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Diamond Resorts CEO to be on Undercover Boss

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.
 
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.
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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?
 
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?
 
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?
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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!
 
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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!
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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.
 
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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.
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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.:shrug: 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)!
 
nightnurse613 said:
Nice to have your student loans paid but what about tuition assistance for the thousands of other employees?
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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.
 
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.:shrug: 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)!
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
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Timeshares, hotels, and airlines all do this.
 
Fisch said:
Timeshares, hotels, and airlines all do this.
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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.
 
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!)
 
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..
 
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.
 
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!
 
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!
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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.
 
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