Jul 10, 2016 08:24 PM
30849 Views
(Updated Jul 10, 2016 08:30 PM)
Its a disaster, these people are complete fraud and they loot you of the hard earned money.
Whatever they tell in person, is completely opposite to what is written in their agreement, Never believe them.
A few days back I had gone to Total Mall in Bangalore where one nicely tucked boy asked me to fill up a lucky coupon which I did without knowing what it is for, I filled it and gave it back.
After couple of days later I got a call informing that I won the lucky draw and three prizes are waiting for me – kitchen set, free vacation for a week for couple and some free entry in a resort in India and Abroad and I was the one of the first one to get this gift as per lucky draw.
I was not willing to go as I was tired and don’t trust in these offers but they kept calling me again and again to collect the gift and finally me and my wife visited them at their JP Nagar location. All way going to them I kept on getting phone calls whether I was coming or not. I counter questioned them whether this was about converting me into some paid membership at Country Vacation Club which they flatly denied and offered me these mentioned 3 offers free against visiting them.
Anyways out of curiosity, I decided to go there on October 10 2015 and found that there were about 20-30 people just like me who were asked to come into a room. Inside that there were plenty of tables with one sales guy/girl trying to convert us into membership of Country Vacations. Right from the start, we were provided with the drinking water, juice and coffee given by them! There was some time pass survey taken by the sales guy and then a briefing from the so-called manager.
They wanted to convert me into a Country Vacations member and started making offer. They tagged a price of Rs 1, 27, 000 for 30 years membership with Country Vacations and lifetime membership of Country Club. I kept denying the offers they made and talked about various EMIs I am already under. But they kept on holding me by one or other way and meanwhile negotiating on their offer. Even when I said that I need time to think they forced us into this by saying that this is a one-time offer which would expire the minute we step out from the room. I guess I was one of the few people who got caught on their trap as the offer was lucrative, the details of which I have attached in the form of Complain letter sent to them. The time given to decide was so limited that we happened to fall in their trap. Finally we decided to get into the membership for Rs 84, 000/-(Rs54000/- through credit card and rest through 18 months interest free EMI plan). However while signing when we wanted to go through the agreement they were not allowing us to do so saying that “You don’t need to worry, we will take care of everything and we are here to give you the best services.” When I asked if I can cancel the membership if I am not satisfied, they said that I don’t need to worry on that front and that it can be done easily hassle-free. Finally they swiped my credit card for Rs 55000/- and rest through EMI. The EMI slip however mentioned that it is a 12 month EMI. On complaining they said that they will take care of this and convert into 18 months EMI from their Accounting division. However this never happened. And I was also charged with the interest amount. Finally at last, they sent me away with gifts and the agreement. This is where my nightmare began.
On reaching home I went through their agreement which mentioned things which were totally opposite to what they said. I got suspicious and went through internet about Country Vacations reviews. I was shocked to realize that a fraud has happened with me and that I have lost my hard earned money. The next day I bunked my office and went to their office for explanation. They said that everything is not mentioned in the agreement and that practically it will be completely different. On further discussions I found out that the Sales team has made a lot of false promises. I asked them to give me another agreement which mentions the offers the sales team pitched with. On this they said that it cannot be provided as the agreement comes directly from the HO in Hyderabad. So I asked them to give me all the offerings on mail. They sent me this mail stating the offers but with terms and conditions attached. However I realized that a clause in the agreement mentioned that only the original agreement is valid and that any other communication stands invalid. I thus got totally irritated and again went to their office the next day. By some means or the other this continued for few more times. Finally I got pissed off and asked them to cancel my membership and return my money deducting the processing charges. But they denied straight away and said that the company’s policy does not allow cancellation. I informed them that as per AIRDA guidelines a consumer can cancel the membership if not satisfied with the agreement. But they said that they do not fall under AIRDA and thus not obliged to follow their guidelines. The same was also confirmed by AIRDA. On further arguments they said that the sales person might not have known the company policies about cancellation as the guy was new. But they asked me to file a letter for cancellation and give it to them. They in turn would check with HO and get back to me with the reply in maximum 48 hours. This happened around 1st December, 2014. However I was not receiving any reply from them. After repeated calls to them they finally sent me a mail denying my cancellation. However the mail came to me from Customer Services of JP Nagar, Bangalore branch and not the HO.
Thanking You
