2006:
I took this membership in 2006. I should have guessed that then itself that it’s going to cause me some agony. They had offered me some freebies including a free holiday.
When I wanted to use the free holiday, I was told that accommodation is not available. Then I called them up and tried to book using my membership. They said it was available. When I confronted them with this, they allowed me to use my free vouchers against the reservation I had made without having to use my holiday inventory.
2007:
Issue with food coupons that expired. They agreed to extend it. Nice people. I was able to use all coupons eventually(even though this was possible only after numerous follow ups).
2008:
All holidays were nice and fun. They convinced me to upgrade my membership from White to Red. I thought it might be useful since most of the time; my daughter’s vacations will fall during the’Red’ season.
2009:
Club Mahindra goes for IPO. Number of resorts dramatically increases. Several more resorts. Sounds good. However, I think they have tried to increase room utilization too much. One needs to book atleast 3 months in advance to get a weekend on a good day.
2010:
Tried booking today(2 December 2010) for May 2011(21-28 May). I was told that it’s in the Purple season up to 25th. Asked for 25th onwards - was informed it was full(that’s 6 months in advance). I finally got a reservation for 4 nights from 31st onwards. Imagine - 6 months in advance - everything is full. This looks fishy to me. I think they have enrolled more membership than they can support using their inventory of days.
This clearly is not working for me in its current form. My suggestion to others - might as well avoid this, or at least ask them about these concerns before enrolling.
2011:
Club Mahindra tried to reach me yesterday - 1 year after this happened. They want to speak to me to sort this out. I’m not available in the country now.so can’t comment on this anymore. It may work for you, if you are diligent enough to book 6 months+ in advance. If you’re able to do this, then their resorts are value for money and very family friendly.
2012:
Have got the hang of booking. Have managed to book Club Mahindra at Poovar and Ashtamudi. This time the customer care seemed more helpful and empowered to make things happen.
Looks like they are working on the feedback that they receive. Have also exchanged some days through RCI and am planning a vacation. This process was smooth. Will update after next vacation. Customer service is a 4 now.