Cancelling a timeshare - RCI -not possible -HELP

mooch1uk · 22 February 2013 at 9:44PM

Hi

My mum has tried to cancel her timeshare as it is no longer value of money and in fact wasting money. She enquired about cancelling and received this response

We are really sorry to learn of your circumstances and that you do not wish to continue with your membership with us. However, we are afraid that there is no provision for the surrender of a membership, except in Exceptional Circumstances, which are detailed below:
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·!!!!!!!! Death of either member with no possibility of transferring to family members – copy of death certificate will be required.
·!!!!!!!! Bankruptcy/CAB/solicitors involvement to sort out debt – documentary evidence will be required (The Citizens Advice Bureau will produce an Income & Expenditure form for you free of charge.)
·!!!!!!!! Over 75 years old with no possibility of transferring to family members – birth certificate will be required.
·!!!!!!!! Medical problems/terminal illness necessitating reduced travel and/or decrease in financial resources to maintain membership – expert proof will be required.
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Please note for the above we will only consider waiving the current year’s management charges.! Therefore all previous years’ fees must be paid in full. Should any of the above criteria apply, the required documentation as quoted above must be provided to substantiate your case.! We would therefore request that you forward the required documentation so that we can consider the surrender of your membership.
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We trust this information is satisfactory; however, should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the Owner Operations Department.
!
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rocking69 · 22 February 2013 at 10:06PM

If you own a Timeshare, in the same way you own a house I assume the only thing you can do is sell it, not cancel it....but I am no expert in Timeshare so someone else might know something else you can do...

terryw · 23 February 2013 at 6:28AM

Is this response to the cancellation request from RCI?

mooch1uk · 23 February 2013 at 10:07AM

Yes -this is the response my mum got

terryw · 23 February 2013 at 10:11AM

Was the response from RCI or from the actual timeshare company?

Archergirl · 23 February 2013 at 11:10AM

RCI is only an exchange company.

vegasvisitor · 23 February 2013 at 11:46PM

This is awful, although I don't understand the RCI bit either. My mother had a timeshare with Club La Costa, and presumably she was unable to cancel as she was paying over £1,000 per year maintenance even though she was unable to travel. When she died I also had difficulty getting it cancelled, I was given the runaround, advised to wait until the end of the year as maintenance was paid and they gave me a latest surrender date. They then claimed I had missed the date as had to give a month's notice and would have to pay another year's maintenance. They also claimed my name was also on the timeshare although I disputed this and threatened to take legal action on this as I had never been involved nor signed anything. It got sorted in the end but was quite stressful.

I do hope she gets it sorted, but as someone else said it may not be that simple. Timeshares seemed to be popular a while back, but have become a burden to many over the years.

Alan_Bowen · 24 February 2013 at 7:17PM

These replies will not be from RCI but the timeshare company itself. The problem is most people have discovered what poor value timeshare is and as people stop paying the annual fees, they have to go up to cover the costs and be divided by fewer people. It becomes a vicious circle. My advice would be to return the ownership papers and say you are surrendering the property, I very much doubt they will sue but they will threaten to do so, so you have to be prepared to ignore the correspondence, otherwise you just keep paying higher fees to reflect the fact that fewer people are paying, you might also talk to the Timeshare Association who may be able to help

slightlyconfused1 · 24 February 2013 at 10:30PM

Timeshare ownership is just like owning a house. Even if you return ownership papers the maintenance fees continue to be applied. Some people sell timeshare on eBay for next to nothing. There are companies that will attempt to sell timeshare on the owners behalf. Contact Tatoc, the timeshare owners association for advice and a list of reputable resale companies.

Jacqui_Campion · 27 June 2013 at 6:41PM

I have also had problems with this company. Fell for the hard sell 8 years ago and bought in to what they called a point club, not a timeshare. After attempting to book many different holidays and keep being told there was a long waiting list (and I mean years not months) and that anything that was available was not big enough for our family and could we not just leave a couple of the kids at home with someone!!!! I contacted a solicitor and advised them of what we had been told when originally sold it - that our large family would not be a propblem and could be catered for anywhere and that we would have a choice of the whole world to travel to. After many angry conversations and as many solicitors letters, they agreed to cancel our membership but I would never deal with them again! x

Lily45 · 3 July 2013 at 6:39PM

It is important (however), to cancel your contract properly and through the right people. There are lots of companies that just want to make an easy buck and will even guarantee to recover all monies paid... if you pay them an upfront fee. This is an extension to the original scam. when the scam starts all over again. Never pay upfront to sell, rent, donate or cancel a timeshare contract. Do your homework and investigate the company you will choose to assist you with the cancellation of your timeshare contract as there are many who will tell you (what you would like to hear in order to empathize with you and get your business.) whatever necessary to get more money out of you. This is a good article on how to cancel a timeshare:

timesharescam.com/blog/158-how-to-cancel-a-timeshare/

Cancelling a timeshare - RCI -not possible -HELP

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