Since April 2016, Inside Timeshare been highlighting the case of Mrs B and her sister and the ongoing battle with MacDonald Resorts and Hotels. I have today spoken with her and she is now happy for her name to be used, Here is her story.
In February 2000 Mrs Price and her sister were on holiday on the Costa del Sol, they attended a presentation at The Dona Lola Club in Calahonda Mijas Costa. At this presentation they purchased 2 weeks in a 3 bedroom apartment, the cost was £7000. The presentation lasted in excess of 4 hours, now as Mrs Price is 87 and her sister now 80, that would have put them at 72 & 65 years old at the time.
Mrs Price stated that the presentation was high pressure and they felt pressurised into the purchase, they then parted with the £7000 there and then. What we now must remember is the regulations on taking any payments within the 14 day cooling off period had been part of Spanish law (42/98) since January 1999. It was also part of the EU Directives on Timeshare. Mrs Price and her sister were not made aware of this fact.
So the sales department at Dona Lola had blatantly flouted a law which had been put into place to protect consumers. This in itself makes the contract they signed null and void.
In her statement Mrs Price also goes on to tell about the other lies and misrepresentations told by the sales person, all in contravention of timeshare regulations.
- They were told that their purchase was an investment, it has only become a liability.
- The salesperson told them that the resort would buy back the timeshare for the same price they paid, when they no longer wanted it.
- They were not made aware that the contract was in perpetuity and would last forever. Again in Spain any contract over 50 years is illegal and would make it null and void.
- Mrs Price and her sister were told that maintenance fees would only increase with the rate of inflation, over the years this was not so, They were also not informed of the historical or current rate of inflation in the 5 years prior to signing the contract.
- They were led to believe that they were purchasing into an exclusive club, that only members and their guests could use. They then discovered that non members were using the resort at less than the maintenance fees of members.
- By becoming a timeshare owner they were told that they would be entitled to various discounts. These were for car rental; travelling, airport transfers and other holiday products. Yet they found out that these discounts were also available to the general public.
Mrs Price, also states that had they been honestly informed of the true position, they would never have purchased this timeshare interest.
To make matters worse, in the time they have owned they have never used this timeshare, this has been due to illness and being unable to travel. Yet they have been obliged to pay the annual maintenance fees and have done so since the purchase in 2000.
After many years Mrs Price tried to sell her timeshare but to no avail, there were no takers. They also tried to surrender their timeshare, even refusing any payment for it, the resort refused.
The original timeshare they purchased was for 2 fixed weeks in a specified apartment, since then they have been transferred from fixed weeks to the points system, without their consent. Again under the ruling made by the Spanish Supreme Court in Madrid, points and floating weeks have been declared illegal and therefore the contract can be considered null and void.
We now move on to 2014, they were contacted by ITRA and duly signed up in may of that year to relinquish and lodge a claim for monies paid. The cost for this was £5695 this was for the Dona Lola timeshare and another at Oasis Lanz, this was paid on 26 May 2014.
On 25 February 2015, a UK notary visited their home and they signed power of attorney and the paperwork for the transfer of the timeshare. On 10 April of that same year Mrs Price received notification that she no longer owned or was responsible for the 2 timeshares. According to the paperwork she received both had been sold to the same person for £1 each. (see Spanish notary document pdf)
Since then they have had no contact or maintenance demand from Oasis Lanz, but have had constant demands for maintenance from MacDonald Resorts. They have also had calls and letters from Network Credit Services based in Lanarkshire, with demands and threats of legal action if not paid. The amount is for £1412.54 and they have now had a demand for the maintenance for 2017 which has increased the amount to £2353.24 which will no doubt be passed to Network Credit Services.
When Inside Timeshare contacted Network Credit Services 26 April 2016, we spoke to their agent Maureen, who did put the debt on hold but this would only be for 30 days. They also stated that MacDonald Resorts do not recognise any transfer by ITRA, Mrs Price was unaware of this and would not have taken up ITRA´s services had she known.
Both Mrs Price and her sister are not in good health and are even unable to leave the house. Speaking with her today, she was hoping that someone would be able to take some mail to the post office for her, as she could not go out.
So what of MacDonald Resorts, well there really is not much you can say without using some very profound expletives. Also TATOC are not blameless in this either, Harry Taylor is all for the points system and has publicly stated that it would be better for MacDonald members to accept the change.
To MacDonald Resorts, Inside Timeshare urges you to look at this, to accept that 2 elderly and not well ladies are being harassed by you and your debt collectors, even though you have received years of maintenance from them and let them go.
We urge you to cancel the demands for payment, cancel the membership and leave them in peace. Inside Timeshare will not let this go, we shall publish this story wherever we can, and will continue to publish until the matter is resolved and Mrs Price and her sister are left alone. Contact Mrs Price, make an apology and do what is right not what makes a profit!
Timeshare does not have a good reputation, MacDonald Resorts are not helping in their behaviour, after all how many times have we seen them in the news for these type of actions. Tony Hetherington has published many stories about them. The BBC only recently highlighted a case where another family had the same problem of not being able to surrender.
MacDonald Resorts themselves offer a surrender program, but it is quite honestly a joke. They only offer it to selected resorts every 2 years, they also want around 4 years maintenance fees and it is on a first come first served basis. So there is no guarantee that you as a member will be accepted.
If the timeshare industry is to continue (we have said this before, the idea is good one), companies such as MacDonalds need to change how they operate and treat the people who keep them in business. TATOC need to ensure they also change how they work and start to help the very people who also make sure they exist. After all without the timeshare companies all the staff at TATOC would not have any jobs.
Related Documents
spanish_notary_document_02
itra_letter_confirming_transfer_of_timeshare_interests
Links to BBC Program and Tony Hetherington
http://insidetimeshare.com/bbc-scotland-investigates-problems-timeshare-contracts/
If you have had problems such as this, Inside Timeshare would like to hear from you, it is only through constant publication of stories like this will the timeshare industry change for the better. The concept of timeshare is a good one, if it was run in a manner where members are treated with respect and dignity, not just as machines to produce profits.
The post The Story of Mrs B: Open Letter to MacDonald Resorts appeared first on Inside Timeshare.