Luckily I have managed to get my hard earned money back and just want to use this as a tool to warn others that may not have such a fortunate outcome as me.
I ended up geting scammed on the Costa del Sol back in 2005 and fell victim to a very convincing cashback scam with a company called the Incentive Leisure Group who are actually trading out of Gibraltar.
They sell a product of basically free to use internet holiday options that one can (I have since discovered) easily gain acces to for free on the web.
I paid £11,00 for a memebrship of their Designer Way Vacation Club and that's how the nightmare began.
They promised and guaranteed:
- I would get my joining fee back through their cashback scheme in 51 months
- Get the cheapest flights possible
- Gain access to 5 star resorts for £76 - £327 a holiday
- Get into exclusive hotels for as little as £15.00 a night
- Have the right to get car hire at minimum trade cost
None of this materialised, in fact the cashback company went bust! they're saying a director caleld Tony Larvin ran off with all the money and also that the bank went bust?
The web is full of stories about this lot, and I want to spread the word to warn others.
I ended up using several resources. One, in particular was very good and I also discovered some very useful resources, which I am happy to share with other victims.
A DIY guide called www.getmymoneyback.info which shows you all the loopholes, not sure if their site is still showing under maintnenance as I got an email from them saying they were pulling their original guide and re-writing it due to changes in legislation
The timeshare council http://www.timeshare.org.uk/whatis.html who offer a raft of free advice and a very good warning about the dangers of holiday clubs
And timeshare talk, where you can view forums of other countless victims http://www.timesharetalk.co.uk/forum/ttportal.asp
The owner of Incentive Leisure is a conman called Garry Leigh who is now featured heavily within the daily mirror
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2005/04/selective-memory-from-garry-le.html
They are now using a new cashback called reclaim, looks just like the one I fell for!
There was also a good site called crimeshare but I think the industry bigwigs closed it. Shame as it was brimming with insider info
