# New Diamond Member - Orientation Next Week



## mammolastan (Jun 15, 2021)

Hi, I dont know if these kind of posts are "allowed" here, but I just wanted to drop a line and say hello to the other Diamond members in here. i made the purchase in Fall of last year, and I am finally having my orientation at Pigeon Forge next week. I'm looking forward to learning more about how it all works, because there seems to be a lot to read about! 

Any good questions I should be asking in my orientation time?

Thanks!


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## moonstone (Jun 15, 2021)

Hi and welcome to TUG.  Your orientation will be a ploy (read hard sell) to get you to buy more points. They will tell you what you have isn't enough, or isn't in the right collection, or whatever tale the salesperson thinks up that day.  Read all you can on these boards before going so you can be as informed as possible. Also practice saying "NO"! Buying from the developer (sales or orientation meeting) is a huge rip-off and you can get the exact same thing for pennies on the dollar or free on the resale market.  There is a well known saying here that the best way to tell if a timeshare salesperson in lying is if their lips are moving! 

We own at Sunrise Ridge in Pigeon Forge. We got it for free from an elderly couple who didn't want to travel any longer, about 10yrs ago.  We get 77K RCI points for our week and can always get 3-5 weeks from them by going to other resorts at other times of the year. Diamond bought our resort after we had purchased and since we are RCI members we try not to involve Diamond as much as possible and just deal with RCI. 


~Diane


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## clifffaith (Jun 15, 2021)

mammolastan said:


> Hi, I dont know if these kind of posts are "allowed" here, but I just wanted to drop a line and say hello to the other Diamond members in here. i made the purchase in Fall of last year, and I am finally having my orientation at Pigeon Forge next week. I'm looking forward to learning more about how it all works, because there seems to be a lot to read about!
> 
> Any good questions I should be asking in my orientation time?
> 
> Thanks!



ORIENTATION? ORIENTATION? Best you understand right up front that Diamond will hound you forever to buy more points, starting at your "orientation". Their purpose each and every time is to sell you more points, and they'll keep you for hours while the sales person wanders away for twenty minutes multiple times. They will lie overtly and with half truths. They will definitely tell you why what you bought last fall is no good, how some bit of info was not shared with you in the fall and why you need to buy more now to make it right. Learn to use what you bought and don't spend another cent with them. Join the FB group Diamond Resorts US Friends (the other DR groups, and there are at least two more, are interesting but heavily UK resort skewed, IMHO) -- you will learn FAR MORE on FB than you will at any "orientation", "update" or "survey". AND you will see all the posts by others that will clue you in on the latest scam marketing techniques.

We bought 53,000 DR points over multiple purchases. We have now divested ourselves of all of them. And by divested I mean paid DR to take them back. Tried and failed to give them away for free with us paying the transfer fee. Don't make our mistake -- do not buy more points!


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## geist1223 (Jun 15, 2021)

How many DRI points did you buy? I assume USA Collection. We enjoy our DRI Membership. However we did switch from Hawaiian Collection to Cabo Azul for lower Maintenance Fees.


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## Fried_shrimp (Jun 15, 2021)

As earlier state, this is just a sales meeting dressed up in sheep's clothing. There is also no requirement to attend an orientation meeting. There are many different sites that you can get much more in depth information on how Diamond works than an "orientation" meeting.


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## mammolastan (Jun 15, 2021)

geist1223 said:


> How many DRI points did you buy? I assume USA Collection. We enjoy our DRI Membership. However we did switch from Hawaiian Collection to Cabo Azul for lower Maintenance Fees.


I believe im at 15k points/year. I bought it in the US so i guess that is my collection? I didnt know there are different collections. Also theres some kind of international component to it? I want to learn more about that


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## mammolastan (Jun 15, 2021)

Fried_shrimp said:


> As earlier state, this is just a sales meeting dressed up in sheep's clothing. There is also no requirement to attend an orientation meeting. There are many different sites that you can get much more in depth information on how Diamond works than an "orientation" meeting.


Are there any particular sites that you recommend? I just applied to join  the facebook group Diamand Resorts US friends


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## geist1223 (Jun 15, 2021)

Go to the main DRI Web Site. You can actually learn a lot by going through their different Publications. You can also make Bookings online. You will probably not learn a lot at the "Orientation." It will probably turn into a sales pitch on why you need more Points. In your Home Collection (USA) you will have a Booking Window of 13 months. In the other Collections you will have a 10 month Booking Window. DRI is also always running sales on their Web Site. Like 50% off for Cabo. Also at many locations if you Book less that 60 days before check-in many Resorts are 50% off.

You can see all the Resorts. Some are DRI owned. Some are DRI partially owned but managed by DRI. Some are affiliates which have limited Bookings for DRI Members.


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## Fried_shrimp (Jun 15, 2021)

mammolastan said:


> Are there any particular sites that you recommend? I just applied to join  the facebook group Diamand Resorts US friends



That is the site I run so yes, I recommend it.   
As a note, if you didn't answer all 3 questions, your application would be denied. If you answered all three questions you have already been accepted (I just accepted the last batch about an hour ago).


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## dougp26364 (Jun 16, 2021)

You’ll learn more by asking questions here and looking up your account on DRI’s owners web site than you will ever learn from an “orientation” or “update”.  There are a lot of sales staff that don’t even own, or own only a token amount of points, in the system. They really do t have a clue how things actually work beyond what their sales manager tells them. As an owner you are more likely to pull a “senior” sales rep, and they’re more likely to own, but it’s always questionable that they really know the ins and outs of the system. You’ll get more accurate and realistic info here. 

It’s not just DRI. Every timeshare management group has a ploy to get you to attend another sales presentation. Most are owner updates. They tell you there have been a LOT of changes since your last update, but there typically hasn’t been anything note worthy. These are all just sales presentations. 

Our original purchase was with Diamond Resorts in 1998 when the only resort they owned was PoloTowers and long before there was ever any trust points. We left Diamond several years ago due to their fees. They’re a decent company, have nice resorts and desirable locations. 

Just put the brakes on before increasing your ownership. They use a lot of Voodoo math that, once you leave the sales floor, you’ll realize doesn’t add up (all timeshare companies do this as well).

Be aware that timeshare is NOT like booking a hotel room. To get the most from your purchase you need to plan in advance. There is value in last minute trips, but you’ll find inventory and dates can be limited, it’s best to plan, at a minimum, 6 months in advance. Some locations and views will require you book as far in advance as possible. Hawaii, for instance, always required we book at the earliest possible month (10 months I think it was when we were owners) to get a deluxe unit at Ka’anapali. Some of the resorts they show you are affiliated resorts and have very limited availability, so do t cou t on getting anything/everything you want on the dates you need. 

I plan our vacations out approx 18 to 24 months out. For us this is a rough sketch of places we’d like to visit, how we’ll get the reservation (exchange or internal reservation), what system we’ll use (we own more than one) and how we’ll get there. With Marriott we can book 13 months in advance and, if it’s a popular destination like Hawaii or S. Florida in the winter, we book that far out. With Hilton we book 9 months out (furthest I can book with that group). We book our home week 12 months in advance in Breckenridge, CO. When we go to Branson, it can be as little as 3 months in advance but is generally 6 months and it’s usually just a long weekend trip. Over time you’ll figure out which are the difficult times and destinations that require more planning g and which are the easier destinations that are easier to obtain.


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