WBP
TUG Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 662
- Reaction score
- 341
- Points
- 423
SOURCE:
http://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/c8769ad8-5093-4362-bffe-adff75e89e2d__7C___0.html
Translation by Google.
If you needed some other proof that time-sharing is an unfortunate investment, the slingshot movement against Club Intrawest will convince you.
The disillusioned members of this club, now known as Embarc, have just won a first round in court. On Tuesday, the Superior Court authorized a class action against the timeshare system that manages a facility in Mont-Tremblant.
The action representative, Martin Robichaud, alleges that the club prevents its members from reselling their points, which has cost them three quarters of their investment. He wants to be reimbursed for the depreciation of the points as well as for the annual fees he had to pay. He also claims punitive damages of $ 5,000 per member.
For Robichaud, it all started in 2009 with an invitation to attend a 90-minute presentation, in exchange for a free weekend at the Club.
In a "cubicle", the vendor extols the merits of the program which allows to stay in one of the nine Canadian establishments of the Club (Tremblant, Vancouver, Whistler, etc.), and even elsewhere in the world, thanks to the system of ExtraOrdinary Escapes (EE) Exchange.
Faced with the reluctance of Mr. Robichaud, the representative ensures that he can resell his points to a third party or ask the Club to redeem his points after five years.
In his speech, everything suggests that it will be easy to recover his down payment of $ 30,560.
Mr. Robichaud signs. The representative opens the champagne. The time is at the party.
But five years later, the Club buy-back program is completely congested. And the resale of points to a third party is subject to a floor price, otherwise the EE program does not apply, which significantly reduces the value. However, this crucial information was never disclosed at the time of the sale, argues Mr. Robichaud.
"People have contracted with Intrawest on the basis of false and misleading information," says Sébastien Richemond, a lawyer at Woods Law firm who is leading the case. For its part, Intrawest prefers not to comment on the litigation in progress.
***
This collective action sheds light on the enormous shortcomings of the time-sharing industry, which has often made headlines for its pressure selling practices.
Contrary to what some people think, members of timeshare clubs have no property rights. They pay an exorbitant price just for the right to occupy the premises, which requires them to pay annual fees until the end of their days.
The numbers are discouraging.
In 2009, for example, $ 30,560 had to be paid to get 160 Club Intrawest points ($ 191 a point) to qualify for one week of vacation per year. Buyers who financed the 10-year purchase had to pay a high interest of 13.9%, which added $ 24,000 to the bill. Ouch! We have reached almost $ 55,000.
But that's not all. Each year, members must pay resort fees that have increased from $ 1,092 in 2010 to $ 1,294 in 2016, much faster than the rate of inflation.
To make matters worse, these fees are almost as high as the price the club currently charges on the internet for renting a unit to non-members ($ 1550 for 4 people).
So, do not ask yourself why members' points are worth almost nothing! Some recent deals have come in at just $ 10 per point on websites. That's almost 10 times less than the price paid in 2009.
Some members give up their points altogether. Moreover, the Club can confiscate them to a member who has not paid his resort fees after 18 months. The Club can then resell them to other consumers for a big price. In other words, he can make money repeatedly with the same points. Big deal !
But now nearly 3800 unhappy members have formed the Intrawest Club Owners Group on Facebook. They demand more transparency, fairness and control, summarizes Patrick Cormier, head of the volunteer coordination committee of this group.
Patrick Cormier deplores the fact that board meetings are always held in camera and that the annual meeting has been systematically canceled for 20 years, which deprives members of key information.
Members, who own about 95% of the points, also complain about difficulty booking a unit during busy weeks, while the Club, which holds 5% of the points, rents out units to non-members for the same dates on the Internet. This poses a problem of equity.
Even if it is a minority, the Club controls the rules of the game, because its own points have 15 times more voting rights than those of the members. Thus, the Club can increase the annual fees or change the clubs that are part of its network, as has happened in the past, without the members having a say.
For ethics and good governance, we will have to go back.
http://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/c8769ad8-5093-4362-bffe-adff75e89e2d__7C___0.html
Translation by Google.
If you needed some other proof that time-sharing is an unfortunate investment, the slingshot movement against Club Intrawest will convince you.
The disillusioned members of this club, now known as Embarc, have just won a first round in court. On Tuesday, the Superior Court authorized a class action against the timeshare system that manages a facility in Mont-Tremblant.
The action representative, Martin Robichaud, alleges that the club prevents its members from reselling their points, which has cost them three quarters of their investment. He wants to be reimbursed for the depreciation of the points as well as for the annual fees he had to pay. He also claims punitive damages of $ 5,000 per member.
For Robichaud, it all started in 2009 with an invitation to attend a 90-minute presentation, in exchange for a free weekend at the Club.
In a "cubicle", the vendor extols the merits of the program which allows to stay in one of the nine Canadian establishments of the Club (Tremblant, Vancouver, Whistler, etc.), and even elsewhere in the world, thanks to the system of ExtraOrdinary Escapes (EE) Exchange.
Faced with the reluctance of Mr. Robichaud, the representative ensures that he can resell his points to a third party or ask the Club to redeem his points after five years.
In his speech, everything suggests that it will be easy to recover his down payment of $ 30,560.
Mr. Robichaud signs. The representative opens the champagne. The time is at the party.
But five years later, the Club buy-back program is completely congested. And the resale of points to a third party is subject to a floor price, otherwise the EE program does not apply, which significantly reduces the value. However, this crucial information was never disclosed at the time of the sale, argues Mr. Robichaud.
"People have contracted with Intrawest on the basis of false and misleading information," says Sébastien Richemond, a lawyer at Woods Law firm who is leading the case. For its part, Intrawest prefers not to comment on the litigation in progress.
***
This collective action sheds light on the enormous shortcomings of the time-sharing industry, which has often made headlines for its pressure selling practices.
Contrary to what some people think, members of timeshare clubs have no property rights. They pay an exorbitant price just for the right to occupy the premises, which requires them to pay annual fees until the end of their days.
The numbers are discouraging.
In 2009, for example, $ 30,560 had to be paid to get 160 Club Intrawest points ($ 191 a point) to qualify for one week of vacation per year. Buyers who financed the 10-year purchase had to pay a high interest of 13.9%, which added $ 24,000 to the bill. Ouch! We have reached almost $ 55,000.
But that's not all. Each year, members must pay resort fees that have increased from $ 1,092 in 2010 to $ 1,294 in 2016, much faster than the rate of inflation.
To make matters worse, these fees are almost as high as the price the club currently charges on the internet for renting a unit to non-members ($ 1550 for 4 people).
So, do not ask yourself why members' points are worth almost nothing! Some recent deals have come in at just $ 10 per point on websites. That's almost 10 times less than the price paid in 2009.
Some members give up their points altogether. Moreover, the Club can confiscate them to a member who has not paid his resort fees after 18 months. The Club can then resell them to other consumers for a big price. In other words, he can make money repeatedly with the same points. Big deal !
But now nearly 3800 unhappy members have formed the Intrawest Club Owners Group on Facebook. They demand more transparency, fairness and control, summarizes Patrick Cormier, head of the volunteer coordination committee of this group.
Patrick Cormier deplores the fact that board meetings are always held in camera and that the annual meeting has been systematically canceled for 20 years, which deprives members of key information.
Members, who own about 95% of the points, also complain about difficulty booking a unit during busy weeks, while the Club, which holds 5% of the points, rents out units to non-members for the same dates on the Internet. This poses a problem of equity.
Even if it is a minority, the Club controls the rules of the game, because its own points have 15 times more voting rights than those of the members. Thus, the Club can increase the annual fees or change the clubs that are part of its network, as has happened in the past, without the members having a say.
For ethics and good governance, we will have to go back.
