A very new player and cold caller have arrived on the scene offering the usual timeshare relinquishments and claims services, and it certainly set the scam alarms ringing when we checked their website. The telltale clues were present, there is no company registration information, and the Privacy Policy is not available, just a “Coming Soon” notice. The name of this new enterprise is James Yardley and Ceafoot Ltd.
The website https://jamesyardleyandceafoot.com/ was only registered on 2 January 2023, so it is only 1 month old, and it has also only been registered until 2 January 2024. One sign of a possible scam.
Looking at their Home Page doesn’t give you much information, it begins with explaining they are a “consultancy firm”, this makes a change from a law firm, which “helps” their clients with timeshare contract issues. They say they have a “specialist in-house” team to assist.
Apparently, these in-house specialists have a “combined experience of over 35 years in the field of timeshare.” OK, so they have all been long-service timeshare sales reps. They are also backed by “leading lawyers” in the UK and Europe, yet nowhere on the website does it give any indication of which “leading lawyers” they are.
One paragraph which did make us chuckle is this:
“We focus on resolution as opposed to litigation, and our goal is to get your case resolved before going to court. In most cases, the timeshare company will agree to release the customer, and pay out a claim instead of risking an adverse court decision.”
When have we ever heard of a timeshare company agreeing to release a member and PAYOUT a claim without it ever going to court?
The hundreds of cases in the Spanish Courts bear testimony to that lie.
So the Home page is a bit of a joke, what about the rest, the About Us page just gives a little on what they do, so nothing useful there. Under Legal Services, there is still nothing much apart from a list of “issues” which seem repetitive.
The FAQ section is very funny, one question is “I was sold finance to pay for my Timeshare, can anything be done about this”.
The answer does not even broach the subject:
“Unfortunately, this has happened on many occasions. We have heard this from many consumers and what has transpired was that the companies were performing what is called a “Unilateral Termination”, this is basically when a termination is requested / stipulated by one side of the contract only and is not recognised by the resort. We also regret to inform you that this is also not enforceable by law, even if you have been issued with a letter from the company that you employed. For a termination to be recognised and for your liabilities to end, you must receive confirmation of this from the resort or the decision to be made by the appropriating court.”
The next are Testimonials, supposedly by clients who James Yardley & Ceafoot have successfully helped, well, what can we say, the testimonials are glowing, not bad for a company which has just appeared, which now brings us on to who they are.
The Contact page as usual doesn’t give us much of a clue, the only information is their address and telephone number:
63-66 Hatton Garden, 5th Floor, Suite 23, London, EC1N 8LE
00442030260585
They do not even show an email address, a company with a website and no email in 2023, very strange.
The address is one that is very familiar, on a recent check there are 168 companies registered at this address, which over the years has played host to many timeshare scams. The telephone number has probably been purchased for use with VoIP.
On further searches, we came across another website https://jamesyardleyandceafoot.co.uk/
Registration for this website is exactly the same as the .com website with the company address as above, so they are the same people.
The Home & About pages do not give away much apart from:
“JYC is an independently owned sales, lettings, and property agency with more than 30 years of combined experience. We work exclusively for the benefit of our clients to help you buy, sell, let or rent the best properties across the UK and Mediterranean Market.”
Along with a very impressive claim:
“As a client of James, Yardley and Ceafoot, we will bring you exclusive, off-market properties at attractive price points, before the mainstream market has access to them.”
It is when you get to Our Property Portfolio that it is rather interesting, when you click on one of the options it shows a notice on opening times. But the Contact Us page does invite you to “Visit” them. I didn’t realise that address was an actual working office, I was always under the impression it is just a “dropbox”, a convenient address to register a dodgy company.
So we have two websites clearly linked offering different services, what about the company itself?
After a little research, we did find the company on Company House records:
James, Yardley & Ceafoot Limited
Company number 13481494
63-66 Hatton Garden, 5th Floor, Suite 23, London, EC1N 8LE
So that does correspond to the websites, but it is when we look at the company records, is where we find some disturbing information.
The company was only incorporated on 28 June 2021, under the name Jayacre Limited, which change to Yardley & Ceafoot Ltd on 22 December 2022 which didn’t even last a day as it was changed to what we have now. Not a great start.
It has also had several address changes with the original address: Academy House 11 Dunraven Place Bridgend Mid Glamorgan CF31 1JF changing to The White Swan Ash Road Sevenoaks TN15 7HJ on 21 December 2022 and the Hatton Garden address on 26 January 2023.
It is also listed as a previously dormant company having submitted accounts for a dormant company on 22 December 2022. As for who the registered director is, they are probably just the “patsy” for whoever is financing the “company”.
There you have it, all the signs of a company that is suspicious, to say the least, from company records to when the websites were registered, along with dubious testimonies and errors in their text.
Whether they are actually doing the “relinquishments & claims” themselves or just a lead generator for another scammer makes no difference, James, Yardley & Ceafoot Limited is a company that is most definitely not to be trusted.
Company House Records
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13481494
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13481494/filing-history
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13481494/officers
https://suite.endole.co.uk/insight/company/13481494-james-yardley-ceafoot-limited
Website Registration
https://www.whois.com/whois/jamesyardleyandceafoot.com
https://www.whois.com/whois/jamesyardleyandceafoot.co.uk
The information provided is freely available if time is taken to search, just from this basic search, you can see the warning signs, never take at face value any cold call you receive, and always do your homework.
We hope you have all had a good weekend, especially our friends the Westgate Timeshare Hostages who have been staging another protest outside Westgate Lakes in Florida. This is all part of the ongoing battle with Westgate and its deceptive sales practices.
Baby Dog and myself have been hit with the Saharan dust or Calima as they are called, keeping us indoors. But we did have a picture of his last venture into the mountains, most definitely surveying his realm, after all, he is Zeus King of the gods and all humans.
