BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM AT BANGALORE URBAN

 22^nd DAY OF JUNE 2017

O R D E R

SRI. P.V SINGRI, PRESIDENT

The complainant has filed this complaint U/s.12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against the Opposite Parties (herein after referred as OPs) with a prayer to direct the OPs to refund him Rs.2,60,000/- received towards membership and Rs.4,000/- received towards maintenance fee, compensation of Rs.2,30,000/- with litigation cost.

 2. The brief averments made in the complaint are as under:

That the complainant took membership from OP for 30 years.  That the deal was that the complainant will be availing vacations any time of the year for 1+1 bonus week.  That complainant was told that, he will be given RCI and DAE membership and can avail vacations both under RCI and DAE.  Further complainant was told that he had to pay maintenance fee of around Rs.4,000/- and odd for country vacations and for RCI something around Rs.8,000/- only when he make use of their respective properties.  That the complainant was promised of excellent customer service.  That the complainant paid a sum of Rs.2,60,000/- towards membership fee only to realize later that there were too many loop holes and promises made were not fulfilled.  That the complainant was issued with a blue season and lesser exchange value RCI card (few seasons) instead of a red season (all seasons) RCI card which was promised during marketing/selling pitch.  Later when complainant received the blue season card, on checking, he was told that the said card will work for all seasons, which is a lie.  That the complainant came to know when he tried booking holidays later during the year that it is a less value card.  That complainant did not get a property of his choice from OP.  That complainant later visited the very same place by paying out of his pocket and later OP promised that they will do a favour by reimbursing Rs.10,000/- which they did not do.  That RCI card issued to complainant had a validity of five years.  That the complainant when started booking holidays he came to know that he can avail RCI holidays only for a week.  That bonus week is only for country vacation properties, which was not told to him during the purchase agreement.  That the customer care service is extremely pathetic and non-responsive and almost non-existent.  Despite calling 50-60 times there was hardly any response.  That complainant was told that they were supposed to be paying maintenance fee only on use of property.  However he was made to pay maintenance charges even without using the property.  That the customer care pesters to pay maintenance fee even if he has paid the money.

That the complainant took up the matter to many managers but was no avail.  That the managers just gave lame excuses and went on giving false dates without any results.  That dealing with OP has become a nightmare of complainant and is a lot of pain.  That complainant has wasted lots of his hard earned money and time trying to call, follow up and now he has extremely tired and disappointed.  That the complainant with his painful experience with OP decided not to continue with OP anymore and he does not want to victim of another 30 years.  Therefore, has approached the Forum for redressal.  

3. In response to notice issued OP appeared through their advocate and filed their version contending in brief as under:

That the complainant has paid a total sum of Rs.2,60,000/- towards the Club Membership and he also entered into purchase agreement dated 01.09.2012 with OP.  That OP has issued a laminated club membership cards to the complainant and his dependants.  That OP has also issued a gold coin and air ticket to the complainant as per the offer.  That as per the terms of the purchase agreement the complainant has to pay annual maintenance charges to OP.  That the complainant and his family members are utilizing the holiday vacation and club facility.  That the complainant by creating false story and by fabricating documents has filed a false and frivolous complaint against OP for making wrongful gain for himself.  That there is no any deficiency of service on the part of OP.  There is no any provision in the purchase agreement for cancellation or refund of the membership fee.  That the complainant however is at liberty to sell or transfer or gift the club membership to any third party.  That OP is always ready to provide the package tour to the complainant which he should book 30 days in advance to enable OP to make necessary arrangements.  That the complainant never booked holiday vacation in advance.  That OP never assured nor promised any reimbursement as alleged in the complaint.  That in terms of purchase agreement the complainant is entitled for 6 nights and 7 days holiday vacation in a year for a period of 30 years and club membership for life time, subject to terms and conditions mentioned in the agreement.  That OP is always ready to provide the package to the complainant provided he makes booking 30 days in advance.  That the complainant in order to file the above complaint has made baseless allegations.  That OP has never refused any package tour to complainant.  That the complainant being literate has obtained membership by understanding the terms and conditions of the purchase agreement.  Since there is no any deficiency of service on the part of OP.  The question of paying any compensation or refunding amount does not arise at all.

For the above, amongst other reasons, OP prays for dismissal of complaint with exemplary cost.

4. On the rival contention of both parties, the points that arise for our determination in this case are, as under:

        5. The complainant tendered his affidavit evidence reiterating the allegations made in the complaint.  OP also got filed the affidavit evidence of their Manager in support of their averments made in the version.  Both parties have produced certain documents.  Written arguments have been filed.  We also heard oral arguments.

6. Our answer to the above issues are as under:

REASONS

7. Admittedly on 01.09.2012 complainant entered into an purchase agreement for club and vacation membership with OP by paying a sum of Rs.2,60,000/-.  The complainant has produced copy of purchase agreement for club and vacation membership, membership purchase agreement for club and vacation membership and also copy of recap sheet issued by OP.  Complainant alleges that, upon becoming member of OP, he was issued with blue season and lesser exchange value RCI card (few seasons) instead of red season (all seasons) RCI card which was promised to him at the time of marketing the membership.  It is not in dispute that, the complainant along with his wife in pursuance of a call from the customer care department of OP, visited the office of OP at Koramangala for a visual presentation and to collect the gift offered to him.  After the presentation given by one Mr.Abdul Sattar, an employee of OP, complainant and his wife were lured to become member of OP by paying a sum of Rs.2,60,000/-. 

8. Complainant alleges that, at the time of presentation, he and his wife were given to understand that they can avail vacations in any of the country vacation resort + RCI affiliated resorts + DAE affiliated resorts for a period of 1 week + 1 bonus week every year, during any time of the year, for 30 years continuously.  Complainant further alleges that, he and his wife were assured that they can arrange Orange County resort with the help of membership cards and they further told that RCI membership, blue season membership card covers all seasons.  OP either in their version or in their affidavit evidence did not deny that the complainant and his wife were invited to Koramangala office for a visual presentation on 01.09.2012.  OP also did not deny that one Mr.Abdul Sattar gave a visual presentation explaining various facilities available with OP.  Further OP also did not specifically deny that the complainant was promised vacation in any of the country vacation resort + RCI affiliated resorts + DAE affiliated resorts for a period of 1 week + 1 bonus week every year for 30 years continuously. 

9. After complainant became member of OP he received a welcome letter dated 17^th January 2013 in which the complainant promised a fabulous holidays in over 4500 RCI affiliated resorts around the world and a week’s holiday through a holiday exchange at any of over 90 RCI affiliated resorts in India and also an exchange to resorts in Asia and in other parts of the world, at concessional rates.  In pursuance of the promise made during the course of presentation and the letter dated 17^th January 2013, the copy of which is produced as document No.2 by complainant, the complainant has made efforts to book holidays in some of the properties belonging to OP and also in RCI affiliated properties.  However the booking of the properties/vacations were not provided to complainant as requested by him and his wife.

10. OP in para-5 of their version took up a contention that the complainant never booked holiday vacation in advance at any time and the allegations made by him that he was not provided with booking at requested destination is false.  However in para-3 of their affidavit evidence OP took up a contention that the complainant utilized holiday vacation by staying at Bandipur.  Complainant denied of having utilizing holiday vacation at Bandipur.  OP did not produce any documentary evidence to substantiate that the complainant was provided holiday vacation either in their property or RCI affiliated property at Bandipur at any point of time.  Therefore, we are unable to believe the contention of OP that complainant has utilized holiday vacation by staying at Bandipur.

11. The complainant alleges that he and his wife were to make not less than 50-60 calls to get a call across and the customer care services is non-responsive and pathetic and almost non-existent.  The complainant has e-mailed a letter on 22^nd October 2013 to customer care Koramangala explaining the difficulty in contacting officials at Customer care and other departments of OP.  In the said e-mail letter the complainant has alleged that one Mr.Imran has rejected 40 calls made by complainant on the last Friday without bothering to respond to complainant thereafter.  The complainant has also mentioned that the customer care service is extremely pathetic and un-responsive and he was required to make calls 50-60 times to get a call across, which has happened multiple times.  OP has not responded to the said e-mail letter.  Complainant has produced several e-mail letters addressed to OP requesting for vacation booking at places of their choice for certain period.  OP has not responded to the request of complainant immediately but only responded after repeated e-mails.  However every time the request of complainant for booking holiday in a particular place has been denied and he has been suggested to book holidays in some other place which in fact are not convenient for complainant to travel.

12. Though complainant was promised of booking RCI property Orange County at Coorg but same has been denied on the ground that necessary accommodation is not available.  Instead OP has suggested for booking holidays at Goa and Gangtok in Sikkim.  The suggestion so made by OP is certainly absurd since complainant wanted vacation booking within radius of 300 kms from Bangalore.  The complainant has produced certain documents for having visited certain destination for vacation despite the failure of OP in arranging the booking.  Despite having obtained a vacation purchase agreement from OP by paying a huge sum of Rs.2,60,000/-, the complainant has been forced to book vacation through some private sources by spending huge amount.  It is apparent that the complainant has not at all been benefited by obtaining vacation agreement from OP.  Moreover as alleged, the complainant and his wife were made to make more than 50-60 calls just to contact the concerned in the office of OP to get necessary information.  Even the e-mail sent by complainant and his wife have not been replied immediately.  Even after more than 1½ year from the date of becoming member, OP failed to provide a holiday vacation to complainant and his family to the places of his choice.  It is not the case of OP that the complainant has not sought the booking of the vacation 30 days in advance as required.  Despite booking the vacation in advance the complainant was never provided with vacation booking by OP for one or the other reason.  This conduct of OP certainly amounts to deficiency of service.

13. Since after obtaining membership the complainant has not been provided any services as requested by him towards holiday vacation, even once by OP, despite making tall claims in their purchase agreement as well as in the welcome letter dated 17^th January 2013 sent to complainant.  The complainant after having failed to get the required services from OP ultimately decided to cancel his membership and demand refund of Rs.2,60,000/- paid by him.  It is the conduct of OP which has compelled the complainant to demand refund of the membership amount paid by him.  Since OP themselves have failed to abide by the terms and conditions of the purchase agreement and membership purchase agreement, cannot demand or insist the complainant to adhere to the terms and conditions of the said agreement.  OP despite collecting a huge sum of Rs.2,60,000/- from complainant have failed to provide any services as promised by them in the agreement as well as in the brochure/welcome letter.  Therefore, OP has to be directed to refund a sum of Rs.2,60,000/- to complainant.  There is no any material on record to believe the contention of OP that complainant or members of his family have made use of any facility of the country club situated at Bangalore or any other place.  OP has collected annual maintenance charges of Rs.4,000/- from complainant though he never used any facilities in any of the properties of OP.  Therefore, OP has to be directed to refund the said maintenance amount of Rs.4,000/- collected from complainant.  Complainant has been put to great inconvenience, hardship and mental agony due to non co-operation attitude of OP.  Therefore OP shall have to be directed to pay adequate compensation to complainant apart from litigation cost.

14. In view of the discussions made above, we are of the opinion that, OP shall have to be directed to refund Rs.2,60,000/- received from complainant on 01.09.2012 so also maintenance charges of Rs.4,000/-.  Further OP has to be directed to pay a compensation of Rs.25,000/- to complainant for having caused him inconvenience and mental agony together with litigation cost of Rs.5,000/-.  Accordingly point Nos.1 & 2 have been answered.

15. The order could not be passed within the stipulated time due to heavy pendency.  

16.  In the result, we proceed to pass the following:                

  O R D E R

The complaint filed by the complainant U/s.12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is allowed in part.  OP is directed to refund a sum of Rs.2,60,000/- and Rs.4,000/- (maintenance charges) to complainant within six weeks from the date of communication of the order.  In default OP shall pay the said amount together with interest @ 12% p.a from the date of this order till the date of realization.  Further OP shall pay compensation of Rs.25,000/- to complainant together with litigation cost of Rs.5,000/-.

Furnish free copy of this order to both parties.

(Dictated to the Stenographer, got it transcribed and corrected, pronounced in the Forum on this 22^nd day of June 2017)

MEMBER                            MEMBER                    PRESIDENT

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Witnesses examined on behalf of the complainant dated  07.04.2014.

1) Sri.Sumil S. Panicker.

Documents produced by the complainant:

Witnesses examined on behalf of the Opposite party dated 19.03.2015.

Sri.Nawaz.

Documents produced by the Opposite party:

MEMBER                            MEMBER                     PRESIDENT

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