TCA investigates the Resort Development Organisation (RDO)

Who are the RDO?

The RDO is a self styled trade body funded by a section of the European timeshare industry to promote both the concept and sales of timeshare.

Amongst their contributors are major developers such as Anfi, Diamond Resorts and Club la Costa, who pay considerable annual membership fees.

The RDO's member list consists of 16 developers and a further 32 companies on the periphery of timeshare (lawyers, trust companies and accountants). What the Timeshare Consumer Association (TCA) wants to establish is: Do these 16 developers really make RDO the voice of timeshare in Europe?

Investigation

When investigating the credentials of any suspect company, the Timeshare Consumer Association’s investigation team follow an established methodology. 

We thought it might be an interesting exercise to examine and judge the RDO by the same criteria...

Registration

RDO is not registered at the UK Companies House, despite displaying their central office address as: 4th Floor, 3 More London Riverside, London, SE1 2AQ.

The privacy terms on their website give their registered address as: 2nd Floor, Gaspé House, 66-72 Esplanade, St Helier, Jersey, JE1 1GH.

RDO turns out to be an offshore, Jersey company ‘RDO Ltd’ with the registration number 109519

Conventions and trade fairs

Further investigations revealed that a Spanish company called ‘Resort Development Organisation Ltd’ was incorporated in Benalmadena in 2017 with a CIF (Spanish company registration number) N8265439C.

The stated business activity of this company is 'organisation of conventions and trade fairs'

The RDO don’t want to talk to you by phone

Their 'contact us' page instructs that: “.....consumers should not call the main number as consumer enquiries and complaints cannot be handled via telephone .... it is a message service line only”

RDO will only accept consumer communication by email or written letter, which customers could potentially consider to be poor quality of access.

At TCA for example we love speaking to people.  Real time conversation gives an opportunity to build confidence in our assistance and advice. A conversation can flow, and follow up questions be asked and answered in seconds. 

While it can safely be assumed that the developers can easily get the RDO on the phone when they need to, without the ability to speak live to a human being, actual consumers may consider the RDO to be a less than useful help resource.

Who runs the RDO?

The management board is made up of leading figures from the timeshare industry who are responsible for the policy, strategy and governance of the organisation. Among them are Lee Dowling and Eugene Miskelly.

Dowling is Managing Director Asia Pacific, Europe & Middle East at Marriott Vacations Worldwide. 

Miskelly is Director of Human Resources at CLC World.

The Chief Executive since 2007 is Paul Gardner-Bougaard.  Prior to this appointment Gardner-Bougaard held roles with various organisations including First National Trust Company (FNTC) who are a trust company involved with the timeshare industry (they are also members of the RDO.)

Do the RDO help timeshare owners?

With management positions held by current senior executives in two of the largest resort developers in Europe, observers question how the RDO can claim to advocate fairly for timeshare owners

CLC World (Eugene Miskelly's employer) has hundreds of legal cases against it, presented and won in the Spanish courts involving millions of pounds.  Despite these judgements CLC World consistently and inventively avoid paying owners who have won cases against them.

Currently CLC are liquidating companies, seemingly to avoid their legal responsibilities. 

These judgements were for writing contracts in contravention of Spanish law 42/98, which was enacted in January 1999. 

CLC World had plenty of time to comply the law, but opted not to do so. 

Silverpoint. Why no critical publicity?

The RDO is funded by the resorts, not by timeshare owners.

Logically this might imply the RDO are motivated to protect the interests of the resorts over those of the consumer.

Case in point: Over a year after Silverpoint Vacations went into liquidation in January 2020, the RDO still hasn’t commented on said liquidation, suspicious fund transfers, or the money Silverpoint failed to pay people who obtained a judgement against them.

The only comment was made on the 4^th April 2017, when the RDO grudgingly offered the following post

“Following its decision to stop selling timeshare, Silverpoint has informed RDO of its withdrawal from membership of the organisation, with effect from 24th March 2017.”

1. Silverpoint is an ex RDO member.
2. Silverpoint‘s CEO Mark Cushway is an ex board member of the RDO.
3. Silverpoint have avoided negative publicity being published on the RDO website.

One has to question why Silverpoint received such favourable treatment

Such failure to report on negative aspects of timeshare could be seen as deliberate manipulation of information in favour of the industry, and to the detriment of consumers

Truth vs fiction

The Resort Development Organisation website states that:

“RDO (Resort Development Organisation) is the trade association for vacation ownership across Europe …

RDO members represent the best in European vacation ownership and are committed to high service standards and integrity. They are bound by a code of conduct and an independent arbitration scheme, providing levels of protection beyond those required by law.”

This 'code of conduct' has not been updated since 2010, and members like Anfi Sales SL, Diamond Resorts and CLC World have a reputation for mis-selling.

They all have substantial outstanding judgements for selling timeshare with illegal contracts, with millions of pounds in compensation being owed to thousands of claimants

Many clients have been left with loans through companies such as Barclays, Hitachi, Shawbrook and GE money. Often it was the timeshare salespeople themselves who facilitated these loans although they were not regulated by the Office of Fair Trading/Financial Conduct Authority to do so

Many clients complain that the timeshare salesperson cut corners to help them get approved for loans they might otherwise have been refused for

Kwikchex

KwikChex, together with associated websites Timeshare Task Force, Timeshare Business Check and Timeshare Exit Concerns are all under the stewardship of one man:  Christopher Anthony Emmins.

All three sites openly admit that they receive funding from the RDO, and yet they claim to be independent consumer organisations

All three sites regularly attack enemies of timeshare developers, such as reputable claims firms and genuinely independent consumer associations

Timeshare Consumer Association

For advice, guidance and expert help with any timeshare related issue, the Timeshare Consumer Association is available on the contact details below.

We are genuinely independent, volunteer staffed and not funded by the RDO or any other timeshare special interest group