TONY HETHERINGTON: My hell of being in a timeshare trap – even when I die

Ms E.C. writes: I am a 71-year-old and feel I have trapped myself and my descendants in perpetuity hell. Since 1999, I have owned a one-week timeshare at Cameron House on Loch Lomond. I am responsible for the payment of spiralling annual, unaffordable management fees, currently £988 plus VAT. Electricity charges for my six-day stay were £484 and when I queried this I was told that some timeshare owners were charged £650.

Even when I die, the management or their debt collectors will make their demands to my family.

Tony Hetherington replies: When timeshares were popular, their big selling point was that owners would not have to pay a fortune to take the whole family on holiday. Instead, there would be a modest annual fee for the upkeep of their apartment or – as Cameron House calls it – their lodge. They could even rent out their weeks, or sell them to a new owner.

How times change. Today, owners can hardly give away their timeshare, let alone sell it. And if they do find a buyer, the timeshare company may veto any transfer of ownership if they suspect the new owner cannot afford their annual fees.

The Cameron House timeshare business is American-controlled, but the boss on the ground is Allan Reich, whose experience in Scotland’s hospitality industry stretches back about 40 years, so I asked him to explain his company’s ‘in perpetuity’ contracts.

Timeshare buyers may have interpreted this to mean that they owned their timeshare forever, rather than for a set number of years. But it appears the company takes it to mean that even when an owner dies, demands for annual fees can still be issued, year after year, blocking executors from ever paying out bequests to families, friends or charities, until the estate is completely drained. The only option is to hope the company will accept an immediate lump sum, reducing bequests rather than wiping them out totally.

Reich failed to answer and so did the public relations firm he hired to respond to me. I asked whether the company sued owners who were no longer able to afford the large annual fees and, if so, how many owners had ended up in court.

I was told that this had been explained to owners in a document I had not seen, at a meeting to which I was not, of course, invited. In other words, it was a reply, but not an answer.

I asked repeatedly whether it was true that owners who wanted to quit were told they had to hand over a lump sum equal to four years of fees to buy their way out. Again, no answer. I pressed ahead in an attempt to find whether timeshare owners were free to sell to anyone they wished. This time I got two answers. I was told: ‘Owners can sell their week privately or through a timeshare resale agent should they wish, with no restriction from us on the price they can accept.’

Unfortunately, I was also given confirmation that buyers are vetted, with Cameron House admitting that ‘we do carry out checks before finalising any sale’. This flies in the face of the original timeshare sales material which assures buyers: ‘Like any other property, you can rent it out, sell it, give it away or bequeath it to your heirs.’ No mention of a 100 per cent power of veto that gives the company complete control. Mis-selling perhaps?

Boss Allan Reich, whose experience in Scotland’s hospitality industry stretches back about 40 years

Now for the electricity bill. After your recent visit, you were told the meter had been read and £484 had been charged to your credit card. You protested and the bill was cut to £333, with the difference refunded. You were told simply that the meter had been ‘misread’. Perhaps it had, but £333 for a week’s electricity is still staggering!

Timeshare scandals were commonplace 30 or 40 years ago. Most people today would not touch timeshare with a bargepole. But, sadly, ‘in perpetuity’ owners are trapped. Do our politicians understand this?

Well, two years ago, the House of Commons Library produced a research paper for MPs all about timeshare. It highlighted that in perpetuity contracts mean that ‘after the death of the timeshare owner, their estate continues to be liable for management fees’.

Since then, silence. When will MPs call time on Cameron House’s unjust timeshares, with their potential for tragic consequences for families? I won’t hold my breath.

My husband died with £93 credit in his Amazon account – can the money be transferred to me? 

Mrs C.C. writes: My husband passed away. He used to buy Kindle books on Amazon and his account is £93 in credit. I asked if I could use this to buy a gift card, but Amazon says I have to purchase goods which I don’t actually need. Hours chatting to customer service got nowhere. How is it possible that Amazon has no way of transferring the money to my account or allowing the purchase of a gift card?

Tony Hetherington replies: I think the problem may have been that you originally asked for the £93 to be transferred to a gift card. Because of the risk of online scams, or false claims acting on behalf of a deceased estate, Amazon can be cagey about transferring gift card balances. It is also aware that demanding lots of paperwork from the family at a difficult time can be unpleasant.

That said, my contact at Amazon could not have been more helpful. The balance from your husband’s account has now been transferred in full to your own Amazon account, to spend as you wish. The company told me: ‘We are very sorry for Mrs C’s loss. When a loved one or close relative passes away, our Bereavement Support team are here to help and we have made an exception in this case to transfer gift card funds without additional documentation.’

• If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email [email protected]. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.