There seems to be a lot of activity lately in Tenerife and we have received numerous inquiries about Club Class Prestige, the ultimate upgrade product from Club Class Services (Sarl) in Tenerife. (http://wp.me/p1kmoi-55)
It all seems so easy, a Club Class Member who hasn’t been on holidays for a while, or maybe hasn’t even tried the package before, is offered a promotional week in Tenerife. The prices seem right, the weather promises to be good and transfers from and to Resort / Hotel are arranged. Why would you say no?
There is a welcome meeting to attend, but some information about excursions and local attractions comes always in handy. And it will only take about an hour and a half, so not bad.
The reality is unfortunately very different! As per the description of a consumer:
“He then spent the next 3 ½ hours explaining how Club Class Concierge had let its membership down and how a new membership called Club Class Prestige would give us all we should have received with Club Class Concierge…”
Once they have the customer all dizzy with explanations on discounts and price quotes of possible future holidays they could book, the real hard sell comes on the table. The price of this package is £8000! This can be paid all at once or Club Class can apply for a loan. Whatever payment you chose, something has to be paid on the day as they take a direct deposit.
To make it all more attractive a Cash Rebate Certificate from a company called Cash Rebate Ltd is thrown into the deal, payable after 36 or 59 months, depending on the payment method you chose for the package. This Cash Rebate Certificate supposedly worth thousands of Pounds is just another name for all the other Cash Back Schemes Club Class gave out in the past. For those who don’t know what happens really with a Cash Back please read our blog: http://wp.me/p1kmoi-gX
Once the consumer has signed and paid the deposit he is taken back to the resort / hotel. The next day a representative goes around to re-assure and reply to all doubts and questions.. In reality no questions are clearly answered, and those consumers who have doubts are getting even more worried at this stage, but of course the credit card payment went through.
This payment shows as charged by a company called Imagen Sinergica SL and the administrator of this company is Benjamin Moreno Rodriguez.
Those who express their intention to cancel the agreement are surprised with the fact that Club Class Services does not allow a cancellation. They claim Club Class Prestige is a 1 year holiday product and there is therefore no right of cooling off! This is not made clear at the presentation and we even have testimonials of consumers who were explained a “lifetime membership”. But Club Class Services are willing though to change the membership in a reduced package which coincidentally costs the same amount as the consumer has paid for a deposit. Bottom line is: They do NOT want to give your money back!
Reading through the testimonials we receive from consumers who were duped this way on their holidays in Tenerife, the same names seem to keep popping up. Andy Dixon and Joanne Allens.
These names were also connected to other Club Class Marketers in the past such as TFS Concierge, CDS Concierge or Great British Marketing – GBM.
So if these companies are known by the Tenerife Authorities of having duped consumers out of their money, how comes nothing has been done so far about the dubious practices of Club Class Services or Club Class Services Sarl as they were called up till recently?
What are they waiting for? For tourist to never go back to Tenerife as this remind them of having lost a large amount of money on a dubious holiday club? A memory of a holiday that gave them numerous sleepless nights after getting back home? How long does this need to go on before something is done about it?
Maybe the authorities are waiting for the Newspapers in the UK to publish an article about this negative image of Tenerife, or maybe for a program such as Watchdog to touch the issue?
What are they waiting for? Or do they really think this does not have any negative effect on the tourism industry of the island? If people stay away, all businesses will suffer not only Club Class who will move on and open somewhere else under a slightly different name!
Have you booked through Club Class Concierge or Premiere Travel to go to Tenerife? Or have you been there already and purchased a Club Class Prestige Membership? Please let us know!
You can write to us directly at customercare@mindtimeshare.com or place a comment on the blog.
Mindtimeshare 
Happy to say after only 3mths of waiting I successful got back my money I paid to great British marketing my bank. BOI were very helpful and understanding but it was the advice given to me by Alberto Garcia from mind timeshare that helped tremendously I really can.t thank him enough as I thought I had lost the lot . Please everyone out there don’t give up and listen to the advice of this man he really is one in a million
Attn: Antonio Garcia, Just to let you know that I was not successful with my claim to the CC company, I appealed and was again rejected. I then went to the Financial Ombudsman Service who upheld the decision of the CC company, and agreed that there was no connection between Club Class and Imagen Sinergica. Quote from their letter: For a successful claim under Section 75, the cardholder must have a claim for breach of contract or misrepresentation against the company to which they made the card payment, or an associate of that company. They further stated that Imagen Sinergica is registered as a Spanish company and Club Class Plc is registered in the Seychelles, it is not a requirement in the Seychelles to disclose company officers or shareholders, therefore there is no way to show an association between the two companies regarding shareholders or directors. I would like to know how some people managed to get a refund from their CC company, as we know, all there is to show from Imagen Sinergica is a printed receipt from a credit card machine. Have you managed to establish a link between the two companies? Kind regards Jill
I thought I would go on holidays but I have rung to go to spain and there excuse was they wernt happy with the hotels in futerfantura so they are trying to find me something else the only place I want to go is Tenerife now them who want to join me are welcome
go everyone out to Tenerife and put the case to them .
yes thow I hate to mention this company club class I have to say the same happened to me ,my self and my husband were taken to one of these meetings in toremulenus and I handed over deposit of 1500 £ deposit only when I got home they rang me for a further 3000£ and it took an argument but they asked me for an extra 400£ for to go into the vip lounge I asked them for my money back then and the silver talking man managed to tell me if that’s all that is bothering u not joining we will let u have the vip lounge free so I paid the 3500£ up that was 5000£ I had handed over but I no now I shouldn’t have , I have been onto a company who were willing to take the case on ,but they have just been incontact with me and said because I paid by visa debit they couldn’t do anything to get my money,it really pisses me off that these people are going to get away with this I am 66 years pensioner that was the last of my savings , is there anybody out there who can help to get these people stopped .linda
We went through the same 3 to 4 hours solid sell in 2010, Duped with Cash Back, Complained within 3 days that we were unable to afford it and WE were then threatened with ‘legal action’? No cooling off period Q Spanish law??!
haven’t been able to afford a holiday since. We have heard that they are in the process of closure? Good Riddance! but what form will they metamorphose into? Never want to see Spain or its islands ever again! (Trouble is the staff we were duped by were BRITISH?! Shame our authorities cant take action when they return to Blighty )
Thanks for posting the warning found it before
I signed up for this deal
Saved me a lot of hassle
Ask the question satisfied customers
Only 15 likes on face book
For 360 000 customers well are they all staff
Thank Goodness for mobile internet
Iphones a brilliant
we have just returned and are waiting a phone call from L A Premiere in tenerife to organise a loan on the promise of 7 holidays 14 flights bla bla, what can I do when they ring I was advised there was no cancellation, we have not parted with any money or given credit card details as I was not going to give them the chance to take money without my knowledge.. They said we are applying for a loan through Tesco, we really do not want this but not sure what paperwork we have signed.but we have not signed a tesco loan agreement.
We too have had sleepless nights after signing up to Club Class Holidays in Tenerife in June of this year but thanks to the advice given by Alberto. we have persisted with our credit card company who have now credited our account. Don’t give up hope, it will be worth all the effort it in the end.
how did you do it, my credit card say the money has gone and so its too late
Wwell if anybody gets stranded at the Tenerife office which is way up in the remote hill side, walk over to the back side of the offices and follow Laguna Park 2 hotel sign there are always taxis there good luck, at least we knew where we were if we needed to get back to hotel
They never contacted me as we must have failed the credit checks, however when we looked for a holiday in March, there was an advert saying they could save £100 off any holiday to tenerife, so I filled the form in and the woman rang me asked which hotel we wanted to go to and what date and how much was the quote, and sure enough came back about £90 cheaper, but with the added bonus of free transfers, she sent me the quote and I paid the money, only when I received the confirmation a couple of days later did I realise it was the same company, So in Tenerife when we had to go to the meeting I confronted the man who denied it was club class I told him everything about our previous trip and all the speel they had given us, he was quite flabergasted that we had managed to book twice on a cheap holiday and said he would make sure their data base was updated. Needless to say we had to find our own way back to airport ha ha victory for me
We signed up for this membership in July this year. We came home to find this website and acted accordingly, fortunately we paid via Credit Card and were able to make a refund claim. At first the bank said no. But following Alberto’s advice we did not stop, we contacted the European Consumer Centre, who were also very helpful. We did not get round to contacting the Financial Ombudsman. And all in all, I found that the bank had refunded me the deposit I paid to Imagen Singerica. It’s all thanks to the team at Mindtimeshare and Alberto – their services are invaluable. Do not feel embarrassed, do not feel taken for a ride. Fight back, with the help of Mindtimeshare and you will see success eventually, like I did – it does take a bit of time. I can only empathise with you. Believe – it’s possible and NEVER give up. Good luck. If I can assist you at all please reply below.
my parents were duped to in tenerife and would like there money back 8,000 but unfortunately they didnt pay with a credit card. does anyone know if there is a way of getting money back without going through your credit card company. has anyone used the no win no fee companies. they also tried everything to get a holiday in tenerife using freestay vouchers but the two that were on offer were very expensive with large suppliments they only wanted self caatering. i sent a stiff email to pauline who rang my parents and offered them a holiday in tenerife which suited. the price was still higher than they would have liked but not too bad and they did stay in a lovely apartment but they prob could have got this cheaper on th high street.
Went to Tenerife in July 2012. Went to a meeting with Club Class Serl. Spent over 4 hours with presentation. Foolishly signed up. Got back found this website and read all the messages. Got through to Club Class but no luck. Would not pay back the £2,400 deposit. After emailing Alberto and getting some useful advice started the process of getting my money back. Got numerous phone calls from Jo A and An D. refusing to return my money and offering an alternative, less holidays for the deposit amount, but I did not want this. So i wrote numerous letters of cancellation and contacted my credit card company. Sent them all the details, photocopied emails, the registration forms, everything. Talked to a representative of the credit card company about what had happened. The sad thing I was told is many people fall for such memberships and lose lots more money that i had. Anyway I have had SUCCESS. The cedit card company have managed to return all my deposit including the exchange fee. I feel great. so any one out there suffering a loss of money get on to your credit card provider explain everything use Section 75.
Hi Bob
We were scammed April 2012 and have been fighting since to reclaim under Section 75.
We have just received our 6th letter from the HSBC refusing to acknowledge the link between Club Class and the deposit taken in the name of Imagen Synergica SL.
How did you prove the link ??
any help would be hugely appreciated.
Hi Kay, I have copied the letter i sent to my credit card company Tesco. they were sympathetic to my cause and had similar dealings with others. hope the letter helps. ijust wrote everything i could think of.
Basil and jenny
**address**
Please find enclosed a letter and evidence for a disputed transaction dated **th July 201* against Club Class Sarl Tenerife.
I realise that this will be a legal process so everything I have written is correct and I hope that you may be able to help me.
I would like to quickly outline what happened.
I have taken a holiday bought from Viva Sol to Tenerife.
I understood I had to go to a presentation.
While at the presentation we naively signed a contract to purchase a holiday club for £8,000. A deposit of £2,400 was taken from my credit card on the day.
Upon return home I realised I have made a mistake and did not want this product and felt it was misrepresented and sought to cancel the agreement with Club Class Sarl. They have told me I can not cancel the agreement because there was no cooling off period.
I wrote a letter of cancellation on the **th July to Club Class Plc and sent it recorded delivery, also sending an email of cancellation to Club Class Plc.
Club Class Plc claimed it was not their responsibility and passed it on to Club Class Sarl who I now find are a marketing agent for Club Class Plc.
Following telephone conversations and emails (evidence enclosed) they continued to refuse to cancel the agreement and refund my deposit.
Finally they offered me a solution to take 2 holidays for the price of the deposit. I do not want to do this as it will continue my association with Club Class sarl and continue being part of their membership which I do not want.
That is the outline of my dispute.
I understand that Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Card Act of 1974 is there to protect the customer for any breach of contract or misrepresentation.
I believe I have grounds to claim my deposit back.
At the meeting they claimed I had no cooling off period because it’s a 1 year club membership but since the bargain holidays are to be taken over a 5 year period, nothing indicates that they don’t expect you to be there in a years’ time. Benefits attached to this purchase are based on the fact you are a member for over a year. I believe this is a deliberate misdirection to try and disguise the fact.
Another misrepresentation is the Cash Back or Cash Rebate scheme offered during the meeting. During the meeting I was told that the most they were looking for was £95 for membership, but it turned out to be £8,000. They claimed it was a savings scheme but in reality it was a loan to be paid back over 5 years. I was not very happy with this. This is where the cash rebate scheme was introduced. It was a way of claiming back the £5,750, a chance of getting money back. There is overwhelming evidence that this cash rebate means nothing, or very little indeed and certainly not 100% as promised. I believe this was used as a honey trap in the first place for me to purchase their product. I believe this is further evidence of misrepresentation.
I have enclosed photocopies and print out of all the dealings I have had with Club Class sarl. I also enclose a printout from Mindtimeshare a Spanish consumer group trying to help holidaymakers and make the Spanish government aware of these type of agents.
Evidence
Original Membership Application with receipt of payment(7 documents)
Letter of cancellation to Club Class with proof of postage
Email to Club Class cancelling my membership (3 pages)
Reply from Joanne Allen Club Class representative (3 pages)
Viva sol confirmation of holiday (1 page)
A record of a phone call to Andy Dixon which led to the compromise of 2 holidays for the £2,400 deposit.
A print out of this compromise deal.
This is as much evidence as I have.
To recap
While on holiday I signed an agreement to purchase a holiday membership.
Upon return home I realised I had made a mistake and wished to get my deposit back.
The company has refused quoting no cool off period.
They have offered a compromise which is unacceptable.
Can you help me retrieve my deposit of £2,400?
I have been made aware I can contact the European consumer Center in Spain, my Local Trading group and the Spanish police. I will await your efforts before I seek further help
Can you help me?
Yours sincerely,
Basil and Jenny ******
Hi Bob, thanks for response but the HSBC are stating that there has to be a link proved between Club Class Sarl or Plc and Imogen Synergica who took the deposit via card saying no “debtor,creditor,supplier relationship” exists, We sent proof of payment and all relevent docs including those from Mindtimeshare – they are really kicking their heals in.
Hi Basil
Thank you for your reply, can you tell me if your deposit was by credit card and taken by Imagen Synergica SL. and if so how did you prove the link between him and Club Class, advise from Alberto now is to try the ombudsman next. regards
kay
Please advise how you proved the link btw Club Class and Imagen Synergica S.L. my credit card company need evidence. Thx
bob says
just found your forum,
we are in the same boat as the rest of you, coned out of .money over this so call holiday club. i signed up to this after hours of ear bashing.thought i could get out of it when i got home.wrong ! now several thousand pounds heaver on my credit,card i feel that going back to the islands would be just to much.just to add insult to injury they now have spent several weeks trying to find a holiday ( dreamstay holiday with vouchers, flights, bla bla bla ) in turkey not going to well either.surly someone out there must put a stop to this legal mugging
This whole experience as explained in ” going to Tenerrife ” is exactly what happened to us in April 2012, Cant believe iwhat I am reading after giving Club Class the benefit of the doubt in August 2012 whereby my partner parted with £8K, We are now left frustrated at trying to complete the cashback refund claim and booking a holiday. Since the money has been paid in full, all e-mails are being ignored including those to Club Class Customer Service, the “free flights and free accommodation on our first booking has a huge suppliment to pay and I am now believing we have been coned bigtime. We WILL go back and face them personally in Teneriffe but at the moment am trying to track down their offices in Malaga. Any info would be hugely appreciated.
hi kay
sorry to here you have been co****.i have emailed them several times in the last couple of mounths and like yourself no reply.think twice about going to see them,as you my not be able to our control your anger.not the best place to get locked up.
ps please keep me informed on whats going on.
pps had to book a holiday throu a travel agent
kind regards
bob
Well today finally at 3pm got through to the Club Class Net ( on back page of brouchure) number UK only 0845 872 5492 to find its actually Premier Travel and spoke to Monica, and she gave me their address in Fuengirola, Monica has assured me that “Pauline” ( she didnt know her other name as she was in an office down the road) was our pesonal adviser for the Marketing Agent for Club Class that sold us the mebership and would be in contact soon via my mobile to discuss Club Class issues but she was very very busy with 1000s of clients. She also told me that only Pauline booked the Freestay hols & flights via the correct Freestay site so I have winged off three choices in Tenereffe ( so we can re visit the office there) for the end of Oct and will see if we hear back about any of them.
Meanwhile Monica says that she is the correct contact for researching and finding and securing all accomodation , flights , theatre and rail ticket bookings ( but not the free vouchered ones) and has already winged me an e-mail received at 5pm stating she is researching already with info that I requested a three week break in Thialand at discounted prices, at Xmas as per my VIP membership, giving a short iternary of an organised trip around Thialand – I have yet to reponded yet as need to speak with partner, I also requested 4 tickets to a show in London in November at discounted prices, she has not as of yet got back to me on this one.
I have also recieved a personal reply from this site offering to help and requesting I send them everything I have, this I will do – I have copies of everything & kept notes – watch this space………… PS. partner going to Malaga for long weekend in October….guess where he is staying,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Fuengirola,
We were conned out of monies paid to a firm named Tenlanz Vacations in Tenerife in 2002, they were acting for Club Class \holidays, this firm has since gone bump. Trying to get money back from Barclaycard..
June 2012 we were introduced to Club Class, Via Vive Sol.
The patter was slightly different to the stories above. They offered 5 holidays including flights for £ 5000 and then access to the concierge for £90.00 a year there after. this service they claim allows you to access heavily discounted holidays and flights and other leisure related deals. Not quite to good to be true, but close. We travel quite a lot so signed up with the proviso that we wouldn’t pay until January 2012 after clearing some loans. “yes Yes, that will be fine”
We got home and was contacted by a Scottish man who was to help us arrange finance either through Tesco or M&S. during the telephone conversation he let slip that the application would be for home improvements…now the alarm bells ring with the ethical dilemma of a company that would encourage a customer to commit a fraudulent act and so i haven’t completed the application form.
Sadly the last credit card statement left us £1500 light. (Club Class already had our credit card details on file from Vive Sol!)
Cards are now cancel and we are talking with our credit card company to reveres the transaction.
Vive Sol are getting a phone call very shortly as will Marks & Spencer.
JUST SAY NO!
Our mother in law went on holiday via Club class in April (was a member) after being told to go over to Tenerife as has not used her membership and to find out why. Over there they signed up for the Club Class Prestige after paying a deposit of £2482.17 by credit card. I’ve just read through the paper work and the contracts that she has already signed and sent back and it is a bit laughable really. She has already looked at holidays and for a four week period they were unable to find a holiday she wanted (cruise and stay) even though plenty were showing up online.
Obviously I’ve advised to not pay the balance even though they are badgering for it. Is there a way that she can stop this now and maybe even get her deposit back?
Over the last 12-18 months I have been pesterd by club class to pay arrears which they say I owe them, the truth is we did go on a promotional meeting and ended up with me refusing to join and falling out with the rep who left us stranded at a cafe about 2 miles away from our accomadation so we had to walk back, I have asked for proff and sight of a signed document but they say they can not do that as it would be to much trouble i now hear that they have gone out of business
Just read this link-we went in Feb 2012,after offers made by Premiere Travel.They said no presentation when questioned.Decided to go for a cheapo week in Tenerife,met the “driver” at the airport-full of the usual.When he checked us in to the hotel he gave me a letter with a Club Class Concierge heading.At this point I challenged him,saying that I was never informed that we were to meet with them.The rest is obvious-taken to their office and shown all manner of delights.When they asked us for the money we robustly said no.They tried the usual patter,but we stuck to our guns.
We were never members of Concierge,just Club Class.The salesman offered us a form with the ITRA logo and I made a statement about the meaning of the logo,which stopped him,momentarily.Then he regained his composure and carried on lying.He asked us for £7500-with half coming back after 5 years.
When I said why can`t we pay monthly-without taking a loan-he couldn`t answer,thus showing that they want all the money upfront,before anyone finds out it is a re-hash of the old scheme(SCAM)
Then the “young” boss was invited over to try and make us see the error of not joining,but we have seen all this before and we then got dropped back at the hotel.didn`t need the aircon in the car-it was frosty enough-can live with that!
All in all we got a week in Feb for 2 at a cost of £356.00 inc. flights and h/b.A good deal I reckon.
Will consider the next offer-when the phone rings,as it undoubtedly will.
I will never go back to tenerife I went to 1 of there meetings £7560 later tried to book a holiday to lanzarote our 14 free flights useless our 5 star free apartments useless flights £237-22 taxes £71-04 luggage £75-96 cc £13-00 total£397-22 in a 3 star apartments
Yes we were approached by this company when we went on holiday last January and wers foolish enough to sign up and pay the amount you mentioned on our return to the U.K. It was exactly as you mentioned. If you know of any way in whci we could get our money back we would be extremely grateful.
We went to Tenerife on one of their trips and after booking it was told about the Welcome meeting. So we went of course very skeptical. We sat for about 3 hours listening to all the rubbish they told us that sounded amazing. We refused outright and made excuses for not being able purchase and they were even trying to get us to go home and take a second mortgage to pay off the card we were supposed to charge this to. After about an hour of going round in circles I think they realised there was no way we were parting with more money to them, they suddenly changed their moods towards us. We were then taken back to our hotel and informed our trip didnt include a transfer back to the airport. These con artists need to be stopped.
Thanks for the warning.
We have had no more correspondence from them since we made it clear they would get no more money until we have sought third party legal advice.
Thanks Smiffy!
Do let us know of they contact you again.
Kind regards
Customer Care
how can these peolpe sleep at night, as you know we were done out of our cash back in tenerife, should have got £6000 cash back from great british marketing (club class) never got a penny, so i will never be back to tenerife and none of my friends will go either they are just a set of robbers.
Dear Rena,
Thanks for your comment.
A bad experience on a holiday always results in people not wanting to travel back to that place.
And with Tenerife it is a shame, as the Canary Islands are so nice and the weather is great.
The authorities should really take action as this harms the image badly.
Kind regards
Customer Care
Your right about never wanting to go back to Tenerife or the Costa del sol it only ever costs us money. Premier Travel have made several calls to my house recently offering us a good deal to either of these resorts. They don’t mention promotion but then I’ve never let them get too far into conversation. I won’t be paying my annual renewal fee in June no matter how many threats they make.
Hi Cathy,
Thanks for your comment.
Well our advice is also to think twice before taking up these “offers” as you might end up spending much more money than expected.
Kind regards
Customer Care