14/02/2009 by bill.

The Office of Fair Trading is appealing for complaints from timeshare owners who have received unsolicited approaches by scammers claiming to be resale agents and promising a ‘guaranteed buyer’ and a high price for their unwanted timeshare.

The OFT is aware that many owners have already lost hundreds of pounds to bogus timeshare resale companies with some having also been conned into paying thousands of pounds to obtain bogus holiday club membership on the basis of false promises.

Typical complaints state that the owner of a timeshare has been subject to an unsolicited telephone call by a bogus timeshare resale company which claims that a ‘definite buyer’ has been found for their timeshare and that an above market offer has been made to buy it.

Consumers are first tricked into making an upfront payment of several hundred pounds, to cover so-called ‘administration costs’ or ‘land registry charges’ but then the ‘definite buyer’ falls through. The consumer is subsequently asked to attend a meeting with another buyer, often referred to as a ‘corporate buyer,’ to discuss their offer. Often these meetings take place abroad, most commonly in a Spanish resort or other holiday destination where the consumer is made to sit through a high pressure sales presentation often lasting several hours. They will be offered membership of a bogus holiday club in exchange for their timeshare plus an additional payment of several thousand pounds. The OFT is warning timeshare owners to be cautious if they receive an unsolicited approach by a company claiming to be able to sell their timeshare who:

* requests an up-front fee such as an administration fee, VAT, land registry charge or insurance cover
* offers an unrealistic purchase price – often higher than the original purchase price
* says they have a confirmed buyer waiting or a ‘corporate buyer’
* pressures you into making a decision on the spot
* asks you to go abroad to complete a sale.

Genuine avenues for timeshare resale do exist but the OFT advises owners to always take advice first, do some research on the company making the offer and to check out the truthfulness of any promises made before making a decision.

The OFT is asking any UK consumers who have lost money to timeshare resale scammers to make contact and provide it with written information and documentation. The OFT is appealing for information from consumers who, having signed up, attended a holiday club presentation in Spain and having purchased holiday club membership found the services on offer in terms of range, price and quality of holidays not as promised by the salesmen. The OFT cannot intervene in an individual case or get consumers’ money back for them, but the evidence provided could strengthen any enforcement action to be taken by the Spanish authorities and ensure that those who mislead consumers are prevented from doing so in the future. Any consumers with a complaint about timeshare resale scammers or bogus holiday club operators should write to the OFT at: ScamBusters, Bogus Holiday Club Project, OFT, Fleetbank House, 2-6 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8JX. We will acknowledge all receipts and will contact consumers again should we require further details.

Click here for more from the OFT

Click here for advice on for anyone thinking of investing in Timeshare/Hoilday Ownership

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28/08/2008 by bill.

moneyjungle.net includes advice for anyone thinking of investing in timeshare and how to avoid holiday club scams.Click here for more.

But existing timeshare owners should also be aware of tempting offers that may come your way. Typically these involve either someone cold calling or approaching the woner when on holiday and saying they have buyer for the timeshare week(s) owned and offering a price that seems much higher than the normal resale price. Remember if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

If receiving a call you may wonder how they got your contact details, well it could be that you have listed your weeks for sale and details have been passed on, but sometimes it seems that the data must have been obtained by one means or another either from your resort database or from an exchange company.

The scammers can sound terribly convincing and their offers sound very attractive, particularly if you are looking to sell your holiday weeks perhaps because you purchased them many years ago but now you are older you no longer find they offer good value for money. It is a sad fact that often the scammers target older timeshare owners.

Often the scammers will tell you that they have a buyer for your week(s) perhaps a company looking to buy weeks to rent out but require an upfront payment from you - this is sometimes referred to as a non refundable admin fee, on other occasions it may be justified on the grounds that they need assurance that you will not pull out part way though the deal. Reputable timeshare resellers never ask for an upfront fee except perhaps a small fee to cover advertising, the scammers may be looking for several hundred pounds or more.

Sometimes they will offer to sell your week with a guarantee that if they fail they will buy the weeks off you. Their contracts may look water tight but somewhere in the small print you will find no such guarantee exists or not at the selling price offered at least.

What happens next depends on the scam. Sometimes you just lose your deposit but at least you still have your owner certificate so you can continue to use your holiday weeks, in other cases you may transfer ownership in exchange for membership of a holiday club - with a further fee of course, and a promise that you will get your money back at a later date. When this doesn’t happen and you complain you may well find you are then approached by another company offering to take action to recover your money, of course they will require you to pay an upfront fee, or perhaps go to visit them in Tenerife where they will offer free accomodation and a consultation which will in practice turn out to be a sales presentation for a holiday club.

Some scammers will use ‘timescare’ tactics to persuade you to sell your weeks, for example, a company is buying sufficient weeks to buy your resort and then run it down so your week will be worthless. Or they have special deals with the exchange companies giving them priority over ordinary members so you will not be able to exchange your weeks.

Avoiding these timeshare resale scams is straightforward. If you are cold called, ask where they got your contact details from, if they claim it is from your timeshare report, say that you will check that with the resort before you discuss anything - and then do so. Never, ever go to talk to anyone when on holiday after being offered a scratch card in the street and apparently winning a prize.

If you want to sell your holiday weeks always go to a reputable reseller preferably one that is an accredited member of an appropriate body like the Organisation for timeshare in Europe, but be careful, some scammer companies have been known to set up their own scam trade body that is nothing more than a web page!

Never pay an upfront fee, always shop around to find a reseller you are comfortable with and do be realistic about your asking price.

Finally, if in doubt consult your solicitor.

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30/05/2008 by bill.

British owners of timeshare at Spanish resorts face big increases in their management fees this year. The pound is down over 13% against the Euro compared to a year ago so, with inflation, British owners could face increases in fees approaching 20%. With weekly management fees of £400 not uncommon this could mean an increase of £80 a week.

For more information about owning timeshare see moneyjungle.net.

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05/07/2007 by bill.

Many people argue that the timeshare concept is dead but Butlins disagrees and together with companies like Marriott are successfully selling luxury timeshare - or rather vacation club - weeks at £15,000 or more.

The days will hopefully soon be gone when you buy a scratch card or respond to  a telephone call and go to a holiday club presentation only to finish up with points that you find difficult to exchange for holidays where or when you want to go.

The Butlins BlueSkies vacation club resort in Somerset offers luxury apartments with sea views, a concierge serve, wi-fi access, and TVs with DVDs and computer games.

You may pay £13,000 for enough points to get you a high season week at Blueskies for 30 years, or to use at other Butlins resorts or exchange to other resorts around the world through the timeshare exchange company RCI. Prices are lower out of high season.

Companies like Marriott and Butlins are setting new standards for shared ownership and holiday clubs that may be difficult for traditional fixed week timeshare resorts to match. But timeshare resale companies offer weeks in excellent resorts that can be used year after year or exchanged for similar resorts in Europe, the US and around the world at a fraction of the price.

As with any investment, we recommend you do some research, see moneyjungle.net for tips on how to go about this.

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08/06/2007 by bill.

At long last the EU is set to extend the consumer protection laws that apply to timeshare sales to the holiday clubs that some organisations have set up to get round the regulations. Many of these are little more than scams and people have paid out thousands of pounds only to find that the holidays they were promised do not exist.

As with timeshare sales the regulations will ban upfront payment, provide consumers with a 14 day cooling off period and require contracts to specify clearly just what the club offers.

However, the change will not come into force until 2010, until then consumers are advised to watch out for warning signs, scratch cards offering prizes in exchange for attending a presentation, cold telephone calls, offers of exotic holidays for life in first class resorts or hotels. If the offer sounds to good to be true it probably is.

For more advice on investing in timeshare or holiday ownership see moneyjungle.net.

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