GC Resorts / Silverpoint / Las Canarias. Advise please

Is the legal action concerning maintenance fee's?

Patricia

Patricia,    this is the info I have

The Company called GC Resorts (based in the Canaries) who have contacted us with a view to taking Resort Properties/Silverpoint to court, are pressing us to sign up for a flight out to Tenerife to meet a Notario who will advise if we have a case to take through the Spanish courts. Apparently it has to happen in Spain because the original contract we signed was done in the Canaries (Tenerife) so the legal action has to be initiated by us, the owners, in the Canaries.

They say they are doing this because Resort Properties are giving the whole timeshare business a bad name, ripping people off, making promises about investments and never realising them. Resort Properties are taking clients away from their company who sell bonus weeks to existing owners. They want to get rid of Resort Properties and be seen as the 'goodies' which will not do their business any harm at all in the future. That's the story we are being told anyway.

Apparently, timeshare should not be sold as an investment opportunity and it seems the way we can attempt to get our money back is because of the 1998 EU legislation (when the Canaries/Spain joined) that no deposit of any kind (whether by credit card or via a negotiated bank loan) could be agreed/signed before the 14 day 'cooling off' period had lapsed. We signed contracts there and then and the loan/credit card amounts were agreed there are then. It seems if they broke the law (EU legislation) in this way, it makes the whole contract null and void and therefore we are entitled to request our money back in full.

Sounds straightforward, but we have reservations. Of course we want our money back, but it is a big scary initiating court action in a foreign country where you have little opportunity to be part of what is going on. I am also sceptical because we have already been ripped off by very clever, very convincing people face to face, so why should we trust a person telephoning me out of the blue to say they want to help us! I am getting rather cynical in my old age, John ! You will remember me - Gullible with a capital G (yes I even looked it up in the dictionary to check it was there!!). So - if you have any advice we would welcome it. We need to make a very quick decision about whether to travel out to Tenerife for this meeting with the notario at Easter and she is pushing us to pay £370 to cover a week's accommodation in their Tenerife Suites (which do look very nice on line) and which also covers the cost of the appointment with the legal person. Do we go and find out what it is all about or is it a scam? I do not know what to believe. The tel. no. she has given us is the number shown on the GC website so that is a good start at least! And we would love to get Resort Properties back for being such rip off merchants and have our money back safe and sound.

Right  so they have just cold called you and asked for money have they given this to you in writing or email?

If not I would not touch it as when you get there they will probably try and sell you timeshare and it will all be a waste of time. 

We have some timeshare in the Gran Canaries Puerto Anfi and have to say very happy with that as we have had it eleven years now.  But we did go to Tenerife for a weeks holiday in a timeshare complex Beverly Hills Los Christianos Not sure if that is how you spell it and it was a nightmare they were trying to sell us more timeshare which we did not want, then we got stopped about a holiday club for nearly a day. So it was not one of my favourite places to go.

There is a timeshare website that helps people caught up in timeshare scams, they might be able to help you.

But personally I would not pay any money out after being cold called, call their bluff and tell them  that and see what they say. The trouble is there are some very clever people out there that know how to do these scams, so it is up to us not to fall for them.              Good luck with it anyway.

Patricia

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

I have just writtten to my friend and suggested that she sends the following email, to see what response it has.

From what you say GC Resorts were in breach of EU law, thus they have committed an offence, or offences, contrary to the criminal law of Spain.

As you are fully aware of the circumstances, under Spanish law, you can make a Denuncia on behalf of any, or all those affected (even initially on line or on 902 102 112).

We do not need to do it individually nor in person, and you do not need any kind of ‘authority’ from us, written or otherwise..

Should an investigation be mounted, then any additional information, which the Guardia Civil should need, can be obtained though the services provided for just such matters through INTERPOL.

Please confirm what action you have taken and the relevant Numero referencia de la Denuncia

I've had exactly the same call from GC Resorts saying that Resort Properties had broken this law on selling Timeshare as an investment. They want £370 for a week in one of their Suites and a meeting with Spanish Lawyer.

I am sceptical but am interested in following up myself - does anyone know if the claim about selling timeshare as an investment being illegal is true & how I could go about taking action myself.

Ed

Edi,

Please see my post of 5th Feb.

Hi John

Yes.  -   I took advantage of the GC Resorts one week holiday in Tenerife a year ago, May 2011. - There I was advised that I had a case against Resort Properties. Before I left Tenerife I gave power of attorney so that a Spanish lawyer could act on my behalf. I did pay for my paper work to be translated into Spanish (26 pages in total) and paid my lawyers fees. - My case was presented in court in Los Cristianos in November 2011  and then it was accepted in court four months later.  I was then given a court case number.  -  I am now waiting for an "out of court settlement" offer. - I was so angry at the situation I was trapped  in and the fact that every December I was sent an invoice for Maintence Fees for timeshare (I thought I had bought an investment; not timeshare). - I then realized that the only way out of this was through the Spanish legal system but this can take up to 2 years. - I am very happy that something is being done now. I was pleased that I trusted and had confidence in GC Resorts (Tenerife) and Reclaimgc. - If it is of any reassurance to you I presently have contact with about 50 other people who are going ahead through the Spanish Courts. Good Luck!

Angrylady.

Thanks for your info.  

I sent it to my friend who has the same problem, this is her reply, just for info.

COPIED

An update for you - we did go to Tenerife and met with representatives from GC Reclaim. They showed us enough evidence and paperwork to convince us to go ahead with the claim against Resort Properties (Silverpoint) and answered my questions about denuncia and information about current cases to my satisfaction (thanks for that - it gave me something to test them with). We met with several other people from the UK who are doing the same thing at various stages of the process. Shirley is one person who has actually received her date in court now and whom Resort Properties have made an out of court offer to settle. She has refused for the moment and we await updates.

We decided to go with it and have paid our 'Legal fees'. We have been allocated a Lawyer now the translations have been done and we are in the process of applying for our case to be heard. One fantastic outcome of GC's work is that Mark Cushway, the leading con man of the operation, has actually been summoned before the Spanish courts to answer claims of fraud along with others from the organisation.

I am optimistic that we will get the money back. It looks good at the moment. If GC Reclaim were not who they say they are, why would they go out of their way to put people in touch with others who have a similar claim? If they were not genuine, why would they give strength to individuals? They take 25% after the claim is successful. The legal fees paid up front all go to the lawyers and court fees - we went to a local Notaria to put in our claim. A proper office in Tenerife. We have checked our lawyer's details on the net - he is genuine.

I have become so cynical there is still part of me that says OK another 14 thousand pounds down the drain ... but if we don't try we will never get anything back. And if we do get a settlement, it will be a small success against the fraudsters and con men of Resort Properties - which will taste sweet!!