RDO Chairman outlines priorities for 2010

RDO Chairman

A greater emphasis on protecting consumers and providing them with more information about timeshare will be the focus for the Resort Development Organisation (RDO) this year, as outlined by the organisation’s Chairman Richard McIntosh.

“Safeguarding consumers’ interests is our top priority,” said McIntosh, “and the work of RDO’s Enforcement team is more important than ever, as we face an increasing number of cases of owners being targeted by fraudulent companies which are making them part with more money.”

“That’s why we are launching a campaign to gather evidence of these cases of fraud, and we are asking our members to help us reach as many timeshare owners as possible,” he added. “It is important that the industry works together to achieve maximum impact.”



RDO urges suspected victims of fraud to come forward

RDO is asking consumers throughout Europe who think they may have been targeted by supposed class action schemes and fraudulent resale and holiday club operators to come forward and help the Enforcement team gather evidence to present a strong case to the police.

As part of RDO’s renewed drive to protect the consumer, the Enforcement team will be putting together a database with detailed information of all cases of suspected fraud, which will be presented to the authorities to help in their fight against crime. The evidence collection phase will last from now until June.



Consumer complaints continue to fall year on year

The number of consumer complaints received against RDO members has nearly halved during 2009, compared to the previous year. A mere 50 complaints against RDO members were received in 2009, with 93% of them resolved promptly and satisfactorily.



Work continues to meet deadline for EU Directive implementation

More than a year on since the European Parliament and Council of Ministers signed off the new EU Timeshare Directive, RDO is still waiting for drafts of how the new law will look in each member state. Most countries are working on drafts which should be published shortly.