Timeshare refund

Mrsthrupp01

Hi. I have a timeshare in Malta. I paid the maintenance fee for this year but due to COVID and travel restrictions I’ve had to cancel. The hotel offered us to change the dates but we are still unable to go. Am I entitled to a refund?

eskbanker

Mrsthrupp01 said:

Hi. I have a timeshare in Malta. I paid the maintenance fee for this year but due to COVID and travel restrictions I’ve had to cancel. The hotel offered us to change the dates but we are still unable to go. Am I entitled to a refund?

If the hotel is open then it's not their issue that you can't travel to it, so if they're offering some sort of amendment arrangement then that's probably beyond their obligations and as good as you'll get, unless there's anything in the terms of your contract that would trigger refund rights?

Unless the hotel have breached that contract then you won't be able to make any sort of claim from payment card providers, so the only other route would be your travel insurance....

Alan_Bowen

The obligation to pay maintenance remains whether you use the timeshare or not. Frankly, you can usually buy a weeks holiday for the cost of maintenance without paying the tens of thousands for the timeshare as well. Some timeshare operators have offered a reduction, so it may be worth checking but most have said 'cough up' because that is the sort of people they are!

lisaevans999

We brought a points based timeshare in 2016 from RCI/Bluegreen in the USA. We no longer want this and due to COVID cannot use it. We have tried to sell this but to no avail and Bluegreen are no help. I would just cancel if i could to avoid the maintenance fees as my husband and I recently separated and i can no longer afford these. Can i just not pay and see what happens?
On top of everything this is really worrying me and i am losing sleep over it.

[Deleted User]

lisaevans999 said:

Can i just not pay and see what happens?

You could. You could also do a lot of things.  But if you're the worrying type, will you be able to handle a stream of letters and debt collectors?

lincroft1710

lisaevans999 said:

We brought a points based timeshare in 2016 from RCI/Bluegreen in the USA. We no longer want this and due to COVID cannot use it. We have tried to sell this but to no avail and Bluegreen are no help. I would just cancel if i could to avoid the maintenance fees as my husband and I recently separated and i can no longer afford these. Can i just not pay and see what happens?
On top of everything this is really worrying me and i am losing sleep over it.

In the not so distant past timeshare owners couldn't even give their unwanted timeshare away because of the maintenance costs. Can't you just "gift" your half to your husband?

Aylesbury_Duck

lisaevans999 said:

We brought a points based timeshare in 2016 from RCI/Bluegreen in the USA. We no longer want this and due to COVID cannot use it. We have tried to sell this but to no avail and Bluegreen are no help. I would just cancel if i could to avoid the maintenance fees as my husband and I recently separated and i can no longer afford these. Can i just not pay and see what happens?
On top of everything this is really worrying me and i am losing sleep over it.

Yes you can, but I'd advise reading your contract first, to see what the consequences would be.

[Deleted User]

lisaevans999 said:

We brought a points based timeshare in 2016 from RCI/Bluegreen in the USA. We no longer want this and due to COVID cannot use it. We have tried to sell this but to no avail and Bluegreen are no help. I would just cancel if i could to avoid the maintenance fees as my husband and I recently separated and i can no longer afford these. Can i just not pay and see what happens?
On top of everything this is really worrying me and i am losing sleep over it.

Going by my experience of time share sellers, they are ruthless.   However, if you can't sell it and you can't afford it, they can't get blood out of stone!   Not sure what will happen if you advise them you cannot afford it and just stop paying?   You will be bombarded with threats no doubt but if you stick it out what is worst can happen?   They take you to court and you say you just don't have the money...who can make you pay what?   Unless of course you can afford it but don't want to.

Alan_Bowen

Bearing in mind they are a Florida based company I am not convinced they would attempt legal action in the UK and if they did, the reviews on consumeraffairs.com are probably sufficient for a judge to throw out the case. As you appreciate the points are worthless and unless you can find someone who wants a free timeshare, with maintenance fees in excess of $600 you would need your head examining (sorry to all those who have bought bluegreen points) the only option is to stop paying. Yes, you may get letters with increasing threats but ignoring those is a cheaper option than paying every year for the rest of your life!
Whatever you do, never ever pay a company to 'sell' or rid you of the timeshare, 99.99% of those businesses are just as bad as bluegreen!