Timeshare owners up the ante

Published on Saturday 10 January 2009 13:52

THE row over soaring charges at holiday points club Diamond Resorts International has intensified following last week's Scotland on Sunday article (Give me a break from soaring timeshare fees), writes Teresa Hunter.

A group of readers decided to seek legal advice about how they can extricate themselves from the scheme, which has seen annual management charges rise by nearly 40%.

Meanwhile, the Timeshare Association, a consumer group that represents timeshare owners, has entered the fray, claiming the holiday propositions as sold were never financially viable.

When points-holders invested thousands of pounds into the timeshare club, they were told they would have to pay annual management fees of a few hundred pounds. Now these have risen to anything from 650 to 1,000 a week or more.

Many readers bought their points from the Grand Vacation Club, which was subsequently taken over by DRI. But according to the Timeshare Association, participants were not given a true picture about the costs from the outset.

A Timeshare Association spokesman said: "The annual fees were never realistic, but were initially subsidised and kept low simply to sell the schemes.

"The previous company subsidised the points club to the tune of 4m annually. However, this subsidy stopped last year.

"On top of this the industry has been hit by a number of factors. The first is the currency situation. The second factor is age. The main income of a resort is the annual management fee. The majority of European resorts were built in the Eighties for the then 'empty nesters', so the industry is facing aged resorts; these clearly now require refurbishment."

The suggestion that points-owners were sold a holiday investment that was never viable raises serious questions about the initial proposition.

Meanwhile, the major concern for points-owners is how to extricate themselves from contracts which lock them into rising fees until 2054.

A group is now intending to seek a legal opinion regarding their contracts. They have asked if Scotland on Sunday would act as a clearing house to forward details of any other readers who would like to join them. If you would like to make contact, please e-mail [e-mail] and she will forward e-mails to the group.