Narrow escape? - 'Club la Costa'

blue_monkey_2 · 13 April 2011 at 1:53PM

scoobydee wrote: »

I'm with you..lol..People will probably now say we work for CLC.

They know I don't but they still call me stupid anyway.

I think that RCI now giving points values instead of a week has been the best thing ever - it actually changed last year while we was in florida - and you can combine weeks to get the platinum resorts as well now (but they must be very high class as even Disney at 4k pw is only 13 points). We have 26 points banked.

We looked last week and we could have had 3 weeks holiday for using one week in the bank, in Florida, and you pay £175 a week.
I've never had an issue on dates and have been members for 11 years now (1999 we joined up), I give them the dates I want to travel (our flights are booked) and get called when the dates are released. I could go online and get something for next week if I wanted too, there is always something with RCI so this is why it is best to bank.

It's the same as anything, you need to know how to get the best out of it for your money. We could stay in some cheap hotel but we like having a 'posh' apartment for the week, I guess we have got used to the standard now.

When we first bought it we did wonder if we had done the right thing but the more you learn about maximising it to it's potential, the better places you can stay in. The internet has helped with that, I would not stay anywhere I could 'buy' for the same price but we use it for the really expensive hotels that otherwise, we would not have a hope in hells' chance of staying in.

Mike_Railton · 16 April 2011 at 11:52PM

We have just come back from a week in Duchally and are thinking of buying 1000 points. Having now looked at the brochure, there really aren't a lot of places we can go to in the school holidays. We are not interested in Spain or Tenerife and would like to go further a field. We cannot afford to buy 1501 points and now do not know what to do. I am not crazy about spending over £1000 on maintenance and membership fees each year and were told that we could advertise for CLC and if there were any referrals we would get £100 each time and £200 if the contact 'joined'. Is there anybody out there that have had success with advertising as if we got 10 referrals a year then that would pay for our fees. Please help with both questions as we really are confused and one minute think it is a great idea and the next don't!!

vsmuthu · 12 May 2011 at 12:30PM

We have just returned from the free holiday in Costa Del Sol, Spain, in fact we feel that we have paid for the Flights and not for the stay!
£29 Admin fees + £49 Flight tax = £78 per person

They put us in marketing apartment opposite reception and it wasn't bad to be fair, a two storied with two bedrooms and nice views towards the sea. The resort itself was fairly self-contained with shops and restaurants not any more expensive than the ones around the town.

We were taken to their CLC office where there was a 4.5 hours sales pitch with break in between and finally we said No. They were disappointed.
Actually the deal is you go on trial membership for 3 years costing £4000 and pay £150 to £250 for every stay at one of the many resorts they own and the ones they are part of. The full membership cost is £15000 and £600 every year on maintenance charges.

We didn't think it was a good deal as you have to pay 600 whether you go on a holiday or not and you only get 1 Week every year and you have to pay £150 to £500 depending on resorts for additional weeks.

It may be a good deal for someone who go frequently on holidays at-least twice a year and have big extended families. Not for our family of 3.

And we hired a car so visited a few real Spanish style villages and towns. Dont stay just in the resort it is very boring and the beach near resort is an utter waste.

barginpleasure · 12 May 2011 at 5:20PM

Another good sales pitch review from vsmuthu and showing taking the free stay is not signing up.

WannabeNigella wrote: »

If the holiday was as free as the girl was making out then they wouldn't be that desperate to contact me, surely? If I was trying to give something away to someone and they kept ignoring me, I'd think "sod you then! I'll give it to someone else" Avoid.

If you had read the whole thread then you would have seen that it is a sales call from a marketing company they get paid for numbers through the door not to sell. So they want you to attend so they get paid not so you buy over the phone.
Again! I am not a member never will be but Terry says,

terryw wrote: »

Well done John! A smashing post which will help others thinking about scamming the scammers.

This is not for the faint-hearted or the gullible though.

The debate on people who have bought is totally different from the one on being asked to attend a meeting, collecting the vouchers and free holiday pack.

I have appied for my third free holiday :beer:. Waiting to get my tickets.

terryw · 12 May 2011 at 5:36PM

Absolutely! But I really must stress that this is absolutely not for the gullible - these guys are absolutely ace at selling the dream.

I have had about ten weeks in timeshare apartments on "fly/buy" deals where I have paid nothing or a nominal sum and fitted the week in with cheap budget flights. If go to a new holiday destination, I actively hunt out the scam holiday card guys, and usually manage to extract £50 or so from them for visiting the timeshare - they are happy to do this as they receive £100 or so for every couple that they bring along for a look at the promotion.

I get more of a buzz from scamming the scammers than from the actual free holiday!

CLC are not the only "bad guys" around, and their sell is softer than others. But I can't help but feel that the entire concept of timeshare or holiday clubs is completely antiquated with the birth of the internet, and attracts the wrong sort of organisation who prey upon the gullible and less worldly-wise.

One or two folks make timeshare worthwhile for them, but the vast majority wish that they had never become involved.

Go for it BP - you will have some cheap holidays but continue to be absolutely resolute NEVER to buy in.

Vems · 18 May 2011 at 10:57PM

Well said Blue Monkey in answer to the nasty and unnecessary comments by Antenna - forums like this are fantastic but why oh why do some people have to put such spiteful comments in, they benefit no one. My theory is these malicious types get off on slagging people off to make themselves feel superior, they can't do it face to face, prefer to hide behind a laptop - pathetic. This forum is to help others not to abuse people - what a saddo Antenna is.

abbott111 · 22 May 2011 at 10:29AM

Well done blue monkey
We have been Club la Costa Members(formally Paradise Club) since1994.we love staying at there Spain & Tenerife Resorts.In life you pay for what you get.If you like quality 4/5 star holidays it will cost you 1,000s for couple weeks holiday for family of 4 through any of the high street travel agents.I joined purely because was feed up going to badly maintained,unsafe,noisey holiday resorts that were recommended by Thompsons ect.and turned into holiday from hell.
I actually researched there company and had personnel friends that had joined,my children were only 8yrs & 4yrs when we joined,we made many friends over the years and have had big family holidays at there Tenerife Monteray resort,we had no problem booking as long as you plan ahead.I also have no problem peaple taking advantage of flyby or cheap booking fees to try the Resort,but give it an ownest trial.some people think if its Timeshare its a scam.
Im sorry but they probebly like B&B breaks in dreary sea side resorts in Uk in the rain.GIVE IT A GO.

blue_monkey wrote: »

They know I don't but they still call me stupid anyway.

I think that RCI now giving points values instead of a week has been the best thing ever - it actually changed last year while we was in florida - and you can combine weeks to get the platinum resorts as well now (but they must be very high class as even Disney at 4k pw is only 13 points). We have 26 points banked.

We looked last week and we could have had 3 weeks holiday for using one week in the bank, in Florida, and you pay £175 a week.
I've never had an issue on dates and have been members for 11 years now (1999 we joined up), I give them the dates I want to travel (our flights are booked) and get called when the dates are released. I could go online and get something for next week if I wanted too, there is always something with RCI so this is why it is best to bank.

It's the same as anything, you need to know how to get the best out of it for your money. We could stay in some cheap hotel but we like having a 'posh' apartment for the week, I guess we have got used to the standard now.

When we first bought it we did wonder if we had done the right thing but the more you learn about maximising it to it's potential, the better places you can stay in. The internet has helped with that, I would not stay anywhere I could 'buy' for the same price but we use it for the really expensive hotels that otherwise, we would not have a hope in hells' chance of staying in.

terryw · 22 May 2011 at 10:58AM

Your comparison with High Street travel agents is a valid one. BUT who on earth uses High Street travel agents these days? High Street travel agents are virtually finished - most peeps use the internet to pick up flights and accommodation far cheaper. I am sorry that you had some holidays from hell before you discovered CLC, but nowadays it is very easy to check out other's experiences of a particular location before booking using TripAdvisor or one of the many other review sites.

Just check out the internet for accommodation and you will find many first class offers cheaper than the CLC annual charge and without the necessity of paying a fortune upfront and being committed to this annual charge for a life-time (at least!)

It was nice of to join MSE to give your opinion about CLC.
Regretfully, you are in a minority. A quick search using google will show many many dissatisfied CLC members.

Please have a look around the rest of MSE and you will find many money-saving tips in areas other than timeshare.

vj_lee · 5 June 2011 at 3:46PM

We have just had a really good holiday at the club la costa in Turkey. Their accommodation is fabulous, but the sales 'morning' lasted from 10am till 2pm and we were the only people there so the hard sell was definitely ON!
However, as someone said earlier, to buy direct is certainly not good value for money. You have to enter into a 58 year contract - no break clause, pay £16,000 membership fee, plus £599 admin costs per year. All this for 1 weeks accommodation per year! Their sales pitch is convincing; showing you hotels all over the world and telling you how cheap it is, the costs come at the end. Essentially, your paying £300 of todays money for one weeks 5 star accommodation in 58 years time. Hmm...
If you get it cheap from the members forum then great, but if your thinking of paying their membership fee, just put your collection of £300's in the bank and in 58 years time it will pay for hotel and flights! (Plus the £599 annual fee that a travel agent wont charge you!)
The place where we stayed had several villas rentable locally, which were almost as good as where we were staying, in the range of £150 per week. I'd shop around before you tell CLC that you are interested, they've got competition even on their promotional offers.

Bigfathoss · 29 June 2011 at 10:02PM

I could do with some advice here folks. I received a letter telling me that I had won 'a valuable Club La Costa Destinations Club Azure membership, worth £4,000'.
Now, before I commit to anything can anybody accurately tell me what this means with regards to CLC?
In the best case scenario I seem to have won a fully paid membership up to 2067, an initial year holiday for 7nights to cost £199 for the family and then regular (CLC priced) holidays every year and I won't have any yearly monies to dish out. Does that sound feasible?
Of course, in the sceptical worse case scenario I haven't won anything at all and I am merely being scoped out for a timeshare that will expect hundreds of pounds membership every year whether I take the holidays or not.
If anybody has any useful insights I would be hugely grateful.
Cheers guys.

Narrow escape? - 'Club la Costa'

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