A leading time share group has warned against booking timeshare holidays via Facebook or external parties not linked to the establishments.

"The industry is not regulated in terms of bookings and there is a rising concern over how bookings are advertised. With social media, anyone can claim to have a timeshare rental and agents themselves can be hoodwinked not knowing if the person offering the timeshare is the actual owner.

"This is why we are urging people to do thorough verification before parting with their money and to use registered, verified companies who act on behalf of the establishments, like us. The best option to avoid scams is to book either directly with the holiday resort or hotel or via their agent. Booking via anyone else is at a huge risk," Donald Lamont, director at timeshare management company, First Group, told IOL.

His warning follows a recent alleged scam involving a former First Group employee and an external agent where money was paid into the employee's private account. Several guests discovered on arrival at the holiday resorts booked that they in fact did not have any booking and were left out of pocket and without a place to stay.

The employee was dismissed while the agent, Faheema Varachia, is pursuing legal action against the employee to recover monies owed to her. To assist, Lamont said those affected involving any First Group properties may also email FaheemaAssistance@firstgroup-sa.co.za and the company would try to assist.

"Although this private arrangement between an ex employee and an external agent has nothing to do with us, we are still prepared to assist if any of those transactions involved any of our properties. We want to safeguard our reputation and ensure this does not affect future experiences of our guests," added Lamont.

With a spike in 'bargain' timeshare offers on social media platforms, Lamont also cautioned against falling for such bargains.

"I'm always surprised to see prices advertised as bargains on Facebook which are far higher than our rates on our website. For example, some timeshares are advertised at R7,000 for a week with us and the same is being advertised by others on Facebook for R21,000. It's crazy. People need to compare and do their due diligence," explained Lamont.

South Africa's timeshare industry contributes over R1.6 billion annually to the economy, with a rental pool of R186.9 million. In addition, timeshare resorts cough up more than R1.5 billion to the economy in government revenue and expenditure, making it a sought after, lucrative business.

IOL