Online Booking System Notice and FAQs
Club website
The Club would like to take this opportunity to thank our members for their continued patience regarding issues that may be experienced when booking online.
We will be keeping this page up to date and as a point of reference to keep members informed of any actions, fixes and developments as they happen. Older posts may be archived to the bottom of this page, in order to keep it easy to search for and find information and updates.
As we progress with development it has become clear that issuing set completion times has proved ineffective. This is down to the many contributing factors involved in the process of making alterations to such a large booking system, especially when the system is much bigger than just the website booking pages. Therefore we will be giving status updates instead, which we’re certain will be more useful and accurate over coming weeks.
You may also note that we’re now marking the FAQ’s as updated when new content has been added.
Feedback Form:
Your feedback is very valuable to us to help us to deliver the booking system you would like. While we acknowledge the fact we’ve not been able to respond as fully or as quickly as we’d like to complaints or enquiries made to us about it, it’s vital that we continue to receive your feedback. We want you to tell us how you find using the booking pages and what you think we should know to improve it.
Therefore we would like all feedback regarding the online booking system to be directed to us via this form: Online Booking System Feedback
We can’t promise a personal response to everyone; however we can guarantee that all will be read and considered while we continue to develop and improve the webpages.
Once again we would like to sincerely thank all of our members for their continuing support and patience. We know that with your help we will develop the online booking system into a great one.
Corrections Page:
Another resource that we think members will find useful is this one: Updates, Errors and Omissions
This is a page we regularly update the Club publications, such as Your Place in the Country, with the most up to date information on opening and closing dates, directions and more.
Made especially for members who already know what campsite they want to go to, it allows an express-style booking of one campsite stay at a time – and offers alternative stay dates / lengths if your original request for dates is not available.
If you’re a member, you can go straight to the Quick Book facility here
https://booking.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/QuickBookWebsite
Status: Live
The Club’s new booking system allows our Holiday Site Managers to be more flexible with the unit types and sizes booked in, even before campers arrive on site. This is why we wanted to establish the unit type and size early on.
Feedback has indicated that this isn’t ideal for a number of members, who feel it’s too much detail to be asking at such an early stage. Therefore we are changing the website to remove the need to fill in unit size until after a site is selected and the user is ready to book a pitch.
This fix is now part of a larger project currently in progress.
Status: Mid-development
Insider tip: In the short term, we are re-introducing a map-based search function which will eliminate the need for unit details – see the FAQ titled ‘What fixes are coming to the website soon?’
All tick boxes are optional, so you don’t have to select any. We are currently revisiting the search functionality of the booking website and this issue will be addressed in this review.
Of course, you may wish to specify some options such as ‘Electric Hook-up’ but do remember, the more options you select, the more specific your search will become and therefore fewer results will be returned, so consider this when making your choices.
Insider tip: In the short term, we are re-introducing a map-based search function which will eliminate the need to show these tick boxes as they are currently – see the FAQ titled ‘What fixes are coming to the website soon?'
You can browse the campsites without booking. The best way we think to do this is by typing in an area you’re interested in where it says Where? e.g. Cumbria.
The system will attempt to auto-complete the field with all campsites with Cumbria in the address, starting with Club Sites, followed by Forest, Certificated and Listed sites. If you don’t yet know the name of the site you want to visit, don’t select from the list, but instead click off the list.
Un-tick the Check availability box then select the equipment you’re taking and dimensions. You can change the unit of measurement from metres to feet. It’s only optional to check any of the Basic, Family or Activities criteria. Just remember that the more options you check, the fewer campsites will be returned.
Click Search >
This will return a list of campsites in Cumbria. Clicking the name of the campsite or the More information link will take you to the page about that campsite. Or click the ‘Map View’ tab (next to ‘List View’) to show a map with campsites within the specified radius.
Once you are ready to book, click Book this campsite > to bring up the calendar to search for availability. You will be presented with all the available pitch types to select from and the remainder of the booking process is straightforward.
Insider tip: In the short term, we are re-introducing a map-based search function which will be more browsing focused – see the FAQ titled ‘What fixes are coming to the website soon?’
Unfortunately, the new booking website does not have a grid based, pitch selection function. We know some of our members liked booking this way but many also found it confusing.
We have had to change how we present this information as the Clubs’ new pitch classification and the new booking system does not allow for a grid to function in the same way as it did before. With the system as it is currently, we will not be able to re-instate the grid.
As a direct response to Members’ feedback, we have developed pitch alternative functionality into the members-only ‘Quick Book’ option. This will return pitches for you to choose from if there is not any availability for your stay details.
If you’re a member, you can go straight to the Quick Book facility here
https://booking.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/QuickBookWebsite
In the longer term, we will explore the possibility of offering users more flexibility with dates when booking online.
The original Siteseeker search facility made use of a map to assist users looking for a campsite.
Members have voiced their opinions surrounding the removal of a map, to which have listened and as such are taking into account for the next stage of development of the website.
We are pleased to report that this is now with our design and development teams.
Status: Specification complete. Development in progress.
Insider tip: In the short term, we are re-introducing a map-based search function which will be more browsing focused – see the FAQ titled ‘What fixes are coming to the website soon?’
Note there is a map view that can be seen by clicking on the ‘Map View’ tab (next to ‘List View’ tab) when the search results are returned. We are aware however that this is not functioning as the old map search did, in that you can’t use the map to actually search on. Also there is a limited view of only a few sites on the map at any one time, but is usable as a short term option.
There is currently an issue with the booking system where CS/LS sites are returned regardless of whether they are open or not, which is proving frustrating for users looking to browse the Certificated and Listed Sites.
We do have the option of removing them entirely from the search results but feel that most users would prefer to see the sites this way until we get a permanent fix in place to resolve the problem.
Status: Specification complete. Development in progress.
Insider tip: In the short term, we are re-introducing a map-based search function which will return CS / LS sites as they should – see the FAQ titled ‘What fixes are coming to the website soon?'
We recognise the need to have short, medium and long term goals for the Club website and the member’s online experience and journey.
Over recent weeks, we have been making lots of small changes to the booking system behind the scenes as well as to the website itself. We are also working to deliver a number of developments as identified on this page. One of the main frustrations web users have reported is that they want to browse campsites more easily – like they used to be able to do with SiteSeeker.
We have listened to the feedback and are now delighted to report the return of a map-based search facility. This is now with our design and development teams and being treated as a priority for launch in April.
Status: Booking system specification complete. Development in progress. Integration in progress.
We are also committed to improving the members’ area throughout 2012 – working towards a delivery of several new features in the summer – watch this space for updates.
We are working on filtering functionality which will allow users to search for CS, LS, Forest or Club sites only.
We are pleased to report that this is now with our design and development teams.
Status: Specification complete. Development in progress.
Insider tip: In the short term, we are re-introducing a map-based search function which will return site types filtered as requested – see the FAQ titled ‘What fixes are coming to the website soon?'
As part of the new system, we will be providing information for UK Club Site bookings as well as Carefree holiday bookings; we are currently making sure these two processes are operating together as they should and the way this is presented will be clear to all our members.
This feature wasn’t quite ready for the launch date in November – as we didn’t want this to go live without working correctly, we chose to roll the date back.
Status: Functionality complete. Design in progress.
Although Damage Barton and Trewan Hall are Club sites, they are currently not visible in the dropdown list due to a technical issue. We are working on this at the moment but as an interim measure we have listed both sites as Certificated Sites.
Please note that these sites can only be booked directly with them; browse the details on the Club’s campsite directory pages below:
You can view the Damage Barton Site details here
www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/damagebarton
You can view the Trewan Hall Site details here
www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/trewanhall
Insider tip: In the short term, we are re-introducing a map-based search function which will return these two sites as requested – see the FAQ titled ‘What fixes are coming to the website soon?'
The Club would like to take this opportunity to apologise to our members about issues they may be finding when trying to book online and to explain what we are working hard on to improve the situation.
The change of our system goes beyond what is displayed on the website; it includes the entire booking engine that is used behind the scenes by the Contact Centre for UK and Carefree as well as on the Sites themselves. Making such a change was inevitably going to have teething issues but the new system will provide much greater functionality and flexibility for members in years to come.
We do understand the frustrations that some of our members have been having while trying to search for sites and make a booking. We have been working tirelessly to identify and address problem and are now feeling that we are better placed to offer information that will be beneficial.
When we first went live with the new booking system in November, there were a number of issues that presented themselves immediately. Users found it very difficult to return any pitch availability, both via the website and the contact centre. We soon realised that this was mainly due the new way the booking system was allocating pitches based on the new way of setting up by the Club. We worked quickly to re-define the classifications of all the campsite pitches which is now resolved.
There have been other issues that have caused members difficulties. We have compiled a number of FAQ’s in an effort to share more information with members and answer the main queries asked at this stage.
