​Country club vacations "free gift" experience!

This is the story of how I walked into Lion's Den and came back without getting eaten. Read further to find out about my experience going through Country Club's presentation in exchange for "lucky draw free gift". Read, because you might also get invited into this free gift offer and might end up spending lakhs.

When I had written review of Club Mahindra years ago, (continues to be one of the most popular posts on my blog till date) many had asked me why I haven’t reviewed country club. Didn’t happen to come across them until recently. When we got a call that we’ve won some freebies for which we need to go to a mall, I knew the trap, still went ahead to understand what exactly they had on offer.

Last Sunday evening we went to Country Vacations office in Pheonix Market City, Velachery. There were a dozen other prospects in various stages of brainwash.

We took our seat. A lady exchanged pleasantries, collected some basic info and told us that we are one of the lucky 500 families to be selected for this offer (4 free gifts) and subsequently, only 116 families will be offered the opportunity to sign up under a great offer that will be explained to us now. She said we need to decide Yes/No now itself and can’t ask for more time. Then she handed over seat to an executive to explain the plan.

The deal was simple: We had to sit through an hour long presentation, at the end of which we could either sign up for the lucrative offer they are giving or decline it, collect our gifts and leave. I asked if I can take a look at the gifts, but I was told that it will be explained during the offer presentation itself.

First he told us about our free gift, which we will get irrespective of our signing up or not. The free gifts were as below:

• 1 A seven day access to Gym
• 2 Some kitchen items (proved to be a set of 6 glass tea cups, worth around Rs 99)
• 3 Entry only (Not stay as we were told) at Jade Resort, one of Country club property on ECR, can be availed on weekdays only and some nominal fee has to be paid.We can use beach, pool, games only, for stay we have to pay Rs 4000+)
• 4 A one week stay at any of country club resorts, valued at Rs 25000, but some maintenance fee of Rs 4000 needs to be paid to avail this.

For next one hour, he went in detail about the Country Club and their plans. Below are some of the key points (As told by sales rep, not verified or endorsed by me. Please use your discretion)

Sales executive did a very good job. He took us through a well-planned psychological path wherein a desire is first created and then the solution to fulfill those desires were illustrated in a systematical way. He began with analyzing our holiday usage, stating that we need accommodation, food, security, site seeing with guide, privacy, transportation etc whenever we go out on vacation. Then explained about various country club properties and how they cover each of above requirements. We were told that what they are offering us is an Ownership scheme and not regular membership scheme. We can carry forward, pre-pone, sell, rent, gift etc etc and we’ll have full control on the same. We were told an en sign-up fee of Rs 135000 is being waived off for us. Photos of nice properties all over India and abroad were shown to us. We were told we are free to use their club facility all the time, conduct family events at the large party halls they have, make use of various coupons they will be giving to us (for Spa etc, some 32 coupons for which we need to pay only Rs 350) and we will be invited to various events country club keeps hosting all around the year.  We can enjoy upto 14 days of vacation every year, with 30% off on food, 40% off on air ticket and many other benefits.

This is what we were told we’ll get if we sign up on spot

• Upto 14 days of vacation every year for 2 generations, 3 to 5 star in India, 5 to 7 star abroad (14 days if you book some 30 days in advance for Studio rooms, less if you book 1BR/2BR or book last minute)
• 30% off on food bill
• Upto 50% off at the bar
• Free use of resort facilities like pool, gym etc
• Upto 40% off on flight booking, if booked via their travel partner
• Complementary Country club Gold card (this will remain with us even if we sell of membership)
• Entry to events- we’ll be given 2 passes which can permit 8 people
• Some 30+ spa coupons
• Siteseeing with guide (not clearly told if it is free)

We were shown evidence of George Bush sending letter of appreciation and CC getting into Guinness Book of records for lighting lots of lamps simultaneously on occasion of earth day. Lots of member testimonials and other evidence were also shown.

At this point, life appeared so beautiful- all you have to do is sign up for country clubs and forget all pains in life. Access to luxury properties all over the world, as if you own it all for yourself, heavily discounted food, travel, free recreational activities.. what else one would need?

Some tea and coffee was ordered for us

Because I was familiar with Club Mahindra’s scheme of things, I asked how country club is different from Club Mahindra. Below is what I was told

	Club Mahindra	Country Club
Week classification	White, Blue, Red, Purple	No classifications
ASF or AMC (annual fee)	Keeps changing based on type, CPI and WPI	Fixed at Rs 7500 per year
Duration of Membership	25 years	For 2 generations
No of properties	Less	More (but the count includes Apartments, hotels, boat houses, resorts all types)
Joining fee	Much higher	Lower

Studio can accommodate 4 people?

I was told Country Club’s Studio accommodation can hold 4 people, 1 BR 6 people and 2BR can accommodate 8 people. When I asked how is this possible, I was told these are big rooms with extra beds etc. Haven’t checked how big.

40% rooms set aside for this select 116 families?

I asked the question what happens if rooms are not available. I was told that such a possibility is rare. As long as you can intimate 30-45 days advance, there will always be rooms.  I stressed further and I was told “40% of our rooms management has decided to reserve for the 116 families that are signing up today via this offer”. At this point I knew this is a lie. For a club with hundreds of properties and lakhs of members, reserving 40% rooms for mere 116 families just doesn’t make sense. No management will do that. If this is true, other existing members will surely revolt.

Finally we came to the financials:

I was told they had over 38 different financial schemes, suiting different customer profiles/needs. I was asked to chose between India scheme and International scheme. I opted for India one. We had to pay Rs 99,999 on the spot, either cash, or card with EMI option. I was asked if I have my card with me, I said "No". We were asked to take some time and decide.

The tea and coffee never came.

I did some mental calculation:

The rosy picture painted in front of me was too tempting. Most of the invitees would feel special being offered with such an opportunity. But I knew for a fact that they invite anyone and everyone who gives their contact details at the mall. There is no lucky draw or anything. Internet is full of such incidents. So obviously they are not doing any charity.

5-star food, even at 30% discount will be costing a bomb. Any money saved in accommodation will be ripped off if 8 people buy lunch at say Rs 300-400 per plate.

Factoring an interest rate of Rs 10000 for the initial payment + Rs 7500 we pay for AMC, it is about 17500 per year for about 7-10 nights of stay. It is possible to get decent accommodation with this money, though not in star resorts. I am not much of a clubbing/party/luxury person. Basic accommodation suits my needs.

The too good to be true marketing offers are often fraud. Success of timeshare membership lies in how a company services its members. If they keep signing up members left, right and centre without proportionate increase in properties, members are bound to be disappointed. Internet is full of such complaints.

Once I pay, I will lose any leverage I have. There is no cancellation option- you can only sell/transfer etc, if you can find a buyer.

It is not like country club will stop signing up members from tomorrow. If it is worth, we can always come back later. It might mean paying little more than current offer, but I would rather pay more for something that I need and is worth, than pay less for something that might not be worth.

I said I don't want to decide spending on such big amount on the spot and I need to check things on internet. "Only bad things you'll find there, no one ever leaves positive feedback there" was the response. It was stressed again that we are the lucky few to have this invite and offer, as other walk-in parties will have to pay another 1.5 lakh more. The lady emphasized that we are capable of deciding for ourselves and we should decide now, instead of asking for more time.

As planned, I said No. This sort of took them by surprise and also displeasure on their face was apparent. They tried to convince me change my decision, but I held my ground. Their reaction was like “Why did you waste our time, if you’d decided already you could have told in the beginning, collect your gift and leave” I kept quiet, they said “fine, we’ll give you your free gift”

After sometime, we got our gifts. A set of glass tea cups, probably worth about Rs 99 (that's what the MRP on pack says, sale value could be lower) is the only real thing that we got. The fitness coupon I can't use, as the gym is too far from my home. The other two- one day at Jade Resort and one week at country club resort- let me try using that. If it works out, I will share the details.

Update: called Jade resort: They say only entry is free (one can use pool, beach, games etc), stay is not free. For stay one has to pay Rs 4500+... So this is also bogus.

My time was certainly worth more than Rs 100 tea cup set. But then I got some understanding of Country Club way of timeshare business, managed to control my decisions not to give in to temptations.

The modus operandi is simple- invite everyone as if they are the only one invited. Make them feel special and present them with an irresistible offer, accompanied by well structured talks that creates a desire. Make them sign up on the spot and let customer care deal with them later if they are not happy. Even if 5-10% sign up, then it is great ROI.

Going by the internet, there seem to be lots of complaints on country club, similar to Club Mahindra. If you're tempted to take the membership, find an existing member and take his/her experience regarding availability, customer service etc into account before making purchase decision. Best wishes.