A new consumer alert goes out for a company called Resorts Direct UK, although this company was already mentioned before in another blog when they still called themselves Direct Resorts International http://wp.me/p1kmoi-8w
Resorts Direct – http://www.resortsdirect.co.uk/holiday/contactus.php – is another so called Fly Buy company connected to Easy Consulting SL. And their modus operandi has not changed at all – i.e. main goal is to arrange timeshare & bogus holiday club sales presentations, through cold calls.
Resorts Direct never explains clearly who they are and we are aware of cold calls in which the staff of this company claimed to work for different well-known timeshare companies and in this way create trust with the consumer who in the first instance is suspicious of the cold call.
One of the main contact numbers used by Resorts Direct – i.e. 0871 711 3545 – is shared by Fly-Buys well known to us – i.e. Bonus Week Breaks, The Gift Company, etc.
Easy Consulting SL is also currently behind the following Fly – Buys which share the very same modus operandi (and highly likely using the same call center in Alicante): The Gift Company – www.giftcomp.com/index.php ; Bonus Week Breaks – www.bonusweekbreaks.co.uk ; Extra Weeks – www.extraweeks.co.uk ; Easy Weeks – www.easyweeks.co.uk ; Extra Time Online-www.extratimeonline.co.uk , Direct Resorts International – http://directresortsinternational.co.uk , Golden Grow Resorts, etc.
In 2006 – 2007 Easy Consulting SL was using OPCs with scratch cards in Benidorm, Alicante, and selling the holidays on a disk software Connections6, at a cost of several thousands of pounds.
Easy Consulting SL was also behind another Fly – By company, UK Connected – www.ukconnectedinfo.co.uk (site down) ; Tel: 0808 20 40 303 – mostly active during the period 2006 – 2007, which was cold calling British nationals claiming to act on behalf of RCI, offering for example three bonus weeks at roughly 100 GBP each, but when the contract arrived it said they had bought a holiday club membership in the form a Software CD-Connections6 – and were entitled to three free week holidays, however the resorts where to enjoy the holidays, had to be chosen from a list which appeared at UK Connected´s site.
Have you been called by Resorts Direct UK? Have you booked or paid anything? Please let us know!
Mindtimeshare 
Paid £300 to direct resorts about 4 years ago but we never used the holidays because they didnt have any where we wanted to go.We had a call last year saying the time was running out to use them,so i said cancel them im not interested anymore .Had acall today from them saying they would extent my weeks indefinitly for a very redused price of £358 .All sounds very good until you read some of the other comments not going to part with any more cash ,wonder what their next ploy will be.
I have Been sca**** by resorts direct I paid £240 to the company I thought I knew but I was stupid to believe them
I was recommended to The Gift Company, about 3 years ago by my Dad. Wish he never had. Having had a 1 week holiday which was OK, punctuated by numerous calls trying to get us to the presentation, which rather than being 90 minutes as we were advised to get us signed up, was expected to be half a day at least. We walked out and were threaten with having to pay for our accommodation in full!! Subsequent to this holiday they have tried to get us to book the other weeks holiday. We have refused, told them to leave us alone, take us off their telephone list, and take a hike. They have failed on all counts, plus passed our telephone numbers to their associated companies. They are even phoned us up 2 or 3 times in a short period of time. Singing over our protestations to leave us alone and ringing back just to laugh at us over the phone. They will not remove our telephone details and continue to hassle us. Who knows their correspondence address so that i can serve some legal paperwork on them. Thanks hopefully.
Just been contacted by Direct Resorts offering two weeks for £218 up until 2016. As a taster they offered a short break, air fare included. This is the second time they have called first time just before Christmas. Decided to do a little research and am thankful that I did. Needless to say, I will not be taking them up on their offer
I have just (20/05/13) been rung by Resorts Direct. They are under the impression I have been on a holiday with them when in fact – much to my amazement – I got a refund from them (thanks to Mastercard) for a holiday I didn’t want plus a further ‘bonus two weeks’ as a reward for not going on the first holiday. It has the potential to make Ponzi schemes looks feeble.I was rung from 07950 883482 so presumably they hand out our details to commission callers.
I went round to visit my parents in sept 2011 my dad is 72 he had a call from his timeshare company!! Saying they were giving him 2 bonus weeks for £298 all he needed was to pay by creditcard which he gave them. He had told me he did it and when the paperwork came through it was from resorts direct. My parents have a timeshare with rci in Tenerife which they often used to get bonus weeks and thought nothing of it. I activated the ac from the paperwork sent through and did this by fax keeping the original there was not confirmation from them by post. Just another call the following week requesting a further £599 which they said he had to pay to secure the holiday. I had given my father instruction not to give anyone his card details over the phone. They wouldn’t refund the payment he had made the holiday is still valid till aug 2014 but will not Persue this my father feels very let down by this and was bombarded for months with calls from various companies. The lady from resorts direct said they had been put on every timeshare contact list and the only way to stop this was to pay £599. I spoke to them and they are very convincing had no shame in targeting pensioners. Lesson learnt never give out your card details over the phone without confirming who they are by calling back your own timeshare company. (Parents minus £298) could have been worse.
I got contacted by a company saying they were Diamond Resorts who we have timeshare with and think it is great.
This was not them and when paperwork came through we phoned to cancel and get money back. No chance!
We got in touch with our credit card co. who sent us a form to say we had been miss led by fraudulent means. It took a month but we got our money back and will never buy into any “Bonus weeks or Gift Co. etc ever again.
We still get the calls but just ignore them.
Hope this can help.
Hi in September 2010 my husband signed up to a holiday package from Resorts Direct. For £496 (paid by credit card) he was told he had the pick of various holidays including several weekend breaks as well as week long holidays both in Europe and long haul. We were sent an ‘Activation form’ stating ‘to complete the transaction of your purchase and to activate your account it is essential that you sign, date and return this payment receipt.’ We never did this as I was not keen on the company and felt if something was too good to be true then it probably was and anyway we had until August 2013 to take the holidays. We’ve just started receiving very hard sell calls from another company who have been passed our details by Resorts Direct advising that our weeks are soon to expire and that if we pay another £ 398 then we can extend the deadline by 5 years and upgrade etc etc. They also said that with their package we would not have to sit through a sales presentation at the resort. Up until this time we didn’t know that we had to. We will not be ‘extending’ with this other company (have received many calls from this company, last one 9pm on Bank Holiday Monday) and have decided to try and use at least a weekend break with Resorts Direct and let the other weeks expire, thereby getting something for our money. However Resorts Direct say that we can’t do anything until we sign the activation form. I am concerned about doing this as the whole thing doesn’t seem right. Why would you sign a form as a ‘payment receipt.’? The person receiving the money (ie Resorts Direct) should be the ones sending a signed receipt. On reading the terms and conditions on the reverse of the activation form it says that that they may ask ‘certain security questions such as your mother’s maiden name as well as the credit card details’. Just so wary about handing over any further information to them or worse still them claiming that we have entered into some sort of contract with them. Bit of a catch 22 though as they says we can’t take the weekend break until we do. Karen
Bob from Cornwall,
Our timeshare resort at Tenerife Sun Club went bankrupt a few years ago. While we still had it we were offered a 1 week break for £90, so we took advantage of this and had a fantastic holiday on a 7 berth “narrow boat” with our friends.
Some time after TSC went bankrupt we were ‘phoned by a company saying that we had 2 weeks still owed to us. As they said they were a part of RCI we were not alarmed even when they asked for £499, which would give 2 weeks accommodation inc air fares for up to 6 people.
Remembering the canal holiday, we looked into the details of another one.
The difficulties began when I tried to contact “BonusWeeksBreaks” for more information and after MANY ‘phone calls to them asking for a brochure they refused to send me one. However, if I sent them another £199 they would send the booking details.
This week I have had 3 ‘phone calls from them wondering why I had not sent the money because I would be “stupid” to turn down such an offer.I again asked if they were part of RCI to which they said “Yes” This is LIES.
Any monies sent to these people will be lost, the credit card company cannot get my money back so please, please don’t be caught like me, Don’t let them have your money.
Just been contacted this evening by Alix, who gave me the impression she was with RCI, offering 2 bonus weeks @ £199 per week, any Gold Crown resort worldwide etc, etc. Backup email is from Resorts Direct. Am I ever glad I though to check ’em out! Thanks, Mindtimeshare! She will get the bum’s rush when she calls back, later!
Hi, we have just been called by Resorts Direct claiming to be offering loyalty weeks on behalf of RCI. Fortunately we spotted the sc**, and after checking with RCI found that they have no connection. We rang back and insisted that destroy our details and not to contact us again to which they agreed.Unfortunately during the course of the call I did give them my credit card number for a deposit, but hopefully they will not debit this, and if they do we should be able to claim it back. I have put this on here as a record of the event
Hi I am ashamed to say I too have been drawn in by Kathleen, £396 later. Can we get this money back?
I purchased two weeks from Resorts Direct last year. We took a week to Tenerife staying at Winter Gardens. It was a private apartment and wasn’t luxurious but it was adequate. A rep called on Saturday morning saying we had to attend a presentation on Monday. I said it’s only for 90 minutes so that’s okay. He said no it’s as long as it takes, you booked the holiday. We said we would go under our own steam, he said we wouldnt be able to find it so he picked us up at 10 am. He took us to another resort where we had breakfast, then we went into a room where we had the presentation. Seven hours later we were still there, we were being called idots for not buying the Emerald package at £15,000 for 75 million credits! We kept saying we didn’t want it so they lowered it to the Sapphire package at £5,000 for 25 million credits. We kept saying we didn’t want it but they kept on and on and on and on. We eventually got out of there at 5.30 pm without buying. What a waste of a day. Also their terms and conditions state that you can only go on holiday that one week and cannot attach another week to it before or after staying anywhere else, I don’t know why.
I was cold called by Nicole from “Direct Resorts on behalf of RCI” on Thursday 30th August and again yesterday (31st August). As I was sceptical about their claim that I was entitled to an extra week for £99 at a Gold Crown Resort, I thought I would check the internet and found all these blog messages. Thank you everyone for posting these comments as it has stopped me from being duped. What I would like to know is how they got my phone number???!!!
Hi , I paid for a holiday 2weeks but only allowed one at a time for a special price, when we purchased nothing was mentioned about a timeshare sales presentation in fact. Only found out 3 days before we went. Do I have to attend the presentation, the sales guy says we have to or we will be liable for cost of hotel? I don’t remember signing anything about this! Please advise
We went on a holiday and met the rep, we just acted like “robots” and ended up not signing anything. That is the answer DO NOT SIGN, but you must “Waste Time” with the rep, we came away from the meeting laughing. Waste of two hours but the hotel was lovely.
Hi
My husband was called earlier this week and duped into believing that the caller was calling from the head office of Beverley Hills where we own an apartment. THe caller clearly stated that she was calling from Beverley Hills Head Office and that we were due a loyalty bonus which would enable us to purchase holidays for 6 people for a one off figure of £600. Believing that my husband was dealing with Beverley Hills he was duped into paying by credit card only to later find that the caller had nothing to do with Beverley Hills. This company are not just cold calling and trying to sell timeshare, they are confidence tricksters who will tell you anything to get you to part with your cash. Be warned they are extremely good liars!!
Lynda
Hi Linda,
We have also been duped by this company and unfortunately did not see this website early enough. They insisted they were Diamond Resorts, who we are already very happy members of. They said we were being offered this because of being good members and paying our fees on time.
We have contacted our credit card company who are prepared to try and get our money back for us. Did you manage to get a refund through your credit card company?
Today I have been cold-called by ‘Resorts Direct’. Their pitch is exactly the same as a cold call from The Gift Company around a year ago. They purport to handle ‘marketing’ for RCI. I challenged this and sent the cold-caller – ‘Rob’ – on his slimy way.
I have in the past made enquiries of, and have been unequivocably told by, RCI that they do not under any circumstances, farm out any of their marketing, advertising etc. so if anybody tells you otherwise, it’s likely to be complete bullshit and a scam.
What Resorts Direct and similar/related companies effectively want you to do is to pay to take a holiday at a destination of their choice, at a time of their choice and then to sit through a painful day (part of the terms and conditions of their contract, which is always delivered after you’ve parted with your hard earned readies) of timeshare sales pitch, delivered by something you’d ordinarily wipe off the bottom of your shoe. Do I make myself clear?!!
I was called yesterday, 4/5/12, by Trudie, from Direct Resort International. She said as I had been paying membership with RCI for 22 years I was entitled to 3 bonus weeks for £398.00. I said I couldn’t afford it so she said I could pay a deposit as these bonus weeks were about to expire and I wouldn’t be offered them again for another 8 – 10 years!! I said I would speak to my husband as I though that would get rid of her, but she got her manager to speak to me and again she said that they were about to expire. . I also said how did I know that they wern’t conning me, they were both very convincing saying that they were genuine and wanted to offer me these weeks before they expired. Trudie called me back today and is going to call back on Bank Holiday Monday, I know what I’m going to say to her now !!
Karen
I have been phoned by someone called Kathleen claiming to be the head office of RCI offfering 2 weeks platinum for world wide holidays £395 the 2 weeks can be taken outside europe together or if taken in Europe thy must be used as 2 seperate weeks. I said I would need to speak to my husband first, Kathleen then said hold on I need to speak to my manager, Kathleen then came back to me and said you can also have a 5 day 4 night European city break plus return fight all you will need to pay for is £69 included as a special. I said I still need to speak with my husband as I did not feel I was trusting her. Kathleen is very provasive and said she would call back the next day.
Kathleen has now phoned me twice today I have told her I still need to speak with my husband and asked for the web site to look at the holidays Kathleen gave http://www.resortdirect.co.uk I have had a quick look at this site and decided to google resortsdirect which has lead me to this site. I now know RESORTSDIRECT ARE A MONEY CHEATING SCAM, When Kathleen rings me back for my answer I am going to ask her for this to be emailed so we can get closer to these cheating scams The number I was called from was 01268522458
Regards to all that this may help to not being scamed
Tina
THank you for leaving the telephone number you were contacted on as I used and actually got to speak to someone
We were contacted by this group stating that they were part of Anfi Del Mar Group (maintainance division) and tried to sell us 2 red weeks over 3 years for £396 that they had spare and since we were good customers and had spent a lot of money on maintainance over the previous few years we qualified for this offer. Upon questioning it became obvious that they were not part of Anfi Del Mar group as we deal with them on a regular basis, we told them no “thank you”. What we did ask for, was to have the offer emailed to us. it was then clear who was behind offer / scam.
We were contacted by Resorts Direct on 3 November 2011 and because the offer of ‘decent’ centres/hotels, we paid them £396:00 We have had confirmation of this by letter and given a client number. There were 3 attachments to the e-mail received after I had complained about the wrong sum of money – they wanted £497:00. Apologies by e-mail.The 3 attachments were Confirmation of monies paid;Activation Form;Easy Consulting Terms. The e-mail was from gina@easyconsultingsl.co.uk.
Do you think this is a scam??? Am I a fool to have accepted the first approach by telephone.
Where did they get my ‘phone No. from.
Your comments would be appreciated.
Mike
We have recently been contacted by is company giving the impression that they were from RCI Timeshare with whom I held a timeshare villa for 15 years. I sold my timeshare 10 years ago but continued my membership with RCI as I book cruises through them.
Resorts direct cold called me and convinced me they were RCI and because I had been a loyal customer for 25. Years I was one of 100 people who had been awarded a Red Band award this was two weeks holiday where I could take my whole family or I could give it away, it was valued for 3 years at a cost of £298.
They were so convincing that I agreed to it because my husband has not been well I thought we Have a couple of separate weeks in the uk.
I am fuming at the fact of being conned I am a 65 year old ex manager and don ‘t do rash things but they knew so much about us that I felt it must be genuine, they then promised to send confirmation and a brochure to chose from which has not arrived. That evening I received an Email of confirmation to say they had taken my money, noting that it was not RCI I went to the web to look up Resorts Direct only to see that they are a scam timeshare.
I have emailed to cancel they rang and told me I can’t cancel but they offered a cruise from Barbados but I would have to pay the difference now can’t get contact.
Feel such a fool to have been taken in, I have over many years refused calls offering extra weeks but this company had every detail and I have been completely conned
I too was contacted and lulled into believing they were from RCI head office. When they were unable to give me my membership number nor knew where I had taken holidays, claiming that it was ‘data protection’ alarm bells rang. They were very convincing. RCI stated clearly when I spoke to them that if they called a member they would have all the relevant information about the customer and would give it in order to prove their identity. Resor ts direct knew how long I had had my time share and my e mail address although RCI state that they do not sell on information.