Who no longer has a timeshare in Tenerife?

[YOUNG GOLFER]

Noticed a lot of people have now given back their timeshare due mainly to the high maintenance fees each year.

Just thought people could share their own views of why they no longer have one.

[timmylish]

Don,t you think that this has been done to death on the previous forum?
Surely your question is retorical?

[CMEdinburgh]

Done to death before I reckon.

For us it was the fact that the maintenance for three weeks at a Tenerife timeshare (the Beverly Hills ones) was higher than the ANNUAL charges that we now pay to own an apartment in a community nearby.

[Tom & Sharon]

Don,t you think that this has been done to death on the previous forum?
Surely your question is retorical?

Everything's been done to death on the previous forum, but the point is that everything has to be started again.

[YOUNG GOLFER]

Don,t you think that this has been done to death on the previous forum?
Surely your question is retorical?

Yesterday i spent a few hours starting threads on the last forum this one seemed very popular.....just trying to do my bit to help get as much info as possible for this new forum.

[CMEdinburgh]

Yesterday i spent a few hours starting threads on the last forum this one seemed very popular.....just trying to do my bit to help get as much info as possible for this new forum.

Agreed - we need to allow the previous "hot topics" to live again.

I have spoken to many people who love Tenerife, but find that the maintenance they are required to pay for one week allows them to rent similar or better apartments (even villas) for two or three weeks with no problems.

And many of the people who now own property in Tenerife are ex-owners of timeshare too who worked out that real ownership is better.

Pity - timeshare was a great concept but got abused by too many sharks and cowboys.

[cebow]

Noticed a lot of people have now given back their timeshare due mainly to the high maintenance fees each year.

Just thought people could share their own views of why they no longer have one.

Like to hear how they handed them back obviously not DRI then

[CMEdinburgh]

There are a lot of rogues out there, and it seems only a few genuine companies that do actually terminate timeshare contracts (we stumbled across a good one, luckily).

I am active on the timesharetalk forum where the scammers are outed regularly so please do not just go with anyone promising to get you out of timeshare.

NO HONEST COMPANY will ask for any money up front, only at the end of the process when the resort has confirmed that you are no longer the responsible owner for timeshare weeks!

[lcbandit]

tried to hand mine back, they wont take it until I pay the maintenance fees!!!! I own my own studio now and no longer need to use it and also the fees are extortionate

[CMEdinburgh]

One worry is that some resorts are proving very aggressive in taking legal action to pursue.

And most will not take back weeks even if maintenance is up to date, so think about clearing the debt and getting rid of the week by handing back.

Where did you buy your studio then?

[megsdad]

Gave my weeks back when my wife died as I no longer holiday. A happy owner who used it for exchange, travelled the world, stayed in fab places blah blah blah but I did !! and yes I spent a decade in the industry, it´s how I met my missus, she was here on an exchange.
With all due respect has anyone ACTUALLY been taken to court by a resort or timeshare organisation? Not threatened with, not heard of someone or know of a friend of a friend, I mean ACTUALLY taken to court?
I reached a fairly senior position in the industry and feel confident in saying that NO resort or organisation would do it, for two reasons, 1) It would be laughed out of any court, mention the dreaded word timeshare and can you genuinely see a UK court ordering someone to keep an ownership of something? If this is feasable then why don´t banks and building societies issue court orders to people to keep their properties and py their mortgages? If you can´t pay or won´t pay it gets taken away, simple.
2) The minute a case is thrown out of court, a dead certainty, the second a test case is ruled on then all the bullying letters, all the threats of court action, all the intimidation that a lot give in to, it means nothing. That is why an organisation or resort will not and cannot take anyone to court because they lose, and THEY KNOW IT !!

[cebow]

Suggest you google Petchey Leisure Manchester Court case.Kicked out costs to defendants.Now a stated case.
"If you can´t pay or won´t pay it gets taken away, simple."
Well many would be happy if it was simply taken away,rather than the threats and intimidating letters.
Yes I ve enjoyed my ownership,BUT,why should I have to pay more after buying than the company charges on the open market.
There will be many like me,and ,after Petchey and the Ashbourne unfair contract ruling ( Via OFT ,another stated case) either the Industry wakes up and takes note or there is likely to be a mass exedus.
Perhaps that is what they want.Sold you weeks,resold same as points,now get them back free and sell the property,trilpe whammy.

[megsdad]

Suggest you google Petchey Leisure Manchester Court case.Kicked out costs to defendants.Now a stated case.
"If you can´t pay or won´t pay it gets taken away, simple."
Well many would be happy if it was simply taken away,rather than the threats and intimidating letters.
Yes I ve enjoyed my ownership,BUT,why should I have to pay more after buying than the company charges on the open market.
There will be many like me,and ,after Petchey and the Ashbourne unfair contract ruling ( Via OFT ,another stated case) either the Industry wakes up and takes note or there is likely to be a mass exedus.
Perhaps that is what they want.Sold you weeks,resold same as points,now get them back free and sell the property,trilpe whammy.

Isn´t that exactly what I stated? Ignore the letters, straight in the bin, they can´t touch you, or am I missing somethi ng Cebow?

Added after 3 minutes:

Owners tookk Petchey to court not vice versa

[cebow]

Not the way I read it

http://www.timeshare.org.uk/petchey.html

[megsdad]

what is different to what I posted? What have you read differently from my original posting? I don´t understand your post where you are paying more than the open market? what does this mean please?The mass exodus has been happening since 2000, just look at membership numbers of the exchange companies

[MRSBEN]

Like megsdad a happy owner who has holidayed all over the world since 93 with Timeshare.

[cebow]

I am genuinely very pleased for you.I trust you are happy,having paid your up front fees, to be paying more than the person next to you who has paid no fees and is paying less for the same accomodation as yourself.
I hope you never wish to leave,for any reason,and that your health and finances continue to allow you to use your investment forever.

[timmylish]

I am genuinely very pleased for you.I trust you are happy,having paid your up front fees, to be paying more than the person next to you who has paid no fees and is paying less for the same accomodation as yourself.
I hope you never wish to leave,for any reason,and that your health and finances continue to allow you to use your investment forever.

Where, exactly, are you trying to go with this. As soon as someone states that they have happily owned T/s and used it successfully, you seem hell bent in undermining their experiences. As Megsdad has said he, and myself are unaware of ANY successful claim by companies to take proceedings for debt of non payment of M/f where the clients have stated that they wish to return their weeks/points or whatever. Lots of threats and a few actions, non of which appear to have been in favour of the company,s which originally sold the weeks or have taken over the company who actually did.
Ahain I have to ask. What ulterior motive are you trying to inflict upon the contributors here?

[MRSBEN]

I am genuinely very pleased for you.I trust you are happy,having paid your up front fees, to be paying more than the person next to you who has paid no fees and is paying less for the same accomodation as yourself.
I hope you never wish to leave,for any reason,and that your health and finances continue to allow you to use your investment forever.

I hope so also. But having paid very little in 93 I feel over the years I have well exceeded my use of it sometimes using it 5 or 6 times a year, which when split down makes the fees under £85 per vacation for 5 stars well worth it I think .

[Pinkyjo]

I had a great timeshare and being a dreaded family of 5 it was definitely worth it. It got taken over and was being sold but we were offered to go to somewhere in Los Chris or Puerto de la Cruz, none of which we wanted to go to so we were allowed to give up the timeshare. It probably worked out right in the end as the maintenance had started to creep up and it also coincided with Globespan going bust so we lost the really cheap flights we used to get. I think timeshare is great if you get the right company but now we would just do it independently.

[lcbandit]

even though i am now wanting to give my timeshare up, I too have over the years enjoyed it when I stayed there, I have owned mine since 1990, over the years it did creep up but then there was a huge jump, for what they are asking per week for a studio I could rent a 1 or 2 bedroom apt out privately, if they had kept the prices realistic it wouln't have been so bad :fryingpan:

[megsdad]

I am genuinely very pleased for you.I trust you are happy,having paid your up front fees, to be paying more than the person next to you who has paid no fees and is paying less for the same accomodation as yourself.
I hope you never wish to leave,for any reason,and that your health and finances continue to allow you to use your investment forever.

Oh YG what have you started?? some facts, 2007 Manhattan club , Independence week , resort cost for a weeks rental6000 dollars for an equivalent suite overlooking Carnegie hall, my cost an exchange fee 119 quid and plus a maintennce on my week 0f 190 quid. 2003 , me, the missus, our daughter, my in laws and my mum, 6 of us, 4 weeks iun South Africa, including, Camps bay Cape Town, Knysna Indian Ocean, Kreuger national park, all flights booked through exchange company and all luxury accomodation, 7 grand the lot, closest me and the missus could price equivalent wwas 17k with a specialist agency, just 2 of a plethora of holidays, peace of mind of quality accomodation.
A financial "investment"? no, not at all, an investment for quality holidays? absolutely, I don´t live in a box with no facilities, whywould I choose to allow myself and loved ones holiday in substandard accomodation?
And I gave it up when no longer of use, now give me 2 minutes to put my tin helmet on before you jump down my throat!!

[marbro8]

bloody hell where is dikov7 when you need him?:eyebrows:

[Tojack]

bloody hell where is dikov7 when you need him?:eyebrows:

No dont let him paste and wallpaper this thread.:pray:

[clipityclop]

Hi
read your original agreement , I think you will find most contracts state you can hand back and on the reverse of a form you can fill in to return , also if you normally go in default of maintinance for 2 years you just loose it , where did you own
tried to hand mine back, they wont take it until I pay the maintenance fees!!!! I own my own studio now and no longer need to use it and also the fees are extortionate

[CMEdinburgh]

Hi
read your original agreement , I think you will find most contracts state you can hand back and on the reverse of a form you can fill in to return , also if you normally go in default of maintinance for 2 years you just loose it , where did you own

I owned at Beverly Hills Heights - and there was nothing on the contract allowing handback (believe me I read it end to end).

When I tried the unpaid maintenance angle I was robustly informed that they no longer took back units for unpaid maintenance but engaged debt collectors.

So I found a buyer for them and escaped that way.

[soarey]

RCI took me to court for 1 years unpaid maintenance after i gave it back and WON.

[VideoMem]

RCI took me to court for 1 years unpaid maintenance after i gave it back and WON.

I thought the RCI was "deposit bank" for weeks or time, and was not aware it owned anything:hello:

[timmylish]

RCI took me to court for 1 years unpaid maintenance after i gave it back and WON.


Your posting comes as a potential assist for many owners who wish to give up their time. You say RCI so am I to presume that you purchased a week which was tied to points and then converted? Now if I am correct, on what basis did RCI succeed, may I ask?

[CMEdinburgh]

RCI did? But RCI do not collect maintenance.

It was either RCI collecting membership fees they were due for exchanges

OR

your resort collecting maintenance fees.

WHichever it was it is important to know, and if you can tell me I will update the gang on timeshare talk (where I am a regular too) with the story.

[soarey]

I believe it was for fees that were accrued because they let you borrow from the next year.I tried to argue that they would get their fees and more by surrendering it but to no avail.

[clipityclop]

all the timeshare companies are getting on the band wagon of employing staff to collect the fees , if you live in the uk they also threated you with a court date which is bogus , if you dont pay what are they going to do ! they have no power in the uk to black list you . and also with maintinance they are supposed to give an annual breakdown , similar to what you get here if you own a property on a complex breaking down all the moneys spent , if they dont supply this I beleive this to be incorrect but you would have to look in to it


I owned at Beverly Hills Heights - and there was nothing on the contract allowing handback (believe me I read it end to end).

When I tried the unpaid maintenance angle I was robustly informed that they no longer took back units for unpaid maintenance but engaged debt collectors.

So I found a buyer for them and escaped that way.

[megsdad]

I believe it was for fees that were accrued because they let you borrow from the next year.I tried to argue that they would get their fees and more by surrendering it but to no avail.
Hi soarey,
can you clarify for everyones benefit, you borrowed a week from the next year? RCI , the exchange company , asked you to pay the fee? RCI took you to court for maintenance fees or exchange fees?Which court and what date?? I am intrigued

[soarey]

I can confirm it was for fees borrowed from the following year.I gave them back timeshare and told them to take fees out of sale.They didnt and case was heard at Banbury Crown Court in June2008.The amount was for only £306 so please be aware that they can still come after you.

[timmylish]

Of course they could come after you! You had become indebted to them for using time which you did not own and had borrowed and therefor like any other debt you had to cough up. This is surely completely different to the main course of the debate on here regarding companies suing for unpaid M/fees when clients have rescinded their ownership and did not use their T/s in the year/s claimed as unpaid. Totally different to your situation, imo!

[murph]

Oh YG what have you started?? some facts, 2007 Manhattan club , Independence week , resort cost for a weeks rental6000 dollars for an equivalent suite overlooking Carnegie hall, my cost an exchange fee 119 quid and plus a maintennce on my week 0f 190 quid. 2003 , me, the missus, our daughter, my in laws and my mum, 6 of us, 4 weeks iun South Africa, including, Camps bay Cape Town, Knysna Indian Ocean, Kreuger national park, all flights booked through exchange company and all luxury accomodation, 7 grand the lot, closest me and the missus could price equivalent wwas 17k with a specialist agency, just 2 of a plethora of holidays, peace of mind of quality accomodation.
A financial "investment"? no, not at all, an investment for quality holidays? absolutely, I don´t live in a box with no facilities, whywould I choose to allow myself and loved ones holiday in substandard accomodation?
And I gave it up when no longer of use, now give me 2 minutes to put my tin helmet on before you jump down my throat!!

We had a Timeshare in the UK. Only paid £1k for it from a friend, Gold Crown Red Week etc, but the Fees were £420 + per annum.

When you add on annual RCI memership, + Exchange Fees, we were looking at over £550 per year to use its value as an exchange (we never actually went there but in essence, that would have only saved us the the exchange fee - £69, £99, £129 or whatever they were charging at that moment in time - if we had).

Agreed, you get to stay in wonderful resorts (but more often than not, only once every 4 years in a lot of cases these days, and not just for the Hollywood Mirage's of this world by the way), and there are some good late deals, extra hols through RCI etc. Saying that, I couldn't get my mind away from the annual fees business - it was literally the dearest week's accommodation you could find.

Then I found out that once you have been a member of RCI and have owned a timeshare, you can remain a member of RCI by just paying the RCI annual Fee, even if you do not own a timeshare - or points - any more.

We sold our timeshare to a friend, and now just take advantage of the RCI late deals, extra holidays and quality accommodation when we want to!

When we come to Tenerife these days, we don't HAVE to use a 'timeshare accommodation swap' to use up our weeks and now just stay in places we know and like (having been coming over for many years) for £200 - £350 per week. :cheers:

[k-pipe]

We GAVE our timeshare away, glad to get rid of them, we can now spend MORE time in Tenerife for less cost, cant wait till Sept. 2011.

[johnh1]

We GAVE our timeshare away, glad to get rid of them, we can now spend MORE time in Tenerife for less cost, cant wait till Sept. 2011.

That's a bit like saying you gave away a brand new BMW and bought a 10 year old mini because it was cheaper to run.

[CMEdinburgh]

Actually - we viewed it more as:

"We had a BMW which was costing a fortune in maintenance and taxes but only used twice a year. We sold it and now rent a car when we want to, often a new-model BMW, and our total costs are lower"

[johnh1]

You said you gave it away. And the accommodation you now stay in is as good as where you were staying before? Find that hard to believe.