Holiday clubs – no, thanks!

The European Consumer Centers’ Network has been handling a rather high number of holiday club –related complaints for years. Causing a damage of approximately one billion pounds to British consumers per annum, according to the research done by the British Office of Fair Trade, Holiday Club scams used to be designed to rip off Western-European consumers. However, Holiday Clubs have recently sprung up in Hungary, warned Dr. György Morvay, Director of the European Consumer Center Hungary.
 
Intending to resell their Holiday Club memberships. Mr. and Mrs. W. participated at a presentation on November 6, 2008 held by the Holiday Club Hungary. The sales representative of Holiday Club Hungary promised to sell the club membership for 3.6 million HUF within 6 months. The sales representative has however refused to put the offer in writing, claiming that „her given words are worth more than any written contract or offer”. Naively trusting in the sales representative’s offer, the consumers purchased another club membership under the pressure of Holiday Club Hungary’s representatives. The new membership contract promised them a spacious apartment on a Croatian island with a sea-view, only 30 meters from the beach. What they got was a tiny flat with a view to the local supermarket, about half a kilometer away from the beach. Six months and countless telephone calls later, the sales representative told the consumers she was unable to sell the first club membership and simply refused to respond to their queries from then on.
 
Holiday Clubs are a variation of timeshare agreements. A timeshared property is jointly owned or leased by multiple persons for an allocated amount of time.
 
Specifically designed to circumvent the timeshare directive, Holiday Clubs are currently not covered by rules on cooling-off periods, deposits and consumer information. In order to close this gap in protection, European Directive 2008/122/EC was approved last year and will extend the scope of the 1994 EU Timeshare Directive to cover new products which have emerged on the market, like discount holiday clubs. This Directive has not yet been transposed into National Law by the member states and the deadline given by the Directive to do so is 23rd February 2011.
 
Aggressively sold mostly in Spain, Portugal and Greece, Holiday Clubs offer luxury holidays on low prices for club members. According to the website of the European Consumer Center Ireland, representatives of the Holiday Clubs approach tourists at beaches or promenades by handing them a scratch card which invariably reveals a prize, usually a free holiday. Bouncing from joy, the Holiday Club representative invites consumers for a short presentation to attain their prize.
 
Problems start. when consumers realize that the Holiday Club has no intention to give them a free prize, but is using aggressive sales techniques and pressurizes them to enter into Holiday Club membership agreements with them. The sales presentations often last hours, food is not offered to the future clients, just massive amounts of alcohol, reported the European Consumer Center Ireland. Consumers can thus not consider terms and conditions of the contract properly and whether they want to conclude it.
 
Consumers who sign Holiday Club membership contracts, but change their mind a few days later may find themselves trapped: representatives of the Holiday Club are either no longer available or refuse their queries abruptly.
 
Holidays provided by the Holiday Clubs are usually of a significantly lower quality than promised and do not cost less than those booked at travel agencies.
 
General Advise
 
1. Be extremely suspicions if you are approached with a scratch cards that reveals a free prize and/or if you are subsequently invited to presentations of Holiday Clubs;
 
2. Be extremely cautious of companies employing aggressive sales techniques;
 
3. It is advisable to not sign the contract straight away, but ask for a few days to consider. Reputable companies should allow you to take home a copy of the contract;
 
4. Always seek independent legal advice before signing a holiday club membership;
 
5. Consider the financial consequences of signing a Holiday Club contract , especially in light of the fact that it is almost impossible to resell holiday club memberships;
 
6. If you have already signed up to a Holiday Club and wish to cancel
 
Check the terms and conditions of your contract carefully and to put your request to cancel in writing to the company immediately. You may also consider contacting your credit card company to see if they can offer any assistance. If you require further orientation or advice please contact our office.