Hello and welcome to Inside Timeshare, a new blog site where you can get and pass on any information which you have on companies that you may have or are possibly going to deal with.
When I first arrived in Spain over 17 years ago I knew nothing about timeshare, all I knew was that couples walking around would be picked up and taken to a resort for the “Tour”. What happened then was a complete mystery.
Then things began to change, needing work I replied to an advert in the Sur in English for a telesales job. All appeared to be looking good, I was trained to call people and learnt about timeshare resorts. I had been told that the company was legit and had a shop in Fuengirola which advertised the timeshares we had put up for sale.
I was asked to choose a telephone name, when I queried this, the answer was simple; it was for our own security against rival companies. Well a job was a job, and everything seemed on the up.
Several months later, we were informed that we would be moving office and a new name was going to be used. The company I had started to work for was gone and a new one had risen in its place. This is when the penny dropped; I later found out that I had been working for the infamous Tony Muldoon.
Needless to say I left and found a job back in my own world of bars and restaurants.
My next experience in timeshare was as a sales rep on a deck. Now I was going to find out what happens on the “Tour”. Over the years I have worked for several companies within timeshare, selling weeks, points and holiday clubs. I must admit I didn´t do very well as I found it difficult to stretch the truth. Needless to say I was never at the top of the tree.
But these experiences have given me an insight into the minefield that timeshare is. The number of companies offering different services and their methods of operating are changing all the time. It is often difficult to decide who to trust when dealing with these different companies offering
various services such as re-sale, reclaim and relinquishment.
So the purpose of the information contained in the following notes is to provide the relevant documentation about the companies mentioned. The information within these notes is freely available on the inter-net, if you know what to look for.
Company details, whether registered or not, are they active, dissolved or in liquidation? Showing dates of registration of the company and their websites. Who they are registered too, and any links with other companies, via these registrations or company directors.
If they are a law firm, are they registered, are the lawyers members of the relevant bar associations, whether in Spain or elswhere. Do they freely give their bar association numbers for you to do your due diligence. Are the company details available for these checks.
In no way do we say whether the companies mentioned are legitimate or not, these notes are I hope unbiased and present the facts that are available. They are provided as a guide only, it is up to you the reader to decide whether to deal with any of these companies or not. I have in some cases made personal comments; these tend to be on the sarcastic level, which most people I believe, would make the same comments.
Charles Thomas