Timeshare sales are making a small comeback in parts of Europe. If you’re offered a ‘free’ gift or discounted holiday in exchange for attending a timeshare presentation, here’s how to avoid being pressured into spending tens of thousands of pounds.
Dying business?
For decades, timeshare companies were able to flout consumer laws in Spain — and make significant profits in the process. After Norwegian claimant Torve Grimsbo won a landmark victory against Canary Islands timeshare giant Anfi" href="https://ecc-eu.com/tag/anfi">Anfi Del Mar in 2016, court decisions followed in quick succession, creating legal pressure the industry struggled to withstand.
Tens of thousands of owners who felt they’d been mis-sold turned to firms such as European Consumer Claims to seek redress, and with legal precedents established, the courts were often willing to act.
Hundreds of millions of pounds worth of compensation orders were issued, and former money-making powerhouses ceased sales operations amid liquidations and administration procedures.
Timeshare in Europe appeared to have largely fizzled out, apart from occasional ‘in-house’ sales and the perennial Marriott and Hilton operations.
Back for more…
Now, at least two ‘phoenixes’ are rumoured to be rising from the ashes (from something, anyway). Club La Costa" href="https://ecc-eu.com/tag/club-la-costa/">Club la Costa and Anfi are both said to be restarting new-member sales — though at a tiny fraction of their former capacity. It may be an early sign of a limited revival in European timeshare sales.
Anfi is said to be working with OPCs again: the widely disliked street touts who are banned from operating on mainland Spain. And rather than selling full 50-year ownerships, the Anfi sales team are now allegedly pushing 10-year holiday packages — presumably with the intention of upgrading buyers on future visits to the luxury complex.
Whether Anfi’s OPCs still use the dreaded scratch cards, or have found a different hook to persuade holidaymakers to spend a few hours in a sales room, we simply don’t know.
Despite battling hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of compensation awards and going through liquidation proceedings, Club La Costa is also said to be selling timeshare ownerships again — again, at a greatly reduced scale.
CLC’s typical approach is to offer a discounted holiday in return for attending a sales presentation. Sometimes it’s presented as a straightforward deal; other times it’s framed as the prospect having ‘won’ the holiday as a prize.
Survival tactics: how to handle a timeshare presentation
If you find yourself at the ‘event horizon’ of a timeshare presentation, these practical steps can help you recognise common sales tactics and keep your money in your pocket.
1) Don’t go. Obvious, yes — but if you’re not even slightly interested in buying, it’s genuinely best not to accept the invitation. However appealing the gift or ‘free’ holiday seems, the company wouldn’t offer it if they weren’t confident of selling to a good percentage of attendees. They sell to people who didn’t arrive intending to buy — every working day — using extremely polished sales techniques.
2) Lock in the time limit. Presentations are often promoted as lasting a set time: an hour, perhaps 90 minutes. When you meet the salesperson, confirm that limit and mention you have an ‘appointment’ about 20 minutes after it ends. In reality, a timeshare isn’t sold in 90 minutes, and they will try to keep you longer. The ‘warm-up’ won’t even be finished at 90 minutes. So confirm the timeframe in a friendly way: “They said this would take around 90 minutes, is that right?” Once they confirm, follow up with something like: “Perfect. We’re meeting friends at (wherever) at 12:00pm. That’s two hours away — plenty of time, isn’t it?” They’ll agree, assuming they can persuade you to stay. You won’t (more on that below).
3) Eat/drink for as long as you can. Many presentations start with coffee and a snack. It’s designed to relax you, build rapport and begin the ‘bonding’ process. Eating also slows conversation down, and this part is usually lighter on sales questions. The longer you can linger here, the better. Eating time is easy time.
4) Keep engagement to a minimum. The salesperson will likely be very friendly — because trust and rapport are key tools in closing a sale. Keep your replies polite but brief, and let them do the work of carrying the conversation. If they challenge you on your lack of engagement, calmly say you agreed to view the product and the chat feels off-topic; you have limited time and want to get down to business. That’s awkward for a salesperson because they know they can’t sell without building a connection.
5) Don’t ask questions. This is crucial. Let them explain, but don’t ask anything. Questions signal interest and give them openings to keep you talking — which makes it much harder to leave when your agreed time is up. When they show you something they want you to like, nod and smile; make a brief, neutral comment if needed. But avoid questions.
6) Don’t give the answers they want. A common timeshare sales tactic is the leading or ‘closing’ question, such as: “Where would you use this first? Here at our resort? Or would you exchange to somewhere else?” Either answer helps them, so be deliberately awkward: “Neither. It’s not for us.” It may feel uncomfortable, but a little awkwardness now is better than trying to talk yourself out of a much deeper hole later. When they push with “why not?” you don’t need to justify yourself. Try: “It just isn’t. Can we leave it there, please? I’m happy to look, but I was clear at the beginning that we wouldn’t be buying anything today. Your rep said that was fine — is it not?”
7) Leave. Around ten minutes after the agreed end time, stand up and say you have to go. Don’t wait for a natural pause, and don’t look for the perfect polite moment. Just stand and say: “This has been great, and I hate to cut you off, but we really do have to leave.” Don’t be swayed by requests to ‘stay for the next bit’. You’re not being cruel; it’s kinder than letting them believe they still have a chance.
Once you’ve said it, start walking slowly towards the exit so that, if they want to keep talking, they have to keep up.
8) Make it clear to the TO you’re a non-starter. If the salesperson senses the sale is slipping away, they may bring over a manager. In the industry, this person is often called a ‘T.O.’ (Takeover): a senior closer brought in to deal with difficult prospects.
If a TO appears, keep it simple: “XXX has done a great job, but this just isn’t for us.” If they ask “why not?” give them nothing to work with: “We’ve got our reasons.” Don’t expand, or you’ll invite a back-and-forth.
9) One last hurdle. You may be taken to sign out and collect your gifts — but don’t relax yet. Some places have an “Exit Team” whose job is to sell a ‘drop product’: a cheaper version of what you’ve just seen (for example, a one-week holiday at the same resort) while you wait for your gift to be processed. If you buy it, you could be setting yourself up for more determined sales attempts on your return.
Until you’ve left the resort with the gift in hand, don’t engage positively with anyone who introduces themselves. If asked “What did you think of the place?” repeat your mantra: “It wasn’t for us,” or “Not our cup of tea, really.” If pressed on why, stick to: “We’ve got our reasons.”
Once you’re past that final obstacle, you should be out of danger — and able to enjoy the promised gifts.
Already bought?
“As you can see from the steps above, it really is better to avoid these sales situations altogether unless you are actually considering a purchase,” advises Greg Wilson, CEO of European Consumer Claims (ECC). “Otherwise that ‘free’ holiday could potentially end up costing you tens of thousands of pounds.”
If this article has come too late and you’re already an unhappy timeshare owner, don’t despair. There is usually a way out.
Most resorts have a cooling-off period that lets you cancel — without explanation — within a set timeframe after signing (in Europe this is 14 days). If you’re within that timeframe and you’re unsure, send an email cancelling. Follow up with a phone call to be extra safe.
If you’re outside the cooling-off period, you may need expert help to free yourself from the contract.
Whatever your situation, contact our team for a free, no-obligation consultation.
In certain circumstances, you may even be eligible for financial compensation if you have been mis-sold or otherwise treated unfairly.
