Once again thanks to an astute caller who was approached by this company, TCA went into investigation mode. As per the title, our enquirer was called out of the blue by a supposed Legal Exec named Terry Clark from Phoenix offering a service to cancel his timeshare with Club la Costa. As per usual, our first question would be how did this company know that our caller owned a timeshare, let alone with CLC?
Naturally when timeshare and cold calling are in the same sentence we need to dig deeper. Below are the results of our investigation.
The company
Yes there is one. According to Companies House a company by the name of Phoenix Consulting EMEA Ltd which was registered on 20th June 2017 although, as evidenced by the logo above, this is not the trading name. There is no contact address on the company website, which incidentally is a legal requirement; however, the address quoted on Companies House appears to be the company accountant offering a registered address service:
C/O Rodliffe Accounting Ltd 1 Canada Square 37th Floor, Canary Wharf, London, England, E14 5AA.
The sole Director is quoted as Alexandra Bittmann. Despite the registration date, something is not adding up, which we will look at later. The use of the term EMEA is also puzzling as this is the acronym for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, usually used by companies who have a trading interest in that geographical area.
The contact number on the site is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) number being supplied by Telephony Services Limited. This means that despite a London dialling code being used, the calls could be emanating from anywhere on the planet.
By way of example, the text below is taken from a company website that offers 0207 virtual numbers:
Purchase an 0207 number
0207 is generally the area code for central London, making the phone numbers from this area very sought after. 0207 numbers are a type of local number that gives the impression that your business has an office in central London.
How much is an 0207 number?
At Virtual Landline, we sell 0207 numbers from just £10.00 per month (£6.50/month basic plan and £3.50/month for 0207 number). Benefits include £5 welcome call credit, overseas call diverts, and free included minutes; find a tariff that suits you.
The website
The point we referred to above which is interesting is the date the corporate website domain was registered. According to our research the domain was registered on 21st November 2023, for a company that’s been trading since 2017, we find this rather strange. Whilst the website has the required terms and privacy links, there is no reference to the company registration or trading address, both legal requirements.
The website has quite an amount of timeshare related information, but also has wording to confuse visitors into believing this is a law firm:
“Our team of experienced legal advisors are dedicated to delivering practical, cost-effective advice that is focused on achieving the best possible outcome for you.”
Whilst a legal advisor doesn’t have to be a lawyer, the statement is confusing.
There is a section on the site referring to consumer credit claims under both Section 75 and Section 140 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. In order to transact these sorts of claims, the company must re regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. On checking the FCA register, this is what we found:
The same result was found when searching for Phoenix Consulting EMEA Ltd.
TCA comment
Here we have a company that was founded in 2017, but only registered a website in November 2023. A company that employs cold calling tactics and offers regulated services whilst not being regulated to do so. A company that doesn’t disclose its trading address on the corporate website, but uses that of an accountancy practice, making it impossible to visit. The use of VoIP technology, while purporting to be in London, could be anywhere in the world.
All in all, there are more questions than answers. If you are contacted by Phoenix Incorporated we would advise extreme caution.
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
2 Responses
we have been approached by Phoenix Incorporated
they want 6000 pounds to get us out of CLC and 60k compensation from Wyndam who bought CLC and Shorebrook finance
are they reputable
Hi John, thanks for your enquiry. We think our article is quite clear and as usual our warning is to be extremely careful if approached by an unsolicited call or approach.