house restoration or hose building

Hi Everyone

I know there was a thread on this a while back but I've now had confirmation from Parador that they have gone into administration and will not be paying us the 2,000 euros cashback which we were promised. I just called the Owner's Club to chase up my money as we completed last month and got put through to the manager who told me that we will not be receiving the money.

We had been relying on that to pay for some of the furniture so looks like we'll be on camp beds for quite a while yet

Hope not too many other people are affected.

Debbie & Jim

A real shame that Debbie.

Did anyone get their money on completion, coz i bet there are a lot of €3,000 payments owed out to individuals, obviously never put to one side in an escrow account once PW paid their commission over so someone has trousered it

 

Hi Debbie & Jim

If you paid membership with a Credit Card it should be covered under section 75 of the consumer credit act 1974

This making the Credit Card company equally responsible for failing to provide the services paid for as part of the membership of the owners club. So you should at least get your membership money back 

Not sure it will help with the cash back issue but I would argue it was part of the agreed service of membership?

As soon as I read formally I will be approaching the Credit Card Company for my losses.

I would in the first instance write to the owners club formally asking for your agreed payment and copy this letter to your credit card company informing them you have been verbally informed that the owners club have informed you they will not be paying this money and that if they don’t you will be turning to the credit card company to recover your losses under section 75 of the consumer credit act 1974

If you then receive from the owners club formal response they are not paying I would then forward that letter to the credit card company and list your loses and ask for them to pay in line with section 75 of the consumer credit act 1974

If anyone sees anything in papers or on the Internet about them going into administration please let us know and post link if possible.

Phil
PS:  

Out of interest found this on the Internet about section 75 of the consumer credit act 1974:-

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/your-money/credit-cards/2006/03/24/two-crucial-credit-card-changes.aspx

 

Hi All

Just found this link about section 75 of the consumer credit act 1974 on the ombudsman’s service makes interesting reading. Interestingly it says that your claim is not limited to just the payment you made but you can claim for all your loss of goods and services?

Phil

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/31/creditcards-31.htm

Cheers Phil, we did pay by credit card so we'll try that.

My dad is in Spain at the moment and is going to the Owners Club office tomorrow (he's bought through them on a different site), doubt he'll find out much more but if he does I'll let you know.

 

Hi Debbie & Jim

Thanks for that, the starting point is to get some official confirmation preferably in writing. And yes please let us know as I am in the same boat and I am sure a number of others are too.

Phil

Hi all
Isnt it only Parador Uk thats gone in to administration? If so, then the Owners Club & Cash Back contracts were surely  taken out with Parador  Spain whist we were in Spain? We joined the Owners Club & when the last thread wasactive when it was 1st announced about the administration I tried to phone Parador UK, gave up then phoned Spain. They told me that Parador Spain is not affected by the administration?

This message was last edited by Don & Kerry on 8/5/2008.

Thats what I was told when I was there but that seems to have changed.

Definitely changed now as it was someone at the Parador Spain Owner's Club office that I spoke to yesterday...

Hi everybody

Just phoned Parador in Spain and a young lady assured me that they are still there and working as normal......So can we stop the scare mongering and talk about facts.

Gary & Angela

Hello everyone, I also received a phone call from Parador Properties in Spain yesterday and spoke to the Managing Director of the Owners Club........ believe me they are definitely in administation!!!!!!!

Does this mean we should try to get our money back for the owners club? Don't think I've even received a membership card yet.

Hi Gary & Angela - They still seem to be operating at the moment at the moment but are not paying out any cashbacks owed to anyone who has completed and that is a fact (alhough I wish it wasn't!!)

Don't think it will be possible to get any monies back as they don't seem to have any!

 

Hi All

OK, Just come off the phone with Graham Martindale Parador Owners Club MD.

Basically the information he gives me is this:

Parador both in UK & Spain are in Administration and have no money, so cash back payments will not be paid.

Owner’s club team are carrying on working at the moment and assisting with member’s enquiries and completions in as far as they are able.

He has no idea at the moment what will be happening in the immediate or long-term future.

I asked if they will be there next month to assist with my completion and was told that he hopes so but cannot guarantee it.

He says he will update me net Wednesday?

Phil

Hi Phil,

Sounds as though people were misled by Parador when the news first came out then as everyone was assured that the Spanish side of the business was not affected.  

I wouldn't worry too much about not having the services of Parador Owner's Club for your completion as they were useless anyway!  They were basically a taxi service that collected us from PW Head Office after our trip to Murcia, took us to CAM Bank to sign the mortgage papers and then to Condado to do the snagging.  Nothing that you couldn't do yourself if you have a hire car!

That said however, people have paid the 700 euros for Owners Club membership to receive a service and that service is not now going to be provided.

I agree that people who paid by credit card should contact their credit card company to seek a refund.  The section you refer to in the CCA 1974 effectively means that the credit card company become a party to the contract you make with the provider and where the goods or services are not provided, you can seek a refund.   

What is more annoying is the people who were due to receive cashback on completion and will not now get that money.  But again, that formed part of the contract between the buyers/Parador/credit card company so it may be possible to seek some sort of redress through the credit card company, but whether the credit card company would be legally bound to pay the "cash back" themselves is unclear.  

Good luck to everyone with your forthcoming completions, and I hope that the lack of services from Parador does not cause you too many problems - although from our personal experience, I am sure you will manage just as well without them - other than the 3000 euros of course!

 

Dear Debbie & Paul

I am interested to read your comments about this and in particular the issue of the amount paid on the card against the amount claimed, it is my understanding that it’s the failure of the contract and its value you claim for and not just the amount you paid on the credit card?

I have cut and passed an extract from the Ombudsman’s News, below and for clarity pasted the link to the relevant article, below that. At the cost of a letter I have already drafted my letter to my Credit Card Company.

Phil

Section 75 does not, in itself, provide grounds for a claim against a supplier. Customers must have a valid claim of breach of contract or misrepresentation under other law, such as the Sale of Goods Act or the Misrepresentation Act. If they do, then they have a like claim against the card provider for the full amount of the claim.

The claim is not limited to the amount of the credit card transaction. Customers can claim for all losses caused by the breach of contract or misrepresentation. And this applies even if all they paid by credit card was the deposit.

 

 

www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/31/creditcards-31.htm

Who will Polaris pay the commission to on all of these completions on our properties , any way of having some of that returned to the people who paid it?

There will be payments going to the administrators should Polaris be asked to hold the commission back until claims sorted.

 

Hi Dringman

I asked Parador MD about this and you will be surprised to hear he was quite evasive about this, saying he wasn’t sure. I would imagine that the Administrator will demand any moneys owed to the company will be paid to the administrator and any creditors would stand in line for payment, which I would think we come at the very bottom of, so not much hope with that then?

Phil

EX snr Parador execs I heard are working for Polaris now so who knew what and when ?

Hi Phil,

The 3000 euro cashback is definitely part of the contract with Parador and the extract you have copied relating to the CCA 1974 makes it clear that any claim is not limited to the amount paid on the credit card.  But I don't think it will be as simple as credit card companies rolling over and agreeing to refund the cost of the Owner's Club membership fee, plus the cashback,  without a fight, although it would be nice for everyone if they did!  

It's a long time since I studied contract law and it's rather a dull, boring subject that I've never practised in, but will try and hunt out my books to see if I can find any more info about it.