Touring discouraged

Further to the controversy concerning the latest changes to booking sites through the Caravan and Motorhome Club, the method of charging for deposits discriminates against people who want to tour, using a number of different sites. You now have to pay a deposit (or pay in full if less than £25) at the time of booking and you have to do this for every site that you want to stay on.

If you book for a longer holiday using just one site, the deposit is 20% of the total cost. I suspect that this will affect motorhome and campervan owners more than caravanners.

For myself, the cost of the deposits has stopped me from booking well in advance of my holiday this year and has forced me to choose to stay a fortnight on one campsite instead of moving from site to site to be nearer the geographical locations of places I want to visit.

Nikki Bosworth

We read with interest Jon Close’s letter (May, p10) on his experiences with the Caravan and Motorhome Club.

As members for a number of years, although we have not used many of the organisation’s sites, we were shocked to review the new terms and conditions.

We were even more surprised to see the new method and level of pricing. It appears it is now charging for electric hook-up and at a level that defies reason.

We’ve travelled extensively in Europe and have never been subject to such high prices and conditions. We have heard many reasons given to why the prices in the UK are higher than in Europe. Examples of spacing, higher costs, use of wardens and so on.

Commercially, yes, they are not in business for fun but profit, but at what level?

In my past life I learned that, if you wanted to make the maximum profit, it was not only down to costs, but occupancy or volume of sales. It is possible to lower prices, in some circumstances, and make higher values of profit!

One final word: a great many of UK sites are far too far away from towns, places of interest. Why?

Sadly, after supporting the club for some years, we too have cancelled our membership.

Norman Newbigging

ED We think Norman is referring to the smart metering trial being implemented at the Club’s Wyatts Covert site in Buckinghamshire. This may also be trialled at Ashridge Farm in Hertfordshire later this year. What do you think to metered electricity?