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We have an mpv already with seats that fold into a double bed - never again! talk about uncomfy!  Nor would I expect my two teens to sleep in it together (one of each sex)

Regarding caravan speeds - well I went North yesterday and was tootling along quiet nicley between 60 -70 as I was running a new engine in and we were passed by no less than 8 vans all going considerably faster - a couple of them hitting over 80 but all doing 60+ !!  Even my dd said arent they going to fast?

With regards to sites - we only ever use little tiny sites - fields and such so no matter about getting pitches side by side.

Regarding an adult in each van - tbh my dd stands taller than most adults and people often mistake her for an adult neway but if one of us needed to be in there so be it ;) Not having anymore kids neway lol

Hmmm,  I seem to have come back from Bradford with a little 4 berth van attached to my tow bar oooooooooooops!!! :)

Buffy

Quote: Originally posted by The 2 Tops on 04/5/2007

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Who, other caravans?  Most of us do stick to the speed limits for caravans.  As with everything, a few will break the law.

One reason that pitches cannot be "reserved" is because, especially at busy times, an empty, "reserved" pitch could prevent an arrival from getting on site.  You would only need a few such reservations in order to cause absolute chaos.  And the rule has to apply at all times, busy or not, to protect site staff from unreasonable campers who may demand to hold a pitch whatever the situation.

It is also a bit unfair to refer to site staff as jobsworths.  They do a good job in trying to keep everyone satisfied, and that is why there are rules.   Just try being nice to everyone arriving when you have just had a verbal mauling from one or more campers who insist on being difficult. 

Even with rules, a warden is sometimes still pushed to the point of having to tell an obnoxious visitor to either toe the line or get off the site. Most of the non-club sites have similar rules to the clubs; they have to in order to operate successfully.  Whether or not you join a club, you still have to obey the rules applicable to any site you visit.

Bertie.

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Well, I can't say I've taken a lot of notice of the speeds of caravans until I had my own but on the very day I picked it up a 4x4 with a large caravan went hurtling past me. I wondered if perhaps my speedo was wrong. Then on my second trip out two more, who were obviously together, went hurtling past me. So on the law of averages I think quite a few must break the speed limits.

If you have booked into a caravan site and told them there will be two of you then the site is expecting you, and although they might not have allocated specific pitches they know they need two together. They usually try to fill them up in some sort of order. If one party arrives and tells the staff the other party will be along fairly soon then I can't see a problem. 

If it is a case of first come first served, then of course they can't guarantee an adjoining pitch but any site worth it's salt keeps a check on which pitches have been taken and would do it's best to accommodate customers to the best of their ability.

Of all the sites I have been on I can honestly say I have not had any officiousness. In fact quite the reverse. Most wardens and receptionists have been most helpful and courteous. On the couple or so occasions I have not been happy with the pitch I was given they found me something to my liking with no problem.

On one site at Brean during a very busy period I was taken to my pitch by one young warden. It was very hot weather and the pitch turned out to be the corner of a field with fairly recent turfing which had dried out into bare sods of earth with large cracks between them. There was no way I wanted to pitch my tent on top of that so I asked if they had something that at least wasn't a patchwork of crevices. I was told it was a hot summer and it couldn't be avoided and that was the only place they had left. He then drove off.

I got out of the car to examine the pitch more closely and I was fuming. At that point another warden drove by and could obviously see the steam coming out my ears. He stopped and asked if everything was ok. I explained I wasn't very happy with the pitch and he just asked me to follow him and took me to an area which was lovely green grass and a choice of at least 6 pitches. So perhaps 'jobsworth' isn't the correct terminology...they are just idle barstewards who shouldn't be employed in the tourist industry dealing with people's problems that are bound to arise from time to time. Being nice to everybody even though you have just had a verbal mauling is part of the job...it's not the fault of following customers, and may not even have been the fault of the person who did the mauling if they are dissatisfied with the service...and yes...I have tried it. I have been in public service most of my life in one form or another and the customers are there to be treated well and courtiously...otherwise it reflects on all the staff and the whole business.

Yes, you do have to obey the rules but most caravan site rules are common sense in order for peace and safety and usually don't need little hitlers administering them. In fact I think I have only ever been on one site with 'wardens' as such. Staff yes, who initially show you where to go but then you rarely see them again unless they are serving in the site bar.  

It seems, by the number of complaints and moans that I have read, that caravan clubs have more rules than most and wannabe policeman carrying them out, and there's no room for negotiation or common sense. There doesn't seem to be a great deal of courtesy and respect either. You can't run a site like a prison camp! 

We managed a busy touring park in a previous life and,if someone arrived and said another unit was on its way and they were together, we'd always do our very best to keep them together - they were much more likely to come back if they were well treated.

I appreciate all that BobTM57 says but, the main reason we got out of that working environment was the way some people were just so demanding!  All genuine examples:

Knock at the door just after midnight - "It's dark" announces camper.   "Yes" replies a bleary-eyed me, "it usually is at this time of night - that's how we know it's time to sleep."  "Well, I've been out and I've left my torch in my tent and now I can't find the zip - will you come round with a torch and show me the way in?"  I declined this thrilling offer and instead loaned him a torch.  After some persuasion the next day,. the torch was returned but mysteriously, the bulb had blown and the batteries were missing - thanks, mate!

The phone would ring at 3 in the morning - "oh, I just wanted a brochure but didn't think there'd be anyone there - I thought I'd have to call back" - well why did you call in the middle of the night??

Knock at the door at 4AM - "I've run out of gas - can you bring me a full cylinder and I'll pay you in the morning?"  This from a static caravan owner who, like all others on the park, had two gas cylinders outside his 'van.  "Why don't you just use your other one and we'll replace your empty one in daylight?"  "Oh, it's empty, too - it was raining when the other one ran out and I couldn't be bothered coming to the office to ask for a new one".  Bearing in mind they used 19kg Calor gas bottles so you don't really want to sling one over your shoulder and carry it half way across a 15 acre park in the dead of night, so, for the sake of health and safety, bottles were moved using a tractor but he didn't seem to find it a problem, so long as someone else was going to do it for him, and it obviously didn't matter that it would wake half the park!

Sorry - rant over!    Once I get started, I find it hard to stop - that's why we had to give up working on holiday parks and become paying visitors instead - much less stressful!