pm
Location: Essex coast living on a boat!
Outfit: Vango Stargrove 600xl
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Interesting thread, but how many of these charges are truly 'hidden'?
Usually they are either referred to on the campsite's website or in reviews on here.
Quite honestly, we have camped with ehu and without, using ice blocks instead, we have never been charged to freeze them, as the sites we have used have a campers' freezer to use free of charge, but even 80p a day is hardly going to break the bank if you are not paying for EHU at £3 or so a day on average. If it is only a couple of day's break, we have taken frozen meals and frozen food that doubles up as a cooling facility, and even on longer trips of 5 days we buy additional frozen and cold bits or a bag of ice if we need it. Unless the weather is very hot it works well, and even then we take a couple of 2l bottles of water and/or fruit juice frozen beforehand, which can last a few days.
Again with regard to charges for dogs, as we have a dog we generally have a look at the charges but it's not an issue if the cost seems reasonable, if not, we look elsewhere for somewhere that is.
We see it as paying for all members of our family, it's his holiday too.
I agree with Valk_scot about the washing machine charges, we usually pay an average of £3 and have paid up to as much as £5 for a wash if we really needed it (grubby lot, my lot!), but £6 seems a bit steep.
I still say though that usually you can find out charges for all the extras online or by calling the site, if I was unsure if blocks could be frozen, a quick call will clarify everything, so no real 'hidden' charges if you do your research beforehand.
Jane.
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Enjoying life beyond kids, new love, living on a boat and a new lease of life in my mid 50s! Never too old to reinvent yourself.....
Mum to five - 4 girls, 31,28,25 and 22 and one boy, 20
Engaged! Wedding June 2020!
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02/9/2014 at 3:13pm
Location: Cornwall
Outfit: Outdoor Revolution Ozone 6.0 xtr Vario
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tentaddict7 I agree with the majority of what you have said, however I did do my research and was told "free" everything is free except laundry and food once you have paid etc, in fact I had a free late stay
The reality 50p per block x 6 = £3.00 per day, the late stay they decided they were going to charge £10 regardless of what was promised during the call at the time of booking and when I first arrived...I didn't pay that though and they won't get my business again.
I think most people don't mind little amounts, but when you consider the above it cost me an extra £36 and if I rolled over an extra £10 on top of my holiday, like I say to my children it's not the cost it's the principle.
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02/9/2014 at 6:52pm
Location: Essex coast living on a boat!
Outfit: Vango Stargrove 600xl
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youlbury, I do agree that you were deliberately misled if they used a technicality of the shop freezing the blocks instead of them, and 50p per block is ridiculous to charge people who have already paid for their stay.
Sites like that deserve to lose custom if they misrepresent their costs as being all inclusive of everything if its not.
My comment about researching everything beforehand clearly could not have applied to you.
Unless you had specifically called or emailed to ask about ice block freezing and any cost involved, you could not have possibly known.
However, the vast majority of sites do publish a comprehensive list of charges, and if they don't include everything, you can usually find a review pointing out high or unexpected charges for various things, this was obviously not the case for you, but we have never come across an unexpected charge that we did not know about beforehand in over 20 years of camping, so its reasonable to expect that your experience would be unusual, hence my comment that charges are not usually hidden.
(I too have a son who, if the sites relied on him paying for showers, would soon find their profits down!  )
To be honest, having a cool box and EHU as an option is well worth it in my view, at least you don't have the hassle of freezing blocks all the time, we have a cool box that is an either/or, we can use ice blocks in it or use EHU and I would rather pay for EHU on a site that overcharged for freezing blocks anyway, at least I would get my money's worth out of them!
Jane.
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Enjoying life beyond kids, new love, living on a boat and a new lease of life in my mid 50s! Never too old to reinvent yourself.....
Mum to five - 4 girls, 31,28,25 and 22 and one boy, 20
Engaged! Wedding June 2020!
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02/9/2014 at 7:43pm
Location: Cornwall
Outfit: Outdoor Revolution Ozone 6.0 xtr Vario
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Yes it was unusual, in fact we have never been charged for freezing blocks before and since. It certainly is the only case of hidden charges for us.
Research for me is half the fun of finding a good site that suits our needs, the review section is great resource.
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It's better to ask a silly question than make a silly mistake.
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