Daily Express reports on Scottish Timeshare Consumer Association clients

Daily Express report on Seasons Timeshare victims who lost their home after "high pressure" timeshare sales:

Free holiday left us broke and ill

Couple run up £21k debts after ‘foolish’ timeshare loans deal
Joe and Linda Ashby say they fell for the timeshare salesman’s chat

A SCOTS couple lost everything when they were lured into spiralling debt after winning a “free holiday”.

Joe and Linda Ashby were delighted to land the break from Bristol-based timeshare Seasons Holidays in 2008.

But the dream vacation at Brunston Castle, near Girvan, in Ayrshire, turned sour with the Ashbys ending up with £21,000 debt and deteriorating health.

The couple, from Balfron in Stirlingshire, signed up for timeshare membership during the break, paying more than £10,000 with a loan arranged by the salesman. Following another two holidays that year the Ashbys, who have five children, 14 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, upgraded to a three-bedroom stay in Penrith, Cumbria, forking out £5,736 with a second loan.

Soon after that Mr Ashby, 67, lost his job as an electrical engineer supporting the Large Hadron Collider at
CERN in Switzerland. But a salesman squeezed more money out of him and his wife, 69, who had been signed off work with mental health problems.

He said: “Losing my income came as a real shock to us. We went from being relatively well off to having to
watch our outgoings.

“We had already booked to stay in Club Tahiti in Lanzarote. As before, we were collared by a salesperson.

“We told him we wouldn’t be able to get finance now. The rep told us not to worry and if we wanted to upgrade he’d find a way to increase our loan.”

They “foolishly” agreed to another timeshare week for a further £6,000, thinking it would be rejected. But they
soon found themselves unable to keep up with the payments and even sold the family home before calling in a
debt management company.

The creditor with the outstanding £21,000 loans refused to alter their plan, with Mr Ashby saying stress had
cost them their health. His wife is in a wheelchair while he cannot retire.

Daniel Keating, of the Timeshare Consumer Association, said: “Unfortunately Mr and Mrs Ashby’s
situation is all too common. The commitment of joining a timeshare and the associated annual fees is very difficult to escape without expert help.”

Seasons Holidays said in a statement: “Seasons had no record of these complaints, and was not aware of these issues until they were highlighted today. The company has since been contacted by the Ashbys and this matter will be resolved to their satisfaction.”