I have had the misfortune this week to deal with my mums caravan. Actually my sister has done most of the ‘dealing’ insofar as we have sold it on my mums behalf. My mum is ill and the thought of a drive to Mablethorpe is something she is not going to manage.
So off I went to Mablethorpe today. I had forgotten just how bad the place is.
POW Camp - disguised as a caravan park
Still, the caravan needed to be emptied – and this I duly did. My car smells of pot pourri.
In case you hadn’t noticed, now is not the time of year to sell – there are no buyers and the site have ‘rules’ about what you can and can’t do. To the extent that they make it difficult for you to sell to anyone else. I can live with this – there is a convenience factor – but it costs you.
But what I can’t come to terms with is the exploitation. Or ‘rules’ As an example – the swipe card into the site costs £10. Fair enough as people tend to lose them. But when you return it they give you a fiver back. When I asked why – ‘rules’. And then the Gas Bottles – which although purchased from the site are ‘nothing to do with them’. In fact you can’t purchase the bottles from anywhere else it seems. ‘Rules’.
I live in a very commercial world – but I couldn’t help think today that this is exploitation. These people prey on older people and must find themselves in a great position most of the time. They can’t really lose – the rules are all theirs.
We have a phrase in the property world – caveat emptor. Meaning ‘buyer beware’ – and I guess in hindsight this was where this whole sorry matter went wrong. Seduced by what seems an idyllic location and a new caravan, people miss the detail – especially when they are older.
As for the swipe card – I am going to keep it. You never know when I might need it for scraping the ice of the windscreen…
And as for the caravan sites – they really did remind me of those POW camps you see in the films. All neatly lined up with the Gestapo Rules posted at every turn. Glad I don’t have to go back.
