Timeshare owners are besieged by unsolicited calls and texts from so-called legal experts and terribly confused by what they see online. Despite frequent warnings from the authorities in several countries, timeshare owners are still falling prey to unscrupulous exit and claims salespeople.
The following are examples of how owners are becoming the victims of lies and false promises.
Selling timeshares
Whilst it very much depends on the individual timeshare held, there are many that are in demand, so owners should always check if a sale is possible, firstly by contacting their developer / resort, and then by checking with established, transparent resale businesses.
KwikChex recently asked RDO timeshare resale members Worldwide Timeshare Hypermarket and Confused About Timeshare about the types of timeshare weeks they are selling.
Best sellers from these businesses include
Sales of weeks at Glenmor include properties sold for over £30,000.
To contact these resale businesses, see below
KwikChex has also seen several other examples of timeshares being sold recently, including Hilton Grand Vacations Craigendarroch and Coylumbridge resorts, and Timeshare Users Group in the US reports ‘exponential increases’ in recent sales totalling $57 million.
Timeshare relinquishment
The lies told to owners regarding simple relinquishments of timeshares (rather than sales) are too numerous to list, but in recent times we have seen many so-called timeshare exit businesses increasing the degree of deceits used to defraud owners.
They have falsely stated (for example)
One connected group in particular have been prolific cold-calling scammers in recent times, using the lies mentioned above.
The group includes
All of these, and over a dozen more, have referred timeshare owners to their ‘legal partners’, who they have named as Claims Solution Group and Fullbrook Associates; the former was previously a regulated Claims Management Company, and the latter remains a regulated business. These businesses subsequently confirmed they were accepting referrals from the rogue businesses, but deny any responsibility for the deceits. In reality, not one of the over 100 cases KwikChex has examined was honest – all could have been released for free or for a considerably lower cost.
Timeshare owners need to be on their guard at all times when dealing with any form of timeshare sale or release. UK Action Fraud has specific advice on this and Trading Standards has vetted and approved the free to consumers, KwikChex-managed Timeshare Task Force resources, where owners can also read verified feedback from over 100 timeshare owners that have received free assistance with scams, relinquishments, sales and disputes.