# Diamond Resorts CEO to be on Undercover Boss



## ChicagoRobert (Jan 4, 2012)

Should be interesting to see the CEO of Diamond Resorts International on the season premier of "Undercover Boss"  Sunday, January, 15th.

It would be more interesting to see a timeshare CEO have to deal with timeshare owners than their housekeeping employees. :hysterical:


----------



## jlwquilter (Jan 4, 2012)

I agree. I am sure that most of the rank and file employees are regular hardworking folks just living their lives, doing their jobs. Of course there's always the slacker or 2 mixed in.

Now if he goes to a call center where reps are indeed dealing with owners, that would be good. Or to a sales center where a sales person is uncomfortable with all the lies they have to tell in order to make a sale. That would be interesting too!


----------



## pgnewarkboy (Jan 4, 2012)

Some on this board have said that kloobeck has personally responded to posts on this board about DRI problems and had their issues resolved.

Nothing is gained by making blanket statements about salepeople being told to lie.  It is just mean.


----------



## ChicagoRobert (Jan 4, 2012)

My post was not to imply at all that Mr. Cloobeck is not a good CEO, simply an acknowledgement that it would be interesting to see "a" CEO responding to a lot of the issues that get addressed here in this forum all the time by timeshare owners. "That" I was assuming would be far more interesting tv fodder. And likewise I dont think jlw was meaning to single out Mr. Cloobeck.

Can you feel the love?


----------



## dioxide45 (Jan 15, 2012)

Reminder. This is on now.


----------



## Mel (Jan 15, 2012)

Just saw the lead-in.  He will be in a call center, and blown hiscover he is s
o upset!


----------



## shagnut (Jan 15, 2012)

well, I was impressed. He about fell out at the call center but instead of yelling at her he told her she needed more training. I think he got a real eyeful at the call center.Now, how he thinks he can make a ressie when there are no rooms is beyond me. He wasn't happy at the Powhatan when the first thing he saw was a front door needed repair.  His getup was hilarious. what a bad wig!!.  

He is sure used to the lap of luxury and if he does everything he wants to do I can see higher mf's or assessments.  You could tell he's never done any maintenance in his life , I had to laugh.  

I was impressed at what he did for the 4 people he went undercover with. Very generous. 

shaggy


----------



## l2trade (Jan 15, 2012)

It is easy to be generous when everyone is watching.  The true test will be to see what lasting improvements DRI can make for all owners, guests and employees.


----------



## carl2591 (Jan 15, 2012)

l2trade said:


> It is easy to be generous when everyone is watching.  The true test will be to see what lasting improvements DRI can make for all owners, guests and employees.



true.. guess MF are going up to cover the generosity.


----------



## Passepartout (Jan 15, 2012)

Um, you don't think any of the regular employees were suspicious about this 'new guy' with a camera and sound crew, and mikeing them do ya?

I gotta call 'Bull!'ony

Boooooogus!

Jim


----------



## DeniseM (Jan 15, 2012)

This show always has some kind of a cover story that the employees are told, but by now, you'd think that most people would have heard of Undercover Boss.


----------



## AwayWeGo (Jan 15, 2012)

*The Guy Came Across As A Saint On Prime-Time TV.*




dioxide45 said:


> This is on now.


Compassionate bonuses to needy employees, insistence on better equipment & fuller staffing, promising to conduct call-center training himself, in person -- what a prince of a guy. 

No doubt his exemplary character will result in a big jump in full-freight timeshare sales. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


----------



## artringwald (Jan 16, 2012)

AwayWeGo said:


> No doubt his exemplary character will result in a big jump in full-freight timeshare sales.



And a big jump in maintenance fees!


----------



## hvsteve1 (Jan 16, 2012)

Couple of observations of the show. 

 A corporation  will never allow an episode that reflects badly on the company. Though there were several mentions of "timeshare", the whole hour was on hospitality and the sales end of the company never came into the picture. Can you imagine a sales segment?  "You need more training, you didn't call them 'stupid" when they refused to buy!"

I'm a Powhatan owner and was rather dismayed the segment on that resort, while making it look beautiful, was focused on disrepair such as the trashy looking door, ceiling fixes and water leaks in a unit. It sounded as though they were fighting to keep up with maintenance with a much too small crew. As this is a resort that has been badmouthed for years as being in disrepair, this episode certainly didn't help.

I've seen some episodes of the show and can't think of another CEO, even of much larger companies than DRI, who flaunted their wealth like Cloobeck.  A British commando bodyguard who drives him around and searches hotel rooms before he checks in?  The trophy wife?  Flying from location to location in a private jet ? And, finally, using the excuse that the corporate headquarters is too intimidating so you can do the final segment at your mansion.  The final shot of the hour is Cloobeck walking from his multi thousand square foot mansion into an infinity pool on the ocean while what is, presumably, his million dollar boat is anchored in the background.


----------



## dougp26364 (Jan 16, 2012)

I enjoyed the show but, I saw a definate disconnected between Mr. C and the common employee's. Not knowing how things are happening at the basic level can be a common issue for any CEO. I see the same disconnect where I work. How things will change in the future I can't say for certain but, knowing Mr. C, things will change.


----------



## beejaybeeohio (Jan 16, 2012)

hvsteve1 said:


> I've seen some episodes of the show and can't think of another CEO, even of much larger companies than DRI, who flaunted their wealth like Cloobeck.  A British commando bodyguard who drives him around and searches hotel rooms before he checks in?  The trophy wife?  Flying from location to location in a private jet ? And, finally, using the excuse that the corporate headquarters is too intimidating so you can do the final segment at your mansion.  The final shot of the hour is Cloobeck walking from his multi thousand square foot mansion into an infinity pool on the ocean while what is, presumably, his million dollar boat is anchored in the background.





dougp26364 said:


> I enjoyed the show but, I saw a definate disconnected between Mr. C and the common employee's. Not knowing how things are happening at the basic level can be a common issue for any CEO. I see the same disconnect where I work. How things will change in the future I can't say for certain but, knowing Mr. C, things will change.



There was a definite disconnect between me & Mr. C when he refused to stay in the "everyman" kind of motel that all other Undercover Bosses have stayed in, but his generosity was greater than that of other CEOs.  

Given the low pay of call-center employees which certainly limits ability to travel, it's not surprising that Sarah had no idea of how to pronounce Lihue! At least he gave her a chance to travel there.  And where is the Diamond Resort timeshare that he offered the front desk gal a transfer to in Ireland?


----------



## glenmore (Jan 16, 2012)

Anyone else get an email from Diamond Resorts this morning?

Chairman and CEO, Stephen J. Cloobeck went UNDERCOVER, what did you think? (shows a picture of him)

Click here to take our short survey.

We hope you enjoyed the season premiere of UNDERCOVER BOSS featuring our Chairman and CEO, Stephen J. Cloobeck. If you did get to watch the episode, we would love to hear what you thought. Please take a moment and click here to take our short survey. We’ll be giving away an iPad to one lucky survey respondent!

Thanks again! The Diamond Resorts Hospitality Team

We had no problem responding to this survey. We don't expect the ipad though!  We had said much of what you all said. Mostly that the show seemed to be all about his image - no real connection with the employees - and one upsmanship when rewarding the employees. Where was the sincere thank you and the recognition that he had forgotten what it was like to be a "regular person."  The final shot seemed to say it all - it was all about Stephen.


----------



## Sandy VDH (Jan 16, 2012)

That hair was so bad, there is no way someone should not have known who he was, or at least challenged him on the getup.

I think he thinks pretty highly of himself.  That is for sure.  If you stay at Diamond they have a TV station with just him talking about Diamond.  Not the products as much as him IMHO.

I recently stayed at a Diamond resort over Christmas.  Although it was not bad, it was not the 5 star level he was striving for.  Maybe a 3.5 to 4 but no way a 5.


----------



## Larry (Jan 16, 2012)

glenmore said:


> Anyone else get an email from Diamond Resorts this morning?
> 
> Chairman and CEO, Stephen J. Cloobeck went UNDERCOVER, what did you think? (shows a picture of him)
> 
> ...



Got the same thing this morning but haven't responded yet.


----------



## Passepartout (Jan 16, 2012)

It will be interesting to see here how the 'personal training' of call center people improves the experience of booking a vacation, and how maintenance improves- especially at former Sunterra properties.

Squared by MF increases.

But frankly, the program was bogus. It was a showcase for Mr C's trophy job, trophy wife, trophy Ferrari, trophy jet, and trophy mansion, pool, and implied yacht.

IF I owned DRI, which I don't, I would be inclined to comment rather harshly at the next MF increase to help out the boss' lifestyle.

Jim


----------



## l2trade (Jan 16, 2012)

Wow! Check out all the negative user comments from last nights episode:

Here - http://www.cbs.com/shows/undercover_boss/bios/80943/

And, here - http://newyork.ibtimes.com/articles...er-boss-cloobeck-diamond-resorts-season-3.htm


----------



## hvsteve1 (Jan 16, 2012)

While my post was kind of negative, let me say this in defense of Cloobeck.  The producers of the show have control over what goes on the air. We don't know that CEOs of other big corporations didn't, when they were on the show, film segements at cheap hotels, then check into the Four Seasons.  The producers apparently thought it was a cool segment to show the bodyguard deciding the room wasn't secure enough.  Also, though I watch only a few episodes, my impression is most bosses stay in one location during the filming while Cloobeck moved around, creating the need for the jet. The show could have been edited to not show how he moved from place to place. I'm sure other bosses had drivers and private planes.  They just weren't shown.

My big complaint is still how the show reflected badly on several resorts, impacting owners at those timeshares. At the first resort shown, he made a point of it being a takeover and still several years from being up to DRI standards.  Would you want to book there? The segment on my home resort, Powhatan, focused on the units appearing to fall apart.  I thought we had paid all the special assessments and MFs necessary to take care of this problem.  To show him working on some of the oldest and most troublesome units and talking about the lack of manpower and equipment to keep up with maintenance, just reinforces some of the negative impressions of PP that I had hoped we were overcoming.

So far as his focus on customer service, my last contact with them was the end of the year, after this episode had been filmed. I was reserving my usual 2 BR unit at PP and was, as usual, booking one of the standard 2BR as I didn't have enough points left for anything else.  The CSR told me that, for the amount of points I was using, she would upgrade me to one of the new "deluxe" units.   While I still think our standard 2 over 2 lockout is still one of the best timeshare units around, I have toured the "deluxe" units and they are really among the nicest thing I have seen anywhere in more than 25 years of exchanging.  Maybe offering a free upgrade is part of their new motto to always say "yes".


----------



## AKE (Jan 16, 2012)

I agree in that the producers have final say of what segments to air and which ones not to. At the same time I would think that if the producers view an individual favorably then they are more likely to air the segments which make the CEO look good and if they get negative vibes from the CEO then what is aired will make the CEO look bad.  So the question is what did Cloobeck do to have the producers portray him in this negative light?

Now from a corporate standards viewpoint, I would think that there should be some DRI standard re the number of units/maintenance person for PP.  If PP has 800+ units and only 4 painters/drywallers which is obviously not workable (i.e. 1 painter/sander/200 units is way too low) then why has this not been escalated?  DRI has been in charge for 4 1/2 years and as such they should have metrics readily available re what is required vs what they have.


----------



## Tom T (Jan 16, 2012)

*Diamond Resorts: [merged]*

Saw the CEO on undercover last night, wonder why he didn't visit the sales department.  I've never had trouble with the people he dealt with in all the years we have stayed in Time Shares!


----------



## dougp26364 (Jan 16, 2012)

glenmore said:


> Anyone else get an email from Diamond Resorts this morning?
> 
> Chairman and CEO, Stephen J. Cloobeck went UNDERCOVER, what did you think? (shows a picture of him)
> 
> ...



Recieved it and responded. It's one of the few survey's I took the time to think about and write in comments I thought relevant.


----------



## nightnurse613 (Jan 16, 2012)

Well, fortunately for all of us; Mr. Cloobeck probably doesn't give a rat's #$%# about any of us or our comments.   Probably should have been called the Stephen J Cloobeck Hour; as everyone pointed out he was pretty full of himself. I thought the comment his wife made about "we don't even own a hammer" was pretty telling.  Of course, leaders have to lead and managers have to manage; CEOs on the other hand are responsible for making the stock holders happy and getting the right leaders and managers.  His outfit was totally whacked, seriously, do you think he fooled anyone?  While I think the financial gestures were nice (I just hope they came from HIS salary) paying off the guys $150K mortgage AND giving him $50,000 cash was WAY OVER THE TOP -especially since most of the employees probably haven't seen any raise in the last four years!!  On top of that, I thought the survey was another thoughtless piece of garbage.  It seemed like all the questions were MANDATORY and the the questions about household income, zip code, marital status, children and their ages (along with others) were NOT APPROPRIATE.


----------



## pgnewarkboy (Jan 16, 2012)

nightnurse613 said:


> Well, fortunately for all of us; Mr. Cloobeck probably doesn't give a rat's #$%# about any of us or our comments.   Probably should have been called the Stephen J Cloobeck Hour; as everyone pointed out he was pretty full of himself. I thought the comment his wife made about "we don't even own a hammer" was pretty telling.  Of course, leaders have to lead and managers have to manage; CEOs on the other hand are responsible for making the stock holders happy and getting the right leaders and managers.  His outfit was totally whacked, seriously, do you think he fooled anyone?  While I think the financial gestures were nice (I just hope they came from HIS salary) paying off the guys $150K mortgage AND giving him $50,000 cash was WAY OVER THE TOP -especially since most of the employees probably haven't seen any raise in the last four years!!  On top of that, I thought the survey was another thoughtless piece of garbage.  It seemed like all the questions were MANDATORY and the the questions about household income, zip code, marital status, children and their ages (along with others) were NOT APPROPRIATE.



Cloobeck has personally responded to posts on this board to resolve poster's issues. It seems that people just like to have someone to hate.  Shame on him for helping those people?  Really?  It was over the top?


----------



## carl2591 (Jan 16, 2012)

l2trade said:


> Wow! Check out all the negative user comments from last nights episode:
> 
> Here - http://www.cbs.com/shows/undercover_boss/bios/80943/
> 
> And, here - http://newyork.ibtimes.com/articles...er-boss-cloobeck-diamond-resorts-season-3.htm



wow they are pounding this guy.. might be worth while to post and mention the tug site.. i did..


----------



## pwrshift (Jan 17, 2012)

He was sure full of himself.

Would be interesting to know when he did the program and if anything has changed for the better at his resorts.  Also, if he actually did come through with the bonuses?


----------



## nightnurse613 (Jan 17, 2012)

pgnewarkboy said:


> Cloobeck has personally responded to posts on this board to resolve poster's issues. It seems that people just like to have someone to hate.  Shame on him for helping those people?  Really?  It was over the top?



Actually, we have had Mr. Cloobeck call us (from his vacation villa). My point is, why does he feel the need to do this?  I would like a nice Christmas card - preferably with a note that our MFs will NOT be increasing again this year.  You seem to think that's "nice"- I think that's micro-managing-if you don't create "issues" then you don't need to resolve them!  If every time there's a problem and someone jumps in to "handle it"; what do you learn?  I don't hate him nor did I say shame on him for helping those people. People have bad luck all the time ( My husband lent a friend $25,000; both of which we never saw again!). People have jobs-the lucky ones- (maybe two or three) but their employer doesn't jump in and give them $200K.   My guess is those maintenance guys are making pretty good money compared to the regular housekeeping staff.  Yes!  I say OVER THE TOP!


----------



## pgnewarkboy (Jan 17, 2012)

nightnurse613 said:


> Actually, we have had Mr. Cloobeck call us (from his vacation villa). My point is, why does he feel the need to do this?  I would like a nice Christmas card - preferably with a note that our MFs will NOT be increasing again this year.  You seem to think that's "nice"- I think that's micro-managing-if you don't create "issues" then you don't need to resolve them!  If every time there's a problem and someone jumps in to "handle it"; what do you learn?  I don't hate him nor did I say shame on him for helping those people. People have bad luck all the time ( My husband lent a friend $25,000; both of which we never saw again!). People have jobs-the lucky ones- (maybe two or three) but their employer doesn't jump in and give them $200K.   My guess is those maintenance guys are making pretty good money compared to the regular housekeeping staff.  Yes!  I say OVER THE TOP!



Obviously he can't make you happy.  Even if he calls you personally from his villa. That maintenance worker who lost his house and retirement etc. (Cloobeck paid off his mortgate so he and his wife could stop working two jobs)probably earned more than the others working there - Cloobeck over the top again.  The young lady whose mother had unpaid hospital bills for MS that Cloobeck paid for -  well, just another case of over the top behavior by Cloobeck.  Paying for the call center girls education and apologizing to her for getting angry for not following policy - over the top again by Cloobeck.  Improving the tools for his painters, buying a hybrid vehicle for the painter that couldn't afford to drive to work, demanding that employees be trained properly, all of this is clearly over the top behavior.

You say you don't hate Cloobeck but I don't buy it.


----------



## TUGBrian (Jan 17, 2012)

this was a much more interesting article coming out of the show to me!

http://www.lvrj.com/business/-under...ance-brings-unwanted-attention-137452123.html



(people trying to take him up on his "get your money back if you arent happy" offer)


----------



## nightnurse613 (Jan 17, 2012)

pgnewarkboy said:


> Obviously he can't make you happy.  Even if he calls you personally from his villa. That maintenance worker who lost his house and retirement etc. (Cloobeck paid off his mortgate so he and his wife could stop working two jobs)probably earned more than the others working there - Cloobeck over the top again.  The young lady whose mother had unpaid hospital bills for MS that Cloobeck paid for -  well, just another case of over the top behavior by Cloobeck.  Paying for the call center girls education and apologizing to her for getting angry for not following policy - over the top again by Cloobeck.  Improving the tools for his painters, buying a hybrid vehicle for the painter that couldn't afford to drive to work, demanding that employees be trained properly, all of this is clearly over the top behavior.
> 
> You say you don't hate Cloobeck but I don't buy it.



Just to clarify, I was speaking specifically about the $200K being over the top. However, in retrospect, the hybrid truck was a little much,too.  Who is paying your mortgage?  I may have missed the part about losing his house - I heard him say that the sale of his business was affecting his retirement.  What about the millions of people who invested in the stock market and now have lost their retirement nest egg?   What about the workers who have to use public transportation or get rides from fellow workers?  This guy had a truck, at least. Nice to have your student loans paid but what about tuition assistance for the thousands of other employees? Demanding that employees be trained properly, hiring sufficient staff,  purchasing tools and equipment so the workers can accomplish their jobs, updating computer systems so rooms aren't overbooked.  Those are not the issues that were over the top. Those are his job as CEO - and I am happy that he now recognizes some of the problems. I have a small investment in DRI and I truly want him to succeed (really). I appreciate that we can disagree on our opinions about Mr. Cloobeck's representation on TV but I don't think you have any reason to say (or think) I hate him. He can make me happy - identify the vision and goals of this company and then get out of the way and let it happen (and, please, no more TV shows)!


----------



## dioxide45 (Jan 17, 2012)

nightnurse613 said:


> Nice to have your student loans paid but what about tuition assistance for the thousands of other employees?



Many large corporations have tuition reimbursement benefits. I would have thought DRI would have had something similar. Usually the tuition reimbursement is for degrees in a related field. In the case of the call center worker, she was going for business administration I believe. Anyone going for hospitality management should have tuition reimbursement. Usually these benefits are up to a certain amount per year ($3000-$5000), but it is better than nothing. Perhaps Mr Coolbeck could institute this type of benefit for his employees.

I sure hope the company is grossing up (usually adding about 40% in non cash compensation) on these big bonuses. Otherwise the employees will have a very hefty tax bill that could take several years of salary to pay for.


----------



## pgnewarkboy (Jan 18, 2012)

nightnurse613 said:


> Just to clarify, I was speaking specifically about the $200K being over the top. However, in retrospect, the hybrid truck was a little much,too.  Who is paying your mortgage?  I may have missed the part about losing his house - I heard him say that the sale of his business was affecting his retirement.  What about the millions of people who invested in the stock market and now have lost their retirement nest egg?   What about the workers who have to use public transportation or get rides from fellow workers?  This guy had a truck, at least. Nice to have your student loans paid but what about tuition assistance for the thousands of other employees? Demanding that employees be trained properly, hiring sufficient staff,  purchasing tools and equipment so the workers can accomplish their jobs, updating computer systems so rooms aren't overbooked.  Those are not the issues that were over the top. Those are his job as CEO - and I am happy that he now recognizes some of the problems. I have a small investment in DRI and I truly want him to succeed (really). I appreciate that we can disagree on our opinions about Mr. Cloobeck's representation on TV but I don't think you have any reason to say (or think) I hate him. He can make me happy - identify the vision and goals of this company and then get out of the way and let it happen (and, please, no more TV shows)!



Of course the bottom line is that only you can know whether or not you hate Cloobeck.  On the other hand I don't think it is Cloobeck's responsibility to help the millions of people all over the nation that need help.  The fact that he obviously can't do that does not diminish the acts of kindness for the employees that he did help.  Perhaps his acts will inspire others to extend a helping hand to people they know.


----------



## Timeshare Von (Feb 27, 2012)

OK I realize I'm a bit late to this little party, having just caught up on some older shows on our DVR.  Some random thoughts from Casa Bennett . . .

*  This guy is not a team player or leader.  I lost count of how many times he referred to "my" company, etc.  I don't think he said once "Here at Diamond Resorts *we* . . . blah blah blah."

*  Yes his extravagance was WAY over the top from the body guard, chauffeured car/driver, private jet and the mansion at the end.  Yeah, even the pin-up photos of the trophy wife added nothing.

*  My husband has done residential and commercial building maintenance/renovation for over 20 years.  They guy at Powhatan clearly did not know what he was doing with that drywall work as evidenced by the amount of sanding necessary.  It was not a matter of lack of tools, but poor workmanship & skills.

*  The gifts and rewards given were just a filthy display of his riches.  Totally unnecessary . . . but unfortunately the direction this show's been going for many episodes.  It was as though it was about one-upping the last CEO.

*  I kept wondering how his maintenance decisions were going to affect the MF's at the various resorts that had exposed issues.

*  Lastly, do all timeshares overbook reservations?  I was shocked to hear him defend that practice, only being upset about the lies they tell ("It's due to unforeseen maintenance issues") to cover it when they don't have accommodations for a confirmed guest.  Given that stays are booked either through ownership points or exchanges from booked ownership points, who cares of there are no-shows?  What am I missing here?  Whatever is going on with that, I doubt I will ever book another DRI exchange out of fear that maybe I'll be the poor sap w/o a unit when I try to check-in.


----------



## Fisch (Feb 27, 2012)

Timeshare Von said:


> *  Lastly, do all timeshares overbook reservations?  I was shocked to hear him defend that practice, only being upset about the lies they tell ("It's due to unforeseen maintenance issues") to cover it when they don't have accommodations for a confirmed guest.  Given that stays are booked either through ownership points or exchanges from booked ownership points, who cares of there are no-shows?  What am I missing here?  Whatever is going on with that, I doubt I will ever book another DRI exchange out of fear that maybe I'll be the poor sap w/o a unit when I try to check-in.



Timeshares, hotels, and airlines all do this.


----------



## Timeshare Von (Feb 27, 2012)

Fisch said:


> Timeshares, hotels, and airlines all do this.



I understand that hotels & airlines do it.  Timeshares, in my opinion are different though.  Or at least seem like they should be different because the reservation (either directly or through an exchange) represent "ownership" . . . not merely paying for a service.


----------



## AKE (Feb 27, 2012)

If a resort is overbooked then make sure that you are adequately compensated for the trouble.  We booked an exchange (1 bedroom) through SFX for the Manhattan Club.  When we checked in (around 11 pm... we had told them beforehand that we would be late due to plane arrival time) we were told that there was no room that night (water problems supposedly) and we would be sent to another hotel (which though nice, was not a 1 bedroom and we had to move back the next day... the MC said that our unit would be ready in the morning).  When we came back  the next day at 11 am we were told that our room would not be ready until 4 pm (thereby ruining a whole day in NYC). I would have none of that and insisted that we be given a unit like `now`.  By this point others in the lobby were listening wiht interest to the discussion (which was civil) - I asked to speak to the manager who quickly found us a 1 bedroom unit (strange eh!) but by now it was past noon and we had lost half a day.  I requested further compensation from the MC for what we had experienced and was given complimentary breakfast for 2 for the rest of the week.  As well, SFX refunded me the week (though this took a few phone calls as well as their first comment was that we were given accomodation so there should be no issue... .I THINK NOT!)


----------



## carl2591 (Feb 28, 2012)

*Diamond Resorts,  "Undercover Boss"*

they still have the article on Review Journal in Las Vegas in business section, tourism section. 

http://www.lvrj.com/business

guess it getting a few hits still..


----------



## Timeshare Von (Feb 28, 2012)

Interesting reading for sure.

It's a shame that what could have been a positive for DRI has backfired and become an apparent PR nightmare.


----------



## AKE (Feb 28, 2012)

Was this a case of editing to show the worst or are executives so out of touch with reality that they think that the average person (who is struggling to make ends meet) will be impressed by private jets (among other things)?  I can't believe that anyone with any sense of marketing or PR would let something like this be taped, let alone aired!


----------



## Timeshare Von (Feb 28, 2012)

AKE said:


> Was this a case of editing to show the worst or are executives so out of touch with reality that they think that the average person (who is struggling to make ends meet) will be impressed by private jets (among other things)?  I can't believe that anyone with any sense of marketing or PR would let something like this be taped, let alone aired!



I don't know.  I would have expected that any corporation whose CEO is participating in such a show would retain some approval rights to avoid a real nightmare given how so much can be taken out of context with "reality" TV.

When Undercover Boss first came out, the premise was something along the lines of (paraphrasing here) "With all of the corporate greed and inappropriate CEO behavior, here are stories of companies and CEO's that do care and are doing good.

This particular episode on DRI/Cloobeck was really bothersome to me because it did seem so over the top. Even the rewards he provided the employees featured on the episode were too much.

It was one thing in the early episodes to give someone a few thousand bucks for a well deserved holiday or to go to college.  But what happened in this DRI/Cloobeck episode seemed to just flaunt the money is a more vulgar way.  My DH said sometime during season 2 that it seemed to him that these CEOs were all coming on trying to out do and one-up the prior companies & their CEOs.

If I were an owner in the DRI system, I would be been doubly aggravated knowing how that company makes their money by selling timeshares and through resort management fees.  Afterall, I doubt Mr. Cloobeck paid for the generously lavish rewards given the employees out of his own wallet.


----------

