Or extra weeks
Have you ever received a call from a company offering you "extra weeks" or "bonus weeks" of holiday accommodation? What at first seems an attractive deal often turns out to be a thinly disguised sales pitch. Beware, as these companies are only after your money.
- How do these companies target their victims?
- Holiday Packs and Discount Travel Membership Clubs
- Do your research
Claiming to be an affiliate of RCI or II, and armed with some information about your Timeshare, the company will cold call you with the offer of "bonus weeks" of holiday time at a discounted price. They may claim - or strongly imply - that they are calling on behalf of one of the recognised Timeshare or exchange companies such as RCI or II, and that the offer is by way of a reward for your long-term membership or Timeshare ownership with them. This is highly unlikely to be true, but if they insist that your Timeshare company has referred them to you, they should have no problem quoting your membership number. So to be safe, you should ask them for this information. RCI proper is investigating this scheme which appears to be a fraudulent use of their name.
How do these companies target their victims?
To attract your interest, the caller will imply that they have a broad availability of holiday locations. In actual fact, they will have contracts with a limited number of resorts to whom they provide potential buyers. So you would only be offered accommodation within this limited range of resorts. Be extremely wary if the approach is not coming directly from your Timeshare company or Timeshare exchange company, as the offer will involve a hidden agenda, typically in the form of compulsory attendance at a 90 minute presentation. This is often revealed to be a hard sell tactic, a lot longer than the alleged 90 minutes.
A hallmark of these presentations is a very aggressive sales technique which may include an offer to take over your existing Timeshare - which is never followed up. One particularly tempting offer is often the "cash back" scheme, also referred to as a "reclaim certificate" or "cashback certificate". This was initially a legitimate concept devised for the sale of white goods but was seized upon by sellers of the dubious Holiday Pack for their own deceitful means (see our article on Bad Publicity). The cashback certificate is nothing more than a catch.
Holiday Packs and Discount Travel Membership Clubs
These shady marketing companies have yet another carrot to dangle in front of you, the unsuspecting Timeshare owner - the notion that a new purchase made with them is an investment that will guarantee you a financial profit. Be very careful - this is likely to be a Holiday Pack or Discount Travel Membership Club, neither of which are Timeshare products and have been devised specifically to fall outside of the appropriate legislation (the 1994 European Timeshare Directive, which entitles you to a cooling off period of 10 days, among other protection).
Do your research
If the offer seems too good to be true it probably is, so don't be lured in. A free holiday will always involve some kind of commitment from the client, but before you give any money to this type of company, make sure you ask to see a copy of their contract and read it through carefully. Try to get information about available destinations for these "bonus weeks" and ask for the terms and conditions. Be aware that the offer is very likely to involve the purchase of a new holiday product, so think carefully whether this is what you want. Also think twice before handing over your bank card details as it can be virtually impossible to get your money back.
Bonus weeks are basically an incentive to attract clients into buying a further holiday product. They usually come with expiration dates and can often be subject to restrictions in terms of location, season and calendar holidays.
If you are approached unsolicited by a company purporting to be RCI or II, or by any company offering you bonus weeks and you would like to find out more about them, don't hesitate to contact one of our advisors.
