# Gold Key to Diamond Acquisition - Week 1 deeded week



## jbvbs3 (Jun 2, 2016)

We love staying at Virginia Beach, specifically Oceanaire and Ocean Beach Club. 
We got fooled by Gold Key 4 years ago paying for a two bedroom oceanfront room at Oceanaire. At signing we saw Jan 2nd as our week, we specifically told them that is not the week we would use, Duh.  They replied, "Oh, don't you worry about that you are an exchange owner so you just exchange that and pick whatever week you want".  We now know that is far from the truth!
Now that Diamond has bought Gold Key, we went to an "owners update" (which they said would take 55 mins took about three hours of them threatening us that in 2017 we would no longer be able to exchange back to any of the resorts that Diamond has acquired from Gold Key.  They wanted us to convert our week to 7500 points, but in order to do that we would have to buy 4000 points at minimum and take a huge increase in MF's.  
We are confused, we would like to buy a good week in the summer time and are willing to see the costs but at this point it doesn't seem that they are in the business now of a fixed week.  Are we stuck with Week 1 at our home resort if we don't convert to points?
If anyone has any experience or suggestions on what to do in our situation we would greatly appreciate it.  The sales people at Diamond are so untrustworthy.  While at the meeting saw a bunch of gold key employees still there but under a new ownership.  I don't believe anything they say.  Is that true that we can't continue to exchange into our home resort? 
Please help!


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## Saintsfanfl (Jun 2, 2016)

Take it all as lies until proven otherwise. An owners update is just a sales pitch and they will say anything they can to make a sale.

You never ever have to buy anything from them. Worst case scenario is you give away your week and then buy something else on the resale market. Sometimes you have to sweeten the deal like paying closing and offering free use, which is likely for your week, but you will still be many thousands ahead of their supposed "upgrade".

There are plenty of Diamond owners on TUG but I am not a DRI fan. I bought a unit that DRI acquired before the transfer was completed and I will never touch anything Diamond has again. If you stick with them and you want DRI specific advice I would post in the Diamond forum.


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## natarajanv (Jun 2, 2016)

Saintsfanfl said:


> Take it all as lies until proven otherwise. An owners update is just a sales pitch and they will say anything they can to make a sale.
> 
> You never ever have to buy anything from them. Worst case scenario is you give away your week and then buy something else on the resale market. Sometimes you have to sweeten the deal like paying closing and offering free use, which is likely for your week, but you will still be many thousands ahead of their supposed "upgrade".
> 
> There are plenty of Diamond owners on TUG but I am not a DRI fan. I bought a unit that DRI acquired before the transfer was completed and I will never touch anything Diamond has again. If you stick with them and you want DRI specific advice I would post in the Diamond forum.



Someone gave it away for $1.00

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230237


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## Saintsfanfl (Jun 2, 2016)

natarajanv said:


> Someone gave it away for $1.00
> 
> http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230237



I am not trying to be negative but week 43 would be easier to give away than week 1. It doesn't hurt to try but being prepared to sweeten the deal makes sense.


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## jbvbs3 (Jun 3, 2016)

Ok maybe a silly question but How do I give it away? How would take it?


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## Saintsfanfl (Jun 3, 2016)

jbvbs3 said:


> Ok maybe a silly question but How do I give it away? How would take it?



You offer it up in the bargain forum. You start with a selling price of $1 and free closing. If you don't have any takers after a few weeks or months you then can offer free usage. There are people out there that hunt for free usage and then they try and give it away without the free usage. If that doesn't work you sweeten the deal further by offering cash on the back end.

In your listing you want to highlight the positives like being able to trade or exchange.


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## RLS50 (Jun 3, 2016)

JBVBS3,

Go to the DRI forum and read the thread on the deedback process.   Many DRI owners have successfully used this to divest their timeshare back to DRI.  If DRI agrees to take it back it will cost you about $250 and 3-6 months of constant due diligence on your part to make sure everything is being processed.   

One advantage you have is that you bought at Oceanaire, and that is probably the jewel of DRI's Virginia Beach purchase.

This is your best and probably cheapest first option.   JMO.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, we also own at OBC and Oceanaire, and also originally bought directly from Gold Key.


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## RLS50 (Jun 3, 2016)

Can one of the moderators move this to the DRI forum?  It is probably best located there.


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## RLS50 (Jun 3, 2016)

JBVBS3,

One other comment.

If you really love staying VB oceanfront, and want a good week you can be guaranteed to use, you need to buy a resale oceanfront week at OBC or Oceanaire.  Try Redweek, MyResortNetwork, or from one of the websites recommended by TUG for resale purchases.   No matter what DRI sales reps tell you, they can't prevent you from using your deeded week in June, July, August, or whatever month you buy resale.

If you keep your Week 1 with Oceanaire, you may be able to trade it via II into early spring or fall (Weeks 12-18, 37-44), but you are not likely to get a summer week, even 2 years out.   

The real problem is you will likely end up paying more than renting from an owner directly during those weeks after you factor in your MF and trading cost with II ($189).   Better to deed it back to DRI if you can IMO.


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## Egret1986 (Jun 3, 2016)

*Super advice!*



RLS50 said:


> JBVBS3,
> 
> Go to the DRI forum and read the thread on the deedback process.   Many DRI owners have successfully used this to divest their timeshare back to DRI.  If DRI agrees to take it back it will cost you about $250 and 3-6 months of constant due diligence on your part to make sure everything is being processed.
> 
> ...



This would be the OPs best course of action and probably cheapest.  For off-season owners, like week 1, this is a dream come true offer that should be jumped on.


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## Bill4728 (Jun 3, 2016)

Sorry, BUT when you buy a TS you are guaranteed only what you bought and other things like "trading within the system" are things that can be changed. You bought week 1 at Oceanaire that is all DRI is obligated to give you. 

That said TS are super cheap  do not even for a second consider buying anything else directly from DRI. You may pay $4400 and the minute the ink is dry it will be worth $0.00 (Maybe less since you may have to pay someone to "give it away". You may find someone here on TUG trying to get rid of a TS that would work perfect for you and it will likely cost you next to nothing.

Good Luck


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## VegasBella (Jun 3, 2016)

jbvbs3 said:


> Ok maybe a silly question but How do I give it away? How would take it?



http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132509


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## VegasBella (Jun 3, 2016)

If this is a recent acquisition then it's possible there will be a short-term "flood" of owners trying to get out. Once they realize that DRI is taking over they may try to sell. This may actually be good for you if you're looking to buy something that's not being sold anymore - a legacy fixed week. So just keep searching for what you want and get it on the resale market. 

I own a legacy fixed week at a resort that was taken over by DRI. I just ignore all their sales pitches to "upgrade" or "convert to points" and I enjoy my week the way it was intended. I like the resort quite a bit and actually appreciate the improvements DRI has made. I just won't buy into their system.


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## RLS50 (Jun 4, 2016)

VegasBella said:


> I own a legacy fixed week at a resort that was taken over by DRI. I just ignore all their sales pitches to "upgrade" or "convert to points" and I enjoy my week the way it was intended. I like the resort quite a bit and actually appreciate the improvements DRI has made. I just won't buy into their system.


This is our plan at this point.  

Not really happy at all about DRI taking over Gold Key, especially with their pretty terrible reputation and our less than satisfactory experience with them so far.   Their people are always nice but their internal customer service processes feel like amatuer hour (not the people, their process) compared to Marriott or Starwood.  It can take DRI weeks or months to fix or address issues that took Gold Key or takes Marriott or Starwood a simple phone call or a couple days to address.

But if you want to stay at a nice place on the VB boardwalk oceanfront that isn't a hotel, DRI now owns the best timeshare properties there.  I just hope that DRI maintains the properties and keeps them in great shape since I already know they are going to jack up the MF's to Marriott levels...even though these properties will probably never achieve Marriott level quality or service.


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## jbvbs3 (Jun 4, 2016)

RLS50 said:


> JBVBS3,
> 
> Go to the DRI forum and read the thread on the deedback process.   Many DRI owners have successfully used this to divest their timeshare back to DRI.  If DRI agrees to take it back it will cost you about $250 and 3-6 months of constant due diligence on your part to make sure everything is being processed.
> 
> ...



Thanks, what week do you own?  We would love to actually buy a week to be able to use it at the resort that we want! Do you think there is a way to still do that?


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## Xan (Jun 4, 2016)

Get out ASAP! You don't want anything to do with DRI. 
It's bad enough that the owner of Gold Key has been doing secret deals with the mayor of VB and TownBank (the mayor had to step down as president of TB due to conflict of interest.)!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## pedro47 (Jun 4, 2016)

Xan said:


> Get out ASAP! You don't want anything to do with DRI.
> It's bad enough that the owner of Gold Key has been doing secret deals with the mayor of VB and TownBank (the mayor had to step down as president of TB due to conflict of interest.)!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



That person you are talking about as Mayor of Virginia Beach was found not guilty of all charges in a court of law in the Commonwealth of Virginia


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## Xan (Jun 4, 2016)

Yes, I know that and all the info, but Virginia Beach and the surrounding areas known as "Hampton Roads", has too much conflict of interest in business dealings, government affairs, etc. in my honest opinion.
Also the owner of Gold Key has bought the old Cavalier Hotel, and he's finding out it's turning into a money pit.
He was the only company that had timeshares in VB and along the Boardwalk.
Armada Hoffler is another big developer in the area that is "in bed" with the local governments.
Some of these "conflict of interest" or what appears to be constant awards of contracts to the same few people/companies are finally coming to light.
I will leave it at that, since I'm only an outsider looking from the inside....




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## RLS50 (Jun 4, 2016)

jbvbs3 said:


> Thanks, what week do you own?  We would love to actually buy a week to be able to use it at the resort that we want! Do you think there is a way to still do that?


Jbvbs3,

Yes.  Just figure out what week you want to travel every year and purchase it, or just rent from existing owners until you figure out what you want.

Just curious, what week or weeks would you want to use to vacation in VB every year?


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## jbvbs3 (Jun 5, 2016)

RLS50 said:


> Jbvbs3,
> 
> Yes.  Just figure out what week you want to travel every year and purchase it, or just rent from existing owners until you figure out what you want.
> 
> Just curious, what week or weeks would you want to use to vacation in VB every year?



We are pretty flexible.  Any summer week between June 19th to August 19th we would be willing to buy.

We paid 20K for it so all we have now is the MFs.  

So it looks like I have the following choices at this point:

Try to do a deedback with DRI...I doubt that would happen. 
Or
Try to "sell" it...with taking a little hit for an incentive to the buyer
Or
Continue to exchange with II and just go somewhere else that II has to offer other than VB since DRI is out of the exchange business.

Are there any other options than the above that I am missing?


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## RLS50 (Jun 6, 2016)

jbvbs3 said:


> We are pretty flexible.  Any summer week between June 19th to August 19th we would be willing to buy.
> 
> We paid 20K for it so all we have now is the MFs.
> 
> ...


I think you have it right.   But I would definitely try the deed back process first.

As far as buying goes, I do expect DRI to raise MF's at a faster rate than Gold Key ever would have.  It just seems to be what DRI does.   

As the MF's increase, it will likely erode the resale values.  So I am not sure I would jump at the first summer resale purchase unless the price makes sense from an ROI perspective.  Alot of the resales at OBC and Oceanaire are priced too high and do not reflect the significant MF increases from DRI all of us existing owners should probably expect.


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## pistachio27 (Jun 8, 2017)

RLS50 said:


> JBVBS3,
> 
> Go to the DRI forum and read the thread on the deedback process.   Many DRI owners have successfully used this to divest their timeshare back to DRI.  If DRI agrees to take it back it will cost you about $250 and 3-6 months of constant due diligence on your part to make sure everything is being processed.
> 
> ...


My wife and I own at Oceanaire and Beachwoods. Last year we purchased 7500 points to become Platinum Members at DRI. Seemed like the smart thing to do. Now I'm thinking we were wrong. I keep reading all this info on deedback and it confuses me even more. We've been going to VB (OBC and now Oceanaire) since 2007. Would love to get your thoughts.


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## tschwa2 (Jun 8, 2017)

Don't go to an update.  They won't provide you any useful info and will try to pressure you into buying more.  You need to decide what you want to do and if you have paid off deeds and contracts that you  want to give up, you can contact a specific department at DRI to see how to go about doing that.


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## pistachio27 (Jun 8, 2017)

Thanks. All three units are paid for. Points are paid for too. Don't mind keeping the deeded weeks for Oceanaire and Beachwoods, could do without the additional DRI maintenance fee. The MF on points is about the same for all three weeks. The confusion I have with the deedback route is, what happens to your weeks afterwards? Do you no longer own anything? After paying as much as we have, that would be a crime.


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## RLS50 (Jun 9, 2017)

pistachio27 said:


> Thanks. All three units are paid for. Points are paid for too. Don't mind keeping the deeded weeks for Oceanaire and Beachwoods, could do without the additional DRI maintenance fee. The MF on points is about the same for all three weeks. The confusion I have with the deedback route is, what happens to your weeks afterwards? Do you no longer own anything? After paying as much as we have, that would be a crime.


If you deed something back to Diamond...deeded weeks or points...you own nothing afterwards.   You no longer have access to your deeded week or your points, but you also are no longer responsible for maintenance fees.  You just walk away, from everything.  And yes, unfortunately you would forfeit whatever money you had invested up to that point.

I am not sure what weeks you own at Oceanaire and Beachwoods, but your deeded weeks likely have some actual value.  If you own prime summer weeks in VB or OBX, they can even have significant value that varies depending on the week, unit size, and unit location.   Don't ever let Diamond convince you to give them your deeds in exchange for more points.   You will likely regret it.   Keep those deeds and enjoy using your weeks.   Or you can sell them.   If you want help I can point you to some reputable local agents in both areas (VB and OBX) that can help you.  Or you can do it yourself on Redweek, MyResortNetwork, or Craigslist. 

Your Diamond points however only have value relative to how you use them within the Diamond network.  Diamond points have a resale value of $0.  They are worthless on the resale market.   There are many people looking to sell or give away their Diamond points for free and even pay the transfer and closing costs.   That is why when someone is ready to get rid of their points, for whatever reason, the deed back option to Diamond makes sense.   You pay Diamond $250, and if they agree to take them back, you are free of your points and any and all future obligations.

I have met some Diamond members who like using their points, although I have found that most Diamond members I have spoken with seem to agree that the annual fees have probably gotten too expensive in relation to the quality of the product that Diamond actually provides.   However it seems that many people who are retired, or have the freedom to travel for long periods on short notice, take advantage of some great deals that one can find in the Diamond network within the 60 day window.   Also, the Diamond owners that go to Hawaii every year or say a place like Sedona, Arizona (where Diamond has a stronger presence than most), seem to get good use of their points.  So there are many happy Diamond owners out there who plan on keeping and using their points for now.  

Only you can decide if you fall into that category I mentioned above.

And really I think one common theme I have seen when it comes to timeshares, is that the owners that spend the time planning and using their deeded weeks or points (in whatever system) seem to more satisfied than not.   It surprises me how many people I have come into contact with that own timeshare weeks or points, but don't use it at all or much, and even worse can't even clearly state what they actually own.  That is not intended to be a criticism of anyone.   Just an observation.

So the questions you have to ask yourself before making any decision, is can you use what you own?  Could you use it more effectively with better planning?   Could you use it more effectively with better information?   This will help you decide to keep or sell all or part of your portfolio.

As TSCHWA2 said, don't look to Diamond sales to help you with information.  At the so-called "Owner Updates" it appears the solution they will give to every problem is that you just need to buy more points.   That's almost never true.  There a some quality educational Facebook groups out there for ex-Gold Key owners, DRI Owners Advocacy, and Diamond points owners who share their experiences how they get the most out of their points.


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## malmit (Jul 10, 2017)

I bought 2 different weeks on the resale market (26 & 27 to cover July 4th) for a 2 bedroom oceanfront unit at the Boardwalk Resort in VA Beach and paid 11K for one and 16K for the other.  I have attended the "owner update" meetings just for the heck of it and this last time the rep told me to stop attending because they are losing more money because of my gifts.  They keep trying to convert me to points but I am not dumb and would never give up my peak weeks and pay 5-7 times more in maintenance fees to be a points member.  Converting to points is a scam for DRI to earn more money and you lose control over your deeded week.  The rep tried to scare me this last time that a big "assessment" for all gold key properties will be happening due to the major remodel happening at Beach Quarters.  I told him that I don't own at Beach Quarters and if they had maintenance that caused a big assessment that it would only affect Beach Quarter owners not all "gold key" owners.  This is a flat out lie.


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## RLS50 (Jul 14, 2017)

malmit said:


> I bought 2 different weeks on the resale market (26 & 27 to cover July 4th) for a 2 bedroom oceanfront unit at the Boardwalk Resort in VA Beach and paid 11K for one and 16K for the other.  I have attended the "owner update" meetings just for the heck of it and this last time the rep told me to stop attending because they are losing more money because of my gifts.  They keep trying to convert me to points but I am not dumb and would never give up my peak weeks and pay 5-7 times more in maintenance fees to be a points member.  Converting to points is a scam for DRI to earn more money and you lose control over your deeded week.  The rep tried to scare me this last time that a big "assessment" for all gold key properties will be happening due to the major remodel happening at Beach Quarters.  I told him that I don't own at Beach Quarters and if they had maintenance that caused a big assessment that it would only affect Beach Quarter owners not all "gold key" owners.  This is a flat out lie.


Just speculation on my part, but when you look at Diamond's history, they appear to largely be an M&A creation (mergers and acquisitions) versus a home grown and internally developed company (like Marriott, Sheraton/Westin, etc).    It appears that Diamond in the past bought out systems that were under duress or in various states of disrepair or in or nearing bankruptcy.

But in the case of Gold Key, Diamond did not buy out a system that was collapsing or buying a system were owners were desperate for new ownership or direction.   I think most Gold Key owners were satisfied, maybe even happy, with Gold Key ownership and management.   So most ex-Gold Key owners did not need any company like Diamond to sweep in and "save them."   Gold Key owners didn't need Diamond.  Diamond needed them to find another system where they could inflate their fees and dues to keep projecting the growth figures they needed to report to Wall St and find another pool of potential buyers for their points system. 

In addition to Gold Key owners, this appears to also be true with the Club Intrawest purchase.   That was another system owners seemed to be generally happy with.

Diamond has made this situation much worse with their heavy handed and unpopular policy and process changes and total lack of communication.   Have you ever taken the time to read the Trip Advisor reviews of the ex-Gold Key properties since Diamond took over management of them?  It's not that every review is bad, but it's the volume of extreme inconsistency that highlights the problem.  Well run and well managed resorts do not have wild swings back and forth and back and forth between excellent customer reviews and mediocre to terrible ones.

And of course the average 10% increases in maintenance fees the last 2 years were almost entirely related to the big raise Diamond gave themselves to manage the property over what Gold Key was charging owners.   Almost none of those increases went to increasing Front Desk staff, Maintenance, Housekeeping, or Maintenance.  It did not go to improving WiFi infrastructures or increasing reserves.  So another factor in what seems like growing animosity towards Diamond by ex-Gold Key owners is that they are now paying Diamond a lot more for less service, less communication, and many specific examples of surprising dysfunction inside Diamond's operational matrix.

I can tell you that many ex-Gold Key members are so frustrated with the glacially slow pace of seeing real improvements in the situation they are on the verge of organizing like Club Intrawest members did and getting their own owner representative voted in on the HOA Board.


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## NeptuneGarden (Oct 12, 2017)

RLS50 said:


> Just speculation on my part, but when you look at Diamond's history, they appear to largely be an M&A creation (mergers and acquisitions) versus a home grown and internally developed company (like Marriott, Sheraton/Westin, etc).    It appears that Diamond in the past bought out systems that were under duress or in various states of disrepair or in or nearing bankruptcy.
> 
> But in the case of Gold Key, Diamond did not buy out a system that was collapsing or buying a system were owners were desperate for new ownership or direction.   I think most Gold Key owners were satisfied, maybe even happy, with Gold Key ownership and management.   So most ex-Gold Key owners did not need any company like Diamond to sweep in and "save them."   Gold Key owners didn't need Diamond.  Diamond needed them to find another system where they could inflate their fees and dues to keep projecting the growth figures they needed to report to Wall St and find another pool of potential buyers for their points system.
> 
> ...





RLS50 said:


> Just speculation on my part, but when you look at Diamond's history, they appear to largely be an M&A creation (mergers and acquisitions) versus a home grown and internally developed company (like Marriott, Sheraton/Westin, etc).    It appears that Diamond in the past bought out systems that were under duress or in various states of disrepair or in or nearing bankruptcy.
> 
> But in the case of Gold Key, Diamond did not buy out a system that was collapsing or buying a system were owners were desperate for new ownership or direction.   I think most Gold Key owners were satisfied, maybe even happy, with Gold Key ownership and management.   So most ex-Gold Key owners did not need any company like Diamond to sweep in and "save them."   Gold Key owners didn't need Diamond.  Diamond needed them to find another system where they could inflate their fees and dues to keep projecting the growth figures they needed to report to Wall St and find another pool of potential buyers for their points system.
> 
> ...



POSTING
Newly back from an update with offer to convert to points. Basically, it means buying another timeshare if we don't want to change the status quo while adding points at a cost of $13K and a whole new sale. Thoughts out there? Still just feels like high pressure to us.


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## RLS50 (Oct 16, 2017)

NeptuneGarden said:


> POSTING
> Newly back from an update with offer to convert to points. Basically, it means buying another timeshare if we don't want to change the status quo while adding points at a cost of $13K and a whole new sale. Thoughts out there? Still just feels like high pressure to us.


Are you talking about buying Diamond points or converting your deed to points?


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