The 2010 AGM will be held at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, Surrey on Saturday 16th October 2010. The Hotel is easily accessible from the A3 and reservations can be made or further information can be obtained via their website www.holidayinn.com
Further details about the AGM will follow in due course.

Holiday Inn
Egerton Road
Guildford
GU2 7XZ
England

Pearly Grey has now installed an additional TV channel on our network of available channels for you to view in your apartments.
Channel 22 will be live 24/7 and is an information channel showing RCI promotional info, Tenerife Tourism info and video testimonials from Pearly Grey Owners.

We hope you enjoy this new channel and find the information useful.

Regards,
PG Management.

RDO’s Enforcement team in Spain confirmed that five companies have been recently closed down by the Spanish authorities on the Costa del Sol, on suspicion of fraudulent activities related to timeshare.

The companies closed include First Legal Services, a class action company operating from Estepona, and Multisur, a resale company operating from Fuengirola, where five people were arrested. This company had been approaching timeshare owners with an offer from a potential buyer, demanding up-front payment to carry out the supposed sale, which never materialised.

Also raided were Iberia Market & Trade, a resale company operating from Mijas, and two of its associated companies: Pasaporte Ltd and Vicmar Cabopino.

For more information on related stories please visit the RDO Website

We will be closing the children’s pool to install anti slip tiles during weeks 47 + 48.
THERE WILL STILL BE ACCESS TO THE CHILDREN’S PLAY PARK, BUT NOT THE POOL.

Thank you.

Geoff & Alison Vine

Congratulations to Geoff & Alison, who have won a free one week stay at Pearly Grey!

Geoff & Alison filled in one of our questionnaire forms at the end of their last stay, and were randomly chosen from all of the questionnaires received during that 3 month period to win a free holiday!

Previous winners of this contest are:
Peter Hodgson
Patrick & Agnes Walsh
Joyce Meakin
Kevin and Lynda Wendt
Brian De Moulpied and Jacqueline Wales

Make sure you fill in a questionnaire during your next trip, and you can have a chance at a free week at Pearly Grey!

Bogus holiday clubs warning

An ex-police inspector is leading a project organised by RDO (Resort Development Organisation) to warn consumers about the dangers of bogus discount travel membership clubs - more commonly known as holiday clubs - and fraudulent resale companies.

The project aims to draw attention to unscrupulous companies that deliberately deceive consumers and pressurise them into signing up to membership of a holiday club or a resale scheme.

Holiday clubs promise a lifetime of discounted luxury holidays at hundreds of locations around the world. Having paid a fee of between £3,000 and £25,000 to become a club member, many customers find that the reality does not live up to the promises made during the sales presentation and they have merely bought access to a bookings service such as a website or even just a telephone number.

Unscrupulous clubs often only provide last-minute, limited availability accommodation that is usually low-star rather than luxury in standard. As well as the membership fee, each holiday taken has to be paid for and by the time a club member tries to book a holiday, the company could even be out of business.

Holiday clubs are not covered by the European Timeshare Directive. This means that, unlike timeshare, there are no automatic cancellation rights for those who change their mind. Bogus holiday clubs exploit this by employing high-pressure sales techniques such as long presentations – lasting up to six hours – to get customers to sign a binding contract.

Bogus resale companies operate by demanding a fee of up to £1,000 before undertaking to sell an owner’s timeshare. Many make contact through a ‘cold call’ and, to persuade the owner to pay the fee, claim that a buyer has already been located. On receipt of the payment, however, the sale falls through and the company refuses to return the money. In an increasing number of cases, the seller is instead invited to a presentation and is pressurised into signing up to a holiday club that they had no intention of buying into.

Members of the public should be aware that the majority of companies making such offers are not legitimate, can cause financial detriment and, in some cases, can result in the loss of an owner’s membership week(s).

RDO’s chairman, Richard McIntosh comments “We strongly recommend that timeshare owners do not accept offers made by companies they do not recognise. They should instead contact RDO’s Consumer Services Department on info@rdo.org to check if the company is a member of the organisation and complies with its Code of Ethics.”

More about RDO:
RDO is the pan-European trade association representing the vacation ownership industry throughout Europe. It promotes best practice in the industry for the benefit of both consumers and the industry. All members sign up to a code of ethics that ensures the protection of consumers’ rights. RDO provides information and advice to consumers and offers a free conciliation service to consumers dealing with its members.

Resort Development Organisation AISBL, formerly Organisation for Timeshare in Europe AISBL is an international non profit making association registered in Brussels with company number 0457.984.213. Its registered office is at Oak House, Cours St Michel 100/3, 1040 Brussels, Belgium www.rdo.org telephone 00 322 533 3060

We have added some new Pearly Grey owner videos, recently taken in our new refurbished bar & restaurant.
We hope you enjoy watching them!!!
Please go to http://www.pearlygrey.info/category/police-federation to view them

Pearly Grey Admin Team.

One of our owners was recently contacted by a company called Trade Card, who said they were acting on behalf of Pearly Grey. They offered the owner a discount flight and holiday card for £299 (said it was normally £499).

We have had no contact with this company and had not heard of them until today. They are most likely a scam company, because they acquired contact information for at least one of our owners illegally (remember, we will NEVER give any third party any information about you or your ownership with us without your expressed, written consent).

The companies that we know have been contacting owners to offer “bonus weeks” are:

The Gift Company
Bonus Week Breaks

There are many others, but they oftentimes do not mention their company name when calling our owners. Please advise us of any company that calls you so that we may warn the other owners.

Here is the list of scam RESALE companies that have contacted owners:

Secure Leisure
Starting Point Marketing
FH Publishing
ETOO
Dunstar Leisure and Travel
Bonus

As always, please protect yourself from these companies. No company that wants you to pay money up front for them to sell your week should be trusted - do not give them your credit card or bank account numbers.

Also, please let us know if any new company contacts you, so we can warn other owners, and remember, Pearly Grey will not EVER give your information to a third party unless requested by you in writing. Any information that these companies may have regarding your ownership or personal details were obtained by illegal means.

Please be made aware that owners have been receiving phone calls recently from people saying that they are from RCI and/or Pearly Grey and either asking for your address details “to send you a cheque.” Neither company is making this type of phone call. You should not give them any personal information. If you have any doubts about a phone call you have received, please take down the name of the person who has called you and contact us at 0161 976 6444 and we can confirm it for you.

There is also another company called The Gift Company, contacting owners, also under the guise of RCI, and offering “bonus weeks.”

Please see older posts for the names of scam resale companies and “bonus week” companies.

As always, please be careful to whom you give your information.