27 February 2008
Scratchcard touts operating abroad are using the promise of a ‘star prize’ to snare tourists into buying holiday club* membership and timeshare trials, a new report by Holiday Which? warns.
Undercover research carried out by Holiday Which? has found that scratchcard touts in popular Mediterranean resorts are luring British tourists into sales presentations with the promise of ‘star prizes’. To get the prizes, ‘winners’ often have to attend lengthy presentations where they are sold membership to holiday clubs** or timeshare trials.
Holiday Which? researchers, posing as an engaged couple, were approached by touts and enticed to two presentations, where they were relentlessly bombarded with baffling information for up to five hours.
The sales staff would not reveal the cost of membership until near the end of the presentations. At both sessions the ‘couple’ was pressured to sign up and pay money on the spot without the chance to think it over.
People in the UK are also being targeted via a letter or a phone call informing them that they have won a holiday prize.
New legislation coming into force in April 2008 aims to outlaw misleading and aggressive sales practices***. Holiday Which? hopes this will put an end to the use of pressure selling techniques at presentations.
Lorna Cowan, editor of Holiday Which?, says:
“Whether at home or abroad, everyone likes to win a prize, especially a holiday. But there is a catch - you may have to attend a lengthy presentation where you are pressured into parting with thousands of pounds for something you might not even want.
“We welcome new EU proposals****, which should prevent companies from demanding money on the spot for these types of holiday products. In the meantime we would advise holidaymakers to avoid scratchcard touts at all costs and not to buy into a holiday club.”
Holiday Which? tips at sales presentations:
> To avoid temptation, don’t take your credit or debit card with you
> Ensure you get a full written description including fees, legal rights and obligations
> Make sure you know the company’s address and take notes of what is said if possible
-Ends-
Posing as an engaged couple, two Holiday Which? researchers went undercover to attend a presentation for a timeshare trial by Club la Costa (CLC) in Lakeside, Essex, in July 2007. The same couple then visited Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol in August 2007, where they attended presentations for a timeshare trial by CLC and for trial membership of what Heritage Resorts called a holiday club. CLC told Holiday Which? afterwards: "We are not a long-term holiday club. Our trial membership product is a "straight holiday purchase" and not a timeshare product. All CLC trial membership contracts have a 14-day, no-questions-asked cancellation period." Heritage Resorts declined to comment.
For further information, a PDF of the full report, or an interview with Holiday Which?, contact Rebecca Leach.
Holiday Which? is a subscription-only holiday magazine published 4 times a year by Which? For details on how to receive 2 issues of Holiday Which? for £3, telephone 01992 822800 or visit which.co.uk
* Holiday clubs are a long-term holiday product which usually differ from timeshare because they only offer the chance to buy discounted holidays from a particular company – perhaps by a password to a website - instead of a tangible ‘bricks and mortar’ product with ownership rights. They may also be called travel discount clubs, vacation or holiday ownership schemes.
** Holiday club membership can often cost thousands of pounds and the deals may be no cheaper than those available online or on the high street.
*** The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive becomes law in April 2008 to guard against misleading and aggressive sales practices. This law has yet to be tested.
**** The 1994 Timeshare Directive prohibits operators from taking deposits from consumers during the cooling-off period of at least 10 days. New proposals by the European Commission aim to extend this law to include long-term holiday products and timeshare trials of less than three years.
