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A retired Arizona couple says Diamond Resorts timeshare companies have been targeting older consumers with abusive sales tactics.
Plaintiffs Ilona and Lester Harding are taking on defendant Diamond Resorts International Inc. and a slew of related Diamond Resorts companies.
The Hardings allege Diamond Resorts target elderly consumers with a deceptive scheme to sell them costly points-based timeshare memberships.
The Hardings say Diamond Resorts uses manipulative tactics to establish a false bond of trust with its consumers. The company allegedly does this by employing licensed real estate agents and brokers, who in the course of the sale, state that they are legally bound by duties of disclosure and truthfulness.
Having established that trust, the plaintiffs claim, Diamond Resorts then abuses it by withholding material information from its elderly customers.
The company allegedly uses high-pressure sales tactics to compel them to buy pricey timeshare memberships that don’t make economic sense for a person over 60 years of age.
These tactics reportedly tricked the Hardings into buying a timeshare they didn’t really want, and at significant expense.
The Hardings say that in January 2013, Diamond Resorts invited them and other members of the Monarch vacation club, a competitor club to Diamond Resorts, to a 90-minute dinner. This dinner was supposed to be an update about Monarch, the Hardings say – but it turned out to be a sales presentation for Diamond Resorts.
At that dinner, the plaintiffs say they were told Monarch was in financial trouble and that their Monarch timeshare interests would soon be worthless. Agents from Diamond Resorts then pressured the attendees into purchasing Diamond Resorts timeshare interests, they allege.
The Hardings say this “90-minute” dinner, which began at 6 p.m., continued past midnight. Agents dragged the occasion out into a six-plus hour long marathon of high-pressure sales tricks, according to this Diamond Resorts class action lawsuit.
Finally, the Hardings caved and bought a Diamond Resorts timeshare, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars. They subsequently found themselves unable to book rooms at any of the Diamond Resorts properties they wanted to use.
Time and again, the company’s online reservation system told them the desired properties were completely booked.
This Diamond Resorts timeshare class action lawsuit is not the only litigation the company has faced recently. In November 2016, a California couple sued Diamond Resorts claiming the company deceptively pressured them into trading their Monarch timeshare for a Life Vacations timeshare – a trade they say resulted in a $20,000 loss.
The Hardings seek to represent a plaintiff Class that would include all persons who were 60 years old or older at the time they purchased a Diamonds Resorts membership interest but who have not yet received a full refund of their payment.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to rescind all membership agreements. They also seek an award of damages, restitution and civil penalties, plus court costs and attorneys’ fees, all with interest.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs and the proposed Class include G. Mark Albright and Chris Albright of Albright Stoddard Warnick & Albright, Kathryn Honecker and Audra E. Petrolle of Rose Law Group PC, and Robert C. Tarics of The Tarics Law Firm PC.
The Diamond Resorts Fraudulent Timeshare Sales Class Action Lawsuit is Ilona Harding, et al. v. Diamond Resorts Holdings LLC, et al., Case No. 2:17-cv-00248, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
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63 thoughts onDiamond Resorts Class Action Says Elderly Targeted With Abusive Sales Tactics
They pressured us to change our sampler to ownership and we was better off just doing sampler now we in debt
I have been to presentations with Diamond for the past 16 years and subject to high pressured sales tactics and only caved in once but backed out within the time frame I am now in my sixties so this would fit in the category I always thought they were too aggressive.
In 2015 we fell victim to Diamond Resorts high pressure tactics! One of the comments said that we should have called a sheriff!! Yeah right we did and still got NOTHING, just pity!! This corporation ABSOLTELY STINKS!!
We went to the 90 minute meeting that lasted about 3 hours. They brought out 3 sales rep one by one we kept saying no. It actually was easy to say no due to the cost. The cost was so expensive and ridiculous. The last guy was suppose to scare us into buying. He was big and aggressive and maybe beat us down if didn’t sign up. We got our free gifts and left no thanks.
Yeap. the old sales tactics from the 1970’s, 1980’s revised in 2017.
I’ve owned at DRI since it took over Sunterra around 2005. In 2015 while at a Diamond resort, the sales “manager” coerced me into signing a document stating that I would not return to that resort because I refused to purchase additional points. The pressure is immense and they keep you for many hours.
It’s not only elderly people that get the shafts from Diamond Resort. We have attended so called 3 hour meeting that go 5 hours. We stopped going to meetings. Also we originally purchased thru Sutter Rapids then another company purchased then Diamond resort. When that purchased happened we were supposed to get an opportunity to to purchase points at a discounted rate. We never got that notice so the next time we met with Dimond Staff they wanted us to sign a former saying we received a notice (required by the Ftc) and we would not sign it. The sales guy and manager got belligerent with us. They tried to convince us to sign for over and hour. They were so rude to us and eventually walked away from us and we walked out.
Diamond Resorts are high pressure time share sales/ updates. They threaten and attempt to take away the gift offered for attending !!!!!!!!! Your told it’s only a 90 minute thing and when you try to leave you are shamed and humiliated !!!!!!!!!
My wife and I have had those 5 hour long meetings and it is very high pressure and they don’t let you leave until you sign. My points are now up for sale as the maintenance fees are just a killer.
I am confused why you did not simply leave. They held you hostage? Call sheriff?
They keep you hostage until you sign paperwork. I was overwhelmed by their tactics and we sat there over 5 hours for a simple invitation and then they kept our drivers license and ids until we signed I was so upset I was crying. I also stayed at one of their resorts and ended up being bitten by bed bugs they did nothing. The maintenance fees kept increasing to a level we could not afford any longer so I just quit paying them.
My mom and dad lost a lot of money with Diamond Resorts. They are definitely ahorrible to deal with. High pressure, can’t use points when you want to , excessive fees each year