# Donita is gone from DAE



## stugy (Jun 15, 2009)

I called DAE Friday and asked for Donita.  I was told she was no longer with them..........since last Monday.  Well, I just wanted to say that I will miss her tremendously and that she always worked to get me what I wanted.  I have a number of deposits with DAE.  I hope they will try to do what she did to get exchanges.  She is a big loss to this company.  Best Wishes to you Donita.  I will miss you 
Pat


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## Carolinian (Jun 16, 2009)

Wow!  That is a huge loss.  She was one of the best at finding trading partner inventory.


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## BocaBum99 (Jun 16, 2009)

I thought she was the owner?


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## Patri (Jun 16, 2009)

Wow. Maybe that is why DAE is changing all their rules and she didn't agree.


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## BocaBum99 (Jun 16, 2009)

Patri said:


> Wow. Maybe that is why DAE is changing all their rules and she didn't agree.



That could be.  DAE's polices never were sustainable long term.  They had to change them sooner or later.  With their move to Gold, they in one fell swoop dramatically changed how their system works.

And, their system will continue to degrade over time.  They will continue to take away features and benefits until Tuggers start complaining while longing for the old days when Donita was there.  Funny thing, this is exactly what happened to RCI. Why did it happen?  Because the week for week exchange system is highly flawed and such breakdowns are inevitable.


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## Jennie (Jun 16, 2009)

It won't be the same without her. Hope Donita enjoys the next phase of her life, wherever it takes her.


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## Carolinian (Jun 17, 2009)

BocaBum99 said:


> That could be.  DAE's polices never were sustainable long term.  They had to change them sooner or later.  With their move to Gold, they in one fell swoop dramatically changed how their system works.
> 
> And, their system will continue to degrade over time.  They will continue to take away features and benefits until Tuggers start complaining while longing for the old days when Donita was there.  Funny thing, this is exactly what happened to RCI. Why did it happen?  Because the week for week exchange system is highly flawed and such breakdowns are inevitable.



Wrong!  Look at Australia where they started.  Far from degrading, they have continually strengthened, even forcing RCI to copy some of DAE's more customer-friendly policies in that market, like Request First, something RCI does not do in any other market.  Australia shows that the DAE system works and works well over time.


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## Carolinian (Jun 17, 2009)

BocaBum99 said:


> I thought she was the owner?



She founded and owned Donita's Vacations Unlimited, an independent exchange company, but sold that to Australia-based DAE.  She continued running the US operation for a period, and it was initially known as ''Donita's DAE'', then took a lesser role.  I am sort of surprised that she has left altogether.

DAE's UK office has also had a transition.  It is a franchise, and its owner has had some health problems and brought in a new managing director who seems to have had very positive effects there.


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## BocaBum99 (Jun 17, 2009)

Carolinian said:


> Wrong!  Look at Australia where they started.  Far from degrading, they have continually strengthened, even forcing RCI to copy some of DAE's more customer-friendly policies in that market, like Request First, something RCI does not do in any other market.  Australia shows that the DAE system works and works well over time.



Of course I am correct.  Everything I predicted about them has come true.  

They are nothing in the US and getting worse.  Now, they've created a gold program to screw over standard owners.  Anything gets anything leads to nothing but dogs in the system.

Being good in Australia is like being good in guam.  Irrelevant.


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## Carolinian (Jun 17, 2009)

Guam has little if any timeshare.  Australia is a well developed timeshare market.  Very different, really!

And in Europe, DAE just hooked up with Hapimag, the world's oldest timeshare system and with the best set of timeshare locations in Europe, and Hapimag, paraphrasing the Visa card commercial, doesn't take RCI!

The US system is newer than Australia or Europe for DAE, but I have gotten some good stuff even there.


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## regatta333 (Jun 17, 2009)

*Disillusioned with DAE*

I have to say, I am becoming very disillusioned with DAE, especially with Donita now gone.  I have done one exchange through them and it was something that I spotted and booked myself while searching.  Now this will be impossible to do, unless I pay for Gold membership.

They have yet to match a request for me.  I have five weeks on deposit and numerous requests.  I have read many accounts of their personalized service, but have yet to see any evidence of this on my behalf.  I often see consecutive European weeks on deposit (Mondi resorts, Hapimag), yet when I've called asking whether they'd be able to contact any of those resorts for inventory that might match my requests, they tell me that they will relay my request to their European office and I never hear from them again.  This has happened on several occasions.

One of the membes here suggested I contact Donita directly, which I did.  She was very nice and said she would work with me to make sure my weeks did not expire unused.  Now she is gone.

I don't mind them charging to upgrade room size as I feel that, in most cases, this is fair.  But I had deposited numerous weeks in good faith, and feel that now I am getting shafted.


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## Carolinian (Jun 17, 2009)

I was told that she retired last Friday.  Apparently the UK office is now handling all trading partner requests for Europe.

Donita was the sole reason I used my stateside address to keep my DAE membership in the US when I started working in Europe.  That is something I will need to rethink.


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## Ask DAE (Jun 17, 2009)

Hello! 

I thought I would chime into the discussion. While I am not at liberty to discuss the arrangement we had with Donita since Dial An Exchange purchased the business in 2007, I can tell you that she has been absolutely instrumental in our doing as well as we have done to date. We wish her the very best as she moves on. I can also let you know that she did not leave because of conflicting ideas on how the business should be run.

Donita has not been an owner at Dial An Exchange since October of 2007 when she sold the company to Dial An Exchange PTY of Australia. She was gracious enough to have stayed on with us to do her incredible work and we have appreciated every bit of it.

We will continue to stand by our quality of service and appreciate every member we have. We have good prices, availability continues to grow, our member base is growing and our partner base is growing. If you have had any negative experiences with us, we want to know, we want to fix it. Just contact us. If you are not getting what you expect and we can do something about it while keeping our business practices intact - we will! 

Regatta - call us at 800-468-1799 and ask for Elsa - She is our senior exchange counselor - she will help you with your requests as Donita did. We don't benefit from an expired credit - we want you to get the vacation you want. 

We also have all the same trading partner relationships we had. Tanya Bleuel (our Inventory Manager manages all trading partner relationships) has been with DAE and before that with Donita for 11 years. She is still our Inventory Manager and still works with the trading partners as before. 

We are, like every growing company, evolving. We want to continue to offer excellent exchange services and are not afraid to try new things. It's  difficult to read some criticisms at times because we trying our best to deliver great service at a great price. But, in the end it's all good. We learn from this feedback (most of the time, when it is constructive) and feel more a part of the timeshare community simply because we are included in the conversation!  

Our CEO and founder, Francis Taylor drives home who we are and what we represent every day - a consumer based, simple, no fuss customer service oriented exchange company for timeshare owners who are looking for choice. We are very ethical, try in earnest to solve every customer service issue we encounter and love what we do for a living. We don't work for resorts, we work for timeshare owners. 

We started in Australia in 1997 and are now in Asia, South Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and here in the US. We have about 270,000 members worldwide and continue to grow (we're not in Guam yet). We stay involved in these forums so that we don't lose sight of what's important - member satisfaction.   

While we may still be a bit stronger Internationally, we are making some pretty good strides in North America with good growth in both memberships and exchange transactions. We can only do our best. And we will continue as such. 

Again - super good luck to Donita, she will definitely be missed, but we will move forward as we always have and continue to offer the great service and a product by which we can stand proud. 

Well - just my 2 cents. Thanks for all the feedback we're just happpy to be a part of it. 

Fermin


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## BocaBum99 (Jun 17, 2009)

Carolinian said:


> Guam has little if any timeshare.  Australia is a well developed timeshare market.  Very different, really!
> 
> And in Europe, DAE just hooked up with Hapimag, the world's oldest timeshare system and with the best set of timeshare locations in Europe, and Hapimag, paraphrasing the Visa card commercial, doesn't take RCI!
> 
> The US system is newer than Australia or Europe for DAE, but I have gotten some good stuff even there.



It's funny that the post right after yours (#11) proves my point.  That type of disillusionment is inevitable with a business model such as DAEs.  That's why they are changing it.

Timeshare weeks exchange systems are only as good as the free weeks they get.  Once those free weeks go to rental programs instead, the weeks system degrades.  This is especially true in a system with no trading power like DAEs.

I've predicted for 4 years that anything gets anything means that eventually people will only deposit dogs and a 3 year exchange window will result in an exchange imbalance that harms everyone left in the system.  Very similar to a ponzi scheme.  Those in early get the early benefits as foolish depositers put in good stuff in the early days.  Then, as more and more dogs get deposited as a percentage of the whole, then those who deposited good stuff get ticked off and drop out.  All thats left are unhappy depositers who got very little in return.

Also, I said that rentals were inevitable.  Now DAE is expanding more into them?  Why?  Because it's a superior business model than week for week exchange.  Even they are figuring it out.  Look at them more objectively.  Even you will have to admit that they are going the same way RCI is.  They have to, it's the nature of the beast.

DAE Australia will be successful as long as they keep getting their free inventory.  Once that goes away, if it ever goes away, then poof, they will be as gone as Donita.

DAE and Donita were failures in the US because they don't get free weeks here like other exchange companies do.  

A FAR superior business model is for the exchange company to fold and for the resorts to form a resort group where all excess inventory is put into an inventory pool first for booking by members, then for bonus time, then for rentals to the external world.  Oh, wow, then you have a mini-system, the FAR superior business model for timeshare exchange.


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## Carolinian (Jun 17, 2009)

The very problem with your mini-system is the very first word - ''Mini''.  These outfits are pygmies with very narrow offerings.

And I would say that DAE is still doing well by me.  My most recent exchange with them was a few weeks ago and I got a 2BR GC spring week in southern England for next year.  I have an upcoming exchange with them in a few weeks on the oceanfront in Poland.

My comment about switching to the Europe office now that I work in Europe is not to criticize the US office.  It is simply more convenient to deal with the UK office which is just a couple of hours from my time zone as opposed to the US office which is ten hours different.  Donita offered such great service that I could put up with that inconvenience, but if the UK office is going to be handling European trading partner requests now anyway, it seems more convenient for both them and me to deal with the UK office rather than the US office.

As to ''rentals'' DAE is NOT doing what RCI is doing.  They are not renting member exchange deposits willy-nilly to the general public.  They rent last minute exchange inventory to bona-fide members and they broker weeks specifically placed for rental by the owners thereof.  Neither of those activities degrades the integrity of an exchange system.


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## Keitht (Jun 17, 2009)

BocaBum99 said:


> .  Anything gets anything leads to nothing but dogs in the system.
> 
> Being good in Australia is like being good in guam.  Irrelevant.



I've just done my first exchange using DAE and I have neither deposited a dog trader nor received one in return.

Unfortunately what would be viewed by many as a typically American comment.  If it doesn't help them it's irrelevant.


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## Ask DAE (Jun 17, 2009)

BocaBum99,

I always appreciate (and get a real kick out of) your posts. 

In actuality, we do not rent any of our deposited inventory outside of bonus week listings. The only reason we have more rentals available is because we have partnered with resorts to post their rentals on our site, we pay a net rate for those. We did this to expand the overall breadth variety of inventory for the member (where we don't have enough exchange inventory at any given time, we can hook up with a net rate source for rentals). 

Remember, we don't collect any fees until the exchange booking is made so only 50% of our job is done if all we get is deposits and achieve limited take up - that doesn't work for anyone! We don't collect our revenue unless the purchasing exchanger is happy with what they got. 

I must say though, that I can't agree with your idea that "DAE and Donita were failures in the US". We're here in Phoenix and growing and we simply don't have all the unhappy exchangers to whom you are referring. 

Of course, times change and we will change with them. The market will change and we will change with it. And while I don't subscribe to your predictions, or opinions on our percieved success I always appreciate the posts for what they are. You are obviously passionate about timeshare and that's great.

Thanks folks


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## regatta333 (Jun 18, 2009)

Ask DAE said:


> Hello!
> 
> Regatta - call us at 800-468-1799 and ask for Elsa - She is our senior exchange counselor - she will help you with your requests as Donita did. We don't benefit from an expired credit - we want you to get the vacation you want.
> 
> ...



I left a message for Elsa yesterday afternoon after reading your post.  I will continue to wait to hear back from her.


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## ecwinch (Jun 18, 2009)

BocaBum99 said:


> It's funny that the post right after yours (#11) proves my point.  That type of disillusionment is inevitable with a business model such as DAEs.  That's why they are changing it.
> 
> Timeshare weeks exchange systems are only as good as the free weeks they get.  Once those free weeks go to rental programs instead, the weeks system degrades.  This is especially true in a system with no trading power like DAEs.
> 
> ...



Essentially you are saying that the week-for-week model is dying. You make this point in numerous threads.

That the only method for week-for-week exchanges to continue, is for a system to be in place to monetize the value of the week. One method being the relative rental value of the week. This prevents the "dog" traders from being effective, as they would have less monetary value.

But that sounds like a points-based approach.

Not trying to put words in your mouth, just trying to understand the practical application.


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## TheDuke (Jun 19, 2009)

Like many of you, I was a strong fan of Donita. She helped me with several exchanges and was a vital human contact. When I called her, I felt that I was talking with a friend. Indeed, I will miss her presence at DAE .

Hail and goodbye to a most helpful lady!!

TheDuke


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## Carolinian (Jun 19, 2009)

Donita had the personal contacts with the trading partners to make things happen and she made a concerted effort on members behalf.  Only time will tell if the woman who has been put in this slot will be as good, but she has very big shoes to try to fill.


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## regatta333 (Aug 27, 2009)

Just wanted to post a positive update.  DAE contacted me yesterday with an exchange for Cape Cod on 9/12.  Although short notice, we were able to change our other plans to take this exchange.  It was very nice to only have to pay an exchange fee of $125 compared to RCI's exhorbitant ones.  We are really looking forward to the trip.


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## Krystyna (Oct 2, 2009)

*upset Donita has left..*

We also had wonderful service with Donita. The last exchange she got us was Club La Costa Duchally Resort, Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland - wonderful exchange and a good base from which to travel - hope to get another one like that but I really liked Donita's efficiency and good results. I was shocked to hear she had left - I don't think you can easily replace someone like her. 
Krystyna/Richard,  Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.


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