Diamond Resorts deeded ownership to US Collection

[5travelers]

We’ve been Diamond owners for 13 years. We have a deeded ownership at Kaanapali Resort. Our maintenance fees have gone up from $900/ year to over $1500/ year and we also pay dues of over $350 / year to be in The Club as we exchange our week in Hawaii into points to use at other resorts. We’ve been told thru the years that we need to get into the US Collection so that we won’t need to pay The Club dues and won’t be on the hook to pay more in resort specific dues in Hawaii. However, they’ve always said that we can only move into the US Collection by purchasing more points and upgrading our membership. We’ve never bought into this as it’s too expensive and we don’t need more than the 8500 points we have. Yesterday we were at a presentation and they offered us to come into the US collection for $3995 and that would include 20,000 points to use for 2 years and a ‘Dream Vacation’ which is a one week stay at a certain number of resorts we can choose from. So we finally bought into this and applied for their Barclays card to accrue rewards. Anyone familiar with this situation? Did we just make a bad choice? Did we have better options? Would love your feedback!

 

[goaliedave]

it's the standard Sampler, been around decades

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[Grammarhero]

We’ve been Diamond owners for 13 years. We have a deeded ownership at Kaanapali Resort. Our maintenance fees have gone up from $900/ year to over $1500/ year and we also pay dues of over $350 / year to be in The Club as we exchange our week in Hawaii into points to use at other resorts. We’ve been told thru the years that we need to get into the US Collection so that we won’t need to pay The Club dues and won’t be on the hook to pay more in resort specific dues in Hawaii. However, they’ve always said that we can only move into the US Collection by purchasing more points and upgrading our membership. We’ve never bought into this as it’s too expensive and we don’t need more than the 8500 points we have. Yesterday we were at a presentation and they offered us to come into the US collection for $3995 and that would include 20,000 points to use for 2 years and a ‘Dream Vacation’ which is a one week stay at a certain number of resorts we can choose from. So we finally bought into this and applied for their Barclays card to accrue rewards. Anyone familiar with this situation? Did we just make a bad choice? Did we have better options? Would love your feedback!

I’m a diamond owner. If you can, rescind. Sounds like the Sampler without any benefits. Your $4k was pretty much just to waive $700, which isn’t worth it.

 

[5travelers]

What do you mean waive $700?

 

[Grammarhero]

you got two US Diamond weeks for $4k. I would advise not attending anymore Diamond presentations. You likely overpaid by $1k but it’s not the end of the world. The sampler, in the US collection, essentially waived the $350/year you use to book DRI US resorts, but you’d still have to pay the $1500/yr for the Hawaii Collection resort. Rescind if you can.

More details about the sampler are at
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...sort-sampler-package-can-i-get-refund.269404/

 

[5travelers]

We were told that this contract would get us into the US Collection permanently, thereby adding an addendum to our deeded property. We wanted to give up our deed and be transitioned into the US Collection so that we can stop paying The Club dues and only pay our maintenance fee for the future. Does that sound right?

 

[Grammarhero]

We were told that this contract would get us into the US Collection permanently, thereby adding an addendum to our deeded property. We wanted to give up our deed and be transitioned into the US Collection so that we can stop paying The Club dues and only pay our maintenance fee for the future. Does that sound right?

The promise sounds standard, but may be a standard lie.

Did you get a signed addendum to your deeded property? If so, you did very well.

If not, you got lied to and should follow up with the sales people. But it’s not the end of the world. Diamond 20k pts still costs about $3k in MF.

 

[Grammarhero]

We were told that this contract would get us into the US Collection permanently, thereby adding an addendum to our deeded property. We wanted to give up our deed and be transitioned into the US Collection so that we can stop paying The Club dues and only pay our maintenance fee for the future. Does that sound right?

Looks like another tugger got lifetime club membership from a sampler. https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/diamond-sampler-a-rip-off.243425/#post-1919028

 

[goaliedave]

We’ve been Diamond owners for 13 years. We have a deeded ownership at Kaanapali Resort. Our maintenance fees have gone up from $900/ year to over $1500/ year and we also pay dues of over $350 / year to be in The Club as we exchange our week in Hawaii into points to use at other resorts. We’ve been told thru the years that we need to get into the US Collection so that we won’t need to pay The Club dues and won’t be on the hook to pay more in resort specific dues in Hawaii. However, they’ve always said that we can only move into the US Collection by purchasing more points and upgrading our membership. We’ve never bought into this as it’s too expensive and we don’t need more than the 8500 points we have. Yesterday we were at a presentation and they offered us to come into the US collection for $3995 and that would include 20,000 points to use for 2 years and a ‘Dream Vacation’ which is a one week stay at a certain number of resorts we can choose from. So we finally bought into this and applied for their Barclays card to accrue rewards. Anyone familiar with this situation? Did we just make a bad choice? Did we have better options? Would love your feedback!

Wasn't aware you could change collections with a Sampler- you got a great deal given your objective!

For the 2 years you will have 2 seperate memberships so can't combine the points on one booking.

You'll notice that using the Sampler account will have less resorts and higher prices but just be smart with bookings. I used my 20,000 Sampler points for a 3 week vacation in 3 different resorts in CA and AZ, 1 of the resorts isnt on the Sampler list and was unavailable on my regular account but I pushed and ... had a great Sampler rep who got it approved after a week. Sampler reps have best access to inventory (little known). PM me if you want my sampler rep's contact info.

At $3995 for 20,000 points, its 20c / pp which is not much more than MF so it's a good option for some.

During your first Sampler stay "update" they will offer to make your stay free and refund the $3995 if you buy more points. An option that may suit your purpose.

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[Grammarhero]

@goaliedave dont you love Diamond? You could be our resident Diamond expert. I admit I love away Wyndham.

 

[goaliedave]

Wasn't aware you could change collections with a Sampler- you got a great deal given your objective!

For the 2 years you will have 2 seperate memberships so can't combine the points on one booking.

You'll notice that using the Sampler account will have less resorts and higher prices but just be smart with bookings. I used my 20,000 Sampler points for a 3 week vacation in 3 different resorts in CA and AZ, 1 of the resorts isnt on the Sampler list and was unavailable on my regular account but I pushed and ... had a great Sampler rep who got it approved after a week. Sampler reps have best access to inventory (little known). PM me if you want my sampler rep's contact info.

At $3995 for 20,000 points, its 20c / pp which is not much more than MF so it's a good option for some.

During your first Sampler stay "update" they will offer to make your stay free and refund the $3995 if you buy more points. An option that may suit your purpose.

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meant yo say my 3 weeks sampler stay was in February high season even

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[goaliedave]

@goaliedave dont you love Diamond? You could be our resident Diamond expert. I admit I love away Wyndham.

Haha yes. every time I go the sales rep and manager ask me how I get such great deals lol. they dont know their own product. I just use standard sales techniques and have asked the right people questions. I leave Saturday for 3 months in Orlando I booked back in May total cost 9750 points. adios Canadian winter!

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[goaliedave]

Wasn't aware you could change collections with a Sampler- you got a great deal given your objective!

For the 2 years you will have 2 seperate memberships so can't combine the points on one booking.

You'll notice that using the Sampler account will have less resorts and higher prices but just be smart with bookings. I used my 20,000 Sampler points for a 3 week vacation in 3 different resorts in CA and AZ, 1 of the resorts isnt on the Sampler list and was unavailable on my regular account but I pushed and ... had a great Sampler rep who got it approved after a week. Sampler reps have best access to inventory (little known). PM me if you want my sampler rep's contact info.

At $3995 for 20,000 points, its 20c / pp which is not much more than MF so it's a good option for some.

During your first Sampler stay "update" they will offer to make your stay free and refund the $3995 if you buy more points. And you get to keep the 20,000 points and put them into your regular account to use unrestricted! An option that may suit your purpose.

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[Tamaradarann]

Haha yes. every time I go the sales rep and manager ask me how I get such great deals lol. they dont know their own product. I just use standard sales techniques and have asked the right people questions. I leave Saturday for 3 months in Orlando I booked back in May total cost 9750 points. adios Canadian winter!

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Wow, that comes out to be about $25/night if I calculated it right.

 

[goaliedave]

Wow, that comes out to be about $25/night if I calculated it right.

yup $150 a week

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[Grammarhero]

yup $150 a week

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Amazing. Care to share secrets?

 

[chemteach]

We were told that this contract would get us into the US Collection permanently, thereby adding an addendum to our deeded property. We wanted to give up our deed and be transitioned into the US Collection so that we can stop paying The Club dues and only pay our maintenance fee for the future. Does that sound right?

The US Collections has its own fees. Also, if you aren't in "The Club," you can only use the US Colllections properties. There are many Club properties that are not in the US Collection properties. Did you sign over your deed and get a US Collections "deed?"

 

[R.J.C.]

We were told that this contract would get us into the US Collection permanently, thereby adding an addendum to our deeded property. We wanted to give up our deed and be transitioned into the US Collection so that we can stop paying The Club dues and only pay our maintenance fee for the future. Does that sound right?

No. Owners in the US Collection pay the Club fees as well as long as they have clean (developer purchased) points. The only point owners, in any collection, that don't pay The Club fees are dirty (resale) point owners.

 

[Grammarhero]

No. Owners in the US Collection pay the Club fees as well as long as they have clean (developer purchased) points. The only point owners, in any collection, that don't pay The Club fees are dirty (resale) point owners.

Are you using Diamond rep terms? Lol. Guess I’m a dirty leech for getting a $1 diamond Ts.

 

[R.J.C.]

Are you using Diamond rep terms? Lol. Guess I’m a dirty leech for getting a $1 diamond Ts.

If you mean "clean" and "dirty" points, those terms have been used on the 3 Diamond owner websites for years. I'm sure some Diamond reps know what the terms mean as well. Dirty points doesn't mean you were dirty, it just means they aren't in The Club and can only be used for stays within the collection that they reside in. If that's all one is looking for then dirty points are great!

 

[RLS50]

If you mean "clean" and "dirty" points, those terms have been used on the 3 Diamond owner websites for years. I'm sure some Diamond reps know what the terms mean as well. Dirty points doesn't mean you were dirty, it just means they aren't in The Club and can only be used for stays within the collection that they reside in. If that's all one is looking for then dirty points are great!

Can you help refresh my memory...

If I acquired dirty points on the resale market in the US Collection, could I also use them (if I wanted) for Hawaii or Cabo (Mexico)? With just a shorter reservation window?

Or would dirty points in the US Collection mean I could never book anywhere except the US Collection regardless of booking window?

 

[geist1223]

Dirty (resell Points) can only be used in their Home Collection. So if you have Dirty US Collection they can not be used to Book directly to Hawaii or Cabo.

 

[Tamaradarann]

yup $150 a week

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We thought it was a great value staying in a Studio in the HGVC system at the at the Hilton Hawaiian Village for about $50/night in maintenance cost for the points we use, but that is considerably more than $150/week.

 

[5travelers]

Update:

Within 2 days of this post, we called Diamond customer service and asked a bunch of questions about the Sampler and more importantly we found out there was no account changes to move us to the US collections. Surprise, surprise, we were lied to by our DRI sales rep. I scoured the web and found some contact information for the DRI Executive team. I sent a letter to one of their senior Vice President describing our situation and requested a refund. Long story short, we got a reply and DRI FedEx’d a Mutual Release form to be notarized and sent back to them. Within a few days, we received a refund on our Barclays credit card. Won’t be buying anything from DRI anymore. Lessons learned.

 

[Grammarhero]

Update:

Within 2 days of this post, we called Diamond customer service and asked a bunch of questions about the Sampler and more importantly we found out there was no account changes to move us to the US collections. Surprise, surprise, we were lied to by our DRI sales rep. I scoured the web and found some contact information for the DRI Executive team. I sent a letter to one of their senior Vice President describing our situation and requested a refund. Long story short, we got a reply and DRI FedEx’d a Mutual Release form to be notarized and sent back to them. Within a few days, we received a refund on our Barclays credit card. Won’t be buying anything from DRI anymore. Lessons learned.

Congrats on rescinding. I guess the lifetime club membership is also BS.