One of the most frustrating things to me is when people knowingly take advantage or rip off others to make money. No matter how many times we warn timeshare owners to never pay an upfront fee, there is always some scam artist who sells their scam so well that someone believes them. Often, lots of “someones”.
Even more often this “someone” is our parents or grandparents who are eager to believe the sweet young man or woman who is offering them what seems like a great solution to unload a no longer used timeshare. Their trusting demeanor and desperation to sell an unwanted timeshare makes them the perfect target for these unscrupulous individuals.
The story below is one I’ve heard time and time again and have seen printed in publications and websites all over the world.
A couple writes to Tony Hetherington of This is Money:
“We believe we have lost our money to a sham deal that started in 2009 when we sent £7,500 to London accountant Sochalls for its client, Club Class International (CCI).
This was a fee to get rid of a timeshare we have owned at Benalmadena in southern Spain for more than 15 years.
In 2010 CCI did pay the annual maintenance fee for our timeshare, but in 2011 we received a demand for that year’s fees of £998 and attempts to contact CCI failed.
We were later told the owner of CCI had died and that the deeds for our apartment had been passed to International Timeshare Refund Action (ITRA). My wife and I are in our 70s and the stress and anxiety this has caused us is beyond belief.”
Mr. Hetherington goes on to explain how the couple was duped into attending a meeting that was really a sales pitch to pay money upfront and their unwanted timeshare would be taken off their hands.
After working through a myriad of spider webs he finally got somewhat of an answer from Club Class inSpainwho conveniently is not responsible for the no longer existent Club Class International (CCI). Hetherington’s article says he was told by Club Class in Spain that the company running the Benalmadena timeshare rejected an attempt to transfer the timeshare to a new owner. Club Class then offered to try again to dispose of it through another offshore company with a dubious record.
In a nutshell, the company this poor couple paid has dissolved and they now still own the unwanted timeshare, are on the hook for the annual fees and have a loan for the £7,500 plus any interest paid to get rid of it.
Taking advantage of someone’s grandma or grandpa, to me, is just lower than low.
Read more from Tony Hetherington on This is Money: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2234417/Couples-stress-belief-timeshare.html#ixzz2CcMCdCPS
