| “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence,” so the saying goes. Frustrated timeshare customers can be forgiven for wondering whether a different timeshare company would be different. Would a new timeshare protect them … … from the unscrupulous upgrade schemes … and pie-in-the-sky promises … that they have already been subjected to by the one the currently own? Spoiler alert: the answer is “NO.” That’s what Sharon and her husband discovered. They were talked into switching their Westgate timeshare to Diamond. The Blanchard, Oklahoma couple shared their story with the Florida Attorney General’s office, which is where we found it among 2,170 page of complaints against Diamond Resorts. While they were vacationing at their Westgate timeshare, “A Diamond representative approached and offered a free round of golf if we would only come to a brief presentation.” “The sales rep and his manager explained that there would be a way to use our Westgate timeshare to get more points on Diamond.” “The main concern in doing this was that I did not want to be responsible for two separate timeshares. Most importantly, I did not want two maintenance fees.” “After the discussion, the understanding was that I would sign over the Westgate timeshare to Diamond Resorts in exchange for a better deal with Diamond.” And how did that go? “My first surprise was that my Westgate timeshare was not automatically deposited at the beginning of the year. To add to the disappointment, I received TWO separate maintenance fees which I had beenpromised would not happen.” Sounds like it didn’t go well… At another presentation a sales representative promised the couple, “if we upgraded now we could take advantage of being able to both book a cruise and pay our maintenance fees totally with the use of points.” “We told them our priority was in booking a cruise…for our 40th wedding anniversary.” “We were assured that we would be able to do this easily. However. my new ‘CLUB’ access would not begin for another 45 days.” “After the 45 days, I began obtaining info about the points usage and cruises. I was told that access into the new ‘CLUB’ had not yet been granted as promised. Obviously, I was upset.” We would be too. “Sixty to seventy-five days later, the CLUB membership was finally acknowledged.” BUT… “I was told I would not be able to book a cruise this year because all cruises must be booked before May!” “This upgrade would NEVER have happened if I had known we could not book a cruise with Diamond for our anniversary.” “Diamond Resorts has fed us nothing but lie after lie after lie.” How can we send Diamond the message that misleading sales tactics aren’t leading anyone to greener pastures? Let’s start with Mark Wang, the CEO of Hilton Grand Vacations, which purchased Diamond Resorts in 2021. You can email him at mark.wang@hgv.com Someone else who should be unnerved by Ruby and Ronald’s story is Jason Gamel, the President and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), which represents timeshare companies in Washington, DC. You can email him at jgamel@arda.org. If you want to find some peace of mind with your own timeshare company – or give them a piece of your own — you can find the contact information for its leaders in this list of ARDA VIPs. And, of course, you can share any timeshare tales of terror with us at info@timesharefacts.com. PS: Follow us on social media. Twitter Facebook Instagram |
