APD Leisure Sunterra

[selly75]

hi my wife received a call on friday 18/08/06 saying that we have won a free holiday for 7 days all we had to do was to go to carnforth to sit through a presentation also we would receive a dvd player and two bottles of wine

well what a scam we got there at 3pm on sat 19/08/06 taken to a room where we was asked about holidays then was told we could buy points ha ha only 8950 pounds for 5000 points at this point i turned off then a another sales person came to out table to try his luck
i told him i had only came for the wine and dvd player we where then asked to leave after he told us they had no dvd players one would be posted out i told my wife you have more chance to platt fog than get the dvd player the sales person got very uptight said id wasted there time what a laugh after trying to rip me off for 9 grand
still we got the wine
the free holiday is only 34.50 each for admin cost but you have to be prepaired to travel to any uk airport
sunterra seem to go under many names so beware
:cheers: selly75

[carolynew]

Okay i found it... I shall give Costa Holidays a miss.!

Thank You

[LeedsLass]

Hi all

I'm in Leeds and have just had a call from LCI travel offering me a free holiday. (http://www.freehol.co.uk).

I'm to visit a place in Wakefield for a presentation and to claim my free 7 day holiday for me and my 'husband' (haven't got one), and up to 4 friends at only �34.50 in 5* self-catering accommodation in Portugal or Spain.

The caller, apparently called Derren, assured me that they are registered with ABTA, AITA, etc. and have visits every couple of days from the Office of Fair Trading to check what they're doing is legit. You have to wonder about a cold-caller who spends half the call telling me that what I'm hearing is a genuine deal.

He even said you have to be careful about companies that phone up offering free holidays, and that once I receive a letter that is a legal obligation on their part to give me a free holiday, which I can take at any time over the next 18 months.

He then put me through to his 'superviser', calling herself Gemma, who asked me if he'd been polite and attentive, and whether he'd checked the four 'key questions' (such as being between 25-65). She asked me if I had any questions at all. They must have repeated 4 times 'this is not a timeshare'.

I was assured that if I wanted to change my 'appointment' to hear their presentation I could phone their office (am awaiting material in the post) and speak to managers Richard or Mo.

As several other posts in this forum, and across the internet point out, this is the Sunterra/ GVC holiday shares 'offer' (read: scam).

I advise anyone receiving a similar call to check the other posts on this forum, look at http://www.sunterra.info, and search under 'LCI travel' or 'Sunterra scam' on Google to link to numerous other sites that discuss the pros and cons in detail. Well, mostly the cons as no-one seems to have a good word to say about them.

Some people seem to suggest that it is possible to get the 'free' holiday for �34.50, if you're prepared to be subjected to many hours of hard-selling.

Note in particular the warning on www.sunterra.info that you are obliged to go on a 2 hour tour of the resort or you will be liable for the full cost of the holiday. Personally I go on holiday to relax, and that doesn't sound relaxing to me.

All of the various sites I've read warn STRONGLY not to buy any of their holiday vouchers that they offer for merely �2000, or upward to �5000 and �10,000.

[brahmin]

I worked for LCI in wakefield previously. The canvassers get your name, adress and phone number from the bt phonebook. It isnt technically a scam, the initial offer is quite good but it costs �3k to join this 'club', in the same call centre (a shitty damp room above the holiday shop on kirkgate) they are also running fascia fascia, a roofline company who also get their 'data' ripped out of the phone book.
The best thing about this dive is the signed pic of bob hoskins. Its all a load of *********.
If you do get a call, bear in mind the poor lost souls who are being paid a pittance to disturb your family time are only doing their job.

[churchill]

Thank you for the review. We received a call pretty much the same, except that the lady said they had sent an officail letter out already before calling us. BUT asked me my post code at the very end of the conversation. These people are snakey.

[louby77]

Ive just had a call from Midlands Travel in Long Eaton, strangely enough offering me a free 'taster' holiday. They too insisted that this was a legitimate offer and it was their way of advertising. She quoted my name and address to me and then asked me my postcode and said i would only have to pay �34.50 admin fee (sound familiar?) i was then put onto her manager who asked if she'd been curteous. I told her i was very sceptical and asked for a website address so i could check the company out. She quoted www.freehol.com which suprise suprise didnt exist. She said we had to go to their offices in Long Eaton to claim the holiday and that the details would be in the post. But after reading this thread, I dont think I'll bother! It sounds to me like the same company under another different name.

[FullMonty]

You are correct it is another branch of LCI Travel which used to sell Sunterra and now sells Diamond Resorts or (possibly some other holiday club).

They are not ABTA and the ATOL number they quote as belonging to them is really registered to Diamond Resorts. You can look at the LCI/Sunterra
thread for further details.

The message on here is clear. You wil pay a lot of money to join a holiday club. You may or may not get the holidays you want out of that club.

Ask what you do if you no longer wish to stay a member. See if it is easy to get out of.

Most of all read the contract - do not sign up on the spot and make sure any promises are in that contract.

[your not gettin me]

cheers for this very useful information. have just been called with the same scenrio. knew it was too good to be true so thought i would check one the web for APD Leisure. low and behold what a surprise after reading all the cracking info on the web. people beware. how this company is operating is a joke. it needs closed down.

[nutty_nurse]

Well, low and behold there still hard at it, my Husband took the call and was very cautious at first asking and bombarding them with questions to catch them out. He came of the phone convinced that we were getting a free holiday.

I then suggested that we check on the internet and guess what.....sorry hubby put I proved you wrong......again )

[ellie123]

I have just received a call from freehol.com, at Long Eaton , and was given a load of info from a young woman clearly reading from a script. First of all she tried to tell me I had filled in a holiday questionnaire on re-entering the country from a holiday abroad - which is where she found my details. This is a fabrication - it serves the purpose of verifying the details they need info such as - income, if you are married AND postcode!!!!!!! I have never filled in such a questionnaire. I asked her for their web-site and got onto this site whilst she was persuading me to make an appointment to visit the base!!! I was able to respond with a few of the experiences posted on 'holiday watchdog' and guess what.........-she put the phone down on me!