Seasons back down after Timeshare Consumer Association media campaign
Seasons Holidays praised for restoring access rights to aggrieved members following Timeshare Consumer Association media campaign
Access denied
Andrew and Wendy Wilkinson joined local timeshare resort Clowance Estate & Country Club 30 years ago, paying the eyewatering sum of £25,000 for for a one week membership in a studio. “This was many times the value of an equivalent membership anywhere else,” Andrew explains. “The only reason we paid this huge amount, financed over 10 years, was because it gave our whole family year round access to the club’s facilities”
The couple say they had their access revoked by Seasons Holidays after the Bristol timeshare company took over the resort. “It seemed to be a bid to extort more money from us and change the conditions of our membership.
Media interest
“We had no choice but to ask the TCA (Timeshare Consumer Association) for help,” says Andrew.” They organised a media campaign to highlight what was happening to us. The story was reported on other sites and we were able to get in touch with another group of Seasons Holidays members who were also having a difficult time with the company at a Northumbrian club called Slaley Hall .
“We saw that their case had been featured on Radio 4 ‘s award winning consumer program You & Yours and Daniel Keating from the TCA was in the process of getting us featured on the program.
“I was very nervous about speaking to so many people on national radio, but I would have done it if it was needed. That was the level of injustice Wendy and I felt. Other media was lined up too, including Bristol Live.
Access restored
Luckily for the Wilkinsons, this drastic action proved unnecessary after Seasons Holidays client liaison manager, Sharon reached out and corrected the problem.
“We were overjoyed,” says Wendy. “We had an email from Sharon confirming that our membership ‘allows you and your family to use the facilities on a daily basis’. This is what had been denied to us and to have it reinstated is all we wanted.
“Our family have access again and we can use the facilities we paid for. This has been a stressful couple of years and at times we felt like we were banging our heads against the wall. Hopefully this is all behind us.”
Grateful
“We want to say thank you to Sharon and Seasons Holidays for their change of heart,” adds Andrew. “It takes courage to put things right and we are grateful they were big enough to do this. Our level of respect for them has gone right back up and , provided they keep to their word, we are proud to call ourselves Seasons members again.
“We also want to thank Daniel Keating and the Timeshare Consumer Association for focussing media attention on our situation. They worked tirelessly and for no charge to bring our situation into the public domain. Without their help its possible we could have fallen through the cracks and lost our access forever. We feel that we owe this success to The TCA’s involvement.”
Daniel Keating from the TCA, who represents the Wilkinsons in this matter gave the following statement: “We are pleased that Seasons Holidays were willing and able to address this issue. We are further impressed at the empathy and understanding Seasons have demonstrated in re-instating the Wilkinson family’s rightful access to the club facilities Andrew and Wendy were extremely frustrated but thankfully their membership problems have now been resolved.
“Anyone with timeshare related issues, concerns or questions please get in touch with us on the contact details below, for free, impartial advice and help.”
Additional info for media: Seasons Holidays PLC are members of the Resort Development Organisation (RDO)
Timeshare Consumer Association. Contact us on: T: +44 2036704588 or +44 2035193808 (ask for Daniel), E: enquiries@timeshareadvice.org (Address to Daniel) Or WhatsApp +447586871055
TCA provides a central resource of consumer information on timeshare matters for the media and other organisations — We work towards encouraging responsible, honest, timeshare operators. We also publicly expose negative consumer practices and organisations which operate in a manner detrimental to timeshare buyers and owners.
An important part of our mission is to lobby UK and European Governments and regulatory bodies for improved consumer protection in the timeshare environment and collect information on frauds and mis-selling, for action by enforcement authorities.
We are staffed by former and current timeshare owners, as well as former timeshare industry staff. We know our way around the timeshare business
We are a a proud member of the UK Small Charities Coalition
First published on MyNewsDesk December 2020
