A new cold caller has been brought to our attention with the name of Holiday Marketing Solutions.
This company HMS cold calls timeshare consumers and notifies them they have buyers waiting to purchase their membership. And not only a buyer waiting, they are also prepared to pay a large sum of money for this membership, amounts that almost sound like double the timeshare owner would have expected!
In order to process this great chance of a sale, Holiday Marketing Solutions does request a security fee. A fee of £1255 has to be paid up front.
Question is if they maybe haven’t heard from the Timeshare Directive where all upfront fees for timeshare resale’s were banned, or maybe because they have an address in Switzerland this rule does not apply to them?
Fact is though that a cold caller asking for fees upfront is not really on top of the trustworthy companies.
The website from Holiday Marketing Solutions www.holidaymarketingsolutions.net was registered on the 23rd of April this year. As they explain they started their business in January and when they started to get busy they launched the website in April.
The address quoted on the web is: Holiday Marketing Solutions Sales Centre, Hardstrasse, 33, Pratteln 4133, Basel, Switzerland
Telephone : 0845 527 0673 and E-mail: info@holidaymarketingsolutions.net
We certainly recommend caution when dealing with this company and do not recommend paying the upfront fee!
Have you been called by Holiday Marketing Solutions or HMS from 08455270673 in Switzerland? Please let us know by email to customercare@mindtimeshare.com or place a comment on the blog.
Mindtimeshare 
AS ANY ONE HAD THEIR MONEY BACK PLEASE LET ME KNOW
HI. I AM CURRENTLY IN THE SAME SITUATION WITH HMS. THEY TOLD ME THAT THE SALE OF MY CLUB LA COSTA POINTS WOULD COMPLETE ON THE 12TH NOVEMBER. I PREVIOUSLY PAID THEM A SUM OF MONEY FOR THE ‘GUARANTEE’. I HAVE SENT NUMEROUS E MAILS AND TRIED TO CONTACT THEM BY TELEPHONE WITH NO LUCK. HAS ANYONE BEEN ABLE TO CONTACT THEM RECENTLY?
I am going to phone them at 4pm.
i have call my bank tand they are looking into this i am also going to call dan at elite marketing at 5pm.
will let you know what they say.
elaine
DID YOU MANAGE TO SPEAK TO SARA AT HMS OR ANYONE AT ELITE?
I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CONTACT HMS FOR A WEEK AND I CAN’T GET HOLD OF ANYONE. THINK THEY HAVE DISAPPEARED.
IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO HAS ACTUALLY HAD ANY SUCCESS WITH THIS COMPANY
Hi Pauline,
No i did notget to talk to any one the phone just ring ans says leave a message and we know they
are not going to call us back.
Need to think of other ways to contact them to find out where they really are. are they where they say they are ???????
DOES ANY ONE KNOW.
HOW DID YOU GET ON WITH YOUR BANKERS REGARDING THE RETURN OF YOUR MONEY?
I THINK THEY HAVE CLOSED DOWN. WE ARE CONTACT CLUB LA COSTA AND GIVING THEIR NAMES TO THEM ALSO. PAUL WAINWRIGHT ACTUALLY SAID HE HAD WORKED FOR THEM
Brian – had an identicial experience to you although I pulled out before the Benidorm trip. Even the names of the individuals are identical as is the timing for my proposed initial transaction to mysteriously fall through. A pretty low-rent fraudulent scheme run by some unsophisticated individuals who believe that 0845 numbers and foreign addresses make them invisible…..not so however.
I have had the same experience as you have had. I was contacted by Sara the sale fell through and then i was contacted by Elite Marketing by a man called Dan who wanted me to go over to Benidorm. I was stupid because i gave them an upfront fee 980 pounds off my credit card. Dan rang me this afternoon and i told him where to get off. I have been in touch with my bank and they told me the holding account is in the UK. Gee Building materials Gainsbrough. i have never heard of them. All this has made me feel sick. Hoping to get my monies back will let you know how i get on.
Hi I have just got back from Benidorm i have had the same experiance ,
i can not contact Elite marketing untill 5pm .
I will be calling Sara at 4pm .
I was told that thay had a buyer for my timeshare.
but when i met up with then at the hotel thay said they would show me how to get out of my timeshare with i would have to pay them £10,0000.
the thing their where a few elderly people who looked like thay where in their late 70 how can they do this to people and get away with this there must be something we can all do together??
Did you get your money back please let me know
Elaine.
After filling in a form on Internet to sell my timeshares, I was contacted by Holiday Marketing Solutions, HMS, who said they had a buyer. If I agreed to the price and sale, I would have to sign a sales agreement, the buyer would deposit the agreed selling price in my bank and when I confirmed with HMS that that had been done, they would send a courier for the deeds. All information was forwarded to me in writing, including the procedure and agreed price. Before the procedure was started, I would have to pay a returnable deposit to HMS, by credit card etc, (£1,209) to ensure that I would send the deeds once I had received the selling price in my bank. The deposit would be placed in a holding account in Cyprus, which HMS could not access, and would be returned to me when they received the deeds. The procedure would take around 8 weeks. I paid the deposit. During the next 8 weeks, Sara, (HMS admin) rang a number of times and assured me that the sale was going ahead and would be completed on time. At around the 8 week point, Sara rang and said the buyer had decided not to go ahead, but she would attempt to find another buyer, and my deposit would be safe in the holding account. She later rang and passed me on to Dan of the Elite Marketing Group, EMG,, who said he had a Corporate buyer and gave me a price. If I agreed, he would send a sales agreement for me to sign, which would include the selling price and procedure of sale. I would have to travel to meet the buyer in Benidorm, where he would check the deeds, confirm my ownership and contact the timeshare resort to confirm there was no outstanding debt or maintenance fees due. The sales agreement would be signed, (hence the need for my presence) and selling price forwarded to me within weeks. Dan would arrange the meeting, flights to Benidorm and Hotel accommodation, all at my expence, which would be returned with the price on completion of the sale. On arrival at the meeting in a hotel in Bedorm I met Ian from The Deed Transfer Company, who said he knew nothing of the sale and was there to arrange the transfer of the Timeshare ownership from me to his Corporate Client. This would cost me £5,525 with £1,686 up front and the balance to be paid to him within two weeks. Although I would receive nothing for the Timeshare, I could recoup some of my investment by buying into a Reliance Trust scheme for £5,186, which should, if the shares increase over the next 8 years, produce a sum of around £25,000. The Timeshare transfer was fully documented in a legally binding agreement, which I would have to sign. On return to the UK, I informed HMS of the fraudulent trip, they said they would attempt to find another buyer, but I said I wanted my deposit back. I also informed EMG and requested refund of my travel expenses. I have also sent written requests by registered mail to both companies with a 14 day reply period, which has passed with no replies. I will also attempt to get the £1,209 deposit back through Visa with not too much hope. So, if any Timeshare owner is contacted by these companies beware and be warned by my experience and on no account hand over any money , sign andy agreements or agree to travel to Spain. Hope this is of value and stop anyone else being scammed.
Thankyou! Exactly the same has happened to me! I’m just about to tell EMG where they can shove it!!! I’m certainly not going to travel to Benidorm! BUT I still need to get my money back from the holding account (UK based) which HMS dealt with..I will endeavour to do so through the bank (who I informed straight away the minute I became suspicious – several weeks back) …….. will let you know how I get on …
Hi ALI,
he same has happened to me.
i am on the phone to my bank barclays.
has anyone els paid from their barclays account please let me know or any other bank and we can help the banks to get our money back.
I have had the same experiance has you have you add any Luck with getting yor money back .
could we not do something all together to get our money back from them .
please reply back to me with a rely
Elaine – I have just this week had a call from the bank to say they couldn’t get my money back as the transaction didn’t come under the Consumer Credit Act (even though I was assured it did!) because the money was paid to a different name than was on the contract eg – HMS use a holding account that has nothing to do with timeshare. Apparently if you pay for stuff through PayPal the same rule applies as you are not paying the company directly!!!! So BEWARE!
Anyway, as a gesture of goodwill my bank agreed to refund half of the payment to my credit card and reimburse me all the interest that had been accruing on the transaction (since Oct 2012). Don’t know if Mindtimeshare can help any further??
hi just wanna say how happy i am that i spoke to the bank who helped and said it was sure its a scam thank goodness i listened geoff harley i think offered me a good deal with a couple from norway then all the moneys and visa and i ban no were mentioned didnt have a clue what he was on about i said i dont have a credit card rang back latter said visa would do something still didnt understand then sara rings offerring me some deal yet again didnt understand thank goodness i read this postings
YES ! like a fool I have been sc***** by HMS, and I WAS conned out of 1390 pounds by this company, and one has to understand, the older you get, you are supposed to get wiser ! NO, in my case, I let my guard down, and have not heard from them since. Can anyone tell me if credit card charge can be reversed, since the money went to an account for a legal firm in CYPRUS.
KYRIAKIDES CHARALAMBOS,LARNACA,CYPRUS
The other thing is, they send you BOGUS contracts, and give you a scenario about the time it takes, and then the women called SARA and a guy called Paul Wainright, send you a process of the events which will take place to seal the deal so to speak, but then they go off air as soon as they get your money. Knowing is one thing, but trying to sell a timeshare, is sometimes a nightmare which people tend to get desperate, and use any methods to dispose of the timeshare. Hence my foolish behaviour.
Any useful advice to expose these scammers, and get them off the web, along with Trading standards investigation would be helpful, not only to me, but thousands out here who have been sc*****.
HI ,
I HAVE ALSO BEEN CO**** BY THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY.
AS ANY ONE GOT THEIR MONEY BACK
I have just checked several companies like yourselves regarding Holiday Marketing solutions.
I have been in conversation with a lady there who has set up a buyer for my timeshare but has now asked that I pay £1251 in a holding bank. I feel very wary and most sites say no money should be paid up front. I am now wondering what I should do.
has anyone received cold call from comoviajar@mail.com want to buy lifestyle holiday ltd [Voyager] in Gran Canaria.
Also want upfront fee first
Regards
Shirley
I was contacted by HMS and we have agreed on certain amount of money but i was asked to mąkę default guarantee deposit of 1:321 pounds.Can you Tell me if it is safe to make such deposit
Hi,
Thank you for your message.
It is certainly not recommended to pay an upfront fee for a supposed resale, apart from the fact that this goes against the law.
We will send you more information by email, but please don’t pay the fee upfront.
Kind regards
Customer Care
DO NOT GIIVE THEM ANY MONEY I HAVE JUST BEEN RIP*** OFF BY THIS COMPANY
tHIS COMPANY IS A SC**. BEWARE
Hi Brenda,
I Just got back from Benidorm AND IT IS A SCAM.
I agree DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY MONEY OR GO TO BENIDORM.
THEY WANT YOU TO GIVE THEM MONEY TO GET YOU OUT OD TIMESHSARE
they asked me for £10,0000.
Brenda could you let me know if you have got any money back and what you are doing obout this i will help in any way i can.
and I thig we should all get together and help each other to get all of OUR MONEY BACK
FROM THESE PEOPLE.
I canot say what i want to really call these people
Hi Elaine
Yes i did get my money back evenutally from the TSB Bank. it was for 980.00
but the whole process made me feel sick. I would never pay upfront for anything ever again. I don’t know how these people sleep at night. I hope that it worked out for you and you got your money back.
I too was in contact with this company(they phoned me nightly for nearly three weeks) who informed me that they had a buyer for my timeshare I was dealing with two different people a Paul and a Geoff.They requested a security deposit of £1259.00 and when I asked for details regarding the security deposit by email I never heard from them again obviously they did not have a buyer,I would never pay any money upfront for any reason.I also believe this company is working out of the UK with a swiss adress and they also only open for business in the afternoon which I found a bit strange.I reckon once they had got the deposit it would never be seen again.
Dear Majella,
Many thanks for your message.
Luckily you didn’t pay them, and you assume right that you wouldn’t have heard from them again, as happens so many times in cases like this.
Kind regards
Customer Care
I would say DO NOT DEAL WITH HMS they say they have a buyer who has paid a deposit, initially they say no up front fees but when you accept the offer they then ask for a Default security deposit of (in my case £1268) which must be paid by credit or debit card (NOTE if you authorise this on your debit card you will not be covered for fraud). I have been lucky in that I got suspicious immediately and contacted my bank BARCLAYS who have been brilliant and not allowed the money to leave my account. I sent them all the information I could. At no point are you given details of the so called buyer so you can verify the sale and the CONTRACT that comes says HMS are not responsible for anything at any time with anyone as they are only agents and if the “BUYER” backs out by signing you are giving them permission to continue to market the timeshare on your behalf for whatever amount of time. They initially say completion within 6-8 wks but in the contract they do not guarantee any completion date or time span. They have your money by this time. PLEASE FOR YOUR OWN SAKE DO NOT DEAL WITH THEM.