Hey, Trustpilot-Where’s The Justice For This Timeshare Owner?

A reader recently submitted a review of a major timeshare company to the online rating site Trustpilot. While I agree with Trustpilot’s attempts to verify all submitted ratings, this exchange clearly shows bias towards the developer in my opinion. 

I’ve redacted both the developer’s and the consumer’s name for obvious reasons:

My mother was talked into buying a timeshare at REDACTED NAME Vegas. She had a timeshare via another company in Arizona. She was notified it went bankrupt and that REDACTED NAME purchased her deed from them. They claimed she owned it but because it went bankrupt, there were no points to be used and she was on the hook for continued maintenance fees to REDACTED NAME for a timeshare she could NOT use for vacations. They further claimed said maintenance fees would be passed down to her children who would be just as responsible for paying money for a timeshare that could not be used.

Long story shorter, they got her to sign a contract for $35,000 plus $2000 a year in maintenance fees -- which we are told are going to increase. This took place in August of 2018.

Recently, REDACTED NAME contacted her via mail to invite her to a group meeting so owners could air their grievances and address concerns about their business. They claimed they wanted to help. When she was there, the representative she spoke with had her file and said her REDACTED NAME sales person lied to her about the points she purchased. That she wasn't a "true" silver member and was not eligible to take vacations to the places she expected to be able to go. He talked her into purchasing an additional points package for another $15,000. This happened last week. I found out the next day and went through the roof. I had her cancel the transaction via FAX (per their instruction) -- but I don't trust them. They can claim they never received the cancellation just as they can claim they never said any of the things they said to talk my mother into purchasing this property.

At NO time did any representative at this meeting bring up the issue of AIRING GRIEVANCES of ANY KIND. My mom said they proceeded to divide up the groups, separating owners so they could deal with them one on one. NO mention of the stated reason for the meeting at any point in time. This was a fishing expedition on the part of REDACTED NAME and that fishing trip turned into a hunting trip to further victimize previous victims.

This is the very definition of theft by deceit. It is in fact a white collar crime. 

How is it this company has free reign to use lies and deception to sign their income away with such impunity? This is the very definition of theft by deceit. It is in fact a white collar crime. Where is law enforcement protecting and serving? WHERE IS JUSTICE?

Now, in my opinion and I’m sure your opinion, this is a well written, well thought out and honest review. Unfortunately Trustpilot did not think so and responded:

Thanks for reviewing REDACTED NAME on Trustpilot.

REDACTED NAME has reported your review because they don’t believe you’ve had a genuine buying or service experience. Reported reviews are temporarily moved offline.

We’d like to verify your experience so that we can put your review back online. Help us do that by sending documentation showing your buying or service experience with REDACTED NAME

All you need to do is:

1 Find your order confirmation, invoice, delivery report or proof of service with REDACTED NAME. The documents should show: the name of the business, the name of the buyer (your name), the date, and a reference number. See more here.

2 Send your documents by replying to this email. We accept forwarded emails from REDACTED NAME, screenshots of user registration/profile or similar, and pdf attachments.

Please don't send us any sensitive documents such as copies of passports, medical records, or bank account details. If your documentation does contain sensitive information, please be sure to redact or black out those parts before sending it to us.

When we receive your documentation, we’ll review it and get back to you. We won’t share your documentation but your reference number will be visible to the reviewed company. If you don’t want this information shared let us know and we’ll be happy to honor your request.

If we don't hear from you within 7 days, we’ll have to keep your review offline. We won’t delete it though, so if you send your valid documentation at a later stage we can reinstate it.

Best regards,

The consumer then provided required information and received this response:

Thank you for getting back to us and addressing your concerns. Unfortunately, we will have to keep the review offline as you didn't have an experience with REDACTED NAME you (sic) mom is the one with the experience with the company. On Trustpilot per our Guidelines (https://legal.trustpilot.com/user-guidelines) the reviewer must of had an buying and/or service experience with the company. 

To which the consumer responded:

Katherine, I’m sorry, but your statement is incorrect. My mother can’t post her experiences because she is a 73 year old woman who barely knows how to deliver an email. I speak on her behalf. 

I was there with my mother to witness the deceptive sales practices of this company.  I was there when she signed the contract after a 7 hour convoluted marathon of game playing. I was there when the sales person distracted us while my mother signed a paper not knowing it negated everything we were told by the sales person, and, contained language protecting the company from any responsibility to what we were told by the sales person. AND I have been there every step of the way since.  

Is the intent of your service to defend the rights of company who commits elder abuse? No, it is to inform the public of the practices of the company at issue. Your company is called “TRUST” pilot is it not?  How can you defend keeping accurate information about this company’s deceptive practices based on a hair splitting argument like my name isn’t on the paper? 

Please reconsider. This company is predatory in their practices. This is about preventing other victims. This is about to blow wide open. My intention is to prevent others from falling victim to their weaponization of contract law that I witnessed firsthand. 

His review was again turned down by TrustPilot to which he responded:

Katherine, just so you know, you are denying this posting based on the letter of the rules of your service. 

Every judge and first year law student knows the law is never supposed to be enforced based on the letter of its written word. It’s supposed to be enforced based on the spirit of its intent. 

The same goes for the rules of your company. 

The intent of the rules of your company is to prevent false reports from being posted. This is not the case here. I have provided documentation showing we had the experience with REDACTED NAME. That proves I did not simply make up this story. I wouldn’t have those papers without a firsthand encounter. You know it. I know it.

Please do the right thing here. If you were in my mothers position,  you would want the same consideration. Better yet, what if it happened to your mom, and you were being denied the same way you are denying me? 

It seems to me that this person’s mother was at the very least, taken advantage of by this timeshare developer. In an attempt to both vent and more importantly, warn others about this developer’s shady practices, this consumer submitted an honest review only to be turned down. 

I ask the same question he did, “Where is justice?”