Unscrupulous companies will often approach unsuspecting
tourists whilst on holiday, on the street or at the beach, offering a scratch
card which tells them they have won a ‘free’ holiday. Others will phone you up
out of the blue (with your details obtained illegally) telling you that you
have won a ‘free’ holiday. You could also be sold non-existent holidays through
sophisticated travel websites designed to give the fraudsters your card
details.
If you decided to take them up on their ‘free’ holiday you
will be told all you need to do is attend a presentation about a ‘fantastic
travel opportunity’, often at a plush hotel. You will be told you need to stay
till the end of the presentation and may also be offered champagne. The
presentation however is almost always deliberately long and afterwards you are
pressured into signing a contract for a costly holiday club membership. You
will then find out your holiday is not ‘free’ and you have to pay for flights
and other add-ons. What’s more the ‘holiday club’ you pay thousands of pounds
for is often little more than access to a website offering hotel rooms at
average prices.
If you are a timeshare owner you may also be cold called by
a company offering to take your timeshare off your hands. As most timeshare
contracts are sold ‘in perpetuity’ they are notoriously difficult to sell, so
the offer is tempting. If you fall for this type of scam then realise, to add
insult to injury, some fraudsters attack their victims a second time offering
to claim compensation or get you out of the contract. They may even make up information
to make it sound more genuine such as government funds are available, or direct
you to a bogus website or legal representative. Again this involves taking
money up front, and then demanding more from you once they have ‘retrieved’
compensation.
How to tell if you are a victim of a Holiday Club Scam
- If a company you have never heard off call you and know all about your personal information, including timeshare details. These will be obtained illegally and go against EU Data Protection legislation
- If you have been approached whilst on holiday with a scratch card offering you a ‘free’ holiday
- If you have been pressured into signing a contract for a Holiday Club, usually after a lengthy presentation. By law you are entitled to a 14 day cooling off period and it is illegal for a company to badger you and/or take a deposit during this time.
- You have been cold called by a company claiming to be a legal firm to help you claim compensation on mis-sold timeshare and holiday clubs.
What to do if you are a victim of a Holiday Club Scam
- Report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040
- Call Tatoc Helpline on 0845 230 2430 for advice
- Check trustworthy online resources such as Mindtimeshare.org to see how others have dealt with the scam and confirmation of Bogus Holiday Clubs
- Check Tatoc’s Cold Caller list to see if you have been contacted by an unscrupulous company
- Search for legitimate and reputable claims management companies online, such as Aequiam who will never cold call, or take money up front.
This post is written by Aequiam Limited, a company that helps victims
of mis-sold holiday clubs and timeshares claim their money back on a no-win, no
fee basis. You can find our more on our website http://incentiveleisureclaims.co.uk,
email us on info@aequiam.co.uk or
call on 01525
384422 / 384477
