What do you think of sites charging for your tow car, looking at one in cornwall where they are now charging you 4.00pound for your tow car per night. The same pitch last year cost 17.45 per night ,not peak time,2013 cost26.00 a increase of 8.55per night.
I'd not go to a site where they charged separately for the tow car - I'd assume they worked on the ryanair principle of being less than upfront about all aspects of their service & costs, and I'd rather not give them money so they can treat me as though I'm stupid.
That is disgusting! What a rip off! It is surely a kind of unwritten rule that you will have a car there??? I think alot of sites have got very greedy this year. They know how popular camping has become over the past couple of years and there will always be people willing to pay it.
I appreciate they are a business and not a charity, but a tow car??!!!
------------- Center Parcs April 2015
Chestnut Meadows Bexhill August 2015
Once in lifetime trip to Florida Oct 2015!!!
I got a brochure in the post today from a site near Swanage and in peake season they want £49.50 less a discount for two or four people, still comes out at over £40 per night for a fully serviced pitch? Needless to say it was ripped up and binned
i live right next to a campsite/tour park in devon i was talking with the owner the other day hes had 2 bad yrs with the weather/ people cancelling ect. Hes almost always been open from the 1st of April this yr I noticed that it’s the end of april hes put his prices up as well not that much but things always go up and never down. I can understand charging for a second car but the tow car?. Looks like there trying to screw every penny they can from the visitors they do get to offset the weather we might get. ive noticed the difference in visitor numbers over the last 2 yrs. its not the site i use there dog walk and everyone that stays there has good things to say. They work just as hard in the winter when the park is closed as they do in the summer. dont think i could work for 12 months and only bring in money for 6 of them. Same old thing if yove got more people booking than you can pitch you put your prices up to maximise your income. im a self employed trade person if im really busy my quotation prices go up on new customers.
im not saying its right.
just the world we live in.
I agree with all that has been said, it was a bad year for everyone last year with the weather but If you are feeling ripped off then dont go there. Plenty more sites to choose from.
Twurly
------------- You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only option!
Perhaps they are trying to discourage cars on site, are there alternative parking arrangements? Some sites require cars to be parked away from pitches which does create a better environment imho.
I hope that this summer is fine and predictions of generally bad summers due to changing global weather patterns are incorrect.
However some sites are actively putting additional drainage and fully hard standing pitches to combat the issues and others not plowing any of their profits back into their sites or investing in making more money rather than improving pitches.
A site I was on last summer had some pitches that were sodden and some bone dry due to the lay of the site. The owner has I believe spent the closed season converting the wet pitches to fully hard standing. We shall be returning this year.
Another site I've just come off of, although being open for business was for the best part a mud bath. That being said they've invested in a new pool which campers can use at an additional cost, a games room full of slot machines, and a new club house.
Both of the sites are very profitable, and both keenly priced in their own areas of the market.
We are definitely returning to the first site, but would only return to the second if we had good weather, or if we could secure one of the very few hard standing pitches. We checked availability for these hard standing pitches for our next holiday whilst there and they were already booked up, so clearely we are not on our own in this.
We are happy to pay extra for hard standing if the site is waterlogged. To put these in isn't cheap, but its not that expensive either.
Trouble with hardstands is that you cant just go and get some rubble and whack it down most areas will require planning permission. Ect which all adds to the headache and cost.
But with the current weather trend deffo the way forward.
How else do they expect you to get your caravan on site??!! Maybe you could borrow James May's caravan with the airballon on and fly to the site!
Ridiculous to charge for a tow car - fair enough to charge for a second vehicle but not for the one that gets you and your party onto their site in the first place.
I agree that charging separately for a tow car is just likely to annoy people but, as several of us say every year at this time, surely it's the total cost that matters, regardless of how that is made up.
If you don't think it's good value, go elsewhere. That's what we'll be doing.
Quote: Originally posted by ian j on 16/2/2013
What do you think of sites charging for your tow car, looking at one in cornwall where they are now charging you 4.00pound for your tow car per night. The same pitch last year cost 17.45 per night ,not peak time,2013 cost26.00 a increase of 8.55per night.
It is also the 6.95 pound service charge per night =14 nights = 97.30 for electric and the water i will use,this is not a full service pitch .I will not be booking this site this year
I cant see the justification of if you have a bad year put the prices up , the weather affects most outdoor jobs , can you imagine a builder doubling the price of a house because he had a bad year ,
Quote: Originally posted by ianclose on 17/2/2013
I agree that charging separately for a tow car is just likely to annoy people but, as several of us say every year at this time, surely it's the total cost that matters, regardless of how that is made up.
If you don't think it's good value, go elsewhere. That's what we'll be doing.
Total make up cost in july 8.50per person 6.95servie 4.00 car 2.00 dog total cost 2 people 29.95 a night 14 nights 419.30 ,i think thats a bit dear for a bit of grass ,think i will be going eleswhere