Following the big news that Hilton Grand Vacations is acquiring Diamond Resorts for billions of Dollars in company shares, in the midst of a pandemic, Diamond CEO Mike Flaskey welcomed the news. He spoke with American news channel Fox to discuss the impending acquisition and in an optimistic outlook, says Diamond are doing better than ever.
Incredibly Flakey claims that since February, business has blossomed and is currently 17% above its 2019 sales. Diamond re-opened most of their resorts back in May and say that since then they have been working at a 70% occupancy compared to 2019. Despite all the negative publicity highlighting the industries overall reluctance to issue refunds of maintenance fees for those who were unable to use their timeshares, Diamond say business is looking up and people cannot wait to get back to their timeshares.
Flaskey told Fox News that instead of shying away from booking holidays, timeshare offers something unique and in the current travel and leisure climate, members would prefer to travel locally to their familiar resorts. He said families that can get in their cars and drive are making up for the downturn of business due to the Pandemic and because of this they are nearly back at promising occupancy levels. In comparison to the travel and leisure industry, timeshare is doing much better, Flaskey says this is because they depend more on group and business travel. He went on to say that most of their staff are back working since they furloughed 5,500 at the start of the Pandemic.
So perhaps he is correct, and timeshare is seeing a massive surge in interest and bookings but is that because people are still tied down to lengthy contracts and maintenance fees and in these financially difficult times, they just cannot bear to see that money go to waste. It is undeniable that a lot of timeshare owners and holiday club members have missed out due to the pandemic and in fact a lot of these people have not been able to re-book or transfer their points to another year so have simply lost that money and vacation. On the other hand, some of the big resorts have offered this to their customers but what happens when too many people try to book all at once, which is often the problem with these holiday products. With the added surge of people trying to book a break when restrictions are fully lifted will resorts be able to accommodate everyone that missed out and for those that do miss out, will they be compensated? Only time will tell and with the upcoming summer period, now might be the right time for many to think about ditching that troublesome timeshare once and for all and be free to book their own holidays when and where they like without having the added disappointment of missing out through no fault of their own.
It is also important to remember that purchasing a timeshare should NEVER be viewed as a financial investment. Timeshare is an investment in lifestyle, in future holidays and family time together. There is almost no resale value to a Timeshare.
People who enter into timeshare agreements often find it difficult to keep up with the mounting maintenance fees and simply cannot afford it any longer. They may also find that the timeshare no longer suits their needs and simply want to end the contract. There are too many individuals who are willing to take advantage of timeshare owners and offer fake products, along with timeshare exit schemes. Before agreeing to any timeshare termination or exit procedure with an individual or company, seek independent advice and fully research any company you are thinking of working with.
The mis-selling of holiday products is, unfortunately, common practice within the holiday industry and these types of crimes often goes unreported by the most vulnerable in our society and criminal convictions are few and far between.
If you have purchased a Lifestyle / Concierge Service, a timeshare or a ‘holiday points’ based product from a resort or company and feel unhappy with the service, or feel you have been mis-sold this product, please get in touch with us to discuss how we may be able to help you with a possible Money Back Claim.
