Former Diamond owners seek escape from HGV over inventory worries

European Consumer Claims reports significant increase in Diamond related compensation claims following uncertainty around HGV takeover. Latest feedback sparks further concern over available inventory

Paradigm shift

Diamond Resorts were absorbed by Hilton Grand Vacation (HGV) in August 2021, making HGV the second biggest timeshare operator in the world. Only US leviathan Wyndham is now bigger

The move sent shockwaves throughout the industry, changing the world's timeshare landscape and causing particular concern among former Diamond members who woke up one morning to a future of being Hilton Vacation Club members (HVC)

HVC is not the same as HGV as Hilton immediately made apparent. They consider former Diamond resorts to be less than the premium quality of their HGV resorts and classified HVC as a lower quality brand. This was clarified by HGV CEO, Mark Wang in a March 2021 interview with Yahoo Finance. Wang described HVC as an 'upscale brand' positioned below HGV, which he referred to as an 'UPPER upscale brand.'

This made cynical Diamond owners immediately suspicious that they would be aggressively targeted by HGV 'inhouse sales' teams for expensive upgrades

Potential inventory shortage?

Six months later, further cracks may be appearing in HGV's plans. According to an article published by the Timeshare Consumer Association on 11th February 2022, experts are now speculating that HGV may have to shed up to forty of the ninety two Diamond resorts they acquired in the takeover

"The 380,000 Diamond members would still be HVC members even if those forty resorts were divested," explains Andrew Cooper, CEO of European Consumer Claims (ECC), "but with almost half of their supporting inventory gone, then how could those people expect to secure their preferred choices of location and dates?

"One option might be for them to pay and upgrade to HGV membership so they can access more resorts, but even that would only push the issue back by one remove. Across both HGV and HVC there would still be 725,000 members, but forty less resorts and four less countries to choose from. Things could get pretty crowded over at HGV and HVC"

Members investigating exit options

Canny HVC (former Diamond) and HGV members are looking for ways to avoid the potential booking logjam ahead. Many people are just looking to escape what they see as dated, expensive and restrictive memberships. For those members sold illegally (as huge volumes of timeshare owners have been for the past 2 decades) there is often the possibility to claim compensation as well as rid themselves of the burden of their timeshare.

"We have handled or are currently handling claims for hundreds of former Diamond clients," confirms Cooper. "This translates into millions of pounds worth of compensation awards.

"Right now our switchboard is getting a lot of calls from people asking: 'how can I get rid of my timeshare?' or 'how can I claim compensation?'

"Generally we can help people free from unwanted timeshare memberships, but if people fit certain qualifications we can also claim compensation from the resort on their behalf. And those awards average around £20,000, so it's serious money"

European Consumer Claims is presently managing a claims portfolio of one hundred million pounds and is considered the leading force in the fight against timeshare malpractice

For help relinquishing unwanted timeshare memberships, or investigating the possibility of compensation claims if you feel you have been mis-sold, get in touch with our team at ECC.