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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
Yes Diamond Resorts milked me for ten’s of thousands of dollars making promises they did not keep. Told me I could use points to pay for my dues and fees. When I called to have them use my points for the dues all they said was we don’t do that you need to buy a higher value. At the time I had the highest value. Shame on them. Was told I could claim on my taxes, another lie. Dues doubled and tripled with no notice Finally got out through Westley Financial Group, they were great and got me out.
I too was bullied into purchasing something I did not want. The owners update became a bullying session the day before Christmas. I was told I could not use my time consecutively; I would have to come four times a year if I did not pay $100,000. They came back later and asked me to sign off on last year’s contract holding a $52,000 upgrade option. I explained that I was a gold member and didn’t think I would have to endure this kind of a tactic again or be approached for more points. After talking to the salesman, I wrote the CEO. The CEO was of no help at all! The salesman said he didn’t understand what my problem was and asked me what I could afford. I said I can’t afford anything but if you must take money from me I’ll give you $10,000. He refused that and said $11,900. I felt bullied, trapped and confused.
Please add me to your lawsuit.
Forgive typos
My wife and I were also bullied and pressured into Diamond Resorts timeshares. I am 61 years old and my wife is disabled. Can we become part of this law suit?
How do I get added to this? My father was also bullied into buying extra points.
Please add me. We were tirelessly bullied once Diamond Took over ownership of our timeshare. We were told our current points, which were sizable, would not get us any guarantee even if booked 12 months out. We noticed the massive decline in availability and inability to book. Further, our exchange value dropped substantially due to the Diamond take over. We were told unless we spent another $30k, we basically were holding a worthless ownership and unable to exchange into Diamond properties. Within the next year, our ability to stay in our own resort would disappear. They knew we were worried and continued to promise we would no longer have much if any use due to the new Elite point system. This goes on and on but we refused to buy more and were then thrown out of the sales office and bullied further.
Please add me to this lawsuit. My parents were coerced into trading their Monarch timeshare to join in with what Diamond claimed to be a better choice for my parents. They kept them there for at least 5 hours or more. My parents finally gave in as Diamond was not going to let them leave without signing on. So manipulative and the lies they gave just to get a sale. After spending $40,000 on the “properties” my parents then get billed for “maintenance fees” that started out at about $699/annually resulted in almost $2100/annually after a few years. My parents are on a fixed income and this was not in their budget at all. We ended up forfeiting the shares as we could not keep up with the fees charges.
I had the exact same thing happened to me, a senior single woman on Christmas Eve. I was so upset I cried all evening and forgot the next day was Christmas.
I contacted the CEO and told him of the lies that were fed to me. He basically, passed me back off to the sales person.
I was a gold member; I had 50,000 points and needed no more. I was told many untruths which led to me purchasing 3,000 points for 12K+ to keep things status quo.
The sales person who lied to me, became sales person of the year shortly after he cajoled me out of my money.
I would like to join this class action suit or any other class action suit against Diamond Resorts.
Diamond Resorts purchased the timeshare owned by my parents and told them they needed to change to points. They continue to “repackage” the plan to better suit my parents needs….at a substantial cost of course. These costs are typically not disclosed up front. My parents are 80 and 96 with dad being a WW II vet. Diamond Resorts has stripped my parents of their retirement with their tactics.
I want in on this. I’m over 60 and got browbeat into a ‘sampler’ package. I tried to cancel after I lost my job and was not allowed to cancel the program. I submitted the required documentation to prove loss of income, but they continued to hound me for payment. I was told that I could cancel at any time and receive all money that I had paid into the program, that isn’t true. I told them they could keep what I had already paid, just let me out of the program. No dice. Nothing but a bunch of thieves…
I am interested in joining this lawsuit. Diamonds Resort International is nothing but bunch of liars and crooks. They need to be put out of business.