thetford forest camping A11 not good

[paulwilliams]

We booked the campsite on Thursday Morning for a last minute stay in the Thetford A11 area on recommendation of a local HPRs Dog Club. We drove from London and got on site around 4pm yesterday. Very unfortunately our VW van died on us and needed to be recovered back to London earlier today.

We were forced to pay for all three nights when we booked. I do not feel that we needed to pay 100% upfront for any campsite and then be made to feel grateful for a refund which was in no way our fault.We were given a partial refund(one night) we have to pay for unused hook up @£25.00 per night. The site was empty and at least ¾ of our field was unused. and were only given minimal choice of pitches.

We also felt that the dog facilities should have been better explained. When I asked about the dog areas nobody mentioned that the forest was restricted to lead walks only, making the site unsuitable for HPR’s. Only lead walking was mentioned on the campsite. Great if you like RAF fighter jets as well.

wont be going back.



Regards

Paul Williams

[Blue Moonraker]

Would I be right in guessing thats the site run by the Forestry commission? If so they also took over the sites we used to stay on in the New Forest. They were brilliant sites (especially as we have a large dog) but now theres don't do that/ one arm up your back please etc signs all over the place and as for the poor dogs what possible reason can they have for charging £2.50 per night for them other than ripping you off? Hopefully that won't put you off visiting Norfolk again there are lots of lovely sites around here but I'm afraid the staycation credit crunch seem's to have put the prices up this year. Hope you got your van sorted ok? Oh and please write and complain to them we Brits don't complain and make our feelings known enough. They'll never get it right otherwise.
Ps As for the Jet fighters I'm afraid you were only 10 miles away from USAF Lakenheath, jet fighters in and out all day!!!

[fullsunian]

We booked the campsite on Thursday Morning for a last minute stay in the Thetford A11 area on recommendation of a local HPRs Dog Club. We drove from London and got on site around 4pm yesterday. Very unfortunately our VW van died on us and needed to be recovered back to London earlier today.

We were forced to pay for all three nights when we booked. I do not feel that we needed to pay 100% upfront for any campsite and then be made to feel grateful for a refund which was in no way our fault.We were given a partial refund(one night) we have to pay for unused hook up @£25.00 per night. The site was empty and at least ¾ of our field was unused. and were only given minimal choice of pitches.

We also felt that the dog facilities should have been better explained. When I asked about the dog areas nobody mentioned that the forest was restricted to lead walks only, making the site unsuitable for HPR’s. Only lead walking was mentioned on the campsite. Great if you like RAF fighter jets as well.

wont be going back.

Regards

Paul Williams

I'm confused..Your camper breaksdown then you say 'in no way our fault'. If you book at short notice and then don't turn up, they have saved a pitch which they could given to somebody else. So its only fair you pay.. in my opinion
IAN

[peteabbott]

In fairness Ian he does state that the site was nearly empty so holding a pitch that someone else could have had surely doesn,t come into it. I find that English campsites (not all I agree) are getting greedy and asking silly money. After a week in France and Belgium we stayed on three different sites 10 euros, 12 euros and 12 euros a night including hookup and very nice sites. Came back and took our grandkids to a site North Norfolk, £15 for the van, £4 hookup and £4 for the awning £2 each for the three kids = £29 a night. I could say van, hookup and kids OK but why pay for an awning, it doesnt use hot water or any facilities ! Sites we stayed on in France and Belgium you pay for the patch of grass and put what you want on it and the people running the sites were very helpfull and actually smiled a lot.
It is stories like this blokes where I think he wasnt treated very nicely that makes me add this site to my "no goes" Surely they lose a lot of campers with bad feedback.

[peteabbott]

Oh yes a really good happy place to camp THE ORCHARD, WHICKHAM MARKET £15 per night plus a log fire if you want one £7.50. I will add it to FUNPLACE to CAMP.

[lloyd]

Paul, thanks for the head's up about this site. But sorry, it's your van that broke down and you are responsible for your van. A big red light flashes for me at the 100% when booking.

Pete, the other side of no refund is it doesn't make any difference if site is full or empty. You make reservation, you pay. It's income for site... If site is full it's added income, and if site is near empty it's part of small amount site makes for that day/night. It's out of goodness of their heart if site gives a refund.

Do agree that Europe is more camper friendly. Many UK sites have little or no concept of public relations, but there are still many that do and are reasonably priced. We've never paid that much for a site (pay between £7.00 and £18.00). We rarely reserve a pitch. In peak season we call the morning of day we plan to arrive, give our name and pay when we arrive. We did 3 weeks in late July / early August and had no problems... except for Bath, and didn't call for a pitch until late afternoon. We ended up in Cheddar that night.
Guess that's part of why so many of us wild camp so muchof the time .

[smudge]

Sorry to hear you bus broke down, hope it gets fixed soon.....

On a slight aside, I do agree with you about many campsites in the UK charging crazy money for a pitch. We went to a music festival in Croyde a couple of months ago and tried to book a campsite as recommended by a couple of friends for the weekend, in the centre of Croyde.

They wanted £45 a night and that was for a grass pitch with 240v hook up. There were facilities on site such as loos and showers etc, but none the less......and they too wanted 100% up front.

Our friends needless to say did book for the entire weekend (mad....!) and found themselves surrounded by noisy neighbours. Lovely....

We found a C&C club just up the road for under half that cost. Hard standing pitch, electric hook up, lovely view of the sea, immaculate loos and showers, and a family bathroom with a bath to wash the kids off after a day on the beach.

Happy days.....

[ghost123uk]

We were at a steam rally in the Lakes and a nearby campsite wanted £45 for one night, in the simple Camper with no 240v hook up. When we said "that's a bit pricey isn't it ?" the guy said "Well we do have Karaoke on tonight" - We didn't stay !!!

We went wild camping on the estuary overlooking Grange and had a great night, BBQ, Bird Watching, Drinking (off road of course), Star Gazing, a mad storm in the night, beautiful next day for bacon and eggs, then a good day at the steam rally

I love wild camping though she always worriers about no loos !!

.

[mark1967]

Would I be right in guessing thats the site run by the Forestry commission? If so they also took over the sites we used to stay on in the New Forest. They were brilliant sites (especially as we have a large dog) but now theres don't do that/ one arm up your back please etc signs all over the place and as for the poor dogs what possible reason can they have for charging £2.50 per night for them other than ripping you off?

Got to agree with you there the sites were 100% better before they were turned into income generators that they are now.We`ve just been to Ocknell in the New Forest mon-thurs just before the Bank Holiday.When we arrived and paid at reception we were told that if we wanted any extra nights the price for thurs night and over the bank holiday weekend shot up by £5.50 a night.Do I become a more demamding camper at the weekend,am I getting some extra facilities that aren`t there in the week? No they see an easy chance to rake more money in.Greed is what its about.As for the refund thing if its made clear at time of booking you can`t really moan.But it is a bummer if its a random thing like your van packing up.Although as already said I wouldn`t pay 100% upfront any way,deposit OK but not 100%

[Mocki]

have you lot never heard of the camping and caravan club?



dont be put off by the name, its more campers and motorhomes than shed draggers....

[Louey]

have you lot never heard of the camping and caravan club?



dont be put off by the name, its more campers and motorhomes than shed draggers....

And nopt to be confused with The Caravan Club


Info about C & C C here

[ghost123uk]

And why do some sites say if you arrive on Friday evening you have to stay, or at least PAY for Saturday evening as well, even if you are moving somewhere else on the Saturday !!

.

[Mocki]

And why do some sites say if you arrive on Friday evening you have to stay, or at least PAY for Saturday evening as well, even if you are moving somewhere else on the Saturday !!

.

because they are a business, its common practice to only take bookings for two or even three nights at peak times these days.

[ginge]

same as allways rip of britian

[ojsmith]

have you lot never heard of the camping and caravan club?



dont be put off by the name, its more campers and motorhomes than shed draggers....

And nopt to be confused with The Caravan Club


Info about C & C C here

when we first got our van we stayed at a few of both caravan and camping and caravan club sites... found little difference between them. as we have got more into camping, we tend to stay at small 'farm' type sites rather than the more 'commercial' ones, but the organisation ones are good in that they have guarrenteed quality facilities and tend to be in decent locations, as long as you dont mind your view consisting of a motorhome or caravan!

they are both too strict on rules in my opinion, but if all you are after is a place to stay and clean facilities to use, and you will be off doing stuff during the day, then they serve theor purpose. also, if you book, they dont demand a deposit, and are fine with you if you cancel, as long as you apologise and try to give them some notice...

the worst sites from my experience, are those larger ones that are being run as private income generators. facilities are rarely clean and are often insufficient for thenumber of campers they like to cram in. mere farm near bridlington is a good example of such a site... dont get me started on it!!