Metodos timeshare vivienda

Housing - Timeshare

Tricks Of The Trade

These are some of the methods time-share touts are currently using to trap holiday-makers.

The scratch and catch scam

Time share touts may approach you at the resorts where you are staying or in the street. Touts working for time-share operator Atlas Balear often give out scratch cards that reveal you have won a prize . They then offer to collect the prize, but instead give you a high-pressure sales pitch for Atlas’ time-shares.

The buy- and- sell scam

Which? reader Steve Jackson is one of several people we’ve heard from who have been caught out by the buy- and -sell scam . He already owned a time-share at the CaIa Blanca resort in Gran Canaria when, in June, he was approached by Atlas Balear, his time share management company. Atlas offered him a new time -share in Mallorca for Ł 8,800 and promised to sell his Cala Blanca time-share for Ł13,OOO -much more than its market value. It gave him an agreement promising to refund the cost of the new time-share in Mallorca if his own had not sold within six months. Steve bought the time-share at the Cala Pí resort and heard no more. Six months later, he discovered that Atlas had never even put his time-share on the market, let alone sold it.

Finally, in March, after forming an action group against Atlas, Steve got his money back.

But other members of the group are still waiting to be reimbursed.