In the market, there are many attractive advertisements and introductions about the benefits of customers (Resort Guests) when participating in this model such as:

* Attractive contract value: the cost per night of a Resort Guest is many times lower than that of a transient guest;

* High-class resort services: 5-star resort services, international standards, leading in Vietnam;

* Ideal profitable investment channel: Resort guests can easily transfer the entire contract or each week of stay with high profits;

* Rich resort locations: Resort guests can stay at the Company's projects or other locations in the country and abroad (possibly worldwide) of partners in the network associated with the Company;

* Reputable service provider: service providers are reputable companies with economic potential and long-term business experience in the market...

However, in reality, there are many cases where people participating in long-term resort service contracts/vacation ownership contracts report that their benefits in the signed contracts are not the same as advertised or introduced.

1. People's feedback and complaints about long-term resort service business activities (vacation ownership)

Recently, the National Competition Commission - Ministry of Industry and Trade has received many petitions and letters from customers, mainly requesting to cancel/terminate signed long-term vacation contracts and have the seller refund the contract value paid. The behaviors that people reflect are related to the seller's provision of long-term vacation services such as: signs of fraud, appropriation of assets, deception of customers; violation of tourism laws; violation of legal prohibitions; failure to properly perform the signed contract; actual transactions are not consistent with advertising information; providing false information; imposing unfavorable terms on consumers; increasing annual fees too high; unfavorable vacation bookings and contract transfers/rentals; signs of tax evasion, lack of transparency in auditing...

In addition to sending petitions and letters of reflection to the National Competition Commission, many people have sent petitions to the Ministry of Public Security to denounce violations of criminal law ( such as fraudulent appropriation of property ) and filed lawsuits with People's Courts at all levels to request the declaration of contracts invalid ( such as invalid due to violation of the law and due to fraud ).

In essence, long-term resort service business transactions are civil transactions, subject to the regulation of many different legal documents and under the management and handling authority of many state management agencies according to the assigned scope of authority, specifically: The National Competition Commission considers opinions and feedback from consumers from the legal aspect of consumer rights protection and competition law; other ministries, branches and localities perform state management functions according to their authority.

From the perspective of protecting consumer rights, the National Competition Commission has carried out activities such as: perfecting legal regulations on consumer rights protection in the Law on Consumer Rights Protection 2023; inspecting, examining and handling administrative violations; propagating, disseminating information, advising people; receiving citizens, working with businesses, coordinating with a number of relevant parties to handle people's feedback and recommendations; guiding people to send petitions to competent authorities such as the Ministry of Public Security, the Court, etc.

Regarding the request of the people to cancel/terminate the signed contract and get a refund, because this is a civil transaction, this request must be handled according to the provisions of the law on civil affairs and under the authority of the civil dispute resolution agency. The National Competition Commission has instructed the people to submit the application to the competent authorities such as the Ministry of Public Security and the Court.

2. Some things to note in long-term resort contracts (vacation ownership)

From the perspective of protecting consumer rights, based on international experience, petitions from people and some information reflecting on this business model so far in Vietnam, the National Competition Commission has compiled some unclear contents that need to be noted in the type of vacation ownership contract for people to carefully study before deciding to participate in the transaction, specifically as follows:

a) Financial obligations of Resort Guests

In addition to the one-time payment at the time of signing the contract (about several hundred million VND), the Resort Guest may have to pay an annual fee (from several million to several tens of million VND) to actually use the resort right. However, the contract may not specifically and clearly stipulate this fee and related issues, for example: no specific fee is specified; no regulations on the principles of collection and change of fees at the time of signing the Contract and throughout the term of the Contract; lack of regulations on standards and quality of resort services provided... In fact, the terms of the contract may give the service provider the right to determine the annual fee and related issues.

b) Quality of resort services

Although advertised very attractively with international-class amenities and 5-star resort quality, the list of services and service quality provided to Resort Guests may not be specified in the contract. This makes Resort Guests lack legal grounds to complain to the service provider in case they think the service quality is not guaranteed, not commensurate with the annual cost/maintenance fee to be paid or not in line with the expectation of an ideal resort location - the purpose of establishing the initial contract of the buyer.

c) Investment profitability

According to the reflection of a group of buyers, they participate in the vacation ownership contract as a profitable investment channel because they are introduced and promised (but not specified in the contract) that they can easily transfer part/all of the contract or rights and obligations arising from the contract to a third party. However, this transfer may be associated with the condition of paying a fee and must be agreed in writing by the service provider in advance. The specific transfer fee and transfer conditions may not be specified at the time of signing the Contract but are subject to the decision of the service provider at each time.

d) Resort location

In addition to the ability to generate profits, a variety of resort locations is also one of the benefits that attract buyers. According to advertising and introduction information, Resort Guests can stay at the Enterprise's project or other locations in the country and abroad (possibly worldwide) of partners in the network associated with the Enterprise. However, in the contract, the Resort Guests may not be provided with information about the list of specific affiliated companies, and the service provider is not committed to the criteria for selecting affiliated partners. Accordingly, there is no basis to bind the Enterprise's responsibility when the Enterprise chooses an affiliated partner that lacks capacity/does not meet the expectations of the Resort Guests.

e) Sanctions for violations

Normally, contracts will stipulate the right of the Enterprise to terminate the Contract. However, the contract may not clearly stipulate or not stipulate specific cases in which the Resort Guest has the right to terminate or cancel the contract and the corresponding sanctions for violations by the service provider. Meanwhile, the contract may give the service provider the right to terminate the contract for any violation by the Resort Guest, from violations of payment obligations to violations of regulations in the rules/regulations and other groups of violations. Thus, the Resort Guest faces a great risk of having the Contract terminated by the service provider and losing the amount paid even though the contract term may be long.

3. Provisions of the Law on Consumer Protection 2023

In order to improve the effectiveness of protecting consumer rights in general and from the awareness of risks that may occur to consumers in the field of long-term resort services in particular, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has submitted and the 15th National Assembly, 5th session, has approved the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights No. 19/2023/QH15 dated June 20, 2023 ( effective from July 1, 2024 ) , which includes regulations on controlling standard contracts ( including standard resort contracts drafted by the seller ); responsibilities of the business party and rights of consumers in cases where the seller sells goods and services outside the seller's regular business location, specifically:

- Regarding control of standard contracts : The Law on Consumer Protection 2023 has provisions on the form, language and content of standard contracts in transactions with consumers, for example: the language and form must be clearly expressed and easy to understand (Article 23); must have the basic contents specified in Clause 3, Article 23 of the Law on Consumer Protection, and must comply with the provisions of other relevant laws; standard contracts must not include certain types of terms that are disadvantageous to consumers as specifically listed in Article 25 of the Law on Consumer Protection 2023.

- Regarding the responsibility of the business party : The Law on Consumer Rights Protection 2023 also sets out regulations on the responsibility of business organizations and individuals, including vacation ownership business organizations, in transactions with consumers, for example: responsibility to provide accurate and complete information about products, goods and services (Article 21); responsibility to spend reasonable time for consumers to study the model contract before signing; publicize the model contract in the prescribed form so that consumers know the content of the contract before the consumer signs the contract or makes a deposit or payment before the contract is signed (Article 27)...

- Regarding the rights of consumers in cases where the seller sells goods and services not at the regular transaction location : in order to protect the rights of consumers against business organizations and individuals proactively approaching consumers to sell goods, the Law on Consumer Protection 2023 adds new provisions (compared to the Law on Consumer Protection 2010) on the right to unilaterally terminate the contract entered into by consumers within a certain period of time and before the end of this period, business organizations and individuals are not allowed to request consumers to deposit, pay or perform the contract (Point g, Clause 1, Article 47 of the Law on Consumer Protection 2023), specifically:

“ 1. Except where otherwise provided by law, when selling products, goods, or providing services not at regular transaction locations with a total value of more than VND 10 million, business organizations and individuals have the following responsibilities:

g) In case the contract for the provision of products, goods and services specified in this Article is made in writing, the business organization or individual must forward the contract to the consumer. Within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the contract, the consumer has the right to decide to perform the contract or unilaterally terminate the performance of the signed contract and notify the business organization or individual. Before the expiry of this period, the business organization or individual must not request the consumer to deposit, pay or perform the contract, unless otherwise provided by law.”

However, because the law on consumer rights protection only regulates the relationship between organizations, businesses and consumers and regulates all areas of life ( not approaching the management goals of industries and fields ), the Law on Consumer Rights Protection 2023 and its implementing documents do not have separate provisions to regulate specific problems in the field of long-term resort services business nor regulate investment transactions and profitable business of customers.

Therefore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed to competent authorities a plan to perfect relevant legal regulations such as tourism laws to protect the rights of parties involved in transactions; at the same time, it recommends that relevant agencies regularly disseminate and warn people about the risks when signing long-term resort contracts with partners and investors.

Due to the fact that the terms of a vacation ownership contract are often complicated, the amount of one-time payment is large, the contract term is long, the termination mechanism for the Vacationer Contract may be inconvenient, along with many other restrictions that may be stipulated in the contract, the National Competition Commission recommends that people carefully study the contract and ask for legal advice, if possible, to comprehensively assess the rights, obligations and possible risks before deciding to participate in the transaction.