Sunday, December 30, 2007

ClubMahindra sold me bonus weeks as if these are equal to Red weeks

ClubMahindra sold me bonus weeks as if these are equal to Red weeks just at the cost of standard exchange fee and these are freely available

See portion marked in red box. Even I negotiated with them to increase the weeks from 5 to 8 and the period from 5 year to 25 years. :) :)

See RCI definition of Bonus Holidays





Also see "F" box from image in another post

Explaining ClubMahindra Membership to a customer


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Thursday, December 27, 2007

Club Mahindra leased Resorts Information

From Mahindra Holidays' draft propestus to SEBI



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------








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OutlookMoney Slams ClubMahindra before its' IPO

Before Mahindra Holidays' IPO, OutlookMoney publishes this article which put ClubMahindra in negative light.

This article could have been much better if author must have given little more time before writing this article as many facts presented in this article are not correct.


http://www.outlookmoney.com/scripts/IIH021C1.asp?articleid=7020&sectionid=10&categoryid=57&NoCache=12%2F22%2F2007+12%3A38%3A24+PM




Other Article on Timeshare Concept on OutlookMoney:

http://www.outlookmoney.com/scripts/IIH021C1.asp?sectionid=8&categoryid=34&articleid=5030




http://www.outlookmoney.com/scripts/IIH021C1.asp?sectionid=10&categoryid=57&articleid=423&totart=2&seqno=2&page=1







Question to ask before committing your money

A timeshare is not a hotel'

Will Timeshares work for you

Are the free gifts marketers offer really 'free'?

Did you know...

Broken nest egg




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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

General public tariff plan of different resorts leased by ClubMahindra









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There are 51 consumer suits against Club Mahindra

In a country where people does not want to got to court or even consumer court, Club Mahindra have 51 consumer suits against it.

It is surely indication of consumer' plight, after spending Lakhs of rupee on the membership.

From Mahindra Holiday' Draft IPO prospectus. (Dated December 14, 2007)

www.sebi.gov.in/dp/mahindradrp.pdf

_________________
New IPO prospectus (Dated June 12, 2009) is available at BSE site @
http://bseindia.com/downloads/IPO/2009619131241RHP_MHRIL.zip
According to it they have 105 consumer cases.
_________________




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Dileep Sonthalia v. Anand Mahindra and others

From

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050617/asp/jharkhand/story_4871064.asp

Local businessman Dileep Sonthalia has filed a complaint case against officials of Club Mahindra and Resort India for not honouring their commitment. Sonthalia had become a member of the club after paying a hefty amount and was assured accommodation at resorts all over the country. But despite booking rooms in advance at the Binsar and Corbett Resorts, he was denied accommodation there and was forced to vacate his room in Binsar within two days, though he had booked the rooms for three days. He had got in touch with officials of Club Mahindra in both Calcutta and Chennai, but none of the offices showed any interest in his plight. Responding to the complaint, the court of chief judicial magistrate, Vijay Shankar, ordered summons to be issued against the top brass of the company, including the MD, Anand Mahindra.


From Mahindra Holidays' draft propestus to SEBI

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Explaining ClubMahindra Membership to a customer

Here I am uploading copy of worksheet written by the ClubMahindra staff to explain me the membership (Septermer 2004) .

A - Explaining price, EMI options and down payment discount. B - Explaining ClubMahindra referral bonus scheme.
[4000/- for first referral, 8000/- for second referral, total 12000/- for two referral]

C - Explaining yearly holiday entitlement.

D - Explaining promotional offer.
(Samsung Camcorder for Red membership and vouchers for White membership)

E - RCI enrollment fee for 5 years included in the membership fee.
(Currently only 3 year RCI membership)

F - Explaining another promotional offer, One Welcome week through RCI + 5 Bonus week for Red membership and 2 bonus week for White membership valid fro 25 years. He gave me two impression about these bonus holidays..
0- This is promotional offer
0- I will get these bonus weeks in my season. (Red) so equivalent to regular vacation holidays ..


This was CM marketing staff ' surprise. As latter I came to know any RCI member can avail unlimited number for bonus week. And bonus weeks are only available in low season.

RCI Bonus week truth..
Not all RCI resorts are of same quality.
Resorts charge Utility fee for bonus holidays. Resorts decide this fee.
Bonus weeks are only available in low season. (Like July/August in Goa)
Bonus weeks can not be split. (Though in India RCI some time provide partial weeks)


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Holiday Conversion Chart for ClubMahindra

This conversion chart is useful while you are availing holiday in a season other then the your own season.



For example if you are a Red-Studio member and want to avail holiday in white season you can avail either 7 days in One Bed accommodation or 10 days in Studio accommodation. (Rounded to nearest days, though you will not loose or gain in this rounding)


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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Club Mahindra sales staff promises Moon to customer

.
.
.
.
Click this link to listen ClubMahindra Rep (Ashish, Jaynagar Branch, Bangalore) promising moon to a customer.



Another instance :-


Latter to ClubMahindra MD Ramesh Ramanathan
______________________________________________


from Bhupesh Gupta <.....@gmail.com>
to Ramesh<.....@clubmahindra.com>,
date Oct 16, 2007 4:00 PM
subject CM Bangalore branch promise to give holiday booking in 15-20 days in advance ...
mailed-by gmail.com


I am an existing Club Mahindra Member. I got a marketing call from Infantry Road (Bangalore Branch) for Club Mahindra membership (Riyaz, Pavan Kumar - Phone No.- 093435xxxxx/93435xxxxx/). Just for curiosity I continued talking as if I am interested in enrolling 25 year membership.

They are willing to promise me on companies behalf on the company letterhead that I will get accommodation in my desired resort if I request it 15- 20 days in advance. Like If I enroll and book holiday around 20th Nov I will have no problem getting booking in Munnar or Goa for 15,16 and 17 Dec.

How is it possible? just few days back I called for booking in those days . .. I was told that resorts are full. Second why such false promise .. is there any control over marketing executives?

I am sure if I do squeeze little more they will not hesitate making more false promises.

---------------------------------
Bhupesh Gupta




----------------
Ramesh <.....@clubmahindra.com>
to Bhupesh Gupta ,
cc "Ajay.Nambiar" <.....@clubmahindra.com>,
Gayathri Umashankar <.....@clubmahindra.com>,
"RadhaKrishna.R" <.....@clubmahindra.com>,
"Pavan.Reddy" <.....@clubmahindra.com>,
date Oct 16, 2007 4:20 PM
subject RE: CM Bangalore branch promise to give holiday booking in 15-20 days in advance ...



Dear Mr.Gupta

I am in receipt of your mail. Thank you.

Firstly, all our reservations are subject to availability and hence no
one in the company can and should promise guaranteed room availability.
Many thanks for brining this to my notice. By a copy of this mail, I am
requesting my colleague and Head of the Bangalore region, Mr.Pavan Reddy
to investigate this matter and revert to you.I shall also make sure
that the sales people concerned do not make any false claims.

While the rooms are subject to availability, I am happy to inform you
that our resorts accommodate requests of most members and run on high
occupancy levels.

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to write in.

Best regards

Ramesh Ramanathan




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Wednesday, December 5, 2007

My communication with AIRDA

You may want to know about AIRDA first : My Article -

AIRDA- All India Resort Development Association


After learning about this association, I thought of using this opportunity to raise my concerns


_________________________________________________________

from Bhupesh Gupta
to airda@vsnl.net,
date Nov 28, 2007 4:46 PM
subject Timeshare enquiry



Hi,


I am a timeshare member with Club Mahindra. My inquiry is general in
nature not linked to one particular TImeshare company.

1) As a member how do I can track and ensure if company has enough
room capacity matching their increasing member base? Is there any
quarterly disclosure these company publish to you or to DOT or
through some other medium.

2) As a member how do I know they are following fair practices in
making reservation for customer. Do they go though any audit from any
external consulting firm or from any other agencies?

3) Indian timeshare companies accommodate members for minimum 2 nights
(compared to 3-4 days or full week in other countries), this must
create inefficient utilization of resort. Does Indian timeshare
company keep room capacity according to weeks of vacation sold or do
factor in such efficiencies. Is there any recommended factor value
from AIRDA.



Thanks
Bhupesh Gupta

_________________________________________________________


From AIRDA
To Bhupesh Gupta
Date Jan 7, 2008 1:19 PM
Subject RE: TImeshare enquiry
mailed-by vsnl.net




Dear Mr. Gupta,

Warm Greetings and Happy New Year to you too!

Following are the responses to your queries:

--------------------------------------------------------
AIRDA does not want this communication to be published at web pages.
--------------------------------------------------------

Best Regards,
Ravi Kumar

----------------------


____________________________________________________

Disclaimer: This is my interpretation of their communication. I may not be successful in truly summarizing them :

They seems to suggest following in this communication


1) They will discuss and formulate a process through which they will know each company's status on inventory availability.

2) There members are committed to association' Code of Ethics. Their member follow best process and practices . Their higher management is sensible to customer satisfaction and do stringent internal audits.


_____________________________________________
Commentary :

On the first point we have to see, if, how soon timeshare member will come to know inventory status. If these number are available to Timeshare members nothing batter then this.

On second point, this is on individual to access how much trust they have in their timeshare company' management to believe these process and practices are fair and followed.


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AIRDA- All India Resort Development Association

As it states on airda.org

... to ensure organized growth of the Vacation Ownership
(Timeshare) industry, a group of leading resort developers along
with RCI got together in 1998 and set up AIRDA - All India
Resort Development Association, a national body that would
work keeping in mind the long-term interests of the consumer
and the Vacation Ownership (Timeshare) industry. This
association has systematized and implemented a code of ethics
that are all-pervading and govern the Vacation Ownership
(Timeshare) industry in the country.


_________________________________________________
AIRDA's Mission


AIRDA's mission is to represent the Vacation Ownership (Timeshare) Industry in India and to further its growth in partnership with its member-developers, consumers and all other stakeholders.

Objectives

* To ensure that all activities of the vacation ownership (timeshare) industry are honest, fair and conducted with total transparency.

* To safeguard the interests of all vacation ownership (timeshare) consumers, existing and prospective, against all misleading vacation ownership (timeshare) selling practices.

* To ensure highest ethical standards in all those engaged in vacation ownership (timeshare) industry and Holiday ownership in India.

* To check the activities of unscrupulous developers/marketers of vacation ownership (timeshare) holidays, to the extent of making legal punitive action against them.

* Redressal of complaints against defaulting vacation ownership (timeshare) sellers/marketers.



Office Address :

Contact Us


864, 1st Floor, 3rd Cross
7th Main, HAL 2nd Stage
Indira Nagar
Bangalore 560008
Fax : 080-41261781
Email: airda@vsnl.net


Helpline Numbers : 080-41255007 / 41255008


Member Resorts

» Clifftop Club Resort
» Hotel Green Castle
» Mahindra Holidays & Resorts
» RCI
» Orange County Resorts & Hotels Ltd.
» Treasure Island Resorts
» Vista Do Rio Holidays
» Golden Stables
» Concept Hospitality Limited
» Orphic Resorts Ltd.
» Resort Country Club
» The Ffort Holiday Klub
» Vedic Village
» Avalon Resorts
» The Luxury Club
» Averina Beach
» Himalayan Vistas
» Sheridan Resorts Development




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Friday, September 7, 2007

What are you paying for your Timeshare Membership?

What is the cost of money?
  • How much bank charge when you take unsecured loan ? ( 18- 28% )!
  • What are the current floating and fixed rate for home loan (secured)? (10.5 - 13%)!
  • What will be the interest rate on unsecured loan to companies like Mahindra & Mahindra for 25 years?
Let's assume you take loan of 2.25Lakh from a bank payable as yearly EMI for 25 years to buy your Club Mahindra membership of Red Studio.
( 2.25Lakh is assumed after deducting value of promotion items)

Reading the charts :

This figure shows you yearly EMI for 2.25 Lakh loan at indicated % interest rate, principle amount left after each year. Another column shows ASF compounded with 5.5% inflation rate.

Next to ASF column, it is ( EMI + ASF)/7 = Average cost of per night accommodation.

Next set of columns shows "Present Value of per night accommodation" that is some thing you have to decide what value you give to Club Mahindra accommodation. I have shown you four calculations. For each next year these have be compounded with inflation rate of 5.5%. I have also marked Break Even Year when your accommodation value is equal to (EMI + ASF).


What to consider while deciding the value of accommodation :

1) You are committing for 25 years of business to CM.
2) A season is wide spread to 16 - 24 weeks, not all week in a season are equally valued.
3) You will be taking long holidays of 3 to 7 days, not one night stay.
4) You may have to plan 2 - 6 month in advance to get your desired dates.
5) Not all resorts are equally good or have commercial value, Average out resorts quality.







This is very simplistic calculation.

Inflation rate may not remain same for 25 years .. ,
Accommodation cost at 4000/- is equivalent to ~100$ per day. With improved infrastructure and high tourist inflow these rates may actually come down in future instead of increasing year by year.

Break even year is where you pay what you get .. you need more year to recover excesses payment of previous years.

______________________
I will be interested in knowing your comments on this calculation. If you require similar chart for different sum of money and interest rate please let me know I will try to provide it to you.



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Extracts from Mahindra & Mahindra Annual Report 2006-2007

Extracts from Mahindra & Mahindra Annual Report 2006-2007

Annual Profit :

Profit Growth :



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Thursday, September 6, 2007

My observation with Club Mahindra Membership

My observation of the membership are as follows....

1) Wrong target customers. It is a luxury item sold to (higher?) middle class claiming that you are paying middle class price for 4+ star facilities.
--- Not all properties are 4 or 5 star standard. (Some more facts about Club Mahindra Membership - I)
--- Membership does not come at any discount. It is quite costly. (What are you paying for your Timeshare Membership?)

2) Company spend high amount on advertisement and commissions, ~60% of membership cost is spent on Sales and marketing cost.  What value is left for you in membership for you? 

Source : Mahindra Holidays investor presentation Feb 2013

3) Breakup of holiday up to minimum two night trip, must be causing low utilization and higher demand on weekends so unavailability. 

4) Club Mahindra does not have enough room capacity to support growing member base.
--- (Membership Growth Vs Room Capacity for MahindraHolidays)

Acknowledgement of the problem .... 
2009-2010

Problem build up  ....

2005- 2010

Who paid the price of this short fall?

4) Extra purple season makes availing holidays in high demand season very costly and difficult. I do not have knowledge of any other timeshare company having purple season, RCI also does not have purple season.

5) Club Mahindra marketing staff does not hesitate to exploit lack of knowledge of Timeshare concepts of their customer.


6) Their booking system is not much transparent to the members.
-- Now online reservation system has improved. But still it is no where near to reservation system of Indian Railways.

7) Do not get lured to their referral scheme thinking you will be able to convince your another 3 friends and this referral money will bring down your cost of CM membership. It is not easy to convince, as you saw above  they spend 60% of membership cost to enroll member.
Club Mahindra may be the one of the best timeshare company in India, but still it is not good enough for value conscious customer and for others booking problem will make them unhappy.

_____________________________________________________
You can build a strong ClubMahindra member' community by enrolling at Yahoo group @ (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ClubMahindraTimeshare/)

Read this post also : Before considering Club Mahindra Membership : My personal advice

________________________________________________________________
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Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Other referral offer mails from Club Mahindra

My purpose of this post is not to promote the offer but to tell people how much it take to sell a product.

Another referral offer mail from Club Mahindra, this time Malaysia trip to referrer also.

______________________________________







From : Kiran.KP" 1:43 pm (1 hour ago)

Dear Sir/Madam,

Greetings from Club Mahindra!!

Referral Scheme goes like this....

September Special Scheme !!
A 3-night stay for a couple in Malaysia with return airfare on 3 referral conversions

OR


1st reference converted Rs. 5000/-
&
2nd reference converted Rs. 10,000/- per conversion!!!

3rd reference converted Rs. 10,000/- per conversion!!!



I.e. if 3 reference convert as member's you get a total of Rs 25,000/-

so do let us know if you have any friends who:

· Love holidaying - this will help them save lots of money

· Dont holiday - this will make them holiday

· Are recently married - they can holiday in our romantic destinations, like Munnar, Kodai, Coorg etc

· Are Retired - Since they have worked so hard all their lives, they can now do some quality relaxing!

· Have kids - they can enjoy the activity filled vacations, & can spend fun filled time with their family @ our resorts

· Are abroad - they enjoy Global holidays @ Indian Rupees!!

· Are workaholics! - What more can force them to think about their personal lives!!



Kindly send us the details in this format.

Name:

Cell #

Email Id

Your Membership #


& weʼll explain all the details of the membership & the value to them, so that they also start holidaying with us!

This scheme ends on 28/09 /2007.
The referral benefit would be extended to you once your reference completes 15% of the product cost.

Warm Regards,

Kiran K P

Direct sales Manager


Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd, 18/4, 1st Floor, Saleh Centre Annex,

Cunningham Road, Bangalore-560052
______________________________________
______________________________________

Term and Conditions ..

I believe these terms and conditions will also be applicable to the people who getting Malaysia Package as part Membership purchase.



MALAYSIA PACKAGE

Duration :03 Nights / 04 Days Package for a couple

Destination :Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur & Genting Highland)

Validity :31st March 2008 (Except Peak Time, Festive Period, F1 Race season etc.)

Package Includes

· Air Ticket for BOM / DEL / MAA / CCU – KUL - BOM / DEL / MAA / CCU in Economy Class Airlines Air India/ Indian

v For departures from Ahmedabad / Hyderabad / Banglore additional 1500/- per person has to be borne by the member.

· 02 Nights Accommodation at Hotel Pearl International / Citrus (or hotels of similar standard) on Bed & Breakfast Basis in Kuala Lumpur

· 01 Night accommodation at Hotel First World / Theme Park (or hotels of similar standard) on Bed & Breakfast Basis in Genting Highland

· Return Airport & Internal transfer, KLIA – KL HTL – GHD HTL - KLIA on Seat in Coach basis (SIC)

· Half Day City Tour of KL with Batu Caves

· Cable Car TKT & Entry TKT of Out Door Theme Park in Genting Highland

Package does not Include

v Airport Taxes, Visa Charges of Malaysia & ECNR (POE)

v Any Personal Nature Expenditure such as Mineral Water (Except above), Tea / Coffee in Room

v Any Meals does not specified or mentioned

v Any other Personal Nature Expenditure such as Rooms Service, Laundry, Telephone calls etc or any thing does not specified in Package

v Foreign Exchange (BTQ)

v Service Taxes

v Peak Time in Malaysia: 5th Nov - 15th Nov 2007 / 15th Dec - 15th Jan 2008 / F1 Car (Month of Apr, dates to be advice) / 25th Aug - 1st Sep 2008 (Malaysian Independence Day) / Any Major Conference / Convention (Dates to be advice) not included

v Malaysia Visa (Rs.1100/- Per Person) & POE / ECNR (Rs.500/- Per Person)

v Airport taxes would be approx Rs 4000-5000 per person

v It is a free holiday package for two people. Any additional pax (adult or children) or additional rooms will be chargeable.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

  • The Gift Voucher entitles the holder a 03 Nights / 04 Days Holiday Package inclusive of Airfare to Malaysia
  • Package includes Hotel stay & Airfare only. A minimum of 21 days advance notice is required for confirmation. All rooms / Air Ticket bookings are subject to availability
  • Utility charges of Rs.500/- Per Couple are payable for the booking. The original Gift Voucher will have to be submitted in exchange for collecting the confirmation voucher while booking the holiday. Once a confirmation voucher is issued against a particular request, no changes thereafter will be entertained
  • The Package is not valid for certain peak periods like such as New Year, X’Mas, Long Connecting Weekends, Festive Seasons, Formula-1 Racing etc
  • The bookings will not be accepted directly at the Hotels mentioned above. The contact details for reservations would be available in the gift voucher dispatched to the members
  • The Gift Vouchers are non-refundable, non-transferable, non-encashable, non-extendable and non-negotiable
  • The Hotel has a right to charge for additional facilities like additional bed, telephones, heaters, laundry and other leisure facilities. F&B taken in the hotel are to be paid directly at the hotel, before check out. Additional taxes if applicable are to be borne by the holder and paid directly at the Hotel
  • The complimentary offer can be utilized by the person to whom it is issued. The person asking for reservation and signing the booking form is responsible for his/her spouse in respect of giving acceptance to the terms and conditions mentioned above
  • This voucher does not include any other services or facility not mentioned herein
  • This holiday can be redeemed only once
  • The Company reserves the right to change the redemption hotels without any prior notice
  • The package is valid till 31st March 2008
  • Terms & Conditions apply; this offer is subject to Surat Jurisdiction
  • If there is any cancellation of Package, cancellation will be applicable as mentioned below

100% Cancellation charges


______________________________________



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Monday, September 3, 2007

One of the Club Mahindra Promotion


One of the Club Mahindra Promotion



This Add is from TOI Bangalore 2nd Sep 2007.

So what is this *Condition Applied?

Club Mahindra promotes its membership very vigorously. In back ground of this add there is equally intense promotion through existing customers with their referral program.

This is one mail we Club Mahindra members have received from local marketing office.

______________________________________
______________________________________

Dear Member,

Refer your friends and relatives to Club Mahindra and get entitled to HFRP benefit as-

1 Referral- Rs. 5000/-  2 Referrals- Rs 15,000/-  3 Referrals- Rs 25,000/-

And when you refer, your references will be entitled to



Fly to Malaysia This Season...










A trip for 3N/4 D including accommodation, food and airfare.

*HFRP is applicable on enrollments happening before 28th Sept 2007.

**Malaysia tour is applicable on payment of 15 % membership cost realization for 1 BR White/Red season.

To know more details- Call 080-41159254.

To refer- reply to the above subject line with Referal’s name and contact number.




Warm regards,

Sheetal Goel.

Club Mahindra Holiday World

Leela Galleria, Bangalore

080-41159254
______________________________________
______________________________________


So now you know what are the condition, spend atleast ~2.5
( White 1 Bed room membership) - 3.25 Lakh ( Red 1 Bed room membership).

Can some expert in marketing will be able to tell how much Club Mahindra must be spending in selling each membership?





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