Google “hypocrisy.”
hy•po•cri•sy noun: the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.
That’s from the publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary. So we were willing to take their word for it.
But we must admit, we were surprised that the first thing that popped up on Google wasn’t more like this:
hy•po•cri•sy noun: the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) Code of Ethics.
ARDA is the timeshare industry’s trade association. And, believe us, its behavior does not conform to the standards it claims to have.
Maybe that’s because the ethics code requires that all the members of ARDA’s Ethics Committee come from the timeshare companies they are supposed to be policing.
What could possibly go wrong?
Tony can tell us. He’s one of the many Capital Vacations owners who have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
Admittedly, he probably didn’t even know that ARDA has an ethics code or that it requires: “All Members shall conduct their activities honestly and fairly in compliance with applicable laws, and with professionalism, integrity, dignity and propriety.”
But read Tony’s story and you can see that Capital Vacations failed on all counts.
“Capital Vacations lie and use pressure techniques to trap individuals into a contract that too often is a financial burden on their clients.”
“Lie 1. A 90-minute presentation: Turned out to be 6 and a half hours.”
That doesn’t seem fair.
“Lie 2. I asked more than once specifically what would happen if say my wife and I became unable to travel in two years. what would happen to the maintenance fees.: They would just go away and you wouldn’t have to pay them. Never was anything said about a 10-yr contract.”
Nor honest.
“Lie 3. Exhausted and filled with anxiety reluctantly signed with assurance that we could exit the membership at any time without penalty.”
Where’s the dignity, Capital Vacations?
“Lie 4. Was presented with the option to get $8000 dollars back and exit the program or stay in current contract and estimated maintenance fees would be double what was presented in initial meeting or pay an addition $19,000 and upgrade. We chose to get a refund.”
Okay, even we couldn’t find hypocrisy there…until we read further down.
“Lie 5. When corporate calls to verify the refund and exit make sure you are honest with them about initial sales deception. Corporate never called.”
That’s not very proper.
“When we called to inquire about our refunds, was told that that was not an option. The sales rep would not take our calls or return calls. He was a flat-out liar.”
And certainly not very professional (or honest, but also, see Lie 2).
“I would advise everyone, do not sit through the pressure sales, they lie and mislead you.”
And…there goes the integrity claim.
Even if ARDA’s Ethics Committee can’t be counted on to follow up, maybe Tony should take his complaint to ARDA’s Resort Owners Coalition, which is supposed to represent the interests of timeshare owners. Then again, Travis Bary, the co-president of Capital Vacations, and Ken McKelvey, an executive consultant to Capital Vacations, are both on its board of directors. So, maybe not.
Just for fun, let’s ask Travis and Ken how they would define “conflict of interest.” Travis’s email is tbary@capitalvacations.com and Ken’s is klm@capitalvacations.com.
Perhaps Jason Gamel, the President and CEO of ARDA, has another word for it. He’s a member of ARDA’s Ethics Committee and approves all of its members. Email him at jgamel@arda.org to find out how he would define “integrity.”
Are ethics ill-defined your timeshare company? Use the contact information in this list of ARDA VIPs to ask your company’s leaders for clarification.
Seen timeshare behavior that is the very definition of hypocrisy? Tell us at info@timesharefacts.com.
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