The term “timeshare” has garnered a fairly questionable reputation since they started to become popular in the 1960’s and 70’s, but do you actually know exactly what a timeshare is?

What are they?

A timeshare agreement grants its customer the right to a period of time in an apartment, resort of another form of accommodation for a fixed term, usually of many years.

There are pros and cons of timeshares, but they have largely come in for criticism for being notoriously difficult to get out of, and containing numerous expensive hidden fees.

As such, many of these companies have attempted to rebrand themselves as “holiday clubs”, “destination clubs” of “fractional ownership” agreements, however at their heart, these are all forms of timeshares.

There are reportedly over six million people currently in timeshare agreements, and its important to note that many of them are perfectly happy with their situations.

Timeshares are usually luxury properties and of a higher quality than an average hotel, and usually provide bonuses such as free leisure facilities.

They range from small apartments to large villas or even barges and boats.

The argument is that in the long run, a timeshare agreement will save your money as opposed to taking out multiple package holidays.

The certainty of having your holiday sorted every year is also seen as a great benefit for many.

Types of timeshare

There are two forms of timeshare, fixed week and floating system. In a fixed week agreement, you have a right to the property for a specific week, in a specific property.

You can usually either return to this property year on year or exchange it for something similar (there is a large network of about 6,000 other properties to choose from).

With the floating system, you book the specific week that you want each year (subject to availability).

How it works

Generally, a one-off payment is made to the timeshare company, followed by yearly payments which cover costs such as cleaning, maintenance and taxes.

These costs have to be paid regardless of whether to the consumer actually chooses to use the property that year.

What is the controversy?

The reason timeshares have gained their unsavoury reputation is due to the questionable practices of a number of companies.

As well as being known for high-pressure sales tactics, there have been reports of timeshares going as far as charging customers for timeshares they are not even able to use, or hounding the relatives of deceased customers.

While not all companies are guilty of this behaviour, it has led to the timeshare industry as a whole being tarnished with the same brush, hence why a lot of companies have begun to trade as “holiday clubs” and such, making it extremely difficult for customers to decipher all the jargon and actually know what they are signing up for.

Specialist law firms such as the Timeshare Consumer Association now exist with the specific purpose of assisting customers to get out of timeshares they may have been mis-sold, or are just struggling to get out of.

We are not starting to see a shift toward the industry being reformed, with a recent ruling against “in perpetuity” clauses which essentially tie consumers in for life.

While not all timeshares are a “scam” as is often believed, there is definitely a need for caution when considering one of these agreements, and its best to do a lot of research and be very wary of aggressive sales tactics before agreeing to anything!