Sunterra's golfing bargain...
Even those golfers who have never been there will be aware of the reputation of the Algarve as one of the golfing paradises of Europe. Blessed with a splendid climate, and within easy reach of most British airports, the region’s thirty golf courses (many of European PGA championship standard) are a tempting prospect. So when the flyer fell out of my golf magazine offering a week in the Algarve and a free round on the famous Quinta do Lago course all for the sum of £59 it seemed too good to be true. There were, of course, some conditions attached – you had to travel as a couple (no problem, my wife is also a golfer) and you had to arrange your own flights and car hire. This wasn’t a problem either as there seemed to be plenty of low cost flight options to Faro and car hire was competitively priced as well. Flights, car hire and the holiday cost amounted in total to less than £350 for the week for the two us – not bad when you realise that the green fees alone were worth £90.
The company making this remarkable offer was called Sunterra and a close study of the small print on the flyer showed what their game was. “During your stay you are required to attend an informative presentation of holidaying with Club Sunterra…you are not under any obligation to buy, rent or purchase anything should you not wish to do so.” Fair enough. Listen to some sales pitch from a holiday company and then enjoy the rest of the time on the golf course or exploring the Algarve. We decided to give it a go.
The resort where our self-catering accommodation was located is called “Vilar do Golf” and it turned out to be in one of the best positions in the Quinta do Lago area – right alongside the golf course. Our villa was about twenty years old and showing its age a bit – but perfectly acceptable with comfortable furniture and fittings and cable TV etc. On the first day of our holiday we were invited to attend a brief meeting where we met our Sunterra representative Mark. This brief initial chat was obviously an ice breaker – no selling and really just a “get to know you” meeting with Mark who gave us some useful information about the area and, particularly, the golf (he was a keen golfer himself). We were asked by Mark to meet him again in a couple of day’s time when he would tell us more about the Sunterra offer.
We enjoyed our round on the Quinta do Lago course and also began to explore the area a bit before keeping our appointment. By the time that we kept our date we were in a positive frame of mind. The weather was lovely - in early February the temperature rose as high as 18 degrees and the skies were always clear. We had also played the famous nine hole course at Pine Cliffs in Albufeira where you have to drive across a cliff canyon to reach the green at the Par 3 final hole. So we were happy to listen to whatever Mark of Sunterra had to tell us.
We came genuinely open-minded to the sales presentation. This was one to one (or, rather, one to two as we both had to be there) and was clearly going to take some time. In short the Club Sunterra proposition was that you would buy, with an upfront payment, holiday “points” which you could then use in perpetuity to buy self-catering weeks at Vilar do Golf or at their 90 or so other resorts around the world (the weekly points cost varying depending on the quality of the resort and the season). This is similar in principle to Timeshare – but with far greater flexibility in respect of location or season. The idea seemed quite appealing in principle and the presentation (which included access to Sunterra’s website where all the properties were shown) was professional. It seemed clear that the key variables were how much the points would cost, what any additional charges would be, how easy it would be to so spend your points to secure the holiday you wanted and what the value of your points would be if you wanted to sell them later.
A quick calculation showed that if you bought 10,000 points then you would (in theory) be able to buy two weeks (at least) at Vilar do Golf pretty much whenever you wanted. The annual cost of such a purchase was a little under £600 (what Sunterra calls its annual “maintenance and administration charges”) - a hefty enough sum, but not bad if you could buy the necessary points upfront cheaply enough. It was at this crucial point in the discussion that Mark bowed out and his boss Ian came to the table. The sell hardened significantly at this point - now we were in the “Kasbah” with the points not carrying a fixed price but clearly being negotiable. From a start point of more than £26,000 for the 10,000 points we eventually ended up at £12,250 – oh and a free one week holiday (including flights) would be thrown in as an incentive. But we had to commit whilst we were still in Portugal and, although there would be a legal period of grace that would mean that we could cancel when we were back in the UK, it was made quite clear that for this offer to be available we had to make a provisional commitment now. We asked for time to go away and think about the proposed deal. On the face of it looked attractive. Two or three weeks holiday a year golfing in the Algarve – or visits to a huge range of other resorts if that was what we preferred. The points per week and per resort would always be the same so there was inflation proofing built in. The annual charge was quite a lot but although not fixed it did not seem to increase annually by too much. Was £12,250 a fair price to pay for this?
Now journalists are by nature a sceptical bunch – even those of us who write about golf. So after the “haggling in the souk” that the points negotiation had been I thought that I better (belatedly) do some research. A quick Google search on my laptop showed me that the real trading value of the Sunterra offer points was far, far lower than the deal we were being presented with. Many Timeshare trading websites have Sunterra points on offer for as low as £3000 per 10,000 points - and there were plenty of points available on EBay as well for around this cost. We had been asked to pay around four times the going rate for points and (of course) no mention of this market value had been made to us at the presentation.
The other concern thrown up by my internet search was that it seemed that many existing members were unhappy with Sunterra because it was difficult for them to get the exact weeks they wanted in the resorts they wanted. Peak weeks in popular resorts like the one at Quinta do Lago were booked up very quickly and if you were constrained (e.g. by school holidays) then you could well be frustrated. Further investigation showed that there is an active group of dissatisfied Sunterra members who are suing the company for false promises (http://www.sunterrafied.co.uk/) and that the Timeshare Consumers Association has set up a “Sunterra Compensation Group” to act on behalf of members with grievances (http://www.vogas.org/). Amongst the grievances are the above inflation rate annual increase in the “maintenance charges” and the fact that although you have to buy points at inflated prices their resale value is a small percentage of what you paid. According to Sunterra you have to be an existing member to buy points. So if despite the concerns you do find the Sunterra offer attractive (and there are many satisfied customers along with those who are unhappy) the trick is initially to buy as few points as possible directly from Sunterra and then top them up with points bought on the open market!
The buyers’ caution “Caveat Emptor” has always applied when Timeshare has been involved and for the “son of Timeshare” that points based systems like Sunterra’s are it is just the same. I cannot accuse Sunterra of unacceptably high pressure sales tactics, but they were certainly skilled salesman used to resolving customer objections. They never lied to my wife and me, but they were never disclosing the whole truth either. They created goodwill by giving us a week’s holiday at very low cost and once I advised them that we would not be proceeding with the “membership” offer they respected that decision reasonably gracefully. I should, of course, have researched Sunterra before signing up for the holiday. But would I have still taken up the one week golfing holiday offer even if I had know the facts and therefore known that there was little possibility of my buying the points holiday deal - and how I would advise readers of this magazine if they see and are temped by the offer? On balance I think that I would say “go ahead”. Enjoy a week’s golf in the Algarve. Attend the Sunterra sales pitch and politely decline. A bit sneaky perhaps – but not as sneaky as Sunterra’s determined attempt to separate a presumed golfing fool from his money!
The company making this remarkable offer was called Sunterra and a close study of the small print on the flyer showed what their game was. “During your stay you are required to attend an informative presentation of holidaying with Club Sunterra…you are not under any obligation to buy, rent or purchase anything should you not wish to do so.” Fair enough. Listen to some sales pitch from a holiday company and then enjoy the rest of the time on the golf course or exploring the Algarve. We decided to give it a go.
The resort where our self-catering accommodation was located is called “Vilar do Golf” and it turned out to be in one of the best positions in the Quinta do Lago area – right alongside the golf course. Our villa was about twenty years old and showing its age a bit – but perfectly acceptable with comfortable furniture and fittings and cable TV etc. On the first day of our holiday we were invited to attend a brief meeting where we met our Sunterra representative Mark. This brief initial chat was obviously an ice breaker – no selling and really just a “get to know you” meeting with Mark who gave us some useful information about the area and, particularly, the golf (he was a keen golfer himself). We were asked by Mark to meet him again in a couple of day’s time when he would tell us more about the Sunterra offer.
We enjoyed our round on the Quinta do Lago course and also began to explore the area a bit before keeping our appointment. By the time that we kept our date we were in a positive frame of mind. The weather was lovely - in early February the temperature rose as high as 18 degrees and the skies were always clear. We had also played the famous nine hole course at Pine Cliffs in Albufeira where you have to drive across a cliff canyon to reach the green at the Par 3 final hole. So we were happy to listen to whatever Mark of Sunterra had to tell us.
We came genuinely open-minded to the sales presentation. This was one to one (or, rather, one to two as we both had to be there) and was clearly going to take some time. In short the Club Sunterra proposition was that you would buy, with an upfront payment, holiday “points” which you could then use in perpetuity to buy self-catering weeks at Vilar do Golf or at their 90 or so other resorts around the world (the weekly points cost varying depending on the quality of the resort and the season). This is similar in principle to Timeshare – but with far greater flexibility in respect of location or season. The idea seemed quite appealing in principle and the presentation (which included access to Sunterra’s website where all the properties were shown) was professional. It seemed clear that the key variables were how much the points would cost, what any additional charges would be, how easy it would be to so spend your points to secure the holiday you wanted and what the value of your points would be if you wanted to sell them later.
A quick calculation showed that if you bought 10,000 points then you would (in theory) be able to buy two weeks (at least) at Vilar do Golf pretty much whenever you wanted. The annual cost of such a purchase was a little under £600 (what Sunterra calls its annual “maintenance and administration charges”) - a hefty enough sum, but not bad if you could buy the necessary points upfront cheaply enough. It was at this crucial point in the discussion that Mark bowed out and his boss Ian came to the table. The sell hardened significantly at this point - now we were in the “Kasbah” with the points not carrying a fixed price but clearly being negotiable. From a start point of more than £26,000 for the 10,000 points we eventually ended up at £12,250 – oh and a free one week holiday (including flights) would be thrown in as an incentive. But we had to commit whilst we were still in Portugal and, although there would be a legal period of grace that would mean that we could cancel when we were back in the UK, it was made quite clear that for this offer to be available we had to make a provisional commitment now. We asked for time to go away and think about the proposed deal. On the face of it looked attractive. Two or three weeks holiday a year golfing in the Algarve – or visits to a huge range of other resorts if that was what we preferred. The points per week and per resort would always be the same so there was inflation proofing built in. The annual charge was quite a lot but although not fixed it did not seem to increase annually by too much. Was £12,250 a fair price to pay for this?
Now journalists are by nature a sceptical bunch – even those of us who write about golf. So after the “haggling in the souk” that the points negotiation had been I thought that I better (belatedly) do some research. A quick Google search on my laptop showed me that the real trading value of the Sunterra offer points was far, far lower than the deal we were being presented with. Many Timeshare trading websites have Sunterra points on offer for as low as £3000 per 10,000 points - and there were plenty of points available on EBay as well for around this cost. We had been asked to pay around four times the going rate for points and (of course) no mention of this market value had been made to us at the presentation.
The other concern thrown up by my internet search was that it seemed that many existing members were unhappy with Sunterra because it was difficult for them to get the exact weeks they wanted in the resorts they wanted. Peak weeks in popular resorts like the one at Quinta do Lago were booked up very quickly and if you were constrained (e.g. by school holidays) then you could well be frustrated. Further investigation showed that there is an active group of dissatisfied Sunterra members who are suing the company for false promises (http://www.sunterrafied.co.uk/) and that the Timeshare Consumers Association has set up a “Sunterra Compensation Group” to act on behalf of members with grievances (http://www.vogas.org/). Amongst the grievances are the above inflation rate annual increase in the “maintenance charges” and the fact that although you have to buy points at inflated prices their resale value is a small percentage of what you paid. According to Sunterra you have to be an existing member to buy points. So if despite the concerns you do find the Sunterra offer attractive (and there are many satisfied customers along with those who are unhappy) the trick is initially to buy as few points as possible directly from Sunterra and then top them up with points bought on the open market!
The buyers’ caution “Caveat Emptor” has always applied when Timeshare has been involved and for the “son of Timeshare” that points based systems like Sunterra’s are it is just the same. I cannot accuse Sunterra of unacceptably high pressure sales tactics, but they were certainly skilled salesman used to resolving customer objections. They never lied to my wife and me, but they were never disclosing the whole truth either. They created goodwill by giving us a week’s holiday at very low cost and once I advised them that we would not be proceeding with the “membership” offer they respected that decision reasonably gracefully. I should, of course, have researched Sunterra before signing up for the holiday. But would I have still taken up the one week golfing holiday offer even if I had know the facts and therefore known that there was little possibility of my buying the points holiday deal - and how I would advise readers of this magazine if they see and are temped by the offer? On balance I think that I would say “go ahead”. Enjoy a week’s golf in the Algarve. Attend the Sunterra sales pitch and politely decline. A bit sneaky perhaps – but not as sneaky as Sunterra’s determined attempt to separate a presumed golfing fool from his money!
