UKC

How long does it normally take folk to get a response to a CIC booking request by email?

Depends if robin is away, if so then might be a while

Also depwnde when you are wanting it for, if it's anytime soon then I imagine it will be fully booked for most of march

I tried numerous times and didnt get a response so gave up. Unlike lagangarbh where you get a response in good time from bernard....

Customer service.....

hmmmm...

best to remember the title is Honorary* Custodian and a lot of work too

I'm not sure that quite qualifies you as a "customer"

* i.e unpaid

if your gonna take on a job be it volunteer or paid common courtesy and professionalism still come into play...

no excuse

I've always booked in advance (following the instructions on the SMC website and meeting the clearly communicated required pre-requisite criteria) and received response in a time frame that allows alternative options to be sought if unsuccessful. 

I've never tried a book at short notice with good conditions in place....and would assume unless you are a SMC member or very lucky, you'd be unlikely to get a place.

I suspect that there are probably several hundred if not thousands of inappropriate applications to stay in CIC each year. All hut custodians have thier own jobs, lives, holidays, and climbing as well as hut bookings to sort out. It might be wrong or rude not to get a response in a certain time frame, but its also wrong to expect a volunteer to respond next day or even within a week.

try 8 months in advance !!

numerous emails over the following couple of months all with no response until i gave up and booked Lagangarbh.

Sorry, but i have no problem booking other huts in the area just CIC and obviously the bloke who created this post is having the same issue.

Having been booking and staying in huts as a club meets secretary, or a club member (Scottish based) for well over 20 years. I don't think the occasional booking mishap is confined to the CIC.

I've had occasionally the misfortune of applications going amiss, communications getting cross-wired, bookings being inadvertently cancelled,  keys lost in post, or not posted in time, and on two occasions double bookings.  I hasten to add these are exceptions rather than the norm. I'm sure at the 'other end of the stick'  custodians have had far worse, from the clubs and individuals trying to book!

To past and present hut custodians of all the differing clubs, the above is not meant as a criticism, thank you for your efforts. Sometimes things just don't go as smoothly as everyone might like.

I can well imagine how complex/diffciult/frustrating a job it is to co-ordinate booking at the CIC hut, and I'm very very grateful to have been able to stay there on a number of occasions (all booked by someone else), however.....

..... my only personal experience of Robin's work was when he turned up to the CIC hut when we were out on the hill, and proceeded to throw away a load of our CLEARLY fresh food (in addition to the year old dregs left by previous visitors) from the basket shelves, meaning we had to take a day out of our schedule to walk down to FW to restock. A fella who witnessed this said Robin was being far to over-zealous in his actions.

But dare we complain, since Robin holds the magic tickets!?!?!?

the damned cheek of the man; turning up unpaid to look after the hut whilst you were out on the hill. No doubt he would rather be doing likewise than his "work" to clear the year-old dregs

I'd guess you're not trying to be deliberately critical but I'd say this thread has run its course, making public and personal criticism someone who has put in a great number of voluntary hours is beneath us surely

No doubt SMC members will be reading this thread and are wondering why they should be providing hotel services at a remote mountain hut or continue to do so

For heaven's sake...


 

If you've genuinely been trying to book for 8 months and have sent numerous emails, I'd say your emails are not being received (or being received to spam).

Try sending from a different email address.

Also, you've no chance of getting anything before the end of April now, and will have to take what you can get in winter in general, even if booking a year in advance.

When I was Meets Convenor for another club, we applied for the CIC -very well- in advance, and built the other meets around the timing we got back for that. It's in incredible demand when winter conditions are likely.

Summer bookings are generally quite easy to get, though, even at fairly short notice.

I would agree with peter on this and say that this thread should come to an end. Personal attacks in a public climbing forum based on one mans efforts to try his hardest to please numerous folk and try get them into the cic is not fair. Personally i feel that Robin has done a fantastic job in the services he has provided towards the cic hut.  

Thanks all, seems like it's a combination of a waiting game and pot luck if you get a response. FWIW I'm not requesting short notice accommodation, but a couple of months away (or it was when I initially enquired). The calendar shows plenty of availability. 

I wonder how hard it would be to setup an automatic response to emails giving an estimated response time. At the very least it would let you know your email had been delivered.