An all too common sad tale came to our attention recently. A former timeshare owner with Diamond Resorts Europe decided in 2014 that enough was enough. The maintenance fee for the timeshare owned, originally purchased with Grand Vacation Club in 2002 which then morphed into Sunterra and then into Diamond Resorts had risen from £395 to £848 per annum. To add insult to injury our enquirer stated “we were never able to get any of the resorts, we wanted except some in the UK” that’s when the decision was made to get rid.
After engaging a specialist exit firm, eventually a letter was received from Diamond Resorts on the 12th January 2015 stating that the timeshare was no longer in force and that there were no further liabilities with Diamond Resorts, even wrote off that years maintenance. Naturally our enquirer thought was the end of the story. Well it was, but not according to scammers.
Enter Meridian Litigation Advisors
In August 2020 the now exited Diamond owner was contacted by a Spanish organisation operating out of Tenerife Called Meridian Litigation Advisors (MLA) who advised that the letter received from Diamond Resorts was not a cessation of membership but was a suspension which means that past owners were still liable for all the maintenance charges.
The story went that the Diamond Resorts had sold their database for $2.2 billion. This database has since been sold to Hilton for $1.4 billion. Their argument was that with the suspension of the membership there would now be a liability for the maintenance, not only going forward but for the years that had not been paid. Unfortunately, our enquirer fell for this and paid £6,115 to finally be rid of the timeshare, when all the time the ownership was already well and truly cancelled.
During the conversation with our enquiry team our enquirer read the letter from Diamond Resorts verbatim and there was no mistaking the wording. Diamond confirmed that not only was the contract with them terminated but there would be no future financial liability.
MLA had passed the details to a well known claims company based in Sterling, then the bombshell. After some months the well known claims company made contact and said that MLA had not paid them a single penny for all the work they had done and therefore they could not continue to act on behalf of our enquirer. The upshot, £6,115 down the drain. Unfortunately our enquirer also paid by bank transfer where, as we all know offers little protection regarding fraud. This is not withstanding the fact that the ownership was already cancelled.
Enter another scammer
A recent approach from a so called “law firm” operating out of London, Stoke and York, who incidentally are known to have a connection with the well known claims management company in Sterling tried the same tactic again. They went through all that had previously been experienced and proffered the view that there would be a hefty bill from Hilton Grand Vacations for the 8 years non payment of the maintenance fees on the “supposed” suspended membership. They also advised that Hilton have already started sending out emails to members demanding the outstanding maintenance fees. To date our enquirer calculated the liability based on the 2014 maintenance charges would be 8 x £848 = £6,784 plus the future charges that would be levied.
What the scammers prey on
It’s a well known fact the there are two prime human motivators, fear and greed. Frighten someone enough and they will do something about it, appeal to their greed and again action will take place. In this case both scammers were trying to frighten the living daylights out of their victim. Unfortunately in this case, one succeeded, the other failed, thank goodness.
Telling someone convincingly that an official letter from Diamond Resorts was a lie, then sowing the seed of a potential debt with the possibility of legal action is enough to put the fear of God into anyone.
In this case the victims, a husband and wife are in there advanced 70s and the reason Diamond were amenable to the cancellation is because the husband has type 2 Diabetes and has been advised not to travel distances. Medical evidence supplied to Diamond allowed the termination. Despite this, the scammers still proceeded to attempt to extract monies for something that had already been achieved. In reality there are no words to state how underhanded and despicable these scammers are.
TCA Comment
Not a lot more we can add, the testament above says it all. Although in many cases exiting a timeshare can prove difficult, on this occasion, hats off to Diamond Resorts. We are aware that many timeshare owners simply stop paying maintenance fees in the veiled attempt to force being thrown out of their ownership, this we would strongly advise against. This method may certainly bring the wrath of the developers’ debt collection department down around your ears, but in our case above the enquirer performed the exit by the book.
Be warned, the Diamond – Hilton scam is prolific at present as is Club la Costa – Wyndham, but both are spun by lies. If, like our enquirer, you have had official confirmation from the developer that you have exited your ownership, then that’s it, no more to be done. Don’t rise to the bait following an unsolicited cold call. Neither Diamond, Hilton, Club la Costa, Wyndham, or any other developer for that matter, ever share your ownership data either past or present. The corollary of which is that the scammers have obtained your data illegally.
In our editorial today we hope we have pointed out the danger signs. Yes in some cases timeshare may prove nearly impossible to get out of, this being the case there are specialist companies who can assist. Reality check, if you have had written confirmation from the developer that the cancellation of membership has been accepted and if you haven’t heard anything, including demands for maintenance fees for a considerable time, then you are out, draw a line and move on.
Finally, many thanks to our enquirer for sharing this horror story with us. Be on your guard!
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk