We started this week with Irene’s article on Consumer Protection Week in the US, we end with another.
While in Europe and especially Spain, we have seen more news coming from the Supreme Court. At the start of the week it was announced that Silverpoint formerly Resort Properties, have been ordered to pay back 169,000€. This was announced in the Spanish newspaper El Diario (see link), the Spanish press have been very fast to publicise these rulings, which have gone virtually unnoticed in the UK press.
In another case, the Supreme Court ruled against the same company for infringements of the timeshare laws for a German client. In this particular case the court again stated that the client was a consumer not an investor as Silverpoint had claimed. The client’s contract was declared null and void and awarded over 30,000€.
These cases have been brought by the Canarian law firm Canarian Legal Alliance, who so far since the first Supreme Court ruling 2 years ago, have secured over 3 million euros for their clients, with over 1.2 million euros already in the accounts of the clients.
To celebrate the 2nd birthday of the first ruling, the Norwegian lady who made legal history visited the lawyers who fought her case. Mrs Tove Grimsbo, had an epic battle which lasted several years, her case was highlighted extensively in the Scandinavian press, but through the perseverance of her lawyers she eventually won through.
Inside Timeshare has also this week heard from another reader about a company highlighted in November 2016. Meredith Pritchard Claims Consultancy Limited, based at Regus House in Chester, the then director was Stephen Fairclough. From what the reader has told us, they paid him around £6000, for legal services. They have been told they are dealing with a Tenerife firm called D&M Lawyers, so far our investigations do not look promising.
According to our reader, when they contacted Meredith Pritchard, they were told that Stephen Fairclough no longer works for them. But according to Company House records he is still listed as the Director. Very strange indeed. There will be an article coming on the results of our research soon.
http://insidetimeshare.com/meredith-pritchard-new-exit-claims-company/
So on to Irene Parker’s End of Consumer Protection Week article.
End of Consumer Protection Week March 5 – 11
By Irene Parker
Consumer Protection Week ends today. Here are some tips on purchasing and owning a timeshare. Timeshare is a good product for some but it does not work for everyone.
“Buyer Beware!” The psychological methods used by some timeshare companies and agents are designed to wear the consumer down – difficult to overcome even by the strongest individual. “My personal opinion, working as a sales agent for Diamond Resorts and Hyatt, convinced me that greed and making the sale at any cost is the corporate culture. I saw manipulation, threats, deceit and fraud used to make sales. When you have a good product, these methods are not necessary to make the sale,” reported one former timeshare sales agent.
Do your homework. Few will buy a house or car without some comparison shopping. Contact a member of the Licensed Timeshare Resale Broker Association to compare developer versus secondary market prices and benefit or lack of benefits when buying a “used” timeshare.
http://www.licensedtimeshareresalebrokers.org/
Ask yourself if the “FREE GIFT” is really worth signing a perpetual contract, accompanied by perpetual maintenance fees, in a same day sale, with little or no secondary market. Most timeshare companies do not offer buy-back programs and voluntary surrenders are not guaranteed.
If you are a timeshare owner who feels you were lied to or deceived in your timeshare purchase, and if resolution is not achieved after contacting your resort:
File a complaint with the Attorneys General of the state where you signed your contract, where you live, and where the resort is domiciled.
http://www.naag.org/naag/attorneys-general/whos-my-ag.php
File a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the mortgage option (even if no mortgage).
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
In some states the standard of fraud is as simple as dealing honestly and fairly. In such states, if you were lied to, the contract is fraudulent.
We should begin now planning for Consumer Protection Week 2018. Consumer Protection Week should provide a benchmark as we set goals today that can be measured next year. Goals that can determine where and how timeshare business practices have improved.
As Irene said, do your homework, anything to do with timeshare is a minefield, from first purchase, to resale companies and then to all the so-called legal and claims companies that are now proliferating, especially in Europe following the rulings made by the Spanish Supreme Court.
There are so many companies jumping on that particular band wagon, some are very sophisticated operations, such as Litigious Abogados (see link for the last article, or search Litigious Abogados in the search box for all articles).
http://insidetimeshare.com/litigious-abogados-plot-gets-thicker/
Another facebook group has also taken got off to a flying start (see link below), it is a closed group but welcomes new members. It is a forum for dialogue and debate, taking a different approach to many of these groups that use social media, by encouraging opposing views. They have even welcomed a Diamond sales agent, who has even agreed with some of the owners views on sales practices. This is what is needed if timeshare is to change.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DiamondResortsOwnersAdvocacy/
So there we have it, thank you to Irene and all the contributors in the US, also to the readers who have supplied information on some of the companies we have researched. It is your information that is helping others to negotiate this murky world of timeshare. Have a good weekend.
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