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I know of at least one site that will not accept them, nor LMC, Tabbart etc., the usual suspects.  They are quite open about the reasons why, if you ask.  I can't understand it myself...travellers are not going to pay pitch fees of up to £30 a night to use a proper site, are they?  

The only possible explanation would be that if they have these vans on site,this may encourage a visit by those wishing to "borrow" items and never return them.

Anyway, there it is.  The owners of a site can make their own rules and for their own reasons.

i think alot of it is to do with the width of them!!

The reason why a lot of sites refuse to take caravans by LMC/Hobby/Knaus etc etc is that there is always that possibility that it might just be a traveller's van. They can con anyone - even those who have all their wits about them. 

If it was just the one traveller wanting to stay for a day or two then fair enough.  But nine times out of ten its not....and once one has managed to get on site legitimately, then they are quickly followed by a dozen or more who just pull on and park up where they want, regardless of site wardens or owners etc.  Thats when the problems start.  They dont give a darn whether they're wanted or not, they know that provided they've not broken down any fences/gates then they're not breaking any laws, and the only way to get rid of them is by Court Order.  They'll say they're going to pay, and they will - eventually. By the time they do, there'll be so much crap thrown about, their kids will have lit fires all over the site and wrecked everything thats not not made out of cast iron and your regular holidaymakers will be baying for refunds.  The men will start drinking and then start fighting. Ring the police...and they might just attend - next morning when they're all sober. 

And thats why a lot of sites refuse to have these makes of caravan on site, they're just not going to take the risk.   I dont know if you are all aware of this, but in England, despite the well known sign ‘trespassers will be prosecuted’, trespass is not a criminal offence and trespassers cannot usually be prosecuted. They can, however, be sued, but how do you sue a Traveller?

Jenny

This subject comes up at regular intervals. Clearly there are sites that don't accept certain brands of German caravans. Up to them if they want to lose the business! However there must be many sites that do accept them like the 2 main Clubs who have over 300 site between them.

On the servicing front therewas famously one caravan dealer (who imports European caravans) who point blank refuse to service any vans that had been privately imported into the UK. Having said that the running gear and equipment is fairly standard and often the same as UK vans so any service agent could do the servicing.

David

Jenny

I could not have put it better myself, I have had to deal with these people far too many times, I have never met a decent one !!!!!

Annoying though it must be to a Hobby owner, and I speak as someone contemplating such a purchase myself, I can understand the views of site owners.

We were also surprised to find out that some storage places will not take Hobby's. I can only assume that if there are Hobby's in the storage section it would attract more thefts ?

I think Hobby's are beautiful caravans but I wouldn't purchase one because of the bother getting onto sites and finding storage. Not to mention the greater risk of thieft with the knock on effect of maybe higher insurance premiums

We're new to all this and until this post hasn't realised hobby vans are sometimes favoured by travellers however I did comment once that the only place I had ever seen hobby vans was on a site near kingsbury and there were 4 of them there.

As for the Buccaneer vans, we have one and have never had a problem, to be honest we have never been asked what brand of van we own when we book. Do sites just turn Hobby vans away when they arrive then or do they ask when people book?

Quote: Originally posted by Sean P on 01/9/2008

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Sites simply need to ask for payment by Credit/Debit card only and by phone first for 'Traveller friendly' vans. 9.9/10 travellers dont have bank accounts and certainly not debit cards.

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Maybe they dont, but when the site I worked on got invaded by them, the pitch had been booked and paid for by somebody's mother, with a debit card.  She spoke perfect English, arrived in a Bentley with her husband driving and they were both smartly dressed, although he never said a word.  She booked one pitch for her son and his wife and the 3 grandchildren for 6 days over the August Bank Holiday - starting the Wednesday before the holiday.  She gave a local address.  She then came back the next day and booked another pitch next to the son's pitch - saying it was for her daughter and family.  Again paying by debit card.  

We got the shock of our lives when the daughter and her family turned up first - they were obviously pikeys.  People in nearby vans demanded they be moved - unfortunately when we did that, it was to one of the lesser popular areas of the site, and hence more spaces available. They must have been on the mobile phones telling the rest to come quick, because a blooming convoy of them arrived - and drove straight on to the site to where their pals were - before we could get the gates locked.  All in all there were about 10 vans, a sea of tents with the kids in them and assorted dogs.  I was thankful they didnt bring their blooming horses!

From then on, the whole weekend was a nightmare.  What the kids didnt manage to wreck whilst they were there, the adults did. 

J

I was told recently at a site that as hobby's are such a lovely van theyre very popular with travellers.

They said they would rather not have even one traveller family staying as they either tell all their family to come and before you know it theres 200 of them & you're on the six o'clock news with a horse grazing next to you.

Or, they call their relatives and tell them what vans arent locked with wheel clamps or towball locks and as soon as you're out for the day the relatives arive and then they disapear into the sunset with your van!

I thought it was quite unfair to judge all travellers in this way but he said better to be safe than sorry and for that reason no hobbys or transits towing!

Quote: Originally posted by Fat Bum on 02/9/2008

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They would probably use stolen or forged credit/debit cards anyway.

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The ones the old lady used weren't

J