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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
Diamond resort took us into a separate room and lied to us on how to eliminate annual maintenance fee by update our membership and charge us $40,000. but then they did not do what was told to us and deny the whole conversation.
I, too, just experienced this tactic. We lost $14,000.00 under extreme pressure. They are now over charging us…..it is never ending.How do I join?
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I was double teamed by a sales person and his manager and they use lies and deception to get me to purchase more time which I did not need nor could I afford. I felt this was terribly unscrupulous considering I was already a gold member. They told me if I didn’t give them an ungodly amount of money I would not be able to use my timeshare whenever I wanted; that my timeshares could not be use consecutively rather only for the time of year and in the room which I purchased and I had 4 timeshares. They told me many more lies. I was scared! I spent an additional $11,900 for only 3,000 points which was way more than I have ever spent on any of my points. I wrote the CEO at that time who was Stephen Cloobeck and the lack of responsiveness was unbelievable.
I would like to join this lawsuit.
How do I join this lawsuit? I have recently been defrauded by Diamond Resorts
I want to join the class action lawsuit. Can someone help me? My husband and I bought a timeshare from Monarch Grand Vacation. We were deceived by all the selling tactics on the day of the presentation that lasted for 5 hours. We tried to cancel our membership and we were told that we’re too late after 3 days. But years later, we were told that we could have cancel it within 7 days! We can’t even have it rented to others and cannot sell it too. We ended up paying our timeshare for almost $20,000. We did not even received a nice certicate for paying it in full. We got a letter in a simple white paper that we paid in full. To make things worse, my husband lost his job and we we’re not able to pay the Association/Maintenance fee (whatever they call it) which is now almost $4,000! Since we got the timeshare, we haven’t even used our points coz the points is too low for the available room in one of the facilities and we have to pay extra. Due to financial difficulties, we cannot afford to pay the HOA! Now we’re stuck with it!
The high-pressure sales tactics sent my mother to the emergency room. We went to Palm Springs, during the time of transition that we weren’t notified about, sat in the presentation, then went to the table to speak to someone. While at the table, two people kept gong back and forth pushing the sell. We were tired and ready to leave. When we tried to leave, a third person blocked the path for us to leave. After dealing with the pressure and persistence of the sales people and finally making it out of the room, my mother had to have a seat because she couldn’t breathe. She was rushed to the hospital, and she was just about to stroke out.
I have the exact Diamond Resort memnership/ownership issues.
I will be contacting the AG ‘S office because I’ve had horrible encounters with DR salespeople for far too long. So happy their disgusting tactics are being scrutinized.
In addition to my last comment, I never was given the $100 Visa card, and due to sever melancholy I was never able to use my Sampler within the 18 month time allowance.
You are all pretty lucky. I paid $3,000!!! on my credit card for a hard-pressured Sampler. It had to be used within 18 months. I’d just lost my husband of 25 years. I was given an 3-day stay in Sedona, AZ and if I attended the 90-minute Presentation, I’d receive a $100 Visa card. FOUR HOURS LATER I finally was exhausted and gave in and purchased the Sampler. $3,000 !!!! Pretty hard for an old woman on Social Security.