Is this fishy?? Exclusive Lifestyle Passport

letitia21143

Hi guys.

Well surprise surprise i have won a holiday with club la costa! Myself and my other half went to the 4 hour presentation at Duchally (Scotland) and got our holiday and argos vouchers. We decided to go for the ''Free" holiday, requesting Tenerife instead we got Costa Del Sol, Ive never been there so hey its a cheap holiday! I got my flight details yesterday saying were flying from Glasgow (only about 30-40 mins away) which is ideal however i have noticed that they have only booked 2 seats for the flights when the holiday is for me my husband and our 2 year old son who should be in his own seat! I think in total our week holiday has cost us £230 which is great! I am waiting for a reply in regards to my son's 'own seat' also do I have to arrange transfers to and from the airport? How much extra will this cost??!! I did read however that there is a REFUNDABLE 100 EURO deposit payable on arrival at the hotel. I have never flown with EasyJet before - do you have to pay for your suitcases? I am also wanting to take a buggy for the wee one. Any answers through here would be much appreciated! We did already tell them that we're not interested as I'm in a temporary job so I'm hoping that my excuse will also work when we go to the presentation on holiday oh another thing in the small print it does say that you have to attend or you will be charged £250 to cover for accommodation costs. I hope this helps anyone thinking about going for it. I'll keep you updated in my replies and my holiday which is the 22nd May.

Hodge1234

My wife "won" one of these free holidays and we thought we'd give it a go. We went along to a presentation near lakeside that lasted around three hours. We were actually very impressed by the presentation and very interested in joining. At the end of the presentation we were "invited to join" for a fee of around £12,000, which seemed quite reasonable for what was on offer. I said we were interested but wanted to think about it. We were told we couldn't, it was now or never, so we said never took our vouchers and left. We then went through the rather complicated procedure for booking the "free" holiday. It cost us an non refundable £85 which had to be sent with our selection of 3 dates to travel. We received our confirmation for one of the dates, but then couldn't go. CLC then contacted us again to offer another date. We opted for a short break in Cornwall which cost us a £50 deposit. We have just returned, and have to say we had a nice time. The resort is out of this world. On the free holiday, you will be required to attend another presentation. We were upfront when we booked that we were not in a position at the moment to buy in, and were told to say that at the presentation and we wouldn't be kept long. In actual fact, we were kept for 2.5 hours including the complimentary breakfast which they are keen to tell you is not part of the presentation, but you are with your rep and answering questions about your holiday habits. Our rep was very friendly, very good at sales and used all the tricks of the trade. We just stuck to our guns and said we were interested but it was the wrong time for us. The promised creche was not available which made it difficult with our two young children who kept disappearing, and we finally lost patients and said we were starting to change our mind about ever signing up. We were then joined by a manager who became very aggressive, bordering on abusive, who began to speak as if we owed them something. She made it clear that she was going to keep us there as long as possible and if we left we would be billed for the whole weekend. When I reminded her that the weekend was a prize and her company had worked hard to get us there she became like a petulant child. She reminded me of a teenager who'd been told off. My impatiens changed to amusement and I enjoyed winding her up, until she finally had a tantrum and said we were not going to be invited to join "ever". Laughing at her, and telling her that we'd heard it before seemed to push her over the edge and we were sent to see the show home (although we'd been staying in one very similar) and then "signed out"
If you don't mind being spoken to like crap, and enjoy playing mind games with someone who thinks she is very clever, and you want to see a 60 year throw a teenage wobbly, it's well worth it. As for our lifetime ban from joining, the desk clerk at reception laughed and said don't be ridiculous. All in all, we had a great weekend, in a fantastic 3 bedroom lodge, all for a total cost of £135. We got £50 in vouchers and £50 to spend at the resort and a free breakfast and champagne reception. Worth it if you don't let the sales pitch ruin it for you.

Super-childminder

I was called today while I was at work and was told I had "won" the holiday for 4 worth £1800. It felt so real. I was thrilled. I told everyone in the office. We burst into tears of joy. Then it occurred to me that it was a scam and that I was being taken advantage of very badly. How very sad and disappointing

bexmiller81

:eek: what to do????

We had the same call as all of you... you've won a holiday, blah, blah, blah, come to a presentation, blah, blah, blah...

i told them i needed to check my husbands diary for the meeting and was told we both had to be there, said i couldn't tell them right then so had 4 further phone calls asking if i'd spoken to him in the following hour... explained in very simple terms my husband is a bus driver so NO i hadn't called him and caused a massive pile up in Leeds city centre and could they call the following day (eventually they got the message!)

called back the following day and confirmed to go to the "meeting" last Saturday....


Were given a £25 voucher for Tesco (its at the bottom of the hill so it's basically money off next weeks shopping bill!) and a voucher for the "Free" holiday. The "meeting" was supposed to be for 2hrs, we were in there for 20min! Said parents had time share in Gran Canaria on a lifetime package in Grand Anfi and they couldn't compete (had to giggle at the look on the sales reps face, he could tell he'd lucked out). Left with our vouchers and am currently undecided as to whether i send it off or not... hmmmmm

We only have a choice of Costa del Sol or Tenerife (abroad) not Portugal which we'd hoped for, will choose Costa Del Sol if I do post the form so not too fussed about them sending us there by default! The bit that confuses me is airport locations???? I can choose London/South (no good to me living in Yorkshire) Midlands, North East or Scotland (again no good in Yorkshire). Anyone know which airline they use? Have picked Midlands as airport location but now not too sure which airports fall under the category...

If you look at the dates and match it up to the school holidays (for us at least) the Grey week is usually the week before/after the school holidays so works out well.. the bit that concerns me is I have to pick a week a minimum of 3 months from the date of "meeting" which is no good to us as my husband has no holiday allowance left this year.... any time next year would be fine though obviously 1 of my picked weeks would be best as they are all school holidays.....

Anyone who has been in the last 6/12month some advice would be nice???

I know how to say NO in the meetings, and I know how to have fun with people too so that bit doesn't bother me. We were already told it'd be £4000 for 3 years which would give us 1 weeks self catering accommodation only (it does not take a genius to work out thats £1333 per year plus flights) i have just seen a holiday for £1400 for the 4 of us all inclusive with flights to go next week so all in all its a big rip off!

I was also told that on top of the £29.50 we'd have airport taxes to pay which would be around £30 per person.... is this a true figure or would it be more likely £50-£60??? All in all if we get the holiday next year for under £300 we're onto a winner but do i take the risk??????????????????????????????????????????? :undecided