Upon referral from an enquirer to our website, we have been asked to investigate a relatively new player offering timeshare relinquishment. Our enquirer informed us that he was initially contacted via telephone by a Pete Murray of the Timeshare Help Centre on 12th September 2019. Murray was offering timeshare contract termination services; an area within which our enquirer had previously explored. Murray recommended the expert services C&J Associates, who he claimed had a 100% success rate on all previous cases. Upon his acceptance of this referral, our enquirer was later rung by Christopher J Collins who made an appointment for a meeting at the enquirers’ home (home-sit).
At the appointment Collins offered a 6 month money back guarantee but insisted that the termination process had to begin before Brexit or it would become much more difficult to execute; this was presumably said to add some urgency in order to achieve a quicker deal. Our enquirer questioned why it was necessary to pay a charge of £12,000 to complete the process. Collins advised him that it was because the lawyers that they subcontracted charged a minimum of £250 per hour. Collins was to later advise our enquirer that they would subcontract the services to a specialist legal firm named, Amaryllis Associates (More on them later).
Upon checking the UK Companies House website, it confirms that C&J Management Services Limited was registered on the 14thJune 2019. It shows the sole director as Christopher James Collins; who also appears to be the sole representative who visits clients. The registered and trading address as shown on the website is 20 Meeks Road, Falkirk, FK2 7ES; which also boasts to be the registered address of some 18 other unrelated companies.
Upon further investigation into C&J Management Services Limited, there are a number of areas that give us cause for concern. The company website states:
“If you paid for all or part of your purchase by credit card or finance, you may be eligible to make a claim direct to the company that financed the purchase. Contact us today for more information”.
Whilst this statement does not directly suggest that the company handles claims of this nature, it clearly refers to Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. As of May 2019, both advice and claims management now fall under the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and all companies involved in this type of service or any other regulated claims activity must be FCA regulated.
A more significant area of concern is that the contract that is issued to clients by C&J Management Services Limited states:
“Please accept this letter as confirmation that you will receive written confirmation that your Timeshare Ownership has been considered terminated from either C&J Legal Associates Limited or an appointed third party acting on your behalf within a 6 month period of your instruction. Should this not be the case you will be reimbursed 100% of your termination fee within 14 days from that date”
This statement is not worth the paper it is written on. The only acceptable proof that your timeshare contract is terminated is by confirmation from the resort, its Trustee Company or Management Company. Any other communication is worthless. The recently dissolved ABC Lawyers used the exact same wording in their contracts and after taking substantial fees, left hundreds of their clients still owning their timeshare encumbrance.
Equally confusing is that within the said contract the names C&J Associates, C&J Legal Associates and C&J Management Services are randomly stated, all of which have different company registration numbers and the contract fails to explain each other role.
Also of serious concern is the fact that the third party legal experts to which C&J Management Services Limited refer is Amaryllis Associates. Upon a search of Companies House it may be established that Amaryllis Associates has a single director being Sabrina Kaur KUMAR. Of interest is the fact that Ms Kumar was also a director of Lansdown Financial Ltd who had close connections with Monster Travel and Jive Hippo, both of which are failed discount holiday clubs. According to the Amaryllis website their registered address is Registered office: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, they even provide details of the location via Google maps. This would appear to give the company credibility and indicate that clients are invited to visit. This address is in fact a serviced office building which bodes a startling 8,500 registered companies!!
So this engineered illusion is far from the truth. The operational address is 28 Cleveland Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 3HT, which are far less salubrious premises and also serviced offices:
It is quite bizarre that after the initial presentation to prospective clients that is carried out by C&J Associates, they then engage their legal specialists whose website offers very little substance about cancelling timeshare contracts or any relevant service. In the about us section all it says is:
“Our clients want someone they can trust, one that stands out for a commitment to investing in them and forming long lasting relationships. Amaryllis sets out key company values: our clients, our people and importantly society.”
Much of the website constitutes an array of blank pages, as if still under construction. Having had sight of the Amaryllis terms of engagement it states nothing at all in relation to any specific timeshare resort or the termination of contracts, it simply states who is responsible for what. If they are the third party specialists who will carry out the termination of the timeshare contracts, one would have expected something a lot more comprehensive.
From the documentation we received from our enquirer, it appears that a series of letters were sent by Amaryllis to him, all suggesting that they had written to Club la Costa requesting the timeshare be cancelled, but the resort had not responded. The really worrying factor is that in the final letter; dated 5th February 2020, Sabrina Kumar wrote to client to confirm the timeshare was cancelled. In the letter Kumar states the following:
“We have completed our process to ensure your ownership and any liabilities attached to the same have been fully relinquished. The resort has been offered reasonable and ample opportunities to defend and justify their position but—they have failed to do so. We are certain your position is protected by the relinquishment completed and final notification served upon your resort.
The onus is upon your resort to defend their position now and through our process the matter especially if they intend to take any enforcement action in the future. However, any such action will be robustly refuted since the resort have failed to comply with our notices.
What this means for you
Your timeshare has been successfully relinquished. You are no longer responsible or liable to any matters relating to your timeshare with CLC World Resorts & Hotels”.
As per our earlier comments; it is pertinent to remember that Club la Costa have not responded at all to the approaches of Amaryllis Associates and therefore their assumption is that the ownership has been cancelled is TOTALLY UNTRUE. If the resort have NOTconfirmed the cancelation of the contract, then the timeshare has definitely NOT BEEN CANCELLED and you are still COMPLETELY LIABLE!
And guess what? After a very quick phone call to Club la Costa to verify the above, our enquirer found out that the ownership had not been cancelled and the contract was still fully and legally enforceable!!
So what happened to the statement on the Amaryllis website?
“Our clients want someone they can trust, one that stands out for a commitment to investing in them and forming long lasting relationships. Amaryllis sets out key company values: our clients, our people and importantly society.”
Amaryllis Associates are no strangers to the Timeshare Consumer Association, see the link below:
As an organisation we contacted several exit specialists selected from our own internal white list and the highest quote we received for legal contract cancellation of like for like was £5,900, this is some 50% cheaper than our enquirer has paid. Also as a point of interest the companies we contacted all stated that as a rule their work was only regarded as complete once the resort had confirmed the contract terminated.
The final icing on the cake is the fact that C&J do not have a merchant facility meaning that their customers cannot pay by credit card. It is ironic that the very protection they refer to on their website (S75 CCA 1974) is unavailable to their clients. Instead they only accept payments by bank transfer, which; as we have previously highlighted in earlier articles, offers little or no protection whatsoever.
The other really frightening aspect of this story is that our enquirer was persuaded to take out substantial finance when completing his original Club La Costa purchase. This of course will not be cancelled along with the timeshare contract. So having paid over £12,000 with no cancellation achieved, our enquirer still owes a considerable portion of an £18,000 Shawbrookloan, which he must endeavour to pay over its 12 year duration.
This story represents blatant fraud, misrepresentation, breach of contract and probably a myriad of other illegal offences. The perpetrators need reporting to the relevant authorities and if justice is serviced, criminal proceedings should follow.
What can you learn from this story?
Please do your homework before you agree to employ the services of company, if you are internet savvy, contact a number of different specialist companies and ask the direct question “If I engage you can I pay by credit card?” if not, walk away. Get a price for the work and get it all in writing before you sign on the dotted line or pay them any money. It is also a very good idea to shop around because prices can differ considerably. If you don’t have internet skills please call us for advice and we will recommend the verified companies from our white list.
At the Timeshare Consumer Association we compile three separate lists of companies, a white list, a grey list and a black list. We would like to congratulate C&J Management Services Limited and Amaryllis Associates who have jointly achieved the illustrious position of being the latest entrants on our ever increasing and utterly inglorious “black list”.
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