Maybe Singapore should ban this as well…
International December 4th, 2007
Came across this about banning stuffs in Malaysia. Apparently, there’s a scratch and win scam going around, whereby people were approached to scratch and win some stuffs, but in order to collect them, they need to buy more stuffs, usually expensive stuffs.
What I find perplexing is that people actually take loans to find these expensive stuffs just to collect the prizes, which is usually a car. Doesn’t this sound suspiciously like that happens in Singapore? Except that they don’t tell you that you’d won a car - probably something less expensive, but they want you to buy into their timeshare s*ahem*c*cough*a*ah-choo*m…
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA has banned scratch-and-win contests after thousands of people complained they were duped and did not receive the promised prizes, an official said.
The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry has made it illegal to hold such contests, said ministry Enforcement Deputy Director Iskandar Halim Sulaiman on Tuesday.
In scratch-and-win contests, consumers are given paper cards with an area coated with coloured plastic that can be scratched with a coin to reveal whether a prize has been won.
Mr Iskandar said direct sales staff often duped consumers at supermarkets or at their doorsteps with cards that showed they had won cars or other expensive items. However, to get the prizes, consumers were asked to first buy the company’s products, and in the end ‘never get the car’, Mr Iskandar said.
Almost 1,400 complaints were filed in the first 10 months of this year, with many people claiming they lost thousands of ringgit in the scams, often used by direct marketing companies, Mr Iskandar said.
Companies found illegally conducting such contests risk a fine, up to three years in prison and a loss of their business licenses, he said.
The Star newspaper quoted a 42-year-old civil servant, Ms Satilah Mahmood, as saying she lost RM27,000 (S$12,000) in a scratch-and-win scheme this year.
The home theatre system and massage chair she bought - to be eligible for more prizes - broke down within weeks, the newspaper said. It said the people who lured her with prizes moved out of their rented office.
‘My family is now saddled with debts,’ it quoted her as saying. — AP
Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 4th December 2007
About
I’ve signed a contract in 1999 with Emperor Resorts International (ERI) to purchase a holiday time share package that belongs to H.C. Asia Pacific Pty Ltd (Australia) (HCAP). After I received a lot of bad experience and feedback about time share companies, I decided to terminate my contract (S$15,800) by not paying the outstanding balance (S$9,350). In 2003, I’ve informed ERI that I want to terminate my contract by forfeiting the sum (S$6,450) I’ve already paid to them. And since then I’ve not heard from them.
Recently, I received a call from Axial Management (Singapore) who claims that they are associated with Great Eastern Trust & Asset Management Co. Ltd (London). They are also acting under the instructions of World Travel Organization to approach the members of ERI, to compensate the members. Their condition is - If I pay Axial a sum of S$17,800, World Travel Organisation will compensate me S$20,000 three years later through Axial. Great Eastern Trust will also pay me through Axial a sum of about S$30,000 for utilizing my package. Though this amount is guaranteed by Axial (in writing), I feel that there’s no 100% guarantee that Axial Management will pay up three years later or even exist after 3 years.. My most worrying concern is Axial Management may be scamming people into paying more money. Therefore I rejected Axial Management’s proposal.
Very soon, about 3 days later, I received a final warning letter from ERI asking me to settle the balance payment within 7 days, otherwise they will take legal action against me to recover the amount.
I find it very puzzling that ERI suddenly issue me a final letter after 4 years, and especially so just after I’ve rejected Axial’s offer. I suspect that both companies are related to each other with Axial claiming they want to help ERI members get out of the contract by making the members pay more. And if members rejected Axial’s proposal, ERI will threaten to sue, thereby leaving the member no choice but to take up Axial’s offer.
I hope this will prevent more people falling victim into these scams.
So, did you pay up? or …
If they are really there to help, then they should not ask us to pay more money for some empty guarantee.
I counter proposed to Axial - I can let them have my membership FREE, if they undertake to pay the remaining amt of my contract. It’s even better for them settling $9000 instead of paying me $50K 3 years later. But they give some crap reasons saying they can’t do that. Very obvious, they just want us to pay upfront the huge sum of $17000. After ERI incidence, I’m not paying any crap any amount anymore.
Hi Axial,
Obviously this is not going well for both of us.
Ive also a contract with ERI for $16,800. Ive brought it to CASE but so far there is no resolution. Maybe we can all meet up to find a best solution
Sorry I mean Hi Christina,
Obviously this is not going well for both of us.
Ive also a contract with ERI for $16,800. Ive brought it to CASE but so far there is no resolution. Maybe we can all meet up to find a best solution
Hi Christina & Simon. I too receive call from Axiel on Feb 08. I was too busy & refuse to entertain them. Now they call again. I do some search and spot your posting. Do you both have some time, should we get in touch with each other to share more information. Thank you. chelwinlim@yahoo.com.sg
Hi there,
I emailed Chelwin, coz I dun have Simon and Christina email.
You guys can contact Chelwin
Hi Christina, Simon and Chelvin
I also got the same call from axial recently like all of you.
Can anyone give me some info and advice regarding this?
For my case, I bought the timeshare package from Oriental travel.
Thanks.
eunicechua196@yahoo.com.sg
Hi Christina, Simon, Chelvin & Eunice
I also got the same call from axial recently like all of you.
I have done some research and perhaps we can share info on this.
Thanks.
Hi all,
I just received a call from Axial last night and went to meet them tonight. They also offered to purchase my membership, saying that although mine was a 3 year ‘trial membership’ it was actually a 99 year membership and wanted $5000 from me to settle this.
Even said that they have ‘black & white’ from the European courts and this and that… that I am liable of paying the membership & subscription fees of up to $100,000 in till the end of the 99 years. If I should die before the 99 year ends, my children will be liable to pay the remaining amount.
I also told them they can have my membership for free as I did not pay that much for it since it’s a trial membership. They also said that they cannot do that as well.
It’s really fishy…
Please email me and we can share more about this.
matthewseeto@yahoo.com
Cheerio…
Yes Matthew. Like you said, it’s fishy.
GETAM was registered in Feb 07 but on GETAM website stated that it was founded in year 1992. Do a search & you won’t find any information about GETAM from year 1992-2006. www.greateasterntrust.co.uk is registered under Axial Management and this domain was registered in 26 Feb 2007
Ideally, one has to filed an agreement with the actual timeshare company in order to make it legal to loan or take over your membership. Look at the contract of your timeshare. Or you can check with your timeshare if such buyback scheme exist & whether the membership still belongs to you
You might be able to get some payout but unlikely will last through the 3rd year. Co, Ltd/Pte Ltd kind of companies are very easy to shut down & they have very limited liability. You don’t want to end up losing $$ and still stuck with a timeshare contract!
I am trying to work things out as a group so contact me if you are one of them or know someone that has signed with Axial Mgt
charles_lor@yahoo.com.sg
I too was contacted by Axial and made an appointment to meet them tomorrow but decided against it because I received an email from my time-share management, Royal Resort, warning me about them. So I decided to call Axial up and cancel the appointment. The reaction was pretty strong and they even claimed that no matter what, they were taking over the property, whether I sell or not. I really doubt them because they were so secretive when making the appointment and kept telling me that they don’t know the details of the deal and that I have to see them before they can reveal the whole deal to me. This is about the fifth times someone has called me to go in to chat about selling my time share and every time all they ever wanted was more money from me. I wonder how they ever got hold of my details and know about this time-share that I own. I even wrote to Royal Resort but they denied selling my details to these people. All I can say is I don’t think there is really going to be a take over, hostile or otherwise. Just people out there trying to squeeze as much as possible out of people like us.
Hi
I too have a contract with ERI @ $19,000 since 1999. Till today I did not fully pay them up as 5 yrs back I told them that I am retrench and unable to pay them. They asked me how much I can pay and I mentioned I only able to pay them $50/mth. Guess what? They are willing to accept it and I still paying them till today. Many company call me up for the past few yrs stating that they are able to sell or rent it out but the condition is that I need to pay outfront a sum of $8k to $15k. Last week, a person from VIVA company call me up and mention that they are able to buy back my TS. As usual I told him outfront that I won’t want to pay any single cent and don’t waste my time. Surprisingly, he said that their company willing to pay me at $15k to $18k if everything go fine. I felt that this was the best deal I have come across so my wife and I decided to meet them up. When I was there, they started to explain they need to check whether my TS is registered with the bank that is 90% of the amt I paid to ERI is hold by bank (like insurance company they need to put certain asset with MSA and if the Co closed down the customer is still safe guard). After that we were hold back to listen to their presentation while waiting for their staff to validate our TS. Almost 2 hr later, they came back to me that my TS is unregulated and they are unable to buy from us. They started to counter proposal whether am I keen to get rid of this TS. When we answered “yes”, they started to tell me that I need to pay $10,500 in order for them to sell it to resale market in Eurpoe. They requested us to paid $1000 on the spot for them to process. I told them that I did not bring out our ATM and cannot afford to pay the remainding lump sum. They said that they could go to my home to collect from us and the remaining sum we could take up a loan from OCBC or ezy-cash. I felt that the whole thing seem to be acting and I asked them to give me up to Tues to consider. I need to find ways to push away them today. I have called up CASE yesterday and they advise me to see them so I will schedule myself to meet them this week.
If anybody is able to sell and get back some cash please tell us but I doubt so. Good luck to people like us!
Dear All
Recently I have also received a call from them and they wanted to do a valuation to buyback the timeshare ! I really doubt their sincere! For my case I have paid the fees up but did not pay any maintenance fees for more than 7 years.
Please send me some advise.
stone118@hotmail.com
Thanks
Hi,
I took hv the same problem. But because my contract with ERI has been paid fully (S$10k+), no harsement of calls from anyone.
But i want to recover the money back… =(
Tried calling CASE, felt it was quite useless.. Their respond was, get a lawyer to sue ERI. Which will cause another $5k+…
Was wondering if we can all sue together or get a reliable lawyer for consultation first…
Hi all there,
Have you all gathered and do something about all this stuff?
Got a call from a company trying to terminate my contract but have to pay up front 3 times what I have paid to the timeshare company.
Hi All TimeShare Victim
Please IM me or email me if you all have ideas how to recover back our hard earned money. My email & IM: douglaskwek2000@hotmail.com.
We need to be united in order to win this case…..
Hi
My parents own two timeshare units worth $16000 with Royal Resorts, fully paid. They have been receiving numerous calls from all these frauds. The latest one will be today but the fella sounded rather convincing. He was calling from a company called Viva Connect and they are located at International Plaza in Tanjong Pagar. My dad has agreed for a meet up on Sat since the caller confirmed that we don’t have to fork out a single cent and that they will issue the cheque immediately after varications are complete. Have any of you recievd a call from these people?
Hi Ri
I have been contacted by the same Viva Connect too, but i rejected them. They said they have arranged a representative from the UK to Spore. The appointment will last one and a half hour. They said I just need to state my offer, but they will only willing to pay about 90% of it. And they also said I do not have to fork out any money, that they will issue their cheque to me upon our meeting. Also advised me that I will only need to transfer the membership upon clearance of their cheque. But I still feel suspicious. Please let me know the outcome of your Dad’s appointment with them. Thanks.
Hi all,
I have received the same call from viva connect. Originally, wanted to go and take a look but afraid of being pressured to sign something stupid. So decided not to.
Anyhow, can I just ignore it totally?
hi all,
I received the same call from viva connect. If anyone has attended their appoinment, please share with me the outcome. Thanks!
Hi all,
Appreciate if anyone can confirm outcome of this mtg with Viva Connect. We have the sameappointment today arranged by a certain Jason to discuss with a certain buyer from UK, who sounded very mean and rude.
THanks to all!
I keep getting calls from Viva Connect and they ask for different person each time. A search on the online Singapore yellow pages shows the company is based in International Plaza. I do not own any timeshare but they keep bugging me from time to time. Something doesn’t seem right.
Hi all
I just got a call from Viva Connect. Sounds to good to be true. Has anyone got any feedback about them.
Thanks
Hi Olen,
Have you met up with Viva Connect? Please share with us if this is a real acquisition or simply scam. Thanks!
Viva connect is a fly-by-night company who is out to catch unsuspecting people by trapping them into signing documents, in particular time share ones. They promise much but is in reality a scam. We should thank Kwek for pointing out his experiences with Viva Connect.
I received several call from this company, the most recent one from a Mr. Tay. When I told him a lady from the company called me the other time, he denied his company having any ladies working for them. He mentioned several other things that are not credible to me. I rang up the company using their other numbers and a lady answered the phone!!
Question: If the company can lie to me in a few areas in a simple telephone call, can I trust them to handle my TS transaction?
Viva Connect: 64239772, 64230704, 63279048
I just saw this…I heard my neighbour went there too. I know they got money but I dont know the conditions. I read one guy said it was a scam. Does he know this? Is he just assuming? Should i warn my friend?
Hi all
I just got a call from Viva Connect (Jason). Suppose to meet them on Sat if I want to.
Luckily I do some research and found this website.
Don’t think I will want to waste my time and meet them now.
Hi all… i have an Emperor Resorts International Membership and paid about $16800 for the Timeshare i bought in 1999. Due to bad times, i missed payments of my maintenance fees till this year April cos i thought all were fine.. except one day.. i received a writ of summons from A laywer office claiming the amount owed.. I was shocked. I went down and it was a reputable legal Lawyer Firm.. Similarly like you all… I thought it was ok… and no action but seriously… its true… i was being sued.. paid a hefty sum of $9677 for the lapse of payment plus legal charge… guys… its true.. they sued and will sue everyone… who is outstanding.. more to a lump sum over 10 years than simply reminders for every year… Dont let my mistake be yours..
i received calls from Advantage Exchange International…. will come down and meet to see what their offer like tommorrow.. it sounded genuine.. will update you guys soon…
p.s any news bout them?
I received the same call last Saturday from Viva connect and told me to come down to their office with my wife on Tuesday. They said they are interested to buy over my CVC membership. How genuine is this? Can anybody elaborate on why this company is a scam?
hey guys.. yeah I did went down.to A.E.I.. realli they processed my application without paying a single cent!! well, will come down and collect money…but only 70% nt all but ok wat…. There is also a lawyer to oversee the process.. what else is the real deal… ? Maybe you guys could check this out for yourself… comparing my previous experiences… A.E.I is quite professional in handling the case… unlike these unscrupulous scammers…
victim262… with all due respect… r u telling me u got ur money bk? and no upfront? is this true? well i hope it does… we NEED CONCRETE possibilities… cos im sick of everything!!
hi all,
i recently signed with axial management and paid them the full admin fees. now i am waiting for the letter of acknowlegment from the UK side which I will only receive in august. Now another company is calling me abt the timeshare issue. They are from Option Vests Pte Ltd. They were very determined to get me and my brother down to talk to them. Somehow I am very sceptical that its another scamming marketing company out to make more money from me and my brother..
So now wondering if anyone have been approached by them too. I too am tired of these crazy timeshare issue. Since neither Case nor the Government can do anything abt the timeshare issue. Their response so far was not to be in it in the first place….
A message to Paul, tell your friend to relax. I also got my money from Viva Connect. I got less than 80% (thats what they said over the phone) because they deducted owed fee I didnt realise I had to pay with my CVC but at least I am out. I wonder why Ahmad and Jan say what they say without going and finding out. If its not hard enough to get satisfaction the last thing us owners need is misplaced assumption leading us all in the wrong direction la!
Lastly, Arzy…good luck! Axial scammed me twice and I never saw a thing from them but words.
Hi Chan,
Viva Connect kept calling me about my membership and like most of the membership owners, we had our fair share of heartaches & headaches dealing with and being scammed by scheming companies. As the saying goes, once bitten, twice shy…it’s quite difficult to gather any more hope.
You sounded like a happy customer of Viva Connect, would you mind sharing more on the process on your visit there and probably show us some docs (blank out your personal details)?
I am truly happy for you if you found your way out of your timeshare. Thanks
Hi All,
Please advise can Viva Connect be trusted or simply a scam again?
Hi! I got CVC membership and fully paid since 2004. Yesterday, Viva Connect, a person by the name Daniel spoke to me abt buying my CVC by a UK person called Peter. Well, like all of you, I felt it’s quite convincing, promising too. Got a date meeting them at International Plaza at 3pm on this Thursday which is tomorrow. I will update with you guys. I will be cautious with their tactics. Just hope for the best!
Hi Baharin,
Viva Connect has been calling me too. Mine is ATC, I just spoke with Peter and another guy by the name of Jabez. Well, they sounded rather sincere and I secretly hope that they will keep to their word.
I am scheduled to meet them at 3 pm this Friday. Please do keep us updated on the outcome of your meeting with them and be very careful as well. Good Luck!
Would you mind keeping in touch by email? My email add is picabluez@yahoo.com.sg
I got this letter from Villas & Hotels Pte Ltd, with an authorization letter from Emperor Resort International (my H.C. Asia Pacific timeshare marketer)that authorized the company to collect outstanding balance, termination or enrollment of agreement. The letter invites me to go down to settle the oustanding balance ($8200) amicably at their office, or proceed with legal action on this matter. I’m thinkning to ignore this, thinking it just the same trick to con more money. any advice? Does anyone face the legal action?
Hi Chez! Nice knowing you. Well….let’s hope that nothing bad happens to us after transactions. One important questions to ask them is what will happen to us in the future. Will we be sued or fined or any legal issues by CVC as they had already be the owner of our timeshare? Because there is some possibilities that we may get trap by law if they misuse our CVC selling them to others.
Well…don’t be afraid to get out of the place if something fishy going on or they do pressure tactics. LEt’s hope for the best!
Hi Baharin, thanks for the reply & good advice
You’re correct, we have to watch out for those grey areas. I am waiting anxiously to hear from you on your meeting with Viva Connect. How did you go?
Hi All! I’ve just got back from Viva Connect. Let’s just say that I didn’t sell anything and they didn’t buy anything from me. It’s true that they claimed not to take money from us and that they don’t “sell” their vacation plans to Singaporeans as their clients are all based in UK where the number of users are said to be more than Singapore.
They started off by settings our hope up high and confidently said that they can buy our CVC since we have paid up fully and we didn’t owe any maintenance fee. They even gave us a figure slightly more than the amount we paid. They then started to tell us about how they have this fund that will allow them to buy 30 vacation membership from those who wanted to offload their timeshares. Right now, they need another 3 more. We happen to be the lucky few who get this opportunity.
We started getting real interested until at the end of the 1.5 hour session where they said that our CVC membership (after checking) is actually “not regulated” and that they cannot buy our CVC. HOWEVER, we can convert to another membership which is recognised and fork out another 40K. We can then sell that membership to Viva and earn from there.
At this point, we thought it was best to leave and they advised us that we better use our CVC. Otherwise, we will have to pay about 1K maintenance fee to CVC starting from this year. As far as I concerned, CVC did not charge their members maintenance fee. Maybe it is their trick to lure us to buy their product.
Whatever it is, everything went downhill after they started showing their own vacation plans and how CVC/LGM has been tricking us all these years.
I managed to get out in one piece. It all sounds interesting at first and they really make you feel all excited until they started to tell you to consider other alternatives if the timeshare you’re holding is not regulated and that they cannot buy it after all.
Chez, I hope you could attend tomorrow. I would like to know whether your experience is the same as mine or opposite. Good luck and remember, always be cautious with their tricks.
Hey Baharin, so sorry that they wasted your precious time. Thanks very much for the detailed and quick update.
I managed to speak to a manager at the company I bought my ATC membership from, guess what? I didn’t even have to tell him the company name and he knew it’s Viva Connect. He has received several calls from ATC members about them and so far none of them closed any sale. He told me about their tricks and they are exactly what you’ve described! His advise is to not waste my time going down as I will not be able to get any money from it. Moreover, I’ll have to take half day leave as the meeting is during work hours…
Peter just called me about 15 mins ago to double confirm the time and said he has set aside the money for my membership…hmmmmm…He said exactly the same thing on having the fund to buy a certain number of memberships. Somehow, I don’t think my going down is going to be any different from yours. Probably, the difference is they’ll try to trick me into paying more to convert my membership.
At least you don’t have to pay maintenance fees for CVC unlike ATC. Sigh…I hope to find a way out…Let’s keep a look out and help each other should there be any opportunity for exit. Cheers!
Hi All,
My experience was more or less same with everyone else on Viva Connect.
Initially they made you feel positive of getting your money back as they were buying back from you. Then all turned downhill when they said your product was not regulated. (after some wayang of checking, i believed)
They offered their help to convert your timeshare into regulated one by paying them some undisclosed ’sum’ of money. I ended the meeting soon after without any commitment. They are the same as i encountered before.
So no point meet them up.
Today, another company,Coco Venture (not sure whether i get the name right) called me over the phone and insisted that i must go down to Burlington Square (beside SLQ)for a 10 mins talk. The guy on the line was very persistence although i was telling him i had urgent matter to attend to. He just pestered and called me 2nd time although i cut off the line earlier.
So be warned. We have many new companies coming into this line. Good luck.
Hi All,
I would like to know some of you who still holds CVC membership more than 4 years. Because, according to Viva Connect, I have to bear the cost of maintanence fee every. Is it true? I have yet to confirm with CVC.
Hi Chez, it’s ok. Anyway, the motive of this forum is to share our experiences. So, for the best of our safety, it is the best for me to share.
Hi Jesmond, it’s great that you told us about your experience in Viva Connect. At least we know right now that Viva Connect are the people trying to cheat on the innocent ones.
Hi all,
I considered myself blessed because i was suppose to meet Viva Connect this wednesday. Thanks for all the sharing. This guy, David kept calling me for almost 2 weeks. He claimed that I will definiately get back my money (at least 80%) after the meeting, which will last for 90mins. The company even email me! I almost wanted to visit them as i am very eager to get rid of this membership (ATC). After reading the above, I am thinking of visiting CASE and hopefully they can help us. We should continue to keep a look out and help each other should there be any opportunity to get rid of this bad experience
Tranferred my doc’s to Viva today. Sorry to here from you guys that weren’t successful. Anyway I hope you can all take joy in that some do get out. Bye.
Hi Chan,
Any stories that you can elaborate to us about your experience with Viva Connect? You are the only person of out of us that are very very successful. Any proof? My apology to you for asking you that coz, I feel skeptical about this.
Hi Baharin,
Me too have the same experience like you guys except Chan.
The picture is too good to believe. What happen is that Viva can’t fullfill the verbal agreement, paying so much and end up with 2 timeshare.
JJ
Hi John,
Viva’s job is to cheat us. That’s plain simple. On the phone is just sounds too good to be true. Well, that’s dangerous.
Hi Sad,
Do you manage to go to CASE? If you do, what’s the outcome? Would be glad if you would share your experience with the CASE with us.
Hi all, Am a victime of Timeshare also. Having contract with ERI. Can i know what you all mean by Maintenance fee? Are you all saying that after paying the membership fee fully, you still have to pay maintenance fee every yr even you did nothing? Or are you all implying of the monthly installment you had to pay for your membership fee? I am still paying my monthly membership fee. Feel like terminating. Anyone from ERI contact can advise?
Hi Baharin,
You have a good heart
Yup, the purpose of this forum is to share our experiences and avoid further “damage”. It’s strange, I asked Chan for some proof too but no reply so far…hmmm….he/she sounds fishy (my apologies if I am wrong). I sure hope he/she would proof me wrong. Anyway, another company just called me claiming that they can help rent my weeks out for very good price.
Hi Everyone
Thanks for your feedback, I wrote in July when Viva Connect first called and claimed that I was the last batch to qualify for this “buy back scheme”.
Since then have been calling weekly and I when I tell them that they have called before, each one of the caller claims that this is their first call and they don’t know each other. This is real crap!!!
We must share all our experiences so we are not taken for a ride again.
Thanks again for all who have shared, you are greatly appreciated
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the generous sharing. Sad to say that I am also one of the victim to this time-share scam… since we had already bought it, we might as well use it and enjoy it. Lets be more positive! (^.^)
Just like to find out from those who had been paying the maintainance fee… are you entitled for a 1-wk stay in the resort every year?
For those who has fully paid for the membership, do you receive any acknowledgement from the developer/HCAP?
FYI, ERI no longer markets for HCAP. Any idea how will ERI issue the HCAP membership once the fee is fully paid up??