Couple’s eight years of hell

● At public hearings held nationwide, the inquiry panel into the holiday ownership and timeshare industry heard countless accounts of abuse of consumers by the industry.

Their stories resonated with a reader who was targeted, while on honeymoon, by an agent of a holiday club that peddles points.

“We were walking on the beach when we were approached by a man who told us we looked like ‘a great couple’,” says the husband, who asked not to be named.

It was all downhill from there. They were invited to take part in a lucky draw and, of course, won a prize. To redeem it they had to accompany the man to an office where they were subjected to an aggressive sales pitch.

They were lied to and told that points were like “shares” in an investment that keeps growing and that the club would buy them back if they ever wanted to sell.

Before long, the couple had R15,000 in credit card debt and a bottle of cheap champagne. Three days later, the husband decided to cancel but wasn’t able to trace the agent who sold them the points.

In the ensuing eight years, the couple tried in vain to sell their points on the open market and back to the club.

Membership of the club was a major source of emotional and financial stress owing to ever-increasing fees and levies.

In 2014, after they stopped paying, the club threatened legal action. They were told the only way to prevent it was to pay no less than R1,500 a month. A call centre agent rather naively told them that if they offered less the club would have to settle the account with a one-off fee.

So they offered the club R500 a month. Since this was not enough the club came up with a penalty fee. “It was a few thousand rand, but I accepted it. Getting rid of them was a relief,” says the husband.

In eight years, they got four weekends out of the club: two in hotels in Cape Town; a two-night stay at a campsite in Hartbeespoort; and a two-night stay at a hotel in the Strand. With each of these, they had to chip in a few grand.