[idea]

@Mods: Posting his in general interest of all members. Just like me, am sure, many members refer goa related thread before venturing to GoA. I could not locate similar thread on forum.

In Brief: Been to Goa recently for 4 days. Wherein on one of beach, i was approached by Royal Resorts Representative with their Anniverssary related schemes with heavy discounts for their 5 star property. He also offered my free pick and drop by car "Just to show their 5 star resort".

Well, i politely told him that i will think about it and walked away with his contact details and coupons (I was one of winner as per coupon - see attached.) and wasting my 10 mins - (He was not ready to let go.)



After returning back to hotel, just thought to explore more about this 5 star resort which i might be able to use in my next visit to goa.

And this is what i found !! It seems to be a total fraud. Most of you might think it is very common out there in tourist places and it will be very easy to dodge such people (I also think in same way :-)). However, just wanted to update all members. I have noticed their representative wearing a light blue shirt with royal written on it on almost every beach across goa.


Here are some references from other sites shared by people conned? by them


Royal Resorts in Goa cheating the public - contact me to join the fight against them
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Hi Darshan,

I want to throw similar light on this Fraud company. They have created such a vicious plot for its customers and innocnent people, here's how they trick innocent people into this..

1. The sales persons roam around in Goa to catch new couples(which they found almost everywhere in Goa), give them some coupen or other lucrative scheme to lure, to claim that they have to come to the Royal Resorts club, which they will ride for free though.
2. There you will be marvelled with a rich and dreamy holiday resort, and will meet a sales Representative who will first ask you about your expenses for your current trip. And as a part of the calculation they will make bring into the equation of Roayal Resorts and somehow make you feel that it is actually cheaper than you current holiday, if you plan to holiday every year.(which as per Darshan above is proved not so cost effective).
3. Then comes the tough decision part for the couples, to choose the dream membership like this or not. The weaker ones like us choose for the memebership and think how much bad it could be. However beleive me its the worst financial mistake, I will prove it later.
4. Then comes there fool proof arrangement, the payment and loan, they have created a plot in such a way that the membership is given by the Royal Resorts and is financed by the company named Parshuram Finance Pvt.Ltd.
5. Although we expressed our concerns that we are not financially capapble the sales person enforced that its a better plan and will be light on pocket, although it was so light that it costed more than a Lac. Now here's the split, they membership is paid in full by the finance company to the Royal Resorts, and they finance you at a given rate of interest.
After all the maths it comes out to be 1,20,000(roughly) cost of membership, we swiped our CC worth 12,000, and the rest of the amount was financed to monthly EMI of around 3000\-.
Now here's the thing, if you want to plan for the holiday and want to save, try creating a RD of 3000 for say 2years and look at the amount you get, for this amount you can live in luxary in place like Goa\Kerala.
6. Also your membership is not yours for always, you will have to pay around 8-9000\-, every other year to renew your points so that you can use your membership.

And people... can you imagine what our visit to Goa actaully costed last year.. its unbelievable.. just 13000 - 15000, and this includes:
1. AC2 class travel to and from Delhi.
2. Stay at Panjim(Goa) - 6 days.
3. 2 Cruises
4. Two trips -one to South Goa, one to North Goa.
6. Hiing a bike for 4 days and being independent traveller in goa + its fuel
7. Enjoying Goan Food
+ many more all included for a couple.

7. So Upset from my recent experience in failure to book and resorts in given time and due to personal financial crysis, I asked them to cancel my membership and refund whatever amount we have paid so far, as neither we have been able to use their services nor have they been able to live upto their expectations the first year. We wanted to visit Goa this New Year, and as the Sales person told us that with this membership in hand, we will have to bear the same cost any time year around, but who knew that there won't be any availability, I called for the availability in the month of Nov(end), and got the response that the next available slot is in the end of jan onwards. Also I thought of planning holiday for one of my friends, for their Honeymoon, I was looking for Balli location, and I got the response that the next free slot for Balli is in June. What use is this kind of membership for. We are better off without such membership.

One note Darshan, I have browsed through this Forum, and I am amazed to see so many people are frustrated by this Fraud company, but I don't see any critical action being taken against this company and its functioning. We really need to pull with a lot of strength, I am even willing to go on a Public camapign against this comany.

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Complaint against royal resorts – goa (karma resorts intl)*
===================================

Dear Sir,
I am posting this mail to alert readers so that they should not be entrapped with these cheaters. Me and my wife were walking in Baga beach. One fellow came to me and gave a scratch card for lucky draw which had nothing. After that he gave another card to my wife, she won one of the 4 prizes (i-pad/ stay to international Royal resort/ DVD player etc.) that could be displayed only after scratching hidden code. All was so planned and acted in such a natural way that we thought it was really a lucky prize. When we visited to their resort, a series of drama started. A boring session started and they asked few hours to complete it. Within 30 min we realised that they are trying to make us fool, so we asked to display the hidden code. On scratching it, it was free stay to few of Indian Royal resort (Not free but charging Rs 6500.00 for maintenance charge). Same offers are frequently given by Club Mahindra/ country club totally free of cost without such a drama as these Royal persons were making.

We lost our 30 -45 min only but warning others not to be fooled with these ROYAL cheaters.

==================


cheated by royal goan holiday resorts private limited

=============================
my mother Dr D.Raja rajeswari, a member of sterling holiday resorts(vacation time share & owner).we r contacted on 5 may 2010 by sandra,marketing dept., royal goan holiday resorts pvt ltd,stating that they would rental my vacation time share (in sterling) to a waiting foreign delegates for INR RS.70,000 per 1 week.she stated that joining the royal holiday club is a necessary pre requisite,for which i had to pay RS.8000 for part time membership & a further RS.5332 on receipt of rental.(total RS 13332).she repeatedly called me 4-5 times a day stating she would courier me the draft of rental once i paid necessary amount for which ws have to give them authorization to use our vacation time share in sterling resorts for 1 week.this is the offer she made to us.accordingly we paid RS 8000 on 7 may 2010.they issued us part time membership(ovc 2818).there is no further follow up following registration.we contacted them for which the requisite members r not responding n not answering to our queries.we didnt get the rental.i feel that we were cheated by a cheap marketing tactic n lost RS.8000.i want to proceed legally.kindly councel me on how to proceed further in consumer court.i here by submit the adress:ROYAL HOLIDAY CLUB,G/5,JOALDA APTS,BISHOP ALEX DIAS ROAD,NAIKO VADDO,CALANGUTE,GOA 403516.tel:0832 6513158.email:travels@royalgoan.com.
=============================



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http://www.consumercourt.in/judgment...each-club.html
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Note: Please note, these are not my personal views and i have just shared whatever is available on internet with source links with clear intention for members to take their own call/decision. I have nothing against/towards Royal resorts.

[condor]

Isn't this the same approach that many other entities have used ? You can find them in malls etc saying you are one of the lucky chosen ones to get such and such a prize ?

Brigade developers have a club here in Bangalore south, and they keep calling saying it is not a promotion, but they want to give me a tour of their club. And for attending, they will give a complementary dinner for two.

[pushkark]

This is a common thing across the entire tourism industry.
Its better on our part to have a deeper look at the things and decided if these offers are real or fraudulent.

[Rudra Sen]

Mods note: thread moved to Route / Travel Queries.

[Fordmanchau]

Looks like the same approach which happens in every other mall as Condor mentioned.
I have been declared a winner so many times. I even once attended a seminar in a star hotel, which turned out to be a marketing scheme for Birla Sunlife Insurance. Spent around 45 minutes, but got some freebies like a dinner set, holiday vouchers, etc.
I have since then stopped filling up any such coupons in the malls.
I feel even the Country Club and Mahindra Holidays membership is not worth the price, though they are reputed.

[rajeev k]

There is similar kind of fraud happening in the name of stay at a very cheap package at their resorts spread across the country at a meager tariff for which one has to shell out some couple of thousands as advance booking fee to be availed over a specific time period. I was regularly troubled on phone by one such company which resembles as a India Today group company. I checked the net and could read posts by many who were cheated.

[deepak_misra]

Originally Posted by condor

Isn't this the same approach that many other entities have used ? You can find them in malls etc saying you are one of the lucky chosen ones to get such and such a prize ?

Brigade developers have a club here in Bangalore south, and they keep calling saying it is not a promotion, but they want to give me a tour of their club. And for attending, they will give a complementary dinner for two.

The fastest way to get rid of them is to say that you are not married and are single. This normally drives them away quite fast. Married people seem to be easy prey ?. I have actually had people tell me that I am not eligible if I am not married and there must be some mistake.

Another way is to ask in legales "Is this prize an unconditional prize or are there any conditions to getting the prize". This normally provokes a sheepish reaction in the sales person who admits that there are some conditions around the prize.

I use tactic 1) for phone calls and 2) when someone accosts me face to face. For 1) - if I am bored I asked them to confirm where I had dropped the coupon, I dont remember ever visiting the place, when was it - why did they take so long to get back. Are they sure they got the right person ?

Deepak

[mayankjha1806]

Oh the married one is real funny, i have seen its mostly from Country Vacations but can be others as well. Someone whom i know was being pestered with "Sir please come for a visit, no conditions etc", so he went there with his wife.

The place was shady, some plastic plates etc as gift and a shady place for vacation. He left the place in a jiffy.

[Marlon]

This happened to me in Sep 2010. I got a coupon after been declared a lucky draw winner in one of the Cruises. I did not know about the scam and was planning to visit the resort over the weekend stay. Then I saw people on bikes coming and giving the coupons. This got be little suspicious. In the meantime I got an appointment fixed at the resort. Cab was also booked for the travel. Then I did a little browsing on the internet and that saved me. Absolute scam.

Similar practice is happening in Chennai also. Here in Chennai , I went to a Pet Carnival and after a week I was declared winner based on the entry ticket. I got a call and the person told me to come to their office with 'Madam' and pick up the prize. This rung a bell immediately. Google saved me this time also. This scam is being run by Chennai Corporate Club / Abinaya Constructions.

My two cents : Just spend 5 mins browsing the internet before anything like this and you will know the reality.

[idea]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Oh the married one is real funny, i have seen its mostly from Country Vacations but can be others as well. Someone whom i know was being pestered with "Sir please come for a visit, no conditions etc", so he went there with his wife.

The place was shady, some plastic plates etc as gift and a shady place for vacation. He left the place in a jiffy.

Royal representative said

1. You should be married.
2. you should talk english
3. you should be 30+

:-).

[suzuki san]

Hi Guys,

My personal take on this :


I also got taken in by the same "scam" as mentioned below and by the same company in the same place - Baga. Once they had swiped my credit card at their resort - where we went for the demo - for Rs. 25,000/= they refused to return the money even though I went back the very next day to say I had changed my mind. They said I had signed an agreement - which was true - and I could not back out of it. However, they were decent enough to let me back out of the 20 year membership and only take a 5 year associate membership. That was in 2006 and we finished the 5 years just a couple of months ago.

A few points to mention here :
The annual membership fee started at Rs. 6000 in 2006 and by last year (2011) it had gradually increased to Rs. 17,000/=.
The week's free stay which was promised on signing up was actually given to us.
We used nearly all the 5 + 1 weeks (over 5 years) which we were entitled to but always in Goa as none of the other resorts out of India were ever available. This was really annoying.
We usually stayed at a 4 star resort of their's in South Goa.
Sometimes 3 star which was not so great.

What I would like to say is that it not a total "scam" per se as they do give you what is mentioned in the agreement. I have a few friends who are still members with them and enjoy their weeks' holiday every year - in Goa only. However, it did not suit me and with the membership increasing every year it was not worth it.

Please note that the above is my personal experience and I have just put it down here to let others know what's happening.

Regards,

SS

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Oh the married one is real funny, i have seen its mostly from Country Vacations but can be others as well. Someone whom i know was being pestered with "Sir please come for a visit, no conditions etc", so he went there with his wife.

The place was shady, some plastic plates etc as gift and a shady place for vacation. He left the place in a jiffy.

Country Vacations Bangalore has their office on West Of Chord road, One of my relatives fell for it, but everytime mails were being sent for a holiday, they said, its not available. All they got was a 26" LED TV worth Rs.39,000/- whereas the membership costed a whopping Rs. 80,000/-

Originally Posted by condor

Isn't this the same approach that many other entities have used ? You can find them in malls etc saying you are one of the lucky chosen ones to get such and such a prize ?

Brigade developers have a club here in Bangalore south, and they keep calling saying it is not a promotion, but they want to give me a tour of their club. And for attending, they will give a complementary dinner for two.

You bet Parwat..

Last time they called me i was even made to give what car i will be going there in, Fortunately i had to miss it. But since yesterday, they came back firing all barrels

I said, i am not the right candidate and managed to give them a slip..

BTW, their number was 080 - 40816808

But what on earth is this SCAM.?

[Trueintrepid]

Another scam I can think of is the text message from UK. It states that the recipient has won the lottery is entitled for a payment of some thousand pounds and asks the recipient to call on this number. By the way, the number is from the UK. I have never tried this, but a curious friend of mine tried and ended talking to somebody, who kept on asking for his credit card number for some kind of purchase. My friend cut the call after some time and a month later got an excess of 200 bucks in the phone bill for calling a hotline number! So guys beware of scams like this.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by Trueintrepid

Another scam I can think of is the text message from UK

Ohh the UK thingy has multiple variations, most of it is done by Nigerians in either UK or elsewhere.

One i got an email from a very good friend of mine that he lost his passport, phone and all cash in UK and wanted to know if i can help with some cash. Now i know that he knows that i have other friends in UK (So i can help), + the email came from his normal ID, so all was authentic, It gave a hotel address and phone number of the hotel where he was staying.

So before i pulled up my friends in UK to pool in some cash, i thought i will speak to him and called the hotel number. The guy who picked up the phone said my friend has gone to the consulate for passport and asked me to respond over email.

It was then i read the email again to respond to him and noticed it was addressed to me as "Hi Mayank" which he usually does not do, he calls me "Jha ji", so i decided to try calling his phone number and if that goes unanswered i would call his wife (Both were in Singapore). When i called him, he picks up the phone and i ask him, and he updates that its a scam and seems like his gmail account credentials were compromised.

[jacksons]

Guys this is not a scam but marketing, time sharing is very common in US.
Companies like RCI is very known, in india its not very old concept but few years old only.
There are few companies like Club Mahindra, Strerling resorts etc.
I am member of Club Mahindra and I took their membership after taking into consideration my requirement for holiday in India and Abroad and I am very happy.
With these Clubs, you can also become a member of RCI, which has close to 4000 resorts world wide.
I think you need to understand it better and also what is your requirement for the holidays before you plunge.
Caution, never take along your wife for their presentation if you are sure that you don't want spend lot of money for holidays every year because she will fall for it as all the women wants holiday every year and that too luxurious like resorts holidays.