Within journalism there is freedom of speech, but we still have to be cautious when claiming that our business is the foremost of its kind. Here is why we believe ECC are the leaders in the field of timeshare compensation claims
European Consumer Claims is “number one”
This is a strong statement, and such statements need equally strong supporting evidence. Especially when we work in a field with powerful enemies like the cash rich timeshare industry and their paid lobby groups.
Timeshare sales businesses operated lawlessly for decades to make vast sums of money from ordinary people like you and me. Courts are finally punishing them with compensatory awards to their victims. The financial floodgates are open and the timeshare industry is in panic mode. They leave no stone unturned in their efforts to discredit and disrupt the work that claims companies are doing to achieve justice for the people cheated by high pressure sales operations on the Spanish costas, islands and elsewhere.
Timeshare funded entities know that you will research, so they sponsor multiple, pro-timeshare ‘advice’ websites designed to influence you away from claiming compensation from them.
They also forensically examine every word published by claims firms like European Consumer Claims (ECC) so that they can create what are widely considered to be nuisance complaints with bodies like the Advertising Standards Authority. Any tiny correction they obtain is then trumpeted as a ‘major victory’ in their constant, but ultimately doomed attempts to malign their legal opposition.
With adversaries as desperate as these, ECC does not make the claim of being number one lightly.
We stand by that claim.
Here are the metrics which we believe justify our doing so:
Corporate history
ECC was formed in 2016, shortly after the first ever successful timeshare compensation claim (won by Norwegian national Tove Grimsbo against Anfi Del Mar).
Up until 2016, nobody knew for certain whether any of the thousands of claims in process against European timeshare outfits would be granted or whether they would be nothing more than an expensive experiment.
Ms Grimsbo’s €40,000 compensation award victory established a vital legal precedent and opened the door for European Consumer Claims to incorporate and ethically represent other timeshare victims.
In the seven years since this judgement, reflecting the huge demand for financial justice, ECC has burgeoned to dominate the claims industry.
At the publication date of this article, seven years is the maximum time a claims firm can have been operating whilst knowing for certain that there is an achievable goal of legal success.
Awards total to date
From the company’s inception until the time of writing this article, ECC’s associated firm of lawyers, M1 Legal have secured 1247 award victories.
The total financial amount is £23.4 million. These cases are already won.
There are over 1000 further claims cases currently being processed at various stages of the relevant legal systems and they are worth a further £22.3 million.
Consistent Year-on-year increases of between 30% and 50% in ECC’s compensation victory totals give testament to the size of the untapped market, and ECC do not predict the demand slowing anytime soon.
We are unaware of any other claims firm with a claims portfolio and evidencable success history of this magnitude.
Offices and partners
ECC conducts business from a well appointed head office in Henley on Thames (UK), and has offices in both Spain and the US. We are always happy to receive visitors at our customer centres, either in person or by video call. Only genuine claims firms offer this accommodation to clients. It demonstrates that we have nothing to hide.
We work closely together with multiple legal experts in Spain and the UK such as M1, Michelmores, Mishcon De Reya and Pinder Reaux.
ECC understands that a full international spectrum of legal talent is necessary due to the multi-jurisdictional nature of timeshare operations. Due to our comprehensive cover, there is nowhere that timeshare companies can hide from ECC.
We believe that ECC’s corporate presence, including our partnerships, is both more substantial and more credible than any of our rivals.
Volume of staff
ECC currently employ a workforce (including leadership) of 173 dedicated professionals.
We are unaware of any other firm in the same space with even half as many full time staff.
The large retinue of team members allows for dedicated specialists in areas to accommodate every stage of the claim or relinquishment process.
Yes we need a high complement of personnel because we have a high volume of clients and claims to service, but it also means that we have access to a great depth of expertise and experience from every part of both the claims and timeshare industry.
Post sales departments
One major difference in client experience between retaining ECC other less experienced or trustworthy ‘competition’ is in the level of post sales care.
ECC has a Post Sales team of 16 expert administration personnel.
There are Onboarding and Documents departments, whose specific role is to help (potentially older and less technically savvy) clients with any paperwork and evidence required for the claim. In cases where paperwork is missing, the Documents team have several options to obtain records from the resorts directly via legal channels.
There is also a Pre-Legal department who assess and prepare the collated documents, and then assign each case to the relevant lawyer/firm with the most relevant experience dealing with the resort in question.
As well as online client portals for each client to check on their case progress, there is a dedicated Customer Assistance Area with 8 full time staff members to answer any queries and provide assistance by video call, phone, email or chat window. Video calls are our preferred medium as we believe communication is far more effective when you can see the person you are talking to, face to face.
Client feedback and reviews
ECC’s industry leading commitment to service and communication has earned them an exemplary reputation for customer service, reflected in all major online review sites.
5 stars (or as close as is realistically possible) is ECC’s typical rating. We don’t accept internal performance of anything less than 5 star standard.
As well as external online, written reviews, ECC encourage clients to leave video testimonies which are posted on the company website. “The concept is straightforward,” says Andrew Cooper, CEO of ECC. “When you can see the real human being giving the video testimonial, you have more opportunity to judge their authenticity than you do with a written reference. It is quite simply more credible.”
These video reviews are audited by KFP Consulting. KFP is headed up by former UK Trading Standards CEO, Leon Livermore.
KFP contact each new video reviewer to ensure that:
- They are a genuine ECC client
- Their testimony represents their genuine experience with ECC
- They have been offered no form of payment or other incentive to recommend ECC
A combination of the above
There may be rival firms that come close to ECC in certain aspects. We can think of one or two that have been operating for a similar length of time, for example.
However, we confidently assert that no other timeshare claims company comes close on more than one of the metrics listed above.
We challenge any observer to prove otherwise.
Find out for yourself
If you are stuck in a timeshare contract that you are no longer happy with, get in touch with our team to arrange a free, no-obligation consultation.
Discover for yourself what makes ECC ‘number one.’
