A (Not So) Brief History of Timeshare Related Scams

This is an excerpt of a longer piece from Inside Timeshare, published in the UK. 

I find it sad and truthful. I’ve yet to find another industry that continually comes up with ways to scam consumers and more troubling, one that consumers continue to reward this horrible behavior by dropping money and then crying ‘foul.’

When timeshare first started it was a very good concept, the accommodation was superb, far better than what was available through the high street travel agent, but something went very wrong. Greed took over.

Some of the first “scams” were the buying off plan schemes, where all you purchased was a hole in the ground and an architects plan. Many of these were never built with hundreds of people losing thousands of pounds.

The industry itself did little to “police itself”, countries laws where these timeshares were being built were not adequate, allowing many frauds to take place, with the perpetrators getting away with millions.

After the “off plan” scams, the industry through how the product was sold was instrumental in the next phase, the resale scam. As timeshares were being sold as “property” which would go up in value, the resale companies capitalised on this. Offering clients the promise of selling their timeshare for more than they actually paid for it, taking thousands to “list” the timeshare for sale and then disappearing.

Now because the laws have been strengthened, especially in Spain, we are seeing bogus claims companies taking thousands for relinquishments and no win no fee claims. 

Just recently Inside Timeshare has been getting enquiries about one of these companies, RSB Legal. Many have paid them to cancel their timeshare and claim the money back, but they are now no longer trading, they have simply vanished, leaving hundreds of clients out of pocket.

These stories show why you must do your due diligence and homework before going to any presentation, or doing business with any company. Check, check then check again, ask the questions, are they for real, how are they going to claim, can they do what they say they can do, how long have they been trading?

Sadly, for consumers, there are far more opportunities to be scammed than ever before. These scammers are relentless and extremely good at what they do, playing on fear of loss and in some cases, pure intimidation. 

It is getting increasingly more difficult to determine who to trust in this space. I don’t know how long the industry and the extended timeshare community can continue to exist before it all comes crashing down. Will it be rebuilt, or is the end in sight?