The TCA are still receiving enquiries regarding the ongoing class action against TATOC members, MacDonald Resorts Ltd, regarding their Villacana resort.
The deadline to join the MacDonald Action Group, self imposed by TATOC in order to push through their planned changes to the resort, seems to have passed with little more information regarding the situation.
MacDonald Resorts wish to transfer all fixed apartment and week ownership’s into floating weeks, a change many other resorts have successfully been able to manipulate into reality.
Owners from other resorts that have gone through this process, like Silverpoint’s Beverly Hills Club in Tenerife, have called the TCA in the past, reporting the unease of these proposed changes.
From knowledge of the industry, the owners were well aware of other resorts that had made this change and knew the difficulty they would face when they wanted to secure a week to use. This was expressed even more so if they had previously owned a popular week, like Christmas or New Year. There was no compensation for someone who had purchased a high value week like this or a prime location apartment, they had the same rights of use as every other owner and had to go through the same reservation process and make a “request” to use a particular week, sometimes 24-months ahead of time.
On the whole, these opinions and unease were ignored by the resorts and although it seemed like this was the general consensus among the owners and as such, thought they had the numbers on their side when it came to the committee vote for the change.
As like many resorts which have made this type of change within the constitution, it has been a long and calculated plan. The resorts start by consciously exchanging owners from the resort they want control of, to another resort within their group as they resell to clients during their visit to the resort. They will also “allow” owners to hand back the inventory in some circumstances, knowing that this will benefit to their long term plan. By doing this, the resort builds up their voting power as they control any vote not cast by an owner, either in person or proxy, or for the weeks they hold.
MacDonald Resorts have struck a win-win situation by offering owners the ability to hand back their timeshare by paying four years maintenance!
Inside Timeshare published an interesting article about Manipulation of votes by resorts and resort owners.
As the controlling owners, the resort would also have the right to rent these weeks out, as Beverley Hills Club has, to tour operators and low cost online travel agents. The owners are still obliged to pay the annual maintenance, even if they can’t get the availability they want and end up unable to use their allocated floating week.
If you have signed up for the class action against MRL, do not pay the exit fee. It is believed by paying this fee the owners are prejudicing their legal claim. By paying this fee, you could be considered to have accepted the constitutional changes and waived your rights to any future claim. Be careful what you sign and be conscious of this clause in any new agreement you sign with a timeshare resort as they are all aware that they could potentially be open to a claim.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk