Is this membership really too good to be true???

[David in FL]

If I really liked the course, could only play weekdays, knew that I'd play a minimum of 30 rounds, and didn't mind sticking to a single course, I'd probably jump on that. Looks like a nice course and facility.

[bkuehn1952]

The way I tend to assess these deals is I take the amount of the membership ($499) and divide by what a typical round for you at the course might be.  I can see that they run a "Summer Special" so let's say the average greens fee will be $35.  Are you going to play there 15 times or more between now and the end of 2015?  I suspect we both know the answer is "yes."  Every time you play Pelham in excess of 15 times is essentially free.  Since you prefer walking and the course allows walking, it sounds like a great deal.  Even if you play other places, as long as you play Pelham once a week, the deal looks good.

A few things you might want to ask yourself:

1. Is the course close enough so you will never find yourself thinking the drive over is too big a hassle?

2. Will some or all of your golf buddies also sign up?  If not, you may be under some pressure to play elsewhere, which kind of defeats the idea of a membership.

3. If you like to practice, can you get a deal on a season pass for the range?

4, Are your circumstances likely to change (move, have a baby, get married, etc...) so the deal will be a loser?

5. How many memberships are going to be sold?  A course ran a similar deal (only less expensive) locally and they sold so many memberships the course was constantly crowded and pace of play was poor.

If everything checks out. I would go for it.

[BrownCoast]

The way I tend to assess these deals is I take the amount of the membership ($499) and divide by what a typical round for you at the course might be.  I can see that they run a "Summer Special" so let's say the average greens fee will be $35.  Are you going to play there 15 times or more between now and the end of 2015?  I suspect we both know the answer is "yes."  Every time you play Pelham in excess of 15 times is essentially free.  Since you prefer walking and the course allows walking, it sounds like a great deal.  Even if you play other places, as long as you play Pelham once a week, the deal looks good.

A few things you might want to ask yourself:

1. Is the course close enough so you will never find yourself thinking the drive over is too big a hassle?

2. Will some or all of your golf buddies also sign up?  If not, you may be under some pressure to play elsewhere, which kind of defeats the idea of a membership.

3. If you like to practice, can you get a deal on a season pass for the range?

4, Are your circumstances likely to change (move, have a baby, get married, etc...) so the deal will be a loser?

5. How many memberships are going to be sold?  A course ran a similar deal (only less expensive) locally and they sold so many memberships the course was constantly crowded and pace of play was poor.

If everything checks out. I would go for it.

1. the course is about 20-25 drive from my house.

2. Sadly I no longer have golf buddies since I just moved here in may. havent had much time to golf either since it was a hectic few months of getting jobs buying house and getting settled in. So I figure I would be golfing mainly by myself anyways until I get to know more people.

3. I believe the range pass is extra but I don't mind that.

4. Since we just moved here and just bought our house I really hope my wife doesn't come up with any crazy ideas of moving lol no plans of a kid and no other unforeseen circumstances I can think of.

5. They said they just run the promo until they sell "X" amount which a number was never given to me.

Everything seems just too good and like the saying goes "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is"

I'm glad you mentioned that a course ran a similar deal and what could be a down side to such a great deal. Thanks for the heads up

[iacas]

Dude, you could get $499 of value out of the place by the end of the year, let alone including M-R all of next year.

Do it or don't; you're spending a lot of time and energy to analyze something. By the time you're done they may have sold out of these memberships.

[dkolo]

Consider paying via credit card so you have some potential recourse if they do indeed shut down prematurely.

[imsys0042]

If you like the course and it's $500 for a year and the rest of this year, that's a good deal.

[rb72]

One other thing to check into that no one has mentioned. This happened to me. A similar deal at a local course (7 minute drive) offered unlimited play after 2:00pm 7 days a week for $849.00. I get off work at 3:00 pm so I could play several days a week and once on the weekend and at their daily fee rates this would really pay off for me. the problem was that I found out after the fact they run golf leagues there monday through thursday generally statring at 3- 3:00pm, so it was almost impossible to get out those days. Then it seemed like every other Friday or Saturday they had an outing and again I couldn't get out. I had calculated that if I play an average of 1.5 rounds per week, the "membership" would pay for itself exactly but I had planned on playing much more. After three moths of this "membership" I found that I was only plauying 1.4 times per week because that was all that was available to me and that was playing alot of rounds at times that I didn't particularly care to play (like Sundays, because it's the slowest day on the golf course). Well to make a long story short, after alot of back and forth with them promising to "work with me" and not quite delivering on that promise I convinced them to refund the portion of my $849.00 that I hadn't used up.

[whatwoodtigerdo]

Doesn't seem to me like a "too good to be true" deal overall. Maybe just for people similar to you because you have some weekdays off/time to go play at those times and don't mind walking. In my eyes the course is probably trying to drum up business for what is their slow times on course and is targeting people like you with the deal. They probably also assume a lot of people that take the deal will ride which gets them more money. Just my opinion though and it isn't my money.

[HardRight]

Clearly, for you, and your needs/schedule, this is a great deal.

Jump on it.

I also like the idea of paying via a CC, just in case.

[bradsul]

I'm up in Guelph and if there was a course of that quality around here offering that deal I would jump all over it!  We don't get great deals like they do south of the border, gotta take advantage when they do come up in my opinion.

[BrownCoast]

Clearly, for you, and your needs/schedule, this is a great deal.

Jump on it.

I also like the idea of paying via a CC, just in case.

Cash cheque or debit is what they told me. I guess I would pay via debit so that way there is a paper statement for proof of purchase if something did go wrong.

[turtleback]

Cash cheque or debit is what they told me. I guess I would pay via debit so that way there is a paper statement for proof of purchase if something did go wrong.

I would be very leery of paying for something so long term with anything other than a credit card.  The fact that they will not take them speak volumes to me.  Hopefully it will go OK anyway.

[BrownCoast]

I would be very leery of paying for something so long term with anything other than a credit card.  The fact that they will not take them speak volumes to me.  Hopefully it will go OK anyway.

What would be the difference or maybe benefit is a better word, of paying with a credit card over debit. They get their cash either way. I have never had a membership and don't know whats normal or not. Do most places take credit card for memberships? I think I might call them and inquire about full memberships and see if they allow players to pay with a c.c. maybe that way I can figure out where they stand a bit better.

[dkolo]

What would be the difference or maybe benefit is a better word, of paying with a credit card over debit. They get their cash either way. I have never had a membership and don't know whats normal or not. Do most places take credit card for memberships? I think I might call them and inquire about full memberships and see if they allow players to pay with a c.c. maybe that way I can figure out where they stand a bit better.

Legal remedies available to you via debit card are more limited. With credit cards you can raise any number of defenses to a charge, while with debit cards, legally, they only care about whether or not you authorized the charge. The issuing bank / provider may or may not choose to be helpful beyond their statutory requirements in the interests of customer service and keeping you happy, but I would never count on that. If they're specifying one and not the other, it's possible that they're keeping this endgame in mind. Of course, it could be something as innocuous as transaction fees, but usually merchants care more about the transaction fee difference between debit and credit more when they process lots of small transactions (think gas stations) as opposed to something like this.

[turtleback]

What would be the difference or maybe benefit is a better word, of paying with a credit card over debit. They get their cash either way. I have never had a membership and don't know whats normal or not. Do most places take credit card for memberships? I think I might call them and inquire about full memberships and see if they allow players to pay with a c.c. maybe that way I can figure out where they stand a bit better.

When you pay with a credit card you get some protections.  Under the law, you cannot be charged for a product or service that you do not receive.  This was a big factor in recent years when airlines have gone bankrupt.  People with pre-paid tickets who paid by credit card got almost immediate refunds, since they never received the service.  People who paid with debit cards or checks became unsecured creditors of the airline with much less chance for recovery.

Of course you are in Canada and the laws may be different there.  But here in the US I always try to pay for everything by credit card.  Not just for the aforementioned protection but because they pay me 1% to use the card and I always pay the full bill every month.

[dkolo]

Legal remedies available to you via debit card are more limited. With credit cards you can raise any number of defenses to a charge, while with debit cards, legally, they only care about whether or not you authorized the charge. The issuing bank / provider may or may not choose to be helpful beyond their statutory requirements in the interests of customer service and keeping you happy, but I would never count on that. If they're specifying one and not the other, it's possible that they're keeping this endgame in mind. Of course, it could be something as innocuous as transaction fees, but usually merchants care more about the transaction fee difference between debit and credit more when they process lots of small transactions (think gas stations) as opposed to something like this.

I'd like to add that I just noticed you were in Canada. I can't speak to the vagaries of Canadian credit card regulations, but it at least demonstrates that there are potential differences between debit and credit from the consumer perspective, at least in the US. The general rule of thumb is to use credit cards on any significant purchases where you could conceive of making a claim if something were to come up.

[BrownCoast]

Legal remedies available to you via debit card are more limited. With credit cards you can raise any number of defenses to a charge, while with debit cards, legally, they only care about whether or not you authorized the charge. The issuing bank / provider may or may not choose to be helpful beyond their statutory requirements in the interests of customer service and keeping you happy, but I would never count on that. If they're specifying one and not the other, it's possible that they're keeping this endgame in mind. Of course, it could be something as innocuous as transaction fees, but usually merchants care more about the transaction fee difference between debit and credit more when they process lots of small transactions (think gas stations) as opposed to something like this.

When you pay with a credit card you get some protections.  Under the law, you cannot be charged for a product or service that you do not receive.  This was a big factor in recent years when airlines have gone bankrupt.  People with pre-paid tickets who paid by credit card got almost immediate refunds, since they never received the service.  People who paid with debit cards or checks became unsecured creditors of the airline with much less chance for recovery.

Of course you are in Canada and the laws may be different there.  But here in the US I always try to pay for everything by credit card.  Not just for the aforementioned protection but because they pay me 1% to use the card and I always pay the full bill every month.

Thank you dkolo and turtleback. I didn't take that into consideration. I think I am going to really make it a point to try and get this offer paid by credit card since it is in fact for services pertaining to next year and the golf this year is just an added free bonus.

[iacas]

Awful lot of cynicism in this thread. It's $499, guys, and they probably have tons of open tee times during those days.