Timeshare holiday schemes can slug buyers with fees for 80 years or more

TIMESHARE holidays schemes have been exposed for giving a dastardly new meaning to the phrase “deal of a lifetime”, with consumers locked in for 80 years or more.

TIMESHARE holiday schemes can give a dastardly new meaning to “deal of a lifetime” or “holiday of a lifetime”, with buyers locked in to hefty fees for 80 years or more.

As many as 170,000 Australians pay about $270 million annually on holiday timeshares, which are managed investment schemes and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

But consumer group Choice said scheme promoters often give financial advice yet are exempt from many parts of the nation’s consumer protection regime.

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Fran and Lindsay McIntosh with their children on a holiday camel ride. They found their timeshare an good idea when the kids were young but now they cannot get out of the contract. Picture Supplied

“This is one area where financial advisers have preserved the cowboy tactics of the past. High-pressure sales techniques, high commissions and shocking consumer outcomes,” Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said.

The Consumer Action Law Centre has received more than 50 complaints this year about timeshare schemes.

“It’s a significant cause of consumer distress,” Consumer Action CEO Gerard Brody said.

“Lots of people don’t understand what they are signing up to when they purchase timeshare.”

Fran and Lindsay McIntosh bought into a holiday timeshare in 1991. It was good while they had young kids but now they can’t get out. Annual payments, currently $840, run for 99 years. They paid $13,450 upfront.

“We have tried to sell through recommended resales, to no avail,” Mrs McIntosh, of Valentine near Newcastle, said.

“I did ask what happens if we die and was advised the debt is taken over by next of kin.”

Public Defender has asked the scheme seller to release the McIntoshes from future payments, and last night it offered them a new option to exit.

Marj Bullivant received a refund over her timeshare deal after Public Defender intervention.

In 2013 Marj Bullivant, from southern NSW, paid $7000 in a holiday timeshare deal. She said she was repeatedly assured it was possible to transfer points from another scheme. It wasn’t.

Following Public Defender’s intervention, Mrs Bullivant has received a refund.

Choice said the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal had found $12,300 of points purchased by a timeshare owner at $2.05 each were worth 19c each on redemption — a loss of more than 90 per cent. The accommodation was cockroach-infested.

The Australian Timeshare Holiday Ownership Council said “timeshare credits can be transferred, gifted or willed, or sold ­either through a resale company or a number of other avenues”.

“There are numerous channels through which complaints can be made, including to the independent Financial Ombudsman Service Australia and the Credit and Investments Ombudsman.”

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