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Whilst absorbing the distressing news that Silverpoint and its associated plethora of companies are one by one going into liquidation, we found it refreshing that many websites relating to timeshare matters have all picked up on the story and are, in most cases, offering the facts surrounding what can only be described as the timeshare industry Armageddon. Most questioning how such an empire can collapse so quickly, well most informed commentators would put that down to “creative accounting” brought about by the number of upheld claims through the Spanish courts for gross mis-selling, claims that Silverpoint and associates had no real intention of settling.

Given the above we find it strange that the company that purports itself to be the knight in shining armour, when it comes to rogue traders in the timeshare industry, being KwikChex, has made no reference to the event at all on their website. The only referral to the said company is a series of YouTube video testimonials for Silverpoint and Club Paradiso. Ask yourself the question; with so many owners finding themselves in limbo land, how is it that KwikChex have either missed the Silverpoint debacle or have chosen to sweep the whole matter under the carpet.

Enter the Resort Development Organisation (RDO). One of the largest supporters of the RDO was none other than Silverpoint. The senior director of both Resort Properties and Silverpoint was a gentleman named Mark Cushway. During the heyday of both Resort Properties and Silverpoint the same Mark Cushway sat on the board of the RDO then in a brief statement on RDO website it said “Following its decision to stop selling timeshare, Silverpoint has informed RDO of its withdrawal from membership of the organisation, with effect from 24th March 2017.”

We don’t think it would be too unfair to inexorably link Mark Cushway, Silverpoint and the RDO, could it have been that in March 2017 Silverpoint had already seen the writing on the wall? A quick search of the RDO website has no reference to Mark Cushway and the only reference to Silverpoint is as stated above, he appears to have been “rubbed out”.

So where is this article going? Well it leads back to KwikChex. The driving force behind Kwikchex and a number of other websites purporting to be the good guys lead back to the mastermind being one Christopher Emmins CEO of kwikchex.

Mr Emmins has had a rather chequered career, details of which are easily searchable and not the purpose of this article. What is the purpose of this article is to point out that Mr Emmins has certain ties to the RDO which must raise questions as to where his real loyalties lie. He was a guest speaker at the 2019 RDO conference in Marbella. The RDO website even has this to say:

“Since 2010, Chris has been responsible for KwikChex gaining global recognition for tackling unlawful behaviour enabled by the Internet. Chris works closely with many authorities, including in the UK, the Competition & Markets Authority, Ministry of Justice, Trading Standards and the police. Internationally, he has been consulted by consumer protection authorities from the EU. Australia and the US. He regularly acts as a witness in civil and criminal cases against rogue businesses. In the timeshare sector he directs the Timeshare Task Force, an RDO-sponsored initiative, which provides free assistance to consumers and assists with actions against rogue businesses.”

A little further investigation on the KwikChex website reveals the following statement:

‘All assistance to consumers is completely free, with funding being provided by the Resort Development Organisation (RDO), the representative organisation for timeshare developers in Europe.’

The importance of both these statements is the clear admission that both KwikChex and Chris Emmins are part of an RDO – sponsored initiative. Think again what RDO stands for RESORT DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION. The very organisation that sanctifies and agrees with how timeshare, points and fractional ownerships are sold and turns a blind eye to the thousands of ordinary people who are stuck with something that cost thousands and is now worth nothing. Something that costs more each year to maintain, something that was sold on many occasions with significant finance agreements leaving owners with years of debt ahead of them. In many cases the resorts they purchased at can be found on booking.com or trip advisor, often for less than the resorts annual management fee.

Come on Mr Emmins, if you really wish to attack the timeshare industry at least start with the root cause, the product itself and the unscrupulous sales methods used by the decks at the resorts. Yes we would be the first to agree that there are rogue traders out there and the sooner they are stamped out the better, in the meantime we think a good starting point would be for KwikChex to fire its arrows at the bad guys.

Silverpoint have caused untold misery and owners need help so for once challenge the RDO by publishing the facts on your sites, show your independence!

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