Cheated holidaymakers have grouped together telling the National Consumer Commission’s Timeshare Inquiry how they all felt intimidated and pressured into signing perpetual contracts‚ paying holiday clubs thousands for timeshare holidays that never materialised.
Ebrahim Mayet‚ 57‚ Lenasia businessman‚ spoke on the first day of the public hearings in Pretoria stating that he alone paid over R50‚000 in holiday timeshares to two separate holiday clubs and all he received was a decorative pen and six colourful holiday tickets which later proved impossible to redeem.
Timeshare is described as a joint ownership of a holiday home‚ where the consumer can get exclusive use of the apartment for a particular week dependent upon the points they have purchased.
There is an annual fee involved and further points can be purchased which means they can swap for a different time and or resort, however Mayet claimed this to be nothing but a scam.
Mayet originally received a phone call from the travel clubs and was informed he had in fact won two holidays, however, in order to redeem his prizes, he had to attend two presentations.
During the presentations, he was informed he could choose any of the holiday destinations listed in the brochure. After the presentations, Mayet felt he was pressured into signing a contract. He was never given the opportunity or chance to read the contents, he was led to believe it was a one off opportunity. A year after paying deposits of R16‚000 and R7‚000 respectively on top of the monthly payments of about R2‚000 to each of the two holiday clubs‚ he decided to redeem the points he had accumulated for a holiday.
Upon contacting the resorts, Mayet was informed the timeshare apartment was not available and in return was given several holiday vouchers to Thailand, however to redeem the vouchers, guess what, yes he needed to sit for three more presentations, it was at this point he realised he was going to get nothing. It was a scam‚ end of”.
Having tried several times to cancel the contract, Mayet was told it was perpetual and that his children would inherit it when he dies. Or they requested R23‚000 for their cancellation fees. At this point Mayet stopped paying his monthly fees only then to be threatened with being blacklisted.
Ebrahim Mohamed a National Consumer Commissioner‚ commented that they have in the past two decades received thousands of complaints‚ mainly about the points system‚ perpetual contract which are not governed by the Consumer Protection Act‚ along with unreasonable property levies and the infamous unavailability of accommodation.
The NCC tries its best support the consumers, however the issues never seem to stop. “It is this kind of behaviour by the vacation ownership industry that has prompted us to resort to a public inquiry to comprehensively deal with all consumer issues to find a permanent solution for them‚”
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