| Troy may be from Evansville, Indiana…but he sure gets around. He’s had to endure the timeshare sales pitch from Diamond Resorts in places like Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Maui and Orlando. That’s why we believe him when he says, “It is at the same time easy and difficult to file a complaint about this company.” “It is easy because of the lies that the salesmen told us.” “It is difficult because of the way that the salesmen used facts about our lives to foster a sense of relationship and friendship and a kinship in the past illness of our eldest child.” You can read Troy’s anguished story for yourself. It’s right there in the 2,170 pages of complaints against Diamond Resorts on file in the Florida Attorney General’s office. Over the years, Troy’s had several Diamond sales agents lie to him. But his experience with two in particular stand out. “Our oldest daughter was diagnosed with cancer at age eight; we made it through that time. Now this salesman was going on and on about he himself having cancer. It was sickening to hear him talk and use that time in our lives to create a false common bond.” Troy has a name for people who do that. “Predator!” Understandably so. But maybe that agent was just an outlier? Not exactly. “Another salesman told us he was from our home state and visits the same lake where we go. Oh, what are the odds of that; care to guess?” “Predator!” Troy is outraged…and rightly so because Diamond agents shattered the dream Troy and his wife had for their daughters, including the one who survived cancer. “The biggest lie they told us was that we could roll over points and that they were ours forever. The main purpose for getting this timeshare was to save our points to take the girls to Paris after graduation.” “The salesmen knew this was our goal. There was no way they could not know because we told them that right up front.” “Much to our surprise we found out…all of our saved points were taken away.” ALL of their points? But how? “We called to ask why. The rep told us that it is in the fine print ‘somewhere’ that points can only be carried over one year and then they expire.” “That is NOT what the sales reps told us.” “In hindsight it appears to us that this money could have been put to better use by booking a Paris vacation ourselves.” Our hearts are heavy for Troy. We hope his family found a way to get to Paris…especially without Diamond’s “help.” And maybe we can find a way to end Diamond’s predatory practices. Let’s start by emailing Mark Wang, the CEO of Hilton Grand Vacations, which purchased Diamond Resorts in 2021. His email is mark.wang@hgv.com Ask Mark when he will prohibit his agents from preying on vulnerable families like Troy’s. We can also email Jason Gamel, the President and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), which represents timeshare companies in Washington, DC. You can reach Jason directly at jgamel@arda.org Let’s what Jason is doing to make sure that other timeshare companies aren’t predators like Diamond. Would your timeshare company prey on families the way Diamond did? Use the contact information in this list of ARDA VIPs to find out. And if your timeshare has kept you from achieving your dreams, let us know at info@timesharefacts.com PS: Follow us on social media. Twitter Facebook Instagram |
