| Last week, Timeshare Facts shared the tragic tale of 79-year-old Alfred Jeung. Alfred was driven to suicide by the mounting debts resulting from a catastrophic series of Diamond Resorts coerced timeshare purchases made during the last two years of his life. The lawsuit filed by his surviving children describes how Diamond sales agents pushed Alfred to the brink, financially and mentally. But what was the final straw that drove Alfred to take his own life? Both Alfred’s suicide note and the lawsuit focus on a fateful sales presentation at the Polo Towers in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 11, 2018. That’s where Alfred and his wife Herng had gone in hopes of finding a way out of his Diamond dilemma once and for all. Instead, they found “Eddie” – a Diamond sales agent who was all too happy to help them dig an even deeper hole of debt. Here’s how the lawsuit tells the story. “Eddie advised [Alfred] that his annual maintenance fees were going to be $17,000-$18,000 per year because they owned 50,000 points in the Hawaii Collection and additional points in the U.S. Collection.” “Eddie fraudulently represented to [Alfred] that if he purchased enough additional points he would be able to consolidate both the Hawaii Collection and the U.S. Collection timeshare into a U.S. Collection timeshare so they could get out of the DIAMOND Membership for good.” “…once more points were purchased, they would be able to be sold, such that [Alfred] could free himself and his family from future obligations, and recoup his prior investment and the then planned upsell payments and obligations.” Alfred believed Eddie…which was perhaps the biggest mistake of his life. “The total price of this timeshare Membership was $424,297.00. [Alfred] made a $76,502 cash deposit and also received ‘trade in credit’ of $169,299 for conveying to DIAMOND his existing timeshare interests…and balance due after financing of $179,246.00” And where did the cash-strapped Alfred find the $76,000 for the down payment? “[Alfred] and his wife were induced to purportedly agree to the issuance to [Alfred] and to his wife, a ‘Diamond Resorts International World MasterCard,’ and were instantly approved for said credit cards while attending the marathon sales meeting without their consent.” “[Alfred] and his wife were not made aware of the opening of the two MasterCard accounts or the charges put on the cards until after the timeshare presentation when they were advised by Eddie that the credit cards had already been approved and charged multiple times for the amounts due on the contract before [Alfred] had consented, making him feel trapped.” Trapped…and desperate. Alfred was now facing loan payments and fee assessments totaling $48,000 per year – more than half of his income! Sadly, we all too aware how the story ended. “As a result, after [Alfred] came home and was able to have some distance from the transaction, he realized that he had been duped and coerced again into an even worse position than he had been in before, more debt, more forever obligations.” “In short, [Diamond’s] wrongful actions caused [Alfred] to be unable to decide to and act on that decision to refrain from killing himself in the moment when he pulled the trigger.” Eddie and Diamond should be ashamed. Instead, they are defiant and fighting the lawsuit brought by Alfred’s children. Perhaps Mark Wang could change that. He’s the CEO of Hilton Grand Vacations, which purchased Diamond Resorts in 2021. Let’s email Mark at mark.wang@hgv.com to ask if he is proud of how Eddie and Diamond treated Alfred or whether he thinks it’s time to own up to Diamond’s shameful behavior. It would also be good to know what Jason Gamel thinks of Diamond’s role in Alfred’s suicide. Jason is the President and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), the trade association for the timeshare industry. Diamond is one of ARDA’s most prominent members. Jason’s email is jgamel@arda.org Do the leaders of your own timeshare company have an opinion about Diamond’s role in Alfred’s death? Use this list of ARDA VIPs to contact them and find out. Want to share your thoughts with us? Email us at info@timesharefacts.com PS: Follow us on social media. Twitter Facebook Instagram |
