Narrow escape? - 'Club la Costa'

timeportal

tesuhoha wrote: »

Does anyone know what the CLC phone number is that they ring from. I had a call the other night, I agreed to everything they said and said thank you and then when he went to transfer me, presumably to pay I hung up. They've been calling me ever since and I've been rejecting the calls. Its a 01702 code. I'm just concerned I may have really won a holiday because I didn't hear for sure that it was them. However, they said I would have to pay a booking fee so I am 99.9% sure it was.

I'm tempted to pick up the phone and tell them that we're old age pensioners whose house is being repossessed so we would be very glad if you could waive the booking fee dear. (None of this is true by the way)

im getting them a number of times a day, once they told me who they were I politely declined but they keep calling

The number is 01702 444594 but sometimes comes up on my phone as 00441702 444594

01702 is a southend on sea code i think

Tangible

Tell them it's their lucky day timeportal and that they have won the chance of a £500,000 fine.

Refer to MSE news dtd 26th May 2011 headed

£500,00 fines for cold-calling

They probably won't be so keen to call you again after that.

dealer wins is absolutely spot on and you should never ever give your card details to someone over the phone who calls you - whoever they say they are. You might as well print the details on a card and put it on a lamp post for everyone to use as many times as they like for whatever they like.

If you have to pay anything, it's not a free prize is it ?

The worst possible way to attempt to confirm that an offer is genuine is for a one time poster to give it a glowing report. No need to condemn it. It speaks for itself.

RickyMort

Anyone have experience with Clublacosta Estates. I think I have been a mug!

I signed up to purchase a property at the Turkey Kusadasi golf resort which was due to complete on 1st January 2011.

I had a moretgage lined up with BNP but, they refused to release it until the Habitation licence was available. This took many months to be available and as a reslut the mortgage application was void and I had to start the process again.

It now seems that lending criteria has tightened to such a point that I cannot get a mortgage and need to pull out of the deal.

Now the bad part. There is a 30% cancellation fee on the total of the property. I mis-read this as 30% of the deposit, which itself would be bad enough.

Do I have any chance legally of getting any of what would be £26K fee waved?

NatalieL

I use to get their letters for 10 years and did not trust them but in January we decided to try their email offer .Even we had brochure with free holidays which suppose to be posted with the cheque of £29 we bought own air tickets and £99 paid as a deposit was refunded to us in restaurant vouchers so we had free food for 7 days.
Yes, they invited us to presentation of timeshares, they were very nice .
I wanted to write the review in "Tripadvisor" but they already have so many.
See for yourself in Tripadviser.co.uk Club La Costa, Fuengirola.
Regards, Natalie

Tangible

Perhaps I'm being slow NatalieL, but why would I want to pay airfares to attend a timeshare presentation abroad ?

Has anyone ever actually done this ?

I appreciate that the recent changes to EU consumer laws covering time shares haven't yet been adopted in Spain, whereas they operate now in the UK, but it seems a bit much to expect people to pay to enter a jurisdiction where protective consumer legislation is weaker.

Perhaps I'm being cynical, but it would be more sensible to run the presentations in the UK, unless there is some way to make money out of giving holidays away free. If that's the case, it doesn't make sense to buy a timeshare, does it ?

terryw

Tangible wrote: »

Perhaps I'm being slow NatalieL, but why would I want to pay airfares to attend a timeshare presentation abroad ?

Has anyone ever actually done this ?

I appreciate that the recent changes to EU consumer laws covering time shares haven't yet been adopted in Spain, whereas they operate now in the UK, but it seems a bit much to expect people to pay to enter a jurisdiction where protective consumer legislation is weaker.

Perhaps I'm being cynical, but it would be more sensible to run the presentations in the UK, unless there is some way to make money out of giving holidays away free. If that's the case, it doesn't make sense to buy a timeshare, does it ?

Of course it does not make sense to buy a timeshare under whatever guise it is being sold.! (Await angry responses from first time posters who just love their timeshare.........!)

On the other hand, a cheap holiday at a timeshare resort is worth the bother of booking a "fly-buy" of you are prepared to book cheapie flights and then stay at the resort and put up with the sales pitch. Not for the faint-hearted or gullible.

I do so regularly, but then I am a right time-share promotion-seeking tart with a thick skin!

bw

Tangible

... but if they're offering the holidays free why would you want to buy a time share ?

Their sales pitch appears to be self-defeating.

If they were fully booked they wouldn't have spaces to give away free.

terryw

Tangible wrote: »

... but if they're offering the holidays free why would you want to buy a time share ?

Their sales pitch appears to be self-defeating.

If they were fully booked they wouldn't have spaces to give away free.

So true. You are very perceptive.

I have hit at least 8 of these over the years. But I enjoy scamming the scammers.

I stress, at the risk of being repetitive and boring, that this is not recommended for the foolish or gullible.

dekd

Go for it!
Best deal is the all in (Flights included) You pay around £30 per person, BUT they do hit you for airport taxes - last year was another £90 on top of the £30. We got £50 vouchers for initial meeting, this was at a Crowne Plaza local, choice of say 5/6 retailers - M&S, Argos, Tesco, etc. I would say we were very lucky as they actually had more in than they could handle and let us sign forms and pass over vouchers with apology for wating some 20 mins. We did speak to others who were in for an hour ish. Still £50 per hour not bad by anyones standards?
Holiday was in what is genuinely a really nice apartment, had hot tub on balcony etc, kitted out really well!
3rd day in we had to go for another meeting, which was over a free full english on the complex. Had a laugh with the sales fella and openly told him we were mooching a free holiday/ well cheap and we chatted about pretty much anything and everything for about 20 mins. Once that was done, we had not other sales talks.

Great £270 holiday on a brill resort, less the £50 voucher.... Bargain ! If it's the costa resort, you can walk into town but it's a hike coming back after the beer! Taxi was less than 5 euros.

Absolutely nothing to loose, be prepared to simply say no and stick to it!

No i don't work for them .............
Just want to put some perspective on this. If you look at this as a very cheap holiday and are prepared to give up some 2-3 hours to get it, it's well worth it.
Forget the scam, con and sucker threads, it is what it is but the £99 or £150 offers with you getting your own flights will work out as much as your own choice booking if not more.

Narrow escape, they didn't try to bite us nor did they tie us up at any time

Fully appreciate it's each to their own, but we used this as a treat second break as we knew they would not be quick in giving the peak weeks, forgot to say - you pick 5 weeks? i think out of the year with 8 weeks gaps....priority supposed to go to teachers or families with kids. We meet both, nearly and got sort of off-peak, was to be expected though. You can only pick one real peak week i.e school hols.
If this takes your fancy, go for it and then do the others, there are many more all the same, crown, agean blue etc.
We've tried them all in the spirit of MSE !!!

Hope this helps,

D

Tangible

Let's be honest dekd, if they're giving away free holidays, which in itself says something about the product they're offering, they'd have to be pretty dumb not to lay some heavy marketing pressure on you. After all, it's reported that you don't get this free holiday offer until you've qualified by the amount of your salary and being a homeowner with a family..

It would be like Sainsbury's giving away free trolleys full of groceries to attract customers. The sales pitches are reported to exceed over 4 hours.

As I'd never discuss any personal details with a stranger over the phone, I wouldn't qualify. I go on holiday for a rest, not a financial review.

The Spanish property market now has such a filthy reputation I would never get in to the car of a timeshare rep after what I've read. The recession should see the end of the timeshare market.