# THE Club fees up 6.7%



## dougp26364 (Dec 8, 2013)

If they keep increasing the fees at the clip they've been going, it won't be long before it's time to consider dropping the membership and just exchanging via II. While I've been happy with management, I'm not seeing benefits that are worth the increases since we joined. I think we were around $135 or $155 just 5 or 6 years ago. Now it's $319.

If you're in a trust you get tagged with trust management fees on top of THE Club fees. There are quality timeshares out there who's yearly MF's are not a lot more than just the added on management fees between THE Club and trust management fees.



(appears this thread shows up in the newsletter incorrectly so here is the link to where it should have linked to  http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=203136 )  -admin


----------



## dwojo (Dec 8, 2013)

I agree Diamond is raising fees at an alarming rate. I understand costs go up but the fees they charge are out of line with the increases in wages for most people.


----------



## winger (Dec 9, 2013)

My Marriott Club dues went up 0 percent. I don't see why there is such a disparity. I glanced at the DRI Club statement that came with the Club due invoice and it mentions many new benefi ts, but I am unsure these are material benefits or simply 'fluff' to make things look nice from the outside.


----------



## pedro47 (Dec 9, 2013)

winger said:


> My Marriott Club dues went up 0 percent. I don't see why there is such a disparity. I glanced at the DRI Club statement that came with the Club due invoice and it mentions many new benefi ts, but I am unsure these are material benefits or simply 'fluff' to make things look nice from the outside.



I am also concern about this problem, especially when our Marriott Club dues did not go up.


----------



## Zephyr88 (Dec 9, 2013)

Cloobeck has been aggressively expanding the number of resorts in Diamond Resorts International.  He scoops up distressed resorts and then refurbishes them to bring them up to DRI standards.  Couple the outlay of capital for acquisitions and improvements with all the loss of income from recessionary foreclosures, and DRI starts to have a cash flow problem.  To generate cash, fees have to go up, and owners have to start paying their next years maintenance fees BEFORE they can make a reservation at their own home resort for the following year.


----------



## pedro47 (Dec 9, 2013)

Zephyr88 said:


> Cloobeck has been aggressively expanding the number of resorts in Diamond Resorts International.  He scoops up distressed resorts and then refurbishes them to bring them up to DRI standards.  Couple the outlay of capital for acquisitions and improvements with all the loss of income from recessionary foreclosures, and DRI starts to have a cash flow problem.  To generate cash, fees have to go up, and owners have to start paying their next years maintenance fees BEFORE they can make a reservation at their own home resort for the following year.



We were at Powhatan Vacation Resort last week and was told that Mr. C has step down as CEO.

I do not believe this.


----------



## dougp26364 (Dec 9, 2013)

Zephyr88 said:


> Cloobeck has been aggressively expanding the number of resorts in Diamond Resorts International.  He scoops up distressed resorts and then refurbishes them to bring them up to DRI standards.  Couple the outlay of capital for acquisitions and improvements with all the loss of income from recessionary foreclosures, and DRI starts to have a cash flow problem.  To generate cash, fees have to go up, and owners have to start paying their next years maintenance fees BEFORE they can make a reservation at their own home resort for the following year.



Individual resorts budgets, acquisitions, refurbishments et....should have nothing to do with THE Club dues. If THE Club dues are being used for these purposes, there could be legal issues with comingling funds.

I think at issue are management costs and "new" benefits. Perhaps there are a few people for which these benefits are useful but, for the most part, I see them as a sales tool. One of the benefits some members found useful, although not a good deal, was using points to pay fee's. The benefit is now only available if your Gold elite or higher. Not a great deal but better than losing a couple of thousand points that weren't going to be used. I suspect DRI has found renting units to recoup that expense wasn't working out.

A big waste IMHO is Interval Gold membership. I find no personal value in that added benefit/expense. 

I would prefer to see a pay-for-use system whereby owners who wanted to pay for those "new" benefits paid for them. I don't care to supplement those benefits with increased THE Club dues when it's of no interest or value to us.


----------



## singlemalt_18 (Dec 9, 2013)

dougp26364 said:


> I would prefer to see a pay-for-use system whereby owners who wanted to pay for those "new" benefits paid for them. I don't care to supplement those benefits with increased THE Club dues when it's of no interest or value to us.



That is already the strategy with "Silver, Gold & Platinum"...

I'm not trying to defend the increase but a big difference with II is the transaction cost (exchange fee) is charged with each transaction.  When you consider that there are no transaction costs on Club members for all basic transactions, the underlying expense of operating the exchange needs to be covered by some means.

When you additionally take into consideration how many transactions the typical Club member initiates in a given year, I would suspect that it is still far cheaper than paying $100 or $150 per booking... I think I even paid $199 the last time I used II?  Based on our own usage, it is still cheaper to use the Club instead of II, and as previously noted, they are aggressively trying to expand the offerings.

But it is still not a happy day seeing the fees increase.


----------



## dougp26364 (Dec 10, 2013)

singlemalt_18 said:


> That is already the strategy with "Silver, Gold & Platinum"...
> 
> I'm not trying to defend the increase but a big difference with II is the transaction cost (exchange fee) is charged with each transaction.  When you consider that there are no transaction costs on Club members for all basic transactions, the underlying expense of operating the exchange needs to be covered by some means.
> 
> ...



If not for the fact I belong to two other programs that charge membership fee's and their fee's are more than $100/year LESS than DRI's, I might agree with you. The problem is DRI is already among the most expensive timeshares in the market and they're getting more expensive every year. At the current rate the cost of owning a DRI timeshare will double in the next 10 years. If that happens I look for the foreclosure rate to skyrocket with the inevitable cascade of skyrocketing fee's to cover the bad debt. 

I know one thing. If THE Club dues continue to grow at their current pace it won't be long before members with lower point totals begin to drop out. When members begin to drop out, inventory for internal exchanges will begin to shrink. When that happens elite members will begin to question the value of paying such high dues and some of them will begin to drop out. 

We're silver elite. Right now there still enough benefit to remain but, it's getting close to going over the break even point between internal exchanges within THE Club and paying the straight exchange fee's with I.I. A few more years of 6% increases and we won't see the benefit of membership as worth the price of admission.


----------



## RuralEngineer (Dec 10, 2013)

*???*

"Now it's $319."

I'm looking at my bills for 2014 and see only $204 for Club Dues.  For the collection I see another $215 but that is the base collection fee.  

"Your Base Standard Assessment for 2014 will be $215, and the fee per point for your Point Standard Assessment 
is 14.10 cents, but THE Club® dues have been reduced from $299 to $204."

In 2013 the club dues were $299 and the base collection was $205.  

Stephen


----------



## dougp26364 (Dec 10, 2013)

RuralEngineer said:


> "Now it's $319."
> 
> I'm looking at my bills and see only $204 for Club Dues.  For the collection I see another $215 but that is the base collection fee.
> 
> Stephen



Interesting. We were pre-billed last years THE Club dues of $299 when I wanted to use 2014 points. We were later billed another $20 for the difference between 2013 and 2014, which would total $319.

I wonder if DRI is billing trust owners and deeded enrolled owners differently?
We are deeded week owners enrolled in THE Club.


----------



## pedro47 (Dec 10, 2013)

dougp26364 said:


> Interesting. We were pre-billed last years THE Club dues of $299 when I wanted to use 2014 points. We were later billed another $20 for the difference between 2013 and 2014, which would total $319.
> 
> I wonder if DRI is billing trust owners and deeded enrolled owners differently?
> We are deeded week owners enrolled in THE Club.



Doug, we are deeded week owners also enrolled in The Club and our billed was $319 for 2014.


----------



## singlemalt_18 (Dec 18, 2013)

dougp26364 said:


> Interesting. We were pre-billed last years THE Club dues of $299 when I wanted to use 2014 points. We were later billed another $20 for the difference between 2013 and 2014, which would total $319.
> 
> *I wonder if DRI is billing trust owners and deeded enrolled owners differently?* We are deeded week owners enrolled in THE Club.



I believe the answer is yes.  It also appears that the changes may in fact be most equitable to those who own smaller point balances inside the Trusts since a portion of these costs have been re-categorized and are now assessed per point.  Here are the key portions from the 2014 Hawaii Collection statement (my emphasis added):

_Enclosed you will find your 2014 annual assessment statement, along with a copy of the Association’s 2014 budget and Assessment Billing and Collection Policy. *We have included a new expense line item in the 2014 budget to cover the cost of reservations and customer service. Previously this cost was included in THE Club® annual dues; however, it has been determined that this is actually an expense directly related to our Association and not THE Club®.* We have approximately 14,000 members of our Association and it is appropriate that our Association bear the cost of facilitating reservations and other communication expenses for our members.

By increasing our Association budget to include these costs, THE Club® is actually able to reduce its annual dues to our members. Your Base Standard Assessment for 2014 will be $250, and the fee per point for your Point Standard Assessment is 14.35 cents, but THE Club® dues have been reduced from $299 to $204.

*To give you an example of the total impact on your fees, the aggregate 2014 fee combining the Hawaii Collection fee and THE Club® dues equates to a 3.1% increase in the total assessment for a member who owns 5,000 points, 8.2% for a member who owns 10,000 points, 10.6% for a member who owns 15,000 points and 12% for a member who owns 20,000 points.*

In previous years, THE Club® dues included these services; however, since these services actually support the operation of the Hawaii Collection, separate from operating THE Club®, these fees have been attributed to the per point fee accordingly. _


Another interesting item from this years statement is the following:

_In our letters to you over the past couple of years, your Board explained our Association had a prior year surplus. We are using $500,000 of this surplus to offset the maintenance fee increase in 2014; however, we do want to point out that this will leave us with less than $100,000 in our surplus account, so we will likely not be able to do this in the future. We are also pleased to inform you that our delinquency remains very low compared to industry standards; we anticipate our delinquency to be approximately 5%._


----------



## timeos2 (Dec 18, 2013)

pedro47 said:


> Doug, we are deeded week owners also enrolled in The Club and our billed was $319 for 2014.



Same here. $319. as deeded / THE Club member. The cost / value is quickly eroding as Doug has correctly pointed out the "new benefits" are of ZERO value in most cases and I disagree with having them forced on us (such as the worthless II Gold).


----------



## dougp26364 (Dec 18, 2013)

timeos2 said:


> Same here. $319. as deeded / THE Club member. The cost / value is quickly eroding as Doug has correctly pointed out the "new benefits" are of ZERO value in most cases and I disagree with having them forced on us (such as the worthless II Gold).



At the end of each year, I re-evaluate the benefit/cost ratio of all our timeshare interests. I am on the edge with THE Club and I'm VERY close to dropping that affiliation and looking for a new home for our Polo Towers units. DRI is quickly becoming to expensive in the _useful_ benefit/cost ratio catagory. $319 is just to expensive for the benefits we actually use in THE Club.


----------



## dwojo (Dec 18, 2013)

DRI fees are making us consider walking away from the membership. We like the resorts we have stayed at and our membership in the club but the rising costs are starting to make us reconsider. We will be retiring in a couple of years and fees rising more than others and a fixed income do not mix well. The other companies we own with are as nice and the fees are much lower.


----------



## AnnaS (Dec 20, 2013)

Don't mean to hijack this thread - rec'd the TUG Newsletter and the "happy story" of the week "Diligent Tugger" finally gets the dream exchange linked me to this thread 

Carry on


----------



## TUGBrian (Dec 20, 2013)

AnnaS said:


> Don't mean to hijack this thread - rec'd the TUG Newsletter and the "happy story" of the week "Diligent Tugger" finally gets the dream exchange linked me to this thread
> 
> Carry on



was a mistake....i put a note in the first post of this thread to take you to the correct link


(appears this thread shows up in the newsletter incorrectly so here is the link to where it should have linked to http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=203136 ) -admin


----------

