By JAMES GARDINER
Like many of those unexpected phone calls to your home around meal times, it sounded too good to be true.
Give up an hour of your weekend at our international holiday presentation and get free accommodation for up to two weeks at an overseas hotel of your choice.
And
for Manukau couple Balubhai and Jyostna Mistry, it did indeed prove too good to be true.
One Saturday last August, the couple attended a seminar at Holiday Marketing International's offices in central Auckland.
Impressed and excited, they signed up on the spot, agreeing to pay $18,900 for the right to a week's free holiday every second year at a Queensland Gold Coast resort.
Seven months later they are desperate to get their money back, saying HMI (NZ) did not deliver what it promised.
Even the free holiday voucher has proved worthless, they say.
The British company through which bookings had to go did not reply to faxes or emails, but sent a letter by surface post, addressed to "Auckland, Australia" which, when it finally arrived, advised them the holiday they wanted in Bali was not available on the dates they requested.
HMI's promise was of ongoing "luxurious" holidays at affordable prices, which meant rights of access to a timeshare resort at Calypso Plaza, Coolangatta.
When Mr and Mrs Mistry tried to back out of the deal two days after signing up, HMI immediately chopped $3000 off the original price and also agreed to cash in a $2500 travel voucher that was part of the package, reducing the total price to $13,400
The discount convinced the couple to stick with the company, but after making their final payment in November they spent three months trying to get HMI to produce a membership certificate showing they were actually part of the HMI Vacation Club.
Mr Mistry said his emails were ignored and staff were rude and offhand when he telephoned. At one stage one of the managers asked, "Do I know you, have we met?"
Last month, Mr Mistry wrote another letter seeking to cancel the contract on the grounds that HMI had not delivered the membership certificate.
Once again, the threat got a result. Once again HMI was prepared to offer the couple something more to keep them signed up.
They were promised a free three-week stay at "any HMI Australasian resort". The offer was contained in a letter of apology from the HMI project director, Bill Hedman, who said he had the ownership membership certificate "at hand".
Mr and Mrs Mistry wrote back on February 17 declining the offer and saying they still wanted out.
Mr Hedman responded the same day saying the purchase agreement remained in force and the membership certificate would be sent "in due course".
Since then, HMI has attempted to deliver the certificate, but the Mistrys have refused to sign for it or accept it from a courier.
Mr Hedman told the Herald Mr Mistry was "a very nice man. He just seems to be badly done to".
He said that since opening in Auckland in September 2000, HMI had run seminars for thousands of people and hundreds had signed up to buy timeshares.
He said others had had problems booking holidays with the British company and many vouchers had not been redeemed, so HMI no longer used them as its gifts.
The contract was legal, it took time to process the deed in Australia and produce the membership certificate and, having done that, HMI would not refund the Mistrys, although he would be prepared to waive the $99 fee for the free holiday voucher.
Consumers Institute chief executive David Russell said that for the past 15 years he had received frequent complaints and had investigated companies which operated in a similar manner to HMI.
"They [the Mistrys] have been caught by a classic timeshare promotion which may or may not be misleading under the Fair Trading Act," Mr Russell said.
"They may have the opportunity of getting out, rescinding the contract, if essential promises were made to them and not fulfilled."
Mr Russell said many people were looking to sell out of timeshares.
People interested in such schemes could get a deal on a secondary market and save up to two-thirds of the prices being quoted at seminars.
* james_gardiner@nzherald.co.nz
By JAMES GARDINER
Like many of those unexpected phone calls to your home around meal times, it sounded too good to be true.
Give up an hour of your weekend at our international holiday presentation and get free accommodation for up to two weeks at an overseas hotel of your choice.
And
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