# How Happy Are You With Your Diamond Ownership?



## CalGalTraveler

Would love to hear from Diamond Owners. If we are missing a major category, please let let me know.

Also please add in the comments what you own and why you voted the way you did.


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## goaliedave

best ownership out of the 5 different ones I own.

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## Grammarhero

goaliedave said:


> best ownership out of the 5 different ones I own.
> 
> Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk


Really?  What are the other four?  I own Wyndham, Williamsburg Plant, and DRI South Bend.  I love Wyndham the best, mainly because I can travel across US and easy exit strategy with Wyndham Ovations.


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## goaliedave

I own DR, Vistana (bought by Marriott), Shell (bought by Wyndham), Palace Resorts (5 star Mexican all inclusive), Raintree VC, Pono Kai.

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## Grammarhero

goaliedave said:


> I own DR, Vistana (bought by Marriott), Shell (bought by Wyndham), Palace Resorts (5 star Mexican all inclusive), Raintree VC, Pono Kai.
> 
> Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk


You should vote then.


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## geist1223

We own Worldmark (Platinum), Residence Club at Seaside Oregon (Fractional Ownership but tied in with Worldmark), Royal Solaris San Jose del Cabo, DRI Hawaiian Collection (Platinum but actually only own and pay MF's on 18,500 Points).

We have enjoyed every resort, some more than others. Our favorites are Cabo Azul, Point at Poipu, and Royal Regency Vincennes Paris France. The online system is easy to use. The folks at the Resorts are very helpful, kind, and friendly. Even most of the folks on the telephone try to be helpful.


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## goaliedave

? vote about what? I missed something

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## Grammarhero

goaliedave said:


> ? vote about what? I missed something
> 
> Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk


At the top of this thread is a poll on how you enjoy DRI.


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## goaliedave

Grammarhero said:


> At the top of this thread is a poll on how you enjoy DRI.


doesnt show for me.  lol I thought the OP was smoking funny tobacco

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## chemteach

I own Vistana, Marriott, Worldmark, Diamond.  I love Diamond's search engine.  Easy to use.  For the most part, I get to go where and when I want to travel.


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## artringwald

We bought a deeded week at The Point at Poipu from Sunterra back in 2004. The deeded week included membership in The Club with 15,500 points. Since then we bought two more deeded weeks at P@P on the resale market. It's been the best combination of both worlds for us. We always stay at least 2 weeks at P@P, and we like the flexibility of using points to stay at a variety of other locations. I would never buy points in a collection. The overhead of the trust adds way to much to the maintenance fees. It's also difficult to get rid of collection points. Deeded weeks still have some value on the resale market.

Of all the DRI places we've stayed, the only one that was disappointing was Cypress Pointe Resort in Orlando. It was rather run down at the time, but that was over 10 years ago. All in all, we're very happy with our ownership.


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## Grammarhero

I will go why I am neutral:
1) as a resale buyer, I can only go to my home resort.  Also no breaking the week into two half-weeks.  I did get a deeded week, which helps.  To compare, wyndham resales lets me go to 27 states and 2 US protectorates.
2) bad exit strategy.  Diamond transitions is $1k and supposedly only available for retail buyers. In comparison, Wyndham Ovations is free.

(Edited for clarity)


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## geist1223

Grammarhero said:


> I will go why I am neutral:
> 1) as a resale buyer, I can only go to my home resort.  Also no breaking the week into two half-weeks.  I did get a deeded week, which helps.  In comparison, with wyndham resales, I can go to 27 states and 2 US protectorates.



I am confused. You say you can only go to your home resort but then talk about 27 states and 2 US protectorates. Did you mean to say Home Collection? Also DRI has the relatively new program for Deeded Week Owners to trade into other DRI Resorts.


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## Grammarhero

geist1223 said:


> I am confused. You say you can only go to your home resort but then talk about 27 states and 2 US protectorates. Did you mean to say Home Collection? Also DRI has the relatively new program for Deeded Week Owners to trade into other DRI Resorts.


For DRI, I can only go to the home resort as a resale buyer, unless I buy developer points.

For Wyndham resales, I can go to 27 states and US protectorates.


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## geist1223

Have you looked into DRI's new program for Deeded Week Owners?


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## artringwald

geist1223 said:


> Have you looked into DRI's new program for Deeded Week Owners?


Here's some info on the program, called Destination Xchange. It only costs $69/year. You could also join RCI or Interval International and exchange your week through them.

https://destinationxchange.com/HowItWorks


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## goaliedave

I like destination exchange, it lets weeks owners do internal exchange.

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## Grammarhero

goaliedave said:


> I like destination exchange, it lets weeks owners do internal exchange.
> 
> Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk


With Wyndham, if you don’t go to home resort, you can use your points without a cost.

Looks like with DR SB 1BR1BA4 week 22, its tier 2.  So I can trade for another tier 2, apparently with $150 fee.


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## goaliedave

Grammarhero said:


> But isn’t an exchange still $200 for deeded resorts.  With Wyndham points, there’s no cost to book a resort outside the home resort.


I'll find out for you. Another poster above said $69/year. I've only used a DX CERTIFICATE they gave me at a presentation.  it was $29 to register, then to book either $20 (5 day) or $70 (7 days)

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## Grammarhero

Exchange fee is $150.


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## pedro47

Are you should that you can only exchange into only your home resort.?
Example there are two (2) DRI resorts in Williamsburg, Va.
I feel you should be able to exchange into both resorts.
Because they are sisters resorts in Williamsburg, Va.

Sound strange.


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## Grammarhero

pedro47 said:


> Are you should that you can only exchange into only your home resort.?
> Example there are two (2) DRI resorts in Williamsburg, Va.
> I feel you should be able to exchange into both resorts.
> Because they are sisters resorts in Williamsburg, Va.
> 
> Sound strange.



I should clarify.  I have a deeded week. So unless I join exchange and pay a $150 exchange fee to go to tier 2 at other DR resorts, I can only go to my home resort. I’m not a big fan of the $150 fee.


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## geist1223

Grammarhero said:


> I should clarify.  I have a deeded week. So unless I join exchange and pay a $150 exchange fee to go to tier 2 at other DR resorts, I can only go to my home resort. I’m not a big fan of the $150 fee.



Cheaper than RCI Fee,


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## Grammarhero

geist1223 said:


> Cheaper than RCI Fee,


True.  But with Wyndham’s selection, I have yet to need the RCI exchange fee.


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## R.J.C.

I love my Diamond ownership. Originally purchased at Powhatan Plantation, resisted the urge to convert to points under Sunterra (just wouldn't work for me at the time), converted to Diamond points 2 days after they purchased Sunterra. Currently a Platinum owner and I love traveling with family and friends to different Diamond resorts throughout the US, Hawaii, and Europe without having to pay an ever increasing exchange fee with II/RCI. Sales dept and seemingly constant changes with benefits as of late are the only two sore spots I have with Diamond but at least I can get back at the sales side by constantly going to updates and taking the gifts while saying No.


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## winger

R.J.C. said:


> I love my Diamond ownership. Originally purchased at Powhatan Plantation, resisted the urge to convert to points under Sunterra (just wouldn't work for me at the time), converted to Diamond points 2 days after they purchased Sunterra. Currently a Platinum owner and I love traveling with family and friends to different Diamond resorts throughout the US, Hawaii, and Europe without having to pay an ever increasing exchange fee with II/RCI. Sales dept and seemingly constant changes with benefits as of late are the only two sore spots I have with Diamond but at least I can get back at the sales side by constantly going to updates and taking the gifts while saying No.


Agree, the constant benefits/program changes is a hassle to deal with. Yes on the updates, which are really sales presentations.


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## goaliedave

R.J.C. said:


> I love my Diamond ownership. Originally purchased at Powhatan Plantation, resisted the urge to convert to points under Sunterra (just wouldn't work for me at the time), converted to Diamond points 2 days after they purchased Sunterra. Currently a Platinum owner and I love traveling with family and friends to different Diamond resorts throughout the US, Hawaii, and Europe without having to pay an ever increasing exchange fee with II/RCI. Sales dept and seemingly constant changes with benefits as of late are the only two sore spots I have with Diamond but at least I can get back at the sales side by constantly going to updates and taking the gifts while saying No.


yup. you summed up quite well why DR points membership is the best

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## Grammarhero

Looks like it’s
50 percent Very Happy
5 percent Happy
15 percent Neutral
10 percent Unhappy
20 percent Very Dissatisfied


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## Grammarhero

The average is about halfway between Neutral and Happy


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## goaliedave

Grammarhero said:


> The average is about halfway between Neutral and Happy


lol math is not your strong suit then. might want to review high school definitions of mean, median and mode to articulate average 

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## jabberwocky

goaliedave said:


> lol math is not your strong suit then. might want to review high school definitions of mean, median and mode to articulate average
> 
> Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk



It's just like having your head in a freezer and feet in an oven.  On average the temperature might be just fine!


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## Grammarhero

goaliedave said:


> lol math is not your strong suit then. might want to review high school definitions of mean, median and mode to articulate average
> 
> Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk


I actually got 760 on SAT math.  If we assign 5 pts for Very Happy, 4 pts for Happy, 3 pts for Neutral, 2 pts for Unhappy, and 1 pt for Very Dissatisfied, average is 3.55.  That is halfway between Neutral and Happy.


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## goaliedave

Grammarhero said:


> I actually got 760 on SAT math.  If we assign 5 pts for Very Happy, 4 pts for Happy, 3 pts for Neutral, 2 pts for Unhappy, and 1 pt for Very Dissatisfied, average is 3.55.  That is halfway between Neutral and Happy.


lol you would fail my math class

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## CalGalTraveler

A good start. Would like to see more data points before compiling averages and drawing conclusions. The difference between neutral/happy and neutral/unhappy is probably one vote.


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## chemteach

For any unhappy deeded owners, I suggest you take a serious look at Destination Exchange.  If you own a lower tier week, you can upgrade to a higher tier (something that would cost more points in the club) for $175 per tier.  If you carefully pick a good deeded week to purchase (a lockoff that gives you at least two tier 3 weeks) you can get great value from Destination Exchange.  We have enjoyed a lot of Diamond vacations over the years, often travelling with extended family and friends.


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## goaliedave

chemteach said:


> For any unhappy deeded owners, I suggest you take a serious look at Destination Exchange. If you own a lower tier week, you can upgrade to a higher tier (something that would cost more points in the club) for $175 per tier. If you carefully pick a good deeded week to purchase (a lockoff that gives you at least two tier 3 weeks) you can get great value from Destination Exchange. We have enjoyed a lot of Diamond vacations over the years, often travelling with extended family and friends.


yes I agree, Destination Exchange is worth a look. Met a guy tonight who traded his 1BR Polo Towers for a 3BR Cypress Pointe for this week. I know another guy got a 2BR at Fairway Forest(?) NC. Currently I'm looking for 5 days Orlando with no luck but inventory changes daily.

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## pedro47

goaliedave said:


> lol you would fail my math class
> 
> Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk


I feel you wanted the last indicate to be a zero “0” and not an one (1).
This would lower the score.
A 3.55 score is an above average score


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## pedro47

Just read this article in the Kiplinger's magazine December 2019 edition on page 38.
Topics: Go Ahead, Reach for These Yields
and I quote
*APOLLO INVESTMENT (SYMBOL AINV,$16, YIELD 11.2%) "shared have returned 41% this year, although they still trade at a discount to the per-share value of Apollo's portfolio of debt securities.  (Prices and other data are as of September 30.)

Is this the same company that own Diamond International Resorts ?*


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## Grammarhero

pedro47 said:


> I feel you wanted the last indicate to be a zero “0” and not an one (1).
> This would lower the score.
> A 3.55 score is an above average score


That is actually really smart and interesting.


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## athea

CalGalTraveler said:


> Would love to hear from Diamond Owners. If we are missing a major category, please let let me know.
> 
> Also please add in the comments what you own and why you voted the way you did.



Hi,
My husband bought into Monarch Grand vacations about 20 years ago.  About 7 years ago we 'upgraded' from Monarch to Diamond.  They convinced us another $10k would change our experience.  To be honest, I married into the timeshare experience and I've always heard what a poor investment it is.  I am still against it but he is willing to give it time before we most likely will have to end up paying a timeshare exit team to legally get out of it.  I know that can cost thousands of dollars.  Our maintenance fee is about $4200 a year.  We have about 22,000 points.  We just retired last year (2019) so I'm willing to take a more positive outlook.  So far the best resort is the Cabul San Jose resort in Mexico - 5 stars.  South Lake Tahoe, CA,Mystic Dunes (Orlando, FL) and Cedar Breaks Lodge (Utah) in Orlando, FL are good.   Some of the others we've stayed at over the years are run down.  The worst part has been the experiences with salespeople and the tactics they use to get you to keep upgrading and how dishonest they are.  I honestly don't know how they sleep at night.  We are on a temporary Gold membership now which will end at the end of 2020.  They said we didn't feel the true experience of how great Diamond can be being Silver members.  We have not seen a difference being temporary Gold members.  In other to do this we did go from 15k to 22k points but it cost us $20,000 to get this 'Gold' experience.  Of course I feel like an idiot for falling for the sales tactics (again :-(   Since we are now retired I will try to figure out how to get the best for what we have before I convince my husband to throw in the towel and stop trusting and doing these point upgrades.   2020 will be our final year of 'testing' the Gold experience and then we need to either use it as a Silver member again or get out once and for all.  I can't see us spending another 20k to become a permanent Gold member.


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## goaliedave

athea said:


> Hi,
> My husband bought into Monarch Grand vacations about 20 years ago. About 7 years ago we 'upgraded' from Monarch to Diamond. They convinced us another $10k would change our experience. To be honest, I married into the timeshare experience and I've always heard what a poor investment it is. I am still against it but he is willing to give it time before we most likely will have to end up paying a timeshare exit team to legally get out of it. I know that can cost thousands of dollars. Our maintenance fee is about $4200 a year. We have about 22,000 points. We just retired last year (2019) so I'm willing to take a more positive outlook. So far the best resort is the Cabul San Jose resort in Mexico - 5 stars. South Lake Tahoe, CA,Mystic Dunes (Orlando, FL) and Cedar Breaks Lodge (Utah) in Orlando, FL are good. Some of the others we've stayed at over the years are run down. The worst part has been the experiences with salespeople and the tactics they use to get you to keep upgrading and how dishonest they are. I honestly don't know how they sleep at night. We are on a temporary Gold membership now which will end at the end of 2020. They said we didn't feel the true experience of how great Diamond can be being Silver members. We have not seen a difference being temporary Gold members. In other to do this we did go from 15k to 22k points but it cost us $20,000 to get this 'Gold' experience. Of course I feel like an idiot for falling for the sales tactics (again :-( Since we are now retired I will try to figure out how to get the best for what we have before I convince my husband to throw in the towel and stop trusting and doing these point upgrades. 2020 will be our final year of 'testing' the Gold experience and then we need to either use it as a Silver member again or get out once and for all. I can't see us spending another 20k to become a permanent Gold member.


Yikes. Shame you didn't find this site before you upgraded 7 years ago. I havent met anyone who thinks Gold is worth the upgrade (platinum is, for some). You are right to stop him from future upgrades.

Dont use exit companies they are all scams. Contact DR to apply for their "Transitions" program , or post on here to give it away to a member.

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## clifffaith

athea said:


> Hi,
> My husband bought into Monarch Grand vacations about 20 years ago.  About 7 years ago we 'upgraded' from Monarch to Diamond.  They convinced us another $10k would change our experience.  To be honest, I married into the timeshare experience and I've always heard what a poor investment it is.  I am still against it but he is willing to give it time before we most likely will have to end up paying a timeshare exit team to legally get out of it.  I know that can cost thousands of dollars.  Our maintenance fee is about $4200 a year.  We have about 22,000 points.  We just retired last year (2019) so I'm willing to take a more positive outlook.  So far the best resort is the Cabul San Jose resort in Mexico - 5 stars.  South Lake Tahoe, CA,Mystic Dunes (Orlando, FL) and Cedar Breaks Lodge (Utah) in Orlando, FL are good.   Some of the others we've stayed at over the years are run down.  The worst part has been the experiences with salespeople and the tactics they use to get you to keep upgrading and how dishonest they are.  I honestly don't know how they sleep at night.  We are on a temporary Gold membership now which will end at the end of 2020.  They said we didn't feel the true experience of how great Diamond can be being Silver members.  We have not seen a difference being temporary Gold members.  In other to do this we did go from 15k to 22k points but it cost us $20,000 to get this 'Gold' experience.  Of course I feel like an idiot for falling for the sales tactics (again :-(   Since we are now retired I will try to figure out how to get the best for what we have before I convince my husband to throw in the towel and stop trusting and doing these point upgrades.   2020 will be our final year of 'testing' the Gold experience and then we need to either use it as a Silver member again or get out once and for all.  I can't see us spending another 20k to become a permanent Gold member.



Don't get involved with a timeshare exit company. If you are paid in full on your purchases easier to use Diamond's Transitions and pay them $1K per contract to be rid of them.


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## athea

Okay- thanks for the advice.  My husband reminded me Diamond reps last told us by paying them the 20k last April to become a temporary Gold Member we also no longer have a deeded property which is what he had with Monarch.  My husband believes because they said that we should be able to walk away if we want because we are now in a 'membership' , not 'deeded' program.  I wish we had tape recorded everything - i get so confused in the sales reps meetings - they talk fast and have quick answers for everything :-(


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## athea

goaliedave said:


> Yikes. Shame you didn't find this site before you upgraded 7 years ago. I havent met anyone who thinks Gold is worth the upgrade (platinum is, for some). You are right to stop him from future upgrades.
> 
> Dont use exit companies they are all scams. Contact DR to apply for their "Transitions" program , or post on here to give it away to a member.
> 
> Sent from my SM-A505G using Tapatalk


Okay- thanks for the advice. My husband reminded me Diamond reps last told us by paying them the 20k last April to become a temporary Gold Member we also no longer have a deeded property which is what he had with Monarch. My husband believes because they said that we should be able to walk away if we want because we are now in a 'membership' , not 'deeded' program. I wish we had tape recorded everything - i get so confused in the sales reps meetings - they talk fast and have quick answers for everything :-(


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## ccwu

We were very happy DRI platinum member a decade ago. But their benefit for platinum reduced. Fees getting higher. As for now we still love the II exchange part. We traveled to Bangkok, Phuket using about 3500 and 4000 Dri points t
For Marriott 3 bedroom and two bedrooms. We exchanged into Westin, Marriott yearly often to Maui, Kuaui, Caribbean to save points than using DRI resort since we could use a studio points for two bedroom or three bedroom. We even use II to exchange I to polo tower with half the points needed. Dri provide free gold II membership (used to be free platunum II for platinum DRI members). We paid extra to upgrade to II platinum. 


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## artringwald

It was odd to get email titled "How Happy Are You With Your Diamond Ownership?" while I was sitting on the sofa looking at this:






Yes we are happy! It allows us to book a 2 bedroom oceanfront unit at The Point at Poipu for less than 1/2 the price Expedia charges for a 2 bedroom ocean view unit. Of course, I'd never recommend buying from Diamond. Buying resale deeded weeks is the best way to go.


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## csalter2

I still enjoy my Diamond Resorts membership, but only when I use it for accommodations. I don’t use it for anything else. I love that they have lots of locations and I don’t have to pay exchange fees.  If you don’t go to “updates”/sales presentations and can survive the maintenance fees increases, you can enjoy your DR ownership.


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## DianeNYS

We own deeded weeks at Grande Villas (Lake Buena Vista), Polynesian Isles (Kissimmee), Coral Sands (now called Westgate South Beach, Miami) that were with Club Sunterra originally. Also own at Casa Del Mar (Ormond Beach) that is Amber Vacation Club, now owned by DRI and in our Club Combinations with DRI. The only TS we purchased from the developer was Cypress Pointe in '93 (upgraded to Grande Villas in '96, then to Club Sunterra in '99). The others were resale & CHEAP!

We have 17,500 legacy Club points, 6,000 Club Collection points, and 6,500 Casa Del Mar Club Combinations points. This makes us Gold Club members and it seems to be working really well for us. All of our TSs are deeded properties, owned since the 90's (except Casa Del Mar: owned since 2003), and the only U.S. Collection points we had to buy were those 6,000 points ($3.65/point), yet we are now Gold Members, which we like very much


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## DianeNYS

Forgot to mention that we (purposely) purchased a 20,000 point Sampler 3 weeks ahead of the U.S. Collection 6,000 points; our plan was to get into the position to be able to convert our AVC Casa Del Mar points into 6,500 DRI points. We were able to use the $3,995 Sampler purchase as the down payment for the Upgrade points (to be able to do the Club Combinations w/Casa Del Mar), and we immediately had the 20,000 Sampler points put into our "normal" points pool (we are using them in 2020). Also, we got 6,000 points for a Hawaii trip that we instead had rolled over into our points pool & another 6,000 points ("Thank You" points) that have also been rolled into our points pool. Of course, those 20,000 + 6,000 + 6,000 points are not annual, but by using them and rolling over our annual points, we will have a lot of points to use each year for awhile. I'm pretty good at keeping up with these things, and the Reservations Specialists are very helpful in keeping me on track...


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## goaliedave

DianeNYS said:


> Forgot to mention that we (purposely) purchased a 20,000 point Sampler 3 weeks ahead of the U.S. Collection 6,000 points; our plan was to get into the position to be able to convert our AVC Casa Del Mar points into 6,500 DRI points. We were able to use the $3,995 Sampler purchase as the down payment for the Upgrade points (to be able to do the Club Combinations w/Casa Del Mar), and we immediately had the 20,000 Sampler points put into our "normal" points pool (we are using them in 2020). Also, we got 6,000 points for a Hawaii trip that we instead had rolled over into our points pool & another 6,000 points ("Thank You" points) that have also been rolled into our points pool. Of course, those 20,000 + 6,000 + 6,000 points are not annual, but by using them and rolling over our annual points, we will have a lot of points to use each year for awhile. I'm pretty good at keeping up with these things, and the Reservations Specialists are very helpful in keeping me on track...


Congrats! I love hearing people get their 20,000 bonus points using the Sampler. Everyone should do it. 

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## T_R_Oglodyte

DianeNYS said:


> We own deeded weeks at Grande Villas (Lake Buena Vista), Polynesian Isles (Kissimmee), Coral Sands (now called Westgate South Beach, Miami) that were with Club Sunterra originally. Also own at Casa Del Mar (Ormond Beach) that is Amber Vacation Club, now owned by DRI and in our Club Combinations with DRI. The only TS we purchased from the developer was Cypress Pointe in '93 (upgraded to Grande Villas in '96, then to Club Sunterra in '99). The others were resale & CHEAP!
> 
> We have 17,500 legacy Club points, 6,000 Club Collection points, and 6,500 Casa Del Mar Club Combinations points. This makes us Gold Club members and it seems to be working really well for us. All of our TSs are deeded properties, owned since the 90's (except Casa Del Mar: owned since 2003), and the only U.S. Collection points we had to buy were those 6,000 points ($3.65/point), yet we are now Gold Members, which we like very much


FYI - we've been hearing that Club Combination can be used to reach gold status for only five years. I haven't checked our paperwork on that point yet.  

But the thrust of all of our owner updates for the last several years have been how we need to by more points to bring us to permanent gold status.  If we lose gold, so be it.  We can live with the loss of gold status.


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## geist1223

We own 18,500 DRI Hawaiian Collection Points but because of Club Combinations written into our Contracts (2) we are Platinum.


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## DianeNYS

Our contract gives us Gold status for good, though I was told by someone in Hospitality Management Services that the whole CCOM program could someday be changed or scrapped (for some reason involving RCI or II, she said). My husband and I, like you, T_R_ Oglodyte, are okay with going back to Silver if need be. But not being able to convert our Casa Del Mar week into DRI points sometime in the future would be VERY annoying. We're hoping that IF that happens with CCOM, by then Diamond will not only own Amber Vacation Club (they purchased it in 2018), but will actually somehow own the Casa Del Mar Resort so that we can convert it to DRI points because of that. 

She said she'll help us if any of that happens so we can somehow convert...She got my "case" from Mike Flaskey--I've emailed both of them (and talked to her on the phone several times)--since 2018 when I found out about their AVC purchase and started trying to get my ownership to convert to DRI points. We love our Diamond properties, and really are hoping to someday have Casa Del Mar be a "real" part of our DRI points and not just by CCOM. We'll see...


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## nuwermj

DianeNYS said:


> ... We're hoping that IF that happens with CCOM, by then Diamond will not only own Amber Vacation Club (they purchased it in 2018), but will actually somehow own the Casa Del Mar Resort so that we can convert it to DRI points because of that.
> 
> .... We love our Diamond properties, and really are hoping to someday have Casa Del Mar be a "real" part of our DRI points and not just by CCOM. We'll see...



There are 119 units and 6,069 intervals at Casa Del Mar. The Bluegreen Vacation Club owns 3,411 intervals, or 56.2% of the total and therefore a majority vote in the HOA. Short of Diamond buying Bluegreen outright, I wouldn't hold my breath about a change in ownership at Casa Del Mar.

On the other hand, in addition to the Club Combo program, Diamond has a program whereby you can surrender your deed and get trust fund points in exchange. You might consider that option.


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## DianeNYS

Thank you, nuwermj, for the information...I did always wonder how the Amber vs. Bluegreen ownerships mapped out. Doesn't look like I'll get my wish; when we signed up to get our Casa Del Mar week into CCOM we specifically did not want to have to give up our deed. And I think that would've increased our cost to do so? The first "deal" offered was one to transfer our deed to them, and the cost was very high to do so. Maybe the CCOM will last as long as we'll need it to (we are in our later 60's so we're HOPING for 20 more years of travel, but are realistic enough to know that's an outlier ). With the CCOM for our deeded Amber week we get 6,500 points per year when we give it up for Exchange into that program. We'll have to keep an eye on how this all works...I was just SO hoping that DRI owning Amber would give us a great deal (as in cheaper!) to have those Amber points become DRI points automatically. Oh well...


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## R.J.C.

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> FYI - we've been hearing that Club Combination can be used to reach gold status for only five years. I haven't checked our paperwork on that point yet.
> 
> But the thrust of all of our owner updates for the last several years have been how we need to by more points to bring us to permanent gold status.  If we lose gold, so be it.  We can live with the loss of gold status.



Has someone showed you in writing that your Gold status due to Club Combo is temporary or is this just a sales person trying to use fear to get you to buy more points?


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## T_R_Oglodyte

R.J.C. said:


> Has someone showed you in writing that your Gold status due to Club Combo is temporary or is this just a sales person trying to use fear to get you to buy more points?


They've insisted that I have a piece of paper in my file.  I'll go look right now.

And I'm back.  and it appears that the salesman;s lips have been moving.  The sheet we signed does not mention any time limit on the inclusion of Club Combinations to attain loyalty status.


----------



## R.J.C.

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> They've insisted that I have a piece of paper in my file.  I'll go look right now.
> 
> And I'm back.  and it appears that the salesman;s lips have been moving.  The sheet we signed does not mention any time limit on the inclusion of Club Combinations to attain loyalty status.



So don't believe it. Otherwise they would be able to show you something in writing from their end. It's just another sales tactic.


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## T_R_Oglodyte

R.J.C. said:


> So don't believe it. Otherwise they would be able to show you something in writing from their end. It's just another sales tactic.


Correct.,  Last summer I said that I didn't remember it that way, and I would check the paperwork.  Your post gave me the impetus to actually pull the paperwork and see what was agreed to.


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## csalter2

Remember, Diamond can giveth and Diamond can taketh away.  Who could ever forget the unlimited FREE upgrades for platinum owners! They went POOF!


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## karibkeith

I wish I had never heard of Diamond. I bought more points on the promise that Embarc would be available to Club members. They Lied! Twice! As a platinum member I can choose my room. Last fall we went to Arizona and the unit clearly identified on the confirmation was not available. No apology, No compensation. Just got back from Florida where they said in an advance e-mail that my chosen room was reserved for me but that it was not renovated. They suggested a move and before agreeing to it, I was moved. Visited the original room, they lied again. The whole building has been renovated. I suspect they screwed up the reservation again and lied their way out of it.. 
Have previously tried for a unit in a particular building but was told it was being renovated. Visited this one and guess what? They lied again, there were no renovations.  (You can tell when a Diamond rep is lying -- their lips are moving!)
They will simply not leave you alone until you attend an update which turns into a sales pitch. This time the gimmick was to call it an Apollo (owner of Diamond) special update with no sales pitch. More lies. They wanted more money. However, the rewards were worthwhile and as promised.


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## goaliedave

Was allowed to make 2 changes yesterday free of fees, thank you Diamond!

Sent from my SM-A505G using Tapatalk


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## bfkeith

I was a Monarch owner and was somewhat happy.  Then in 2012 Diamond came along. I bought into Diamond and was told that my Monarch ownership was converted to Diamond when I upgraded to Diamond Silver. Recently, I attended an "owner update" sales presentation. I was presented an opportunity to move to gold. I was told I was paying too much in dues. My Monarch points were costing me a lot more than my Diamond points and it was costing me more to book. If I upgraded, I would pay less in dues and would be able to have all my points as Diamond points. Three different sales people: First: aprox. $57,000, aprox.$14,000, and then $3,999 for a 24 month temp Gold. I was told that I would pay less in dues and lower increases.  Is this typical? I said No to all and was told I was making a big mistake and they were sorry for me. I feel bad....


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## csalter2

bfkeith said:


> I was a Monarch owner and was somewhat happy.  Then in 2012 Diamond came along. I bought into Diamond and was told that my Monarch ownership was converted to Diamond when I upgraded to Diamond Silver. Recently, I attended an "owner update" sales presentation. I was presented an opportunity to move to gold. I was told I was paying too much in dues. My Monarch points were costing me a lot more than my Diamond points and it was costing me more to book. If I upgraded, I would pay less in dues and would be able to have all my points as Diamond points. Three different sales people: First: aprox. $57,000, aprox.$14,000, and then $3,999 for a 24 month temp Gold. I was told that I would pay less in dues and lower increases.  Is this typical? I said No to all and was told I was making a big mistake and they were sorry for me. I feel bad....



You have absolutely NOTHING to feel bad about.  Believe me, you did yourself a favor. You would have paid LESS PER POINT, but you would have PAID MORE OVERALL in maintenance fees because you would have bought more points. That’s the part they don’t explain. Your club fees are a flat rate if you have 1000 points or 50,000 points. That’s why your per point fee is lower. However, you pay .18 -.19 per point in maintenance fees, so the more points you have the more money you’ll pay. 

There’s nothing to feel bad about at all. They were doing you no favors. This is coming from someone who actually likes his Diamond ownership. However, you’ve got to watch them.


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## karibkeith

Many resorts will bug guests to attend presentations. Diamond goes one better, They phone you before you even leave home. I tell them that I would rather drill a hole in my head than to ever again attend an update /presentation session regardless of the reward.  It is just not worth it to ruin a vacation at its start. With Diamond, the first lie is that it is an update, the second lie is that it will not involve any sales pitch, and after that the lies are random.


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## karibkeith

bfkeith said:


> I was a Monarch owner and was somewhat happy.  Then in 2012 Diamond came along. I bought into Diamond and was told that my Monarch ownership was converted to Diamond when I upgraded to Diamond Silver. Recently, I attended an "owner update" sales presentation. I was presented an opportunity to move to gold. I was told I was paying too much in dues. My Monarch points were costing me a lot more than my Diamond points and it was costing me more to book. If I upgraded, I would pay less in dues and would be able to have all my points as Diamond points. Three different sales people: First: aprox. $57,000, aprox.$14,000, and then $3,999 for a 24 month temp Gold. I was told that I would pay less in dues and lower increases.  Is this typical? I said No to all and was told I was making a big mistake and they were sorry for me. I feel bad....


They are not sorry for you, they are sorry for themselves not getting a commission. These idiots have even told people they are stupid to not buy more. What course did they take that advised that insulting a customer was the key to success?


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## winger

karibkeith said:


> Many resorts will bug guests to attend presentations. Diamond goes one better, They phone you before you even leave home. ..


Eh, Marriott had been doing this for years. No different than DRI.


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## winger

karibkeith said:


> They are not sorry for you, they are sorry for themselves not getting a commission. These idiots have even told people they are stupid to not buy more. What course did they take that advised that insulting a customer was the key to success?


This is taught in Timeshare Sales 001, make the customer feel they are in a bad position so they are grateful to you for helping them out


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## Grammarhero

I'm happy with my membership.  Has saved me about $200/year compared to public rates.  Sometimes, what I need in a certain city, certain bedroom size, and certain dates are not available in: Wyndham, II, RCI, or DRI.  That's where DRI Xtra Destinations have come in handy.


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## Fried_shrimp

Grammarhero said:


> I'm happy with my membership.  Has saved me about $200/year compared to public rates.  Sometimes, what I need in a certain city, certain bedroom size, and certain dates are not available in: Wyndham, II, RCI, or DRI.  That's where DRI Xtra Destinations have come in handy.



From what I have seen, most people that plan their vacations with plenty of lead time are the happiest and those who always wait until the last minute to try and reserve something are always the unhappiest.


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## artringwald

Fried_shrimp said:


> From what I have seen, most people that plan their vacations with plenty of lead time are the happiest and those who always wait until the last minute to try and reserve something are always the unhappiest.


We knew when we first purchased in 2004, that we'd have to book as early as allowed to get what we wanted. We are happy with our ownership, and would not recommend a timeshare purchase to anyone that couldn't commit to dates far in advance of their trips.


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## Chika

CalGalTraveler said:


> Would love to hear from Diamond Owners. If we are missing a major category, please let let me know.
> 
> Also please add in the comments what you own and why you voted the way you did.


came in from a gift with EPIC, then Sunterra etc. etc.  Most times I could run the help line and should have gone into sales but have higher values.  It has become a bucket with a hole of high fees, less options and now as a Hilton owner too not sure what to do with Diamond


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## Chika

R.J.C. said:


> I love my Diamond ownership. Originally purchased at Powhatan Plantation, resisted the urge to convert to points under Sunterra (just wouldn't work for me at the time), converted to Diamond points 2 days after they purchased Sunterra. Currently a Platinum owner and I love traveling with family and friends to different Diamond resorts throughout the US, Hawaii, and Europe without having to pay an ever increasing exchange fee with II/RCI. Sales dept and seemingly constant changes with benefits as of late are the only two sore spots I have with Diamond but at least I can get back at the sales side by constantly going to updates and taking the gifts while saying No.


My husband will disown me for another invitation.  Time better spent but we chose to consolidate 4 fees, extras and hopefully options with Hawaii Platinum.  When the whales are breeching in your face its a hard one to let go of.


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## Chika

Grammarhero said:


> I will go why I am neutral:
> 1) as a resale buyer, I can only go to my home resort.  Also no breaking the week into two half-weeks.  I did get a deeded week, which helps.  To compare, wyndham resales lets me go to 27 states and 2 US protectorates.
> 2) bad exit strategy.  Diamond transitions is $1k and supposedly only available for retail buyers. In comparison, Wyndham Ovations is free.
> 
> (Edited for clarity)


what do you mean for retail buyers?


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## Chika

geist1223 said:


> Cheaper than RCI Fee,


can someone explain Tier points?


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## Fried_shrimp

Chika said:


> what do you mean for retail buyers?



Retail = you bought points from Diamond at Diamond prices.
Resale = you bought points from another owner.....aka dirty points. You cannot Transition dirty points, ever.


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## Fried_shrimp

Chika said:


> can someone explain Tier points?



Tiers only matter if you deposit points into DEX. 6 tiers and each tier is 2,000 points higher than the previous tier. If you deposit points into DEX you have to select a tier and use those number of points for the tier certificate. You then use that certificate sometime down the road to book a unit through DEX.


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## pedro47

Fried_shrimp said:


> Tiers only matter if you deposit points into DEX. 6 tiers and each tier is 2,000 points higher than the previous tier. If you deposit points into DEX you have to select a tier and use those number of points for the tier certificate. You then use that certificate sometime down the road to book a unit through DEX.


Sound liked you are enjoying the new DEX System?


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## pierrepierre

It just got to complicated and I was not ready to spend the time on it, and finally realized my husband was NOT going to travel as much as he said he was.  At Platinum level, we went thru transitions which was easy as we had purchased thru Diamond all points.  Each state purchased points in, was different price for transitions...IE: Arizona and Nevada.  We now have that $9,000.00+ in maintenance fee to travel.  Realized their properties in the USA were clustered together....and now they even have a program for more than 50,000 points, and have taken away some of the benefits.  Alas, I understand EVERYTHING changes, but in this program it was NOT to our benefit!


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## bobpark56

We would be very happy, if only there were a resale market. Diamond does everything they can to thwart this. As a result, there is no way to part with your points as you age, except to pass them on to heirs who can't afford the maintenance and travel costs. So be sure to distribute your purchase price over your ownership years to compute the true cost of buying Diamond points. They have no residual value.


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## Fried_shrimp

pedro47 said:


> Sound liked you are enjoying the new DEX System?



No, I don't use it just like I only used II twice in 13 years. One of the reason I converted my fixed weeks to points was to get away from having to pay exchange fees. Not saying I won't use DEX but if I do, it will be very rare.


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## pedro47

Fried_shrimp said:


> No, I don't use it just like I only used II twice in 13 years. One of the reason I converted my fixed weeks to points was to get away from having to pay exchange fees. Not saying I won't use DEX but if I do, it will be very rare.


I am very happy, you have learned how to maximize your trading power with points.
Sounds liked you are still using Diamond Points to exchange into Diamond Resorts.
Is that correct?


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## Chika

Fried_shrimp said:


> Tiers only matter if you deposit points into DEX. 6 tiers and each tier is 2,000 points higher than the previous tier. If you deposit points into DEX you have to select a tier and use those number of points for the tier certificate. You then use that certificate sometime down the road to book a unit through DEX.


es claro  thank you


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## Fried_shrimp

pedro47 said:


> I am very happy, you have learned how to maximize your trading power with points.
> Sounds liked you are still using Diamond Points to exchange into Diamond Resorts.
> Is that correct?



99.8% of the time. Enjoying Powhatan Plantation as we speak.


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## Pinot51

I've been with Diamond about five years. I find that the website is clunky, the personnel are all idiots, and it requires a lot of work to book my stays. 
Two examples: 1/ My first year we were gifted 'silver' status and I tried to use it to book Maui by calling in and having them somehow get me an edge because of my silver status. After numerous phone check-ins with them, they couldn't get me a space. I started checking online myself and in a few days was able to book a room. Calling them back to get an explanation of why they couldn't get the room yielded nothing. 2/ Last week we attended an update [torture session] and we're given $100 along with certificate for two free nights that we could use at a resort in Tahoe that we like. We already have an upcoming stay there and I wanted to book for next year. Was told that space was not available for my dates so we booked December instead. Went online and found the dates that I wanted were in fact available so I booked them. Idiots and liars.
I will never ever by any points from them but instead use TUG to find rentals or resales. 

Sent from my TB-X704V using Tapatalk


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## ccwu

Pinot51 said:


> I've been with Diamond about five years. I find that the website is clunky, the personnel are all idiots, and it requires a lot of work to book my stays.
> Two examples: 1/ My first year we were gifted 'silver' status and I tried to use it to book Maui by calling in and having them somehow get me an edge because of my silver status. After numerous phone check-ins with them, they couldn't get me a space. I started checking online myself and in a few days was able to book a room. Calling them back to get an explanation of why they couldn't get the room yielded nothing. 2/ Last week we attended an update [torture session] and we're given $100 along with certificate for two free nights that we could use at a resort in Tahoe that we like. We already have an upcoming stay there and I wanted to book for next year. Was told that space was not available for my dates so we booked December instead. Went online and found the dates that I wanted were in fact available so I booked them. Idiots and liars.
> I will never ever by any points from them but instead use TUG to find rentals or resales.
> 
> Sent from my TB-X704V using Tapatalk



We never call to book and always book on line a year in advance. So I would not know the experience for calling for reservation. We are platinum so we can book 14 months in advance. We go to owners update whenever the award is right (above $150) and we have 60 minutes spare.


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## Ricci

I have been depositing my 3 bedroom Grande Beach Orlando in RCI since 1995.   I have always traded for KBC or Point at Poipu through RCI.  I was recently confirmed into the Point at Poipu for May 2022 through RCI.  For the first time I used DEX to confirm another May week to piggyback the RCI trade.  It was easy and $159 for the confirmation.   There are a lot of things I don't like about Diamond, but I do like the fact that if you deposit your week into the DEX program, you have five years to use it.


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## winger

csalter2 said:


> Remember, Diamond can giveth and Diamond can taketh away.  Who could ever forget the unlimited FREE upgrades for platinum owners! They went POOF!


And now they added Centum on top of Platinum


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## Mongoose

Liked the properties. Hated the culture. Sold it…


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## pedro47

winger said:


> And now they added Centum on top of Platinum


How many levels are there of Diamond owner ship? Centum, Platinum, Gold, Silver & Bronze. Sound liked the Olympics medals breakdown. LOL

What is Centum and how much does that level costs ?
How many points and what are their yearly MF ?


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## Fried_shrimp

pedro47 said:


> How many levels are there of Diamond owner ship? Centum, Platinum, Gold, Silver & Bronze. Sound liked the Olympics medals breakdown. LOL
> 
> What is Centum and how much does that level costs ?
> How many points and what are their yearly MF ?



Centum is the much talked about double Platinum level so 100,000 points minimum. Most of the new Centum benefits are the old Platinum benefits before the change in 2020. The bad thing is you have to make a 10,000 point purchase to get Centum, even if you are already at 100,000 points or greater which is BS IMO.

Maint fees on lowest Centum level would be about $18,000 per year and up.


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## pedro47

Fried_shrimp said:


> Centum is the much talked about double Platinum level so 100,000 points minimum. Most of the new Centum benefits are the old Platinum benefits before the change in 2020. The bad thing is you have to make a 10,000 point purchase to get Centum, even if you are already at 100,000 points or greater which is BS IMO.
> 
> Maint fees on lowest Centum level would be about $18,000 per year and up.


Wow


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## Fried_shrimp

pedro47 said:


> Wow



It sounds high but it depends on how you use it. Maint fees on my 50,000 Platinum points is $9,200 a year but I get about 100 nights per year usage between 1 and 2 bdrm units so that comes out to about $92 per night, which is not bad IMO.


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## pedro47

That is great almost 15 weeks per year and the average cost per day is not all that bad. IMHO.


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## ccwu

Fried_shrimp said:


> It sounds high but it depends on how you use it. Maint fees on my 50,000 Platinum points is $9,200 a year but I get about 100 nights per year usage between 1 and 2 bdrm units so that comes out to about $92 per night, which is not bad IMO.



Wow! We have 54,000 points from dRI but part of it is US collection and 41,000 are HI collection. We bought extra $4,000 to get permanent select. (Deposit two VI resorts in HI to get approximately two 8,500 points.). So total is 71,000 points. Going to look how DEX works. We could get about 10-12 weeks a year. Never calculate how much it cost. MF is about $9.8 K (pay two club fee). We always try to book studio or scenic view one bedroom and upgrade to one bedroom or one bedroom ocean view or ocean view yo oceanfront. unless it is unavailable. So if we change plan, forfeit the upgrade fee. I wish they have annual
Upgrade fee like annual cancellation protection fee. Do you need to buy more points to get into DEX? We like the II exchange. So we pay II membership fee and II platinum fee. Those are extra (used to be covered by Platinum membership).  Our average is 7,000 per week. We own HGV. MF is the same but using 3400 for 1 BR, 7000 for 2 BR. We got 90% free upgrade to the next level same size room (scenic to ocean view or ocean view to ocean front). We do enjoy larger rooms. So we think HGV is cheaper in MF ($0.18 per points and uses half the point DRI uses). HGV does not have points discount when getting closer so if one book, so owners book as soon as it opens for booking. That is why hot resorts it is hard to book if you don’t plan early. When closer, the only benefit is that owner can pay for open season rate in cash and don’t need to use points. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalkk


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## Fried_shrimp

ccwu said:


> Wow! We have 54,000 points from dRI but part of it is US collection and 41,000 are HI collection. We bought extra $4,000 to get permanent select. (Deposit two VI resorts in HI to get approximately two 8,500 points.). So total is 71,000 points. Going to look how DEX works. We could get about 10-12 weeks a year. Never calculate how much it cost. MF is about $9.8 K (pay two club fee). We always try to book studio or scenic view one bedroom and upgrade to one bedroom or one bedroom ocean view or ocean view yo oceanfront. unless it is unavailable. So if we change plan, forfeit the upgrade fee. I wish they have annual
> Upgrade fee like annual cancellation protection fee. Do you need to buy more points to get into DEX? We like the II exchange. So we pay II membership fee and II platinum fee. Those are extra (used to be covered by Platinum membership).  Our average is 7,000 per week. We own HGV. MF is the same but using 3400 for 1 BR, 7000 for 2 BR. We got 90% free upgrade to the next level same size room (scenic to ocean view or ocean view to ocean front). We do enjoy larger rooms. So we think HGV is cheaper in MF ($0.18 per points and uses half the point DRI uses). HGV does not have points discount when getting closer so if one book, so owners book as soon as it opens for booking. That is why hot resorts it is hard to book if you don’t plan early. When closer, the only benefit is that owner can pay for open season rate in cash and don’t need to use points.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalkk



You are automatically a member of DEX just you were automatically a member of II prior to 2021. It is part of your membership and can be accessed from the Diamond website. 

One reason HGVC may have lower maint fees is because of all of the addon fees they have that Diamond doesn't. HGVC charges $59 to exchange within HGVC to a resort other than your home resort, Diamond does not. HGVC charges about $100 to roll this years points to the next year, Diamond does not. Fees like this do not reflect the true maint fee count with HGVC.


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## ccwu

Fried_shrimp said:


> You are automatically a member of DEX just you were automatically a member of II prior to 2021. It is part of your membership and can be accessed from the Diamond website.
> 
> One reason HGVC may have lower maint fees is because of all of the addon fees they have that Diamond doesn't. HGVC charges $59 to exchange within HGVC to a resort other than your home resort, Diamond does not. HGVC charges about $100 to roll this years points to the next year, Diamond does not. Fees like this do not reflect the true maint fee count with HGVC.



Thanks, I will take a look. 

HGV does not Have additional fee for me. I am elite premier for HGV (similar as Dri platinum). Apple to apple comparison. (Platinum to elite premier). The only fee I may pay if I choose to is reservation protection fee ($119 fee so you can cancel reservation before arrival instead of 31 days. In DRI I pay a annually reservation protection so I can cancel 32 days instead of 91 days). No RCI member fee for HGV. The HGV MF is that you buy deed, if platinum season average pays less. (MF is per sq ft of a unit. While platinum season double the points of silver or gold season. It also per view, a oceanfront is more points than scenic view. So a 9600 points May pay the same as 3500 points.  So the per point MF is different per resort and season). You pay more upfront charge to safe MF. Most HGV elite member choose to buy platinum season with premier unit deed. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## pedro47

Fried-shrimp any updates or news on the Diamond / HGVC merger ?


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## dayooper

Not Fried Shrimp, but any proxies from HGVC stock holders need to be in by July 28. I assume we won’t hear anything until then.


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## pedro47

dayooper said:


> Not Fried Shrimp, but any proxies from HGVC stock holders need to be in by July 28. I assume we won’t hear anything until then.


Thanks


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## GT75

ccwu said:


> The only fee I may pay if I choose to is reservation protection fee ($119 fee so you can cancel reservation before arrival instead of 31 days.


Actually, Cancel protection fee is $69.


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## Fried_shrimp

pedro47 said:


> Fried-shrimp any updates or news on the Diamond / HGVC merger ?



Actually, I did hear the signing took place Monday but then nothing else. Diamond sales centers have a "All Hands On Deck" meeting today so hopefully I will hear more from my friend afterwards.


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## dayooper

Fried_shrimp said:


> Actually, I did hear the signing took place Monday but then nothing else. Diamond sales centers have a "All Hands On Deck" meeting today so hopefully I will hear more from my friend afterwards.



Oh wow! I wonder what will come out of that meeting. With the 3rd quarter starting tomorrow, I wonder if we will hear any changes. I‘m not that familiar with corporate mergers so maybe someone with more insight than I can help. I saw an email from one of the high ups at HGVC saying they were investigating any salesman that broke their “rules” for sales. I know it was probably window dressing, but they are at least pretending. I’ve never been to a Diamond sales meeting so I’m not sure how they are.

I know TS salesman get ragged on pretty hard here on TUG, but it’s is their lively hood. Anytime there’s a change this big, it puts anybody‘s job at risk. I’m not sure if your friend is a salesperson or not (or even works for Diamond), but if they are an employee, I hope their situation will be alright.


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## Fried_shrimp

dayooper said:


> Oh wow! I wonder what will come out of that meeting. With the 3rd quarter starting tomorrow, I wonder if we will hear any changes. I‘m not that familiar with corporate mergers so maybe someone with more insight than I can help. I saw an email from one of the high ups at HGVC saying they were investigating any salesman that broke their “rules” for sales. I know it was probably window dressing, but they are at least pretending. I’ve never been to a Diamond sales meeting so I’m not sure how they are.
> 
> I know TS salesman get ragged on pretty hard here on TUG, but it’s is their lively hood. Anytime there’s a change this big, it puts anybody‘s job at risk. I’m not sure if your friend is a salesperson or not (or even works for Diamond), but if they are an employee, I hope their situation will be alright.



He is an employee for Diamond. Not saying anything else about him so as to not take the chance of revealing who he is.


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## geist1223

If a person escalates complaints about a sales person to the Corporate Level it is possible to effectuate changes. There is a sales person no longer on staff at Cabo Azul after we took it up the chain a couple years ago.


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## edboyd59

geist1223 said:


> If a person escalates complaints about a sales person to the Corporate Level it is possible to effectuate changes. There is a sales person no longer on staff at Cabo Azul after we took it up the chain a couple years ago.


We ran into a situation at Polo Towers in Vegas a couple of years ago in which the person doing our update (i.e. sales presentation) told us more lies than in any other similar experience ever. There wasn't a single thing that we were told that was on the up and up, AND he brought in another sales flunky that posed as the office sales manager to back up everything that we were told. So surprised that this would happen in Vegas (sure we were). We have been lied to before but we were told some major stories here. Anyway, we were so angry about the situation that I pressed this up the ladder to the point that we took it to the regional manager. He asked what we wanted as compensation, and we told him that the only thing that we wanted was for those people to be gone, and training developed to stop this level of deceit from occurring. We were told that DR was making efforts to do just that (reduce deceit) but were told that Vegas was a bit of the Wild, Wild West and less regulated than other areas (probably true). However, we were assured this would be handled properly. After a time (a couple of weeks), we were called back and told that the investigation had been completed, our accusations were substantiated, and these individuals were no longer with the company. We went back a year later and though we didn't take the 'update', I can't remember exactly why but we had to visit the sales floor to pick something up regarding our account. While we waited for the item to be retrieved, we were seated in the waiting area, and we observed both of these 'fired' employees still walking in and out of the sales offices. Not just the patsy but both of them. I figured the dishonesty was kept at a lower level but I learned that day that you can't trust the middle managers in the company no more than the bottom feeders.

Another thing. We were in another office, at another time after this happened, and we were in a state with single party recording laws (where only one party needs to know that the recording is taking place. So since you are one of the parties, you can make the recording without the others knowledge. Unscrupulous? Sure but this is the Timeshare business you at at war with). Anyway, we were talking to a rep, and he had told us some information and then he left us alone. My wife asked me about something that she was clear about and I told her to not worry, I was taping our conversation. A few minutes later, the rep came back and resumed the conversation. He then stopped and asked my point blank if I was recording our conversation, and if I was, I was committing a felony. First, his story about it being a felony was incorrect and he knew it, in fact, we were breaking no laws. Second, since we were alone in the office, what made him ask about the recording unless we were also being monitored while we were supposedly alone?


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## geist1223

Laws about recording fac to face are different in every state and can be weird. In Oregon you only need 1 person concent to record telephone calls. But for face to face you have to tell the other party. If you do not it is a misdomeanor crime. Each use of the recording is another misdemeanor.


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