Couple 'tricked' out of £11,000 (From Stroud News and Journal)

Couple 'tricked' out of £11,000

9:23am Friday 24th August 2001

• Print
• Email
• Share

HOLIDAYMAKER Sue Cliff is warning others not to get ripped off by hard-sell holiday clubs after she says she lost £11,000 to the operators.

The self-employed book keeper and her husband, Steve, of High Wycombe, say they were tricked while on holiday in Tenerife over a year ago.

Mrs Cliff, 51, said: "We feel really gullible but strongly want to warn other people to save them losing their money."

The couple say that they were approached in the street by a professional-looking man who gave them a scratch card and said they could win a prize or money.

Mrs Cliff said: "We don't normally do that kind of thing but he looked really surprised when we scratched the card and said we had won a prize.

"He said we needed to go to his headquarters to pick it up and whisked us off there in a taxi.

"He told us we would have to sit through a short presentation but stressed it wasn't timeshare."

But when they got there the salesman said if the couple could give them £11,000 they could get cut-price luxury holidays for up to six people.

She said he told her that they would use the money to buy up ex-timeshare properties and keep the interest, but give the initial £11,000 investment back after four years.

But after arriving back at home they received nothing through the post and began barraging the company with telephone calls, e-mails and faxes.

After around 13 months, they sent a solicitor's letter but all they got back was a welcome pack offering them 'over-priced' holidays. Mrs Cliff said: "They were so convincing at the time, it was a slick operation, but all I can do is warn people not to fall for it."

The couple are trying to claim their money back from their credit card company along with 150 other people pursuing complaints about the scheme.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has issued warnings about holiday clubs.

Consumer Minister Melanie Johnson said: "People are shelling out thousands of pounds on what turns out to be empty promises.

"Unscrupulous holiday club operators promise a lifetime of cheap holidays but deliver nothing."

• Print
• Email
• Share