Customers Desperate to Get Out of Timeshare Contracts, as Maintenance Continues to Rise.

Unfortunately, for many customers, the dream of owning their share of a place in the sun has turned into a nightmare, as their annual maintenance fees, which originally seemed so reasonable during the flashy sales pitch, continue to rise without limit. This has left many owners looking to get out of timeshare, only to be told no by greedy resorts. The most unfortunate of these owners may even find that their contract has been signed in perpetuity, meaning that not only is there no end in sight, but that the contract will be passed down to their heirs upon death.

EU legislation proposed in 2014 that would have given all owners the right to surrender their timeshares to their resorts without quibble was unfortunately shot down by those within the holiday ownership industry, who argued that this would lead to the collapse of resorts, leaving remaining members footing even higher maintenance bills.

And so, the cycle continues, with customers seemingly trapped and unable to get out of timeshare contracts they can no longer afford.

When Berkshire-based couple Kevin and Bill Whitman-Greene approached our team at Legal Exits, they owned seven week’s at Gran Canaria’s recently-bankrupted Anfi del Mar. Initially speaking to one of our customer service advisors,  Kevin explained:

We used to enjoy our holidays in Gran Canaria, but started to dread going. Every time, an Anfi representative would need to speak to us about an urgent matter with our ownership, that always turned into a high-pressure sales pitch to buy another week. We’re old now and can’t deal with the stress, so we would end up agreeing just to get out of there. When I saw our last maintenance bill, I wanted to cry.”

Kevin’s reaction was understandable. Owning a total of seven weeks at the resort, the couple’s last bill ran to over 3000 euros, following Anfi’s latest price hike. To add insult to injury, many of the couple’s weeks remained unused during the Covid-19 travel ban. Enough was enough. The Whitman-Greenes contacted Anfi about the possibility handing back all, or even some of their weeks, only to be informed that their contracts had all be signed in perpetuity and they were obligated to continue paying their maintenance fees, unless they could find a private buyer for their weeks.

Desperate to find a solution and a way to get out of timeshare, the couple turned to Legal Exits for advice. Luckily for Kevin and Bill, a successful Spanish Supreme Court victory in 2015 had already paved the way for customers like them, since the selling of contracts in perpetuity was proven to contravene timeshare legislation brought into place back in 1999.

Within a few short months, our lawyers were able to successfully recover in excess of 40000 euros for the couple. 

Thanks to the team at Viking, we were able to prove that we were mis-sold because Anfi’s high-pressure sales tactics & get compensation. Glad to see Anfi go insolvent this month!

Kevin and Bill Whitman-Greene

Kevin and Bill were delighted to join over a thousand satisfied customers throughout Europe that Legal Exits have helped to get out of timeshare. To find out if we can do the same for you, contact our friendly and professional customer service team today!

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