If you have been victimized by either a timeshare resale firm or a timeshare resort, add your complaint below.
Timeshare Scams and Fraud
Diamond Resorts should be called Den of Thieves - Diamond Resorts International
Company Name: Diamond Resorts International
Company Address: PO Box 8526, Coral Springs, Florida
Company Website: https://www.diamondresorts.com/
Company Phone: 18773742582
Diamond Resorts (aka Monarch Grand Vacations) promises luxury, but only delivers misery. First of all, their timeshare system is based on points, not property ownership. In order to secure a reservation, popular properties fill up within minutes. It is next to impossible to secure a reservation unless you plan a year in advance, and even then only if you are lucky. They sold us initially on the possibility of exchanging points overseas through Interval International. Again, this was a complete bust and we were never able to book a vacation through Interval since we either A) did not have enough points or B) could not secure a reasonable date. This leads me to the whole point issue. Since we were having so much trouble securing an open date, I decided to call customer service to get help. They directed me to sales who recommended that I purchase more timeshare points. By now, I was getting wise to their scam and I said no thanks, I want to use the points I have. They said they couldn't help me unless I purchased more points. This is the key to their scam. They try to keep selling you on more points so that you get so entrenched in their system, it is really hard to get out. When we finally did get to stay at one of their second-rate "resorts" (and I use the word resort in the most generous sense of the word), I spoke with a manager about the trouble securing a reservation. A construction company was working on the building, so it was a bit hard to hear him among the saws, sanders and heavy equipment backing up, but what I could tell is that we still needed to buy more points. He spent one hour and 2 pieces of 8 1/2 x 11 plain white paper to show me that buying more points would actually save us money in the long run. I swear, where do they hire these liars? So, let me get this straight - I can't use the points I have, but in order to use the points I have, I need to buy more points so that I can be in a better position to use more points and that will cost me less in the long run. I swear, he must have thought I was an idiot, which I kind of am since I bought this stupid timeshare in the first place. Second, their customer service is intentionally unhelpful. When you call the numbers provided on your statement be prepared for the usual hold wait time of 20 minutes or more and then only to get bounced around to various departments because one department that answers the phone can't figure out how to send an email and vice versa. After 15 years of having used our $10,000 timeshare a grand total of 3 times, we tried to cancel our membership. Again, expect months of frustration and unhelpful service. There is a $1,000 cancellation fee. It has been 7 1/2 months since we applied to cancel our timeshare and we are still getting billed for quarterly assessment fees. Finally today, after another 30 minutes on hold, I was able to confirm that our application to cancel has been accepted. Would we like a copy of the letter? Oh, you'll have to call another number for that. I called and was told they could send me an email, or I could wait 14 days for a printed copy. I asked for both. I have never been so happy to say good riddance to a company in all my life. If I had the money, I would rent billboards, sides of buildings, and the Good Year blimp to warn people DO NOT GET SUCKED IN TO DIAMOND RESORTS (MONARCH GRAND VACATIONS) TIMESHARES! I was stupid and fell for their lies. You don't have to. Finally, I'm free of their quarterly dues and now I'm going to use that money to take a real vacation where the hotel carpet is less than 30 years old and the swimming pool gets cleaned once in a while.