A widower from Timaru, New Zealand has recently been caught up in a timeshare holiday scam that saw her $600 lighter of pocket. After recently losing her husband, Anita Ramsay booked a holiday to help her get over her loss. She booked a cruise through a travel agent, but she was then convinced to change her holiday plans after receiving a call from ‘Affordable Holidays’. They said that if she paid a one-off amount of $110, she would become a member of the club and receive vouchers that totalled over that amount that she would be able to spend in Australia, where her cruise was stopping of at various places.
Mrs Ramsay told the caller that she was not interested at that time, she had just lost her husband and she was already happy with the holiday choices that she had made. However, this was not to be the end of it. Three weeks later Mrs Ramsay received another phone call from a representative at Affordable Holidays who at this point informed her she had won the competition and was due up to $4500 in vouchers. She simply had to give them her details over the phone to bank the vouchers, which would be posted to her. In the details she gave over the phone, was her credit card number. We, at this point, would like to remind you NEVER give your card details over the phone.
Several weeks later, Mrs Ramsay hadn’t received the vouchers and was starting to become suspicious. Then she received her VISA card statement, which had the $110 debited off of it, along with another amount, both totalling $596.45. Since receiving her statement, Mrs Ramsay has been trying in vain to contact Affordable Holidays, who have both a New Zealand and Australian contact. She has had no luck getting in touch with them since this. The only thing she gets is an answer machine;
“Thank you for your call. Unfortunately, Affordable Holidays and Holiday Gurus is currently closed,” the voice message says.
“If you are a member of Affordable Holidays and Holiday Gurus, a communication will shortly be issued in relation to your membership.
She is completely distraught, she has even sat at her late husband’s’ graveside crying to him about how stupid she has been. She left several emails to the holiday company which she didn’t receive a reply to. Then she left Facebook messages on their page to which another ‘user’ of the page, Ian Brown, claimed to be the CEO of Affordable Holidays, saying they were not a scam and that he had sent a message through private messenger. Mrs Ramsay has yet to receive a message.
She has decided to go to the police with her case against Affordable Holidays. She may have some luck receiving the monies back if she can claim against her credit card company. However, she may not! We would like to reiterate the importance of NOT giving card details over the phone unless you are 100% positive the person/company that you are speaking with is genuine.
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