UK: 13 holiday club “marketing companies” have been closed down
Some 13 holiday club “marketing companies” trading under the title of The Travel Association have been closed down by the Department of Trade and Industry after apparently ripping off customers for more than £1 million.
According to a report in today’s Daily Express, hundreds of people around the country paid as much as £3,800 to “join” the organisation, which made promises of cheap flights, accommodation and package deals.
But the DTI found that the savings promised generally failed to materialise – and that customers had faced high-pressure sales techniques and many difficulties when trying to lodge complaints with the company. The DTI applied to close all the companies, which traded under the names Vacations Direct or Holidays Direct, and yesterday a High Court judge ruled that they should be liquidated.
A spokesman for the Consumers’ Association told the newspaper: “We believe holiday clubs are generally to be avoided. Even if the company doesn’t disappear with the money, what you are promised is often very different to what you get.”
