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Nice picture, Bill. There is a good choice of restaurants at the Mogan Mall. However, they can get busy. I tried the tapas one recently and it was fully booked on a Friday night.
Some really good advice here. I too have had awful experiences with Goldcar and would avoid them at all costs.
CICAR have an office in Monte Anfi so you could use the free Anfi transfer and collect your car at Anfi, saving hire costs (you will need it for 1-2 fewer days) and queues.
Do check your credit cards. My AmEx card includes car hire excess cover as standard. However, some cards require you to book and pay with the card offering protection.
Thank you for your post.
Unfortunately, some of what you have been told is untrue and other things ‘massage’ the truth. However, before I answer those points, let me deal with the most important item: should you sign the new contracts? There is a lot of information about this on the forum, but the basic answer is ‘Yes’. The contracts align your rights with the changes that were made in Spanish and EU law. They also get rid of ‘perpetuity’ which passes responsibility for your weeks to your descendants and replaces it with a renewable 50 year contract (the time starts from the resort’s completion) and the right to surrender weeks. Overall, in my view, it is not a bad deal for owners.
Turning to your other points:
1. The Administration process is NOT complete as the court still has to approve the deal brokered with the majority of creditors and, I understand, one group is objecting (we don’t know who) so the court has to rule on this (hopefully this autumn).
2. The contracts signed after 1999 were in breach of Spanish law that was changed to give more rights to timeshare owners. They may have been OK when they were originally drafted, but should not have been used once the law changed. The main changes were that perpetuity and floating arrangements were outlawed (Anfi has continued a floating arrangement called ‘flex’ which might be fine because it allows owners to opt out – it is in the new contracts).
3. Yes, Anfi are blocking people from using their weeks if they do not sign the new contracts. This is very heavy handed, and I don’t like it, but is perhaps understandable as people signing them then cannot sue for miss-selling so it means Anfi’s potential future liability is limited and quantifiable, which is an important part of securing its future.
4. You cannot surrender your weeks if there are any unpaid maintenance fees. The Administrator has insisted this is enforced. In the past Anfi took weeks back if there were two years unpaid fees. This was always informal. If you want to dispose of your weeks, you must pay outstanding fees. Whether they will seek to enforce the debts, I do not know.
5. The window for suing has closed, but many people have received payouts and received both their original purchase price and legal fees. However, that depended on the judge as some awarded legal costs and some did not.
I hope this is helpful.
I sent documents via Royal Mail Tracked and Anfi refused to sign for them and they were returned! Admittedly that was a few years ago. Maybe they thought it was a court summons?
Club Gran Anfi Report – June 2024
Historically Gran Anfi has always been financially strong. However, we are looking at some significant challenges. At the end of 2023 Anfi management rejected the combined representations of your elected representatives to raise maintenance fees in line with inflation. We were assured that there was plenty of money in the clubs and there would be a surplus at the end of the year.
Mike Corrigan, the German committee member, monitors Anfi’s data on his own spreadsheet and predicted a loss for the year. He was correct.You may have seen work on the concrete on the front of the block. Water damage has meant that some of this has decayed and needed replacement. Seeing the abseiling builders is quite something, but this is expensive and means the whole vertical line below the apartment where the work is going on has to be taken out of use.
It is these water erosion problems that mean plants will not be put back onto the balconies. Gran Anfi is now over two decades old and equipment behind the scenes is wearing out.In 2024/25 there will be significant expenditure that is not immediately visible. It is likely to leave us with only about €100,000 in the kitty.
The cost-of-living crisis is being felt by us all, and I think there will be pressure to keep the 2025 bills as low as possible. Therefore, we need to be prepared for visible work, like furniture replacements, to be delayed in order to focus on the fabric of the club.
As your elected representatives, myself Mike & Miguel try hard to hold management to account and ensure good value. The administration process and tussle for control between two powerful family groups have caused a considerable strain on relationships, with managers being less co-operative with members.
I sometimes think they forget who actually pays the bills! This culminated in the attempt to nominate a staff member to the committees last year. The Anfi Beach Club OGM went ahead and Anfi used their votes to elect people they wanted. This is being challenged through the (painfully slow) local court system. As someone used to seeking an immediate injunction in cases like this, I find it very frustrating.
At the time of writing the action has been filed but no court date set. It is likely to be Autumn 2024 at the earliest.
To be clear, the European members’ clubs are not ‘suing’ Anfi in the hope of getting money. Our aim is simply to have the constitutions of the clubs enforced and to ensure all of our rights as owners are respected.Meanwhile, it looks as though Anfi have changed tactics. Subject to confirmation, it looks as though they will not nominate their own staff to the committees but have made their Head of Legal Services their representative with Sr Martinez stepping into an ‘observer’ role. This effectively increases the numbers of Anfi staff at the meetings without the need for a vote.
It is also likely they will continue to use their votes, probably in favour of candidates they see as more ‘sympathetic’. We shall see what happens this autumn.The next meeting is likely to be a virtual one in late September or early October to set the 2025 budget.
Gran Anfi 25th February meeting
Members of the resort committees have to sign quite strict confidentiality agreements when they are elected. This means we can raise issues you put to us with Anfi management, but are not always allowed to report back the response! This year I was reminded of this when I was reprimanded for something I posted, therefore I hope members will be patient when you ask me something.
This year has seen work continuing to repair the concrete on the façade of Gran Anfi. You can see the section around the x06 apartments that has been completed. As a result of the investigations carried out around this, management have decided that real plants will never return to the balcony flower boxes as the watering is likely to result in further damage. In the interim it is likely that artificial grass will cover the flower boxes once the current work is finished. This expenditure on ‘hidden’ work has been the main theme of the past two or three years. Gran Anfi is now of an age where expensive items that work in the background to keep our club running need to be replaced. Examples are the ongoing repairs to the corridor railings, fire safety equipment changes and work in the pump and machinery rooms. It is this, rather than obvious things like furnishing, that our maintenance fees are spent on.
As a resort committee, we question and challenge where we can with the aim that the quality of Gran Anfi should be maintained, in the background as well as the more tangible items. Management had been very cooperative and we had thought that a good understanding based around ‘all of us wanting the best for owners’ had been built up. Towards the end of 2023 this dramatically broke down, and we are still not sure why. It revolved around two issues:1. The 2024 budget
2. The October 2023 OGM.
In the past management had proposed a couple of budget alternatives, which we discussed and either agreed or came to a compromise, often in consultation with the other clubs. This year management called a budget meeting but completely ignored our views, imposing a low 2.5% increase that, in our view, leaves the club underfunded and will place serious strain on the Replacement Fund (this exists to spread out the cost of major works over several years).
The meeting was assured that Gran Anfi was going to produce a surplus in 2023, so the extra money we wanted was not needed. In the event, the club made a substantial loss, which we had predicted, and the Replacement Fund is likely to decline to around €100,000 this year as all losses are covered by the Fund.
Then we found that Anfi are seeking to neuter the voice of ordinary owners on the resort committee by nominating a member of management, in the guise of Anfi Vacation Club, to the committee. They would not explain this. In the event we succeeded in getting the OGM delayed a year as the accounts were not ready, but there is every indication the same will happen in 2024. It feels as if management do not like owners having a voice and they showed by their actions in the Beach Club OGM that they see informed, active, customers as a ‘nuisance’.
In 2024 I would appeal to all owners to expertise their rights and vote in the OGM. When you see other owners around the pool, please spread the word and urge everyone to vote. I feel really angry about this as it runs contrary to the way timeshare resorts are run on other islands. It certainly shows that these national clubs have been effective, and I hope you will spread the word about them as well. The more members we have, and the more people take an active interest in the resorts we have put so much money into, the better.Roger Byatt
And it is shut again this week!
I received an email from Maroa Group (who operate the on-site restaurant in Gran Anfi) stating that it will be open 0800-2200 Friday and Saturday, with dinner served 1800-2200. Sunday-Thursday it will only open 0800-1800. The only service will be breakfast, lunch and happy hour.
Maroa do promise that the days when there is evening service the restaurant will feature sushi, ‘show cooking’ and seasonal specials.
The Gran Anfi OGM has been announced for 31 October 2024, by which time management hopes the 2022 & 2023 accounts will be ready. Judging by the actions taken at the Anfi Beach Club OGM, we fully expect a similar attempt to be made to oust the representatives linked to your national clubs.
Thank you for your comment.
Protests were lodged with Anfi as soon as the nominations were announced and during the committee meetings before the OGM. These just seemed to strengthen the resolve of Anfi management and, in my view, was the catalyst that made them decide to vote off all the existing committee that they could get rid of. I hope the new members will not prove to be as supine as Anfi hope.
I cannot comment on legal action, except to say that advice has been sought.
O2 still have inclusive European roaming (although I think it excludes the Channel Islands!) and, on some contracts, you get worldwide roaming.
Do read the ‘small print’ as I found that some definitions of roaming only include calls from the country you are in back to your home country. Therefore calling within the country, to book a restaurant for example, is actually a chargeable call.
If you were already in the court process then Anfi should not have asked you to sign a new contract. Your lawyer should be able to get this set aside and, maybe, Anfi should be fined. If you were not already suing then the new contract prevents you from doing so, although you should have been given a copy in the language of your choice otherwise there is no ‘informed consent’.
You also need to be aware that if you were mis-sold, the Court are closing applications for new claims at the end of November 2023 in order to bring the Administration to an end. Therefore if you, or any member, is thinking of claiming, they should do it now.
Hi Robert
They are still in Administration but there is a drive from the Administrator to raise as much money as possible for creditors, as their legal duty. That is why there is increased sales activity and unsold inventory being listed for rent on sites like Booking.com.
Roger
Yes, there are some accessible apartments with suitable bathrooms. As Geoff said, contact Customer Services.
Roger
It is expected that the new store will open in late September.
Roger
No, not officially in Spanish law, but in Anfi smoking is banned in areas with the green sun umbrellas. When I was there at Christmas it seemed to be pretty comprehensively banned by the children’s pools. And yes, I understand that includes vaping – however I will check next week when I am there.
Yes, this is exactly what my wife and I are doing in order to ensure that rights are passed on smoothly. Unless you are signing a new contract it costs €75 per contract to add owners.
Hi Vincent
Brian is correct about your options.
If Anfi send you a new contract you must email them and specifically reject it otherwise they will claim you cannot book. If you do this and then have any issues, please contact me and I can raise it with Anfi management. Signing a new contract does (probably) bar you from taking legal action, so you do need to think about this if that is a route you are considering.
All cases are frozen by the current administration. That does not mean you cannot initiate legal action but it is likely to take longer than ever. JLCA https://new.jlcalawyers.com/en/emma-belgum-2/ can give you some idea of time, cost and likely recovery amount.
However, given that you have a 2 bedroom fixed week, that is rentable and saleable. You should easily cover your maintenance fees and guest certificate cost while you wait to see how the situation at Anfi develops. You can advertise it for sale, but I am not sure there will be much interest until the future becomes more settled – although I could be wrong.
Roger
Can I raise your case directly with Anfi, Paul? I would need to mention your name in order to get any traction.
Resale weeks are not invited to sign a new contract. Anfi are concerned that they will be unable to deny us the same rights as direct sales if they do that, at least that is my interpretation.
At the top of the page once you have signed in go to the ‘My Club’ then ‘My Timeshares’ option. Either register the weeks you own if you have not done it already or select the week(s) you want to advertise. There is an option to advertise the week. This then fills most of the key information into the advert (although can amend it yourself as you wish, even adding photos). When you click on the option to advertise your week you will then be taken to the payment page. Once Steve has checked your advert it will go live.
Hi Christine
The options that are available to you will vary depending on whether you bought direct from Anfi and you are a member of Anfi Vacation Club or not.
Anfi’s position is the same as most tourist businesses: if flights are available and the resort is open then it is down to a discussion between you and your travel insurers. However, earlier in the summer Anfi were able to move my arrival date slightly to allow me to go when lockdown ended. While things are quiet in Gran Canaria that might be a discussion worth having. I understand that Anfi have also looked sympathetically on requests to ‘bank’ or ‘reschedule’ weeks when owners have been happy to sign the new style contracts (these are at no cost).
Even supposing nothing can be negotiated, you will not have ‘lost’ your money. The light occupancy means that we are likely to see savings made on the 2020/2021 budget which will result in lower fees for 2021/2.
