Holidaymakers have been warned to be wary of people approaching them abroad with offers of cheap holidays through holiday club memberships.
Several Irish holidaymakers to Spain have paid holiday clubs from £1,500 to £10,000, having succumbed to high-pressure sales tactics, the Dublin-based European Consumer Centre has said.
Four serious complaints and several queries have been received by the ECC, an advice and information service funded by the European Commission and the Director of Consumer Affairs.
ECC legal adviser Mr Colin Daly said that although holiday clubs were not illegal, their sales tactics might put undue pressure on consumers to sign up. Punters were either told they had won a holiday or that cut-price holidays were available if they joined the club.
Sales staff persuaded individuals with lengthy presentations. In many cases alcoholic drinks were served to the holidaymakers, said Mr Daly.
The tourists are then asked to sign a contract and pay half the holiday club investment - a sum usually between £3,000 and £5,000 - by credit card. The other half may be due within three to six months but some companies claim the total amount will be returned to the investor after three to five years.
"In these situations people tend to sign things they ordinarily wouldn't sign," said Mr Daly.
When people got home and read the contract's small print they realised they had to pay an additional £55-65 for the holiday club's annual brochure. "If they sign, they've signed a contract and the usual enforcement procedures apply: although it's hard for people to enforce something in Ireland from Spain. However, if you back out, you may suffer loss of the cash already handed over," Mr Daly said.
If the funds were not returned, it might be difficult and expensive to file legal proceedings to recover the money, he said.
The ECC is investigating the holiday club companies in question. Many have addresses in the Isle of Man or Channel Islands and are relatively new companies.
The Director of Consumer Affairs, Ms Carmel Foley, recently issued a warning to consumers about timeshares, which have also been sold using similar methods. In January, Spain enacted timeshare legislation based on an EU directive but "holiday clubs" do not fall under these regulations or EU distance/doorstep selling regulations, Mr Daly warned.