The Timeshare Consumer Association (TCA) are a timeshare owner’s body who stand up for consumers’ rights in timeshare. The lockdowns that are being enforced throughout the globe mean that most timeshare owners won’t get a chance to use their timeshare this year. But all timeshare owners are still having no choice but to pay their maintenance fees for a timeshare they can’t visit.
The TCA have launched a campaign with an aim to get back millions of pounds for timeshare owners after becoming concerned that timeshare owners will be paying fees to resort companies when they have been unable to take their holidays because of the pandemic shutdown. The misery is likely to go on for British timeshare owners as the Spanish government is considering extending the closure of its borders until October. British travellers who are not a resident or are not in possession of a green residency certificate should not attempt to enter the country.
It comes as the Competition and Markets Authority announced that firms who fail to refund people for cancelled holidays, flights and associated activities such as weddings because of the virus outbreak could be taken to court if they flout the law.
But the Timeshare Consumer Association says timeshare owners are also missing out to the tune of millions of pounds.
To help with the campaign, the TCA have created an online Maintenance Survey to gather vital information from timeshare owners. In their words this is “so that we can better understand the situation faced in relation to their maintenance fees with the objective to seek refunds for those affected.”
The body is keen to hear if maintenance has already been paid and how much for the period when no-one has been able to use their timeshare property now or in the future due to the Covid-19 outbreak. They also want to know whether any holiday was cancelled and whether they had already paid, whether they have received a refund or credit note towards the missed week/s, and if flights have been refunded.
“There are millions of pounds currently sat in timeshare developers’ pockets and their stance is to offer worthless promissory notes, similar to those being offered illegally by airlines and tour operators,” said a TCA spokesman Charles Drummond-Moray. “We have cash rich timeshare companies invoicing for yearly maintenance costs and the poor timeshare owners get hammered again.
“The CMA has launched investigations into this flouting of the law but timeshare owners appear to have been ignored and individuals could be due thousands of pounds.”
On Thursday (April 30) the CMA (Consumer and Marketing Association) announced that four out of five complaints it received about the Covid-19 crisis were about cancellations of flights and holidays, and the payment of refunds – with holiday makers facing pressure from airlines and holiday companies to take vouchers instead of refunds for journeys and accommodation.
The CMA said consumer law requires a full refund if a contract to provide promised goods or services has been cancelled. And that includes not only if no service is being provided because of the Covid-19 restrictions during the ‘lockdown’ but also if the consumer has to cancel because of the restrictions.
Here at Timeshare Release, we are supporting the work that TCA are doing and invite you to take this survey as we believe your voice should be heard. To do this please visit www.timeshareconsumerassociation.org.uk and register.
Because this is such a hot topic right now, the Press Release was picked up by several highly respected media companies such as London Stock Exchange and Yahoo Finance. You can view via the links below.
During the Timeshare sales boom of the 80s & 90s, potential buyers were lured in by the promise of affordable exotic holidays, flexible exchange programmes and the impression that Timeshare would be a valuable "investment".
In an industry with little or no regulation, high pressure sales tactics were rife and contract smallprint was often glossed over and explained away by sharp salespeople.
Many Timeshare buyers were therefore unaware that they were actually making significant, long term financial commitments on behalf of themselves and their families.
To find out how you can escape the Timeshare Trap please complete the short Timeshare Release Wizard now.
For many Timeshare owners, annual maintenance fees were barely considered token amounts in the early "honeymoon period" of ownership.
However, year-on-year increases imposed by the resorts over time now mean that the maintenance fees have risen to become substantial sums.
Owners are also facing the prospect of ongoing yearly fee increases and realising that they (and their families) are often committed to long term contracts for generations to come.
Please try our Future Fees Calculator to estimate your liabilities over the term of your Timeshare contract, based on an annual increase of 7.5%.
If you're concerned about rising fees and how to escape the Timeshare Trap, please contact us today.
Recent comments from RCI Timeshare owners who have come to us for help with contract cancellation:
“We 'swapped ‘another place in Tenerife for this in order to move to the points system. Since then, getting exchanges to desirable resorts proves almost impossible, irrespective of in-season or off-season.”
“I purchased my timeshare in 1999 and have been a timeshare member ever since. More often than not, I have not be able to go where I wanted and have ended up giving a few weeks to Friends, etc to book somewhere they wanted in order not to lose the weeks. I have then stayed in a hotel!! I am desperately trying to get rid of the timeshare and am now paying Timeshare Shop in Manchester to get rid of it for me.”
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