Don't get caught by the holiday club scammers in Mallorca - VIDEO ONLINE!

holidayclubwarning

A few months back I was on holiday in Mallorca and was the victim of a very clever holiday club scam that left me nearly a grand out of pocket. Basically, a couple of touts asked me and my wife to do a survey, and as a thankyou they gave us scratchcards. Guess what - WE WON THE STAR PRIZE OF A LUXURY HOLIDAY! Er no, I hadnt. Ok, maybe youve heard of these timeshare/holiday club scams before, but I certainly hadnt, and I wished someone had warned me. Well, I was so furious at being tricked out of all this money that I decided to fight back and make a video about my experiences to warn others. PLEASE PASS THIS VIDEO ON!

The "Beware Holiday Scams!" video is now online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i36A0jfTzOs

This is an animated warning with reconstructions of the techniques used to get unsuspecting holidaymakers to go to holiday club presentations.

If you have an experience with a holiday club or similar scheme and you want to post your experiences, please add a comment or video response on youtube. I dont want you to put the name of the organisation, but please post how you were persauded to join (what tactics they used, lies told etc...) and how much you ended up loosing.

Hopefully this video will do a great public service by warning holidaymakers about the tactics that sharks use and making it easier to spot genuine holiday club offers (if any?)

Comments on the video welcome.

jonesMUFCforever

It is easy to get rid of time share !!!!!.
Either tell them in no certain way to f**k off or tell them that you do not have a credit card as you don't believe in them.

paulinespens

I had a laugh with timeshare touts in Tenerife. They asked me and my gf at the time if we was British we said yes. Where do you come from. My gf says Windsor and his eyes lit up like a million dollars. When I said we was both students with my northen accent he was gone.

blondchaser

If you have been caught out by these unscrupulous ROGUES. contact your credit card company immediately(in writing) and ask for refund. Also, If the company that conned you happens to be VWP, send by RECORDED delivery, A letter of cancellation, to Mrs V Hart, legal advisor? to Vacaciones Wide Plus.
There is also a helpline No: 01624 817311, ask for Peter.
Inform your tour opperator, and insist they get flyers ,free , from the office of fair trading(OFT) and include one in every clients travel pack.

holistichik

Slap my wrist if you want, but ive just been had on the telephone. Company called "Golden Selection Promotions" anyone heard of these? Would not take no for an answer. He offered me 1weeks holiday and then said i could have two. He asked for my card details and i replied "i not giving you my card details over the phone" thought he`d take the hint but no he said he couldnt take the money without the 3-digit number which i never gave. I dont know why but i gave him the card number. Next thing 440 Euros is taken out on the card. I tried phoning straight away only to get an answerphone. I emailed twice and he phoned me back, saying he would have to contact head office. Yesterday he phoned and my hubby answered and he is better talking on the phone then what i am, he asked for a refund and he couldnt give him an answer, instead said if he knew people who would like a holiday to give him there number. He also offered £149 plus the 2wks holidays. Now if he can refund £149 surely he could refund it all. Ill certainly learn my lesson......

C_Ronaldo

just dnt talk to the people

holidayclubwarning

*Bump!* This scam is still going strong and people need to know about it. You might think you are saving money by joining a holiday club but you are WASTING it.

neas

Surely people arent dumb enough to fall for this?

You got played on your greed... if it sounds too good to be true.. it usually is.

budgetflyer

Nice animation.
Lots of people join "holiday clubs" and enjoy the benefits, so its simply not true they always are a rip off.
Just as "Timeshare" isnt always a rip off.
It really depends on your holiday requirements.Considering you can pay upwards of £800 pw to stay in a caravan on the Sth of France or Costa Brava with the likes of Keycamp or Haven in high season, then timeshare and/or holiday club and/or points ownership can be really cost effective if bought properly ie resale, from people like you at a fraction of the new price.

Why isnt there any articles like "Beware rip off car dealer--- Last year I bought a new Ford Blah Blah Ghia 2.4 turbo blaster and its only worth 1/2 what I paid for it by the time the 1st tank was empty"?

For anyone these days to fall for one of these scratch card promotions, you really must have been a recluse or in a coma for the last 5 years.

stoneman

holidayclubwarning wrote: »

*Bump!* This scam is still going strong and people need to know about it. You might think you are saving money by joining a holiday club but you are WASTING it.

Sorry you got caught but give it a rest. You have made your point so why do you want to bump the post. BTW I find it hard to believe that many people get caught out on this scam, it's been going for at least 10 years now.

holidayclubwarning

Ive bumped it because people are still falling for it. Its all very well saying we should have known about it but you only find out about it if people tell you, which is what Im doing. I was scammed in March, which was supposedly the OFTs "Scam awareness month" where they did alot of publicity on this particular scam but I never heard about it. I wish there had been more.

I have also bumped it because this is a MONEY SAVING site, and this is the best bit of money saving advice I can possibly give. People get suckered into holiday clubs in the first place because they are trying to save money on their travel and think this might be a good way of doing it, but it ends up costing them dearly in the long run. If my video notifies people of a scam that would have otherwise cost them thousands, then I think its worth telling people about it.