PRAETORIAN LEGAL PRESS RELEASE RESPONSE TO DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL UNSOLICITED LETTER SENT TO DIAMOND RESORT CLIENTS

We have recently become aware of a letter sent out to Diamond Resorts International (DRI) clients with maintenance fee demands for 2017/18. The letter warns DRI owners to be aware of claims companies. The content of the letter is merely a scaremongering exercise to deter owners from terminating their memberships with DRI.

The letter makes unsubstantiated claims about claims companies cold-calling Diamond Resorts International members.

Praetorian Legal never cold call clients and never have done. We are fully transparent and compliant under the Data Protection Act 1998 and we adhere by the eight principles of data protection.

We are authorised and regulated by the Claims Management Regulator, namely the Ministry of Justice, and, as such, we are prohibited from any form of cold-calling activity. As many of our clients will already know, the majority of our work now comes from our internet or social media campaigns. Our campaigns are fully auditable and opt in information is provided on every client, as is required by the regulator.

Furthermore, DRI go on to advise members to contact them to obtain advice before engaging with claims management companies. It is ironic that they should offer such advice, when it is DRI who have been responsible for the mis-selling of their products, putting members into the position they now find themselves in. The question is: why would owners put any trust in any advice DRI now have to offer them? DRI simply want the chance to engage with their members in an attempt to avoid members terminating their agreements. This kind of approach towards clients is contemptuous and is unheard of in other service industries.

Its worth noting that just last week DRI have announced the closure of many of their sales centres across Europe. This should convey a message  to owners: if the DRI products were sustainable, why would they be shutting down their sales operations? The reality is that their products are not sustainable and they are experiencing losses as a result of members becoming aware of the service offered by Praetorian Legal. The endpoint for fractional points is still some years away and the promise of a return on monies paid for the DRI product is uncertain, but the ongoing fees associated with the products are a present and foreseeable reality.

TIMESHARE BUSINESS CHECK

DRI endorses the services of the Timeshare Business Check service, powered by the RDO-funded Kwik Chex company. It should be acknowledged that DRI funded the RDO and Kwik Chex were also significant contributors to the timeshare organisation known as TATOC. TATOC faced difficulties earlier this year for making similar claims about a paralegal company who took them to task in the High Court and TATOC lost. The outcome was that TATOC was put into administration, where it was discovered that it was a worthless organisation with no assets or money, yet TATOC was praised as an authoritative timeshare champion. Like the entire timeshare industry, DRI, in collaboration with the RDO and Kwik Chex, operate for their ends, with a common objective to keep this unsustainable industry in industry, while members continue to pay ever-increasing maintenance fees well into the future.

The reality is that Praetorian Legal have been operating since the 14th November 2014. We have developed a timeshare termination product that provides members with peace of mind. We consistently support our clients year after year and maintain regular contact with our clients to reassure them. Despite reports from the timeshare industry about our services, our sustainability speaks for itself. We are financially secure, as is evident from our latest accounts lodged at Companies House. We continue to grow both financially and in terms of brand recognition.

We have recently been in consultation with Trading Standards and requested any complaints lodged with them concerning Praetorian Legal. We received written confirmation from the Trading Standards that they have no complaints to investigate or to provide to us. Praetorian Legal has over 4,000 clients with approximately 1,750 of those currently active and not one formal written complaint about our service.

If you want to secure a DRI termination via a reputable company that manages and exceeds our client’s expectations then please contact us at: info@mercantileclaims.com Or telephone us on: 0800 470 3900. Alternatively, come and visit us to see our operation firsthand