Club Astoria

[unscarred1925]

If you are familiar with Family First and AOWA Appliances, then stay away from Club Astoria.

They'll text you saying that you won or you're invited for a free lunch or dinner. They will also mention that there's no strings attached and no money involved. (How'd they get your contact number? By signing a raffle coupon from trade shows or buying an item from PC Express which is affiliated with Astoria.) They will also give you a "free gift certificate" to a destination of your choice.

After your lunch or dinner they will do sales talk about Astoria-RCI timesharing membership. It will take you about 45 minutes to 3-4 hours. Paiikutin ka nila.

Pagnasign mo na contract tapos mag-avail ka ng services nila, masisiraan ka ng ulo sa sborang bad service. Their "free gift certificate" has hidden charges as well. Even their coupons don't have DTI permit and the contracts are not notarized. Don't be fooled and don't be afraid of the contracts. Take action!

If you are already a victim of this scam, don't hesitate to post here and ask for help. My friend got scammed by this and sabi nga niya lipad ang pera niya but we are trying to help him get back his hard earned money. Their manager is former actor Arnold Gamboa.

Other Sources:
http://www.sulit.com.ph/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16561
http://www.tipidpc.com/viewtopic.php?tid=145090
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...ion_Luzon.html
...and more (Google it)

"6. Timeshare Promotions - It might offer fantasy and fun, but if a vacation deal sounds good to be true, it probably is. In the Florida timeshare scam, vacation certificates for holidays in Florida are the "prize" given out in contests or promotions. But what is supposed to be a free trip can end up costing thousands of dollars - in U.S. funds. To top it off, the offer is conditional on you attending a timeshare sales presentation. The bottom line? When planning a holiday, steer clear of deals that imply you've won a prize. If you have to pay for it, you haven't won. Also, avoid pressure to buy right now. Legitimate deals don't evaporate overnight."

From: Timeshare Condominiums for the Beginner (highly recommended read)
http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=...result#PPP1,M1

***I suggest you apply directly to RCI if you really need/want timesharing.

OK I was scammed please help! text me 09272518699, for other victims let's gather up and and raise this issue to the media.

[JustMarried]

I know somone who works there and grabe talaga, ang laki ng comission nila. Just think about it: If you avail of the 2 bedroom full (yung pinaka mataas) almost 30k ang comission ng sales consultant, wala pa dun yung comission ng sales manager at venue manager. Woah.

[Gusay]

Mga pre, BIKTIMA din ako nito!!!

Di ko nga alam kung paano nila nalaman ang address at telephone number ko e. Basta ang sabi, punta lang daw ako sa Astoria sa may Ortigas, no string attached. Pero may hunch na ako kung tungkol saan ang mga ito...just like Days Hotel gimik!

Buti na lang at di ako kumagat, pero naman...grabe ang mga pamimilit nila to acquire a property from them. E hallerrr..wala akong pera noh? kaya hindi na nla diniscuss sa akin ang tungkol sa iba pang important details kuno..hehehehehe

[jenifer_semilla]

Even though we already have timeshares in RCI, we still went to the Club Astoria presentation just for the free buffet.
However they tried to force us to buy another one, of course, they couldn't make us. True to their word naman, they gave us a certificate for a 1 week accommodation in Bali. We were tempted to use it sana kaso tinamad na ko asikasuhin since there's a P5K booking fee that we have to pay which they will refund "daw" when we get back. Anyway, ok na yung free buffet.

Would you believe, we also got to eat buffet at Bally's in Las Vegas for free and got 2 show tickets just for attending the 2-hour presentation of Hilton's Vacation Club chuva? : We told them at the end of the presentation that the only way we were buying is if they can match the price we got for our RCI timeshare. Theirs is like US$19,000, so how can they match the price we paid for ours? Of course, it's a Las Vegas property and a 4-5 star hotel which is no match to our mother resort here in the phils. but we usually exchange our week for RCI-accredited resorts/hotels abroad so ganun din. Imagine, we got to stay at Donatello Hotel near Union Square in San Francisco for 1 week for only US$200 when the rate there per night starts at US$200.

meron na kaming timeshare pero sinama ako ng kaibigan ko to attend the presentation. ok naman ang presentation when i asked kung saang resort sa bali yung GC... tinanong ko kasi nakapunta na ako sa bali using RCI at talagang nasa opposite end ng isla yung Candidasa (where most of the RCI affiliated resorts are) .....hindi masagot nung sales rep kaya tinawag yung immediate boss niya... although valid naman yung sagot niya na depende sa anong resort ang available on which week... hindi lang namin nagustuhan na porket mas interesado kami sa GC eh tinarayan na kami.

as for the 5K "refundable" deposit... naku pagdating mo sa free resort sasabihan ka na marerefund lang yon kung kukuha ka ng timeshare.

[drblue_pepper]

I attended also and bought the shares. Legit naman lahat, i was able to use the free gift and membership right away. Even the RCI tie-up.

If you often travel and have the extra dough naman, why not?
Pero if kung sa simula pa lang eh dinner lang ang habol mo and ur not really interested in buying, maiinis ka nga kasi matagal ang briefing nila

[hydrangea]

I think it's not a scam, dahil legit naman yung timeshare. we were also invited to astoria, but in the end we declined. parang it was not worththe money din. pero grabe sila mamilit magbenta, as in tinour pa kami sa astoria.

in the end, they gave us a voucher to bali.

it's still your prerogative naman to say no, and kung talagang firm ka, hindi ka naman nila mapipilit.

[virstud]

Guys, you do get the free lunch as promised and it is a buffet lunch so there is nothing to loss.

Just tell them that you are not interested and yoiu already have a timeshare account with RCI, Panoly ot Laguna De Boracay.. walang pilitan kasdi may RCI ka na which is also what they are selling you.

nakalibre ka pa ng lunch mo for 2 pa.

[shaisexy]

We experienced din nyan recently lang sa Boracay naman Astoria rin. Free dinner buffet by the Beach, we'll yun nga yung sinabi no strings attached pero grabee ang pilitan moment as in. The rep even wanted us to sign the contract and to follow na lang ang payment. Oh di ba eksena how pathetic, tapos ang mga managers na lahat bading super rude na kahit nag "No!" kna super rude parang they even mentioned or reminded us about the buffet. My husband even wanted na nga to pay for the buffet. Hay naku! Baket ba tayo papaapekto basta at least we get to experienced yang mga ganyang gimik grabee ang training na ginawa sa kanila huh!
Apat kaming umattend pero separate kami ng tables during presentation hahaahah me pa-epek pa yung rep ng ganito "Ma'am tuturuan ko kayo ha para ibigay sa inyo ng manager ko yung employees discount pero wag kang maingay kasi baka matanggal ako sa trabaho" hehehehe eto na si manager kunwari sinulat yung amount mga around 500k yung membership tapos after nun si rep naman saying na 13k lang ang babayaran mo up until sasabihin nyang kahit 50% muna ang i swipe sa card. Ngek! kaching kaching na sa kanila na yun noh! The offer na employees discount kuno was just the same with our kasama! hehehehe. Pero yung nga magaling talaga sila as in magaling talaga pati nga yung mga arte arte nila.
Anyway thanks for the experience, the knowledge and of course the DINNER BUFFET!

[babyloves_78]

Hello guys. we also just recently attended this seminar chuva! hahaha! good thing di kami nagpauto ng hubby ko. anyway, sila din naman ang inuto namin kasi ginamit lang namin yun para makapag dinner kami at makuha yung gc... hehehe!! sa totoo lang di worth it yun mga ganun time sharing. buti kung shangrila or any other 5 star hotel yan ok pa.. siguro naman ma ge gets nyo ako. di worth it ang price nila.

[tin_z]

someone from Astoria called me 2 weeks ago.
tumatawag sa house... sa office... e nung time na yun ako na
yung nakasagot. she's offering me a gift certificate. claim ko raw sa
4th floor ng Astoria Plaza. Then she interviewed me kung gano raw ako kadalas magtravel and kung ano raw ang requirements ko pag magchecheck-in sa hotel.

i even asked her kung bakit of all people eh ako pa yung napili mabigyan ng GC. eh di pa naman ako nagcheck-in dun. sabi nung girl, random daw. ek-ek. basta kung ano-ano reasons.

tas nagtatanong din kung magkano monthly income ko. nyaks talaga.

siempre d ako pumunta. hehe.

'baka ma-familyfirst/berkley/danvil na naman ako'

[Mario_Cimarro]

Nabasa ko ito sana noon pa! Pero di sila nagkapera sa akin. PI na Astoria yan!

[charlize*]

meron ba ditong nag-try na gamitin ang GC nila? nabawi naman ba yong bond na P5k? sayang naman kung hindi kasi mababawi.

wala rin silang nakuha sa amin. pero di naman garapal yong sales rep namin. sabi ko kasi ok ang offer if may extra money kami pero wala e. di naman na sila nagpumilit pa. ok na rin naman ang experience at siempre ang dinner buffet masarap naman.

[kiki_komikuto]

just tell them you are single para out agad kayo sa target market nila

[Mario_Cimarro]

Dapat Dito Ireport Sa Sec. Unfair Business Practice, Non-transparent Advertisement.

Nako Mga Pipol Wag Kayong Pipirma! Wag Na Wag!

[moreso88]

me and my husband was also offered by astoria. ang kulit kulit nila. they called us sa house and office. at first, my hubby was interested and even told them na pupunta kami. kaso, i know na gimik lang iyang free dinner na yan and they will be selling kung ano ano so, nagsakit sakitan ako para hindi kami makapunta. wala ding nagawa si hubby and i explained to him na bebentahan lang kami nun. the next time na tumawag, sinabihan na agad ni hubby na hindi kami interesado.

my friend was victimized by that time sharing blah blah. she computed the amount she paid for the time share and the monthly dues. it will appear na mas mapapamahal pa using that kaysa magpabook directly sa hotel. they offer not even 3 star hotel. parang motels type lang ata but the price is that of a 3-star. Lugi talaga!

[BeerhandBop]

They llike to say that you can cook your own meals, and stuff if you stay at their resort.

the problem here, however is that their resorts are located far from where the tourist spots are.

so you're stuck inside their little compounds.

[Mario_Cimarro]

OK I was scammed please help! text me 09272518699, for other victims let's gather up and and raise this issue to the media.

I got dupped guys ... i have already paid almost 120K but still short of 120K for a 240K 30 years membership. at first everything seems okay. what i didnt know is that they were just waiting for me to get delayed in my payments and then ... goodbye bunot! they are forfeiting all my hard earned 120K money and nothing in return! they even blocked my RCI membership which they dont have any right because it is supposedly already mine for having paid almost half of the cost of my membership. I am so helpless now and could not imagine that all those savings I paid for goes to nothing!!! they say that we are paying 240K as a savings for our future vacation but NOW Where IS MY MONEY, CLUB ASTORIA! this is a savings which you can not get or withdraw in time of your need? Or not even at least giving you the benefit of putting value for the money you already paid for??? This is definitely a daylight robbery ... soffisticated nga lang because may pa dinner & presentation sila. Whats worst is that they will bring me to legal! what the hell is the case? nagbayad ka na, ninnakaw pa pera mo at ako pa ang idedemanda???? They say the Mrs Ang (the owner) and Rey Ilagan the Project Manager refuse to refund our money. Astoria claims that they have so many up coming projects but they only have one hotel, one second hand hotel in boracay, & a project in Sta.rosa which until now is not finish yet???
We are filing a law suit against the owners & staff of astoria for misrepresentation & illegal activities. If you want to file your case call Tel.No.5847652 Look for Atty.Margate & Atty.Collado.
Gentleman & Ladies, lets help those who are victims and are to be victimized by this Club Astoria. Kawawa naman sila mga middle income families nga ang victims nila. One member wrote in the pasig forum about club astoria and said that he paid 20000pesos as reservation. then after reading about the scam, 3 days after he went back to ask for a refund. Astoria refuse to refund his money! Tama ba yun? di malaking panloloko at pagnanakaw yan??? There are more victims who are writing and calling the lawyers now, so lets join them so this will stop. Sa hirap ng buhay ngayon, all we want is a savings for future vacations so we can enjoy our life when we retire. But i think once Astoria files for bankruptcy we dont get anything in return because they said that the money we are paying is a vacation savings and not an investment to their hotel. Di malaking misrepresetatin yan at panloloko na nais lang nila kunin pera mo!
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love404
Member

Join Date: Feb 2009

[Mario_Cimarro]

http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/...reply&t=382644

[mugen_ek]

whoah good thing i read this now... i just went to boracay with my family and they offered me the time sharing package... ang kukulit nila sobra!! muntik na talaga kami mag down but syempre, when we made our computations parang lugi pa din kasi you have no other option but to stay in their resort our sa affiliates ng rci e.. kaya ayun nag NO kami pero kinulit pa kami lalo.. nainis na kami in the end..

[Mario_Cimarro]

http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/...=382644&page=4