[2008] club absolute thailand- scam ?

[steelman01]

Hi there, i have just returned from pattaya thailand after buying into a hoilday club (£5000) called club absolute. I have read about these holiday scams abroad but i was wondering if any one has actullay had any experience with this club or knows anything about it? i have not paid much yet but wnat to know the exact truth about this company before i pay any more. Any info would be great!!!

 

[Zac495]

I know nothing about this timeshare. BUT - DO NOT BUY DEVELOPER PERIOD. Can you rescind????

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Here are a couple of recent thread about Club Absolute:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69471

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75508

 

[Dave M]

I agree with Ellen.

To date, no one has posted of a vacation club here where it makes sense to me pay the prices such as you likely paid.

If the club allows you to stay annually at a home resort and exchange elsewhere around the world, there are many cheaper ways to do that. You can learn how to do it here at TUG.

If the club allows you to travel to various places around the world, those same benefits are available many places (including eBay) for hundreds of dollars, not thousands such as you almost certainly paid.

As Ellen suggested, cancel the deal if you can. Than come here and learn how to vacation much less expensively.

 

[steelman01]

absolute reply

Thanks guys for ur response, it says that we cant rescind. The payments are to come out of our credit card so they have the details, and if we just didnt pay them does anyone know if they would have the right to take us to court over the balance saying there in another country, thailand.

 

[Dave M]

It depends on what you signed. Take a careful look at the wording in your contract. If it states something to the effect that you agree to make all payments, plus late fees and all collection costs, then, yes, they can come after you. If not, you should still look very carefully at the language to see what they can do. If it's not clear, you should probably visit with an attorney. You can contact your local Bar Association and get referred to a lawyer who can help you for (probably) less than $100.

One other alternative to discuss with that attorney is to cancel your credit card so that they can't charge any more payments to your card. But don't do it without knowing what bad things can happen.

 

[Leedham]

I have been an owner with this club for 4 years, not had any problems so far. Not always got the resort I want but they find one equally as good as my first choice.

 

[annettebelge]

I have been an owner with this club for 4 years, not had any problems so far. Not always got the resort I want but they find one equally as good as my first choice.

HI
excuse me for my english!
you are lucky because i am an absolute'owner for 2 years and it's impossible to get availability. In februar i asked for december and it's impossible. travel agency make offers for this period in october.

 

[Bill4728]

To date, no one has posted of a vacation club here where it makes sense to me pay the prices such as you likely paid.

If the club allows you to stay annually at a home resort and exchange elsewhere around the world, there are many cheaper ways to do that. You can learn how to do it here at TUG.

If the club allows you to travel to various places around the world, those same benefits are available many places (including eBay) for hundreds of dollars, not thousands such as you almost certainly paid.

come here and learn how to vacation much less expensively.

I have been an owner with this club for 4 years, not had any problems so far. Not always got the resort I want but they find one equally as good as my first choice.

HI
excuse me for my english!
you are lucky because i am an absolute'owner for 2 years and it's impossible to get availability. In februar i asked for december and it's impossible. travel agency make offers for this period in october.

The key isn't if there is availablity or not. BUT you are paying big bucks to join a club and get savings that you can get easier by renting from a current owner. So even if the club does what they say they can do it makes more sense not to pay them ~$5000 or more and just by-pass and rent from a current owner.

 

[daiboy]

Hello, we are in the same boat only agreed to pay more but havent yet and they are on at us, not sure if its a scam or not, have you had any luck finding out?.

 

[ozzieholidayers]

club absolute scam

we have been absolute club members for 3 years. we have constantly had problems - last year we turned up for a holiday in Phuket to find a three star resort (which by Thai standards is pretty crap!) we checked out and paid to stay somewhere else. All the resorts, except Koh Samui seem to be well below what we were promised, and the management fee keeps going up and up each year. Next year's annual fee is more than what we paid for a week at the beautiful 5 star resort "Gracelands" in Phuket last year. Nothing is available when we request and the exchange weeks and exchange resorts are all three star as well. Ripped Off!!

 

[Lisa S]

Club Absolute Scam!

Club Absolute is absolutely a scam - they operate as per any non-genuine timeshare scam promising all sorts of bonuses which disappear as soon as you sign on the dotted line..... however! - there is now a website which is there to help any victim of the Club Absolute Scam - based on the operations in Phuket, but relevant to any of Club Absolute's scam operations:

www.absolutescam.webs.com



Lisa S

 

[XCITINGTRAVEL]

Hi All,

I have dealt with Club Absolute and as stated above these people cannot be trusted and their operation is a complete hoax and scam.

If you are approached at the Phuket airport by someone claiming to be conducting a survey for the Thai Tourist Bureau you are in actual fact talking to an Absolute tout who is taking down you info so that Absolute can contact you at your hotel and then attempt to scam you during their 90 minute (actually 3-4 hour) presentation of their dubious services. The same goes for their scratch card con game that they run around the beach front at Patong.

Do not deal with these people – they will take you money and give you little to nothing in return.

More info here: http://www.absolutescam.viviti.com/

 

[scammed42]

Club Absolute Scam

Club Absolute promise a myriad of inclusions that do not actually exist, such as dirt cheap flights and accommodation in places where they have no options. They ensure you that local laws force the contract to be signed on the day (a lie), and they do not allow you to leave the office so you can research the company and find out about the thousands of scammed victims. None of their promised inclusions are provided in writing and you are left after the sales pitch with a product that does a tiny fraction of what was promised. They openly gloat that it may have been promised verbally, but that they need not honour anything that was not written. Honesty does not exist in this classic timeshare company's vocabulary. They are a floating timeshare sales unit who register themselves under the guise of a holiday club to avoid the timeshare laws which require a cooling off period. "Holiday Clubs" are not yet required to do so, and unfortunately it is still possible to be a floating timeshare company and register as a "Holiday Club".... They are not silly... dishonest yes, but not silly... with their accounts safely tucked away in the British Virgin islands, Club Absolute are a classic Timeshare scam... not the type where no product actually exists... they will provide a product; But it is low season and often low quality accommodation they have purchased from any other companies who are struggling to fill their motels... you will not get anything you were promised. So if you want to spend tens of thousands of dollars tying yourself into a world of lies, low season, low quality accommodation and if you really think this company of scammers will not disappear with your money... then maybe a Club Absolute Membership is for you. Just be careful, and make sure you do thorough research into this company before believing their very slick sales pitch.

 

[almost-happy]

I agree 100% !! These are a bunch of criminals ! And they got me too :annoyed: We had a fantastic vacation in Koh Samui with this kind of "bacardi-feeling".... They told us fairy-tales from their own club-hotels all over the world always 5-star-hotels with rentalcar included or boat bla bla bla.... I´m really lucky to sign only a 3 years membership, it´s a big robbery ! They didn´t even answer a booking request or any email for 3 months now! 2600 eur for nothing As if I don´t know anything about timesharing !

 

[London_SE23]

"almost-happy" did you get the free i-pad thrown in also? we got stung 1000 euros. shame because the site and offers all seem valid but after leaving the office and doing some research realised it was a scam and that current members are unable to book into the properties they were shown. i was planning on buying an i-pad anyway so only lost roughly 600 euros but feel bad for others like yourself out there who have lost thousands. what's that saying that we live and learn ...

 

[DeniseM]

The post you are responding to is from March 2012, and the poster has never returned to TUG.

If you use the search function, please look at the dates, before your respond.

 

[PacTraveller]

Club Absolute Scam

If you are reading this from Patong Beach in Phuket and you are worried you have been scammed, please go and see the Tourist Police on the road along the beach. They have been extremely helpful with their advice and influence when returning to deal with this company. It may be possible to have all agreements dissolved and money returned. Be sure to take your "free iPad" (preferably unopened), if this is what you want, and keep a copy of all documentation including any paperwork authorising a refund. Be polite but don't accept that you have lost your deposit.

 

[Passepartout]

Just curious here. Many of the previous posts use similar languages, uses of smilies, single posts without follow-up. Five years after the fist flurry of posts, then more. Curious, no?

Not saying that a developer/salesroom may be targeting/scamming Brit tourists, but it is suspicious.

 

[Philness]

The post is very correct in it's estimation of Absolute.
We have been with Absolute since 2007, when we were deceived into signing for a timeshare with a long established operator. Absolute then further deceived us into signing over to their product, giving me the answers I wanted to hear to my questions regardless. That has now resulted in us having a timeshare that cost about $33,000 USD. Has to be renewed at cost in 2049. The maintenance fee is 555 Euro per year for a T2, two bedder. Increasing 5% each year almost. They were most magnanimous in allowing us to revert to a week every two years. Same cost, 277 Euro per year, or 554 for the week every odd year.There was no refund for the fact we have given back to them a week every second year.
The whole timeshare ordeal has been a nightmare.
Stays well away.
If you want to get into timeshare, buy a resale, or rent from an owner as previously mentioned.
I normally do not get sucked in by such scams, however, they got me this time. They are good at working on befriending the wife and kids. Very smooth operators.
Have no doubt, these people will tell you anything to get you to sign up. The product is scarce and way too expensive, and no breakfast, which is normally supplied in most resorts.
Beware.

 

[fizzysoup]

Interesting post! We bought 2 weeks (T2 unit) from Absolute in Aug 2008 whilst on vacation on Koh Samui. Then in 2009 we bought four weeks in a Studio Apartment in "Nakalay" (fixed period mid March to mid April) just North of Patong.

Subsequently we heard many stories and rumours which led us to believe that we had been scammed. However since that time we have had everything we expected and indeed more, and have stayed at three of their Phuket resorts, including the newest "Twin Sands".

Whilst we would never purchase at developer prices again (after discovering "TUG"), we have been more than happy with both of these purchases.

I am not sure what the last poster is referring to, but I do not know of any time share that has a deal that includes breakfast!

 

[Philness]

Fizzysoup.

The ref to breakfast was simply due to the fact that virtually all accomm in Thailand comes with breakfast. We are paying an extreme amount for our week.
I would appreciate hearing about your developer purchase experience, as ours was most unfortunate. We were lied to in a big way and deceived into changing our ownership from the timeshare group we purchased, to the Absolute product. They did not even mention they were acting as agents in the original sale.
This involved another payment of about $9000 AUD from memory, and the maintenance fee went through the roof. It was promised originally to be less than $200. It is now over $700 US for the week every two years. We were not told that that option was available at the time of the original purchase around 2004, not 2007, as they wanted the max out of us, to maximise their commission.
Long story really, however we lost the ability to swap into 3500 resorts at no extra cost by going to Absolute.. They blatantly lied to us about that big change as I specifically asked that Q. There were more lies to come when they promised if we upgraded significantly, they could sell our timeshare at minimal loss to us. That was also totally false, and after explaining the situation to staff in Phuket, we were given about $10,000US refund. Big win, however we are still at $25,000US, not $33k US as I mentioned earlier for the membership.
Anyway, our week as I said costs a fortune compared to what is generally available in Thailand.
Admittedly, to get anything like value for our $25,000 US payout, we have to use their product more. Of course, that is how the thing is structured.
Our dealings with Absolute have left a very bad taste in our mouths apart from the refund.
I would be interested to know what maintenance fees you pay, as ours are ridiculously high at 277 Euro paid yearly, 554 E for the week every two years.....
I am pleased to have found this site, as I intend to familiarise myself with the options/info mentioned here.
I have heard that a class action was being organised by some unhappy/ deceived members.
Thanks.

 

[fizzysoup]

Absolute

Hi Philness,
Wow, you do seem to have had a raw (and odd) deal. However getting money back from a timeshare outfit is almost unheard of outside of them buying back weeks at a fraction of the price they originally sold them for!

We bought a 33 year 2 bed unit in Samui in 2008, (but exchangeable with other Absolute resorts). Cost Euro 33,000. Maintenance fees are around Euro 1,000/year, which I agree is on the high side, and seem to increase about 5% / year. This ultimately might 'squeeze us out' of this timeshare as has been the case for so many others who have gone before. When you can acquire the same or equivalent accommodation at a particular resort or location (comparing like with like fairly) for less than your annual maintenance fees then it may be time to get out or walk away (if that is an option)!

All of this underscores the mistake we all made of buying timeshare at developer prices, when nowadays one can buy such for 'song',and just pay the maintenance fees for as long as you want to keep it!.

A year later we bought a studio unit costing of 4 weeks (fractional Ownership) for a fixed period (Easter time), for less that US$30k, and maintenance fees are 28,000 Baht, and have not changed.

The best timeshare we ever bought was a "Club Asia" 20,000 points (or 2 weeks thru Interval exchanges) for about 25,000US$, in 2005 and the maintenance fee was/is $US150/year, and has never changed!
P.S. I agree about the breakfast provision in most Thai Hotels, (although you can elect not to have it included for a small reduction in the nightly charge in a number of places) but I have never heard of such, in a timeshare deal.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[MALC9990]

Hi there, i have just returned from pattaya thailand after buying into a hoilday club (£5000) called club absolute. I have read about these holiday scams abroad but i was wondering if any one has actullay had any experience with this club or knows anything about it? i have not paid much yet but wnat to know the exact truth about this company before i pay any more. Any info would be great!!!

Deleted. OLD Post.

 

[Philness]

fizzy soup.

Thank you for your reply.
It appears we have gotten off a little lighter than yourselves and yes, we were very lucky to receive the refund. That money was taken totally fraudulently however.
Agree about the re-sale timeshare option.
I even did a search on timeshare before signing up in Samui. Shame I didn't look further down the search results, as I may have found reference to re-sale. Oh we'll, worse things can happened.
Yes, I am sure many people get to the stage where they just want to dump the whole thing and resell the TS even at a huge loss.

Take care and enjoy your holidays.