It’s probably the most quoted line from a criminal ever.
The story goes that when a reporter asked Willie Sutton, whose bank-robbing career spanned 40 years, why he robbed banks, Sutton replied, “Because that’s where the money is.”
Maybe to some, it’s an obvious answer. But it got us thinking.
After so much news coverage, and more importantly, after so many consumer complaints about how Diamond Resorts targets senior citizens for outrageously costly upgrades and questionable timeshare packages…
…why does Diamond appear to keep engaging in elder abuse?
Maybe because there is an obvious answer.
Just look at the money involved when Diamond targets seniors.
$250,000 in just 18 months from an 88-year old man on the edge of dementia.
$150,000 from an 88-year old woman and her 80-year old husband, both retired Christian missionaries, even though they rescinded their purchase in within the legal time frame.
$50,000 from an 81-year old man who alleged that Diamond engaged in elder abuse and fraud when it sent a bus to his assisted living facility in California to take him to Nevada where Diamond sales agents badgered him into a purchase during a 5 hour sales pitch.
$4,840 from a 77-year old woman, whose credit card was charged for a downpayment on timeshare she didn’t even buy!!
$4,000 more from a couple in their seventies for a “vacation sampler” they didn’t know they bought (and couldn’t get their money back).
The list goes on and on.
And the money keeps adding up and up.
And those are just the cases where we know the amount of money involved.
What about the ones where Diamond’s treatment of elderly customers amounts to appears to be abuse too?
Like the husband and wife, both seniors with diabetes, who Diamond cajoled into purchasing a timeshare by requiring them to go more than nine hours without medication or food?
Or the retired couple who paid Diamond $9,000 a year but couldn’t reserve a unit because Diamond told them only a few units were reserved for owners while the rest of the complex was reserved for “paying customers,” known as regular vacationers who booked online.
For Diamond, elder abuse appears to be where the money is.
Of course, the irony in all of this is that Willie Sutton denied having ever uttered his signature quote. Instead, in his autobiography, he gave the real rationale for robbing a bank: “Because I enjoyed it.”
Which got us thinking again…
…is that why Diamond continues to abuse seniors so often?
It’s a question worth posing to Mark Wang, the CEO of Hilton Grand Vacations. After Hilton bought Diamond in 2021, he’s been in charge. Email him at mark.wang@hgv.com and see what he says.
Or we could ask the man whose actual job is to know where the money is: Gordon Gurnik, Chief Operating Officer of Hilton Grand Vacations and Chair of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), the trade association for the timeshare industry. Gordon’s email is gordon.gurnik@hgv.com.
To get some perspective, we should also email Jason Gamel, ARDA’s CEO and President, to ask if abusing senior citizens is as good for the timeshare industry as it seems to have been for Diamond. Jason’s email is jason.gamel@arda.org.
Ever wonder why your timeshare company treats you the way it does? Use this list of ARDA VIPs to contact your company’s leaders and find out.
What’s the motivation for your timeshare company’s abuses — money or joy? Let us know atinfo@timesharefacts.com.
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