Complaint Review: Diamond Resorts International Previously Sunterra Resorts - Las Vegas Nevada

I was injured in 2005, on Thanksgiving weekend, when we turned on the heat at Villas de Santa Fe and was hit in the face by a cloud of dust and debris which caused me to have quite a major reaction to whatever was in the cloud.  It wasn't just the initial reaction that did the damage.  The fact that Villas de Santa Fe did nothing to find us another hotel elsewhere, or a room at their hotel for the next two and a half days, magnified my symptoms tremendously and most likely caused a syndrome called MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.  It is a chronic condition for which I display every symptom they list when I'm exposed to any chemical irritant I'm reactive to and there are many. 

The attack was probably so devastating, causing me long term damage, because they let us sit in a contaminated, ice cold, because we couldn't turn the heat back on for fear of more stuff flying out of the vent, room for more than two days before they moved us.  They said there were no more rooms available but the other parking lot wasn't full at all.  The contamination in the room was so bad that we had to keep the windows open in low 30-40 degree weather or I got worse.  The entire duration of the attack lasted for approximately nine days or so and that is with taking Benadryl, and other products to aid me.  

The Head Engineer, when he finally showed up on the scene a few days after it happened, looked worried and tried to blame it all on us, telling us we turned on the A/C and that it was the A/C vent that we had a problem with, not the heat.  He pointed to an intake grate on the floor and told us that was where the heat was supposed to come from, not the vent above us.  Even if it was, although it wasn't, who cares?  A cloud of crap came out and hit me in the face and I inhaled it causing serious, long term, chronic injuries.  Everything should have been clean and it wasn't.  Period.

How do we know this?  We saw the filter being changed by the maintenance assistant the day before they moved us to the new room and it was full of two and a half to three inches of dust, dirt and debris. Oddly enough, when the Head Engineer moved us to the new room, which was identical in every way to our old one, it was freezing in there just like in our room.  If it had been recently vacated there would have been heat on.  We pointed this out to him and he said it was "just cleaned and the cleaning staff turns off all of the heaters".  Well it was colder in the new room than it was in the hallway.  Then he turned on the same unit and heat came out of the same vent, which he said was "only for the A/C".  He even put his hand up to feel the warm air and realized what he'd done, having implicated himself in his own lie, turned red and then shooed us out of the room "until it got warm enough and to make sure there was nothing wrong with the room". 

Both my husband and I looked at him with disgust at that point.  He was a CYA guy... Cover Your A-- if you know what I mean.  Frankly, not being a litigious hypochondriac hasn't served me well.  I should have done everything in my power to get pictures and samples but I was in pretty bad shape and we were both in moderate shock from my ongoing sneezing and coughing fits which occurred every 15-30 minutes until we were moved out of the contaminated room. 

My husband had a lesser reaction because he was in the kitchen area and not directly in front of the vent.  For the first few days, while in the ice cold contaminated room, I was one step short of going to the ER for the first few days and then things seemed to slowly get better after we were moved to the new room.  I didn't go to the ER because I worked on several doctors over the years and I had been warned not to go on a holiday weekend unless I was afraid I was dying.  This is due to the fact that all of the more experienced medical professionals all take off and you're left with the new MD's who don't really know what they're doing yet and many more mistakes occur on and around holidays.

We just kept thinking Villas de Santa Fe would do the right thing and either get us into another room at their hotel or find us another one, like they said they would.  There had to be another room available somewhere in Santa Fe, right?  Well if there was, they didn't look very hard.  We were calling every few hours or so.  It was ridiculous.  I wouldn't have let my pets be treated the way they treated us and we've been OWNERS in Sedona since 2000.

Since the initial reaction in 2005, I'm now reactive to all kinds of things, especially chemicals of any kind.  Perfumes, cigarette smoke, industry air pollution, pesticides, car exhaust, you name it and if I am exposed to it for any length of time I start coughing, sneezing and my eyes water or I get all of those symptoms plus a nasty rash.  I've been in legal proceedings with Diamond Resorts Management since '08. 

When I arrived home in Los Angeles I began having odd reactions to all sorts of things every seven to ten days, if not more often. I had more than seventy five reactions to all kinds of mostly chemical substances, both known and unknown irritants and experienced and still do experience symptoms such as:  Vocal chord problems, vocal loss, intense hypothyroidism, muscle and joint pain, constant headaches from disc degeneration resulting from all of the coughing and sneezing from the reoccurring reactions, acid reflux, memory loss, spacial orientation issues - getting lost while driving in familiar places- fatigue, 

My attorney "threw" the case when none of the MD's I went to in LA could pinpoint what it was.  I will be having him investigated by the NM State Bar due to his missing key deadlines, being dishonest and giving me false information on other deadlines, which put my case in a position to where so far no other attorney has wanted to represent me so I've been trying to do my best on my own. 

We moved half way 'round the world to New Zealand so that I could breathe and because I was unable to work since leaving Los Angeles in 2007.  We moved here because of me and for the lack of industry, a decent socialized medical system - the medical bills I have incurred since this accident are not inconsequential-, and a good exchange rate which will help us just to live since I can no longer work.  I have neurological and physical issues that prevent that from happening.  I loved my jobs too which is something I greatly miss.  My husband works via computer remotely so we were fortunately able to leave the Los Angeles area and as it is with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, when you are not exposed, the symptoms disappear, but if there is even moderate exposure to let's say the air of Los Angeles, about a week of it, I get start getting reactive.

Being six months pregnant presently is not helping the matter either.  I can not personally be at the trial scheduled for mid-September, due to not being able to travel nearly 24 hours trans-ocean, by plane during my third trimester.   

Diamond Resorts Management, although I have witnesses to my condition and my husband saw it happen, and the Manager on Duty, the maintenance man who changed the filter and Head Engineer, when he finally showed up, saw my condition when I was there and have been attempting to deny that the accident ever even happened.  

So, I went from a mentally sharp, physically healthy, active, pain-free woman who; had spent six years doing Voice Over for Disney, had her own Stress Elimination practice for fourteen years enjoying the pleasure of working with amazing people from the cast of Desperate Housewives, American Idol and cast and crew of Fox's "24", as well as every other profession one can imagine, from all parts of the economic spectrum as well; was about to be groomed for her own show at ABC where she would be Creator, Producer and Host; had started writing books as well and had won community awards for dedication to working with Foster Children and was admitted into the Global Who's Who to...

Well, to the person I am now, having had some seventy five reactions in just the year and a half later after the initial reaction, who now can't remember her schedule; can't remember important dates and events that have occurred; doesn't drive by herself, even in familiar places because of getting lost; can't speak or write articulately anymore without great effort; has no energy; has extreme fatigue; can't focus; has recurring attacks to all sorts of chemicals and pollution; digestion issues; has now got disc degeneration on C-2, C 6-7 from all of the intense coughing and sneezing associated with the reactions; has constant, chronic headaches and body pain; has aged considerably from the stress of the accident and subsequent reactions; is reactive to most prescription drugs like Zantac, low dose steroids and Extra Strength Tylenol; has lost a good portion of her two and a half octave speaking and singing voice to nodes and other vocal problems, all just out of the blue? Right.  Well, that is what Diamond Resorts would like you to believe. 

I am writing this now due to the fact that Diamond Resorts/Sunterra have not made any effort to be fair and settle this thing without doing everything in their power to undermine justice, get my case thrown out of court, and have even possibly been obstructing it, for which there will be a complaint lodged with the NM Bar and an investigation conducted.  Needless to say, this holiday was a bit more than I paid for, or bargained for in any way and if I could turn back the clock, I'd never have stayed there.

Also, when I called their head office in Las Vegas a few months after this all happened to let them know I was not doing well and had serious problems stemming from it the guy I spoke to there was a VP I believe, he told me to go "F---" myself and get a lawyer.
About two weeks after that I received a letter inviting me back to Villas de Santa Fe to stay for FREE.  Yes, can you even believe it?  It was almost like they were inviting me back so that they could finish the job.  Wasn't I injured enough already?  Ah unbridled greed and capitalism embodied in Diamond Resorts, a great illustration of the average, big multinational corporate attitude at it's best and in action. 

So, in all fairness to your health and safety, if you're going to be a guest at Villas de Santa Fe, make sure you're a litigious hypochondriac and have a video camera ready, a sample bag and a good lawyer because my former attorney, was terribly inept at best.   I could never recommend another Diamond Resorts property to anyone.

The bottom line is that they don't care about the homeowner or the guest.  They only want money and they know once you are an owner they're getting yours or they'll foreclose on you in a heartbeat.  The customer service is horrid across the board with Diamond Resorts disregarding any kind of problem you complain about and, additionally, they have no ethics issues with lying to cover their "you know whats" so, unless you want to be on constant alert, go somewhere else and you'll be safer. 

I welcome any correspondence from anyone else injured at a Diamond Resorts/Sunterra facility.