The Imperial Country Club
I have always thought that being a member of a prestigious country club has its privileges of being treated special. However, it is not the case with a country club at Lippo Karawaci. I first bought a membership for my family about a year ago. Back then we were enticed into joining with the assurance that the membership could be resold and was transferable. We were also told that the maximum membership would not exceed 2,000 members, in order to avoid overcrowding. On top of this we paid monthly subscription dues in order to be allowed to use the facilities.
The problem arose when we had to move from West Jakarta to the South. This gave us no choice but to give up our membership, so we tried calling the club concerning the sale of our membership. We spoke to one of the membership managers and inquired about the sale of our membership and assistance from the club to sell it on our behalf. The reply received was a very disappointing one. The manager first told us that they could not assist us in the sale, because the club has its own sales target to achieve. As a result, priority would be given to achieving the club's own sales target. It seems pretty obvious that selling a new membership earns commission compared to one that is resold.
The current offer price is Rp 8,200,000 with a promotional discount of 25 percent, making it Rp 6,700,000 plus free vouchers and sports gifts. I asked how much the gifts and voucher totaled up to and the reply was around Rp 500,000, which would make the membership cost around Rp 5,650,000 without any frills. I told the manager that I was prepared to sell it for less than Rp 5,650,000, with a discount between Rp 300,000 and Rp 500,000.
Instead of getting assistance from the manager, she ended up telling me that my membership was not new any more and it was considered secondhand. It would be very difficult to sell it at that kind of price. When asked what price would be appropriate, her reply was at least a 50 percent discount, otherwise there was no way I would be able to sell it.
This is the first time I have ever heard of a country club's membership being classified as secondhand, depreciating in value instead of appreciating.
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