Anyone know anything an about LCI Travel offer?

I recently got a phone call from LCI Travel in Rotherham saying they wanted to offer my a free holiday in return for going to see them to see the "amazing" holidays they sold. I've just got the confirmation letter and they are claiming to offer a weeks holiday with flights and accomodation and car hire. All I'm supposed to do is to go to their offices on a Sunday morning for a couple of hours.

Does anyone know anything about this offer? They claim it isn't a timeshare or trying to sell you anything but their future holidays but I believe in the moto that if it seems too good to be true it probably is.

havent heard anything about this one but i would go anyway just to see... couple of hours though sounds like they are gonna interview you, kind of market research thing. Just go but take someone with you and any sign of it been a con then just get out of there

Originally posted by cgksheff

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=22827

Cheers, reading that makes it a lot clearer. As my other half is a teacher I won't be going along to the presentation.

Have a look through these sites.

http://www.timesharetalk.co.uk/

http://www.crimeshare.net/list.html

LCI Travel despite their name are not a travel company.

They are a sales and marketing company. What they sell are points to an organisation called Club Sunterra. They do not sell anything else. They take on young students to do cold calling by telephone and then sack them after a few weeks. I know my son was one.

They will tell you they are ABTA and ATOL. They aren't. They operate under the licence of Canaryroute Ltd. ATOL 4160 which shares an address at Citrus House, Lancaster with Club Sunterra and all the various other branches of the Sunterra Empire.

The "free" holiday you are offered requires you to book flights with them. The "free car hire" is a group A car suitable for one dwarf and there are extras to pay like Collision Damage Waiver and local taxes. Upgrades which you will need cost a bomb.

Despite their claims to get massive discounts they don't and you could book flights and car hire much less expensively by yourself and using the internet. So the low cost holiday they offer isn't really a low cost offer and it certainly isn't free.

If you accept the invitation and go to their Rotherham Office you will be shown a presentation about the various advantages of Club Sunterra and then subjected to a hard sell actually lasting in total for about two hours.

If you get past this and then go on the holiday you will be subjected to another hard sell this time lasting longer. People have been known to sign up just to get rid of the constant hassle from the sales staff.

Just ask yourself why they need to do this if the product is a good one?

When you buy a package tour you go to the Travel agent and take away a selection of brochures. Then you go back to the travel agent and tell them which holiday you want. LCI Travel will not let you do this. You have to sign on the spot.

Ask if you can take the contract away so your solicitor can view it - you can't.

They will insist on telling you it isn't timeshare - but timeshare is subject to (not very effective) regulations. Holiday clubs have no regulations at all. One of the packages they sell is called "Explorer" - a trial membership for three years. This isn't subject to any regulations because it is for (just less than) three years.

In fact Euroconsumer is European wide say the biggest complaints they receive are about holiday clubs and the high pressure sales tactics they employ.

Some final thoughts.

Sunterra is an international company based in the USA and has just been taken over by a company called Diamond Resorts. Its European operation based at Citrus House had to pay huge sums to European tax authorities for taking tax off its employees and then not passing it on to the authorities. Total liabilities came to $9.8 million. Their accountants Grant Thornton refused to sign the accounts and resigned.

No-one knows what the future will bring after the takeover. To continue to sell Club Sunterra under these circumstances is immoral. But morality and holiday clubs are words that do not sit easily together.

I used to work there for 2 days and trust me dont go! They work by getting a page out of a thompsons local and calling every number on it and make out like you filled in a form somewhere so they got your details etc when you never did! I left because i couldnt belive what they were doing! Its all fake!

another one to look out for is CLC UK ie "Club Le Costa" same thing although they also stop you outside shopping areas supposedly to do market research on your holiday habits and then for taking part they enter you into a prize draw. Suprise Suprise you win a holiday, they were outside Morrisons last week at Ecclesfield although not seen them this week. Filled a questionaire in and then walking back to the car it dawned on me what it really was, could have kicked myself. This week I get the phone call informing me I had won holiday, told them where to shove it in no uncertain terms. I will be more on my guard in future.

I was stopped for the above in Penistone recently. Yes I got a phone call to say I had won a package holiday, despite having stated I was a hiking , camping type . I insisted on it in writing, which came today . Looking them up on Google , esp. "dooyoo", has confirmed it is a heavy sales pitch with rotten free holiday. No I shan't be going to the presentation! They imply that they are a new local travel agency trying to promote themselves by giving away a prize holiday. Be warned!

I too have had a phone call regarding this free holiday. I really drilled the person asking alsorts of questions. ie. No-one gives anything for nothing. I WILL NOT BE GOING.