Mercantile Claims are one of the UK’s leading timeshare termination and claims management companies, we are also regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We have successfully helped thousands of clients reclaim money from timeshares and holiday products that have been mis-sold to them.
We are delighted to be able to share with our readers another successful claim for a holiday product that was mis-sold to our clients, who have now received a settlement of over £12,000.
Our clients were introduced to the timeshare world back in early 2000, when they attended a presentation in Spain. Although they had not intended to purchase a timeshare, they, much like the millions of timeshare owners across the world, were persuaded to purchase one. Unfortunately, they never really enjoyed using the timeshare, they felt it was poor quality for money and were never truly satisfied with the resort. In fact, they say that they only visited the resort a handful of times over the years, but still felt the pressure to pay the maintenance fees.
Eventually, they decided to approach the resort to try to terminate their contract. The resort did offer them an exit strategy, but it meant they had to fork out a hefty fee for doing so and they would be lumbered with an alternative holiday product and stuck in a contract for a further 12 years. This seemed completely unacceptable to our clients, who by this point were desperate to get rid of their timeshare unit.
In early 2017, our clients were cold-called by a company claiming to be able to legally terminate their timeshare for good. They offered them a free trip to Tenerife to explain how they could do this, all our clients had to do was pay the airfare. At this point, they thought they didn’t have much to lose and agreed to attend. When they arrived at the meeting in Tenerife, they were swiftly whisked off to meet with so called timeshare specialists, but our clients quickly realised these people were not legally trained and probably ex timeshare sales agents.
What promised to be a 90 minute meeting, turned into a whole day of hard selling the benefits of the companies timeshare termination and holiday club product. Fed up and thoroughly worn down, our clients agreed to sign up to their services and paid the deposit of £5,000. When they arrived home from their free trip, they reluctantly paid the balance, but were confident the company would at least terminate their timeshare.
It wasn’t until some months later they heard from friends that the company had gone out of business and ceased trading altogether. They tried to contact them themselves and found that they had indeed shut down and in fact simply taken their money and ran. Resigned to the fact they may have lost this money for good, and still left with their original timeshare, they contacted Mercantile Claims after seeing one of our advertisements. Fortunately for our clients Mercantile Claims has been able to negotiate a successful timeshare termination and reclaimed all of the money they lost to this fraudulent timeshare exit company.
People who enter into timeshare agreements often find it difficult to keep up with the mounting maintenance fees and simply cannot afford it any longer. They may also find that the timeshare no longer suits their needs and simply want to end the contract. There are too many individuals who are willing to take advantage of timeshare owners and offer fake products, along with timeshare exit schemes. Before agreeing to any timeshare termination or exit procedure with an individual or company, seek independent advice and fully research any company you are thinking of working with.
It is also important to remember that purchasing a timeshare should NEVER be viewed as a financial investment. Timeshare is an investment in lifestyle, in future holidays and family time together. There is almost no resale value to a Timeshare.
The mis-selling of holiday products is, unfortunately, common practice within the holiday industry and these type of crimes often go unreported by the most vulnerable in our society and criminal convictions are few and far between.
If you have purchased a Lifestyle / Concierge Service, a timeshare or a ‘holiday points’ based product from a resort or company and feel unhappy with the service, or feel you have been mis-sold this product, please get in touch with us to discuss how we may be able to help you with a possible Money Back Claim.
