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Holidaymakers are being warned about the dangers of bogus holiday club scams.
Every year, holidaymakers are conned out of thousands of pounds when they are persuaded to sign up for contracts which turn out to be virtually worthless.
When you buy membership of a holiday club, you are promised the opportunity of buying cheaper holidays over a long period of time. These could either be in a particular resort or in different locations.
However, sellers of bogus holiday clubs make false claims about the price, range and quality of holidays available.
Holidaymakers, particularly those in resorts on the Costa del Sol in Spain, and in the Canary Islands, are often approached by a scratchcard tout, who'll tell you that you've won a prize but that you must go along to a presentation to collect it.
When you get there, you'll find yourself sitting through a lengthy presentation where all kinds of high pressure selling techniques may be used to get you to buy membership of a holiday club. After spending thousands of pounds, you can find that you have bought little more than access to an internet booking service offering the same service you could get at a high street travel agent.
And the prize you were promised will also turn out to be bogus. You may be told that the prize is 'out of stock', find that it is worth less than you were led to believe, or that you have to pay for extras, such as flights, in order to be able to claim it.
Government consumer watchdog the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) advises people who are approached by one of these touts, or who go along to a presentation, to ask three simple questions:·
- can you take away the contract to consider at your leisure?
- is everything you are promised in the presentation in the contract? ·
- do you know exactly what you are getting for your money?
If the answer to any of these questions is 'no', then you are advised to simply walk away.
For more information about holiday clubs and possible problems, see Timeshare and holiday clubs.
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