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The Point at Poipu - Times are a changin'

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We have been owners since the days of the Embassy. We had our Diamond timeshare presentation a few days ago when the "Dinasour" term was used on my wife and I. I objected (loudly) and got the attention of all the others in the room. I think I made my point as it was not mentioned again and may have disrupted other presentations (we were all owners). Anyway, I do believe the building maintenance is better now than when Sunterra had control. Dinasour Kenny
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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The DRI Club program is essentially Club Sunterra carried forward under a new name. I expect that Diamond will have little hesitancy making changes in Club operations that they believe are worthwhile and prudent (and to them "prudent" certainly encompasses "more profitable".

Yes and no. It just seems to depend on which way the wind is blowing.

From what I've read, they'll tell you that, if you buy at developer prices, they'll waive the $2,995 joiner fee for THE Club. If they claim to be waiving a joiner fee, then a joiner fee must exist and be offered or they could have a problem.

On the other hand, you have not mentioned that they would waive the "joiner" fee so, perhaps they have changed the wording in the presentation.

At different times people have reported that resales have been handled a variety of ways. Some have requested that when they buy a developer week that it be written into the contract that they can add resale weeks to THE Club without additional expense. Other have written that when they inquired about getting resale weeks into THE Club, they were told they had to buy additional inventory from the developer. Others have reported being able to negotiate that $2,995 joiner fee.

IMO, DRI is foolish for not allowing resale owners to join THE Club for the $2,995 fee. IMO, that's essentially free money. No gifts to give out, no inventory to build and sell. No overhead what-so-ever. If someone has bought resale, they're not likely to buy developer. They already know the secrete. On the other hand, those that buy from the developer aren't likely to find out about resale values until they want to sell their units.

I also feel that, by keeping resale units out of THE Club, it has the effect of decreasing inventory for the existing members. Inventory that would be nice to have when making reservations.

So the long and short of it is, the target seems to keep changing. DRI really hasn't seemed to settle on how they're going to handle resale unit owners seeking membership in THE Club. Hopefully at some point there will be a set of rules for joining and this won't be much of a topic for discussion. Until then, it's anyones guess. If you're going to buy a DRI week resale, it's best to buy something you can either use or be happy trading using I.I. or RCI's weeks based exchange systems.
 

Kauai Kid

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We have been owners since the days of the Embassy. We had our Diamond timeshare presentation a few days ago when the "Dinasour" term was used on my wife and I. I objected (loudly) and got the attention of all the others in the room. I think I made my point as it was not mentioned again and may have disrupted other presentations (we were all owners). Anyway, I do believe the building maintenance is better now than when Sunterra had control. Dinasour Kenny

Kenny: During the presentation last year they were playing good guy/bad guy sales tactics with us to convert the deed to points for an outrageous sum of money. A polite no three times was ignored. With me usually it is 3 strikes and you are out.

The fourth time I said "What Part of No Don't You Understand" loud enough to be heard in Hanalei. We were out of there in 4 minutes.:hysterical:

I'll never attend an "owners meeting" again or buy any DRI timeshare.


Sterling
 

rmb

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> If you are an owner at The Point and have booked a week be prepared for some changes when you check in - Kauai Kid


We used to own an annual 2 BR Float/Float at 'Embassy Poipu'... back in 'the good 'ol days'. The things that attracted me to this property:

- ability to make reservations 365 days out and SECURE a particular unit if it was availabl - You could request 3 units and get confirmation within a couple of days via email.
* I still remember the 3-4 of us standing in line around midnight making sure we secure our week(s) for the next year! That's how much we loved the place and how much effort we would put forth to take advantage of the resort's policies and offerings.

CAN YOU STILL DO THIS? NO

- the evening reception
* there was something very warm, pleasant and almost magical when many of the owners would congregate in the lobby between 4-6 PM, enjoy a cold beer or mai tai on the house, snack on some chips and salsa, and sometimes enjoy some local musicians.... really a nice piece to the vacation (although it often disrupted your appetite since it was so close to dinner time!).

CAN YOU STILL DO THIS? NO

- the friendliness, warmth, and hospitality shown by the local workers at the resort... those memories will always last and it doesn't surprise me that you are noticing 'stress' on the employees' faces. It is all a 'connection', and if the resort is not connecting with the owners, the trickle down effect will be very evident and genuine.

No, I must admit - I am very, very pleased to have gotten out from under this resort's transition started several years ago. I now own Pono Kai (paid less than $2000 for an EOY 2 BR Float-Float), once again enjoy the policy of requesting a particular unit during a particular week and getting IMMEDIATE confirmation that it is available or not... and while the Pono Kai may not be as flashy as the Embassy, the resort still shines for us and the 'Ohana' feel that we used to experience at Embassy is alive and well.

It's a sad case to hear all the negativity about the former Embassy Poipu... I remember the day when every word spoken about the resort was positive and refreshing.
 

aliikai2

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We also used to own at the Embassy,

>
No, I must admit - I am very, very pleased to have gotten out from under this resort's transition started several years ago. I now own Pono Kai (paid less than $2000 for an EOY 2 BR Float-Float), once again enjoy the policy of requesting a particular unit during a particular week and getting IMMEDIATE confirmation that it is available or not... and while the Pono Kai may not be as flashy as the Embassy, the resort still shines for us and the 'Ohana' feel that we used to experience at Embassy is alive and well.

We also used to own at the Embassy and sold in 2002 for most of what we had paid retail, bought 3 weeks at the Pono Kai, 2 bedroom float, and have been very pleased and happy with our change.

My wife and I enjoy the PK so much more than the EVR, it is just home to us.

I know Steve and some other feel the same way about the Point, but it was just not for us.

The flat 11 acres of the PK, versus the up and down of the Point, for Joyce makes all the difference.

fwiw,

Greg
 
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lv_maui

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>
- the evening reception
* there was something very warm, pleasant and almost magical when many of the owners would congregate in the lobby between 4-6 PM, enjoy a cold beer or mai tai on the house, snack on some chips and salsa, and sometimes enjoy some local musicians.... really a nice piece to the vacation (although it often disrupted your appetite since it was so close to dinner time!).

CAN YOU STILL DO THIS? NO

Again, this was funded by the developer and once the developer goes away, then the freebies go away. You get what you pay for. Do you want the maintenance fees to go up and provide this service? The majority of the owners would vote no.
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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They have cut back extensively on the incentives for attending the "owners update". No longer can you get the incentives credited against next year's maintenance fee.

Also, in a totally idiotic move, they don't do separate sales presentations when there are multiple family groups travelling together. Instead, they put everyone in one tour, and each added party gets a $50 added incentive.

Totally ridiculous, because as anyone who has been involved in sales knows, each decision maker has their own approach to making decisions. So when you have two or three separate decision makers sitting together in a presentation, you can't put make an optimized presentation.

My son sat through the presentation, and thought it stupid, largely because the sales person was pitching to DW and I, whereas my son's issues are totally different.
 

lv_maui

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That is totally stupid and hokey for such a high level resort such as Poipu. Wow, they are really doing this????? Next, they will be doing podium sales pitches!!
 

Lee B

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Speaking of Changin'

I remember years ago when the Embassy management believed that their resort was so special that they told RCI to allow no exchange when the deposit was a non-Embassy Hawaii interval. All those other resorts responded by telling RCI not to allow an exchange for an Embassy deposit, nyah. :mad:

Is this still going on?
 

rickandcindy23

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I remember years ago when the Embassy management believed that their resort was so special that they told RCI to allow no exchange when the deposit was a non-Embassy Hawaii interval. All those other resorts responded by telling RCI not to allow an exchange for an Embassy deposit, nyah. :mad:

Is this still going on?

I don't think this is the case anymore. I think that was an Embassy thing. I know what you are talking about because we went to a sales pitch on our first Hawaii visit 9 years ago. We exchanged into the Point and had the sales person treat our Colorado summer week like we only received this exchange out of charity. Then he talked about the exclusive exchange privileges, which would keep any other Hawaii resort from trading into the Point. We had no intention of buying a Hawaii week back then, so I thought it odd for a salesperson to make such a big deal about it. He showed us the list of resort not allowed into his resort. It was such a joke. :rofl:

Does Point at Poipu have a bridge to make the twin beds into a king? I didn't want to get one of these weeks for my sister, but I may add it to my list of possibilites.
 

Kauai Kid

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Don't know about the "bridge" for the bed but you may need a "bridge loan" for the next maintenance fee and special assessment. :hysterical:


Sterling
 

rickandcindy23

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Don't know about the "bridge" for the bed but you may need a "bridge loan" for the next maintenance fee and special assessment. :hysterical:


Sterling

Well, I would just be getting an exchange. The last exchange I got was in a garden level in the building by the parking lot. I wasn't sure I wanted my sister and her best friend to celebrate their 50th birthdays in a unit at Poipu, since they assign exchangers those units, but hey, it's Kauai, the resort is clean, and I think they would love it there. They will just need to go somewhere to watch the whales.
 

pedro47

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What is happening in DRI from the CEO and his staff about making Diamond International a great company for timeshare owners & Club members ?
 

Kauai Kid

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We also used to own at the Embassy and sold in 2002 for most of what we had paid retail, bought 3 weeks at the Pono Kai, 2 bedroom float, and have been very pleased and happy with our change.

My wife and I enjoy the PK so much more than the EVR, it is just home to us.

I know Steve and some other feel the same way about the Point, but it was just not for us.

The flat 11 acres of the PK, versus the up and down of the Point, for Joyce makes all the difference.

fwiw,

Greg

I'd sell our two ocean front weeks at the Point if I could get some of what we paid in return. Not a handicapped friendly resort. PK sounds ideal for us older folks.

Sterling
 

rmb

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Again, this was funded by the developer and once the developer goes away, then the freebies go away. You get what you pay for. Do you want the maintenance fees to go up and provide this service? The majority of the owners would vote no.

Sounds to me like they are doing both... cutting the services AND raising maintenance fees! :bawl:
 

pedro47

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The Top Brass is monitoring this web site and Timeshare Forum web site.
 

lv_maui

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The Top Brass is monitoring this web site and Timeshare Forum web site.


Pedro, what would be the reason that you psoted this? That you were contacted by them for a previous post? Wss it a libel warning?
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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The Top Brass is monitoring this web site and Timeshare Forum web site.

Tell us something new. They have been actively monitoring TUG for at least six years.

When we stayed at Ka'anapali in 2003 I posted an unflattering message about the resort. The next day the Ka'anapali resort manager left a message on my voice mail, requesting a meeting with me. When we met he indicated that he had been told of my post by a Sunterra VP and was directed to followup with me.
 

mwengler

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Does DRI buy float-float units?

I'm not emotionally attached to my deed. I'll sell it back to DRI anytime they want to make me a reasonable offer........and actually follow through with it. ;)

We are a float-float owner from the Embassy days (1996). Does diamond make straight cash offers for units to go in to the trust?

I have done only one sales presentation where they tried to make the points systems sound as good as they had made RCI sound back in the day. It was my first exposure to points so I spent my whole time trying to figure out what all the catches were.

Cheers,
Mike
 

lv_maui

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I have never heard of straght cash offers for units to go into the trust.
 
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