Virtually every reader in the USA will know Dave Ramsey, but the majority of other readers won’t have a clue, let us explain. Dave Ramsey is a Christian radio host and personal finance guru whose finance related radio show is syndicated on radio stations right across the States. Mr Ramsey created a company known as the Lampo Group which has subsequently been renamed as Dave Ramsey Solutions.
The purpose of this article is just to go over some points that have arisen concerning a court case and impending Jury trial surrounding accusations from a group of Ramsey listeners who are presenting a class action against him revolving around advertising and endorsem*nts made by Ramsey during his shows.
Timeshare Exit Team – A brief background
Many European readers will be unfamiliar with the company Timeshare Exit Team (TET) which was a trading name of Reed Hein & Associates, LLC. The business was formed in 2012 with, as the name suggests, the sole purpose was assisting owners exit their timeshare, for a fee. With this mission it put them firmly in the gun sights of some of the largest developers in the States.
According to our research The Dave Ramsey Show is syndicated on around 600 radio stations across the States, has a combined listenership of 16 million people. To put that in perspective that’s the equivalent of twice the population of London tuning in. BBC Radio 4 commands a total UK listenership of around 11 million. From this it may be seen that Dave Ramsey is not an insignificant influencer and broadcaster.
TET signed an advertising contract with the Ramsey show and was endorsed as the only timeshare exit company that could be trusted. All enquiries generated by the show were passed to TET as “hot leads”. Apparently TET was inundated.
Dave Ramsey has made no secret of the fact that he despises the timeshare industry and has launched several attacks aimed at Diamond Resorts and in particular to former CEO Mike Flaskey. Naturally Diamond hasn’t taken too kindly to this. The one thing with Dave Ramsey is he speaks his mind and shoots from the hip.
The demise of Timeshare Exit Team (Reed Hein & Associates)
Back in September 2021 Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that Kirkland-based timeshare exit company, Reed Hein & Associates LLC, must stop its deceptive timeshare exit practices and pay $2.61 million to Washington. If the company violates the terms of the consent decree, it will be required to pay an additional $19 million — a total judgment of $22 million. Reed Hein also retracted and apologised for statements made in response to the Attorney General’s lawsuit.
Here we have another example of a timeshare exit company promising the earth and delivering nothing. Shortly after this ruling, Timeshare Exit Team closed its doors
The accusations
What drew our attention to this case was a headline on the CBS News website:
“Dave Ramsey faces $150 million lawsuit for promoting company accused of fraud”
A class action is being presented by a considerable number of former clients of Timeshare Exit Team, all of whom paid substantial sums to have their timeshare terminated. This, so they say was on their belief in both the advertisem*nts and endorsem*nts given during the Ramsey Show were the persuading factor to engage services. In the court document the defendants are quoted as:
DAVID L. RAMSEY, III, individually;
HAPPY HOUR MEDIA GROUP, LLC, a Washington limited liability company;
THE LAMPO GROUP LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in April, claims Ramsey received more than $30 million between 2015 to 2021 to promote Timeshare Exit Team on The Ramsey Show. The Washington state-based company, which operated as Reed Hein & Associates, allegedly promised to help customers terminate their timeshare contracts, which are notoriously difficult to exit.
Reed Hein charged between $4,000 and $72,000 for “illusory services,” according to the complaint, which alleges customers paid a total $70 million in fees for people to be released from their timeshares. The suit said Timeshare Exit Team failed to help customers and instead employed “false statements and delay tactics” to “stave off the customers’ realisation that they were being defrauded.” The complaint also alleges Ramsey promoted “deceptive, false and incomplete information,” in violation of consumer protection laws, while personally earning $450,000 a month from the deal. The full court document may be read here.
TCA comment
The purpose of this article is not to cast blame as such but to look a little deeper. For sure Timeshare Exit Team over promised and under delivered and from the evidence presented in the court document, it’s not looking too good. Other pertinent questions were raised with Ramsey as to why checks and balances were not in place to spot the problem before it occurred, his answer:
“I have had no direct insight into Reed Hein’s operations, representations to its customers, or any other aspects of its business,” Ramsey told the court in the Washington case. “Again, others on my team are responsible for the details of the endorsem*nt relationship and I act based on their recommendations and advice.” Hmmm, that sounds a bit like passing the proverbial buck.
We still come down to the drum that is so worn out by TCA continually banging it, if only timeshare developers would create workable cost effective exit strategies none of this would happen. Without such strategies everyone’s a loser, those who feel locked in to their timeshare, those who have paid to exit and failed or been scammed, developers reputation and so on. Are we completely mad or is this simple solution not a lifetime fix?
In a rant about Diamond Resorts, Dave Ramsey said live in a broadcast:
“You done poked the wrong bear; you done peed off the wrong hillbilly.”
We wonder if he feels the same sentiment over this pending court case.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk
