It’s music to the ears of many timeshare consumers and it’s been a long time coming. The industry is about to go under the microscope with the National Consumer Commission (NCC) announcing that a public inquiry into the multi-billion-rand “vacation ownership” industry will take place.
It’s the same old story for the unfortunate consumers who were duped into signing contracts more often than not into perpetuity, first preference bookings at convenient times and preferred resorts were never available, points been worthless, ever increasing maintenance fees and should the consumer try to relinquish their contracts, they were made to jump through hoops making it an almost impossible task.
We at TCA are contacted daily, and the most common complaints are such as:
- “I have been trying to withdraw from my timeshare contract over some time and the company keeps telling me that I have to wait for the review committee to review my contract before going any further, and that the process is a lengthy one”. All the paperwork that is requested is presented, some of which is highly personal and a little invasive, such as requesting all my financial information. Of what relevance is that to me cancelling my contract?
- “I can no longer afford the maintenance fees and would like to cancel my contract as soon as possible”. The original contract was signed by my parents, pensioners who didn’t know what they were getting into. I therefore took over the contract as they were unable to cancel it and it became a burden for them. Neither I, nor my parents, have ever used their services.
- “After entering into a competition several years ago my wife and I were invited to a presentation which explained we had won a ‘random holiday’. The story is too embarrassing to go into too much detail, so to cut a long story short, money gets taken out of our account monthly for a product or service we’ve never used. “The one and only time we did try to use it, to get ‘cheaper flight tickets’, we were informed they could not assist us. We have tried to get out of the contract and cancelled the debit order, however we were then threatened with legal action”.
Ebrahim Mohamed from the National Consumer Commissioner didn’t hold back his contempt for the industry either, when he announced a new public inquiry. The view has always been held from The National Consumer Commission that each and every complaint from timeshare consumers are valid and warranted. “We adopted this view based on our assessment of individual complaints over time thousands of them, may I add, which have been lodged against holiday clubs and their value chain role-players over the past nearly two decades, since I joined the former Office of Consumer Protection,”
Two years ago, the NCC attempted and failed to lodge a successful claim with the National Consumer Tribunal after an investigation into three of the major holiday clubs. The claim was withdrawn due to technical “defects”, however, the Vacation Ownership Association (Voasa) claim it’s because the commission was ill-prepared.
Mohamed stated, “We were legally challenged by these clubs. The NCC has appointed a three member panel to lead the inquiry. Diane Terblanche, executive chairperson of the National Consumer Tribunal, Aubrey Ngcobo, a property law specialist and Zandile Mpungose, a contract management specialist are confirmed to be the appointed panel members. The investigation will take place over the next 6 months across the country, by engaging with consumers, role-players, regulators and others.
Back in July 2015, Voasa submitted a revised Code of Conduct for the business to the NCC for consideration and approval. To date, the NCC has not approved nor commented on this document.
The association also strongly disagrees that there have been “thousands” of complaints, as “no such record has been produced to support this”.
Trudie Broekmann a Consumer law expert, has reservations: “While I agree the enquiry into the timeshare industry is important and a matter for the National Consumer Commission, I think the issues are already fairly clear and I wonder whether any substantial new information about the malpractices of the industry will come to light during the enquiry. I have been contacted by more than 50 clients who have had trouble cancelling their contracts with holiday timeshare providers… It is not necessary for consumers who have contracted with the industry to remain in these onerous contracts, a consumer attorney can by sending a single letter to the timeshare companies, cancel the contracts or demonstrate that they are void”.
“The disadvantage that the NCC faces, is that it can contrivance only the CPA, which could not resolve the subject of whether a contract in perpetuity is valid, at least while waiting for a court to rule on this. The common law and the Property Timesharing Act, when used in unification with the CPA, offer a solid lawful foundation for representing that most of the holiday timeshare contracts are void.”
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