Air timeshare gripes

THE National Consumer Commission (NCC) is calling on Western Capebased consumers experiencing challenges with the vacation ownership “timeshare” industry to participate in its public inquiry.

Speaking ahead of the Western Cape leg of the public hearings, NCC Commissioner Ebrahim Mohamed appealed to consumers to actively participate in the public inquiry processes if they wished to see change.

He said the inquiry panel would prefer consumers to make oral submissions to them during public hearings, but would in exceptional circumstances make arrangements to receive written submissions.

Mohamed said some of the key challenges that came out of the Pretoria public hearings last week included the refusal by holiday clubs to cancel timeshare contracts; over-selling of limited accommodation, which leads to unavailability of accommodation when consumers attempt to make bookings; and charging of exorbitant levies for upkeep and maintenance of facilities owned by holiday clubs – in spite of a 2014 Sars directive which states that levies cannot be charged to persons who do not have a title deed and who do not own a property.

He bemoaned the current state of affairs, saying: “The vacation ownership ‘timeshare’ industry is currently not effectively regulated because different aspects of it are regulated by several different laws and organisations of the state.

“There are currently several pieces of legislation that regulate the vacation ownership industry.

“As a scholar of the law, it’s my belief that the law is not static, that it is ever changing, and that in a democracy in particular it should respond to change in society to remain relevant and effective,” added Mohamed.

He said that chief among the things the NCC hopes to see coming out of the public inquiry is the creation of a single piece of legislation that will be used to effectively and comprehensively regulate the vacation ownership “timeshare” industry, and which will create a means for consumers to participate and have a voice in the affairs of holiday club schemes.

The NCC will conduct public hearings at the Cape Town Lodge at 101 Buitengracht Street, from July 11 to 13, between 10am and 5pm daily. Trevor Hattingh NCC Spokesperson