Wow! We think we’ve heard it all when it comes to timeshares sales.
But we just learned something new about Diamond.
Timeshare Facts has exposed dozens upon dozens of cases where Diamond Resorts agents use high-pressure tactics to strongarm customers into buying a timeshare.
So, imagine our surprise to learn that there are actual Diamond employees whose job it is to check whether sales are… wait for it… “correctly handled.”
Given the company’s track record… who knew?
Go figure! …But it’s all laid out in a lawsuit filed by former Diamond employee Gina Mori, who is suing the company after being fired for doing her job too well!
As the lawsuit tells us…
“As a Quality Assurance Representative, MORI’s job was to perform what DIAMOND called ‘Button-Up Briefing Reviews’ with customers after they made their purchases.”
“As part of this review, MORI was to go over aspects of the sale with the customer, including what they liked or dislikedabout the process and presentation, what type of sale it was, whether the salesperson ‘correctly handled’ the sale, and whether the salesperson talked about the fact that customers had an absolute right to rescind their purchase entirely within seven days.”
Quality control and consumer protection!! These are wonderful corporate practices!!
And by all accounts, Gina did a great job. She dutifully alerted her supervisors when she found Diamond agents who, we will say politely, handled sales… ahem…incorrectly.
For example:
“Specifically, MORI reported that the customer had been (falsely) told by DIAMOND that they had to purchase a product from DIAMOND on that day in order to avoid an $8,000 assessment on their existing purchased from DIAMOND.”
Gina also reported that agents were using, “the ‘buyback’ scheme, wherein customers were falsely told that DIAMOND would buy back unused points from the customers” and “the ‘equity’ scheme where owners were told that after 24 months (two years) they could recover their ‘equity’ as either a lump sum or a monthly check from DIAMOND.”
“Another scheme was falsely telling customers they could use their ‘points’ to pay for yearly membership fees charged by DIAMOND…In actuality, points cannot – and never have been – permitted to be used to pay annual membership fees or airfare.”
That’s a lot of scheming! Good thing Gina was on the job!
When Gina’s supervisors heard her reports, they hopped on the phone and immediately fired the scheming agents. LOL – JUST KIDDING!
They did nothing of the sort…INSTEAD, they set up a call with Gina!
“During the phone call MORI again disclosed the fraudulent conduct being perpetrated by salespersons. Rather than address these concerns, MORI was disciplined by DIAMOND and given a ‘coaching’ as if she was in the wrong, when it was actually sales agents committing the fraud.”
Now THAT sounds more like the Diamond we’ve all come to know.
And when the COVID-19 pandemic came along, Diamond went further.
“Although DIAMOND claimed to ‘furlough’ MORI due to the pandemic, it continued to employ sales representatives, including those who had been engaged in the most egregious fraudulent behavior, and continued to have them pitch and close deals with new and existing customers.”
A few months later, another call with Gina’s supervisors brought more bad news.
“During this call, MORI was told her employment was being terminated, effective immediately because DIAMOND was not ‘busy enough’ to keep her.”
This time we’re NOT kidding.
Even though the scheming agents stayed on…and kept racking up sales…it was GINA, the Quality Assurance Representative, who had to go!
You know who didn’t handle this well?
Mark Wang, the CEO of Hilton Grand Vacations, which purchased Diamond Resorts in 2021. Let’s email Mark at mark.wang@hgv.com and tell him.
Let’s also email Jason Gamel. Jason’s the President and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), which represents timeshare companies in Washington, DC. Jason’s email is jgamel@arda.org.
Worried about “quality assurance” at your timeshare company? Use the information in this list of ARDA VIPs to contact its leaders.
Have you been mishandled by a timeshare company? Report them to us at info@timesharefacts.com.
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