4th June 2025
Welcome to the ScotCampers fortnightly blog.
Biggest news I guess is the website is live!!!! www.scotcampers.co.uk. Had some great feedback on the site and hires starting to trickle in. I’m really pleased with the way it’s turned out and thanks again to my friends at BWAR for nailing down my conceptual, scrambled thoughts into content!
I’ve been busy but good busy! I was testing another route around the Cairngorms when a last minute booking came in from Michalis and his two chums. So, the road trip was abandoned early in favour of the customer. They flew into Edinburgh and got the new bus service from Edinburgh airport to Kinross bus station – I even picked them up in my old battered Defender! Great adventurers/wanderers but unfortunately, the weather gods did not smile on them…. In my experience, and in particular around island trips, you probably need to go three times to catch a cracking bit of weather – most of the time…….
The pic is of their return and at least they were still smiling! As part of the service, I took time to help them plan a realistic route – and I love this part of the job! The exam question for me was asking them if they’d do it again and it was a yes!
This hire was also a test for me as the van was going out 36 hours later. That was an interesting 36 hours I discovered…..a nail in a tyre; a battery charging fault; a damaged cupboard door. If any of you remember the Roadrunner cartoon, that was me last Thursday morning. That having been said, more risks reduced now as I have two brand new tyres in the garage along with a new, spare battery. You can never plan for these things – all I can do is take the stress/rush out of next time. And there will be a next time.
Last Friday, it was a hire to Aaron from Perth. He was heading to a wedding in Braemar and using the very good campsite there. He was an easy hire as used to driving a van and just needed walked through the campervan functions. He was at the wedding with his wife and then on his return, took his son for an off-grid adventure in the Ochil hills.
I struck me setting up ScotCampers that what was my USP going to be and why would someone choose me over the other (and some very good) competitors? Since working with customers face to face in the 90s, for me it had to be service. I tend to be in message dialogue with future hirers in advance to understand what they’re looking for – that can be from airport transfers to route inspiration. I’m also flexible – no such thing as a daft request. There is no one size fits all and not an IVR or chatbot in sight! As well as the personal touch, I am trying to write up a route plan once a fortnight (which I’m failing at!) and if you’re interested, check out www.scotcampers.co.uk/routes.
Catch you next time and remember, not all those who wander are lost.
