Posts

,

South Africa Timeshare industry set for major overhaul

The regulatory body which overseas timeshares in South Africa say that they are preparing a major renovate, after receiving thousands of complaints from unhappy consumers. The National Consumer Commission, which regulates consumer and business interaction, launched an inquiry in May 2017 to better understand the consumer impact of the timeshare and vacation ownership industry. Hearings were conducted over the course of six months and a panel of experts approved the recommendations, to correct structural and behavioural issues in the industry.

During the hearings, the panel heard a number of concerns raised by consumers, including the accumulation of points from vacation … Read more

/0 Comments/by
,

Retired Couple Want Out Of Their Timeshare

A retired couple from Maine, USA say they spent thousands on a timeshare they have not been able to use. It’s the same old story, an gullible family spend their hard earned money in the hope of enjoying wonderful holidays promised to them by unscrupulous sales reps. By the time the ink is dry on their contracts, the disappointment begins.

The couple from Maine, purchased their timeshare in 2013 from InnSeason Resorts, who run an affiliation with RCI. They were promised a membership which would allow them to trade in their timeshare unit and use it to travel to resorts … Read more

/0 Comments/by
,

Timeshare Resorts Setting Sites On Urban Destinations

Diamond Resorts Investing in St. Louis.

Diamond Resorts is turning a hotel in St Louis into a timeshare destination. Diamond has purchased six floors of the 29 storey City Place Hotel and will convert the six floors into luxury timeshare apartments. Once the redesign is complete in 2020, City Place Tower will be Diamond’s flagship urban destination.

Michael Flaskey, chief executive officer of Diamond Resorts, said: “St. Louis is a new market for the industry and we are proud that Diamond Resorts will be the only company offering vacation ownership Lodging for the millions of families who explore St. … Read more

/0 Comments/by
,

Illegal Timeshare resort Tax Ruling could be overturned.

Maui County in Hawaii is waiting for a second court to rule after appealing a decision made by a Judge in march, who agreed the timeshare property tax classification established more than 10 years ago is illegal. If the county loses the suit, they could be faced with a bill for $34 million in property tax refunds.

A lawsuit was filed against Maui County back in 2013 by Ocean Resort Villas Vacation Owners Association which essentially disputes the classification of tax levied against timeshare resorts. Since 2008, the rate for timeshares has been $15,41 per $1,000 of net taxable … Read more

/0 Comments/by
,

Disney Set To Expand Their Timeshare Offerings

Walt Disney World Build 2 New Timeshare Resorts. The Florida-based theme park resort said that the as-yet-unnamed resort will open in 2022. It will have 900 hotel rooms, as well as villas for Disney’s timeshare program. The 27,000-acre tourist destination already has 36 resorts on its property, as well as four theme parks. This new project joins three other resort construction projects underway at Disney World.

Disney Parks and Resorts also announced a new development for Disney Vacation Club, it will be an entirely new resort near Epcot called Disney Riviera Resort and also unveiled a new skyway transportation system … Read more

/0 Comments/by
,

Repeat Timeshare Fraudster Sent to Prison

Wesley Aldred from Kissimmee, Florida was sentenced to a day in prison in 2015 for a timeshare telemarketing scam. He has now been sentenced to a new term of 21 months for running a similar scam while on supervised release. Aldred was one of a group of telemarketers accused of participating in a timeshare resale fraud scam which focused timeshare owners all over the United States. They would contact timeshare owners and falsely claim to have found a buyer for their timeshare, if they could pay a small fee upfront then the company would facilitate the sale. Victims paid thousands … Read more

/0 Comments/by
,

Timeshare owners take Marriott to court

Timeshare owners are continuing with their suit against Marriott Vacations Club, despite the resort giant’s attempts to disrupt and delay the class action. Lawyers for the timeshare owners have now asked the court in Florida to penalise Marriott over intentionally withholding documents. This is the latest action taken by the owners in an attempt to hold Marriott Vacation Club responsible over its conduct. They allege Marriott operated a fraudulent scheme which allegedly sold dishonest points based timeshare memberships. If the owners are successful, it could have huge implications for Marriott and other resorts, over how they sell timeshares and … Read more

/0 Comments/by
,

Talking of Timeshares …..

Timeshare Resort Under Fire For Not Paying Taxes.

A large timeshare company based in India is under the spotlight for Supposedly not paying their taxes to the department of Excise and Taxation. Officials at the Indian department have accused the timeshare resort of not paying their taxes in the state where their head offices are located, but not paying taxes for where their resorts are operating.

The Excise and Taxation Department have served a recovery notice on the resort In question and accused them of tax evasion. The tax has been calculated as per minimum rental occupancy, but taxes … Read more

/0 Comments/by
,

Westgate Resorts Hitting The Headlines Again

Westgate resorts has been hitting the headlines again recently with yet more unhappy timeshare owners speaking out. A new lawsuit against the timeshare giant claims the resort is selling timeshare units in dream locations, but when owners go to book there is nothing available.Westgate resorts are well known for their high pressured sales tactics and unfair practices, but what this lawsuit alleges is quite shocking. It says that Westgate is deliberately selling timeshares to customers over and over again. So if a customer books a specific week at a Westgate resort each year, this week has actually been sold multiple
… Read more
/0 Comments/by
,

Another timeshare scam in the US.

A real estate company in the US is warning consumers and real estate brokers about a Burst of recent timeshare scams. The scammers are cold-calling timeshare owners claiming to be from a Legal real estate agency and offering timeshare sales and exit services for timeshares owners.

The scammers have been falsely representing themselves as home sales agents working for a legitimate firm, even going as far as to use their real estate license number and address.

The scammer will then offer to sell the victims timeshare, explaining how they have many clients ready to purchase timeshares at a reasonable price. … Read more

/0 Comments/by