HE bought the timeshare thinking he could go on vacations with his family.
But soon after he finished paying his contract in full, he encountered some problems at work and decided to sell his contract.
That was when he got a second company to help him. But instead of helping Mr Mohammad (not his real name), the company convinced him to buy another timeshare from them, reported Berita Harian.
And, at $14,000, it was more expensive than the 49-year-old's first timeshare for a resort in Queensland, Australia.
The taxi driver had paid more than $12,000 for the 99-year contract in 1997.
Now, after nine years and spending more than $30,000, he's still trying to get rid of both contracts.
Unfortunately, he has never set foot in either resort.
Mr Mohammad said: 'I entered the timeshare scheme thinking that I could go on vacation with my family, but things turned out differently.
'I used up my family's savings that was intended for the haj.
'Don't talk about sleeping at the resorts, I've never even seen the pictures.
'After that, I lost my job and failed to pay the monthly instalments.
'Out of the blue, sometime early last year, I was approached by a company. They said that if I didn't terminate the contract, I may be brought to court,' Mr Mohammad said.
'Because I was afraid, I gave them nearly $10,000. Nothing's been done till now.
'When I contacted them, they said there were problems and asked me for an additional $5,000.'
Currently, the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) is helping Mr Mohammad.
Berita Harian's calls to the company yesterday were unanswered and it seemed the phone number is no longer in use.
OFFICE NOT IN OPERATION
It is also believed that their office is no longer in operation.
Besides Mr Mohammad's complaint, there are four others made against the same company.
A Case spokesman said that they had sent letters to the company on behalf of Mr Mohammad, but haven't received any replies.
'If there's a trend of complaints against this company, saying that they have violated the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act, we will invite them for a meeting and get them to sign a voluntary compliance agreement.
'If not, we can take legal action against them,' Case explained.
Mr Seah Seng Choon, executive director of Case, reminded consumers that there is a three day cooling off period where consumers can terminate their contracts.
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