# Sampler Package woes



## Tucsonadventurer (Nov 8, 2020)

We purchased a sampler package for $4,000. Thurs. Can't believe we fell for it. Suffice to say we were very misled on what it entails and went home and read the fine print. This package is extremely limited and does very little for us. Is there a procedure to get out of it? I know samplers are different . Any advice is appreciated.  We should have known better. We were enticed with the 59 days or less discounts but these aren't even available with the package. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom


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## dioxide45 (Nov 8, 2020)

What state did you purchase this in? How long ago did you buy it and what does the contract state in regard to rights of rescission.


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## Tucsonadventurer (Nov 8, 2020)

AZ on Thurs.  Contract doesn't address cancelations,


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## Tucsonadventurer (Nov 8, 2020)

It does say non refundable in the fine print. Hopefully we can get some use out of it.Just misled totally. We own 4 resale weeks, you would think we knew better.


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## izzymail (Nov 9, 2020)

Tucsonadventurer said:


> We purchased a sampler package for $4,000. Thurs. Can't believe we fell for it. Suffice to say we were very misled on what it entails and went home and read the fine print. This package is extremely limited and does very little for us. Is there a procedure to get out of it? I know samplers are different . Any advice is appreciated.  We should have known better. We were enticed with the 59 days or less discounts but these aren't even available with the package. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom




I feel your pain! Went through this a few years ago. Spend 10-15 minutes reviewing this thread and you should know exactly what to do next. 









						Sampler Just Purchased in Arizona
					

Hello - I am glad to have found this site and am hoping I hear good news but have a sinking feeling that the sinking feeling I have had since this purchase will never go away. :(  Will not go into how I could have been so 'stoopid' o_O as to walk straight into this when I was seeing red flags...




					tugbbs.com


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## Tucsonadventurer (Nov 9, 2020)

Thank you so so much. We will cover every angle. We were in there for 4 hrs and were told so many untruths. We should have read the contract but just wanted to leave at that point. Lesson learned. We so appreciate you sharing your experience.


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## LannyPC (Nov 10, 2020)

Tucsonadventurer said:


> We were in there for 4 hrs and were told so many untruths. We should have read the contract but just wanted to leave at that point. Lesson learned.



Sadly, that's the diabolical method these sales people use to get you to buy.  Anyway, review your documents carefully to see what the rescission instructions are.  Follow them carefully including where to send your rescission letter and what method to send (likely USPS certified mail).


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## pedro47 (Nov 10, 2020)

Maybe someone need to take DRI to court liked DRI take scammers  companies to court.
A 90 minutes presentation turns into a 4 hours disagreeable sales pitch.


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## tschwa2 (Nov 10, 2020)

pedro47 said:


> Maybe someone need to take DRI to court liked DRI take scammers  companies to court.
> A 90 minutes presentation turns into a 4 hours disagreeable sales pitch.


On top of everything else, Diamond has provisions that you agree to in the contract that you waive your right to court and will settle disputes through arbitration  unless you specifically opt out of that provision within a certain number of days.


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## Tucsonadventurer (Nov 10, 2020)

We sent a certified letter, emailed sales even though we went back in person and we told we were out of luck and wrote to BBB. Our 1st sales person seemed fair. It truly was the Sampler salesman. They use docu sign so you initial in one place and he runs it down the columns  . You dont get the actual paperwork until the end. If the sampler was truly what we were told we most likely would have bought with Diamond when we returned. If they were honest they would have sold more. We were enticed by the discounts at 59 days or less which is what we were told we got with the sampler but was inaccurate. And we should have insisted on reading the fine print. I will let you know how we make out.


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## Iggyearl (Nov 10, 2020)

If you want a  doosie regarding Diamond, watch this video about the exit companies.  



   Pot calling the kettle black.

Now.  Look for comments.  There are none.  Right?  If you want to make a comment, you can.  Then you can view your own comment.  But you cannot view comments from anyone else.  But Diamond can view EVERYONE'S comments.  First time I've seen this.  Doesn't seem fair.


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## Tucsonadventurer (Dec 2, 2020)

Great news. After multiples, no refund calls and letters,  from Diamond ,we added information to our BBB dispute and got a call yesterday that our sampler would be refunded. It takes over 60 days to get the refund so hopefully that actually happens. But, we have it in writing from Diamond and BBB. THANK YOU so much for all the support and suggestions. We could not have done this without TUG. Lesson Learned!! We will never auto sign without reading ALL the fine print and we will never take a salesman's words without written proof.


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## izzymail (Dec 17, 2020)

Tucsonadventurer said:


> Great news. After multiples, no refund calls and letters,  from Diamond ,we added information to our BBB dispute and got a call yesterday that our sampler would be refunded. It takes over 60 days to get the refund so hopefully that actually happens. But, we have it in writing from Diamond and BBB. THANK YOU so much for all the support and suggestions. We could not have done this without TUG. Lesson Learned!! We will never auto sign without reading ALL the fine print and we will never take a salesman's words without written proof.


Congrats!! Feels great; I remember. They promised this to us and in fact followed through.


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## VacayKat (Dec 17, 2020)

Congrats! We were in the same boat many years ago - and were not given a refund. We used the sampler and made sure to very loudly tell them how they had lied and that had they not we might have purchased. Made sure others around us could hear how badly they lied, they rushed us out of there as fast as they could. That was almost 10 years ago and I still tell people to run from Diamond. Glad they finally did the right thing for someone!


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## dboeger1 (Aug 19, 2021)

I realize this topic is several months old, but I figured I'd chime in to say we had pretty much the same experience with buying the sampler. We're certainly past the rescission period and still intend to use our sampler points anyway, but they very clearly straight up lied to use about several key aspects. The discounts that OP mentioned were one of them, but the bigger one for us is the ability to use sampler points for friends and family. We made it abundantly clear multiple times during the presentation that we were only interested if we could use our points to book for friends and family, because we were unsure of our ability to use the points ourselves in 2 years considering we have our first baby due later this year. The salesperson assured us that we could. I think at one point, he did mention that for the first stay, it had to be us in one of the sampler destinations, but then after that, we could use the remaining points as if we were full club members. Well, at least according to the actual contract, that is not the case at all. The sampler points can only be used by us, and they are limited to the sample destinations.

I'm honestly shocked that I fell for it, as I'm usually pretty careful about signing stuff, but we also did it on a tablet with DocuSign, and the salesperson was quickly running through all the initial lines giving us summaries of each point, so that must be how it went over my head. The sad part is my wife was legitimately very interested in upgrading to the full package in 2 years, but this kind of shady sales tactic doesn't instill confidence in the company going forward. We should still be able to use our points and the amount we paid was quite reasonable, so it's not the end of the world, but I hope others might see this before getting tricked into a sampler package they can't use.


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## VacayKat (Aug 19, 2021)

dboeger1 said:


> I realize this topic is several months old, but I figured I'd chime in to say we had pretty much the same experience with buying the sampler. We're certainly past the rescission period and still intend to use our sampler points anyway, but they very clearly straight up lied to use about several key aspects. The discounts that OP mentioned were one of them, but the bigger one for us is the ability to use sampler points for friends and family. We made it abundantly clear multiple times during the presentation that we were only interested if we could use our points to book for friends and family, because we were unsure of our ability to use the points ourselves in 2 years considering we have our first baby due later this year. The salesperson assured us that we could. I think at one point, he did mention that for the first stay, it had to be us in one of the sampler destinations, but then after that, we could use the remaining points as if we were full club members. Well, at least according to the actual contract, that is not the case at all. The sampler points can only be used by us, and they are limited to the sample destinations.
> 
> I'm honestly shocked that I fell for it, as I'm usually pretty careful about signing stuff, but we also did it on a tablet with DocuSign, and the salesperson was quickly running through all the initial lines giving us summaries of each point, so that must be how it went over my head. The sad part is my wife was legitimately very interested in upgrading to the full package in 2 years, but this kind of shady sales tactic doesn't instill confidence in the company going forward. We should still be able to use our points and the amount we paid was quite reasonable, so it's not the end of the world, but I hope others might see this before getting tricked into a sampler package they can't use.


There is no recision period for the sampler package. We tried - first of many disappointments.


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## FunnyFarm (Aug 22, 2021)

We are also in a state of disappointment with the Hawaii collection Sampler package. 
We were sold on being able to go to Cabo and back into Poipu with the points, no problem, easy-peasy.
Never was it mentioned that sampler reservations get the leftovers.
Now reservations says there are no available slots for Poipu, Kaanapali or Cabo for all of 2022.
 These are all highly promoted locations in our package of sampler benefits folder. 

I have written to M. Flaskey, the president, with zero response.
Anyone should be aware that these are very limited point as far as usage priority and don't expect to get any easy use or prime locations.
As a test, I actually requested some owner reservations for the times that I was turned down as sampler requests and there is plenty of availability in the  owners pool.

We were told that it is a great way to try Diamond before you commit to being permanent owners.
If that is the way they treat their best prospects for future sales I don't know how any sampler guest would ever convert.
We are seemingly way past any recission option as we purchased last November.
We will be back soon at Poipu, as deeded owners, and should have an interesting owner update this time.

Definitely avoid buying a sampler package unless you know exactly why you are doing it.
Among the lies we were told is that they would buy back points at 60% of the going retail price when we wanted out.
Also we were told , like a lot of others, that our maintenance fees would go down as points owners.


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## amycurl (Aug 22, 2021)

At this point, I’d send my letter to the CEO of Hilton Grand Vacations.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## dboeger1 (Sep 1, 2021)

In the name of fairness, I'd just like to mention that while the contract itself explicitly states that Sampler points aren't eligible for promotional discounts such as those for last-minute bookings and they don't show up in the web site, one of their booking agents called and left a message stating that they do have 50% off promotions available for Sampler points over the phone. So while it does sound like DRI (now HGV) reserves the right to screw over Samplers, at the very least for me at this moment in time, it's nice to know there are promotional rates available. It still doesn't make up for the fact that we can't send family on trips without us like they said, but it's not totally as bad as my previous post suggested.


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