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I sent the below email, to classis escapes complaints on 20/9/13
To Whom it may concern,
We wish to cancel our membership with Classic Holidays.
We have tried to use this on a few occasions and have been very disappointed with the service.
We tried to book some accommodation for family members who were coming to visit us when we got married, I emailed 3 times to [protected]@classic.com.au and also to the consultant at the Townsville branch who advised the message was forwarded and no one bothered to get back to me!
I had to call them and enquire only to find out that the rooms I required were no longer available! Yet they were when I originally sent the email as I checked with the hotel first!
On another occasion, we were trying to book accommodation for our honeymoon in Cairns and it was cheaper and we got more value by booking online direct with the hotel we were staying at. I was advised by the consultant on the phone that I should go online to look at the accommodation when I asked how much it was going to be and she couldn't give me an answer! I understand that looking at the website once she had given me the login details that it would be better to see which hotel was how much, but we got a better rate by booking it through the hotel directly
We wish to cancel this membership and all moneys paid be refunded!
We will not be continuing with this as we were promised things that you just cant seem to deliver! We were advised that we would get membership cards in the mail, however I was recently advised that that no longer happens, we were not given any membership account details to log in to the website as well.
We also tried to use some of the 16, 500 points we have on the account and it turns out this is only for week long stays and not individual nights you are required to pay, this information was not provided to us upon signing up with this service
We have paid about half of the 10 years that you pushed for and would like all money returned!
On Behalf on myself and my husband David, we would like our money returned and our membership cancelled as we DO NOT wish to continue with this service!
*****IN RETURN EMAIL WE GOT THE BELOW AFTER NO BEING CONTACTED BY THE PERSON HANDLING THE COMPLAINT*****
From: Leonie Vanderkley (Leonie.[protected]@ClassicHolidays.com.au) Your junk email filter is set to exclusive.
Sent: Friday, 11 October 2013 5:18:54 PM
To: [protected]@hotmail.com ([protected]@hotmail.com)
Ms E Beeton and Mr D Smith
Email: [protected]@hotmail.com
REF: CCL-700
Dear Ms Beeton and Mr Smith
RE: CLASSIC ESCAPES MEMBERSHIP
We refer to your email dated 20 September 2013 in relation to your Classic Escapes membership. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. It is only with good communication that we can resolve any issues.
We do regret that you have not been completely satisfied with your decision to purchase a Classic Escapes Membership and that you feel that our product has been misrepresented to you. Please be assured that we strive to set up our sales presentations in such a way as to ensure all applicants receive full disclosure of the risks and benefits of joining the Club and to ensure the least possible risk of misleading information being provided. Guests are provided with a general overview of what is available to them as a member of the Classic Holiday Club and are given an idea of what could be achieved by using the Escapes membership. We do regret if you feel that you have been misinformed.
In relation to your comments that you tried to book accommodation for family members who were coming to visit you and you emailed three times to [protected]@classic.com.au we advise that this email address is an invalid email address and this is why we never received it and were unable to reply to your email. We note your advice that you sent the email to the Consultant at our Townsville Office who advised that it was forwarded to our office; unfortunately we did not receive any email from our Townsville Office in relation to a request for accommodation from you. We do apologise for any inconvenience caused in relation to this issue.
Regarding your comments that you the rooms you required were originally available as you had checked with the hotel first, we would like to clarify that whilst the hotel may have had availability, there is no guarantee that our suppliers would have had the same availability as the hotels only provide suppliers with a certain amount of stock of available accommodation.
We note you advise that when ringing our office to book accommodation for your honeymoon our Consultant advised you to look online, our Consultant advised you to look for accommodation options through our member’s exclusive website the World Online and we advise that as this is our member’s exclusive website not all our Consultants have access to this website and accordingly this is why she could not provide you with a cost for your required accommodation.
Page 2
We also note your advice that you received a better rate by booking your accommodation through the hotel directly however we note you have not provided us with quotes from the hotel or our website to enable us to compare any difference in the prices of each quote.
In relation to the use of your points for accommodation bookings, we do advise that the only accommodation you are unable to utilise your points for are bookings made for bonus or bonus plus week accommodation and accommodation booked through the World online site.
We do not believe that our Authorised Representatives intentionally misrepresented the product to you at point of sale nor do we believe there are grounds for cancellation of your membership. The Product Disclosure Statement (‘PDS’) was provided to you during the sales presentation to ensure all of the product information was clearly disclosed to you. This document explains how the product works, discloses details of Club properties and exchange affiliations, and provides information on our company and the risks & benefits of joining the Club. The PDS is issued to all applicants so that they can make an informed decision. You also signed the ‘Members Declaration of Acknowledgement’ which highlights key information – including details on the Points & Play membership - thus confirming that you felt that everything was adequately explained to you at the point of purchase. If you are not satisfied with the handling of this complaint please refer to the PDS for more information on your rights.
We note that our Customer Service Specialist spoke to you on 29 September 2013 and offered to walk you through our website and explain the many benefits of your membership and we do suggest you contact one of our Customer Service Specialists and they will be able to assist you with your accommodation bookings and any information you may require concerning your membership.
We thank you for taking the time to put your comments in writing as your feedback is very important to us. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Yours faithfully
Leonie Vanderkley
Complaints Resolution Specialist
On behalf of the Complaints Handling Officer
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As in this letter we did not provide evidence of quotes as they were no asked for
We do not have any documentation regarding the cooling off period apart from a list of items where it has listed in there that there is a cooling off period...and seriously, if we knew that the cooling off period was so short for a 10 year contract we would not have taken this up
Also they had a mountain of paperwork thrown at us to sign one after the other and we were told it was short and, , , , , , um No it was NOT
They also caught us on the street and threw these scratch things in our face saying "scratch these and we will give you a $200 Myer gift card", then we scratched a prize holiday to Fiji and this was on the terms that we signed an agreement and pay $50 on the street to confirm out booking with a consultant to attend their "workshop" to be shown how this scam works...In fact, we did not see either of these but given "POINTS" to use instead, and when we tried to redeem these, we were advised on the website this is for week long stays only
Also the complaints consultant did NOT call us directly! How can you get information or deal directly with a complaint if you don't contact the person!
Could you please help us? We would like all our money returned as we have paid $5500 for the $11, 5000 and I called to cancel this and they CAN NOT refuse to cancel this
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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BE AWARE!...we were silly enough to be tricked into joining too. Don't do it, we should have read the paperwork but didn't. It is a hard lesson to learn. Read everything, even when the sales person is rushing you past it. SAVE your $$$$ We joined in 2010 and have reaped nothing from being involved except yearly maintenance fees.
What a complete con.
We pleaded with them that all their resorts accommodated 5 people.
This is not true. We have to use all our points and pay extra for another room.
We home school so are available to holiday all year round. Even wit this benefit, we are unable
to book any accommodation that is easily available.
Great big con.
My only satisfaction is that these companies and their lying staff members will one day be held accountable before our Holy Lord and savour one day...soon!
Sorry about your experience. I have never used any of their service and wanted a full refund and membership cancellation. We are fighting this case well over an year now FSCL was very biased. Disputes tribunal is our only hope.I have found a few loopholes in their PDS and their marketing. We hope to see it through!
Hello,
May I ask if anyone has managed to get out of paying for this scam? Surely, as they cannot supply cheaper accommodation, as per their marketing promise, this can't be legal and there should be a way of getting out of it? We've had the exact same problems as people here - in fact, I specifically asked if there was a cooling off period and they said no.
Hi, I've recently had to deal with this company on behalf on a friend and I was able to successfully cancel the contract/s for them. It was a long and complex process through the (Australian) Financial Ombudsman Service, but it is possible with the right legal arguments. I argued against it on several fronts including, 'misleading and deceptive conduct', 'unconscionable conduct', unlawful cooling-off statement and unlawful statement of advice. In the end, the FOS forced them to come to party and cancel the contracts as it was leaning in our favour anyway. The details of the argument are complex and they were specifically related to my friend's situation. However, given what I've heard from others who have membership with this company, a lot of their issues seem to be consistent. This company treated my friend very poorly. The level of financial and emotional stress that was put on her, and the attitude with which the company conducted themselves when issues were raised, is the reason why I'm willing to help others get out of these contracts if they need. I obviously can't provide legal advice and I wouldn't have the time to look at specific situations, but I'm happy to share a summary of the arguments I used and hopefully they may be able to help you. Feel free to email me at talamur@gmail.com.
Hi Tal56, I am in the same situation trying to cancel my membership. Submitted a complaint last July 26, 2017, but nobody contacted me yet . Instead they e-mailed me and reminder notice of Account overdue. I stopped paying them since last July 2017. I wasn't even asking for a refund of my money that I have given them already. All I want is to get out of it. In two years time I paid them more than $7000 including membership fees . Can you please help me on who to approach to resolve my problem .
Thanks LB
Hi tal 56. We were slammed as well and want a full refund as well we joined in 2013 and has been a nightmare ever since so any info you could supply to get out would be fantastic there are a lot of us out here trying to do the same thing thank you
Hi Tal I and my partner are trying also to get out of this low life company and would love to know how to do this.
We currently owe over $4, 000 just in points management fees which we just cannot pay as our business is in financial difficulty mainly because of council rezoning issues and it looks like we will lose our business because of it so we have nothing left after 10 years and these [censored] just dont give a [censored] both classic and the council.
so any help would be greatly appreciated
Hello, were also would like information as to how you went about this. From the very beginning they have mislead us. The 'free' holiday we were supposed to win, you actually had to we to pay $200 up front. And once there you has to attend a seminar or pay $500 penalty fee? Whats up with that? As such we also want to cancel our membership and get a refund. So far, were paying for nothing. Please help!
Seems that getting out of this is a common issue. Are you able to explain how you were able to achieve this. My email is dave.ross60@gmail.com
Hi Tal5, your post gives hope. This company needs to be stopped. We are in the same boat right now. Willing to hear more
I'm going through the same exact problem don't trust these people I'm trying to cancel our membership and they telling us there is no cancellation on any ground how is that possible every company has cancelation or cancelation fees... and especially Leonie Vanderkley, i think she's the pirate of this money hungry organisation. she was so rude to me over the phone when i asked to speak to her as she was the one that was dealing with us from the beginning, she refused to cancel our membership that we haven't even been able to use, they fooled us with their misleading informations and empty promises. i have experience the worst customer service from her and we also emailed her to cancel this membership a month ago and she replied with the same email that she send to emma and her husband david. and the same reason why we joined this company is because they threw this scratcher at us at the easter show, we scratched it and won a prize holiday to fiji and thats when we agreed to go to the meeting in parramatta. when we went their they pilled a mountain of paperwork to sign and they didn't even mention nothing about the cancelation terms... I'm taking this further and I'm not going to rest until this scam company go down.
Hi have you been able to cancel your membership?
i already sign with them them, i m still in the cooling off period, what'wrong with the services they provide?
We have just signed for the Discovery Platinum Membership and are still in the cooling-off period. I am trying to cancel our membership too and it is hard to find contact details of where to send the cancellation notice. We weren't told anything about the cancellation and were given no PDS. Since we signed and re read our agreement we find there are extra costs involved. Our deal included a 241 cruise deal and I know others have found it difficult to make a cruise booking suitable for their holiday time.
Thanks
Bitten
Bitten again
GET OUT ! GET OUT NOW ! The services are not what was promised.
Sent an email to cancel and will follow up on my request tomorrow. Thanks AJH67
If anyone wants to know how to cancel membership with Classic rip offs I'm happy to share with you no worries, contact me via email. xxxxx@hotmail.com
Hey mate,
Would I be able to give you a call or an email regarding how you have been able to do this?
Cheers
Can you email information on how to cancel our membership with classic. My email is nealmt@hotmail.com
Thankyou
I am ripped off by these guys aswell. We haven't been able to use any holidays package provided to us since we signed up last year. Every time i try to use there something i have discovered which wasnt dis lose. Can you help to find out how we can go about cancilation. Contact email :- avinash09@hotmail.com
I contacted Classic Holiday Customer care service and can confirm my issue has been resolved. They have been helpful and understanding towards my situation and provided best solution.
Thank you Classic Holiday
would like to know your advice mushmonster666@gmail.com
Hi Mate, interested on this. i have been on pile of debt because of this.
We have resolved our issues directly with Classic Holidays,
Can you please email me details on resolving? My husband and I would also like to cancel our membership. hemaimawalker@hotmail.com
Our enquiry was handled by Leonie at Customer Care who was able to help us with our membership thank you.
Hi @AccountKiller3,
I would love to know how you got out of the contract.
We want to get out, I don't care about the money anymore, I just need to stop paying.
Can you help us?
Kylie
Hi I hve just come across this message board sorry to bother you 2 years later but like you we are desperate to cancel our Classic membership, did you ever manage to cancel yours?
Hello,
We are desperate to get out of this arrangement with Classic Holidays. Please are you able to send me Leonie's details? We just want out.
Anyone interested in taking class action against Classic Holidays? If you are let me know
xxxxx@hotmail.com
Yes we are we have been trying to find options on how to get out of it but dont know what to if anyone has been able to get out can you please help?
Please email me
Would like to join this class action please.
Hi @accountkiller3 can you please email me
Please email me as well. Thank you.
We have resolved our issues directly with Classic Holidays
Am definitely interested. Just say the word. These guys scammed so many of us!
AccountKiller3 Can you share how you've resolved issues with Classic ?
Don't touch this company/scam with a 10ft barge pole.
I can't/they won't even let me pay out the yearly fee eg: pay the fee total for the length of contract. They reckon we dont know how much the fees will be from year to year. They don't want to know about it. We're locked in apparently till 2032 😨😨😨😨😨 geez I might be dead by then. I need to get this canceled I'm not looking for refund I just want out of this nightmare.
Please send me a email xxxxxx@hotmail.com
Please help us get out of this scam also. Its a total joke. Can't believe we got sucked in.
Please send me an email xxxxxx@hotmail.com we are desperate to get out of this scam!
THE ACCC WOULD LIKE YOUR INPUT
Hi my husband and I have almost completely paid for the loan for this but our membership goes until 2031 and we have yet to use any of the membership plus if we want the points and play again we have to pay more, we would like to cancel our membership as it is not helpful to us
Hi my wife and I have paid for the membership in full and have not used it once since we purchased it 5 or so years ago. We did try to get our membership canceled without getting our money back but they refused. Our daughter is a special needs child in which I did mention to them and we have a lot of expenses due to this in which is why we joined for they promised 1 week stays at their accommodation locations for the price of 1 night which was a lie in itself. All we want is to get out of the contract and they can keep our money the penny pinches that they are karma will get them in their lifetime. If you have any way for us to get out of the contract please let us know it would be greatly appreciated.
Classic Holidays has resolved my complaint thank you
Hi please i wanted to cancel our membership as well. We have sudden changed financially and cancelling our memebership will really help to ease bit our financial issues. Please help appreciate your insight and input on how to do this. Thanks
HI I Wanted to cancel our membership as well finding some one to talk to, or a phone no is almost impossible spent days on this last year was abused by a male employee or director who said it was not his problem i got the phone no from some of their paperwork i paid $10.000 up front in 2011 has turned out to be a nightmare i cannot seem to get
Carol Smith to speak to she hardly comes into her office maybe once a week THE best way is to contact TODAY TONIGHT TV PEOPLE AND SEE IF WE GET ANY JOY
HI ………. This issue has been resolved and membership has been cancelled thanks to all involved
Hi all wish we never heard of classic I'm in the same boat .warning to all stay away from this company.
Now I need help to get out of this crap contract
How did you get out of it. My family are struggling financially and we simply cannot afford this. Not to mention we have never used it cause you’re still out of pocket for a holiday. We are desperate to get out of it so we don’t end up bankrupt.
Please tell me how it was resolved? I cannot even find the contact details of the manager that assured us we could cancel at any time as we dont even receive any details to compare prices, until after 7 days.
I have been advised to mention that my issue has been resolved and a percentage has been refunded to me. Thank you Leonie and Harish Bhatia of Classic Holidays for resolving the matter.
I have read all of your issues on here with great interest as we have tried for years to cancel our membership as we have the same troubles as all of you and have never used it, any advice on how you managed to get it canceled would be greatly appreciated
Classic Holidays has resolved my complaint, thank you
@frew, I would really like to know how you had your membership cancelled. My husband and I are trying to do this as we speak. We are contacting them today, but would like some extra help if possible.
Kylie
Does anyone know how I would find the contact details to cancel the deal please?
THE ACCC MAY HELP
We too have finished paying off our Classic Holidays after 7-years! Last year we reluctantly paid our Annual Fee but were advised to put in writing our Request To Cancel the Annual Fee. We did that only to learn we're locked in for 30-years.
It's a shame someone can't do a Class Action against, the thousands lost! I get better deals through Trivago & NO locked in fees.
IMPORTANT - I was able to Resolve this with Customer Service at Classic Holidays thank you
If anyone organises a class action, I would love to be part of it. The accommodation quality is poor and is so hard to book the rare decent ones.
This matter has been resolved directly with Classic Holidays, thank you.
Is anyone able to post how to cancel the membership on here? or email me levidavis@windowslive.com
How does one sell the membership in the open market please? I was given to understand that it is a trade-able instrument?!
This company is such a rip off. I haven't been able to use anything they have given from purchasing membership for 10 years. Everytime i tried using they came up with some restrictions on when/how and were i could use.
Every time i call i have been told it is in pds doc given to me. They have caused me and my wife so much stress. I thought paying whole membership fee in full allow us to move on until i have been given notice to pay annual fee which was told to me that it will be waived off for whole time period.
Plz share what can i do to get rid of this company. My email avinash09@hotmail.com
Hi there if you would like to take action let me know - i am currently dealing with Leonie after involving fair trading. All i hear from her every time is that "we do not believe you were mislead" and no sense of empathy or customer care.
I would like to make sure we all get a refund fully - at this stage they are happy to terminate our membership but everything paid so far is not applicable for a refund. So i am currently getting that stopped and then dealing with the rest later my own way if they can't handle this case we will involve media and all authorities relevant to their regulations. ABC had covered this in their news 2 years or so ago and what have they done? It is owned by the government and i request tougher rules on those who are ripping us off. IF you are in please let me know and i might create an email for this where we can communicate and take heavy action on those.
the matter has been settled thank you
would like to hear your situation and how you settled it, I am about to raise my complaint with them. Can you contact me if you would be so kind.
mushmonster666@gmail.com
Hi, keen for anh help getting out of this travel scam! Cant believe they can get away with signing people up with lies. We were promised the best rates and prices for cruises and holidays only to find out that 1. Back in 2017 they didnt offer cruises and 2. The rates for accomodation we were quoted were almost twice as much as what we could get by going through that particular place ourselves! Anyone with info on how to get out of this scam please let us know!
Hey Myura, how did you cancel it going forward. We just want to stop everything going forward weather theres a chance for a refund or not... just want it over with...
Myura. Are you able to advise how you were able to obtain refund & cancelling your membership please.
Hi please can you please advise me how you got out of this? And yes I would like to join this class action, it is ridiculously unfair what they are doing, and the effects it is having on us and so many others...
My wife and I seem to be in the same boat as many here. We were bumrushed on the street by aggressive and all to good to be true sakes pitch, thinking about our family and wanting them to have the opportunity to travel we undertook an agreement. However what was promised was never delivered, the accomodation offered was rubbish and more expensive than what was offered online. Despite numerous complaints, redirections, long waits on call waiting only to be further redirected and frustrated we still find ourselves having to pay for the [censored] scam. Is there a way out? We’ve never gone anywhere with these crooks, they’ve never delivered on what was promised, please count me in on a class action suit against these guys. Js34582@gmail.com
Classic Holidays Has Resolved These Issues.
Classic holidays has resolved my complaint
I contacted classic holiday customer care service can confirm my issue has been resolved. they have been helpful and understanding towards my situation and provided best solution. thank you classic holiday
Please email spykamjam@yahoo.com.au I would join a class action
I would definitely join a class action - DO NOT buy this product you will get $20000 of NOTHING
Finally after tons of emails my husband's matter has been resolved
the matter has been settled, thank you
Myyra in order to assist others in your situation could you please advise who your issue has been resolved as this would help others to follow the same route to get their issues resolved. Thank you
Myura is it strange that despite people reaching out to you to give your experience on how your issue was resolved you have not offered any assistance. Would you not want to help people who were in the same situation as yourself. Hope you havnt been hacked?
My problem with Classic Holidays has been resolved.
Reading through everyones comments and just wondering if i can get some help with getting out if Classic Holidays. I havent started a complaint or tried to get out of it yey as wanting advice on how to do so first. They sucked us in 99+ years membership yes 99+ i dont even know when that ends .. i just dont want to give our children the burden of yearly fees.we have paid the membership in full. I dont care about getting that back tbh just to get out of the contract. I think we have been with them for 5 years. Uugghhh i cant believe why we even did it in the first place. Any advice would be appreciated .
I think calling them would be your first option and see where you get to from there
Thank you Classic. Helpful and settled.
Rikkyl can you please elaborate and share your experience on how your issue was resolved? Thank you
Have any of you guys managed to cancel your memberships? If so please let us know! 🙏🙏🙏
HI
We would also like some information on how to get out of this contract with them. I don't care what we have paid so far I just want out of these annual fees that just keep multiplying. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
This has now been resolved.
Tony can you please elaborate on how this has been resolved please so it can give others in your situation a bit more insight on how to proceed.
I am trying to understand how our membership works. We too were vunerable back in 2004 when we came on holiday and bought a timeshare (Floating Week). We were lead to believe that we could sell back to Classic Holidays any time we wanted and that it would not be an issue. We have hardly used our weeks but have continued to pay the yearly fees. Since watching Today Tonight recently it made me panic and start to see how long our agreement was for. In all the paperwork we were given I cannot see any reference to this 99 years. Obviously I dont want my son to have to take on this debt but always thought he would be able to see it back to Classic for them to on sell it. Thats when I started doing a bit on research on the internet and came across all these emails. Has anyone been successful (without legal help) on selling these timeshares on? Or at least get out of the agreement and lose all your investment? No doubt I will have to start looking at this seriously as my son would not want to inherit this after were gone?
@Angiesh01 it may help to give them a call. leonie from customer care or customer service helped us
In this post I see many comments of " it has now been resolved, thank you Classic Holidays". Yes, right. Why would anybody post this, then does not answer anyt further?
A: It is totally fake
B: They are warned to to disclose what the deal was.
I am inclined to believe that too, doesn't make sense. I have tried calling CH again today, will try again tomorrow to get our situation resolved. I will keep the post updated.
thanks
Resolved. Our enquiry was handled by Leonie at Customer Care who was able to help us with our membership thank you.
All these resolved are probably fake ...they probably work for classic ...ever thought of that
After reading the responses I attempted to talk to customer care and was told I would be sent some info to help me out. The next thing I heard from them was a letter from a debt recovery service.
Is this their idea of help?
Classic Holidays has resolved my complaint, thank you.
Can someone please help me... Trying to get out of our classic holiday membership, have emailed them trying to cancel, no progress they emailed back telling me to email the resolutions department which then advised me to take it up with freedom financial services as they said they are 2 different entities? Getting nowhere. They are destroying peoples live, I don't understand how they can get away with this... Can someone give us a direction to take, will join any class action or take it to the media