Hard-sell Classic Holiday Club from Queensland touched down recently to sell its timeshares to Kiwis.

The company is cold-calling Aucklanders and inviting them to timeshare “presentations”. It also plans a national roadshow.

The sales method used by Classic Holiday Club is almost identical to that of Wyndham Vacation Resorts, which we reported on in July 2007. We weren’t happy with the sales tactics then and we aren’t happy this time.

Selling too hard

Our researcher was cold-called and offered a "free" accommodation voucher if she could attend a presentation with her husband. At the one-to-one presentation various incentives were offered to buy on the night. These included waiving:

• The joining fee for the scheme for the first year.
• The initial charge for Points & Play (which allows you to holiday at certain resorts and cruises worldwide). It was claimed that was worth $2954. You also got the first three years’ membership of Points & Play free.

If you bought on the night, you also got 20,000 Classic Holiday Club points thrown in – enough for a one-week holiday in a two-bedroom apartment.

We were told that these incentives wouldn’t be offered again if we didn’t sign up then. That’s the problem – these timeshares may suit some people as a convenient holiday but there’s just too much pressure to buy on the night.

Look before you leap

Timeshares are a big investment. They shouldn't be bought without independent advice and plenty of time to mull it over.

Classic Holiday Club is more complex than most as it’s not a traditional timeshare where you buy a week or weeks. Instead, Classic Holiday Club sells “Classic Escapes Membership”, which costs from $8990 for 10 years to $22,990 for 60 years. There’s also an annual fee of $183 whether or not you book holidays.

Once you’re a member you can  “buy” points to stay at the resort of your choice, which currently cost from $423 to $626 a week. It costs more for the key Christmas and New Year period – when many families want to holiday – or for a three-bedroom property.

Members can also sign up for “Points & Play” (one of the free inducements on the night). This allows you to holiday at 4000 RCI timeshare resorts/cruises worldwide. RCI is the world’s largest timeshare exchange network. Each time you stay at an RCI resort you pay the number of points required for each week’s stay. If the resorts are outside New Zealand, Australia and Polynesia you pay an additional $107 per week.

Every three years members need to pay another $349 to keep using RCI resorts. You also have to belong to RCI if you want to holiday in any timeshares here using your membership (Classic Holiday Club doesn't own resorts in New Zealand).

There’s plenty to take on board here – without the pressure of on-the-night inducements.

Classic Holiday Club offers a “seven-day cooling off” period, which is pointed out at the seminar, but it only gives a Post Office Box address in Australia - Kiwis need to post their written notice within a day or two of the presentation.

Desperately seeking a buyer

Members cannot withdraw (cancel) their membership or sell it back to Classic Holiday Club. The Club highlights at its presentation that membership is transferable, but without a buyer you can’t recoup any money. What’s more if you sell, transfer or give away your membership there’s a $413 fee.

We contacted the main companies that offer second-hand timeshares in New Zealand and found there’s currently a very small resale market for Classic Holiday Club. That means if you change your mind after parting with more than $10,000 you’ll  have a great deal of difficulty finding a buyer.

Our advice

• Stay away from any company that needs to cold-call or door-knock to sell its products to you.
•  If you’re keen on a timeshare, think twice about buying direct from the company. They’re always cheaper second-hand.
• If you can’t take the paperwork away and have it checked by an accountant and/or lawyer, don’t sign up.
• Don’t believe you can only get the “free” extras on the night. This was the same approach used by Wyndham, which later called our researcher several times inviting her back to another presentation.

More from consumer.org.nz

• Timeshare - our guide to timeshare and what to consider before you buy
• Wyndham timeshare - our July 2007 report on the hard-sell approach of Wyndham Vacation Resorts

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