Revealed: The 5 timeshare resorts whose members are most desperate to escape

It's no secret that timeshare members often feel trapped in expensive and restrictive contracts. But which resorts' customers make up most of the European Consumer Claims (ECC) timeshare relinquishment caseload?

Regret

Depending on which source you choose to believe, either 15% or a much higher 85% of timeshare owners later regret their decision to buy. The lower figure comes from an ARDA (industry sponsored) survey, and the latter, larger number comes from an independent study conducted by academics at the University of Central Florida.

Either number is unacceptably high. Neither would be a surprise considering the amount of effort and energy that is necessary to create each timeshare sale. People don't just go looking to buy a timeshare in the same way as they do a car or a house. They need to be lured to a presentation at great expense, and then be subjected to several hours of incredibly sophisticated sales strategies.

The expense doesn't end with the lavish (often tens of thousands of pounds) joining cost.

The ongoing, unchecked expense of annual fees is what most members cite as the reason for their dissatisfaction.

Restrictive

What many starry-eyed new owners don't yet realise, on that heady day of the initial sale, is that the annual expenses are around the same as equivalent standard holiday accommodation in the same area. Not only that, but the resort has absolute authority to raise those costs at their discretion.

What also often comes as a shock is the fact that members are legally obliged to pay these fees every single year, whether they holiday or not. This hit home to people during the pandemic, when they were charged in full despite resorts being universally closed for two years.

Members' holiday options are also severely restricted by expensive and complex exchange systems.

When you're in, you're in

Timeshare companies have always known that the memberships they sell do not present any genuine financial advantage for their customers. The contracts are written with the goal of ensuring members could not change their minds later and leave the club if their life situation or holiday needs changed.

One of the main complaints from timeshare owners is that they are tied to out-of-control annual payments. Most of them would happily walk away from the tens of thousands of pounds they initially outlaid to join, if it would free them from the commitment.

Timeshare companies brazenly refuse. In the few cases where they even consider allowing a member to leave, they demand a very high financial ransom.

So who is the worst?

Here at European Consumer Claims we have data going back eight years (at the time of writing this article). We have helped thousands of people escape unfair timeshare contracts.

From the entire 'rogues gallery' of resorts, the following five companies' clients are the people who approach us most for help with relinquishment.

1. Diamond (12.67%) - As the graphic above shows, over one in eight relinquishments handled by ECC were Diamond Resorts Europe members. Diamond was bought out by Hilton Grand Vacations in 2021 but their owners are still looking to escape. Will timeshare giants Hilton continue this pattern of unhappy ownership? Time will tell.

2. Azure (5.38%) - The disgraced Maltese timeshare company are no longer selling after Barclays Partner Finance were forced to repay around £200 million in suspect timeshare loans. Azure are still operating though, and there are plenty of members looking for a way out. Just over one in twenty of our relinquishment clients are trying to break free from Azure contracts

3. Marriott (5.05%) - The world's second largest timeshare company has a pricey development in Marbella, Spain. They are our third most requested relinquishments placing slightly behind Azure. A lot of Marriott's members were disappointed at being charged fees in full during the pandemic.

4. Onagrup (3.97%) - This Spanish hotel giant and timeshare operator enjoys a less than savoury reputation and was recently investigated by both KwikChex and Which Magazine for their association with Global Great Hotels. GGH are accused of participating in a multimillion pound fraud scheme in conjunction with Onagrup. They are 4th on our list, and represent one in twenty five of our cases.

5. Wyndham Resorts (3.83%) - Wyndham are the world's largest timeshare operator, servicing over four million owners annually, with 23,000 employees, and a 2023 revenue of $5.2 billion. Wyndham achieved notoriety for their hyper aggressive sales tactics, including their infamous TAFT days (where sales staff were encouraged to say absolutely anything necessary to close a sale). Wyndham come in at 5th on this list

Also in need of a (dis)honourable mention are Club la Costa. Roy Peires' resort has been operating illegally for a quarter of a century and have a great many unhappy owners. The only reason they didn't quite make this list is because so many of their former clients are suing them rather than just trying to leave. And with great success too. CLC currently owe tens of millions of pounds in court awarded compensation and are trying every desperate tactic they can think of to avoid their responsibilities.

It is important to note that while these companies top our list for individual relinquishments, they still only constitute a third of the total. There are over 5400 active timeshare resorts in the world, and the rest of our customer base is distributed among many of these, as well as from countries all over the world.

Expert comment

"If you believe that your business presents a desirable value proposition, then you don't need iron clad contracts that mean customers must keep paying you no matter what," posits Greg Wilson, CEO of ECC, "If you prevent people from leaving your timeshare club when they can no longer holiday because of personal circumstance changes, then you are not in the holiday business.

"You are in the hostage business."

"Many resorts demonstrated during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 that their motivation was not to provide high quality holidays. It was to charge people for those holidays, whether their customers took them or not."

Need to get out?

If you are stuck paying for a timeshare that you no longer want, get in touch with our team for help.

If you fit certain conditions you may even be eligible for significant financial compensation too.