It is disgusting that holiday clubs ignore consumers’ suffering, regulator says
National Consumer Commission (NCC) head Ebrahim Mohamed did not hide his disgust at the conduct of major holiday clubs operating in SA when announcing a new public enquiry into the "timeshare" industry, on Thursday. "It’s disgusting‚ in my view‚ that captains of this industry can turn a blind eye to the relentless pain and suffering of consumers for such a long time‚" he told a briefing in Pretoria. The industry now prefers the term "vacation ownership" to "timeshare". Consumers have alleged that they were duped by slick presentations into signing up for lifetime contracts that could never be cancelled; that companies overbooked and oversold accommodation; annual levy increases were excessive and they were threatened with litigation if they could not afford to pay them; they could not secure bookings; and they could not give their points away‚ let alone sell them‚ because of the massive levy obligations that went with them. "The most disturbing aspect of it all‚ I think‚ is that the...
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