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Original poster

CLC Travel company - I've 'won' a holiday and I'm very suspect.

26 replies

mckenzie · 18/01/2006 19:48

I gto a call late thsi afternoon saying I've come fourth in a prize draw (I completely a very quick 5 question survey in my local shopping centre about 4 months ago). It seems I've won a 1 week holiday for 4 people, self catering, flights all paid for. It an be taken in the next 18 months and it's in Tenerife or the Costa del Sol. I have to go with my husband to my nearest CLC travel centre to be told about the company and the apartments and to get the brochures from which to make my selection. I have to pay a £50 booking fee for each adult when i book the holiday.

Does anyone have any experience of this company.

I appreciate that the idea is to get you into the office and talk to you about the wonders and benefits of CLC (lady on phone assured me it would be 2 hours max) so am I really going to get a weeks self catering holiday or my family for just £150 (I dont pay a booking fee for under 2 years old, I guess because they dont get a seat on the plane).

TIA

OP posts:
WigWamBam · 18/01/2006 19:50

CLC are a timeshare company and they will be trying to sell you timeshare - if you go along to their offices be prepared for the hard sell.

tiredemma · 18/01/2006 19:50

timeshare, just with a fancy set up. Ok if you want to sit through a hard sell for hours.

I would avoid at all costs

LilacBump · 18/01/2006 19:55

i got a phonecall from them about half an hour ago! i have just 'won' my third holiday with them and told them where to stick it. first time i was stupid and i rang the actual number they gave me and arranged a meeting. we didn't go, but the lady kept ringing over 20 times a day to get hold of us (never picked up as saw the number on caller display). she finally gave up after three weeks. she actually promised me a free tv if we came to the meeting too.

HRHQueenOfQuelNoel · 18/01/2006 19:59

I don't touch any 'prizes' where 'everything is paid for' with a bargepole if I have to pay anything timeshare con - if you've won a FREE holiday, you've won a FREE holiday - and there should be nothing to pay.

LIZS · 18/01/2006 20:00

You'll have to jump through many hoops to get the holiday - pay an arrangement fee, be prepared to go at short notice, attend their presentation (without kids )...

DissLocated · 18/01/2006 20:03

I've just had exactly the same thing from a company called HDI. Dh said they've rung him before and he went through with it to the bitter end (he was v poor at the time and this was the only way he could get a holiday) He said the timeshare presentation was 2hrs long. At the end he got a certificate to send off and, lo, his tickets etc did arrive. He didn't actually go as it was with his xp and they split up before they could go on the holiday.

I can't decide whether to go ahead with it or not. i'm waiting for written details to arrive so I can read it properly before I make my mind up.

Original poster
mckenzie · 18/01/2006 22:03

same here disslocated. They've said they'll be sending me written confirmation and terms so i'll wait and see. The guy on the phone kept saying "you dont sound very excited" - I wonder why?

OP posts:
shockedstepmother · 18/01/2006 22:08

Timeshare and restricted dates available. Google them and you'll steer clear

FrayedKnot · 18/01/2006 22:12

Don;t do it!

gigglinggoblin · 18/01/2006 22:14

depends on the company whether its worth it. you may only get 14 days notice of when you are going, you may be required to sit through a load more timeshare hard sell meetings when you get there, you will have to sit through the whole sales pitch when you book (some can last for the whole morning or the whole day!)

i would save the booking fee and get a late deal somewhere, you can probably do it for not much more money

Original poster
mckenzie · 18/01/2006 22:19

thanks all. that was interesting reading Frayedknot!

OP posts:
MeerkatsUnite · 19/01/2006 07:49

Would not touch this with a long pole.

If you have to pay upfront fees (and there will undoubtedly be more such fees to pay out) then its not a free holiday at all.

The old saying applies here, "if it sounds too good to be true then it is". Do not be suckered in.

DissLocated · 19/01/2006 14:01

Definately not going. The info arrived today and said that children under 10 cannot attend the presentation so this means trying to get sitters for dd which is a pain. The article also put me off, I don't really want to attend another sales pitch - thanks FrayedKnot!

FrayedKnot · 19/01/2006 14:26

Aside to DL: It's me, BTW - I changed my name when we moved and I was feeling, well, a bit like a chewed piece of string! Good idea not to go I think.

DissLocated · 19/01/2006 14:48

FK - I wondered whether you'd come back on here and then you do it in disguise! You could have had some fun there! Like the name btw.

How's it going?

The holiday thing is also in Mildenhall so quite far away from here adding to pain in bum factor.

daisy1999 · 19/01/2006 14:52

if you've genuinely won something then you shouldn't have to pay a penny imo.

Rebs1107 · 18/04/2017 21:54

I received a call today and email with link to choose £75 of free shopping vouchers for attending. Surprisingly, the link didn't work lol

Rebs1107 · 18/04/2017 21:55

We were tempted to attend but we'd have to take our children with us which we're not willing to subject any of us to

Barbosska1 · 19/04/2017 19:55

we were called by CLC and requested to come TOGETHER with my husband and WITHOUT children to their presentation , which we did not do. They have just called again and rescheduled the presentation, but I think it is a scam.

rookiemere · 21/04/2017 18:04

We're currently staying at CLC Sunningdale. Full price to stay for a week is 540 Euro and could have got it cheaper had I booked a few more months in advance. As far as I know these timeshare trips don't normally include flights and are usually 99 or 199 Euro for the week. I'd far rather pay the extra and not lose a day of my holiday.

Glemsford71 · 01/08/2017 16:46

DO NOT ATTEND a so called free holiday presentation with CLC travel. It is unprofesional and is time share with a fancy name...members club!! The presentation is LONG, boring and a complete waste of time, and it is NOT a free holiday. How do these companies keep going is beyond me. There is no such thing as a free holiday a complete waste of time.

CheungS255 · 17/08/2017 23:10

hi, its real. we are required to pay £90 for the free overnight stay at Gloucester 5 star hotel after the presentation. it wasn't half as hard sell as my husband thought. we sat through the presentation. cup of coffee, ipad was prepared for the young ones to be entertained whilst we are busy. really nice photos but timeshare is pricey for 19 years but their short term ones are nice. sadly fee of 700 each year but unlimited hotel stay in Europe or uk with £56 if stay 3 nights for 6 people. very cheap indeed. weekend are slightly higher. also one week free holiday anywhere in the world where got CLC including Malaysia Singapore etc. so if doing lots of holiday well worth it. we didn't go for it as planning to move house this year. so they refund the £90 back as agreed and got free overnight stay in a lovely hotel with breakfast and sauna and swimming pool etc. had a lovely time. not as bad as we thought.

Shoegal29 · 13/09/2018 05:21

I am sorry CheungS255
I really don’t feel this is a real thread you have written. Out of all of the above , you give a positive report of a company and say you handed over £90 for something that is supposed to be free. That in it self doesn’t not sit well. And then when you say paid and free well that does not make sense in any dictionary.ftom all the Chinese friends I have shown this too or have , they said they would never pay for something that was told to them as free. And they are very hard working and frugal with cash.
But in the end you say it’s worth it but did not go. You must be a person who works for the company and are trying to throw people off and say how good these people are. Time share is a hard sell as they people running it don’t pay a lot of the people until they get seats aid for . My husband worked for companies like them when he was young getting his feet wet in experience before he joined the RAF.
It’s a con all over. And like I am saying , you could easily have signed for one of these mums NET account easily to put a positive spin on this business and thread to get some people to question whether they should believe. FREE is FREE.
I have friends who won hols for FREE and they were FREE .
But like many people said above if they say free and charge , it’s a con ! Why do you think people want a guarantee like when you go into a travel place.
Unless you prove people right and not by just comments , I am not even sure about you.

SJane45S · 15/09/2018 08:27

I was briefly a telesales timeshare rep many years ago(don't hate me, I wanted to make money quick to teach) & my parents were CLC owners. Yes it is timeshare & no it's not a completely free holiday. Howev er, don't completely rule it out.The negatives will be sitting through at least one very hard sell one on one presentation where they will ask you all about your holiday habits & will use everything you have said to try & convince you owning a timeshare will give you a better quality holiday at a cheaper price (it won 't).Another negative will be the flight time & airport location aren't going to be ideal at all. However if you think you can handle the presentation & be flexible with the flights you can have a not completely free but super cheap holiday in very nice accommodation. We've stayed in various CLC resorts with my parents over the years & the resorts are really good. Owning a CLC timeshare hasn't been cheap (at all)for my parents because of all the extra fees on top but CLC have created a really good product. If you do think you could handle the hard sell, why not tell them you're naturists, always holiday in a caravan with your clothes off & ask which of their resorts caters for full nudity? That'll keep it very short!

Walley123 · 12/12/2018 19:06

It's just a con to try and sell you time share 3 times I have won so they say... i now just mess them about I give them false details and say i will attend there seminar but I never turn up when they call me up to see why I did not turn up I tell them I was there and where is my free holiday I was promised the have now stopped calling me

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