Hey Diamond-These Tactics Stink

Day in and day out I hear from once happy timeshare owners who are now miserable, angry and in many cases broke because of an unscrupulous upsell. 

Today’s video should serve as a wake up call-If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Do not be fooled into believing some outrageous story about needing to buy more timeshare in order to do anything; whether that be sell it back, pay off maintenance fees, use it for airfare, use it for hotel stays or anything else. 

Salespeople who pitch these lies should be prosecuted in my opinion. Developers who allow it should be put out of business in my opinion. 

Diamond or Apollo if you’re reading this, you’re doing yourself irreparable harm. This stinks. 

https://youtu.be/zAkBlfyhVYQ

And The Hits Keep Coming

The timeshare industry is now trying a new tactic on their social media sites; ‘Timeshare Myths.’

I don’t know whether the stuff they churn out is true or not. Frankly, I don’t care anymore. 

Here’s what I do care about. Major lawsuits. Major lawsuits against major timeshare developers. Major lawsuits against major timeshare developers coming with increasing frequency. 

Here’s the two latest:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/01/prweb15084332.htm

https://www.insidethegate.com/2018/02/major-developer-sued-for-alleged-violation-of-securities-act-of-1933/

WVO being sued for elder abuse and Diamond/Apollo being sued for securities violations. Let that sink in. 

After creating the product and the laws that govern it more than 40 years ago, two of the largest timeshare developers in the world are being sued for some incredibly serious violations. 

And yet, main stream media is loathe to cover this. 

How many more hits can this industry endure before some clever journalist or attorney takes a good long look at the systemic issues going on here?

If you think these two latest suits are isolated incidents, wake up. 

The Inflation Pitch Is Flawed-Very Flawed

Back in 2000 when I started selling timeshare, we salespeople routinely used the ‘hotel inflation’ pitch to persuade consumers to purchase the timeshare. 

That pitch is, to the best of my knowledge, still being used. 

The problem is that it’s flawed. Very flawed. 

We used to use $100 as the price of an average hotel room. So far so good. Then we used an annual inflation rate of 10%. Annual inflation rate. Using that math, over an 18 year period, you’d figure that that ‘average’ hotel room would be going for over $500. 

Statistics from TripAdvisor show that the average hotel room in the US is about $126. Furthermore, a 4 star hotel room in places such as San Francisco, New York or Boston, where you’d be hard pressed to find a timeshare, averages less than $360. 

To make matters worse, the industry likes to put out nifty, colorful infographics comparing the 20 year cost of a timeshare to renting a hotel room. A careful look at their numbers show that they’re using a cost of over $400 to represent the ‘average’ hotel cost. They also ‘conveniently’ forget to factor in the cost of eating when tallying up the cost of the timeshare. 

But I digress. 

The point here is that the inflation pitch you’ll get from the timeshare salesperson is flawed. Use your own numbers. Do you own research before purchasing anything. 

A timeshare may very well cost you more than a hotel room even in the long run. If that’s OK with you, then go for it. Just remember not to fall for a flawed inflation pitch. 

Hey Wyndham, Why The Upsell?

I’m publishing yet another unedited Guest Post concerning the very troubling epidemic of upselling existing timeshare owners. 

When will these developers realize that lying to their owners does them more harm than good?  The best and most effective marketing that any company can initiate is Wird of Mouth. These words anger me and I hope you as well. 

Hi Lisa, I hope you can help me or direct me on my issues with Wyndham Vacation Resorts.  I have been a Wyndham owner for 8 plus years and it has always been difficult to schedule vacations, I had to wait over a year to book and at that with limited selection.  Every time I complained, they had me "update" my package.  Last year we purchased so many points, we could not even use them, which is difficult to use when there are no availability so we just transferred them to RCI, now there's an even worse wait time and more fees.  

Every Thanksgiving we stay at the Glacier Canyon, Wisconsin Dells, as we did this Thanksgiving and once again I complained and once again they found the reason..... you don't have the right deed.  If you deed it with Glacier Canyon instead of Florida, you will be much happier and look at all the availability there is for you.  Not only that.... we will assign you to the "count on me team" who will even book your vacations for you!!!! The same gentleman that "upgraded" our package and promised he will schedule everything for me, I need a vacation, I call him, best to give him some time of course but still he will research it and won't book until I approve the vacation.  

We already discussed dates for 2018, I pulled up my calendar and told him when my kids are off of school so those days are open for travel.  Seven hours they kept us there to "update" our package.  We finally left and they even emailed me the next day that they are here for me if I have questions.

After the 5-day rescind period, we return home and I start emailing them on moving all the unused points or can they book something in Chicago for me as they promised at the signing that they would.  Deaf silence, no reply.  I email the "count on me team" every day and every other day and leave voice messages, still waiting for a reply.  Needless to say, nothing in my "new upgraded package" is available and nothing has changed except my expense of $300 monthly maintenance fees in additional to the new $1,200 a month loan.  THAT'S CRAZY AND I AM SO EMBARRESED THAT I GOT SUCKERED AGAIN!!

I had a booking this January for my daughter's birthday for 2 nites, we stayed there again, and again at check-in, they try to have you go up and listen to their presentation and they will give you $150 gift card.  I told them they can shove their presentation and their gift where the sun don't shine.  The staff said, if you don't like it here, why are you here?  I said that my children and I enjoy the facility, but I certainly don't enjoy the lies that Wyndham is selling.  I told them that I understand it is their job to find suckers but I am done listening to the lies and empty promises and quite frankly that's "breach of contract" as far as I'm concerned.  They tried to call up someone to talk to me but I said I had nothing more to tell them and that I am speaking with attorney to get out of it.  (Not sure if that was the right thing to say but I'm sure they were not moved by my threats).

At this point, we decided to get out of this SCAM.  I have to accept the fact that it will NEVER get better.  I can book quick and much cheaper same vacation on ebay than waiting for them to "fix" the booking or over-booking issues.

My questions is, do I just stop paying?  They have my credit card from where they pull the $300 a month maintenance fees and now are calling me about the $1,200 I signed into, which as of earlier in January I have defaulted.  I also had to give them a $3,000.00 check on the spot for the "closing fees".  So I am out a lot but am ready to be done with this.  I do work for a law firm, spoke with one of the attorney's but even that, I will have to pay something for their involvement.  I'm just wondering, with your experience, what would your suggestion be???

Yet Another Abysmal Upsell

I couldn’t make these up. 

Help please.  My 88 year old father and his 80 year old wife keep getting sold Points at Diamond Resorts.  Recently my dad said he gave them another $30,000 so he could get out of any more obligations, and so he could use his points to pay his annual dues.  He was confused when the nice man we called just told him that isn’t what he signed at all.  He now has 100,000 points, owes $158k and has over $13k due annually in maintenance fees.  In June they opened a Barkley’s charge account which is charged $4,800 a month for loan payments.  This is money my folks need for their in home care and I don’t know where to turn.  I will file complaints that you have in the files section but need to know if I can cancel the credit card or do I need to be in good standing to get the contracts cancelled and hopefully refunded?  We are in California and I heard there is a triple damages statute or something for elder abuse.   Should I get an attorney involved? I have the paperwork, but it all looks like gobblety-goop and intentionally confusing.  I would be appreciative of guidance. Thank you so much

Enough With The Upselling Already

Today’s Guest Blog comes from a very frustrated and angry Diamond owner. This pattern, and it is a pattern, of continually attempting to upsell owners with more and more outrageous promises MUST STOP. 

Ok, Here goes.  We were/are long time Diamond members with 2225 (ish) points a year.  In January 2017 we went to Orlando Florida on a free stay/meeting.  We met with the DRI rep and told him that our biggest complaint was the maintenance fees.  $700 a year for points we rarely used.  

He told us that if we bought more points to get our total up to 5000 points a year that we would become Platinum members.  Yeah, my maintenance fees would go up because of the added points, but as Platinum we would get access to more options, one of them being the ability to sell back unused points for $.50 a point at the end of the year.  That money could then go towards paying our maintenance fees.  We would also be able to use our points at any hotel anywhere, and in January of 2018 there would be a "cash out" option where Diamond would buy back out timeshare if we were not happy, we would take a loss, but we would be free and clear.  All of this was because Apollo was taking over and things were getting better.  He then offered us what sounded like a good deal on 3000 points to get us to the magic 5000 points a year mark.  so...  sadly... we did it. 

Turns out the new 3000 points became a second account, so instead of one account with 5000+ points, we have the original 2225 and a second one with 3000.  

I cannot even use them on the same vacation, I have tried.  I have been trying to get Diamond to merge them for a year.  There is also no such program to buy back points. at least none they will tell me about, and I have learned that it does not take 5000 points to get to platinum, it takes 50,000.  

It is very difficult to use points at a non Diamond resort and if you try, you end up paying almost as much as you would out of pocket anyway... plus you use points.  As for as cashing out....yeah right.  

So I walked out of that meeting a year ago thinking that my maintenance fees would go down or if I didn't use any points, i could pay all my maintenance fees with the money earned from selling my points back.  instead... I now pay more then twice as much in maintenance fees and of course i am still paying on the loan for the new 3000 points.

This last week I have been talking to Diamond.  They finally said they could merge my accounts.  All I have to do is buy another 2500 points.  What is wrong with these people?  When I told them i wanted to be less invested in DRI, they said I would have to pay the maintenance fees for the rest of my life and if i did not buy the extra 2500 points and merge my accounts, one of those accounts would get passed on to my children.    

This is not a vacation.  this is horrible. 

I know a lot of people that claim they can help are scammers, but I need something!! ... this has to end, I have to get out from under DRI somehow.

What are your experiences with Diamond?

A Word of Warning

I can not state this strongly enough:

I absolutely encourage you to comment on any and all posts. However, if you choose to include your email address in your comments you are opening the door to scammers. These guys are good in that they know the psychological tricks and language to use to separate you from your money. 

The only recommendation or referral that comes from me will be via email from me. 

Do NOT include your email address in your comment. DO continue to read and comment. 

If you require assistance or are looking for specific information, contact me directly at:

lisaschreier617@gmail.com