Ombudsman to the rescue
Consumers battling with timeshare disputes now have Neville Melville to turn to
CONSUMERS who have been battling for years with timeshare related disputes can turn to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO) for help. Advocate Neville Melville, in his current independent appointment as the CGSO, has an innate understanding of the industry and will bring a wealth of expertise in dealing with vacation ownership complaints.
This has been spearheaded by the Club Leisure Group in an unprecedented move to provide independent and impartial dispute resolution between consumers and companies in the vacation ownership industry.
In conjunction with legal counsel and other industry leaders such as Univision, Holiday Club and Tsogo Sun, Club Leisure has drafted the first industry Code of Conduct which sets out the guidelines on the minimum conduct standards expected when engaging with consumers on resolving disputes.
It has been submitted to the National Consumer Commission to ensure that it is in line with the Consumer Protection Act, but is still currently under review.
In the interim, Club Leisure has registered with the CGSO.
This follows a sequence of submissions by Club Leisure to various industry representation boards in the past to appoint an independent ombudsman, the first of which dates back to the South African Property Owners Association, the then Timeshare Institute of Southern Africa which is not the Vacation Ownership Association of South Africa (Voasa).
Donald Lamont, spokesman for the Club Leisure Group, said: “In addition to our membership with Voasa, we are providing all our club members with access to the CGSO service as an added means to resolving queries and disputes as quickly and amicably as possible.
“We believe that this decision will add further credibility to our business and that the appointment of the CGSO will provide a more effective resolution body for the industry as a whole.”
Lamont added that until the industry’s Code of Conduct has been fully adopted by the NCC, the group encourages its club members who are unable to reach a satisfactory resolution to lodge their complaint directly with the CGSO.
Consumer activist, Ina Wilken, said this is good news for consumers who experienced many frustrations and unanswered questions in the vacation industry for many years. Wilken said it could be a winwin situation should Club Leisure be accredited to do independent dispute resolution.
She said once consumers experienced this as an industry body who only looks after their own interests and not after the interests of the consumer, it could mean the end of it.
“The main focus should be efficient consumer complaints handling and an effective dispute resolution process. They should also make sure that consumers are represented on their board to justify their mission.”
Wilken said consumers have experienced a vacuum for far too long as far as complaints handling are concerned.
“They are fully aware of the Consumer Protection Act that came into full swing on April 30 2011 but are very disappointed in the way their complaints are dealt with generally. The time has come that consumers are treated fairly and with respect, and consumers should know what their rights are and that they also have responsibilities.”
Clif Johnston, vice-chairman of the South African National Consumer Union (Sancu) said the union had not yet seen the proposed industry Code of Conduct and could therefore not comment on whether it was a step forward for the consumer.
“Sancu would have preferred to be involved by the industry to entrench an interpretation of the Consumer Protection Act that is biased in favour of the industry.”
Johnston, however, welcomed Club Leisure’s step of registering with the CGSO and encouraged others in the industry to do likewise: “It may well be that this ‘testing of the waters’ results in sufficient confidence to leave matters in the hands of the CGSO.”