Not sure if I have been dreaming but not so long ago I thought that there was a timeshare forum which, for me, was quite interesting to read.It seems to have disappeared but when I look at forum announcements where you would expect the administrators to post that a forum has been closed, there is absolutley nothing..WHY ??
This whole site is about information good & bad about holidays so that we can get some sort of idea about resorts , hotels etc and many posters are kind enough to try to give helpful advice.One part of many peoples holidays in several resorts is an attempt to get them to a timeshare complex and get them to buy into a unit or join the holiday club using high pressure tactics when their guard is down...so therefore having a forum on timeshare was a good idea including the mentioning of being telephoned at home in the uk to attend a presentation on holiday clubs.
My point is why close the forum down ? If you were unhappy with the legalities of what people were posting you could have controlled this by locking topics and asking people to post via a moderator.At the very least you should have kept the forum on site with usful information using stickies so that anyone with worries on timehare could know where to turn.What do you other members think ?? Are you bothered enough to reply...do you want a section on timeshare ??
I just think that the administrator should have given a explanation on site why they felt it necessary to close the timeshare forum down and even wipe out the archives, If they did post I must have been on holiday and missed it but surely there should be something under forum announcements as a reason for the closure.
the following notice was posted in the timeshare forum prior to closure
wizard
Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 11:52 pm Post subject: URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT - CLOSURE OF TIMESHARE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is with regret, that, unfortunately due to constant legal issues we are going to have to close the timeshare forum.
This forum will therefore close on Friday 15th June 2007.
We are sorry we have had to make this decision and we hope that by giving the members a weeks notice you will be able to find another website in-order to continue any interests you may have.
Many thanks for all your input into this forum.
Admin and Moderators.
wizard
Hi Hovis
I'm sorry you didn't see the post in the timeshare forum prior to it's closure (I will mention to admin the lack of information in the forum announcements section).
This was posted a week before the closure...
After a bit of discussion among members admin then posted this...
I will move your post to the Help & Assistance Forum as this is for Holiday Complaints
Pippy
I'm sorry you didn't see the post in the timeshare forum prior to it's closure (I will mention to admin the lack of information in the forum announcements section).
This was posted a week before the closure...
Glynis HT Admin
HT Administrator
Joined: 02 May 2004
PostPosted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:52 am Post subject: URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT - CLOSURE OF TIMESHARE Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
It is with regret, that, unfortunately due to constant legal issues we are going to have to close the timeshare forum.
This forum will therefore close on Friday 15th June 2007.
We are sorry we have had to make this decision and we hope that by giving the members a weeks notice you will be able to find another website in-order to continue any interests you may have.
Many thanks for all your input into this forum.
Admin and Moderators.
After a bit of discussion among members admin then posted this...
Kath HT Admin
HT Administrator
Joined: 02 May 2004
PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 8:28 pm Post subject: Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
We we will not name any company in particular for obvious reasons.
However, we can tell you it has not helped when some members insisted on posting names of employees or continued to make libellous comments about individual companies.
The continuous editing of posts to remove such comments should have been enough warning.
Sorry our decision has been made.
Admin
I will move your post to the Help & Assistance Forum as this is for Holiday Complaints
Pippy
Sorry Wiz! Didn't see your post!
Hovis I take your point re no announcement being placed in the Forum Annoucement section, and I will discuss with the rest of the team.
In the meantime however I need to answer some points raised in your post.
Unfortunately, the majority of us have other full time jobs. We cannot guarantee being on line to 'lock' a potential libellous topic, which would remain in situ until a moderator could be on line to remove it.
We had a sticky at the top of the timeshare forum since October advising people where to go for advice. Unfortunately, members continued to post in the section and as such we were leaving ourselves wide open to legal action.
With regards to your suggestion to
Kath HT Admin
In the meantime however I need to answer some points raised in your post.
If you were unhappy with the legalities of what people were posting you could have controlled this by locking topics and asking people to post via a moderator
Unfortunately, the majority of us have other full time jobs. We cannot guarantee being on line to 'lock' a potential libellous topic, which would remain in situ until a moderator could be on line to remove it.
At the very least you should have kept the forum on site with usful information using stickies so that anyone with worries on timehare could know where to turn
We had a sticky at the top of the timeshare forum since October advising people where to go for advice. Unfortunately, members continued to post in the section and as such we were leaving ourselves wide open to legal action.
With regards to your suggestion to
- this again comes down to having the manpower and resources to have every post checked by a legal professional, because this is what it would amount to. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to do so."post via a moderator"
Kath HT Admin
thank you wizard and pippy for you replies, to be honest I wasn't that keen on being moved to this section as it is a holiday type complaint and many more people view that section than scroll all the way down here and I thought it would give a chance for members who had been in the dark (like me ) to give a response , but I do accept your decision.
Kath, I appreciate the greater detail you gave with your reply and I do have more understanding of the difficulties you had with the timeshare forum...some members will just not take notice
another question remains, why get rid of the archives ? they had some useful information and before you reply legal issues ie libel & names let me remind you that these had been edited from postings already.
Ok, this is my opinion, lots of people go to this forum to look up the odd hotel review and also realise that there are other sections on here that may interest them and as you are aware when they go away they may be approached by very nice people who when they are off their guard on holiday will persuade them to join a holiday club or buy into a timeshare often by telling blatent lies in their presentation ... legal point : some companies may be honest & trustworthy but how can you tell ?
So I think you do members a diservice by not having an announcement made and you could have a locked section where postings cannot be made and you can also mention this is because of irresponsible behaviour from a minority of members.
So , do any other members have an opinion on this ?
PLEASE NOTE: this topic is not to be taken as an excuse to make complaints on timeshare or holiday clubs as this is why the forum was closed, its purpose is to find out if we can find away of alerting members to the concerns of timeshere or giving those affected some information to help them.
Reason for my interest is that whilst on holiday some charming people tried to convince me and were unhappy when I declined.
Kath, I appreciate the greater detail you gave with your reply and I do have more understanding of the difficulties you had with the timeshare forum...some members will just not take notice
another question remains, why get rid of the archives ? they had some useful information and before you reply legal issues ie libel & names let me remind you that these had been edited from postings already.
Ok, this is my opinion, lots of people go to this forum to look up the odd hotel review and also realise that there are other sections on here that may interest them and as you are aware when they go away they may be approached by very nice people who when they are off their guard on holiday will persuade them to join a holiday club or buy into a timeshare often by telling blatent lies in their presentation ... legal point : some companies may be honest & trustworthy but how can you tell ?
So I think you do members a diservice by not having an announcement made and you could have a locked section where postings cannot be made and you can also mention this is because of irresponsible behaviour from a minority of members.
So , do any other members have an opinion on this ?
PLEASE NOTE: this topic is not to be taken as an excuse to make complaints on timeshare or holiday clubs as this is why the forum was closed, its purpose is to find out if we can find away of alerting members to the concerns of timeshere or giving those affected some information to help them.
Reason for my interest is that whilst on holiday some charming people tried to convince me and were unhappy when I declined.
to be honest I wasn't that keen on being moved to this section as it is a holiday type complaint
The holiday complaints forum is for complaints regarding tour operators etc.
The help and assistance forum is for help/complaints regarding the forum in general
I'll leave admin to comment on the rest of your post.
Pippy
Just a view.
I have found when reading hotel and resort reports on HT, if people have been plagued by timeshare touts etc either at their hotel or at the resort itself in somewhere like Albuferia strip or Malta where there are loads of touts & it is a 'known' problem, posters tend to mention it in their reviews anyway.
That is one way of members being alerted to these pests. You also see people posting threads in the respective destinations if they are finding it a real problem.
Doe
I have found when reading hotel and resort reports on HT, if people have been plagued by timeshare touts etc either at their hotel or at the resort itself in somewhere like Albuferia strip or Malta where there are loads of touts & it is a 'known' problem, posters tend to mention it in their reviews anyway.
That is one way of members being alerted to these pests. You also see people posting threads in the respective destinations if they are finding it a real problem.
Doe
Hovis
I am sorry that you think this. However, we have to think of the rest of the site and before agreeing to link to any outside source, we have to check its content, in case there are libellous articles there that we could be held legally responsible for.
I will however discuss your comments with the rest of the team.
Kath HT Admin
So I think you do members a diservice by not having an announcement made and you could have a locked section where postings cannot be made and you can also mention this is because of irresponsible behaviour from a minority of members.
I am sorry that you think this. However, we have to think of the rest of the site and before agreeing to link to any outside source, we have to check its content, in case there are libellous articles there that we could be held legally responsible for.
I will however discuss your comments with the rest of the team.
Kath HT Admin
Well i thought i was going mad as the timeshare section had just vanished into fresh air.
It seems a shame as a lot of people still seem to be getting problems to do with timeshare touts.
It seems a shame as a lot of people still seem to be getting problems to do with timeshare touts.
It seems a shame as a lot of people still seem to be getting problems to do with timeshare touts
Unfortunately they always will, but I dont think I am getting my point across.
By leaving the timeshare forum open, we were leaving ourselves at risk of losing the whole site - is that what we want ?
Admin are NOT prepared to jeopardise the whole site for the sake of one forum. Sorry.
Kath HT Admin
I fully support the 'Management' on this issue, and their absolute right to make operational decisions.
This website is a superb internet resource, and we should be most grateful to the owner and the volunteer Administrators and Moderators for the hard work they do in keeping it going and on the correct side of libel law - not always an easy task.
This is where the problem lies. Timeshare can be an emotive subject and whilst I can understand people going over the top in some of their comments, it is the owner who is legally liable.
We must respect the decision to remove the Timeshare Forum, it's not our necks that are on the block.
I can confirm it was done with plenty of notice. I knew about it and it was not one of my interests.
So to all the guys and gals who do so much work in their spare time, the Admins and Mods, thank you.
Peter
This website is a superb internet resource, and we should be most grateful to the owner and the volunteer Administrators and Moderators for the hard work they do in keeping it going and on the correct side of libel law - not always an easy task.
This is where the problem lies. Timeshare can be an emotive subject and whilst I can understand people going over the top in some of their comments, it is the owner who is legally liable.
We must respect the decision to remove the Timeshare Forum, it's not our necks that are on the block.
I can confirm it was done with plenty of notice. I knew about it and it was not one of my interests.
So to all the guys and gals who do so much work in their spare time, the Admins and Mods, thank you.
Peter
No i quite understand, it just seems a shame that people could not be a bit more understanding on the content of their postings. Because by their actions they have enabled any timeshare that is not 100% to carry on unchecked 
But if HT went it would seem like i had lost a good friend. As my husband says "your not on that holiday site again are you". And as my daughter said recently " you know mum we have been really lucky every holiday we have had and every hotel we stay in are really good" Luck -no just good advice from friends on here
But if HT went it would seem like i had lost a good friend. As my husband says "your not on that holiday site again are you". And as my daughter said recently " you know mum we have been really lucky every holiday we have had and every hotel we stay in are really good" Luck -no just good advice from friends on here
just an observation on the forum and why it was so difficult- many people just registered to take part in the forum and did not post on any other forum. As Peter says, timeshare is very emotive and we found ourselves constantly having to edit posts. Quite often these posts were on the forum for a while before being picked up. A lot of times people were named. Just as many people registered who were in favour of that particular company and they often only ever posted once. With so many just interested in that forum alone the warnings we gave didn't mean anything to most of them( with a few exceptions) It wouldn't have been THEM being sued, it would be us. And Kath has explained the possible consequence. Believe me, the decision was taken only after months of agonising and discussions.
Surely I can't be the only person out there who owns timeshare, swaps into other resorts and spends points on holidaying in different places. I would like to be able to get good advice on the thousands of timeshare resorts in the world to help me pick out the best ones, and in common with everyone reading this I think HT is the best forum for researching holiday destinations. It seems such a shame that the Timeshare forum had to be shut down but I can understand the reasons.
By leaving the timeshare forum open, we were leaving ourselves at risk of losing the whole site - is that what we want ?
Kath (HT Admin)
No, it is most definitely NOT what we want.
If there are legal implications, much better to lose this single forum than the whole site.
Although we don't have a timeshare, don't EVER intend to have a timeshare and NEVER, EVER intend to go a meeting trying to flog us one, I just used to have an occasional look at this forum (usually when I was putting off doing something less interesting, such as ironing).
When I couldn't find the site I asked why and Fiona (HT Mod) explained why and it made sense to me.
I agree with Peter of York about this decision (and the great job that all the mods do).
Polly
May I suggest that people have a look here.
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=100357
HT is an excellent tool for research. It is dedicated to providing help to everyone, no matter how inexperienced or a seasoned traveller.
Legal - Decent - Honest and Truthful applies just as much to posts on here as they do to advertising. Something that people often forget when posting.
Even more important, failure on the part of the Admin/Mod team ensuring compliance with the law can put the whole future of the resource at risk.
We may complain that we have missed something. Put yourself in their shoes. They have no choice but to read every post.
They have my confidence and admiration and thanks for everything they do.
fwh
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=100357
HT is an excellent tool for research. It is dedicated to providing help to everyone, no matter how inexperienced or a seasoned traveller.
Legal - Decent - Honest and Truthful applies just as much to posts on here as they do to advertising. Something that people often forget when posting.
Even more important, failure on the part of the Admin/Mod team ensuring compliance with the law can put the whole future of the resource at risk.
We may complain that we have missed something. Put yourself in their shoes. They have no choice but to read every post.
They have my confidence and admiration and thanks for everything they do.
fwh
ditto..to .f.w.h...remarks...............well said..
regards......john-doe,,,,
regards......john-doe,,,,
Well, I think that the administators and the mods should be very happy with the great support from members as one result of my timeshare forum complaint is to show how much you guys are valued and I might add that I also agree with this view.
I do have an apology to Kath who replied to one of my comments"sorry that you think this" I'm afraid that I simply made a bad choice of words trying to get a point across and I should have previewed and corrected before posting .
Now here are a few comments: doepsme, yes it was a good suggestion but as you know its not always mentioned even in resorts with a problem but I liked your thinking.Fiona, appreciate your post,gave us more of an insight. fwh always reliable for a sensible post.Poy you usually give good advice and I applaud your loyal support to the mods but unsure about your comment "done with plenty of notice" admin & mods only gave a weeks notice on july 9th with their urgent announcement and in perhaps that is not really plenty of time as you have said. After reading the admin and mods comments I totally agree they had to act swiftly and did but for me, it was not plenty of time or I think I would have realised..see what happens when you go away for a couple of weeks (lol)
Having read the comments from admin & mods ,sadly I think the timeshare forum is best left closed but at least the topic got discussed even though some of you may have thought I was just having a go at the mods,I assure you I wasn't. I think I have now said all I want to regarding this subject and will go back to reading other members posts again but thank you to admin, the mods & members for their answers.
I do have an apology to Kath who replied to one of my comments"sorry that you think this" I'm afraid that I simply made a bad choice of words trying to get a point across and I should have previewed and corrected before posting .
Now here are a few comments: doepsme, yes it was a good suggestion but as you know its not always mentioned even in resorts with a problem but I liked your thinking.Fiona, appreciate your post,gave us more of an insight. fwh always reliable for a sensible post.Poy you usually give good advice and I applaud your loyal support to the mods but unsure about your comment "done with plenty of notice" admin & mods only gave a weeks notice on july 9th with their urgent announcement and in perhaps that is not really plenty of time as you have said. After reading the admin and mods comments I totally agree they had to act swiftly and did but for me, it was not plenty of time or I think I would have realised..see what happens when you go away for a couple of weeks (lol)
Having read the comments from admin & mods ,sadly I think the timeshare forum is best left closed but at least the topic got discussed even though some of you may have thought I was just having a go at the mods,I assure you I wasn't. I think I have now said all I want to regarding this subject and will go back to reading other members posts again but thank you to admin, the mods & members for their answers.
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