Transfer Smart News: Timeshare Firm in Singapore Faces Court Order

Scams are everywhere in the timeshare industry nowadays. For the past year, it was identified that those owners who are trying to get out of their timeshares are the usual victims. But any potential owner also is vulnerable to these fraudulent activities as there are a lot of timeshare companies who are involved in misselling practices. Just like the recent case of the Consumers Association of Singapore or CASE which has obtained a court injunction against timeshare firm called the Garraway Enterprises for unfair trading practices.

Since 2007, there are 75 people who have filed complaints against the firm for hard-selling tactics and false and misleading claims. The total contract value of these cases would amount to S$887,000. A number of people complained about being approached on the streets with winning scratch cards and were asked to collect their prizes at the firm's Ngee Ann City office.

Then, these consumers were pressured into signing up for membership which ranges from S$3,650 to as much as S$30,000. They were also promised perks such as an easy access booking system for vacations and discounted flight and hotel fares. However, the court's ruling on May 24 means that Garraway can no longer sell vacation packages to customers by claiming that they would get better deals.

Last year, timeshare companies were listed as the highest number of complaints with 2,523 cases filed with CASE for the sixth consecutive year. With this, it is no doubt that scams are very prevalent in the industry. In fact, these scammers will do everything short of keeping you hostage to try to make you buy. In general, vacation properties like timeshares have certainly a negative impression.