RogerB
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A quick reminder that I will be at Gran Anfi from 24 June. Our next committee meeting is Thursday 29 June. If anyone has anything they want raised with Anfi management, please let me know.
Apart from the issues with the Administration process, we are already discussing:
– Furniture refurbishment and replacement timetables
– Environmentally less damaging toiletry and washing up provisions
– Update on remedial external concrete works
– Financial review at mid year point
– Balcony flowers
– Electric car chargingRoger
We had it confirmed this week at the Gran Anfi Committee that these are genuine weeks being listed by Anfi Sales as an experiment. The Administrator requires the company to raise revenue for creditors, and listing weeks at roughly double the maintenance fee is one way to do it. We were assured they are only listing apartments owned by Anfi Sales that have not been reserved inside the normal 10 month booking window. The price has been set to be roughly what Scandinavians rent for on their sites.
Any cheap weeks are, we are told, listed by individuals as last minute offers. I think I am right in suggesting anyone can list on Booking, Expedia and AirBnB.
Thanks for the comments. I raised your concerns in the committee and was told that:
1. The bin emptying will resume in mid July once the clubs get busier and the hot weather means waste is likely to go off faster. The apartments requesting extra bin emptying tend to be those with children.
2. The entertainment in the plaza should resume, but on a smaller scale, fairly soon. It is paid for by the restaurants and they have been trying to negotiate the use of the stage, but it is likely to just be on the ground in the plaza as that is public land and not part of the concession area.
3. Benito’s mini disco is happening in the plaza at 1930 each night.
Roger
This is the same situation as my wife and I, so I will attempt to answer you based on our situation.
If you own weeks during the period when Anfi had to close in 2019 then you will have been allocated a ‘virtual voucher’ for use by the end of 2022. You cannot see this online but AVC and Customer Service have records. Unfortunately they are overwhelmed at the moment and are taking time to answer emails and phones. To check what you should have you need to look at your ownership and answer these questions:
1. Do I have a fixed week between weeks 11-30 in 2020 when Spain was in lockdown? If ‘yes’ then you have a vitual voucher for each week you own.
2. Did you request and receive a discount for your 2021 (not 2022) maintenance fees, if you did then that was instead of the voucher.
3. If you booked a floating week in that closure period but did not cancel it then the same applies.
4. For 2021 the position is reversed. If at any point you had a fixed week or booking and you did not bank it or cancel it then you will have received a 60% discount on your fees unless you requested a voucher.
To use a voucher you need to call AVC or email, but phone is better so you can have a conversation about availability. You are most likely to get a week if you want it next to one you already have, in other words you want to come in 2022 as normal but come for longer.
I hope that helps.
Hi Doreen
You can use your votes yourself or, if you are not sure who to vote for, appoint Geoff Mathews.
Roger
I returned from Anfi this week. There is no truth in the rumours you have heard. The Spanish government are housing migrants in some accomodation in Gran Canaria but this absolutely does not include Anfi. Indeed the focus of the goverment’s initial asylum processing has moved away from Arguineguin to Las Palmas.
I can confirm Anfi Beach Club opened on 19 December, at least for the immediate Christmas and New Year period.
It is still pretty quiet at Anfi and there is no shortage of sun loungers!
Hi Lawrence
Owners of weeks when the clubs were closed could opt by 31 July for either a 60% reduction in their 2021 fees or a voucher used to reserve an extra week in 2021 or 2022. On the Liaison Committees we were told some 80% of members had opted for the voucher and most were adding it onto an existing week to make a longer holiday. To make a reservation using a voucher you need to contact Anfi Vacation Club. Phone is much better than email. You can change any voucher reservation up to 2 weeks before departure if there is another travel restriction.
Let us know how you get on.
Roger
You do need to be aware that the UK is currently classed as a ‘red risk’ country for Covid19. Therefore you must have a negative Covid19 test certificate before you travel and it must be no earlier than 72 hours before you travel. It must the the PCR (nasal swab) test. The Canary Islands were hoping to be able to accept the faster (and cheaper) ‘lateral flow’ method but the Spanish government will not allow this.
The tests are available at some Boots Pharmacies in person or via the post from Lloyds Pharmacies
The cost is about £120 per person.
At the moment you need to factor this into your holiday cost. You cannot get a free NHS test as this is only for people who might be sick.
Roger
You do need to be aware that the UK is currently classed as a ‘red risk’ country for Covid19. Therefore you must have a negative Covid19 test certificate before you travel and it must be no earlier than 72 hours before you travel. It must the the PCR (nasal swab) test. The Canary Islands were hoping to be able to accept the faster (and cheaper) ‘lateral flow’ but the Spanish government will not allow this.
The tests are available at some Boots Pharmacies in person or via the post from Lloyds Pharmacies
The cost is about £120 per person.
At the moment you need to factor this into your holiday cost. You cannot get a free NHS test as this is only for people who might be sick.
Roger
Hi Vee
It sounds as though your message requesting the rebate has not been recorded properly. I am not sure if the Covid email address is being monitored. If I were you I would send a message stating your request for a rebate and the date when you originally asked for this and then the dates of each chasing email to the Head of Customer Services Maria Hidalgo mhidalgo@anfi.es and the Finance Team at collections-br@anfi.es
Let us know how you get on.
Roger
I am not sure why you cannot bank your week and use it next year if you have a floating contract. Am I missing something? If it is a 2019 week you are using that would expire in 2020 I know other members have found solutions in discussion with Customer Services. Let me know how you get on.
Hi Ian
Have you had a response from Anfi? I have just raised this with Anfi management and will see what response I get.
Beach Club being closed is not a problem because Anfi are simply relocating owners to Monte or Gran in equivalent apartments.
I know this is a very difficult situation, and frustrating. Let’s hope we can find a way through it.
Roger
All the clubs agreed to set a budget at 90% of the 2020 level. As I was involved in the decision, perhaps I can share with you the reason for the fees being set at this level:
- January to the end of March, there were no savings as Anfi was operating normally.
- End of March until end of July (weeks 11-30) Anfi was closed. Some maintenance and safety work continued. Provision for future renewal work is spread over the year in the budget, resulting in a total saving of about 60% on budget. This has been returned to members directly affected in the form of a rebate against 2021 invoices or a voucher for an extra week in 2021 or 2022. As these people could not go to Anfi even if they wanted to, this seemed the fairest decision.
- In August and September Anfi was open, although bookings were so low that only Gran Anfi and Monte Anfi are currently being used. There are savings resulting from this reduced use but we only had data for two months when setting budgets. Therefore we could only pass those savings that had actually already been made onto members. We did look at trying to estimate the savings for the rest of 2020 but the situation is changing so fast in different countries that it is just not possible to predict occupancy for the rest of 2020 with any certainty. Therefore the budget was set at a prudent level and we will then rebate further savings in the 2022 budget.
I know this may not be the answer you want, but we did not feel comfortable setting a very speculative budget that could put the viability of the clubs in jeopardy.
Roger Byatt
Gran Anfi Liaison Committee Member-
This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by
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Anfi tell me they are overwhelmed by the volume of enquiries so there will be a delay before they can reply. You can call AVC, but do bear in mind that some staff are still on furlough and working from home.
I am enquiring about the situation with restaurants, pools etc. At the moment I am not clear about the Spanish governments position regarding social distancing and capacity restrictions in open air areas.
With regard to points, floating and weeks availability, there is a lot more availability in 2020. The reason is that the agreement struck with Anfi gives members access to any weeks that are held by Anfi Sales, in other words the unsold weeks. I am not sure whether they have been released into the AVC pool yet or whether it is 1 July. Therefore you should find it easier to book in October. The Anfi Sales weeks are also available for 2021 & 2022. This adds over 7,000 weeks to the availability, of which 73% is in Anfi Del Mar and the remainder at Emerald Club.
If you had a booking in the affected weeks 11-20, even if you banked it, your validity will be extended. Anfi say: “[Regarding] points that expire at the end of 2020 it was confirmed that they would be extended until 2021 but none of these transactions can be done automatically in our system and Members must make contact with Customer Services.”
There is a special email to deal with all of these situations infocovid@anfi.es Affected members MUST email by 31 July 2020.
If you had a booking in the affected weeks 11-20, even if you banked it, you should make contact with Anfi via the special email set up to deal with all of these situations infocovid@anfi.es Affected members MUST email by 31 July 2020.
I am told there is much more availability to book in 2020, 2021 and 2022 as Anfi Sales have made all 7,000 unsold weeks available for AVC to reserve for affected members.
You will not be required to sign a new contract, but expect it to be suggested.
If you had a booking in the affected weeks 11-20, even if you banked it, you should make contact with Anfi via the special email set up to deal with all of these situations infocovid@anfi.es Affected members MUST email by 31 July 2020.
Hi Brian & John
The situation with points expiring in 2020 is not clear cut.
There is a lot more availability in 2020. The reason is that the agreement struck with Anfi gives members access to any weeks that are held by Anfi Sales, in other words the unsold weeks. I am not sure whether they have been released into the AVC pool yet or whether it is 1 July. Therefore you should find it easier to book in October. The Anfi Sales weeks are also available for 2021 & 2022. This adds over 7,000 weeks to the availability, of which 73% is in Anfi Del Mar and the remainder at Emerald Club.
If you had a booking in the affected weeks 11-20, even if you banked it, your validity will be extended. Anfi say: “[Regarding] points that expire at the end of 2020 it was confirmed that they would be extended until 2021 but none of these transactions can be done automatically in our system and Members must make contact with Customer Services.”
There is a special email to deal with all of these situations infocovid@anfi.es Affected members MUST email by 31 July 2020.
An agreement has been reached with Anfi but I hope you will appreciate that I am not allowed to say anything until after Anfi themselves make an announcement.
Right – I will try to reply to all the points raised without breaking any confidentiality that could jeopardise negotiations.
1. Why less than 100% refund?
The fees we pay each year are for maintenance of the apartment, not rent, which is why we are technically not entitled to anything back. Anfi themselves said they wanted to find a way to give something to members who have lost out, which is very fair of them. Looking at the monthly accounts Anfi are saving about 30-40% of their normal operating and maintenance costs by having staff furloughed. Cleaning and laundry does not need to be done when the place is shut. The option of a part refund is returning the element to members that Anfi have not had to spend.
2. Voucher Terms
The voucher is for a replacement week in a similar sized apartment, but the location cannot be guaranteed. Most vacant weeks are at Tauro, so it is likely you may be offered there, especially in popular months like October. The voucher, unlike cash, cannot be guaranteed if Anfi is either taken over or goes into administration so this is a risk.
3. Equality of Treatment
Both Anfi and ourselves are clear that any scheme will be offered to all members, regardless of how the weeks were purchased.
4. What about points & floating weeks?
At the moment there has been no discussion about extending the validity of points or banked weeks, but this will be dealt with once we have agreed the basic shape of the scheme. The complication is that this would only apply to points/floating members who had a reservation in the affected period and did not re-bank it.
5. Can Anfi make me sign their new contract?
The short answer is ‘No’, but they will encourage you to do so. They believe these contracts protect them against future legal claims. For us it is a chance to include family members free of charge which simplifies the issue of succession. In my case I have read the contract and have signed the current version, but is up to everyone to make up their own minds.
6. Travel Insurance
There is a discussion regarding travel insurance. Most policies will not cover timeshare fees. They are often specifically excluded in the small print. A large number of policies will only cover package holidays, so any independently booked accommodation is excluded. The advice is: read the policy before purchase and do not just go for the cheapest. I had a nasty shock with mine. I knew timeshare fees were covered, but had not realised that I had to pay my maintenance fees with my AmEx card for that cover to apply – claim denied.
If I have forgotten anything, please ask.
Stay well, stay safe.
Roger
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This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by
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This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by
Hi Eric
There is some confusion around this €40 fee, and not everyone in Customer Services is doing the same thing. I will contact Anfi on Monday to try and get some clarity.
My understanding is that there is no fee payable if your week is within the Spanish lockdown period as that is outside your control. If you are cancelling because the UK is locked down, but it is outside the Spanish closure period, then the fee may be payable. If you week is outside either of the officially announced closure periods then the fee will be payable, even if the lockdown is extended later (but after you have cancelled) to cover the period in question.
If you don’t pay the fee then the week is not cancelled (unless the Spanish closure period is extended) and you will be marked as a ‘non arrival’ and you will lose the week.
I hope that helps.
Roger
Now, as most of you will have heard, the Spanish government has ordered the closure of all tourist facilities (hotels & timeshare) from 26 March at the latest.
Roger
Hi Claire
I will let you know the situation once there is a response from Anfi.
With regard to your rented weeks, I would advise the renter to claim from their travel insurance as it is essentially like a hotel booking. They are more likely to be able to claim than you as it is genuinely a rental. I had to issue an invoice to my renter as proof of payment. The problem with you claiming is that many travel policies exclude claims for timeshare fees.
Roger
Hi Claire
All of the European Clubs are in touch with Anfi about this.
Based on other hotels, I think it is unlikely we can get maintenance fees back because this is outside the control of the organisation. It will be a case of checking your travel insurance. The challenge for any organisation like this is that the fees we pay are needed for upkeep. If they refund, then there is a massive whole in their revenue which will have to be recovered from us, the owners. Alternatively, it could be enough to cause them to go bust if they refund the fees and this goes on long enough. Like you, I have fixed weeks I now cannot use, but I can see both sides of the discussion.
As soon as there is more news I will post it.
Roger
