Time-share companies operating in Singapore

To:  Consumers Association of Singapore, Singapore Tourism Board, The Straits Times Forum

To: Mr Yeo Guat Kwang
President
Consumers Association of Singapore
170 Ghim Moh Road
Ulu Pandan Community Building #05-01
Singapore 279621

Cc: Mr Lim Neo Chian
Chief Executive
Singapore Tourism Board
Tourism Court 1, Orchard Spring Lane
Singapore 255729

Cc: Mr Kong Soon Wah
Forum Editor
The Straits Times
1000 Toa Payoh North News Centre
Singapore 318994
Fax: 6319-8289

Date: 16 Feb 2004

Dear Sirs,

Re. Time-share companies operating in Singapore

We are a group of 299 individuals who have been the victims of the unscrupulous time-share companies named below.

These companies would reel in prospective customers with promises of expensive prizes, conditional upon these customers attending short presentations at their offices. The presentations, initially promised to last about 45 minutes, often drag on for hours. Indeed, a few have been known to last well beyond midnight.

During these presentations, the following claims were often made to prospective buyers of the schemes:

a. the products sold had nothing to do with time-share, and were not associated with any time-share schemes;

b. buyers would be entitled to substantial discounts on airfares, and other travel products;

c. buyers would be entitled to first-class service from the companies;

d. the products would entitle buyers to 4- or 5-star accommodation;

e. the products would be excellent investments as they could easily be sold at a profit in the future.

Once the agreements were signed, however, we discovered many of the representations to be untruthful.

Because the accommodation sold was said to be "subject to availability", a number of us have found ourselves unable to book such accommodation. Some of the resorts advertised in the marketing material of these companies have also denied any affiliation with these companies.

Many of us also found that the same product was being sold at different prices, ranging from S$2,000 to S$15,000. Apparently, prices had been pegged according to what each buyer could bear.

Those of us who wanted to terminate the agreements, upon discovering these misrepresentations, were often pressured into continuing with the agreements by the companies involved.

The surprisingly large number of people who have reported the aforesaid suggests that these companies are not acting randomly or in a manner which is accidental. The systematic approach and similarities in the methods which these companies have adopted suggest that their actions have been undertaken with much calculation and purpose.

Because these companies often target tourists as well, we believe the existence and practices of these companies are detrimental not only to consumers in Singapore, but also to the tourist trade in this country. Allowing these companies to continue operating as they do, in the manner that they do, sends out the wrong message not only to consumers and businesses here, but to visitors to Singapore as well.

In addition to the Consumers' Association of Singapore and the Singapore Tourism Board, we are writing in to the editor of the forum page in the Straits Times, because we wish to remind the general public to be wary of the practices we have described. We hope that in becoming more aware of these practices, others might avoid the experiences of the signatories to this letter.

Finally, we would like to make clear that our aim is not to discredit the whole of the time-share industry. We wish only to make known the unethical, and unfortunately highly common, methods of those companies listed below.


Name and address of company:
1.Emperor Resorts International Pte Ltd
402, Orchard Road, #06-01, Delphi Orchard
Singapore 238876
No. of complainants: 100
Managing Director: Mr. Danny Liew Heap Hwa
(other shareholders: Mr. Cheang Kam Hon, Mr. Lee Lik Hon and Mr. Chng Guay Yan)

2. Leisure Group Marketing
391B Orchard Road #16-01 Tower B Ngee Ann City
Singapore 238874
No. of complainants: 97
Managing Director: Mr. Stephen Tornros (Sweden)

3. Interval Resorts Network Pte Ltd
230, Orchard Road, #08-230 Faber House,
Singapore 238854
No. of complainants: 75
Managers: Mr. Roy Daniel (Singapore)
Mr. Simon Cook (UK)

4.Oriental Travel Pte Ltd
501 Orchard Road,
05-13/14 Wheelock Place,
Singapore 238880
No. of complainants: 20
Manager: Mr. Steve Gabriel

5.Universal Privilege Pte Ltd
360, Orchard Road, #04-03/03A
International Building Singapore 238869
No. of complainants: 7
Manager: Mr. Cheang Kam Hon

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Time-share companies operating in Singapore Petition to Consumers Association of Singapore, Singapore Tourism Board, The Straits Times Forum was created by Timeshare Victims Support Group and written by Pauline Lue.  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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