Just recently Inside Timeshare has been receiving many enquiries regarding RSB Legal, mostly Club la Costa members, they have all been the same, “have they gone out of business as we cannot contact them”?
Well the short answer is probably yes, according to Company House records under Company Status, there is an “Active proposal to strike off”, which means they are about to be liquidated. They are also overdue on this years accounts, which have not yet been submitted. (See PDF below)
What were RSB Legal doing?
The “service” they were offering was cancellation of timeshare contracts and compensation claims on a no win no fee basis, sounds good does it not?
Only problem is that to make the claim the client must pay thousands to cancel the contract first, once the client is out of the timeshare they would then do a claim. Only one problem here, how is the claim to be made?
As most of the timeshares were purchased in Spain, then Spanish Timeshare Law applies, this is where the problem lies. Once the timeshare has been cancelled, it is not possible to take the claim through a Spanish Court, there is no contract in existence, therefore no claim.
So this leaves us with only one alternative, a Section 75 under the Credit Consumer Act 1974. But this only covers the following:
Goods and services not received, the company has gone into liquidation, (therefore you will not receive the goods or services), faulty goods or goods not fit for purpose.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases
Now considering that many have used their timeshares, the timeshare company will argue with your credit card provider that you have used the goods and services, after all you have booked holidays!
Section 75 does not cover a timeshare for contravening Spanish Timeshare Law, for instance, the illegal taking of deposits or full payment within the 14 day cooling off period, contracts with a duration of more than 50 years or floating weeks and points systems.
The only way to claim for these breaches and have the contract declared null and void, that is different to being cancelled, is through litigation in a Spanish Court. Also not all contracts will be claimable, there are cases which will not be accepted either by a reputable law firm or the courts.
Now for the relinquishment, our readers have also told us that their cancellations have been passed to another firm called Taylor Marshall Associates, again the story is the same. They are told not to pay anymore maintenance fees, then after some time the client receives a letter stating that their contract has been terminated. Unfortunately they find out from Club la Costa that it has not. Below is an extract from Club la Costa’s email to clients:
“Since February 2016 CLC World (‘CLC’) has been receiving identical ‘copy’ correspondence, from companies called ‘Taylor Marshall’ and ‘RSB Legal’ in respect of some of our Members. Regardless of the holiday product held by the Member or their membership history, the only change to each letter is the name of the Member on the top of the correspondence.
Furthermore, the correspondence was initially near identical to those received from other claims companies against whom the UK authorities are now taking legal action.
Over the last 2 years, CLC has consistently advised Taylor Marshall and their associated company RSB Legal that we will NOT accept their correspondence as correct notification to “TERMINATE” any CLC World membership. CLC World has an established free of charge exit strategy in place for all CLC Members and we do NOT accept Surrender or Relinquishment notices from third party claims companies. Despite this, Taylor Marshall (RSB Legal) continue to falsely claim that they are successful in somehow ‘forcing’ CLC World to release members from their contracts. This is simply untrue.
CLC will only complete a Surrender Request when processed direct with the CLC Member.
We have seen Taylor Marshall’s so called ‘Contracts’ that state that Members should not speak with CLC World or they will face financial penalties. We understand that this, unnecessarily worries many of you, and if this is the case, may we respectfully suggest to you that you contact either the CLC World MS Legal team OR one of the well-established organisations we refer to below for advice.
Unfortunately, there are many ‘Third Party Claims’ companies who encourage people to ‘sign-up’ with them by making false claims about their membership. Many of these companies are linked to each other and we are glad to report that more and more the UK Authorities are taking positive enforcement action on behalf of individuals who have become involved with these companies”.
Why would Taylor Marshall’s contract state that members should not contact CLC World or face financial penalties?
Could it be they don’t want you to find out that your contract has not been cancelled?
Are they that nieve that you will not find out, after all you will end up getting demands for maintenance fees?
CLC are not the only company that hold this position, many more are taking the same line, Diamond have a policy in place, one is exceptional circumstances which cover those over 75, death of a partner, financial hardship and medical. If the member does not fall into this then they have the possibility of relinquishing on payment of 2 years maintenance.
We now have another problem, as the work has not been done is there a chance of getting the money back under section 75?
If this was paid partially or in full on a credit card there is a possibility, the problem is that RSB Legal will claim as they do not actually do the relinquishments but contract them out to a third party, Taylor Marshall, they have fulfilled their contractual obligations. After all the claim is no win no fee!
Now that RSB Legal cannot be contacted and there is a proposal to strike off, the possibility of claiming may come under “the company is no longer trading”, so a claim may be possible.
Whether they are UK based or Spanish based companies, there are many more who use the same method of extracting your money, the only safe option is to do your homework before paying any money. If you do pay never do so by any other means than a credit card, that way at least you may just be able to get the money back.
If you have any questions or concerns about any company that has contacted you with a similar “pitch”, contact Inside Timeshare and we will be pleased to help and point you in the right direction.
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