jericho

... so my wife got a call last week, out of the blue, and to cut a long story short, we found ourselves attending some kind of meeting/presentation today at the local golf club.

Paradise Canyon Vacations are apparently headquartered about Lethbridge (AB) and made it 100% clear they're not a time share and there was nothing to buy from them.... today.

It's essentially a "club"- you pay them x thousand dollars to join the club, and then you receive vacations/flights/cruises etc at "net" prices. Some of the examples they gave were extremely impressive.
It seems they're registered travel agents, so have access to "net" prices through their sister companies/affiliates- that include huge holiday condo companies, cruise companies, etc etc.

To be honest, I'm extremely skeptical of this kind of stuff, and I only went because they promised a $1000 travel cheque. The presentation was only an hour, so I thought it worth the risk. However, the sales guy has me very interested...

The club "prices" start at around $9700 and go up to $15k or so... but you can pay monthly over 20 years and cancel whenever you want. The basic package, that I'm interested in, would be around $40 a month.
I've booked an appointment with him to discuss in more detail, but has anyone every had any experience with this company or similar ones. For $40 a month, I'm inclined to try it for a year and see what it's like. We have 2 holidays in mind for this year and if we can save some money, it'll be worthwhile...

Anyone have any experience with this kind of deal/operation? My subconscious is screaming it's some kind of scam and it sounds too good to be true, but at the same time, I'm intrigued....

Aviator

Check out the BBB, there are two complaints on there about them. I would not join anything to pay for something I can do myself.

My buddy registered himself as a travel agent so he could guide two tours a year (it is a free vacation for him).

Myself, I would go nowhere near it.

http://www.vacationtimesharerentals....n-Golf-Resort/

You may want to do a bit more research before shelling out any cash.

Cookie

I had a quick look online and find it strange that they deny being timeshare when asking for $9-15K. They are also members of www.rci.com which is a timeshare exchange company.

I have nothing against timeshare, in fact we have owned one in Orlando for 8 years - we hold title deeds and own it until we decide to sell it. We enjoy ours and have vacationed at our home resort a few times and also used it to exchange through RCI to other resorts in Scotland, Ontario, Massechusettes and are heading to Maine this summer.

I would question paying out between $9-15k fees and not own anything other than a membership

Auld Yin

Two quotes come to mind.

1) There's a sucker born every minute.

2) Never give a sucker an even break.

G77

If it's too good to be true......

el_richo

So they offer discounts on holidays, yet charge you up to $15k for the privilege? Sounds awesome

I'll lend you my bargepole if you pay $4k for postage.

ann m

Sounds like that Direct Buy company - where you pay them fees, to then sell you something for a supposedly cheaper price ..... I'm not convinced ...

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ght=Direct+Buy

printer

Don't do it. My father ended up being suckered into joining a "holiday club" where he could enjoy countless benefits and reduced price vacations all over the world.
The deals they were offering on their website were nothing more than any average joe could get if they shopped around and in the end all he got was a nice looking membership pack which cost something like 5000 quid.

jericho

Just to close this off (and in case anyone else gets a call from them in the future), we had the sale guy round this evening.

Turns out that you have to put down a minimum of $3500 before you can even use the services.... which is completely in contrast to what was explained in the presentation originally.

Suffice to say he was told to sling his 'ook.

Auld Yin

Similar to what DIRECT BUY requires.

Oink

Stay with this sentiment.

airbornesapper

No DIRECT BUY around here...but I always thought that was a load of bollocks.

Mikelesley

Mike and I owned a timeshare in UK - and we did a swap to paradise canyon 9 years ago for our very first visit to canada. so yes they are (or at least they were) a timeshare company. People buy the houses down there then let the "club" rent them out as holiday homes. Plus alot of the houses which are actually in the "canyon" bottom are sinking - beware. Lesley

rnhuntington

I saw this thread and felt I needed to reply. I am a member over at the Paradise Canyon and the program really is great. I've gotten some amazing deals through them. If you travel, they are definately worth investigating.
Also, a correction, you do not have to have $3500 in before you can use it... At least not when I got involved. I started using it right away with very little paid in.

jericho

Yeah, I was bored so I just made that bit up.
No seriously, if the sales guy didnt tell me that, I wouldnt have said it. He actually started at $5000 and then came down to $3500 after I said I simply didnt have the money.