CAUGHT: THE COSTA SHARKS

Alistair Self, sundaymirror.co.uk 9/09/2007

SUNDAY Mirror INVESTIGATES They were our new best friends.. all we has to do was hand over thousands of pounds there and then to join their holiday club

Tens of thousands of British tourists are being conned out of cash with promises of cut-price holidays which turn out to be duds - and today the Sunday Mirror shows exactly how the sharks do it. Reporter ALISTAIR SELF and his friend Jenny Jones went to Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol posing as regular holidaymakers... and were approached by touts almost at once.

They were whisked off to an apartment complex and, despite being told they could claim a free holiday for simply giving up an hour and a half of their time, found themselves trapped in a seemingly endless hard-sell session. It took all their resolve to get away without handing over money - and even the "free" holiday was a con. Here is their cautionary tale showing how NOT to get taken in...

'The tout pounced brandishing a pack of scratchcards even though we were barely 50 yards from our hire car. In a cheery Lancastrian accent, he introduced himself as Paul and asked if we were married, on holiday and having a good time. It turned out it was our lucky day - we were each to receive a card.

If we won, the breezy patter went on, all we had to do was give up 90 minutes of our time for a sales meeting and the prize was ours. He shuffled the cards low down in his hands, seemingly taking one from the top and one from the bottom of the stack. Surprise, surprise... both were winners. Jenny had "won" a bottle of brandy and my card revealed four gold Euro signs, meaning a star prize of a free holiday. Excitedly Paul ushered us along the palm-lined seafront past groups of other touts, who tried to hide behind kiosks to avoid the gaze of the local police. The taxi driver we hailed knew the address - the Club La Costa resort - remarkably well.

Confidently, Paul said: "You'll have a great time. I have been working for this company for some time and they are very good. Just sit back and listen and you will be out with your prizes in 90 minutes or less."

At Club La Costa, a development of apartments on a sunny hillside overlooking the main A7 motorway, we were handed over to Roxanne who took our names and addresses. For the second time, we were asked if we were married.

Next we were met by sales executive Jason and his colleague Charles Van Gils, a greying, distinguished-looking Dutchman, who reminded me of a softly-spoken, kindly uncle.

Slickly-dressed Jason took us to a table on a patio. Again, he asked, how long we were on holiday for, when we were due to return home, where we came from, and the (by now compulsory) where did we marry? Acting like our new best friend, he cracked jokes while giving us local shopping tips before turning to the subject of the presentation.

Smiling broadly, he said: "We are a world-wide holiday club. The reason we have asked you in today is because you are on holiday. We have given you a gift for giving up your time.

"A lot of people wanted to see the product, but it costs too much to fly them out for a weekend, so we are stopping people on the street here when they are actually on holiday. It's the cheapest way to do it. We are offering a one-off lifetime membership with holidays discounted forever. You are buying into resorts in 16 different countries.

"We have cross-over arrangements with another company called RCI and they have over 3,721 resorts in 100 different countries. So to do every resort you would have to live 3,721 years - and to do every country you would have to live 100 years!

"We sort everything out for you from flights to accommodation to car hire to transfers to everything."

Then he handed us over to Charles to fill in the details. Charles ordered drinks and buttered us up by saying we looked the quality type.

He confided that the presentation would actually take just over the 90 minutes, but it would not be too long and, oozing smarm, added that Jenny could get back to some shopping.

He told us the annual membership fee would be £400, for which we would get a free week's holiday accommodation each year. We just had to find the air fare and they could help with that.

So far, so good. But there was a joining fee. I naturally asked how much. That, he said, would be a secret until later, but we would be pleasantly surprised. Now it was time to see some of the apartments, restaurants and swimming pools in the complex.

All very nice. But it was almost 90 minutes since we had arrived - so I asked again about the joining price but Charles said we could not go yet.

Ninety minutes turned into three hours of looking at more resort displays, video presentations and examples of the sort of accommodation we could chose at the neighbouring Club La Costa resort. We pressed Charles again, about how much it would cost. Again, no answer - just more evasion. But I persisted. I was well and truly fed up.

With the air of a frustrated uncle dealing with naughty children Charles told us to trust what he told us and wait. He said: "I have had many customers who have been very satisfied in the past." I found myself wanting to agree to anything to get it over - before I suddenly realised what I was thinking!

Amazingly, Charles admitted the club is targeting British holidaymakers nearing retirement because they will have plenty to spend when they receive their pension lump sums. And he admitted that 90 British couples are enticed to the sales meetings every day.

He claimed a third of them were signing up. But I was bored now - and suggested taking some details away to study.

We were moved backwards and forwards from inside tables to outside tables but still could not get hold of any documents to compare prices.

Instead, we were shown around the neighbouring Club la Costa apartment complex and told about plans for a new hotel and shopping centre.

Charles said the holidays offered by the holiday club in Club la Costa varied in price from £99 to about £400 for accommodation for club members and their families - and could be taken in resorts all around the world.

But there was still nothing in writing. There weren't even any prices in the brochures we were shown. Charles said we didn't need them as they were the cheapest company in town.

Tired and fed up we were taken back to Jason. It was a welcome change after the last four hours and message about the money had obviously got through.

Jason told us: "A full lifetime's membership of 60 years which you could pass down to your children would be £11,995 plus £400 a year, but today we are offering you time to think with a three-year membership for £3,595. That would mean paying a deposit of £595 now and £3,000 within 14 days.

Smiling, he said we could pay the £595 on our credit card now and the balance within 14 days. But when we said we would not pay anything without being given documents and time to read them Jason's mood changed.

His smile turned to a mood of annoyance. And when we again said we wanted to go away and think about it he stood up and said no customer who had gone away to think about it had ever come back!

Without a second glance he turned his back and left Charles to show us to our taxi. Charles gave us a bottle of Spanish brandy and a holiday voucher and said if we changed our mind and joined we could earn £2,000 by persuading 20 friends to join as well.

As the taxi drove us away we saw the "free" holiday accommodation prize had a price. The voucher in the back warned that a £150 deposit was needed to secure bookings.

When you go on holiday, take my advice: Ignore the scratchcard touts, tell them you are NOT interested. Unless, that is, you fancy having your time wasted, your nerves frayed and your pension snatched.'

Last night Club La Costa group sales director Russell Klein promised to change the company's techniques and said van Gils would be reprimanded as a result of the Sunday Mirror investigation. He said: "We are a reputable company and have been pressing the authorities ourselves for a code which we can work to. It is in our interest."

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