We are currently trying to cancel our Time Share with XXXX and also XXXX.
We know there are many people who face the same problem with these two organisations, who refuse to accept cancellation. They tell us the fees will follow us to the grave and then pass on to our dependants!.
Have any members faced this problem? and is there a solution?
B P
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We have had the same trouble with Classic Holidays. With timeshares in Pacific Palms, there was no rental pool, and we could not cancel the timeshares, and they also threatened fees to our graves, and after!
Choice just started seriously looking into this issue and weâve heard plenty of horror stories already. So far it looks like a complete scam built around locking people into long-term contracts with hard-sell tactics. Deceptive and misleading and then some. Any other firsthand experiences will help move this investigation along.
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Hi Andy
Since my last email our situation has changed, the two timeshares we had have both been cancelled.
We have a deed of agreement with one who cancelled the membership, with the proviso that we do not disclose our actions publicly.
The other membership was cancelled by us agreeing to walk away without any claim for rembursment of joining feeâŠ
To speed things up we wrote to the Credit and Investment Ombudsman in Sydney who then wrote on our behalf re the cancellation.
Following this communication the time share company wrote to us, agreeing to cancel if we walked away and did not make any public statements.
This action has taken over 10 years to reach this solution.
We never asked for a refund, just nthe cancellation.
We ask for your confidentially in this matter, we are satisfied with the outcome.
Any anything you hear about Time Share Sales and the con behind it is all true.
I could write a lot more about other approaches made to us over the years.
Regards
Barry Purvis
Yes, go personally to your timeshare property. Tell the GM that you cannot afford the fees and to sell your property and keep whatever they make for the sale! You may have to pay a small advertising fee.
managed to get our Cxxxxxc Hxxxxxx Cxxx timeshare cancelled thru FOS, a mediocre ombudsman. it woud be best to get a lawyer to draft all the issues even there as they are biased. timeshare is a nasty way of robbing folks of their life savings. choice magazine staff also refused to hear my complaint as they were on the FOS committee as well. we won in spite of their ignoring all my arguments that their audit report was given an adverse opinion. [preventing a wider class action liability though lawyers only take on cases with Millions involved]. we won on flimsier individualised grounds that the unethical sales staff did not explain the terms fully. other major ethical breaches were ignored by FOS. Ironically that argument was ignored in 2 other cases I put to FOS. the dept of fair trading may be a buck passer. the ACCC will not get involved in individual cases but may take up a case collectively. [or more likely not]. prepare your case carefully if you go to FOS. they are unqualified mediators who will knock you down on technicalities even if you âwinâ. the compliance manager of the timeshare will cover up the activities and deny it. you cannot appeal FOS decisions on facts! or errors of the decision makers! any reference to any timeshare in this email is purely coincidental. dont want to be up for defamation to any good business folk here who work for these fine institutions who rely on their unique business practices to attract consumers.
Hi All,
For @Finance-Campaignerâs and other commentators on this thread, here the outcome of our investigation into time share schemes. In our case study, Vivienne details the tricks and tactics that have landed her in a contract until 2080 with a scheme that is difficult if not impossible to utilise properly.
Weâve also made recommendations to the industry regulator.
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Another update on time share schemes, with staff allegedly told to target âpeople dying of cancerâ.
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We recently investigated a timeshare case where the owners are stuck in a bad deal. Read the cautionary tale:
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Blind Freddy seems to be belatedly looking at this. Typically they allow grandfathered contracts to continue, but maybe there will be hope? Unfortunately in the case cited it seems there was no small print until after the fact, but?
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âNo contract and no way outâ - read the latest installment in our ongoing timeshare investigation:
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A very disturbing arrangement. It uses a complex legal arrangement to the potential detriment of those who signed up. Itâs very sophisticated and should have some regulated consumer protections. It appears to have sidestepped escaping these and legal remedy.
Itâs great hear about the effort Choice has put into this investigation and the follow up.
What next?
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What a disgusting bunch of grubs.
Some reviews for these charlatans.
And a Choice article from last year.
Time to call the toothless tigers,er, regulators?
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Another one for when Regulators arenât really regulators. I nominate ASIC, AFCA & APRA for Shonkys as they fail so many times it is just a litany of them. AFCA say âWe donât look after that see ASICâ and then ASIC say go to AFCA. ACCC where are you on unfair Contract terms?
Sometimes it feels like we are paying for Window washing rather than refurbishment when it comes to regulators, it looks good but the whiteants are throughout the structure.
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Window washing or white washing?
Caveat emptor!
Unfortunately it appears consumers have agreed to sign up to a sophisticated financial agreement without fully understanding what they just signed for.
Itâs not a consumer agreement. Itâs a business deal.
Itâs taken advantage of investors in time share in similar ways to the financial services sector where unsophisticated investors signed up to high risk deals. Legally acceptable, but morally inexcusable?
The concept that a contract remains enforceable on your estate beneficiaries, long after passing would seem alien to all but the most legally and commercially knowledgeable.
Can the ACCC undo long accepted business practice, especially retrospectively after so many years? It might need the bigger guns of targeted legislation to force a better outcome.
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Why did they not just refuse to pay?
To send the debt collectors in they will need to get a court order. If they go to court with what appears to be non existent contracts, and if they are represented bro bono by a lawyer, I bet Shearwater or their management company will just accept a mediation outcome.
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We have been approached by Classic Holidays to âtrade inâ our current timeshare weeks (2) for Classic Points which will continue our membership for 10 years and then it will end instead of having to be inherited by our family. The cost would be $10490 plus an account keeping fee of $199 per year. We have been thinking of how to move out of the current contract including selling the weeks which would probably not happen given the current COVID climate. We have used the timeshare regularly in the past but are now getting older and family commitments are impacting. Seeking advice or opinions.
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Welcome to the community @woodpamela,
I moved your post to this existing topic because it reflects a common goal, exiting a timeshare under the best possible circumstances. You might find some interesting posts for insights.
There are some Choice reports, although not focused on your question they may be instructive.
and since you are in Classic, although @Fred123 posted this one previously but Iâll repeat it for your convenience.
as well as a number of other timeshare related reports on Choice, search there for âtimeshareâ.
Members⊠over to you.
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There is a Company in Coolangatta/Tweed Heads that i used to get rid of my timeshare
EXIT TIMSHARE. There is a fee however better than paying maintenance for ever & not using. After my husband passed away i wasnât able to use it.
Also i found they changed the boundaries from when we purchased & with Accor the same locations were not longer available
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