Steve Burton with wife, Cathy, at Lehigh Resort Club in Florida
Press release —
ECC client Steve Burton reminisces on his 46 year timeshare journey
"August 2nd 1980 was the day that changed my life forever," writes European Consumer Claims client Steve Burton, a 75 year old former Job Centre manager from Llandudno.
"This was the day I read an article in the Daily Telegraph about timesharing and its numerous benefits.
"I was hooked.
"The article extolled the quality of the accommodation which would be in fabulous locations often close to the sea, as is the case with The Osborne Club (at The Osborne Apartments) in Torquay where I have been an owner since August 1980.
"The Osborne was the first timeshare resort in England while Loch Rannoch (officially known as the Loch Rannoch Highland Club) was the first resort in the United Kingdom and opened four years earlier in 1976.
"The article quoted numerous benefits about timesharing including the accommodation, location, the opportunity to exchange to other resorts via RCI for a nominal exchange fee of just fifteen pounds and the fact that owning a share of a property would make it a good investment as well (because as everybody knows - owning property is always a great investment!)
Osborne Apartments, Torquay
"I have - over the years - owned weeks at timeshare resorts in England, France, Spain, Portugal and Florida. As time went by I realised that the promise of making money through capital appreciation was not going to happen. A few years ago I managed to sell my weeks in both Florida and Spain at a significant loss, in part because of the high level of commission being charged to owners.
"In the early days of timesharing, owners found it hard to reselltheir weeks and to some degree that was understandable as the developer had their own inventory to sell, which often would take priority over owners trying to resell their weeks. It was thought by timeshare owners that the resale situation would improve in the future once the developers had sold their inventory.
"Sadly owners at numerous resorts got that wrong. I (for example) have, since the early 1980's, owned three weeks at a ski resort in the French alps. I purchased these weeks for exchange purposes but five years ago the resort management decided that they would only deal with the exchange company Interval International.
Tignes ski resort in winter
"This is not the case at other resorts that I have visited because its usual for an owner to use an exchange company of their choice rather than have that chosen for you by the resort management. The resort subsequently designated my off season weeks into a time when the resort was closed so I had no understanding why they still expected me to pay yearly maintenance fees. I tried to end my membership by paying a fee to the resort and have my application voted on by the owners at the next AGM.
"At the AGM there are numerous matters that are decided on by a majority vote of the owners however in any vote to exit ownership there has to be a unanimous vote for an owner to be allowed to exit.
"I have never seen a unanimous vote to allow an owner to end their ownership at the resort. The resort Clubhotel Inter Residences in Tignes is therefore guilty in my mind of appearing to offer owners an exit from ownership at the resort only for it never to happen because of the need for a unanimous vote.
"I have now employed European Consumer Claims to end my ownership at this resort.
European Consumer Claims: Helping Steve exit his timeshare
"The length of your ownership was also something to consider; in Scotland it could be in perpetuity while in England the maximum ownership at a timeshare resort was eighty years, with often a vote to decide what happens next as is the case at the Osborne when the timeshare ownership is due to end in 2058.
"At the time, my thinking about the length of ownership was: the longer the better. If my memory is correct, resorts like Tresco had a timeshare scheme with ownership of thirty or forty years. At the time I believed it was that it was preferable to own weeks at a resort with ownership of eighty years, or even in perpetuity. I never considered that reselling timeshare weeks would be so difficult especially for low season weeks.
"These days many people would consider ownership at a resort for say thirty years preferable to a longer ownership.
"As to the matter of capital appreciation (after all we are talking bricks and mortar here) nothing could be further from the truth.
"Over forty years later the price of many timeshare weeks is a fraction of the original list price. For example I paid around five hundred pounds for several high season weeks at the Osborne that were sold for around five thousand pounds in the 1980's.
"As timeshare weeks are very difficult to sell, the late Vera Williams (former director of Elliott Property & Leisure) discussed the situation with owners at Elliott at Vale Do Lobo in Portugal and it was decided the best option would be to sell the villas on a whole ownership basis and divide the proceeds between the owners depending on the time of year that the individual owned. It turned out that the villas went for good amounts so everyone was pleased.
"Another issue is that of the maintenance fees, which were forty pounds a week back in 1980. Today the maintenance fees for many weeks at the Osborne are in the region of six hundred pounds - depending on the size of the apartment and the time of the year of the ownership. Having said that the apartments at the Osborne are fabulous so I consider the current maintenance fees to be money well spent.
"Another subject is the exchange process and the cost. I have witnessed some sales staff promising the world to potential purchasers telling them that you can buy a week in Tenerife and exchange it for a week in The Manhattan Club in New York city. In reality, many timeshare owners to find that its far from easy to exchange to high demand locations like New York city.
The Manhattan Club, NYC
"The Manhattan Club in particular is one resort where, in addition to various fees with RCI there are also significant daily fees.
"This issue of having to pay resort fees is something that has only been in place at many resorts for the last few years. It would be remiss of me not to mention Lehigh Resort Club near Fort Myers in Florida it is a resort that I first visited back in 1994 and I have probably spent about one hundred and fifty weeks there since my first visit.
"It's just a wonderful resort with a great pool area plus lots of activities, such as an on site golf course and tennis courts. it usually has good availability as well. Another problem with the exchange process is that RCI used to be a timeshare exchange company while now many of the weeks on offer to its members are not exchanges but on a rental basis. RCI's exchange fees have gone up more than twenty fold since 1980, once exchange protection is purchased.
"On a final note: I believe I actually got lucky with my ownership of six weeks at the Osborne because many of the resorts that I have visited on exchange in England no longer exist due to financial issues."
Expert comment
Greg Wilson is a timeshare consumer expert and CEO of European Consumer Claims. "Steve's case bears all the hallmarks of thousands of our other clients' histories. In that sense what Steve has experienced is fairly typical."
Greg Wilson. Authority on timeshare consumer failings
"While Steve has an exceptionally long history of timeshare ownership, the key points of his story are still typical in that: he considered it a great deal when he bought it; he had great holidays for a long time; gradually the associated expenses increased to an out of control degree; he was misled about the exchange possibilities and functionality; and was also misled about it being a financial investment.
"Steve then found himself trapped in a contract where he was legally obliged to pay the increasing fees, which the resorts had complete autonomy over. Many resorts now charge more for annual fees than non members pay to stay in the same resort through Booking.Com.
"To escape unwanted timeshare contracts, people generally need expert help."
For advice on any timeshare related issue, contact our team for an obligation-free consultation.
