Timeshare owners are angered by Macdonald’s threat of “immediate” action to shut off the electricity and water supply if £451,000 is not paid by next week, the 24th of July. The Loch Rannoch Highland Club committee fail to see any threat to their property.
Mr. Kenneth Allan, management overseer of 85 lodges that represents the Club, was asked to give his opinion on the matter. “This is a totally empty threat. I have been telling some members to totally ignore these threats from Macdonalds,” he says. He also states that the electricity substations that service the lodges are “under club lock and key” and will not want to become involved in the argument.
Deputy Chief Executive of Macdonald Hotels and Resorts Gordon Fraser says the company regrets having to give an ultimatum, but there was nothing else to do. Director of Timeshare Management Services (TMS) Edward Monks says that they paid for the electricity, but only under the condition that the Club would accept the cheque.
The dispute is over a £451,352 utility bill that the timeshare committee says they paid, minus £250,000 they claim the hotel owes them for management fees.
Macdonald rejected the payment as “wholly unacceptable.” Curiously, Macdonald doesn’t deny the unpaid fees on the timeshare weeks they own, but still refuses any deduction on the utility payment.
This isn’t the first time the Club and hotel committee have bumped heads. The 85 cottages representing the Club was UK’s first timeshare resort. Twenty years later, a controversial move collapsed relations between the hotel group and timeshare owners. Additionally, when owners complained that the buildings needed repair, fees shot up to cover the costs. This was just the beginning of a row-filled history.
The case will be heard in the Edinburgh court in October 2008.