Friday, May 11, 2007

Timeshare Company: THE HOLIDAY CLUB


Membership: 70,000

Price Per Point: R2000

Average Re-sale price per point: R300

For an independant view on re-sale's check out: http://www.timeshareresorts.co.za/aboutPoints.htm



Managing Director: Jacob (John) Beekman




Its website was down when I looked but you can normally get their contact details from the site.



WHAT MONEY WEB SAID OF THE HOLIDAY CLUB



If you succumb to the hard-sell tactics of those selling points in timeshare scheme Holiday Club, chances are you'll get ripped off. You'll be buying points at close to R2 000 apiece. But if you try to re-sell them the next day, you'll be lucky to get R300.It's this situation that has created some customer dissatisfaction, which is aired on the consumer website http://www.hellopeter.com/.The Holiday Club is a points-based timeshare scheme. According to its website, it was started in 1993, and was the logical continuation of a leisure property company started by John and Braam Beekman in 1971. It is affiliated to timeshare giant RCI.When you purchase Holiday Club points, you are actually buying shares in a public company. Purchasers of points are issued with share certificates.The Holiday Club claims to have over 83 000 members, growing by some 18 000 each year. Director Steve McCarroll says the company posted sales worth R340m last year. "The club has acquired investments in resorts throughout Southern Africa, and developed its own quality resorts in the most popular areas in the country," notes the website. "Currently valued at over R1bn, these investments are administered by the Beekman Brothers Group, and are held by the Leisure Property Trust."The Holiday Club does not market its own points. This function is outsourced to various retailers, who sell points close to the recommended price of R1 895 each.The Holiday Club also has a direct marketing scheme called The Business Club, in which members earn commission for introducing new business.The main gripe of dissatisfied Holiday Club customers seems to be misleading sales pitches, which results in disappointment when the time comes to convert points into holidays. They say that the Holiday Club is not prepared to re-purchase its points at any price. Re-sale market is bestMcCarroll tells Moneyweb that The Holiday Club applies itself to selling new points only. And while re-possessed points might be re-sold, it is not the company's main practice. McCarroll says the company refers interested sellers to specialist re-selling companies approved by the Timeshare Institute of Southern Africa (Tisa), a self-regulatory body for the timeshare industry.One such re-seller told Moneyweb that the highest price he's ever seen Holiday Club points fetch in the second-hand market is R650. He says that most customers are happy to let their points go for as low as R300 apiece.Another re-seller was prepared to sell Moneyweb points for R900 including VAT and his commission.Thus it makes a lot more sense to buy your points in the second-hand market than new. Transfer of points between buyer and seller costs R1 000.Buyer bewareTisa director Alex Bosch warns that the onus remains on members of the public to familiarise themselves with the content of any agreement before signing it.McCarroll echoes this sentiment. He stresses that Holiday Club points must not be seen as a financial investment, even though they take the form of shares. Buyers need to be aware that the points should be purchased for holidaymaking purposes, and that there are ongoing costs in the form of an annual levy. Bosch says that Tisa has seven pending complaints regarding Equitac Commodity Brokers, a major retailer of Holiday Club points. But he says there is no disproportionate number of complaints made against The Holiday Club, in comparison to other vacation clubs operating in the marketplace.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

After trying 2get our membership cancelled for 5months,we r still havin difficulty getting a full refund.The person in charge Channa Slippers,is the most arrogant person ***@THC &gave us a run for our money 2which we havent rec yet!She advised us that it is going 2take 48hours 4the rufund 2take place,&its currently 9days,n nothing!She failed 2inform us that A CHEQUE wil b depossited which take +-10 days 2clear.Last Friday,she told my fiance that I (Lorrel) forged his signature,WHEN HE ACTUALLY DID SIGN IT AND HE EVEN TOLD HER THIS.How can u accuse sum1 of fraud,when the person whose sig it is,is telling u that he DID sign it.She then blamed the delay of refund on this,n wil continue doin this.All bcos she didnt do her job properly.I hav spoken 2Judy (only person that knows what she's doin) n i hav spoken to Riaan Oosthuizen,The Manager of Member Services!! I now want to speak 2the highest person ***@THC.I DONT want a "we acknowledge ur complaint,story!" This is utter rubbish, n whoever reads this, PLEASE dont fall for their pranks.They are a scam,n r all about taking ppl's money,but when its time 2refund u,they give u a run for ur money,hey u'll be lucky if u ever rec it!!!

Anonymous said...

After having paid in full, in cash, for our holiday points, we now discover that Teh Holiday Club is taking off a debit order for the past two months. On asking why, we are told oops our mistake but now we have to formerly request that they pay us the money back. Like *** I would rather go and lay a charge of theft against htem at our local police station.
People PLEASE do not buy anthing from these pople. Their Admin *** BIG TIME!!!

Anonymous said...

Rhino Marketing is owned by Clint according to him. So here's to you Clint. I hope your business goes under. You say holidayclub we all say helladayclub. Go check it out.

Helladayclub is a South African website which I built to stop you, The Holiday Club, from making any further money. You will see your annual turnover slowly dwindle . Roelof, your buddy at Zoltac will be right there with you. Let's NOT forget about Nick. The ever charismatic serpent who did all the talking.

I have had enough of people like you stealing from innocent people. You will see that everyone who thinks the same will join me. I will prove to you that what I say IS TRUE and it WILL HAPPEN.

You can take the money you owe me and STICK IT. I have a much more satisfying mission in mind. R2888 is peanuts compared to the amount of cash I am going to cost you.

Bye, bye now.

Anonymous said...

I was ripped off by Zoltac and The Holiday Club and their associates Rhino Marketing. I know th Holiday Club is Listed but Zoltac is not. Zoltac operates The Holiday Club. I decided to add them here so people know who the real crooks are. When Rhino Marketing sold me a 5 day and 10 day holiday I thought that was what I would get after paying cash. I was mistaken. They double crossed me. I still confirmed whether what I was hearing was correct. I asked the following: Q:Will I get a 5 day holiday A:YES, Q:Will I also get an additional 10 day holiday? A:YES, Is this R2888.00 all I have to pay? A:YES, Q:So I don't even have to pay a deposit on arrival? A: NO, NOT AT ALL. Now I asked a sales shark by the name of NICK all these questions and those are the answers he gave. I must have confirmed a minimum of 3 times at least. Now when I try to book I get told that I have purchased a LIFESTYLE contract only. (WHO DOES THAT?????) WHY would I PAY R2888 for (FREE) advice???? Why would I need a Homework Help Line for kids that don't exist??? I have brought this to the attention of all the parties involved and they are unresponsive. I then started a website called www.***.co.za .

Anonymous said...

I did not receive my annual renewal notice at the due date and since I was busy with a personal matters, I assumed that I will get a reminder or a statement in January which
I never got. I however received a letter of demand from attorneys representing the company dated the 20th december. I acknowledged the Attorneys letter and indicated to them that I require a breakdown of this money being sought. The Attorneys never came back to me ,but I got the breakdown through the credit controller of the group. I paid what was owing plus interest less legal fees to the attorneys account, to avoid judgement being taken . I subsequently thereafter got a statement with legal fees amounting to R468.27 .
My arguement was that they did not have a right to burden me with unnecessary legal costs if they did not take the steps of advising me of their intentions following from non-payment of my renewal notice and further why should I pay so much for a one sentence letter. Is it a question of enriching friends at clients's expense. I found this to have been a nonsensical way of dealing with valued clients , particularly if you indeed value your client. Or are they trying to repossess time share?

Anonymous said...

I have been sent from pillar to post since January to try and get my membership cancelled and refunded in full. We keep speaking to people who dont know what they are telking about. The holiday club has been debiting my account after receiving a letter of cancellation sent to Mr Oosthuizen. They set up a meeting with Equitac Marketing to get the issue resolved however now they want me to meet again just to let them know that i still want to cancel and i still want a refund, i must now sacrifice my time and money to fix there errors after there consultant lied to us about our policy. The last time we met we aggreed that the error was on there part, there consultant was fraudulent and i feel very sorry for others that fall in there trap. Equitac Marketing is a con scheme and only care about making money. Just to let them know that i will be taking legal action against them and promise to close them down for good.... Just give my *** *** money back.

Anonymous said...

We were scammed by The Holiday Club and it's affilliates. We bought 5 points which is supposed give us a mid week away. We negotiated an additional 10 days with our sales rep Nick (from Rhino Marketing). We were suppoesed to pay a once off amount and then be able to book our holidays and just go there without any additional cost. Now we find out that the 10 FREE days is a voucher and will cost us between R100 and R300 per night to stay at any of the selected venues. While talking to Nick we specifically said we do not want anything to do with their lifestyle contract. He mentioned all the benefits and we specifically said that Outsurance and the like offer all the same stuff already. We only wanted the holiday time. Now we try to book our holiday only to find out that we have purchased only a lifestyle contract. The reason I am lodging this complaint against Zoltac and The Holiday Club is that their name is at the bottom of the contract. We did however buy this so called holiday from Rhino Solutions in Kyalami. The owner is Clint. I have brought this under the attention of all the relevant parties only to be given the run around. I want my money back. Rhino 0114669915.

Anonymous said...

I bought timeshare on 13/11/06 & paid R5,685 deposit. I tried to cancel 08/12/06. I was told they have a 5 day cancellation period and even though the sale hadn’t been captured yet and wouldn’t be until 2007 - I was bound to a 5 year contract. I hadn’t received any product. They referred me to The Timeshare Institute of SA who would mediate the dispute. I tried to come to an arrangement with Karen Poultney & Melissa Manuel from TISA (021) 914 9693 after a month’s worth of calls from my side they told me that I had exceeded the 5 day time limit and that that was their final word. They weren’t even trying to mediate the issue. Their executive director Alex Bosch told me my issue is contractual and not anything they would help me with. He said the fact that they didn’t load anything was being disputed (I have the e-mail from them). TISA wasted a month of my time, making sure I couldn’t take any other course of action to prevent payment. Mr Bosch said he would look into the matter - He stopped taking my calls. The public protector is either impotent or unwilling or unable to help me. Is TISA simply the lapdog of the Holiday Club or hopes that ignoring a problem will make it go away

Anonymous said...

Rhino Solutions is a marketing company in Kyalami Business Park - JHB who market and sell timeshare for The Holiday Club. They trick into coming to see a presentation, by telling you that you have 'definitely' won 1 of 5 prizes and then waste your time with a consultant enticing you to buy timeshare. The consultant seems nice and of course I bought into his sales pitch. He then messes up on my credit card and asks me to come in again to their far out offices to sign some document he 'forgot' to attend to at my first visit. Being aware that they are very far for me to come out to, he then wastes my time when I get there, so I leave.
No phonecall to apologise to date!
I then try to get hold of their company and finally after 5 calls I get their number. They are NOT listed in the directory nor on the internet. What kind of a business is this???
After leaving a message for the consultant's manager to call me, she eventually does and asks if she can look into the matter of having the 'hold' on my credit card released then give me a call bakc. I have heard nothing to date from her and it's been a week now! Absolutely unexceptable!
Their service is nothing short of disgusting!!

Anonymous said...

Holiday Club points are a scam. We have been trying for 9 months for them to sort out problems with our points. They refuse to answer you, or listen to your complaints. Eventually I had to get TISA involved and although they managed to get through to the Holiday Club we are still awaiting a reply from the Holiday Club. We are unable to cancel the sale and they took monies from us that they were legally not entitled to. I am still awaiitng a refund (or even a new contract).

Definitely not recommended. Stay away from the Holiday Club. Enter their premises at your own peril. They might be in the hospitality business but they are unethical and not hospitable at all. We wonder hat kind of service we will get when we finally have to book any sort of holiday with our points.

Anonymous said...

I am a member of the Holiday Club. After an email request for accommodation in Seapoint, the Holiday Club replied that there was a 1 bedroom 4 sleeper unit available for 12-16 March 2007. I immediately (on 24 January) replied asking them to make the booking. As they claim to reply within 48 hours and as it is now 30 January, I telephoned them to find out that the booking had not been made and was no longer available! I have family visiting Cape Town that week and am now unable to find affordable accommodation for them. I feel this is bad for our country and a bad advert for our tourism industry. I have sent an email of complaint to the Holiday Club asking them to do something to help me. I wonder if I'll get a response within 48 hours???

Anonymous said...

I am a member of the Holiday Club. After an email request for accommodation in Seapoint, the Holiday Club replied that there was a 1 bedroom 4 sleeper unit available for 12-16 March 2007. I immediately (on 24 January) replied asking them to make the booking. As they claim to reply within 48 hours and as it is now 30 January, I telephoned them to find out that the booking had not been made and was no longer available! I have family visiting Cape Town that week and am now unable to find affordable accommodation for them. I feel this is bad for our country and a bad advert for our tourism industry. I have sent an email of complaint to the Holiday Club asking them to do something to help me. I wonder if I'll get a response within 48 hours???

Anonymous said...

Well still no luck in cancelling my mebership. They (Holiday Club and TISA) seem to translate membership cancellation into 5 day cooling off period. Strange... The Holiday Club file with Terms and Conditions say 30 day written notice. The Holiday Club staff say there is no such thing as a 30 Day Written Notice to cancel a membership. In fact they say you are not allowed to cancel at all. So if you join, you are stuck there for life.

I have now contacted my legal advisors for further assistance on the matter. Will keep everyone updated...

P.S: Don't ever join The Holiday Club, you can never leave.

Although what happens when you die? How do they get their money then.

Anonymous said...

Well as a follow oon to my previous post, I have been informed by the membership services staff at The Holiday Club, that if they lose business from my posting information here or in a news paper (basically go public about my problematic membership cancellation) they will take me to court. Well I guess there is no such thing as freedom of speech. Be warn no to fall for the scam of joining The Holiday Club.

Anonymous said...

I received a phone call last Friday and the person told me that I won a prize in a competition and must come by their offices to collect the prize. As all of you know, this is the usual story if someone wants to get you to their premises to sell time share. I told the person that I am not interested in time share. He promised that it was not another time share scam and he even gave me a reference number which I had to hand in at their reception in order to collect the prize. I told him that I would drive through to Kyalami (from Pretoria) to collect the prize only if it is not time share and he promised me again that they are a consultant firm who distribute these prizes for the sponsor company. So I drove through on Saturday only go be taken to a little room with where I had to...guess what....watch a video of the Holiday Club. So this is another TIME SHARE SCAM. I was stupid to fall for their story, but now I can at least warn a few people by writing this letter. They are situated in Kyalami Office/Business Park - in 87 Silverstone Crescent road. If you ever get a call from them please know that it is TIME SHARE they are trying to sell!!

Disgusted

Anonymous said...

Well I was approached by a person outside a shop saying that I could stand a chance to win a membership with The Holiday Club. So I gave my details thinking I would not win.

Couple days later I got a call regarding the competition. I attended the meeting which to say was not a competition at all. Instead it was a sales pitch. (1st lie figured out). A salesman then proceeded to try and sell you a membership to The Holiday Club. Make false promises about points and bonuses and canceling and making money from the membership (2nd, 3rd and 4th lie).

Now I am trying to cancel the membership which The Holiday Club are not allowing me to do and they will not even consider my request until I submit all my private financial information. That is my private information. What I spend on food and what I earn or what policies I have has got nothing to do with them. They also claim that I only had 5 days to cancel (the cool off period).

So a warning to everyone out there. DON'T fall for the scam as I did. You will be lied to and robbed of your money. Not to mention the rude and poor service form The Holiday Club. Also if you do fall for it, get a lawyer to read the contract before you sign.

Anonymous said...

My family have owned points through holiday club since 1998 and to date have only been able to use their accomodation once due to the unavailabitly. Every time (no matter how far in advance you phone) you can never get in anywhere you want. The lastest incedent has convinced me that this is nothing more than a scam to take peoples money. I phoned in June to book a mid week in Sun City February next year and was told that these bookings only open 10 weeks prior to the booking required. I said I would call back and asked to be placed on the waiting list. I decided to call back today 25/10/2006, despite it being more than 10 weeks prior to the date required, and was told that it is fully booked. When I requested that I be put through to a manager I was laughed at and told that the managers do not speak to clients. This is not the first time we have tried to book well in advance and have not been able to get accomodation. I personally think that the benefits sold are not available and unless you are prepared to stay at an obscure resort you cannot book through holiday club. They have taken our money for almost 10 years and have had absolutely not benefit from it.

Anonymous said...

This is a compounded problem. We signed up for a holiday scheme through Holiday Club's marketing company Zoltac. Their scheme is that you pay an annual subscription and you can pick a holiday of your choice of available resorts from a spreadsheet that they supply. When you phone the call centre that they have printed on the member card and on the "Welcoming" letter, you are led down a path annoyance as you constantly have to explain their own package to them as no one knows what you are referring to. After finally being given a number of head office of Holiday Club they then explained that it was a package put together by the marketing company and I should deal with them. Admittedly this number is printed on the card as "Administrative Enquiries". Finally I get the spread sheet from Vanessa. I now want to book for my holiday and end my subscription which apparently "renewed" in August automatically. Now because I "renewed" my subscription I have to pay for another year!!! No one phoned to ensure I was happy with the service and wanted to stay on with their subscription.They obviously know they have sub-standard service and therefore trap people into their schemes.

Anonymous said...

As a married KI Jansen van Vuuren, I 'invested' [May 2002] R8,850-00 in 6 'life points' with The Holiday Club. I was assured that these would get me into resorts of my choice over week-ends and mid-week, no problem. I have never been able to get in where or when I wanted to be.
Every year since then I have dutifully paid the levy and the RCI membership.
So after 4 years my 'investment' [their sales team is convincing] totals around R14, 980-00. My life has changed recently and I therefore decided to recoup my 'profit'.
Today I will sign the sale agreement for can you guess? R300-00 per life point [and oh, by the way, my 9 banked points are part of the deal. I don't have an option [as per Claudia of Trade Cor - Port Elizabeth], so the fact that I have paid the life points in full and all my levies [which to me means the banked points are mine to use as I wish], the sale of the life points implies the banked points are attached, effectively reducing the value of the sale to R120-00 per point.
Total loss = R14, 980.00 [plus interest] less R1, 800.00 [recovered on sale] = R13, 180-00. Beware of sales people bearing gifts... don't be duped like me!

Anonymous said...

As a married KI Jansen van Vuuren, I 'invested' [May 2002] R8,850-00 in 6 'life points' with The Holiday Club. I was assured that these would get me into resorts of my choice over week-ends and mid-week, no problem. I have never been able to get in where or when I wanted to be.
Every year since then I have dutifully paid the levy and the RCI membership.
So after 4 years my 'investment' [their sales team is convincing] totals around R14, 980-00. My life has changed recently and I therefore decided to recoup my 'profit'.
Today I will sign the sale agreement for can you guess? R300-00 per life point [and oh, by the way, my 9 banked points are part of the deal. I don't have an option [as per Claudia of Trade Cor - Port Elizabeth], so the fact that I have paid the life points in full and all my levies [which to me means the banked points are mine to use as I wish], the sale of the life points implies the banked points are attached, effectively reducing the value of the sale to R120-00 per point.
Total loss = R14, 980.00 [plus interest] less R1, 800.00 [recovered on sale] = R13, 180-00. Beware of sales people bearing gifts... don't be duped like me!

Anonymous said...

Exchanging timeshare reacts all kind of responses! A special word of gratitude to Mr Ngobeni from Holiday Club via RCI for assisting in a difficult request concerning not only the cancellation of a booking without losing points but also dealing with a third party (myself) in reinstituting the original booking! the transaction involved my parents (the thimeshare holders) who are currently abroad an whose change in travel plans required that I had to request Mr Ngobeni to assist with an exchange in SA. He was extremely helpful, did the necessary adjustments IMMEDIATELY and confirmed the booking in my dad's name.

Anonymous said...

Equitac Commodity Brokers Boksburg: Their Brokers lie to people about the number of points needed to stay at the Holiday Club Resorts in order to get a person to purchase Holiday Club points. I was told by Paul Tiedt their broker that the maximum points needed by my family at a five star resort will be 6 points for a week-end and 6 points mid week out of season when in reality you may need in excess of 40 points. I cancelled this application to purchase the points in the “COOLING DOWN” period and now I receive a final demand which I used as toilet paper. NEVER TRUST ANYONE DOING SURVEYS AT SHOPPING CENTERS AND WANTING YOUR PHONE NUMBER FOR A COMPETITION

Anonymous said...

My Father paid a fortune to become a member and then to realise that holiday club is a scam! Rather book your own holiday than utilising the services from these useless people. Holiday Club is a Ripoff!

Anonymous said...

Refer to complaint made on 28/5 to Standard Bank / Stancom. It now came to my attention that the guy I spoke to was not from the bank, but from the Holiday Club. I understood from the lady at my bank branch it was Stancom's nr, but maybe I misunderstood her or she is also under the impression.
After I logged the query with hellopeter the Holiday Club also phoned me on 1/6 to get all the info again as I faxed on 2 seperate occations (11/5 & 15/5)to them(Ray) He confirmed that the payment will be done the next day. Up until today nothing was deposited. The bank reversed another payment that went of on 31/5 and also stopped it to happen again. (it cost me R22). From my point of view The Holiday Club has not done anything at all to rectify their mistake. They should have stopped the payments to go of from their side
Surely there was enough time to have stopped it to happen again, but still it went of and I had to ask the bank to refund (and had to pay for the stop), and still no refund of the R1287.
They are quick to take your money, but very slow to pay back or to keep you informed on the process. I will never deal with them again if they don't show some service!

Anonymous said...

Refer to complaint made on 28/5 to Standard Bank / Stancom. It now came to my attention that the guy I spoke to was not from the bank, but from the Holiday Club. I understood from the lady at my bank branch it was Stancom's nr, but maybe I misunderstood her or she is also under the impression.
After I logged the query with hellopeter the Holiday Club also phoned me on 1/6 to get all the info again as I faxed on 2 seperate occations (11/5 & 15/5)to them(Ray) He confirmed that the payment will be done the next day. Up until today nothing was deposited. The bank reversed another payment that went of on 31/5 and also stopped it to happen again. (it cost me R22). From my point of view The Holiday Club has not done anything at all to rectify their mistake. They should have stopped the payments to go of from their side
Surely there was enough time to have stopped it to happen again, but still it went of and I had to ask the bank to refund (and had to pay for the stop), and still no refund of the R1287.
They are quick to take your money, but very slow to pay back or to keep you informed on the process. I will never deal with them again if they don't show some service!

Anonymous said...

After having to hire a private investigator to investigate these scoundrels I have since found out that The Holiday Club does not do its own marketing. It has outsourced its marketing to the following companies:

ACCESS NATAL (owner MR COSTA) Phone 031 5716800 (has appeared in the newspapers on numerous occasions for using dubious and dishonest methods of marketing).

ACCESS WESTERN CAPE (owner Mr Fritz Wolmarans) Phone 021 4240772

FUTUREVEST NATAL (owner Mr Daryl Gray) Phone 031 5737500

EQUITAC (owner Mr Alutius Oberholzer) Phone 011 8692503

The owners of The Holiday Club are two brothers from the Netherlands:
Braam Beekman and John Beekman. All directorships and control of The Holiday Club remain tightly in these two's hands along with their host of children. You can reach them at: 0861 842 842

Anonymous said...

but these are shares and a investment

Anonymous said...

ZOLTAC KENYA. If you are a member of this institution and you feel that you have got a raw deal..then contact me vipul.kakkad@gmail.com. we should get together ang get legal aid to recover our hard earned money.

Anonymous said...

Its interesting - at Holiday Club presentations that I have attended they always run FLEXI CLUB down but the interesting thing is if you look at the FLEXI CLUB sections in the next division - FLEXI CLUB always responds while THE HOLIDAY NEVER DOES! Makes one think! Viva Flexi-viva!

Anonymous said...

Zoltac Kenya, Peter DeKlerk, RCI, Holiday Club .. I became a member of this in Kenya in 2005, as at today they have never honoured even one request from me get a booking. Further to that they have threatened me with legal action if I do not pay my Subs. I would love to meet them in court and strip them naked.IF you feel you have been also conned the contact me , we get togeter and take legal action. vipul.kakkad@gmail.com, +254733641900

Anonymous said...

Holiday Club: don't get caught
If you must buy into this timeshare scheme, get your points second-hand.

Julius Cobbett - MONEYWEB
03 April 2007 00:00

If you succumb to the hard-sell tactics of those selling points in timeshare scheme Holiday Club, chances are you'll get ripped off. You'll be buying points at close to R2 000 apiece. But if you try to re-sell them the next day, you'll be lucky to get R300.

It's this situation that has created some customer dissatisfaction, which is aired on the consumer website http://www.hellopeter.com/.

The Holiday Club is a points-based timeshare scheme. According to its website, it was started in 1993, and was the logical continuation of a leisure property company started by John and Braam Beekman in 1971. It is affiliated to timeshare giant RCI.

When you purchase Holiday Club points, you are actually buying shares in a public company. Purchasers of points are issued with share certificates.

The Holiday Club claims to have over 83 000 members, growing by some 18 000 each year. Director Steve McCarroll says the company posted sales worth R340m last year.

"The club has acquired investments in resorts throughout Southern Africa, and developed its own quality resorts in the most popular areas in the country," notes the website. "Currently valued at over R1bn, these investments are administered by the Beekman Brothers Group, and are held by the Leisure Property Trust."

The Holiday Club does not market its own points. This function is outsourced to various retailers, who sell points close to the recommended price of R1 895 each.

The Holiday Club also has a direct marketing scheme called The Business Club, in which members earn commission for introducing new business.

The main gripe of dissatisfied Holiday Club customers seems to be misleading sales pitches, which results in disappointment when the time comes to convert points into holidays. They say that the Holiday Club is not prepared to re-purchase its points at any price.

Re-sale market is best

McCarroll tells Moneyweb that The Holiday Club applies itself to selling new points only. And while re-possessed points might be re-sold, it is not the company's main practice. McCarroll says the company refers interested sellers to specialist re-selling companies approved by the Timeshare Institute of Southern Africa (Tisa), a self-regulatory body for the timeshare industry.

One such re-seller told Moneyweb that the highest price he's ever seen Holiday Club points fetch in the second-hand market is R650. He says that most customers are happy to let their points go for as low as R300 apiece.

Another re-seller was prepared to sell Moneyweb points for R900 including VAT and his commission.

Thus it makes a lot more sense to buy your points in the second-hand market than new. Transfer of points between buyer and seller costs R1 000.

Buyer beware

Tisa director Alex Bosch warns that the onus remains on members of the public to familiarise themselves with the content of any agreement before signing it.

McCarroll echoes this sentiment. He stresses that Holiday Club points must not be seen as a financial investment, even though they take the form of shares. Buyers need to be aware that the points should be purchased for holidaymaking purposes, and that there are ongoing costs in the form of an annual levy.

Bosch says that Tisa has seven pending complaints regarding Equitac Commodity Brokers, a major retailer of Holiday Club points. But he says there is no disproportionate number of complaints made against The Holiday Club, in comparison to other vacation clubs operating in the marketplace.

Anonymous said...

This is great info to know.

Anonymous said...

North not amused by telemarketing
By: * OSWALD SHIVUTE at OSHAKATI

POLICE at Oshikango in the North have arrested four representatives of a South African company promoting timeshare investments.
The Commander of Police in Ohangwena, Deputy Commissioner Armas

Shivute, says the four representatives of Future Vest are being

held on charges of fraud and attempted fraud.

They will appear in the Ohangwena Magistrate's Court this

week.



The four were arrested while giving a presentation for eight

business people from Okalongo in the Omusati Region.



According to Deputy Commissioner Shivute, some of the Okalongo

business people complained that the sales representatives had

misled them.



One of the businessmen, Josua Mwetupunga, told The Namibian that

telemarketers representing Future Vest had called them from South

Africa and told them that they had won prizes such as free trips to

Mauritius and home appliances.



They were invited to attend a presentation at the Oshikango

Country Lodge on Saturday morning, Mwetupunga said.



When they arrived at the lodge, they were told that they would

only qualify for the prizes by investing in timeshare

properties.



The upset businessmen then called the Police.



"We are worried about where this company got our names and other

particulars, such as our telephones, cell phones and our bank

account details," said Mwetupunga.



When approached by The Namibian, the owner of Future Vest in

Durban, Daryl Gray, said he had heard about the arrests and had

instructed lawyers to go to the aid of the representatives.



He denied that the representatives had been doing anything

wrong, saying it was a standard Holiday Club timeshare

presentation, which is often made in Namibia.



Gray said Government knew about their operations and Holiday

Club had obtained approval for a timeshare resort at

Swakopmund.



They will appear in the Ohangwena Magistrate's Court this week.The

four were arrested while giving a presentation for eight business

people from Okalongo in the Omusati Region.According to Deputy

Commissioner Shivute, some of the Okalongo business people

complained that the sales representatives had misled them.One of

the businessmen, Josua Mwetupunga, told The Namibian that

telemarketers representing Future Vest had called them from South

Africa and told them that they had won prizes such as free trips to

Mauritius and home appliances.They were invited to attend a

presentation at the Oshikango Country Lodge on Saturday morning,

Mwetupunga said.When they arrived at the lodge, they were told that

they would only qualify for the prizes by investing in timeshare

properties.The upset businessmen then called the Police."We are

worried about where this company got our names and other

particulars, such as our telephones, cell phones and our bank

account details," said Mwetupunga.When approached by The Namibian,

the owner of Future Vest in Durban, Daryl Gray, said he had heard

about the arrests and had instructed lawyers to go to the aid of

the representatives.He denied that the representatives had been

doing anything wrong, saying it was a standard Holiday Club

timeshare presentation, which is often made in Namibia.Gray said

Government knew about their operations and Holiday Club had

obtained approval for a timeshare resort at Swakopmund.

Anonymous said...

North not amused by telemarketing
By: * OSWALD SHIVUTE at OSHAKATI

POLICE at Oshikango in the North have arrested four representatives of a South African company promoting timeshare investments.
The Commander of Police in Ohangwena, Deputy Commissioner Armas

Shivute, says the four representatives of Future Vest are being

held on charges of fraud and attempted fraud.

They will appear in the Ohangwena Magistrate's Court this

week.



The four were arrested while giving a presentation for eight

business people from Okalongo in the Omusati Region.



According to Deputy Commissioner Shivute, some of the Okalongo

business people complained that the sales representatives had

misled them.



One of the businessmen, Josua Mwetupunga, told The Namibian that

telemarketers representing Future Vest had called them from South

Africa and told them that they had won prizes such as free trips to

Mauritius and home appliances.



They were invited to attend a presentation at the Oshikango

Country Lodge on Saturday morning, Mwetupunga said.



When they arrived at the lodge, they were told that they would

only qualify for the prizes by investing in timeshare

properties.



The upset businessmen then called the Police.



"We are worried about where this company got our names and other

particulars, such as our telephones, cell phones and our bank

account details," said Mwetupunga.



When approached by The Namibian, the owner of Future Vest in

Durban, Daryl Gray, said he had heard about the arrests and had

instructed lawyers to go to the aid of the representatives.



He denied that the representatives had been doing anything

wrong, saying it was a standard Holiday Club timeshare

presentation, which is often made in Namibia.



Gray said Government knew about their operations and Holiday

Club had obtained approval for a timeshare resort at

Swakopmund.



They will appear in the Ohangwena Magistrate's Court this week.The

four were arrested while giving a presentation for eight business

people from Okalongo in the Omusati Region.According to Deputy

Commissioner Shivute, some of the Okalongo business people

complained that the sales representatives had misled them.One of

the businessmen, Josua Mwetupunga, told The Namibian that

telemarketers representing Future Vest had called them from South

Africa and told them that they had won prizes such as free trips to

Mauritius and home appliances.They were invited to attend a

presentation at the Oshikango Country Lodge on Saturday morning,

Mwetupunga said.When they arrived at the lodge, they were told that

they would only qualify for the prizes by investing in timeshare

properties.The upset businessmen then called the Police."We are

worried about where this company got our names and other

particulars, such as our telephones, cell phones and our bank

account details," said Mwetupunga.When approached by The Namibian,

the owner of Future Vest in Durban, Daryl Gray, said he had heard

about the arrests and had instructed lawyers to go to the aid of

the representatives.He denied that the representatives had been

doing anything wrong, saying it was a standard Holiday Club

timeshare presentation, which is often made in Namibia.Gray said

Government knew about their operations and Holiday Club had

obtained approval for a timeshare resort at Swakopmund.

Vipul Kakkad said...

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lance said...

I am listed on ITC by Zoltac PTY LTD about an agreement that I signed in 2007 which I never read the conditions due to the fact that they needed to close the sale at that moment not giving me a chance to read the terms and conditions.The sales people just said to me "Do you understand how this works?" and I said yes and signed based on that question and not on the fact that I was buying shares in a scheme, I will challenge this even if it means I use more money than that the claim I owe.These people are so proud to say "if you dont read your contract tough luck" and I am happy about the consumer protection act, it will finaly protect us aginst these unscroupolous companies with bad business ethics.