Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
Diamond Resorts International Club Inc. is facing a class action lawsuit alleging it engaged in deceptive high-pressure sales tactics to sell timeshare contracts.
Plaintiffs Gisele Fournier and Rejean Fournier of Riverside County, Calif., claim they obtained on an unknown date a “membership” with Diamond Resorts that would allow them to acquire timeshare “points” that they could redeem for accommodations at various resorts.
In July 2015, the plaintiffs say they contacted a Diamond Resorts sales associate to express their dissatisfaction with their membership. Specifically, they complained that they were not able to secure accommodations on the dates and at the locations they wanted.
According to the Diamond Resorts class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs were advised to upgrade their membership to “platinum” in order to receive superior customer service. They were also told to attend an “update” meeting to have their concerns addressed.
The meeting did not provide the Fourniers an opportunity to air their grievances, according to the Diamond Resorts class action lawsuit. They claim they were pressured again into purchasing a membership upgrade and were reportedly mocked by Diamond Resorts’ agents because they did not bring a credit card to the meeting.
According to the Diamond Resorts class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs “felt bullied, manipulated and intimidated into signing a new contract upgrading their membership with the Defendant.” They claim that the agents’ high-pressure sales tactics caused them “a great amount of stress, embarrassment and humiliation” and that they felt they could not leave the meeting unless they signed up for a membership upgrade.
Their credit card was allegedly charged $2,000 for the membership upgrade, and the upgrade caused their monthly membership dues to nearly double, according to the Diamond Resorts class action lawsuit.
Despite paying for the upgrade, the Fourniers say they did not receive the services they were promised and sought to terminate their membership. When their attempts at cancelling via phone and online chat were unsuccessful, they sent a letter in August 2016 informing Diamond Resorts that they were terminating their membership and cancelling all future reservations.
After they mailed the letter, the plaintiffs reportedly received a monthly loan statement with an invoice date of Aug. 22, 2016. This invoice stated a balance of $813.77 with a due date of Aug. 12, 2016. This statement indicated that payments received after the due date would be subject to additional fees.
According to the Diamond Resorts class action lawsuit, the statement indicated the Fourniers owed a “Principal Balance” of more than $45,000 and that they had paid at least $6,000 toward interest fees.
They subsequently sent more letters informing Diamond Resorts of their intent to terminate their membership but Diamond Resorts repeatedly denied the requests and claimed that the plaintiffs would remain contractually obligated to pay the fees. They continued to receive letters demanding payment. These letters reportedly contained “confusing, conflicting and misleading” information about their membership.
The plaintiffs say they received harassing phone calls from Diamond Resorts even after they asked the company to stop contacting them.
The timeshare sales class action lawsuit accuses Diamond Resorts of violating the Truth in Lending Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the California False Advertising Act, the Consumers Legal Remedies Act and the California Welfare and Institutions Code.
Diamond Resorts is also currently facing a class action lawsuit alleging it targets older consumers with abusive sales tactics.
The plaintiffs are represented by Amir J. Goldstein of The Law Offices of Amir J. Goldstein Esq.
The Diamond Resorts Timeshare Membership Class Action Lawsuit is Gisele Fournier, et al. v. Diamond Resorts International Club Inc., et al., Case No. 5:17-cv-00911, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru vehicle data collection class action lawsuit investigation
May 17, 2024 | Legal News
113 thoughts onClass Action: Diamond Resorts Pressures Buyers into Timeshare Contracts
I hate Diamond Resort!! They have lied consistently and have locked us out of our own “resort”. We could not for years get a room at the resort we purchased. The HOA rates sky rocketed when they took over. I would complain about how I could see our resort all over the web for available rooms but not available for owners. We upgraded once since they promised that we would not have any issues anytime…… LIE. Same problems we were unable to get any rooms even in the “off” season! BS! Keep me posted and I want in!
Same problem with Coast to Coast. Lots of promises from high pressure sales people. Maintenance fees increase every year, now company is asking for a additional 5,000 if we want to stay at new location that hasn’t been built yet and they cannot give us a exact location for new site. Our contract states we can camp at over 1,000 locations for 10 dollars a night, another lie. We were told to pick three locations where we could stay for free. One location stated it had a water park, it failed to say the park was permanently closed. We were not allowed to pick another location for a replacement. We paid 7,500 for our membership plus the yearly dues, total waste of money.
Same with BlueGreen. Sales lied, and I did record it, but the contract says do not listen to sales? Can I use the recording in court to fight?
please add me i am an owner at bryans spanish cove every year the try all kinds of bullying to get us to buy more and switch to points also i believe they are embezzling funds from maint fees made our hoa file for bankrupcy but no owners new about everything is a secret the board is controled by diamond secret vote last year my husband ran they said he lost only got a couple of votes but he recd over a hundred email supporting him secret vote but we are a 501 c something like that condo owners any help
Do you handle timeshares in Mexico, such as Royal Sunset Resort in Cancun?
I have all my documentation. We were lied to, given alcohol, told that if we no longer want
resort, they would purchase it back from us.(Right of First Refusal) We did a trade in and they were going to do the paper work.They didn’t. We started receiving calls and papers from a bill collection agency. They never did the paper work. We were told we would be put on a list for buy back. We were
to call back every month to be put on Directors Agenda. Then told to call back every 6 months, then told not to call back at all. They would contact us. Now the list doesn’t even exist.
I am sure you would have several people that would join a law suit.
Please update me on this.
We have been searching for SOME way to force this company to stand behind their salespeoples outrageous promises. The only way to get out of their timeshare is to take a major hit to your credit as a repossessed property. We will be watching to see how this unfolds but with the billions of dishonest dollars these crooked scheming unscrupulous people are earning I’m skeptical that they won’t simply buy their way out. We were outright lied to. Of course they “felt so bad” about an ex employees behavior. For a mere $5,000 (or monthly payments of $200) they could make it exactly what we were promised. Ugh.
I would also like to know how to join. It is high time something is done to stop this as they are ok with lying right to your face. Where are the regulatory bodies in this criminal industry? DRI is the worst I have experienced and accountability is long overdue.
These guys are complete crooks. They transferred me from the “hawaii” collection to the north america collection – stating that it would relieve me of my responsibility for the massive repairs needed on my hawaii property. Turns out it was a total lie and I had to exercise my 3 day right of cancellation I could never book my property when I wanted it – the only availability was in some undesirable place. I finally pad $5000 to get out of the deal. I don’t understand how they continue to get away with this !
Very similar to what happened to my wife and I.