ITRA the International Timeshare Refund Action is indeed not a company that inspires a lot of trust to us. We have reported this many times on this blog through our articles. An opinion you also see through the comments and testimonials from consumers who attended the meetings and explain the way of working from ITRA and the real intention of their meetings.

Timeshare owners attending the meetings from ITRA in the UK, Spain or Portugal have often mentioned that they were met at the meeting by the “lawyers” or “legal advisers” from ITRA. And more than once these timeshare owners seemed to be under the impression that they were talking to a kind of “independent” person who was purely giving straight, honest and genuine advice.

Advice that often is taken on board due to this impression of speaking to a legal person instead of a sales rep who is purely looking for his commission.

It has been brought to our attention though that one of these “advisors” at the meetings in the UK (Bournemouth) is actually somebody with a well known name in Timeshare.

The person giving this “honest advice” at the ITRA meeting is Peter Francis Madden, aka Frank Madden.

Picture source Bournemouth Echo

The Timeshare career of Frank Madden goes a long way back to 2001 when he was the man in charge for Gold Quest Marketing and many other companies afterwards such as Timeshare World, Ventura1, Ujustgo, Quality Vacations, Prestige Marketing, Discovery Concepts, Price my timeshare, etc. etc.

A long list of bogus companies, who were all supposedly selling people’s timeshare, selling discount holiday clubs and promising the moon to those who were willing to pay upfront fees and thousands of pounds for worthless memberships in dubious discount clubs. All companies investigated by the police and Trading Standards.

Have a look at the article posted by the BBC regarding the company Gold Quest and the victims of this dubious set up:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/south/series9/week_nine.shtml

We also found a mention about the OFT who obtained undertakings in 2004 from Discovery Concepts Ltd, and its director Frank Madden, under the Control of Misleading Advertising Regulations 1988. And it seems that according to some sources, he was been banned as a director until 2012.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1515193/Free-holiday-that-wasnt.html

If you put into Google the name Frank Madden Timeshare you get over 10.000 matches! So sure he is known and looking through the numerous matches, there doesn’t seem to be one with positive mentions about him.

Have a look at more links found on the internet about Frank Madden:

Frank Madden holiday scam victim feels an ‘utter fool’ http://oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/consumer-regulations/traders/3453/1/Outcome1/3791.pdf

BBC News – Hotweeks boss Frank Madden given suspended sentence http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-19368604

Timeshare director prosecuted: http://bop.4t2portfolio.co.uk/culture_community_learning/news/www.boroughofpoole.com/ref:101/

Looking at this person’s background and the fact that he has left many many victims behind, it is questionable how he can now be working for a company such as ITRA and claiming to be helping people to fight against the “Timeshare Industry”

So the people who are now actively trying to get these so called Class Actions against the Timeshare Industry are in reality those who have been for years working in this one and same industry but on the dark side where consumers where cheated over and over again.

Those who in reality have given the Timeshare Industry the bad name with their dubious activities!

This is the kind of staff ITRA has in it’s offices and in who’s hands they place the consumer, the innocent consumer who attends a meeting thinking it is a No Win No Fee and purely to help them…

Welcome to ITRA, meet Frank Madden…your advisor for the day!