3 Effective sales teams with Steve Clarke
The world of sales has altered dramatically in the last couple of decades due to a number of seismic changes, such as vast technological innovations. This has led to the interactions between customers and sales staff shifting considerably. Steve Clarke, a globally renowned business coach, and inspirational sales and marketing speaker, has been carefully studying these changes in order to help organisations and businesses keep pace with these changes. Steve has been invited by organisations across Europe, the USA, South Africa, the Middle East, China, India and Australia to inspire and motivate audiences to transform the way they do business. His...
Introducing RDO7 keynote speaker, Simon Hazeldine
RDO is delighted to announce that Simon Hazeldine will be one of our keynote speakers at this year’s RDO7 Taking Ownership conference, which is taking place in London 20th-22nd September 2016. Simon works internationally as a professional speaker, performance consultant and corporate trainer in the areas of sales, negotiation, performance leadership and applied neuroscience. His focus is on inspiring and enabling exceptional performance and delivering improved bottom-line results. Simon has an exceptional educational, sales and professional speaking background, which makes him an excellent choice as one of the keynote speakers at RDO7. He speaks regularly at international events for a wide...
The UK’s EU referendum – are we In our Out?
With the UK's EU referendum bearing down fast on us here, I decided to use this blog to set out my own personal views on the upcoming decision. Aware of the fact that some weeks ago the Head of the Chambers of Commerce in the UK had to resign after coming out in favour of exit , I approached this decision with a degree of caution, nevertheless emboldened by the fact that RDO has already made it clear that it supports remaining and indeed we added our name to another 200 organisations supporting this position – published in the FT...
‘Kaiser’ Court Case Update
The higher Court of Justice in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has come to a decision on the appeal filed by Mindtimeshare against the order made by the Judge in San Bartolomé Court to close the Voyager Travel/Lifestyle Holiday (‘Kaiser’) case. The appeal, filed by Mindtimeshare in July 2014, has been accepted, the Judge’s court order revoked and the case will now be re-opened. The original case commenced with the arrests of 74 people in 2013 at the offices and sales decks of Voyager Travel, Lifestyle Holidays and other associated companies. It is alleged that the companies made around €5million by defrauding...
ASA adjudication on Timeshare Solutions Ltd
KwikChex, as part of the Timeshare Task Force initiative, recently challenged two testimonials on the Timeshare Solutions Ltd website, questioning whether they were genuine as they also appeared on another website for a different claims company (although under different customer names). Although Timeshare Solutions Ltd initially said the similarities were down to the fact that the two companies operated in the same timeshare relinquishment industry, they later stated that they were not sure if they still held the testimonials because they were provided in 2014. They did, however state that they still held contact details for the individuals who had given...
RDO Statement on Timeshare Exits
There has recently been increasing media speculation and comment over timeshare owners’ ability to exit their timeshare as they grow older and can no longer enjoy their holidays. The timeshare trade body, RDO (Resort Development Organisation) and the timeshare owners association, TATOC (The Association of Timeshare Owners Committees) have been working closely over the last two years to find solutions for owners who have an urgent need to dispose of their timeshare. At the outset, both organisations were mindful of the fact that the recession has taken its toll and that there was in part an ageing demographic amongst some owner...
Rogue PPI claim companies targeted by fines and toughened regulations
Claims firms which use information gathered by unsolicited calls and texts or who provide poor quality services will face large fines under law changes announced by the UK Government last week. Tough new rules are being introduced as the part of a package of ongoing work by government to crack down on the rogue firms responsible for targeting the public with misleading advertising and flooding banks with unsubstantiated claims for compensation – at a cost to other customers. To ensure that the claims management industry delivers the best possible results for consumers, the Claims Management Regulation (CMR) Unit at the Ministry of...
New UK regulations to protect consumers are unveiled
Draft legislation announced by Consumer Minister Jo Swinson today sets out how consumers will also have access to clearer information about any additional costs and more generous time limits for returning goods bought online. The new proposals, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Payments) Regulations implement the European Consumer Rights Directive and will: increase the time limit for returning goods purchased online or by phone from seven days to 14 days after the goods have been received, should the consumer change their mind ban pre-ticked tick boxes for extras that the consumer may not want or need and that could result in...
Over 60 arrested in police raids in the Canary Islands
RDO has been informed that on 22nd July, the unit for organised crime at the Las Palmas police force arrested over 60 people and raided the offices and sales decks of various Holiday Club Companies, including Voyager Travel, Lifestyle Holidays, Reclaimgc and Timeshare Refund Network. In addition, computers and files have been confiscated from the company offices in Arguineguin and San Bartolomé de Tirajana. It is alleged that the companies made around €5million by defrauding in the region of 2,000 holidaymakers, who made payments of between €5,000 to €30,000 for the guarantee of discounts of up to 70% at holiday accommodation. The...
Package Travel Directive Proposals Released
Last week, the European Commission released its proposals for updating the 1990 Package Travel Directive. Whilst the current directive has guaranteed comprehensive protection to consumers booking pre-arranged package holidays that involve combinations of, for example flights, hotels or car rentals, it does not explicitly cover packages that are combined at the consumer's request. The aim of the revised Directive is to extend the current protection for traditional, pre-arranged packages to new combinations of travel services. If those new combinations of travel services feature the characteristics associated with packages, the consumer is protected under the new rules. For buyers of traditional and customised packages,...