Welcome to the last article before Christmas and hopefully a week or so of peace and quiet without the fear of the constant cold calls from the scammers and fake law firms. This year has seen a marked increase in the number of companies that have emerged with the wonderful news of money being held by the courts. All have used a very similar Modus Operandi, they have been “appointed” or “work” for the courts to contact “victims” from lists they hold. As we know the courts are not holding any monies nor do they hold any lists of “victims” or pass them to third party companies. We have also seen a sharp rise in the number of “exit” companies, much of this is due to the many liquidations of timeshare companies and not to forget the problems caused by the pandemic, with members unable to use their weeks and yet still liable for the full maintenance.

Although there have been some horrendous stories which we have covered, there has been some good news, we begin today with one good news story.

Inside Timeshare recently published the story of Donald E Puyear and his dealings with what can only be described as a “rogue” sales agent. Inside Timeshare was then asked to remove the article as Donald’s timeshare company had reached out to him, Inside Timeshare was happy to do so.

Yesterday we received news that his dispute has now been settled, at present we are unable to give you the full details, but it is good news. We do hope to be able to publish a bit more in the future and also be able to thank the timeshare company for their prompt and active response.

All we can say at this point is, if only all complaints were dealt with like this, then I do believe the timeshare industry could improve its image.

We now move to what is probably the last case we will publish this year from the Spanish Courts.

It has turned out to be a very good Christmas for one Norwegian client who purchased a timeshare with our old friends at Anfi.

In another case where the Judge at the Court of First Instance Number 4 of San Bartelomé de Tirajana, decided that there was no need for a full trial hearing and issued his judgement at the pre-trial stage. The case from filing with the court to this point has taken only six months, let us hope that we will see more of these speedy cases next year.

In this case, the contract with Anfi was declared null and void with the court ordering Anfi to repay the 11,213€ originally paid for the timeshare purchase. The court also ordered an additional 16,490€ which is double the amount paid within the statutory cooling-off period as a deposit.

This is another case which was prepared and presented by the Canarian Legal Alliance Lawyer Eva Gutierrez with Claims Consultant Michael Gadman assisting the client.

Although this is a very good victory, we do expect that Anfi will as they usually do lodge yet another appeal to the High Court. We also expect that the clients lawyers will already have drawn up and filed the “provisional execution of sentence order” to secure the funds for the client.

Well, that is all for now, Inside Timeshare would like to wish all of you a very happy Christmas no matter what restrictions you have to put up with. Stay safe and enjoy those who you can be around.