Scams are many and varied
Those who have been scammed and gone down the nightmare path of trying to recover fees, have a good
knowledge of the way it all works. But there are tens of thousands of timeshare owners who do not yet know
that they have been scammed.
There is the “We have a buyer for your timeshare” Scam. Which many owners fell for, but that is now out
of fashion as it very rarely works due to the state of the resale section of the industry. In other words there is
none, there are no buyers, and offers to buy expensive timeshares are just a ploy to get you to pay very high
up front fees, then it all falls through or you are offered an exchange, and it all falls through. Either way, you
lose.
Now, the new legislation due to be introduced in 2010 banning up front fees, means the fraudsters have to
find another way of defrauding you.
We are watching out for them, so keep checking back here for any that we find and contact us if you think you
have been scammed and we will assist where we can.
AN OLD NEW SCAM
Many owners of holiday club packages have been approached by companies pretending to buy those holiday
club packages from them for over the top prices. That is another Scam. The Holiday Club Packages such as
Club Class Concierge, Club Class Holidays, Designer Way Vacation Club, Full Circle Holidays
etc. are some of the products that fraudsters have offered to buy for their own clients. They don’t have any
and are only after a fee, the suppliers of these holiday packs do not allow such sales from their own clients
and if you want a more detailed explanation email scambusters.
We have been given information by owners that they have received phone calls from a firm calling itself Club
Class (in the UK) and asking for £900 security deposit, to buy their Old Club Class Package. It is another
scam. Not by Club Class though and Club Class themselves are naturally concerned and have posted a
notice on their website warning owners of any of their packages not to be taken in by these offers. We support
that viewpoint as it has been around for many years.
Exchange company scams and these affect the majority of Timeshare Owners
Mike Haley of the Office of Fair Trading, in his report to the House of Lords in 2007 stated that more than
400,000 UK citizens a year are being defrauded of in excess of £1Bn and that figure was growing.
Scambusters has been at the forefront of this battle directly with the timeshare owners and many of the
Resale Companies involved. Scambusters has also learned that Mike Haley has now left the OFT department
where he did such sterling work and we hope his successor is equally as robust and we thank Mike for all his
and his departments help over the years.
Our success speaks for itself and many tens of thousands of timeshare and would be timeshare owners have
been assisted to either prevent them paying unlawful fees or recovering fees once paid. Since the Credit
Crunch and the near collapse of the Banking and Financial system in September of 2008, the world has
changed especially in Timeshare and the fraudsters can no longer sustain their lies, however, there are those
out there who have defrauded timeshare owners of significant amounts of money and some of the other
scams are listed below:
Skimming - A term used swhere an exchange club removes a large % of the Prime Timeshare weeks from
their pool and they are no longer made available for members. Those weeks are then sold or rented by the
exchange club to the puiblic or Holiday Companies and the owners get nothing.
Maintenance Fees Scam - Timeshare owners who deposit European timeshares in the pool still pay the
high European charges instead of the lower charges in places such as Goa and Thailand which back up the
entire exchange system, and the exchange company get the difference.
The Finance Fee Scam - there are variations to this scam too numerous to mention here. If a customer
makes a deposit and applies for and is granted finance, the interest is usually over the top and they are told
they can redeem early without penalty. When the time comes, they find they cannot do this and there the
problem begins, in many cases their home becomes the security and could be put at risk.
The Transfer Scam - A customer is told that the Timeshare about to be purchased has a high resale value
when in reality it has not and the resale company knows it. It is virtually worthless and that makes what the
customer was told a misrepresentation, or more correctly Fraudulent Misrepresentation. Those scams were
dealt extensively by Scambusters and we helped timeshare owners recover Hundreds of Thousands of
pounds.
We have a buyer for your timeshare Scam? This scam has largely dried up, but there are still one or two
resale companies around who think they can fool you. Do not be fooled. AND PAY NO UP FRONT FEES,
there are no buyers waiting with cash in hand. Only the fraudsters, trying to take your fees and give nothing in
return.
There are a number of timeshare resale companies advertising on Sky TV. There are some resale companies
who are Timeshare Auction companies and this is not evident by the information containedin the Adverts. It is
important to know if the company you are dealing with is an auction company or not and the reason is that
timeshare auction companies are not covered by the Timeshare Act and if anything goes wrong it could affect
a claim so if dealing with one of those companies, check them out and ask if they are an Auction Company or
not and what rights of protection do you have?
Exchange Company Compensation Claim
We believe there are many owners or ex owners who may be eligible to claim fees etc from exchange
companies and may not know it, so we would suggest you consider joining the Class action by the
Independent Timeshare Refund Action.
Should you wish to make a Timeshare Compensation Claim click on the link below and complete
the form on the ITRA website and keep scambusters informed as to progress.
Scambusters (c) 2005-2010
Tenerife Timeshare Scam
Tenerife
There are many thousands of
timeshare resorts, one popular
destination is Tenerife, a
Spanish Island popular with
British Owners as well as many
others. It is also well known for
its timeshare scams and tens of
thousands of owners have
fallen for them.
)
Timeshare Scams there are Solutions?
Spain is a hotbed of scams
The Costa del Sol
All along Spains Costa del Sol
there are companies who are
only in existence to divest you
of your money.
Who would not be tempted by
images like this.
Beware and do not believe
what you are told on the
phone. New EU Legislation
coming into force in 2010
offers a lot more protection
than in the past. NO UP
FRONT FEES and more,
question everything and accept
nothing on face value.
In the meanwhile keep your emails coming with questions about any timeshare organisation
that you are concerned about and we will assist where we can.
