Memorandum by Angus Murray
Comment: I have only just learned of these proposals,
13/9/07, so have little time to make any submission. The bogus
holiday club scam operated by DWVC/Timelinx/Incentive Leisure
has already resulted in huge numbers of victims and untold misery,
and their activities continue unchecked. My comments on various
aspects are detailed below against each category.
OVERVIEW
1. With regard to measures intended to safeguard
timeshare consumers, what is the rationale for binding legislation
rather than a voluntary agreement?
Comment: Voluntary agreements such as that made
between Designer Way Vacation Club (DWVC) and Office of Fair Trading
(OFT) are simply ignored, as DWVC has done repeatedly in regard
to the 7 day cooling-off period for agreements agreed between
themselves and OFT.
2. In this policy area, what do you consider
to be the respective roles of EC law and national law?
Comment: Both EC Law and national law should
be at one in protecting consumers from organisations like DWVC
and their associate companies, in this case Incentive Leisure
and Timelinx.
3. What has been your experience of the existing
Directive? What, in your view, are its strengths and weaknesses?
Comment: It is so full of loop-holes as to be
completely useless. I can't help wondering if this has been deliberately
done, in order to allow timeshare and bogus holiday club scams
to continue unchecked.
SCOPE AND
DEFINITIONS
4. What is your view of the scope and definitions
contained in the draft Proposal (Articles 1 and 2)? Might they
be expanded, clarified or reduced? If so, how might this be achieved?
Comment: why not just allow a compulsory 10
day cooling-off period for all timeshare or holiday club sales
in all circumstances and irrespective of where any such agreements
are signed. Is that so difficult?
INFORMATION PROVISION
5. On the basis of your own experience, what
is your assessment of the proposals relating to information provision
and advertising (Article 3 and Annexes)?
6. How can consumers generally be best informed
by national governments or other bodies about their rights in
relation to this Directive (Article 10(1))?
Use consumer websites and discussion forums
such as that of HolidayWatchdog at forum.holidaywatchdog.co33F804—there
is more effective and better publicised advice and victim experience
here than in all UK government information.
THE RIGHT
OF WITHDRAWAL
7. How satisfactory, from the consumer's perspective,
are the provisions on the right of withdrawal (Article 4(3) and
Article 5)?
Comment: I don't understand the legalistic wording
of these provisions, and doubt if many other victims of the timeshare/holiday
club scam industry will either! I doubt if any of the hundreds
of thousands of victims cares about the wording, provided it isn't
as full of legal loop-holes as present legislation. For instance
the voluntary cooling off period agreed between DWVC and OFT apparently
doesn't apply if agreements are signed on the premises of DWVC
or its associate company Incentive Leisure.
8. One of the aims of the provisions is to
establish a more consistent regime across Member States. To what
extent is this achieved, particularly given the flexibility enshrined
within Article 1(2) which allows Member States to apply more stringent
national provisions relating to aspects of the right of withdrawal?
ADVANCE PAYMENTS
9. How can consumers best be protected from
any demand to make advance payments before the end of the period
during which the consumer may exercise the right of withdrawal
(Article 6(1))?
Make the encashment of such payments completely
illegal within the cooling off period. Better still don't leave
huge loop-holes, as is presently the case, whereby scammers can
ignore any cooling-off period legislation.
10. How significant a problem for consumers
have advance payments been in the resale market (Article 6(2))?
Comment: don't know.
REDRESS
11. What are your views on the provisions
relating to judicial, administration and out-of court redress
(Article 9 and Article 10(2))?
It is essential to prosecutee with vigour, those
companies such as DWVC/incentive Leisure who simply ignore consumer
legislation or voluntary agreements.
SANCTIONS, MONITORING
AND ENFORCEMENT
12. The proposed Directive expands the current
requirement for penalties against infringements of the legislation
(Article 11). What is your view on the level of sanctions imposed
by Member States for infringements of the current Directive, and
on the efficacy of monitoring and enforcement across the EU?
Comment: if member states in future remain as
inactive on this appalling and widespread scam as they are at
present, then the scammers have nothing to worry about!
13. With particular relation to enforcement,
do you consider that the relationship between the proposed new
Directive and the provisions of the Unfair Commercial Practices
Directive[8]
is sufficiently clear?
No.
OUTSTANDING ISSUES
14. Are there any significant issues in the
timeshare market that the proposed new Directive has failed to
address?
Comment: It's likely the scammers will simply
invent another name for the same sort of scam, and carry on regardless!
We also would welcome views on any other aspect
of the Commission's Proposal
Comment: I only heard about these proposals
yesterday, in spite of having corresponded with various consumer
bodies, including Charles Walker MP, Trading Standards and Office
of Fair Trading and others, all of whom either didn't know or
wouldn't tell about the proposals.
If they didn't know, then how were the vast
number of innocent victims, many elderly and without internet
access, supposed to know?
Please look at Holiday Watchdog website forum.holidaywatchdog.co33F804
particularly those threads involving DWVC, Incentive Leisure and
Timelinx.
Only two months ago my wife and I fell victim
to their bogus holiday club scam, and already have received aggressive
threats, and accumulated a large amount of related correspondence.
Unfortunately, owing to the almost non-existent publicity, it
is too late to make the deadline for submission of this correspondence,
but I am prepared to send this information, and to appear before
your committee.
13 September 2007
8 Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumber
commercial practices in the internal market. OJ L149 11.06.05
p 122-139. Back
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