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My husband and I feel misled by Diamond Resort International. The presentation was only suppose to be 90 minutes. It began at 9:30 and lasted until 2:30PM. Because of the length of time, we felt pressured to agree to something in order to leave. We agreed to paying the down payment for 'The Sampler' with the understanding that we had 14 days until the contract was solidified.
Upon calling to cancel (within the time period), we were told that we were unable to do so. The crafty salesmen never mentioned we would be unable to cancel. We were completely shocked and dismayed when learning we were locked into a product that we have never used and no longer wanted. The representative was no help and extremely unprofessional. She yelled at my husband on the phone and when asked if we could speak to someone else, she said there was no one. She said she would send an email to the escalation department and they would contact us within 7-10 business days. At this point, we don't trust her and ask for the number to the escalation department so that we could follow-up. She again said no angrily and proceeded to push us off the phone.
The practices of this company are unlawful and have very little regard for the customer...of course, except for in the beginning when the salesmen put on a show to convince you to sign your life away. There has to be a way out of this and there must be ramifications for this type of practice. Please, anyone, help! We also sent an email to Patrick Duffy. Is there a class action suit pending or a petition to sign? Any advice would be very beneficial.
With Gratitude,
Erika
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich issued an Assurance of Discontinuance following a probe of Diamond Resorts. A settlement of $800, 000 has been awarded for restitution:
https://www.azag.gov/press-release/attorney-general-brnovich-announces-800000-settlement-diamond-resorts
If you check the link at the bottom of the Assurance of Discontinuance you can read all the rules Diamond must abide by in Arizona, include offering relinquishment if requested. The most important is the oral representation clause. They cannot deviate from the sales script using the oral representation clause as a license to lie. It a 37 page document. Anyone who purchased in Arizona or lives in Arizona and bought anywhere are eligible, but you must file a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General.
A class action is being filed. Know that class actions can take well over a year and if you win, Diamond will file an appeal and that takes another year. The DRI contract is iron clad so there are significant obstacles - one being your contract states that you will not take part in a class action. There are ways around that, but it certainly isn't easy. While the class action is ongoing, you are required to pay maintenance fees and loan payments. If you work one on one with a timeshare attorney, you do not make loan or maintenance fee payments. If you do not have a loan, the best option is to ask for a voluntary surrender as the cost for litigation is high. I publish articles in collaboration with Charles Thomas for Inside Timeshare in Spain. I am also a Diamond owner who flipped after a pathetically aggressive sales present at Grand Beach FL July 2015. Our article tomorrow 1/20 is called "Attorneys General For and Against Timeshare Under Trump" and you can contact us by posting a comment on an article or contact me directly via my public Facebook/irene.parker.7923. It is extremely important to file a complaint with the Attorney General where you live, where you signed a contract and Nevada. Hundreds filed complaints with the AZ AG and the Assurance of Discontinuance throwing out the oral representation clause for anyone who purchased in AZ or lives in AZ and purchased anywhere starting back in 2009 and into the future, is worth more than the $800000 settlement. Also file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the mortgage option even if no mortgage. Also write to Nevada Senator Becky Harris as we are promoting greater disclosure as to the limited or, in the case of DRI, a non-existent secondary market. Thank your lucky stars you signed your contract in Arizona. You are eligible for the settlement! Get out of jail free card.
We found that they completely represented themselves during the sales pitch. We live in Wisconsin and have paid for the "sampler" in full only to find out that if we didn't use it while we were paying for it we have lost our money. They told us there were many places to go and that there were locations close to our home and that we could use it even after paying. That was a complete lie! Now we have to get an attorney in Wisconsin to start a class action suit to get our money back. Please post everywhere you can that people should avoid doing business with these folks!
Does the contract allow class actions to be filed or do you have to file a claim in arbitration?
We stayed at a Diamond Resort in February in Sedona, a gift from my brother. Traveling to Sedona we planned to spend a night in Flagstaff and then proceed on to Sedona. Flagstaff was getting hit with two heavy back-to-back snowfalls that was forecast to shut-down Flagstaff (43 inches Friday to Monday). We called the resort to see if we could get in a night early by adding an extra night stay. They could accommodate us, and the price quote was not much higher than the Comfort Inn in Flagstaff. About 15 minutes later the resort concierge calls my cell phone apologizing that a “new” employee gave me an incorrect price quoted. The correct price was almost double. The concierge said the resort would waive the fee for that night if we greed to attend a 60-90-minute presentation. I stated that we have no intension of purchasing a timeshare. She said that decision was up to us but that was the only way the resort would waive the extra night lodging. So, we thought we could tolerate a 90 minutes timeshare pitch to save $268. When we checked into the resort I was told the concierge had to meet with me before they could complete the check-in. Shortly the concierge appeared and again became very apologetic about the screw-up and “to make things right” they were upgrading us from a studio to a suite. I state we were fine with the studio, but the concierge insisted; she just needed me to sign a form for waiver accountability. As she was going over the form two-dollar amounts surfaced: the extra night and the upgrade for a total of $643. If we did not attend the presentation my credit card would be billed for $643. I won’t go into the conversation that accompanied that, but jumping ahead to the presentation a person met us in the waiting area and as we were walked to the sales rep she stated that we had to be formally signed out of the presentation for the fees to be waived. When we began the presentation, the sales person stated that this waiver had to be signed-off by an executive in another building and she would not be the person escorting us to the executive. We had no interest in purchasing a time share. Just as we thought the sales person hitting on us was giving up, another person would sit down. After 4 ½ hours and 4 timeshare reps later (each having a lower cost offer) we finally caved and purchased the sampler. We were escorted to the exec in silence and I had the feeling the exec was considering clawing my eyes out. We have been trying to use the 15, 000 points which is another complaint story. A person involved in the Diamond timeshare scheme told us that the down payment for any of their presentation offerings is in the $350 range which is the commission the rep makes. Roughly 8 of 10 people (couples) commit. Not bad wages if they get 4 of 5 sales a day.
Have you had any resolve in this matter? I too was duped into the 20, 000 Sampler. Absolute lies and I'm not even certain all of the "tapped" initials on the notepad contract are mine. I NEVER once got to hold the notepad or scroll through the contract. I asked about cancellation and he was like oh yes sure. He scrolled through, I'm sure so that I did not see certain portions, and had me tap. I am certain I did not on the last page where he signed no name for sales representative. Then he ran off with the contract and printed it. I sent certified rescind letters 2 days after signing and went into the office where I was told I was SOL (I have that on video phone). Then I called the number on the contract. The girl I spoke to said she was submitting a form to upper management for misrepresentation and I should hear back in 7-10 days. Fingers are crossed. if I can't get this done, I will contact the Attorney General, the FTC, the BBB and contact an attorney. Look into class action. They already had one against them here in AZ. They were supposed to be abiding by certain rules of conduct. Might have to start up another one since the first didn't make them change anything about how they do business. They just got even more deceptive.