Over the past week Inside Timeshare has received many comments regarding the ongoing dispute at Los Claveles in Tenerife, it would appear there is a split among the owners. Not all are siding with the committee or agree with how the committee is handling the situation regarding the removal of Wimpen / Ona Group as the managing company.
Inside Timeshare first reported this story back in May when we received information of owners being refused admission to the resort, with the elderly Club President being threatened and manhandled. She was then accused of an assault and spent hours being questioned by the police.
It must also be remembered that the contract for Wimpen to act as the management company came to an end at the beginning of May, yet they still demanded that maintenance fees be paid to them. They even terminated the employment of many members of the resort staff, which considering they no longer had the contract to manage the resort would suggest they had no right to do so.
These are some of the comments received, they reflect the split in opinion between the owners and members of the club.
“The full results of the arbitration have yet to be released, so I don’t know how you can say “the judgement was in total favour of the owners and the owners committee”. It seems you are only telling one side of the story. Why haven’t you obtained a comment from WimPen?”
“I am surprised by your biased report above. Nobody has yet seen the result of the arbitration. Both sides have picked out bits that support their own claims. I am an owner at Los Claveles and am impressed by the manner Wimpen continue to conduct the running of Los Claveles . I have never received a threatening letter from Wimpen or Ona, nor have any if my friends who are owners there. The committee does not have a 100% support from owners as you have been led to believe. Nor will they.”
“Hi Susan many owners have published their threatening letters from Wimpen on Facebook or posted that they have received threatening letters as you well know. I have, myself received several, and I have exchanged many messages with you with evidence on Wimpen’s wrong doings, so please do not accuse the report above of being biased as it is not.”
“I believe the the constitution also says the committee should of also kept records of the coming and going at Los claveles so the blame game continues and yet the committee take no responsibility for the mess the owners are in no surprise there”
“Dennis, the Constitution, Clause 11.5, states that “the Committee shall maintain or cause to be maintained a register of owners”.
Wimpen were employed by the owners to maintain the Register on behalf of the owners.
Wimpen refused to comply with Arbitrator’s Awards to release the Register to the Committee so that the Committee could contact ALL owners with a true statement of the facts and call an AGM for all to attend. Wimpen, therefore denied ALL owners the opportunity to attend the AGM. Wimpey, in their wisdom, drafted Constitution Clause 19.4 which permits the Committee to hold meetings if the Register is not available.”
“I dont believe anyone has suggested the Committee has 100% support, I certainly have not seen that statement posted anywhere. I would indeed be an unusual situation to have 100% support for anything these days. However they certainly do have a large proportion of owners supporting them in this issue and one has to bear in mind that in this instance its weeks of ownership and not head count that carries the day not that I think it will make any difference. I can only assume that you have received no threats from Wimpen as no doubt you will have paid them the maintenance fees rather that the correct method of paying the Club as required under the Constitution. Thats the rule book for the resort that you signed up to comply with when you purchased.”
Inside Timeshare also received the following by email:
I have read your article and associated comments with interest and, whilst not wishing to turn your website into a battleground for our dispute, wish to submit the following response.
It is a shame that Onagrup/Wimpen and their supporters appear to operate double standards when it comes to ‘the right to respond’.
Since the dispute started in 2015 I have sent numerous communications and requests to Directors and employees of Wimpen, many have gone unanswered and others have been very selective as to which questions they reply to.
In 2000, Wimpen filed the Deed of Adaptation for Los Claveles, partly in accordance with Ley 42/98. In 2015 I requested a copy of the Deed from Ian Crane, Wimpen’s Director of Administration, but the reply was that ‘he was out of the office’. A few months later in 2016 I repeated the request but have still not yet received a copy of the Deed from Wimpen nor any reply.
The Club Constitution states that members are bound by the Regulations of the Community of Owners, copies of which are available on request from Wimpen. The Community of Owners is a separate entity within Los Claveles, registered with the Spanish fiscal authorities, NIF H38392122. In 2015 I emailed Jesus Monedero, Wimpens Director of Resort Finance and Community representative for Los Claveles, requesting a copy of the said regulations. To date I have not had a reply.
A similar request to Wimpens accounts department in 2015 resulted in them sending me an out of date copy of the Club Constitution.
Also in 2015, I emailed Ivan Pengelly, MD of Wimpen, requesting information about the Regulations of the Community of Owners, amongst other items. He totally avoided answering that specific point.
Again in 2015 I emailed Germán Castro, General Manager of Onagrup, and Ivan Pengelly, asking why they had not guaranteed that the future of Los Claveles would remain in the control of the owners and Club members. There has been no guarantee from either of them on that point.
Ivan Pengelly and Germán Castro both acknowledged this year that their contract with the Club expired on 02nd May 2017. I later received a letter from Sr. Castro, dated May 11th to which I replied by email correcting the many inaccuracies contained within his letter and questioned why they continued to use the members register when they had previously acknowledged that they did not have a contract with the Club. Sr Castro did not have the courtesy to reply.
Earlier this year I noticed on my credit card statement that payment of fees using Wimpens online facility went to Wimpey Leisure SA, a company that ceased to exist in 2004. Further checks of previous statements revealed that this had been the case as far back as 2007. In August I emailed Wimpens accounts department querying this, as my credit card provider had said that it was very suspicious. Not having had a reply I then emailed the same query to Sr. Castro in September, suggesting that the Agencia Tributaria may be interested. To date I have still not had a reply.
Having received an invoice in September for fees due for my week 14 in 2018, I emailed the accounts department questioning why they had done so when they did not have a contract with the Club, and pointed out that this use of the members register breached Spain’s data protection laws and that the correct way to proceed was for Wimpen to invoice the Clubs representatives for fees due for the maintenance of the common areas of the resort. No reply was received and so, in October, I emailed Sr. Chinea Cruz, Wimpens registered Data Controller pointing out the many breaches of the data protection law which also includes installing CCTV without seeking the prior consent of owners. Again there has been no response.
Edward
We have also received the following letter from the Club Chairman to Mr Pengelly, click on the PDF to read it in full.
As this article was about to be published Inside Timeshare received the following press release from the official opposition:
Los Claveles – Owners Fight Back
As you can see, there is a very big difference of opinion, one recurring theme is evident, the apparent lack of communication between all parties. Communication and dialogue is the only way this matter is going to be resolved, we know there will never be 100% agreement, but unless all parties are aware of the facts, nothing will be resolved.
Inside Timeshare will continue to follow this story and publish the latest news as and when it comes in, we thank all who have contributed. In response to Edwards opening comment not to turn the website into a “battle ground”, we do not see it that way, it is Inside Timeshares belief that by providing you with a forum to discuss these matters and to see the views of other parties, maybe, just maybe we will see this resolved. Then the Club can get back to what it was, a community enjoying each others company and holidays at this beautiful resort.
The post Los Claveles: A Difference of Opinion. appeared first on Inside Timeshare.