The South African attorney from Cape Town has already got a list of 48 clients whom she is sure that she will be able to assist in recuperating their monies paid to holiday clubs. Holiday clubs seem to a client at the time of purchase like a genius idea, as for a monthly fee, you are able to enjoy your holiday in a ‘chosen’ location of the holiday club that you have invested in!
The weeks are meant to be flexible, so, unlike timeshare, a client is meant to be able to choose their week, normally in a choice of locations. However, the majority of the clients that Broekmann has already seen have all had issues booking their holidays once their money has already been taken from their account! There are various reasons for this, but the biggest excuse is because there is no availability. This is obviously a hoax. There are normally a lot more memberships sold to a Holiday club than there is accommodation, and therefore unless you book over a year in advance it is very unlikely that you will get the location that you want at the time you want.
At times a client has found that they are not able to book anything at all, as what they have does not suit. Furthermore, the contracts that Broekmann has already looked over, are not compliant in her eyes, with the standards set by the CPA (Consumer Protection Act). The CPA states that contracts have to include details of what the client is purchasing, and in clear coherent language, which Broekmann has found many of them don’t.
The attorney from South Africa has sent letters to the clubs on behalf of her 48 clients, of which only one of them has responded and also given a refund to their client that was dissatisfied. The other 47 letters have not even been acknowledged by the Holiday Clubs, no courtesy letter, or nothing to argue that their contracts were indeed made in breach of the law.
The two main clubs that Broekmann will be focusing on in her class act in the new year are Quality Vacation club and Flexi Holiday club. Their clients are being debited every month for a holiday that they are not able to use, and in some cases where the client has had confirmation of the cancellation, the holiday club continues to deduct money from their bank account on a monthly basis.
There is an investigation active at the moment by the National Consumer Commission, so Broekmann has decided to wait until this investigation has been completed until she starts the class act, so that the both do not coincide with one another. There may even be an opportunity for Broekmann and the NCC to unite forces in the class act against the holiday clubs. She is hoping that this is only the start of a domino effect, as if this case is successful, there are at least another 1000 disgruntled owners that would be willing to take on further holiday clubs. Broekmann has also said that she hopes that this will end the Holiday Clubs making false promises to their clients, and may change the future of holiday clubs.
We at the TCA would like to hear from any of you that have experienced similar problems booking holidays through a club or pack. Our contact details are below.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk