[jacksons]

Originally Posted by v&v

sen2009,
What you have explained hold good for pre-2005 era. There was a burst of time share companies at that time and almost all of them wound off now barring a few. Now times have changed, they are more pro active. Companies like club mahindra is public listed company and they have excellent properties in india and abroad.

As for Goa, if you land at Madgaon then Verca is a good option otherwise if you are looking for north goa, you can easily go through RCI and book at RGBC. I think CM + RCI have 4+ resorts in goa. RCI itself has around 80+ resorts in india itself.

v&v

I think not many people have been explained very well by these time share companies of their membership benefits.
Like you said about RCI, I always use RCI for this reason only.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

No need to guess,

The first question may be,'' who was the first prime minister of India?''

The second question may be,'' who is the current prime minister of India?''

If he answered both questions, then third question must be,'' who will be the next prime minister of India?''

If he can answer all questions, then definitely he will not work for club mahindra.

Originally Posted by smartcat

What was the first question, and what were the other two questions you had planned to ask the sales guy?

Lol. No. The first question was how old was Gandhiji when he died.

Second question I had in mind was who's grave is there next to Kasturba Gandhi's grave.

Third question I had in mind was, how far a drive is Dandi from Sabarmati.
Can't give up the t-bhp tradition of long drives you see.

[v&v]

Originally Posted by jacksons

I think not many people have been explained very well by these time share companies of their membership benefits.
Like you said about RCI, I always use RCI for this reason only.

Jaksons,
There is another side to too, the way they generate sales is giving them negative marking for instance ,

You visit to Big bazaar or any other mall , Once can find guys with a small coupon stating that you will this form , you may get free holidays for 2 nights! Then these guys will call you and try to enforce you too buy the membership.
They should catch hold of guys through proper ads and educating the time share concept.

Any one who wants to buy a time share, should consider , when he can avail holidays ie which season , type of membership, then it helps in timely booking of holidays too. Eg if you take a white membership and try to book in peak season ie vacations, new year ect, then usually this will be on red or pink segment, hence you will never get a booking. if need evaluation is a must before buy .

v&v

[jacksons]

V&V yes true and people get attracted to free holidays but there is nothing for free in this world.
Like how many people get cheated every day by sending SMS to win something or the other by many companies in the name of simple questioning but no body notice that *Condition apply.
For any holidays we need some planning, there are so many things involved like our work schedule, children school and lot of other things like Visa etc. therefore we need to book in time.
When I went to Europe, I got my resort booked just 15 days prior to my departure and sometime its not possible.
After all I am very happy for my time share membership.

[zulfi hansi]

I have now understood that these timeshares are not VFM at all, but after buying a Club M membership, they have this 10 year membership plane known as ZEST, it is good and VFM but limited by the number of resorts, otherwise the regular 25 years membership of CM is not at VFM. Now that I am saddled with this I need a thread to rent it out, how many times can one go to the same place, BTW they have about 7 places, and I'v been to all their resorts. The quality that they offer is excellent. Now I think if I had had an understanding with someone who owns another timeshare that we could have exchanged. Guys anybody interested in exchanging or renting, let me know.

[shankar.balan]

I think these are a waste of time!

Several friends are members here and there but whenever they want to go on holiday the accommodation is never available! They keep getting offered highly inconvenient alternate dates. Same goes for RCI though it has an International pedigree etc.

Country Club is a low end, sleazy sort of place - a total rip off in my opinion - from what little I have seen of it. I would shudder to even go there, let alone take membership.

Club Mahindra started off with a good idea and good intent probably, but their execution is quite sad.

[Fauji]

I am a member - took it when it was cheap five years back - and has hardly used it as it is never available when i want. One of my friend uses this extensively and shared his trick.

Here is what he does - He books accomodation six months in Advance in different resorts on different dates. If he is able to go, then make use of it. Else, he cancels it. This works very well for him.

At present cost, it does not make sense unless the accomadation is guaranteed. The properties are good, food is decent. They have also opened in new places as well. But the main problem is difficulty in getting room when one wants at short notice.

[naveen.raju]

I have been approached by them many times for membership but refused since it was expensive. Am a member of Sterling Resorts. They have many resorts at popular destinations but the quality is really bad. I have stayed at many CM resorts and even though it's hard to get a room, they are into extensive marketing mode. You visit any malls/petrol stations in Cochin, and you see 3-4 people approaching you with coupons from CM. Kinda irritating at times. What they basically do is tell you that it's a special offer and ask for the mobile no. Then they keep calling you asking you to take the membership. If they are doing well, why this extensive marketing strategy?

[chandrda]

Excellent Thread

My Dad is a member of RCI I think and have always seen him complain

Though I am not a member in any scheme, here is my take on Membership -

Disadvantages
1. Very rarely do we get dates we want and season we want
2. Have to book well in advance, if not pay more as member cant access all kinds of rooms
3. Most of the time have to pay some kind of service charges, cleaning charges etc..
4. Always get the last/corner/rear facing room, by luck I believe
5. Food bill is rip off
6. Any additional request will always come with additional charges
7. Not always in ideal location we want (like mentioned earlier of CM in Goa)
8. Cant make last minute to travel (like I always do)
9. Cant walk out if you dont like it
10. Finally, though this is my view only - It takes the fun out of travel, its different expierence to travel at the spur of the moment, search for resorts, hotels, explore new locations, new hospitalities.

There are some advantages though
1. If with family, then gives a peace of mind
2. Tried and tested, no surprise (but no fun as well, my view)

Regards

[mayankjha1806]

Twice they came, offered free coupons to use for booking, never have the coupons worked, they always say that are expired or there is no availability even if i book 2 months in advance (How soon they want me to plan vacation, a year).

Properties may be good, locations may be good but for ~4L for top tier membership i would want guarantee availability of rooms when i want them max at a months notice (not like six months or a year).

Since the two experience with their free coupons i have started blatantly refusing them.

[mr.sinha]

A while ago, the Concierge service in my office was providing a fairly reasonable discount on Club Mahindra memberships, and provided a number to call CM if you wanted to sign up. Primarily because of the discounted membership, and having heard not too many bad things about CM till then, I decided to become a member, and called them up. Someone took down my mobile number and promised to call me back soon. No one did. Tried again after a week or so. Same result. Finally gave up.

Sometimes bad customer service works out to be good for you, I guess. :-)

[condor]

shankar.balan : Country Club is a low end, sleazy sort of place - a total rip off in my opinion - from what little I have seen of it.

+1. And another thing they are consistent about is the follow-up regarding the AMC charges. I dont use the facilities, yet am supposed to pay AMC ?

[shankar.balan]

There is another thing - the Hilton or Hyatt holidays program where one has to pay some 8 lacs or something to them and then for the rest of one's life one can holiday at any Hilton or Hyatt destination. Couple of my pals are members (big rich boys those, not like me!). To me, even this seems like overkill because you are tying yourself down forever to one particular chain and will be forced to take holidays only in those destinations where these fellows have hotels or resorts. I would not like that sort of curtailed freedom.
I much prefer to take my holidays to simple, quiet, out of the way places, trawling the net for suitable accommodation, rent a car and buzz around.
More often than not, if one follows the Michelin star ratings or Automobile Association ratings system for hotel accommodation,one is not likely to be disappointed. The best gain is that one gets to stay in odd places, small inns and so on and get to really experience the flavour of the place one is visiting.
End of the day all these Hotel chains simply offer, like MacDonalds, a "predictable experience", regardless of where in the world they are located. Is this what I want? No, it certainly isnt!!
One's freedom of choice cannot and should not be compromised in my opinion!

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I much prefer to take my holidays to simple, quiet, out of the way places, trawling the net for suitable accommodation, rent a car and buzz around.
The best gain is that one gets to stay in odd places, small inns and so on and get to really experience the flavour of the place one is visiting.
One's freedom of choice cannot and should not be compromised in my opinion!

+1.

I don't like to be tied, i like to have holidays when and where i want.

[sgiitk]

I have been with Sterling for the past 13+ years. We have used Mahindra resorts (they are undoubtedly the best) twice (through RCI). My observations on Tie Share in General:

1. Must get RCI and keep it going to get the exchange flexibility and choice.

2. If you wan to exchange then you must be able to plan well in advance (say 3 months minimum, preferably six months).

I may add that there have been more complaints about power selling and false representation about time-shares than any other genre in the UK! So READ THE FINE PRINT!