THE row over soaring charges at holiday points club Diamond Resorts International has intensified following last week's Scotland on Sunday article (Give me a break from soaring timeshare fees), writes Teresa Hunter.
A group of readers decided to seek legal advice about how they can extricate themselves from the scheme, which has seen annual management charges rise by nearly 40%.
Meanwhile, the Timeshare Association, a consumer group that represents timesha
re owners, has entered the fray, claiming the holiday propositions as sold were never financially viable.
When points-holders invested thousands of pounds into the timeshare club, they were told they would have to pay annual management fees of a few hundred pounds. Now these have risen to anything from £650 to £1,000 a week or more.
Many readers bought their points from the Grand Vacation Club, which was subsequently taken over by DRI. But according to the Timeshare Association, participants were not given a true picture about the costs from the outset.
A Timeshare Association spokesman said: "The annual fees were never realistic, but were initially subsidised and kept low simply to sell the schemes.
"The previous company subsidised the points club to the tune of £4m annually. However, this subsidy stopped last year.
"On top of this the industry has been hit by a number of factors. The first is the currency situation. The second factor is age. The main income of a resort is the annual management fee. The majority of European resorts were built in the Eighties for the then 'empty nesters', so the industry is facing aged resorts; these clearly now require refurbishment."
The suggestion that points-owners were sold a holiday investment that was never viable raises serious questions about the initial proposition.
Meanwhile, the major concern for points-owners is how to extricate themselves from contracts which lock them into rising fees until 2054.
A group is now intending to seek a legal opinion regarding their contracts. They have asked if Scotland on Sunday would act as a clearing house to forward details of any other readers who would like to join them. If you would like to make contact, please e-mail
Teresa_Hunter@btinternet.com and she will forward e-mails to the group.
