scratch-cards of the type often used by holiday club reps to lure potential clients

scratch-cards of the type often used by holiday club reps to lure potential clients. Typically, a couple are approached while relaxing on holiday in the sunshine and offered a free scratch-card. Those who uncover three matching symbols, and unsurprisingly that means all of them, are whisked off by private car to collect their prize of a cheap holiday. However, on arrival, they are subjected to a lengthy presentation, sometimes lasting hours, and pressurised into signing a contract which promises luxury holiday deals at low prices. But, says the OFT, the holidays offered turn out to be available on the Internet for the same price, and often cheaper. By then, however, the client has parted with a cash deposit of around £500 or more and agreed to regular payments totalling tens of thousands of pounds.

Unfortunately, the con-tracts are legal and, unlike timeshare deals, there is no 14 day cooling-off period as required by law. While the OFT is lobbying to make holiday clubs illegal, it warns that 400,000 holiday makers fall victim to these scams every year in Spain with an average loss of £3,000.