Danny6
You have obviously seen something that has eluded me. The Timeshare Association for Timeshare Ownwers' Committees (TATOC) - or The Timeshare Association as it now prefers to be called - was established in 1989. So, if there are any individuals who have been involved with it since its inception, I am sure you are correct in saying that they appear to have some experienced people. But equally, one has to ask, if it has been going now for 20 years and has the backing (as the CEO states) of the EU, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), Citizens Advice Bureaux, Trading Standards and the BBC to name a few, how come it is not that well known? Could it possibly be because it has not really achieved that much in its first 20 years? You talk of the need to have such an organisation as if they were something new. They are not!
I am sure that you will have many people who will agree with you that we need an organisation that will properly "police" the timeshare industry. But that doesn't just mean the "sharks" that are out there looking to prey on those who are desperate to unload their timeshares. Surely it should also mean the Timeshare Developers themselves - some of whom have proven to be less than fair in their actions with the consumers who invested in them. Shouldn't, by now, after 20 years in the business, TATOC have reached the stage in their evolution that enables them to "start treating the cause of the condition rather than the condition itself". Surely, "prevention is better than cure". If the unscrupulous activities of some of the Timeshare Developers could be cleaned up, those who buy into it committing large sums of expenditure, would go in with their eyes open. As a result, they would know what they are getting for their investment - be totally happy with their decision - and not fall prey to the "scammers" who feed on their unhappiness and fleece them when they try to sell out. So far, all we see from TATOC is how clever they are in exposing the "scammers". But, have they exposed them? Haven't they actually been exposed by unsuspecting owners who have tried to unload their timeshares and then been fleeced? Many of them post on forums like this. All too often TATOC seem to take over when "the crime has been committed"!
