Timeshare on a whole, experiences it’s fair share of complaints. In particular, at the moment there seems to be an epidemic of complaints in Mexico and accusations of fraudulent selling practices and timeshare.
I’m going to outline a few common complaints that are raising their ugly heads at the moment so when you are looking into timeshare, you know what to look out for as well.
Fixed Maintenance Fees – It’s a fallacy.
A common complaint from timeshare owners is that they were promised (normally in a sales pitch) that the maintenance fees for the timeshare property are fixed. They are not! People are complaining of promises made that the fees will not increase during the life of the contract, however this never then turns out to be the case. There is a danger that with the ever increasing maintenance fees, as a customer you actually end up in a position where you are paying more for your timeshare than you would booking an all inclusive holiday deal at the same resort. In some timeshare resorts, there have also been complaints regarding ‘special assessments’ being implemented. Apparently these are happening every five years in some resorts and are increasing the maintenance fees for that year, sometimes doubling them. According to the resorts the ‘special assessments’ are to cover costs for unexpected circumstance or special projects, please be aware, most resorts will have no valid reason for this additional billing and if you receive an invoice for a ‘special assessment’ make sure you challenge the resort and ask for a complete and clear breakdown of the additional costs and what they are for. Seek advice and guidance if you need it.
A Sound Financial Investment – Not always the case.
One of the most common complaints are that people were mis-sold in their timeshare presentation. Having been promised the world and in fact it’s all untrue. Consumers are being promised guaranteed rental income from their timeshare weeks in the sales pitch. This is leading to customers buying larger packages than they need or even buying something they can’t actually really afford, because they believe it to be a financial investment. The sales people are promising that the timeshare weeks will be advertised and rented through their own marketing program guaranteeing the income, when in fact when they’ve bought their package, the weeks are referred to an outside agency. They will charge an upfront fee to list the property for rental and sadly more often than not the weeks are not rented.
Guaranteed Resale – It’s not a promise.
Most timeshare holiday goers aren’t really interested in buying another timeshare. There are lots of reasons why they don’t and one of these reasons would be paying ongoing (and often increasing) maintenance fees are two timeshare investments. The timeshare sales folk are very aware of this and will make promises they can’t keep to try and sell more to the consumer. Often they will hear that they can re-sell or trade in previously owned timeshare to pay part towards a new timeshare contract.
Consumers may be told that the timeshare resort will take over their old timeshare in favour of the new and that they won’t need to pay the maintenance fees for that property. Others might refer consumers to an outside re-sale agent, who will draw up a contract that says the sale of the other property will be completed within 90-120 days. In that time the timeshare resort will offer incentives to try to entice the consumers to pay in full. This is because they are fully aware that the previously owned timeshare will not in fact re-sell, however they want to ensure they receive full payment.
This complaint is in fact one of the most harmful timeshare complaints as it can have a very real and hurtful financial impact on the consumer who could be left with maintenance fees for two properties and no profit because the re-sale has not happened.
Take note of these complaints and if you hear something that rings an alarm bell, make sure you get all the information you need before you make a commitment.
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