Is this fishy?? Exclusive Lifestyle Passport

dav77

GrimsbyScouser wrote: »

Went to a Club Costa promotion today and get our £50 voucher after 40 minutes of arriving. They had people backed up in the foyer who probably looked more like buyers than us so they let us go. Can't say it was a hard sell as we didn't stay long! Maybe if they think you are a likely candidate and had no one else to interview they would try harder. I think they has guessed straight away we were just there for the vouchers and cheap holiday. Any on to the holiday vouchers; Anyone had experience of the Exclusive Lifestyle Passport holiday experience? I have two weeks to make up my mind whether to go or not, and spend £29.50 up front per person to book. I guess the catch is its another timeshare outfit who 'know where you live' so to speak if you went.on the hol. I'd be prepared to put up with one hard sell but if it was all week then I might not do it. If anyone has any experience of one i'd like to know.

Since last post we have decided that cheap hol is worth the risk. Its through an outfit called Ambassador Holidays, its another arm or Club La Costa by the looks of it. Have carefully chosen holiday dates so we avoid dates too close to November or December as weather may be bad. Anyway looks kosher so far as have received confirmation of 'booking' if thats the right word, hotel, airport and dates all TBA. We figured that at about £300 all in for a holiday is cheap by any measure so will put up with one days hard sell. I'll update this thread when more details arise.

hi there could you let me know if you went on your holiday and advise me on the cost of airport tax as me and my family have recieved the same deal we went to the meeting and got our voucher and would just like to know if its worth sending the £29.50 per person booking fee or not


thanks

shyperson

We are taking our 'free' holiday to Costa del Sol in two weeks time - can anyone please confirm whether we have to pay to check in our luggage or is it already paid for?

sotheguy

Hello all, so has anyone actually been on a trip? I requested Portugal but got Costa Del Sol so I have to call and do some phone dancing.
Just read GrahamLiv's post as I was typing ...anyone else?

phil_solo

If you've got lots of willpower, are completely flexible about when and where you end up, and have a mischievous streak to your nature there is plenty of opportunity to play these people at their own game, but it can be something of a masochistic exercise.

My parents actually bought Timeshare back in the late 70's / early 80's, and to be fair it worked out pretty well for them by comparison with some of the many tales of woe reported over the years. However whilst we were out on holiday as a family at one resort or another we'd often be stopped in the street by touts from other places offering this or that 'freebie' as an incentive to attend their sales event. We found that if you're a couple walking along together you get approached most often, young families were also frequently targeted but if Dad plus child and Mum plus child are more than a few paces apart the touts were not always so insistent.

Since my Dad was strong-willed and a bit of a wind-up merchant he would occasionally play along with these invites, scarf the free buffet, sangria etc. while letting the poor commission-only sales sap carry on with his pitch, only at the end announcing "actually I've got more than enough timeshare weeks already and I'm not interested in any more thank you. Where do I pick up my free restaurant vouchers?" (or whatever).

Cruel, perhaps, but if you think you can resist an ear-bashing on the benefits of their 'Holiday Club' why not pick up a free dinner?

costapkt

sotheguy wrote: »

Hello all, so has anyone actually been on a trip? I requested Portugal but got Costa Del Sol so I have to call and do some phone dancing.
Just read GrahamLiv's post as I was typing ...anyone else?

Would advise you and anyone else thinking of taking the ' free ' holiday to have a look at the posts on ' Praise Vent & Warnings ' Under the heading Warning Club La Costa.

The Costa Del Sol site is the HQ of CLC thats why they want you there.
You have been warned.

costapkt

shyperson wrote: »

We are taking our 'free' holiday to Costa del Sol in two weeks time - can anyone please confirm whether we have to pay to check in our luggage or is it already paid for?

Beat to check with airline concerned.

Ecobean

Exclusive Lifestyle Passport is part of the Club La Costa Holiday Ownership (aka Timeshare) scheme. As per many of the experiences outlined above, I also received the "you've won a free holiday" phone call and actually questioned the person on the end of the phone as to whether this was actually "free" or would I have to spend hours listening to the hard sell timeshare. I was unequivocally reassured that I would not have to "buy or rent anything" but would have to go to one of their offices to produce ID and to find out about the resorts available (Costa del Sol, Algarve or Tenerife). The caller also confirmed that this would be a free holiday for four people, with 2 bedroom self catering LUXURY accommodation and flights included. I then had to call an 0800 number with a reference to book the date at the office, and gave an email address for them to send me details. When the email arrived, was the point at which I realised this was the typical NOT FREE holiday with the Terms and Conditions listing not only the costs we would be liable for (£29.50 each plus Airport Duties and Taxes), but that the visit to the office to present ID etc would be 2 hours of our valuable time, and our closest office was in London.

We attended the meeting. We spent 3 hours with the salesman and yes you are presented with the Holiday Ownership scheme, and yes it does cost £13,995 for a 70 year option and many other benefits, and yes there are annual maintenance fees and a host of other possible costs depending on how deep you want to get in. The salesman does hit the hardsell button, but we explained quite categorically that this was not something we would consider thanks anyway, and accepted the M&S vouchers and free holiday voucher, thinking we'd got past the hard part.

During the sales pitch you will find out that the free holiday that you think you're going to get is NOT actually to any of Club La Costa's holiday ownership resorts, despite being told that you've won this holiday in order to give friends and family great feedback on what wonderful resorts they have to offer and thereby generate business for CLC by word of mouth. The saleman's Manager is brought in at regular intervals during the sales pitch and explains on the one hand, that there will ALWAYS be at least 30% available capacity in all their resorts to ensure that members always get the holidays they want but, on the other hand, then tells you that they wouldn't offer the Free Holiday to non-members because they simply don't have the capacity. So despite the intial phonecall suggesting you will get to stay at one of the luxury resorts, you then attend the meeting to find out you won't get to see first hand the locations they want you to invest £13,995+ in.

However, to actually apply for the holiday you have to pick 4 weeks over the next 18 months, only one of which can be during school holiday periods (the grey weeks on their calendars) and have to start at least 3 months after the date on the voucher, and you have to leave at least 8 weeks between dates. Yep, we've got two school age kids and there is no way we would consider taking them out of school for a week so I put in four dates all of which were grey weeks. This was obviously rejected immediately by ELP and my holiday application and cheque were promptly returned asking me to submit alternative dates in line with their terms and conditions. Having read some of the very useful posts on other websites with threads relating to Exclusive Lifestyle Passport I've decided its not worth the risk of losing the admin fees (I'm not even going to wait and see what the additional charges may be) and I haven't got the time or energy to keep going with this.

I do still have the original "you've won a free holiday" telephone conversation recorded and am considering approaching the Trading Standards with a copy of it to let them hear what I was told verbally, and how that conversation contradicts the position I now find myself in.

My overall conclusion - if you've got school age kids don't waste your time and energy. If you're not tied to going away in school holidays (the grey weeks), and you've got the time and stamina to deal with the bits inbetween then you'll get a week on the Costa del Sol for about £60 or £70 per person flights and accommodation which is still a reasonable incentive. You could also work your 4 dates over the 18 months to ensure that you get away between half decent weeks weatherwise for the Med (April to September). However, just keep in mind this is your goal when you attend the sales presentation and if you've nothing better to do you will at least get tea/coffee and biscuits whilst you're enduring the 3 or 4 hours watching the videos and listening to the spiel.

annemt

Hi All me and my family have actually been to 3 of these presentations..we have never bought a thing..and the last time we were invited to a presentation in the uk we were asked to leave..the guy in charge actually called us professional time wasters..all because we had no intention of buying..to cut a long story short we were escorted to the door and told not to come back..so i rang their head office and got my week in the sun..bet they dont invite me again..Anne

lynn93

just had phone call saying i had won thanks for all advice will stay clear.

sotheguy

Hi all, thanks for sharing all your experiences.
I've actually decided to go on the trip and look at it as a cheap holiday as opposed to being scammed by a timeshare company.
My experiences have been much the same as Ecobean (15/03/2010) in terms of the spiel, and Parag (08/07/2010) in terms of the price.
So far it's costing £99 pp so as far as holidays go, it's not a bad deal.
We havent been told where we are staying yet so I'm fully expecting it to be some long distance from the airport eg Gatwick to London, and I'm sure we'll have to cover that cost.
It will probably also be essential for us to rent a car but then that's a cost with most european holidays.
I've decided to remain optimistic and take the view that they are trying to impress me so the accomodation should be of a certain standard.
For all those of you who've got the call, dont think of it as winnings. If you are interested in a cheap holiday, then think of the 'presentation' as a test of your will power :-)
Remember that TimeShare in itself is not a bad thing. If you want to stay in a fancy hotel at least once a year and a fraction of the cost, then it's worth looking into ..especially if you've got kids.
If however you are like me and at the stage where it's all about the budgets, it's thanks but no thanks (over and over again).
It's a shame that the marketting people dont appreciate the suspicious air the false advertising causes - we still didnt get anything back even though we recommended people and this I'll be pursuing when I get a moment.
Would still like to hear some actual experiences of people who went on the trip though ...just so I know some things to look out for and maximise the week.
Have a great day all.
Kman