There are numerous ways to exit a timeshare agreement, which might sound like welcome news to anybody attempting to do exactly that. The reality is though that exiting a timeshare is rarely a straightforward or simple affair. Hence, to try and clear up some of the confusion surrounding the most common ways by which people free themselves from a timeshare contract, here is everything you need to know.
- Act During the Cooling off Period
Because timeshares are far too often bought and sold in pressured conditions, for example at timeshare presentation events, it is not uncommon for those who have bought timeshares to subsequently get ‘cold feet’ – especially once they are afforded the opportunity and time to think more clearly about the purchase they have just made.
For exactly this reason, the law in the UK stipulates that every person who enters into a timeshare agreement must be afforded a fourteen day period (subsequent to signing on the dotted line) to provide them with the opportunity to change their mind. This is legally binding even if a contract or company tell a person that as part of the sale or terms of their contract they are not afforded one.
To learn more, visit the Citizen’s Advice Bureau website where you can access and read the PDF: ‘Can You Cancel It?’ which explains in more detail the specific conditions under which UK and EU consumers are able to cancel a contract, including contracts specifically relating to timeshare agreements.
- Breach of Contract and Mis-sold Timeshares
If the fourteen day cooling off period has elapsed before you can and act and you desire to exit your timeshare agreement because you feel it was mis-sold to you or that the company from whom you bought it have breached the terms of the contract agreed, you are not alone; in fact, this is such a common story and experienced by so many people when buying and selling timeshares that fortunately in 2016 a number of legal businesses now specialise specifically or solely in dealing with such cases.
One such UK based organisation is TESS (Timeshare Exit & Support Services) which was established ‘to provide to consumers with a credible, effective and trustworthy organisation who were determined to assist them in termination, relinquishment and exits from erroneous timeshare contracts’. Hence, those who have or are not even sure whether they might have been mis-sold a timeshare or had a timeshare agreement breached by the party from whom they purchased it can find further advice, help and assistance via the TESS website.
- Sell a Timeshare
Timeshare owners can sell their timeshare in a number of ways in 2016, though it is worth pointing out that timeshare re-sales rarely make those selling a profit on their initial purchase as the timeshare industry in 2016 is not what it once was.
Changing fashions in travel habits, the rise of the budget airline and package holiday deal and the amount of ‘bad press’ the timeshare industry has been subject to over the past two decades have all had a detrimental effect on the price of timeshare re-sales. Then, if you have a timeshare to sell it is likely to be more a matter of selling your existing timeshare without becoming yet another victim of a timeshare scam than making your millions, unfortunately.
