| Common courtesy. It’s the least a company can provide when dealing with customers. If someone has a question about your product, you answer it. If something goes wrong, you fix it. If you make a customer a promise, you keep it. Practicing common courtesy would just seem to make good business sense. So you have to wonder, after reading through the 2,170 pages of complaints against Diamond Resorts reported to the Florida Attorney General’s office, why does common courtesy seem in such short supply at Diamond. It’s certainly not a courtesy Diamond provided to Mary and Robert of Fort Collins, Colorado. According to their complaint, they have owned their timeshare for more than 30 years. But age and reduced income has made their timeshare more of a burden than a pleasure. So, in 2017, they arranged to transition their timeshare back to their timeshare association, which had been purchased by Diamond. “We were guaranteed as told over the phone, that if the maintenance fees were current then our week would be transitioned…The maintenance fees were paid in full through 2017…I agreed to pay a fee as I recall of $395.00 for the transfer.” And then… “The Association and Diamond Resorts did nothing except receive the maintenance fees.” Nothing? “Diamond Resorts failed to live up to their verbal representations.” That’s very discourteous. So, Robert and Mary tried again. “In 2019, we wanted to get our legal affairs in order and again tried to transition the week to Diamond Resorts under our 2017 agreement. Diamond Resorts now wanted another year of maintenance fees paid before they would consider our transition.” And what would Robert and Mary get in return? “Diamond Resorts refused to give us written confirmation that if the arrear maintenance fees were paid they would ‘consider’ the transition.” So, again…NOTHING from Diamond. No transition. No consideration. And, eventually, no communication. In 2020, a Diamond representative, “promised a contact to continue my request for transition.” “No return contact was ever made.” In the meantime, Diamond’s lack of courtesy has turned from frustrating to tragic for Robert and Mary. “My wife Mary has been diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer in January 2020. We have limited resources and primarily live on our social security income.” “The only thing that Diamond Resorts wants is paid maintenance fees and no assurances that they will accept the transitions.” Why is common courtesy – and decency – so uncommon at Diamond? Mark Wang should answer that question. He’s the CEO of Hilton Grand Vacations, which purchased Diamond Resorts in 2021. Let’s email him at mark.wang@hgv.com and ask. Responding is the least he can do. Maybe Jason Gamel can explain too. He’s the President and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), the national trade association of the timeshare industry, and Diamond is one of their most influential members. Let’s email Jason at jgamel@arda.org and see if he knows why courtesy is so hard to come by at Diamond. Is common courtesy something you can expect from your own timeshare company? Find out by using this list of ARDA VIPs to contact its leaders. Been disrespected by your timeshare company? Tell us how at info@timesharefacts.com PS: Follow us on social media. Twitter Facebook Instagram |
