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Classic Escape Holidays - beware of what they offer you and how they offer it to you.
My wife and I were approached by Classic Escapes Promoters in a major shopping center in Sydney in Jan 2013. We were handed 4 scratch cards to win a prize. We scratched the 4 cards and one of those cards was a winner. We had won either a holiday, an ipad or $1500.00 cash. All we had to do is pay $50.00 refundable deposit to attend a 90min presentation at Classic Escapes head office.
We booked a date to attend the presentation. However after viewing the 4 scratch cards it appeared that the winning card was different from the loosing cards. It is possible to tell which is a winning card or losing card prior to scratching the prize/loss. Therefore the promoters can force a winning card upon you mixed in with some loosing cards making it appear that "Your luck is in".
See attached photos of our 4 cards, 3 of which are loosing cards. On the winning card there are two images that have been swapped. The picture of the Money and the Beach Holiday. Notice all the loosing cards are the same but different from the winning card. So from the very onset of this "Winning" card you have been scammed. This was also verified by some friends of ours who were also given a "Winning" card mixed in with some losing cards. The differences were the same.
We attended the presentation, was refunded our $50.00 and then we witnessed a multitude of complicated algorithms to have us believe their product offered value. Over 5000 accommodation sites they promote that we can accommodate in provided we sign up to their lengthy and costly membership time share deals. After 2 hours of time wasting, hard selling and question avoiding by the sales team we declined the Classic Escapes offer and opted to claim our prize only.
The prize was a 7 night holiday in either Queensland, Bali or Thailand. We were given a plastic card to redeem online. We were informed there is a $200 cleaning and admin bill to pay for the holiday. As we have children in our family we went online to book our "Prize Holiday" for the four of us. To include our children on the holiday it would cost a minimum of $400 upwards. So this "Winning" holiday is now costing $600.00 minimum for accommodation.
My complaint is the sneaky methods used to promote a "Win" from their scratch cards, this is not a game of chance it is a game of scam. You are only a "Winner" if you walk away and have nothing more to do with it.
Overall my wife and I feel elated that we did not sign anything with Classic Escapes. We have put in the bin our winning holiday card from Classic Escapes and look forward to booking our holiday through the normal methods using the hundreds of thousands of destinations the world can offer..
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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Hi Andrea, I am wondering if you have had an opportunity to book a holiday through escape travel yet?If so did they live up to their claims?
regards Lesley
Got bailed up by these ###s at Pacific Fair. We were actually willing to go to the presentation until they asked for $40 to prevent us from skipping out on our "booking". What a crock of ###, the deposit is there so if you go home and Google this scam and decide you don't want to come they still get some money out of you. As far as I'm concerned it's not winning if there are monetary strings attached, they are selling you something under the guise of winning it. DO NOT DEAL WITH ANYONE GIVING OUT SCRATCH CARDS. They will waste your time and attempt to fleece you for their overpriced crap so they can continue to use your money to pay for their salesmen and keep the scam going.
We also "won' the scratchie ticket prize which could only be claimed by attending a 90 min presentation. Unlike many of the comments - this did not come across as a scam to us as the representative was very up front that this was how they let people know about their product as they did not advertise in print, radio or TV. Yes you pay an upfront deposit to attend - this is their way of ensuring that you do actually attend, and to recoup some costs of having their sales people available if you don't turn up. I guess this is fair, but did worry us at the time I have to admit. We did get the deposit back the minute we walked in the door. I don't agree that this is a time share scheme, there is no limit on the number of places you can go or how often you can travel and book with them. For the package that includes the overseas properties it is a flat price for any time of the year with no black out periods. For Australia and NZ properties there are different fees for different times of the year, Xmas holidays being the most expensive, followed by other school holiday periods and then a different rate for non holiday periods. Our sales person was very clear about these different rates, in fact the whole presentation seemed to us to be very open and clear. We have 2 kids and like to travel as a family, and we could see clear possibilities to travel more, and pay a LOT less for much nicer accommodation than we have stayed in previously. Yes there is a significant up front fee, but we felt that over the next 30 years, we could travel more, as could our kids with their families when they are grown up, as could our friends and brothers and sisters using our membership. We are still in our cooling off period and intend to do further research, but at the moment we still believe this could increase our opportunities to see the world, staying in nice places. We found the people we dealt with to be very pleasant, open, informative and did not feel pressured to sign up. Knowing that you have 7 days to reconsider helped a lot I have to admit.
After "winning" a first prize and being heartily congratulated by the person working at the Holiday Fair in Brisbane, I was asked for a $20 deposit. I then asked whether the whole thing was about time shares. I was told that was not the case so with regards to the happy customer and Rob Hunter comments, that was a complete lie which suggests the trading practices of the company, basically deceptive I think you'll agree.
My husband and I attend a presentation in Brisbane in January 2013. We when were signing the paper work to buy the holiday and to confirm that we had received the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), we told the presenter that we had not received the PDS and it was then handed to us. We understood that the points would be fixed throughout the year. We were taken a back when we enquired about accommodation in Sydney and found out that points vary according to High, Mid and low seasons in Australia. The fixed points throughout the year apply to overseas accommodation. Can anyone, who has attended a presentation, tell us whether they received the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) before the representation? Also were you told that when using time share in Australia the points will vary according to the High, Mid and Low seasons. We have since found out that the PDS is to be handed to a person before the presentation starts. Has anyone had a similar experience?
Brisbane
My wife was approached in a shopping centre in Sydney. We ended up getting a winning scratch card. The English woman was well spoken and convinced us to go in and see what Classic Holidays does. We had to give a refundable $50 deposit to secure our booking for our session. We showed up to the presentation and got back the $50 deposit first thing ( That put my mind a bit a ease). From there we were told to hold on to our scratchy until the end of the presentation. We went through the presentation and was intrigued as to what they had to offer. My wife and I travel a fair bit to Hawaii and could see there was some great value to be had if used. I feel the complaints above are entitled to there opinion, but as seasoned travelers I feel they may have not have traveled much if they didn't see the value in what Classic offers its members. My wife has already booked us our next holiday to Hawaii, and we are very happy with the service that Classic Escapes have offered us.
I feel each individual has to make up there mind whether or not its for them. If you travel as a family its hard to beat. We ended up receiving a Ipad as the gift for attending the presentation.
Happy Classic Escapes Member.
Completely Agree with complaint! Total Scam...a prize is not a prize if your required to pay for it! Regardless of the so called "Admin cleaning blah blah blah crap". Since when do you pay for accomodation if it states 7 nights free accomodation? We didnt sign up to this after our presentation today after the 90 min glitz and glamour and failing to state all the actual costs...(i read statements during presentation for maintenance fee of 160 AUD per annum...hello...what about the 12, 000NZD quoted at the end plus the actual cost of the accomodation). Scam scam scam! I cant get my 90 mins back but i can warn others off this! Think about it, about 19 Million people in Australia, 4.5 Million in NZ and only 45, 000 members...? If this deal was so good, why would there not be hundreds of thousands of members! I have been to Thailand...accomodation is very good and cheaper then what they are offering. Wish i had of trusted my gut instinct and not bothered! I just feel sorry for all those who do sign up, taking money from people is wrong if it is done so in a sneaky way...whether its within the realms of the law doesnt make it morally right! This company lacks integrity...i tell you now, my word of mouth will tell everyone i know never to do SCAM!
Classic Scratch Card Promotion.
In response to the statement regarding our scratch and win promotion.
To give you some insight into who we are - Established in 1978 with Head Office operations based on the Gold Coast, Classic Holidays is Australia’s largest privately owned Timeshare Resort Management Company, representing over 45, 000 member families and responsible for over 650 employees. Classic manages 18 resorts and clubs and operates sales offices in 8 locations around Australia and New Zealand. Built on strong founding principles of honesty, integrity, respect and commitment, Classic Holidays proudly celebrates a 35 year anniversary in 2013.
Thank you for your feedback and comments. We welcome, all comments, both positive and negative in relation to our promotions. If mistakes, errors or misrepresentation on any of our promotional material has occurred, we appreciate that it is brought to our attention so we can take the appropriate action to rectify it.
Yes, we do have a variety of different printed cards and, yes, there are a variety of gifts, layouts and colours on the scratch cards. These are design initiatives to keep the promotions fresh and new.
The different photos on the front of these cards do not distinguish “winners” from “losers”, they are purely the result of different print runs.
We believe the prize represents great value - 7 nights ‘accommodation in a studio sleep 2 apartment for $199 ($28.42 per night). We promote the prize very clearly as this sized accommodation at this booking fee. Upgrades are available to a 1 bedroom apartment sleep 4 at a total cost of $498 ($71.14 per night) or a 2 bedroom sleep 6 apartment (both self-contained) for $598 for 7 nights (85.42 per night) - taking these upgrades are entirely at the customer's discretion.
If you require any further information regarding our promotion and the upgrade details, please go to www.classicescapes.com.au and review the FAQs .
Thank you once again for your feedback
Kind regards
Rob Hunter
What a joke, we are just about to leave our "free" holiday and can't get out of this sub standard accommodation fast enough. We are actually leaving early as one of my children has broken out in a rash from the bed linen. The room is not serviced so no new towels and no change of linen and no cleaning of the room, and conveniently we weren't told about this. When I questioned the hotel staff they said sorry sir it's not is it is classic holidays. Everything is an extra charge, simple things like pool towels are a charge. As we are leaving early unfortunately we are unable to attend their 1hr seminar so there is an additional charge of $200. We will be attending our physician upon return home and will then forward all related costs to classic holidays to pay incl surcharge we have paid to change our flights. Be very careful people, the free trips are in 2 star accommodation, with limited rooms. You have been warned