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Holidaymakers' conmen warning
Bogus holiday clubs cost the UK public millions of pounds a year according to the Office of Fair Trading, which is warning travellers to be on their guard, says Holly Thomas
A new report highlights Spain as a hotspot for people falling victim to conmen, which on average ends in a loss of more than £3,000.
Mike Haley, head of consumer protection at the OFT, said: "Every year thousands of holidays to Spain are ruined when holidaymakers fall for the high-pressure selling techniques of bogus holiday clubs. When they return home they realise they have paid thousands of pounds for near worthless contracts."
Consumers are typically targeted by scratchcard touts who hand out bogus winning cards to holidaymakers, which typically ask 'have you won a luxury holiday?'
The answer will be yes as all the cards are printed as winners, and contain three winning matching symbols.
The OFT reports that to collect their prize they are forced to attend a lengthy presentation and persuaded into signing a contract for an "exclusive" club with false promises of exclusive access to cheaper yet better quality holidays than is available to the rest of the market.
After spending thousands of pounds, consumers often find they have bought little more than access to an internet booking service offering the same service they could get at a high street travel agent.
The OFT says that now is a peak time for consumers being targeted and caught unawares by bogus holiday clubs, with the average victim being £3,030 out of pocket.
Haley said: "Every year thousands of UK consumers fall for this type of scam at resorts such as Benalmadena, Fuengirola and Marbella on the Costa del Sol, and in the Canary Islands."
Holidaymakers who are approached by a scratchcard tout or go along to a presentation should ask themselves 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 the OFT advises to simply walk away.
It's worth noting that genuine holiday clubs will offer a cooling-off period during which if you change your mind you will get your money back. This does not apply to bogus schemes.
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Reader comments
A similar scheme is operating in Rhodes Greece. We humoured the guy offering the scratch cards and we won a free land traing ride worth 5 euros and a free holiday. We just said we were busy and would attend later in our vacation. We never went but it gave us the answer for other touts who approached us during our stay. The local tourist information office confirmed it was a "time share like" scam and that some individuals had been kept in presentations at their "Resort" for up to 5 hours. The touts tried to add ligitimacy to their operations by operating directly opposite the Police Station on the harbour front. Take care.
Posted by: Bernie Morris | 19/06/2008 09:39:55
We have lost £1,700 in Tenerife 2 weeks ago. There was allegedly 14 days to change our minds but despite sending the cancellation we are now informed that the money is in an alternative product which was originally given as a 'free' bonus. Our courtesy boat trip and meal have proved very expensive. I feel more foolish as I felt sorry for the woman who was giving out the scratch card and initially attended to give her a bonus! There's no fool like an old fool.
Posted by: Maureen Ballard | 08/06/2008 10:49:25
I believe that all these Holiday Clubs and Timehare companies use high pressure methods to sell, I believe a favoroute is "You have Won A Holiday" a short time after filling in a supposibaly inocent questionair. And as per this warning the "scratch cards". Who are the genuine holiday clubs ? dose the OFT or Saga have a list of the ones that are to be trusted.
Posted by: Anthony Frampton | 06/06/2008 09:54:26
My Husband and I fell into this trap a couple of weeks ago. We were approched in Spain and handed a scratch card, Yes we had won a luxury holiday. And 1.000euros. We were asked to have a look at the facilties on offer at one of there hotels along the coast. We asked the women who was giving away the scratch cards if it was timeshare. No came the reply. We dont get involved in timeshare. Two or three time we asked questions about various aspects of timeshare, but was assured we would not have to part with any money. We were picked up by taxi the next day. What happened next was a nightmare. We were taken into a room with several other couples, And it was a very hard sell. When we said no this is not for us, the rep called his manager over. He was very rude to us. And told the rep TO GET RID OF THEM. We then were thrown out. We were left in the middle of nowhere and had a very long hot walk back. At our age we should have known better. I hope people reading this will think befour accepting bogus invatations to receive scatch cards.
Posted by: Mrs Wigfall | 06/06/2008 09:43:41
WE have indeed been conned by many of these timeshare scammers!!! We wish this report had come out 5 years ago as it would have saved us much trouble, harassment and extreme cost in thousands of pounds!!!
Posted by: Colin L.Swan | 05/06/2008 18:46:38
