European Consumer Claims (ECC) and M1 Legal worked closely together to secure a successful result for this client in a Club La Costa timeshare claim. Mr and Mrs Bradshaw approached ECC for help in August 2016 after a growing number of issues with Club La Costa left them feeling they had reached the end of the road. From that point, ECC began legal work on the Bradshaws’ behalf against Club La Costa Paradise Trading SL.
“We followed the process with ECC and it was all straightforward – they were very thorough in requesting all of the paperwork for our case,” said Mr Bradshaw.
The Bradshaws had been sold a fractional timeshare at Sierra Marina Resort (owned by Club La Costa World) in 2012 for £8,000, having previously paid £19,000 to Club La Costa for other schemes. On top of this, they faced annual maintenance fees of around £5,000.
When the couple tried to book holidays, further problems arose. They were charged an additional booking fee, despite finding the process time-consuming and difficult. Issues included limited booking windows, uncertainty around accommodation size, and the resort location.
Even after finally arranging a holiday, the couple said a Club La Costa sales representative would call at their accommodation shortly after arrival, attempting to pressure them into making further purchases.
“We saw it as an investment, to enjoy quality holidays – and we were advised that we would have the option to sell our fractional ownership back to Club La Costa World after 19 years but this was not the case,” Mr Bradshaw told ECC. “When we found out what they had told us was not true, we felt trapped, having discovered the fractional ownership was unsaleable as there was no resale market,” added Mrs Bradshaw.
In 2017, the case was passed to M1 Legal, a team of international lawyers and legal representatives in Spain, who represented the Bradshaws in court. They found that the Club La Costa contract did not comply with Spanish law, as it did not specify an end date and did not include the land registry information required by law.
In December 2019, just before the festive period, the Bradshaws received their Club La Costa compensation payout.
“We received €16,076 just in time for Christmas,” said the Bradshaws. “This was like a big cloud over us and now that it has been lifted we don’t need to worry about family being lumbered with unwanted timeshare bills. We sincerely thank the ECC and M1 Legal teams for their efforts.”
The couple also urged others to take action as they did. “Go ahead,” said Mr Bradshaw, “but be patient and don’t be put off by the bad press you see online. Often enough the bad press is published by the very people who support the timeshare industry.”
This year, the couple are pleased to be taking a different kind of holiday: “We will never buy timeshare again. From now on we make our own holiday arrangements and for this year have booked a cruise to Russia.”
Andrew Cooper, the CEO of ECC, commented: “I am pleased that we were able to produce this outcome for the Bradshaws. We look forward to doing the same for many other clients in the future.”
