CLC World Travel Centre Milton Keynes - Milton Keynes

Ray D

We had been invited here after apparently being winners in a holiday competition.

Very easy place to get to with free parking for guests of CLC World Travel. We were made very welcome upon arrival at the reception and shown through to the waiting area, where we had time to fill out our documents and show proof of ID.
We then went through to the main office and introduced to our holiday reps, both of which made us very welcome with coffee & biscuits.
We then went through are requirements of a holiday, shown a short corporate video and sold an idea, kind of like a timeshare using hotels and apartments. All of which was very nice until the hard sell at the end.

Now the phone call prior to this meeting, the lady said "no obligation to purchase a holiday."
But we were made to feel obligated by the hard sell. In the end we didn't take it up because of the now or never attitude.

After that the atmosphere became frosty, we were shown to the reception, picked up our free shopping vouchers and winnings of seven nights accommodation booklet and left.

The offices are nice and comfortable the team are pleasant enough. But!

Kurt Mitchell

Had an opportunity to win a free holiday as long as we stayed for a 90 presentation. We stayed for 30 mins, they realised that we were suitable for a holiday share and let us go early with our free holiday which we have booked.

Go into this with an open mind and understand that they are a business trying to get your custom. They aren't crooks and they certainly aren't trying to rob you.

Matthew O'Malley

We "won" a free holiday somehow and were invited down for a presentation. We were in the area so thought we would go along and see what it was about.

Everything was fine and the offering they showed us did seem like value for money if you have the capital to pay upfront. However being tied into something for a number of years when life can change alot over that time is a big commitment. They did there presentation and gave us the price for 3 years. I asked if we could think on it and unfortunately the price they were offering was only for the time we were in the room.

We walked away and in hindsight was the right decision. You can book flights and hotels easily to anywhere in the world at the drop of a hat to suit your life style why commit to staying in the same type of hotel for X amount of years when you have to pay up front for it.

Samantha Malpass

I went to the Milton Keynes office a few days ago with my husband and I would just like to say what a lovely experience we had on the day. I was very sceptical of the entire thing and so was my husband. On arrival we was greeted by a really nice man called Curtis and his boss Richard. They went through the company's membership that they do. I was really surprised how laidback they was. They wasnt pushy at all and we all had a good laugh together. I actually thought the deal of the membership is actually a really amazing deal but due to work commitments me and my husband have, it wouldn't benefit us. At the end we did as told prior to going, received our voucher for our free holiday, night at the Jurys inn and a meal out voucher.
Thank you Curtis and Richard for not being pushy salesman and actually just having a laugh with us. Defo recommend the membership and both of you.

clive Gifford

when I was boarding my plane back to England from Tenerife, a CLC representative persuaded me to enter in a competition. I reluctantly agreed as she was very persuasive and saying no was almost rude given that I was queuing. A few days later I get a call telling me I won a stay in a hotel (no strings attached). I was excited and sceptic. The person took some details off me which again I was not comfortable about (not my credit/debit card). I was then told that there was no catch but I have to go to Milton Keynes so that they can “introduce me to CLC”. Moreover, I had to go to Milton Keynes with my wife but my children are not allowed. To soften the blow I get an Amazon £75 voucher. I made an appointment, booked the day off work but my wife who is extremely busy was not able to attend. I called CLC and they said that if I do not show up with my wife, I will lose the holiday that I had already won. This left me a very bad taste and raised my suspicion. Not only do I have to drive to Milton Keynes, I have to go with my wife and arrange a baby sitter. I no longer felt like a winner. I felt I was being conned and this reinforces my view not to give your details to anyone that asks for them in exchange of something free, particularly if they have a CLC badge. Moreover, I missed my appointment and a day later a very concerned representative of CLC called me as he was “very worried” I would lose what I won. But again he insisted I had to go with my wife. In all my contacts with CLC I asked them “why is it so crucial I go with my wife?” and no one could provide me a rationale for this, they only said “it’s for couples only” which again leaves me a very bad taste. So in spite of so many congratulations given to me by the CLC representatives, I never won anything, I would only win if I go to Milton Keynes with my wife and leave my children behind. I blame CLC for making me feel like a winner and then giving me a condition. My assumption is that at best this is a marketing strategy designed to somehow get money out of you. The lack of flexibility they showed was appalling and they wasted my time and raised my expectations.

Paul Mucollari

I went recently to the Milton Keynes branch and was greeted by a kind gentleman by the name of Richard. He invited me in and made me feel at home by offering me a coffee etc. We started talking and told me that I won a free 7 night holiday. Once again very nice gentleman.

Marie Cook

We only went here to collect a possible "free" holiday after listening to a sales pitch for something similar to time share. We listened but did not buy. We then collected our free accommodation voucher but haven't booked until we check it all out a bit further. Not an easy place to find when using their post code.

Alan Carter

I was called, while on holiday, to be told I'd won a free holiday. The line wasn't good but I remembered the name, CLC.

When I got home I looked up the company and as it was fairly local I decide to get back in touch. They didn't have my details but I was still a "winner". To be a "winner" you have to fit the criteria mentioned in previous reviews; be over 30, married, homeowner etc. One of the easier competitions to win.

The prizes come with a caveat - you have to sit through a 2 hour time share hard sell. It's a slick operation. Nice office, cinema room, glossy pictures, nice suits.

There's a qualifying section to the start of the pitch where they basically get you to admit that you spend money on holidays, and that you really like them. They probe you for other bits of information like what sorts of places you go, what time of year, with whom.

They go on to show you specifically selected luxury accommodation, with the promise "this is the minimum standard you can expect". If you deviate from the time worn path you'll see that the 'club', expect to hear a lot about this 'club', actually offers varying standards of accommodation.

There's a bit more of what I'd describe as fluff. During the fluff you'll be brought teas, coffees and biscuits which is no bad thing. You'll also be visited by a chap who is there to introduce himself before joining in for a hard sell at the end of the pitch.

After you've been pitched to here's some number crunching where they try and work out how you're going to afford to pay them £32,000 ish (and that's supposedly a discounted rate) for membership to their holiday 'club' for I think 16 years, or maybe it was 26 years - can't quite remember.

We politely declined even though we were given umpteen special incentives to join. It was all fairly desperate.

We collected our holiday voucher and £50 Sainsbury's voucher and were on our way.

On the holiday voucher. The voucher is for 1 weeks accommodation at specific resorts. The accommodation is basically sub-standard and during the holiday they will show you some nice accommodation and again hard sell you to join the 'club'. The hard sell whilst on holiday is a half day which, according to reviews, takes a lot longer than half a day. All decision makers must be present, meaning for us our 1 year old would by default also have to be. We asked about his naps and were told he was to nap in his pushchair. Because of this we, again, politely declined the free holiday.

As a basic review of the club. It's a fairly slick operation. Some basic googling will show you that:
A- the accommodation you get is not to the same standard that has been shown to you during pitches
B- maintenance fees for your share are unrestricted and can be raised at any time
C- accommodation is not available when people want to use it, the 'club' is oversubscribed
D- there are law firms specifically specialising in getting people out of time share, sorry, fractional ownership programmes with CLC World

One more thing to mention is that all they holidays are to gated complexes. So if you're looking for more interesting or cultural holidays then you'll struggle with this. If you want to visit a surf school, or go on a city break or whatever - you can't do this with CLC.

It saddened me to read the comments of people who have actually signed up and struggled so much financially because they were basically pressured into a high annual payment they couldn't afford for something they didn't need and couldn't use.

Please have this as a lasting message. There's no such thing as a free holiday. These people want your money, and a lot of it, and over a very long period of time. Approach with extreme caution.