One of the recurring themes on our pages has been the number of “cold calls”, and using the genuine names of lawyers, law firms and other reputable companies. It seems that no one is immune.
After publishing our little piece on the RDO, a conversation ensued and the name of the Timeshare Council came up, my fellow writer pointed out that the Timeshare Council is still an active company and was the forerunner for a short spell, of the OTE and then the RDO. In fact, a former Director is now President & CEO of the RDO.
It was also pointed out that back in January 2021, the TCA published a warning of a “cold caller” with a website using the name The Timeshare Council. The website now shows links to other sites, I believe this may be called Parked, https://www.timesharecouncil.co.uk/
While having a gander around the internet using the old trusted Google we came up with another hit, this time it was to a website called MORTGAGE CLAIMS R US
The home page and it is the only one, leaves you in no doubt whatsoever that they are posing as the Timeshare Council.
As you scroll down, you will see a few “statement questions” as you would expect regarding maintenance fee increases and the usual drivel to entice you to sign up for a claim & exit. This is followed by the standard FAQs, such as “What happens if I simply stop paying?” This is answered by the to-be-expected “indication” that the resort will send in the “debt collectors”, and to make it a better threat, they include “Bear in mind they do not want to release you from your contract as you are the ones that are maintaining their resorts.”
Then we have the wonderful “BREXIT”, with all the scare stories and “new taxes” making its appearance, all to scare you into going along with their little scam. We’ll let them tell you more in the last paragraph of that section.
“With the issue of the EU directive people have more rights and protection and can terminate unwanted contracts. Leaving the EU is likely to take this protection away unless a specific agreement is put into place. Flight prices are likely to increase in a single market again making timeshares non cost effective in comparison to package holidays. The change with the pound is also likely to push up maintenance fees and the worst case scenario could well be that a visa may be required to travel in Europe no doubt with costs involved.”
“In uncertain times is it a good idea to offload your timeshare like many others?”
Then there are some links to “news items”. This is where it gets interesting, all the “news items”, are not just old, but they also show they may have come from the Timeshare Consumer Association. They have either been “copied & pasted” without their permission, or they are just using the TCA name as a convenient means of credibility.
I have not had the chance to check with the TCA if they have been taken from their website, but rest assured, if they have been used it is certainly without the TCA’s permission.
Let’s move now to the testimonials from their “clients”, once again we see genuine testimonials “stolen” from the websites of genuine firms. One is this testimonial, the first is from their website, and the second is from the Timeshare Release website and the client was represented by the teams at ECC & M1 Legal.
Timeshare Council Testimonial
One testimonial which did make us laugh was this one from a “Mrs Taggart” of Perth, as everybody knows, trying to get out of a timeshare from MacDonald Resorts is not an easy thing to do. Yet not only did they get her out of her contract, but they also even managed to get her all her money back!
Are we talking about the same MacDonald Resorts?
MacDonalds Testimonial
I know miracles happen, but this one, I think that even God would have his work cut out.
Last but not least is the ubiquitous “Request a Call Back” form, Compared to most this one is very simple, name, telephone number, email, resort and your message.
Once you click the blue box, that’s it, your details are now free to be circulated and sold to any other scammer out there. You have requested a callback, that has given them permission for them or their accomplices to call or email. And so, you begin another long round of cold calls.
Another link we came across was this one to NeverBounce, on this page you will find the CLC testimonial from above and also the “company” details, all of which belong to the genuine Timeshare Council.
Timeshare Council or Mortgage Claims R Us, are in my opinion just another scam, and this is just what we have gleaned in our short look into their website, which is also lacking with company information, privacy policy or any of the other details required. The use of another company name, stolen and fake testimonials, and news items stolen or attributed to another to gain credibility, are all evidence of SCAMS R US.
We should also point out that the Genuine TIMESHARE COUNCIL does not make cold calls.
That’s it for today, On Thursday we shall be publishing our article on Lemon Lion Consulting, yet another enterprise that has decided to use another form of deceit and deception as their preferred tools.
We hope you all had a lovely weekend, Baby Dog was taking another nap in the heat, must admit, he does look happy.
