Retired couple scammed out of £8k by pushy salespeople selling Spain timeshares

16 December 2023 , 13:46

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John and Roni Richardson have since been awarded compensation double to the amount they were scammed of (Image: Timeshare Advice Centre)

A retired couple were scammed out of £8,000 after buying a timeshare in Spain.

John Richardson and his wife Roni from the Wye Valley are thrilled to have been awarded £16,200 in compensation. The pair thought they had bagged a bargain but now admit they felt pressured into buying by the salespeople. They claim they weren't told that the holidays they were booking were actually timeshares, which Forbes defines as "a lifetime commitment to paying for annual trips to the same resort". Roni recalled how she and John were persuaded to buy the timeshares at the resort in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria.

She said: "We were accosted on the street and taken by this young woman to the complex and it was a beautiful complex. It was stunning and after much persuasion which took all day, eventually at 5 o'clock in the evening, we decided that we would go ahead - even though, at that point in time, we didn't realise that it was a timeshare. We decided we would buy one week each, the joint amount was £15,000."

Their timeshare soon turned into a long-running holiday from hell (stock) (Getty Images)

"Yes, we were there all day," John said. "We didn't even know it was timeshare when we bought it. They actually assured us it wasn't. We would never have knowingly bought timeshare because of its reputation." Timeshares started in the 1970s to fill up empty holiday flats, WalesOnline reported. They let people book the same holiday spot on the same dates every year. But yearly upkeep fees and extra costs not mentioned in initial signings were soon heaped on the couple.

John and Roni's biggest headache was the rising fees they had to cough up and the thought their kids would one day have to pay them too. "[The biggest problem for us] was really the burden of the continual maintenance fee which was going up and up and up, and nothing that we could control. And that was very difficult," Jon explained.

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"[The problem] was also it being a burden on our children in the years to come because maybe they didn't want it and they'd be stuck with it and it was a lot of money," Roni added. "We were sceptical about compensation as we'd previously been scammed out of £8,000." Roni explained how they were initially "very sceptical" of the Timeshare Advice Centre, part of European Consumer Claims, due to a past experience. She said: "We'd been approached by a company, a long time ago now, who actually scammed us out of £8,000. So we were very, very, very sceptical.. The company [who previously scammed us] had been drip-feeding us with money - so I had said to them 'if you are scamming me, I will come looking for you' - which I did, and we went to their alleged offices in Malaga, which turned out to be an apartment complex, which was very, very upsetting."

Years later, the couple saw a television advert for the Timeshare Advice Centre, part of European Consumer Claims, and initially couldn't decide whether to apply to find out if they were owed compensation. Roni said: "We went to Bristol to see a lady there [a staff member], I think her name was Margaret, face-to-face, she was very approachable, she looked very honest - and I go off how I see people - and so even though we were still a little sceptical we decided we would [move forwards with their application]. We even went to check out M1 legal in Spain [a firm offering legal services and representing timeshare owners in courts in Spain] and we met our solicitor, so we had real people that we were dealing with and that was very important to us."

When asked about their reaction to the compensation approval, John said: "I was very happy to get the call, but we'd had a horrendous week with Roni in hospital getting a pacemaker put in, defibrillator fitted - so I was a bit shocked as it were! 'Is it really for real?' or 'Could it, yet again, be a scam?' but no, it wasn't! I've already spent some of mine," Roni admitted. "I've bought myself a nice leather rocking, swivel, reclining chair - and I'll be spending some more when we go on holiday next week." John added: "And I shall try to keep hold of mine and not have it frittered away!"

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]

Ewan Gleadow