[Resolved]  Country Vacations — country vacations or club cheated me with false promises

Address:

Pune, Maharashtra

On 1st of June 2015 I received a call from the country vacations informing me that I have received a free 6 nights and 7 days stay in their resorts and also 7 prizes. To collect this, I need to come along with my wife to Phoenix mall by 4 PM on the same day. In the call, they assured me that no need to pay single rupee to collect this. We both went to Phoenix shopping mall by 4.15 PM, Firstly they asked us to wait for 5 min. Then somebody announced my name, he asked me to attend a presentation. Unaware of their real intentions, my wife and I have decided to attend the presentation. This has turned out to be the biggest mistake. For us the presentation was started by Mr. Sohail at 4.30 PM (mobile-[protected]). He gathered the personal details in the presentation such as what is my profession, how long we were in Pune, and native place, my wife is working or not etc. In almost hour and half time, he explained us about various club plans with free plot in Hyderabad and free flight tickets etc.. and requested us to join the club. When we have informed that we are in no position to afford them, he came up with a five-year club membership plan which they have exclusively for house wives. He asked me to enrol for this plan on my wife name and should enrol today only as 01-Jun-2015 is the annual day. He is not even giving time to us to think about this. Mobiles are also not allowed inside. We both were flattered with his imaginary words and false promises. The details of this membership are as follows: 1. We need to pay a membership fee of 1, 29, 000/- INR. (One lakh twenty nine thousand rupees only) for five-year membership plan. 2. We can avail a week (6N/7D) holiday for five years free of cost at any of the club hotels or the affiliated hotels. 3. Free car pickup from airport/Railway station to the hotel & free car drop from the hotel to the airport and railway station. 4. Since we are registering for the plan on the same day, we are entitled to the following additional benefits: A. Life time free country club member ship which includes entry to their fitness centres, Free hosting of personal events such as birthday, marriage days and other such occasions in their club B. Five years free massages and Jacuzzis along with the free usage of sports room. C. Free couple passes to the events such as New Year eve, Valentine’s Day, Diwali, dasara etc. D. A free return air ticket for two, to any of the clubs hotels within India 5. I was informed that I have to pay 45, 000 INR as down payment and remaining amount can be converted into non equated monthly instalments. When I was still hesitant about the offer, He went outside for a min and he informed me that: As we considered you are our lucky winner, we took the approval from the manager, you can pay 22, 000 INR as down payment and remaining amount can be converted into non equated monthly instalments, At this moment he has forced both o[censored]s to sign on the 100/- INR stamp notarised agreement paper. They told us that this is an exclusive offer for today only. Even I asked them for 1/2 days’ time to think about this plan. Again they simply started with routine tricks and trapped both o[censored]s to sign on the stamp paper. He also told us that after receiving the welcome kit, which contains all the information about the club and my membership entitles to, I get a free two-week look up period / cooling off period. If I am not satisfied, I can cancel the membership and I am entitled to the complete refund of the membership amount of 22, 000/- INR and Also, I was informed that at any time after the free period, I can discontinue and only 10% of the amount will be debited. Trusting that the club will not do any fraud, using my Citi bank credit card, I gave 22, 000/- INR. (10, 000 + 12, 000) (swiped 2 times). Once we back home, I just searched the country vacations in Google search. I have come across an incident where I see many people were suffering with CV scam and their fake commitments by their sales people. Then I started thinking that this might have been a bad idea to take membership with the club and started looking for more information about the club using internet. I was started to know that I am not the first person to whom the club has sold its membership with the sales people imaginary words and false commitments. Immediately I sent an email request for CV membership cancellation to [protected]@countryvacationsmail.com, [protected]@countryvacationsmail.com on Tue, Jun 2, 2015 at 7:46 AM. As of today, i did not get any response from CV. And also contacted the Citibank customer care and requested to block credit card and re-issue it as a preventive measure. Mr. Ashish Gadge (Manager of Mr. Sohail) assured that within the next 72 hours (three days), I would receive the welcome kit which will contain all the details about the club along with the receipt for the amount paid as well as the details of offers which we were promised. Imagine to my surprise when the said kit has not arrived even after seven days. I called Mr. Ashish Gadge on his mobile [protected] on 04-Jun-2015. As expected, He is not responding to my calls. I again called him on 07-Jun-2015, now he is telling that the member ship kit will reach you after 45 working days. Really he has not told us this 45 days in the presentation. Also he is asking me to wait 45 working days, then only I can avail my vacation after 20 working days after booking date. By now, I have become very suspicious with his attitude and decided to call the call centre. Calling the call centre itself was an experience itself! There appears to be a single contact number. Many times, I got busy signal and I was forced to ‘try’ to contact them for a couple of hours. Nobody is receiving the calls. Just to summarize: 1. As the said plan is exclusively for house wifes, they asked me to enrol on my wife name. I paid 22, 000/- INR for five years membership using Citi bank credit card. The membership details are as follows. Membership ID: CVPU37CLUB5LB201066 (Club + 5 Yrs 6N7D Blue U12) 2. I was promised that the remaining amount would be converted into non equated EMI without any additional charges. I am not sure about this. 3. I was informed that a welcome kit would be provided within 72 hours. Even after 7 days I am yet to receive even the receipt from the country vacation. 4. I was told that I can cancel the membership if I am not satisfied within 10 days after I receive the welcome kit. 5. I am surprised that despite the bad reputation this club has, the bank HDFC is providing their EDC (swiping) machine. – I am interacting with the bank and if I don’t get a positive response, planning to take action against HDFC bank. 6. No standard membership fee. It’s more like cheat the customer and get as much as you can from them. This is a sheer misuse of the trust which the general public has on the club (considering that this club was in existence for a long time and during major events stars like sharukh khan and amisha Patel, Charmi used to grace this club for major events). The exploitation of the club must be stopped and to get my refund back, I am forced to seek the consumer forum court, judicial assistance and the media help. Along with the 22, 000/- INR, I would like to claim another 2000/- for the mental disturbance. I referred All India Resort Development Association (AIRDA) code of ethics about cooling off period (10 days) which customer may opt for the cancellation of membership with paid amount refund http://www.airda.org/airda-code-of-ethics.html For now, i contacted Citibank and raised a dispute against these transactions done on my credit card. Regards, Sudhakar. [protected]