Following widely reported abuse and mis-selling accusations, unfairly treated holiday park consumers are turning to leading international consumer claims firm European Consumer Claims (ECC) for justice
131 year history
In 1894, Joseph Cunningham opened the very first UK holiday park in the Isle of Man. ‘Cunningham’s Young Men’s Holiday Camp‘ was the original site which pioneered an era of affordable, holiday accommodation parks. By 1950, a post-war surge in vacation popularity meant that these parks had spread around the country. Demand only began to decline in the 1970s, with the advent of affordable foreign travel. Many holidaymakers preferring to jet to a sunny Costa than roll the dice on the clouds parting for a few days at Cleethorpes.
In recent years, Brexit; a fall in the value of the pound; COVID; and terrorist attacks in locations like Paris, Nice, Brussels and the ill fated Tunisian beach have all helped drive a revival in demand for vacations in UK destinations.
Back with style
Gone are the days of knobbly knees competitions and tannoys waking park residents for enforced jollity. The holiday parks of the 21st century are a very different proposition, often boasting high quality static homes or chalets. They nestle in stunning locations and cater to the whole family for dining and activities. Industry pioneer Centre Parcs, and subsequently others such as Hoseasons and Forest Holidays banished cries of “hi de hi” to the annals of history.
It was and is possible to rent units by the week, like hotel or holiday apartment. But the current trend is for people to buy a little slice of holiday park heaven for themselves. Slick sales operations have sprung up all over the UK employing, in many cases, ex timeshare staff to convince customers to part with tens, or even hundreds of thousands of pounds to own their very own holiday property
And that is where the current slew of problems began.
Years of consumer abuse
High demand attracts greed, and despite the clearly buoyant market for holiday park ownership, sellers have been inventively hunting for ways to squeeze even more money from their client pool.
There have been no shortage of media reports, especially in the last few months, detailing ‘underhand and unfair’ behaviour from these sales operations. Owners are reporting multiple complaints: including massive depreciation in value over short periods of time; unfair fees and costs; high pressure sales; misleading promises about being able to live full time in the units; unreasonable rules and commissions around resales; and mandatory (expensive) upgrades.
Former owners have been disappointed by overcrowded sites; poor maintenance; health and safety issues; antisocial behaviour and noise. The list goes on.
The fight back
People have banded together in support of one another over the last 10 years. Facebook groups have been formed. Websites and even companies have been registered for victims seeking a way to seek redress from the rogue holiday park sales operations.
Some of these groups have done a great deal of good in that they have raised national awareness of the issues. Media is paying attention and at least one legal action has been commenced in an attempt to bring the rogue companies to heel.
Unfortunately there is a lot of conflicting and incorrect information being circulated.
“One very popular misconception doing the rounds at the moment is that no claims can go ahead until one legal action or another has been concluded,” notes Greg Wilson, European Consumer Claims (ECC) director and consumer expert. “This is demonstrably untrue. Apart from anything else, it would mean that hundreds of thousands of people for whom that type of action was not suitable would be unable to claim, or at least be dependent on the actions of legal counsel they had not retained.”
“The truth is, anyone can claim at any time. They can claim individually, or they could even start their own group action with their own choice of representation if they feel so inclined.”
“This is like the work being done to find a cure for a disease,” explains Greg. “You don’t just explore one angle. Multiple experts need to attack the problem from multiple directions until a solution is achieved. Even then you still keep working for a better one.”
So what’s the course of action for you?
It is no surprise if you are confused.
The main factors to keep in mind are
- Never do business with a company who has cold called you
- Check the public reviews on places like TrustPilot of a company you are considering retaining
- Have the firm published video testimonials from satisfied clients? Do those videos seem credible?
- Have they been in business for a long time?
- Do they have a payment structure that suits you?
- Do they have a successful, proven track record of completing consumer claims?
Here at European Consumer Claims we are happy to give you expert, obligation-free advice about your options. ECC only can only take the very strongest cases, and are happy to tell you if you would be better off exploring other avenues for justice.
