Consumer Advocacy

Timesharing FAQ Title Transfer Q & A Timeshare Resale Update 2008 Timeshare Industry Update 2008 Tips on Buying A Timeshare Recognizing Scam Offers Timeshare Tax FAQ Timeshare Donations Facts About Renting Advice for Rentees Sedona Timeshares 101 Common Complaints Realities of Reselling UK Timeshare Battle Orlando Resale Woes The Better Business Bureau EU Timeshare Directive 2010 UK Timeshare Woes

UK Timeshare Woes Deepen

The Timeshare Consumer Association declares many timeshares worthless

Here at Timeshare Consumer Group we're always concerned with the affairs of our friends across the pond, and a recently published article in the Glasgow Herals delivers some shocking news.

Due to inflation, the value of fractional ownership timeshares in Europe has plummeted. The industry peaked about two decades ago, particularly in Spain and in Portugal, where British families wanting a second home without the added expense purchased up timeshare weeks all along the coast. This has come back to haunt them in the form of significantly reduced values -- whereas the market for actual holiday real estate has remained relatively steady.

Sandy Grey, a representative for the Timeshare Consumer Association or TCA, has gone so for to actually claim that "Some timeshares are now totally worthless." The TCA claims that this development has come as a result of the lax regulations that were governing timeshare sales 20 years ago. Many unsuspecting consumers were fooled into buying property with no resale value, and by the time the European Union stepped in to better protect such transactions it was too little, too late.

The outlook for these individuals is bleak. Grey continues: "There are few takers for resale timeshare and, with the exception of very, very few high-grade timeshare weeks in peak season in prime international resorts, timeshare owners who thought they were making an investment are now finding there is no residual value in something they may have spent GBP10,000 on."

The EU's attempts at consumer protection (covered by TCG here) have gone through several revisions, first in 1994 and then a new set of terms released in 2007 (to be adopted in 2010). But con artists working below the radar of the law have still managed to set up shop, and with the value of timeshare properties plummeting it is likely that resale scams will become the new issue.

The effectiveness of the terms the EU proposed in 2007 is still being discussed. According to the Herald's article, "The new proposals...extend from 10 to 14 days the existing 'cooling-off period' in which timeshare buyers can change their minds without penalty." This "cooling off" period is one of the most hotly debated in the timeshare industry. Timeshare sales experts argue that customers who cannot afford or do not really wish to own timeshares should not buy in the first place. Consumer advocates say the cooling off period safeguards against high-pressure sales tactics.

The Herald article continues: "[Under the new EU laws] Timeshare sellers and resellers would no longer be able to charge unjustified extra fees, either for access to holiday club websites promising 'huge discounts,' or for helping owners to resell their timeshare weeks."

It is unlikely that the laws will do anything for those with worthless timeshares, but future generations may find themselves in such situations less frequently.