Fantasea resorts hit with 1million dollar penalty in deceptive sales practices lawsuit

[TUGBrian]

looks like 19 owners might get some justice here, although it does not mention how much of the 1m would be for legal fees...

Jury Awards Over $1M to Consumers in Timeshare Deception Lawsuit Against FantaSea Resorts

/PRNewswire/ -- A Superior Court jury in New Jersey decided in favor of consumers deceived by timeshare seller FantaSea Resorts, awarding the plaintiffs a...

www.prnewswire.com

A Superior Court jury in New Jersey decided in favor of consumers deceived by timeshare seller FantaSea Resorts, awarding the plaintiffs a $1,069,285 verdict for the Atlantic City resort's intentionally deceptive sales practices.

...


The jury verdict will compensate a group of 19 plaintiffs whose consumer protection rights were violated by repeated misrepresentations throughout FantaSea Resort's routine, deceptive sales practices. The jury agreed that FantaSea's tactics left consumers with timeshare purchases they couldn't use as described, with payments and rising maintenance fees they couldn't escape.

 

[LannyPC]

Almost makes you want to say to other companies and their sales teams, "Hey! See this?"

 

[LannyPC]

I really love these quotes from the article:

"The jury agreed that FantaSea's tactics left consumers with timeshare purchases they couldn't use as described, with payments and rising maintenance fees they couldn't escape."

"FantaSea Resorts admitted to making knowingly false statements to lure potential buyers into binding timeshare sales agreements..."

"FantaSea intentionally withheld important sales documents from the buyers until after they had completed the transaction, contrary to what they are legally required to do."

"...also misled consumer plaintiffs into believing that their purchase was a real estate investment that would increase in value over time."

"...business models like these, that are intentionally built to take advantage of good people, are not unique to FantaSea..."

 

[TUGBrian]

agree completely!

this was such a fascinating report, its the topic of this weeks episode of Talking Timeshares!

 

[pedro47]

Does anyone else feel that there are other timeshare resorts / companies/ developers guilty of these practices?

 

[vacationtime1]

FantaSea wasn't hit with any "penalty"; they must only refund what they stole.

A "penalty" would be punitive damages. I am quite certain that there were no punitive damages here because the plaintiff's law firm's press release attached above would be touting any award of punitive damages.

The plaintiff's were merely made whole (less legal fees). FantaSea is no worse off than they would have been if they hadn't misrepresented their product.

 

[pedro47]

FantaSea wasn't hit with any "penalty"; they must only refund what they stole.

A "penalty" would be punitive damages. I am quite certain that there were no punitive damages here because the plaintiff's law firms press release attached above would be touting any award of punitive damages.

The plaintiff's were merely made whole (less legal fees). FantaSea is no worse off than they would have been if they hadn't misrepresented their product.

Sound liked nothing has changed at this resort.

 

[TUGBrian]

dang, video earned our first downvote!

maybe it was a fantasea salespeson!

 

[rickandcindy23]

From the article

"What's concerning for consumers is that business models like these, that are intentionally built to take advantage of good people, are not unique to FantaSea – and in fact, there are many resorts in the timeshare space that are even more egregious in their deceptive practices," Solseng said. "I don't recommend that anyone attend a timeshare presentation, no matter how much they entice you with gifts."

Wyndham fits this description. Deceptive sales' tactics. They are at the top of the heap.

 

[TUGBrian]

I dont believe any of the major players are immune to this cancer (although admittedly, ive never heard a similar complaint from someone in a DVC presentation)...some have more stringent rules, others clearly more lax until it becomes an "issue".

the only common theme Ive seen is that every developer knows it happens, and claims to be 100% against it happening.

yet for decades, the major players all seem to continue to do the absolute bare minimum level of effort to prevent it. No doubt its better than it was 20 years ago, however thats not really saying much.

Just like with upfront fee scams, the industry could take steps to end said behavior overnight if it wanted to.