IMPORTANT NOTICE TO OUR MEMBERS:
Please be advised that over the past few years we
have had many of our members query us about calls they receive at
home offering to resell their timeshare, or stating that they have a
buyer for their week and all the member needs to do is send a few
hundred pounds off to a bank account (usually in Spain) and within a
few weeks time they will receive a cheque for a figure that surely
sounds "too good to be true".
Suffice it to say, that if you receive a direct marketing call to
your home or work, suggesting that they have a client that is
waiting to buy your week in a timeshare resort, then there is every
chance that this is part of a scam. Please do not send any money to
anyone calling you and saying that they have a buyer for your
timeshare, nor should you send them your signed deeds.
The O.T.E. (Organisation for Timeshare in Europe)
is a trade body that most successful timeshare operators in Europe
belong to. They have a code of ethics for all their members,
including any Timeshare Resale companies.
Their Code of Ethics states:
O.T.E. MEMBERS RESALE CODE
Resale O.T.E. Members should clearly disclose to seller and buyer, as
appropriate, the relevant obligations and rights of all parties to
the resale marketing, sales and conveyance transactions, including
but not limited to the Resale Member and the seller and buyer of the
timeshare interest.
Resale members must offer buyers of resale timeshare interests the
same benefits of cooling-off period and protection of advance
payments as are offered to other buyers of timeshare interests or as
otherwise provided by the Law.
Resale Members may not directly nor through a third party make
unsolicited contact, via telephone, fax or mail, with timeshare
owners on what is, or may be construed to be, a cold call approach
aimed at inducing such owners to permit the resale organisation to
act as their selling agent.
Resale Members may not directly or indirectly solicit a fee from a
vendor by falsely representing that there is a purchaser ready,
willing and able to acquire the vendor's timeshare.
Resale Members are not permitted to take any form of mandatory
upfront payments for the listing, marketing and sale of any
timeshare interest.
For more information, please see the O.T.E. web site at:
www.ote-info.com
