DRI Negativism

[dlferree]

I'd like to thank everyone for your responses. Since I only own DRI, I am not able to make direct comparisons to other timeshare companies. Your responses have improved my understanding of the many complaints I hear about DRI and at the same time confirmed that there are other DRI owners who enjoy their timeshares similar to our enjoyment. The response I will always remember if and when I hear/read someone complaining about DRI is that there is a difference between DRI resorts and DRI management.

Your wiliness to share your personal experiences and opinions regarding my question is much appreciated.

 

[mjm1]

We just returned from a week at Sedona Summit where we attended a sales presentation. We were pleasantly surprised by the sales rep and Manager with whom we spoke. I even mentioned it to the sales rep, who is a young man who has only been with them for several months.

With regard to the resort, we enjoyed it. The unit needs to be updated, but the staff were helpful. The area in Sedona speaks for itself. They are remodeling the units in the Sunset section of the resort and the new units look great.

We would happily return.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[youppi]

We just returned from a week at Sedona Summit where we attended a sales presentation. We were pleasantly surprised by the sales rep and Manager with whom we spoke. I even mentioned it to the sales rep, who is a young man who has only been with them for several months.

With regard to the resort, we enjoyed it. The unit needs to be updated, but the staff were helpful. The area in Sedona speaks for itself. They are remodeling the units in the Sunset section of the resort and the new units look great.

We would happily return.

Best regards.

Mike

As per the annual meeting, Sunset and Mesa sections have been updated with new furniture. Summit section refurbishment is planned for 2018 (no pictures). Pool deck resurfacing and RFID door lock conversion phase II is also planned for 2018 at Sedona Summit.

 

[caryjoe]

I think that it's not the same pot. The trust points own 58.65% of units/weeks at Point at Poipu. So, 13 or 12 months should not be a problem.
I don't think that DRI has changed that rule. Sunterra created most rules. I don't remember for the 12/13 months rule when we were Sunterra.
A little bit of history at Pointe at Poipu:
-In 1994, Osamu Kaneko, Steven C. Kenninger and Andrew J. Gessow acquired a portion of Point at Poipu in Kauai, Hawaii.
-In 1996, Kaneko, Kenninger, and Gessow incorporated the company, KGK Resorts Inc
-In August of 1996, they changed the company name to Signature Resorts and completed its IPO.
-In 1998, Signature Resorts has been renamed to Sunterra Corporation.
-In 1998, Club Sunterra, the point based system based on LSI's Grand Vacation Club points system, has been launched by Sunterra with the complete rollout to all facilities in 1999. Club Sunterra currency points were called SunOptions.
-In 2005, Sunterra bought the remaining 69% they didn't own at Point at Poipu in Kauai, Hawaii.
-In 2007, DRI bought Sunterra for 700 Millions USD.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WXE5rnFgWaPKJdByFs6kAUjkXWLhpwmq4pB8OuepK30/pubhtml#

Diamond Resorts International is in fact the owners of The Point at Poipu who did change the rules. Nobody before they showed up, changed that rule. They have admitted to it and state that they have the right to do so, no matter what it was before (everybody operated on an equal basis for reservations). I have been a traditional owner at The Point at Poipu for almost 20 years. I make my reservations as early as allowed. I know the rules as I have stated them. It is unequal timing (13 months versus 12 months) for reservations. Unfair. The pot should be the same inventory across the reservation scenario. If it is not, then they changed that also.
Are you an owner at The Point at Poipu?

 

[youppi]

Diamond Resorts International is in fact the owners of The Point at Poipu who did change the rules. Nobody before they showed up, changed that rule. They have admitted to it and state that they have the right to do so, no matter what it was before (everybody operated on an equal basis for reservations). I have been a traditional owner at The Point at Poipu for almost 20 years. I make my reservations as early as allowed. I know the rules as I have stated them. It is unequal timing (13 months versus 12 months) for reservations. Unfair. The pot should be the same inventory across the reservation scenario. If it is not, then they changed that also.
Are you an owner at The Point at Poipu?

Not a direct owner at P@P. I'm a member of Hawaii Collection since Sunterra.

The pot can't be the same. DRI must guaranteed that every deeded week owner has a week at P@P. If they open 100% of the inventory to points members then some deeded weeks owners could be not able to get a week.

I don't know how they split the inventory (weeks and views). I don't know if there is many deeded weeks owners with fix week and fix view or if all deeded weeks owners are floating week and floating view. But one thing I know is a couple years ago there was nothing available for February at KBC at 13 nor 12 months for Hawaii Collection members but deeded weeks owners were seeing full of inventory for February. We, Hawaii Collection members, complain and the year after there was a lot of inventory at KBC for February for us. So, DRI can move the inventory from one pot to the other pot every year for all floating weeks as they want but they can't do it for fix week.

Another thing that affect the inventory of deeded weeks owners at P@P is the percentage at P@P that is owned by the Hawaii Collection :
2007 -> 4.5%
2008 -> 10.5%
2009 -> 21.2%
2010 -> 28.3%
2011 -> 35.4%
2012 -> 35.8%
2013 -> 47.8%
2014 -> 53.5%
2015 -> 55.2%
2016 -> 58.7%
2017 -> 58.7%

As you can see, 10 years ago, deeded weeks owners had 95.5% of the inventory but now they have only 41.3% and we don't know the distribution of that 41.3% (how many are ocean front, ocean view, peak season Jan to mid-March, summer, ...). Also, from the 41.3%, what is the % owned by DRI due to the deeded back program ?

 

[youppi]

I read on Facebook today that deeded weeks owners with deeded not assigned in THE Club like you but own some points in the Hawaii Collection can book their deeded week at 13 months like points members. 1 month ahead of you. This is unfair because it is in the same pot as you. This is similar to Marriott's with multi weeks owners vs single week owners where multi weeks owners can book 1 month ahead (13 months vs 12 months).

 

[artringwald]

We have 3 deeded weeks at P@P, with one in the Club. The 2 not in the Club are both float/float. We have always been able to book oceanfront in Jan-Feb. We used to book no more than 360 days out, but when they moved booking from Poipu to Las Vegas, now it's one year out. Since they moved the booking to Vegas, it seems harder to get the unit numbers we request. I wish DRI would give us better information about how they handle room requests. I miss the days of staying up until 12:01 AM Hawaii time to email the room requests 360 days before our arrival.

 

[pedro47]

I have two (2) Questions. Is the month of April a hard time to book an ocean front villa and question #2 to avoid attending a DRI sales presentation can you say this is a all guys or ladies vacation to avoid their sales presentation?

 

[youppi]

We have 3 deeded weeks at P@P, with one in the Club. The 2 not in the Club are both float/float. We have always been able to book oceanfront in Jan-Feb. We used to book no more than 360 days out, but when they moved booking from Poipu to Las Vegas, now it's one year out. Since they moved the booking to Vegas, it seems harder to get the unit numbers we request. I wish DRI would give us better information about how they handle room requests. I miss the days of staying up until 12:01 AM Hawaii time to email the room requests 360 days before our arrival.

Can you book your 3 weeks simultaneously at 12 months of the first week like we do with our points or you must wait 12 months for each weeks ?

 

[artringwald]

I have two (2) Questions. Is the month of April a hard time to book an ocean front villa and question #2 to avoid attending a DRI sales presentation can you say this is a all guys or ladies vacation to avoid their sales presentation?

If you lie to avoid a presentation, aren't you dropping yourself to the same level as the sales people? At P@P, when you check in at the front desk, they won't ask about a presentation. You won't get asked unless you want the free box of waxy mac nut candies and the shell leis, in which case you have to go to the concierge desk. DW usually waits in the car, and I've never had much trouble telling them no, with a smile. The concierge people are nice, and it's their job to ask about attending, but they won't push you very hard.

 

[artringwald]

Can you book your 3 weeks simultaneously at 12 months of the first week like we do with our points or you must wait 12 months for each weeks ?

If you have multiple weeks, and want to book them sequentially, you can book them all 12 months from the check in date. Oddly enough, they send multiple confirmation letters, each with a different confirm # for each one. I make sure I request to be assigned the same unit for all the reservations.

 

[youppi]

I have two (2) Questions. Is the month of April a hard time to book an ocean front villa and question #2 to avoid attending a DRI sales presentation can you say this is a all guys or ladies vacation to avoid their sales presentation?

You didn't specify if it's weeks or points and if it's points, which collection (Hawaii at 13 months or others collections at 10 months). So,
For HI Collection at 13 months: very easy.
I never looked at 10 months. So, I don't know.
I don't own weeks at P@P. So, I don't know.

 

[Dollie]

If you have multiple weeks, and want to book them sequentially, you can book them all 12 months from the check in date. Oddly enough, they send multiple confirmation letters, each with a different confirm # for each one. I make sure I request to be assigned the same unit for all the reservations.

This was not my experience when I booked our 21-day request for this January. We are deeded owners using points in The Club to book these weeks. Since we own 2 weeks, this request was a combination of our weekly points and points rolled over from the previous year. Only one confirmation letter came for the entire stay.

How are you requesting your suites with the change in suite assignments being handled by Diamond in Las Vegas? I sent my list to PoipuVIP@DiamondResorts.com as I have done before.

 

[artringwald]

This was not my experience when I booked our 21-day request for this January. We are deeded owners using points in The Club to book these weeks. Since we own 2 weeks, this request was a combination of our weekly points and points rolled over from the previous year. Only one confirmation letter came for the entire stay.

That's my experience also when I book with points belonging to the deeded week that's in the Club. Two of the weeks are not in the Club, and they gave me separate confirmations, even though they were booked sequentially.

How are you requesting your suites with the change in suite assignments being handled by Diamond in Las Vegas? I sent my list to PoipuVIP@DiamondResorts.com as I have done before.

Wow! That's good to know. Did they confirm receiving your room request? Did you make the request as soon as your booking was confirmed? After you check in, please let us know if the room request was honored.

 

[Dollie]

Wow! That's good to know. Did they confirm receiving your room request? Did you make the request as soon as your booking was confirmed? After you check in, please let us know if the room request was honored.

I always make my suite request as soon as I have the confirmation number, usually within minutes of making the reservation. I used to get a response in the past but did not this last time. I will call Poipu (not Diamond) a few weeks before the reservation to see if they have my list. I expect to get a better response from Poipu even if they have to refer me to Diamond.

 

[caryjoe]

I'd like to thank everyone for your responses. Since I only own DRI, I am not able to make direct comparisons to other timeshare companies. Your responses have improved my understanding of the many complaints I hear about DRI and at the same time confirmed that there are other DRI owners who enjoy their timeshares similar to our enjoyment. The response I will always remember if and when I hear/read someone complaining about DRI is that there is a difference between DRI resorts and DRI management.

Your wiliness to share your personal experiences and opinions regarding my question is much appreciated.[/QUOTE

Not a direct owner at P@P. I'm a member of Hawaii Collection since Sunterra.

The pot can't be the same. DRI must guaranteed that every deeded week owner has a week at P@P. If they open 100% of the inventory to points members then some deeded weeks owners could be not able to get a week.

I don't know how they split the inventory (weeks and views). I don't know if there is many deeded weeks owners with fix week and fix view or if all deeded weeks owners are floating week and floating view. But one thing I know is a couple years ago there was nothing available for February at KBC at 13 nor 12 months for Hawaii Collection members but deeded weeks owners were seeing full of inventory for February. We, Hawaii Collection members, complain and the year after there was a lot of inventory at KBC for February for us. So, DRI can move the inventory from one pot to the other pot every year for all floating weeks as they want but they can't do it for fix week.

Another thing that affect the inventory of deeded weeks owners at P@P is the percentage at P@P that is owned by the Hawaii Collection :
2007 -> 4.5%
2008 -> 10.5%
2009 -> 21.2%
2010 -> 28.3%
2011 -> 35.4%
2012 -> 35.8%
2013 -> 47.8%
2014 -> 53.5%
2015 -> 55.2%
2016 -> 58.7%
2017 -> 58.7%

As you can see, 10 years ago, deeded weeks owners had 95.5% of the inventory but now they have only 41.3% and we don't know the distribution of that 41.3% (how many are ocean front, ocean view, peak season Jan to mid-March, summer, ...). Also, from the 41.3%, what is the % owned by DRI due to the deeded back program ?

Noticing other posts, that some may feel that timeshare ownership and management are separate, think again, especially at The Point at Poipu. DRI has both management and ownership (percentage, based on your data). When they did not have the percentage of ownership they still had management, which I objected to.

As to the percentage of ownership, they changed the rules for reservations as managers before they had ownership majority. Even with obvious majority ownership, there should not be a difference of a month to make reservations. There is a variety of different deeded ownerships at The Point at Poipu, so I cannot believe that there is a different pot of inventory for traditional owners versus DRI owners. Even at making reservations at 12 months out, with my 2 floating weeks, I should always get ocean front reservations, but in 10 years based on the data that I see, I will probably be allocated to garden view (which by the way is still very good). All I ask is that everyone be able to make reservations at the same point in time. By the way fixed weeks are preset until January of the year of usage, at which point they need to confirm that usage.

 

[Poobah]

We are deeded owners with four weeks and we request our weeks, like Art does, all at once for four sequential weeks. Making the reservation now through Diamond, I do request a suite number and have been successful getting the unit we want. We own Ocean Front, but our favorite unit is an Ocean View, so we are essentially "downgrading' ourselves but we like the location of the unit. Like Art, I call The Point and confirm that the request is in my reservation record. It is my understanding that the actual assignment of suites is still handled by The Point, but I have heard some things that make be believe it may just for the deeded owners. I know the inventory control is managed by Diamond.

I have heard complaints around the hot tub that a certain class of owner could get a specific week, when other classes were able to. It all goes back to the inventories and inventories are something that the sales people neglect to talk about.

 

[Dollie]

This was not my experience when I booked our 21-day request for this January. We are deeded owners using points in The Club to book these weeks. Since we own 2 weeks, this request was a combination of our weekly points and points rolled over from the previous year. Only one confirmation letter came for the entire stay.

How are you requesting your suites with the change in suite assignments being handled by Diamond in Las Vegas? I sent my list to PoipuVIP@DiamondResorts.com as I have done before.

Update on unit request at The Point:

I have a list of all the ocean view units, ranked from 1st to 51st, based on our preference. I’ve been using the list for many years and when I have occasionally spoken to the people at the Point, I was told they liked my list and it was very helpful when it came time to assign our unit. We usually got one of the first 10 units on the list.

· When I made this reservation 12 months in advance, I sent the list to PoipuVIP@diamondresorts.com as usual, however, I got no response this time.

· About 4 weeks before our arrival, we received a form “Your Upcoming Diamond Resorts International(R) Reservation” email from PoipuFrontDesk@diamondresorts.com. In response, I sent the list again and received no acknowledgement.

· About 2 weeks before our arrival, I called the Point (not Diamond) asking if they received the list. I was told I needed to send the list to Owner Services OwnerServices@diamondresorts.com. This time I received a response.

When we arrived on Saturday night and after being ushered into the new VIP check in area, we were told we had 4-206 the 32nd / 51 unit on my list. Of course, we complained. We weren’t the only ones in there complaining. The most they could do is move us up one or two spots the following day. After more complaining we were told there would be a manager on duty Sunday that we could talk too. I didn’t unpack. I went down Sunday morning at 8:30 to talk to the manager. The manager wouldn’t be in until 9:00, they left a message. The Front Desk Manager didn’t call until after 10:00 but it was obvious she had done her homework. She said if we could wait until Monday, they could move us to 2-303, 21st /51. Still not quite what we wanted but better than we had. We took it.

What I’ve learned:

· No one is responding to PoipuVIP emails. This is “dead” even though the email address is still active.

· Owner services only added the first 4 picks to the message they sent to whoever does the unit assignments. Not enough room in the message for more. None of these were available.

· The Front Desk Manager has added the full list to our owner information. Hopefully this means it will be used. When we next make a reservation, I will be persistent in checking that the list will be used for unit assignment.

PS - At this time, there is no house construction going on next door. There is a new path along the coast, running next to the wall, making it easier to walk to the point. You have to walk around the walled in area, no more cutting across the field back to the resort.

 

[pedro47]

To Dollie
Can you share with us all the ocean view units ranked from 1st to 51st based on your preference???.
Thanks for your update on the house construction next door to the resort.

 

[itjoemac]

We inherited, and to be honest have had nothing but good experiences with their phone reps, but their sales people are horrible. We inherited a deeded week with a pretty low maintenance fee (~$850), and were able to set up an exchange through their internal exchange to Ireland this year (our resort is closed from hurricane damage). After we had the deed from the estate lawyer, we dealt with almost everything over the phone, and they were all very helpful. They also gave us a free extra year of Destination Exchange because our resort is closed. Our week is a tier 2 and our Ireland cottage is a tier 2, so far so good.

We went to an "owner's update" and it was atrocious. I would honestly rather work with used car salesmen. They had somehow never even heard of their own internal exchange program, and we spent 2 hours at an awkward dinner with a young dude (and I'm only 31) trying to sell us an upgrade to a points system. For $75,000. Paid off at 19.99% a year interest. I said we owned our week free and clear from the inheritance and that in no universe were their numbers working out, and they just kept pushing like they weren't even hearing me. It really soured me on them. I said if they wanted our week in their trust so much that they could pay us for 2/3 of what they deemed our week to be worth in points and the sales manager literally looked at me like I murdered his mom and stormed away. My wife is a lawyer and wasn't having it either, though was much more diplomatic about it.

I know to be very skeptical when a sales conversation consists entirely of you constantly being "talked at" by someone, and the entire ordeal was beyond unprofessional.

 

[chemteach]

With the new Destination Exchange program, diamond is actually great for me. No reason to convert my week to points because I can get into their resorts with their internal exchange system. Their sales people are horrible! They don't have a clue about destination exchange.

 

[PamMo]

I was more than happy to pay the $250 to be rid of my Diamond-converted-timeshare at Los Abrigados. We love Sedona, but hated dealing with Diamond. We own Hilton, Marriott, Vistana, and some independents. Diamond always seemed the slimiest. From the wall posters of the Diamond CEO touting "The Power Of YES!" while we're told @ 5PM that, "No, your room isn't ready, but we'll call you when it is" (which took another hour+), to the hard sell for a sales presentation ("No, thank you" was incomprehensible to them), to always getting a less than desirable room assignment - Diamond vacations were a bit challenging for us.

On the other hand, my brother-in-law hated his Diamond membership (owned pre-Diamond at Ka'anapali and Poipu resorts) and went to an owner update to complain, and ended up spending tens of thousands of dollars to upgrade to the highest level of Diamond membership - and now he's happy! Go figure.

It's great to find a timeshare or timeshare system that works for you. Diamond just wasn't a good match for us.

 

[R.J.C.]

My bet (from your post) is that the negativity comes from:

• the high maintenance fees,
• the high pressure sales tactics,
  
• unprofessional presentations

As noted above, if you are still happy, then that's great.

2 of those 3 things can be ignored if one chooses to.

 

[R.J.C.]

Two lessons I have learned with DRI. You can roll your Points over 1 year. I do this is January. You can still use those Points in the current year but it is better to be safe than sorry. You have until June 30 to roll over all your Points. After that you are only allowed to roll over part of your Points.

The only problem with doing this is that when you roll your points forward and then bring them back to make a reservation, if you cancel that reservation you cannot reroll them forward again. They become use/lose points.

One can roll 50% of their points to the next year by 31 August and 25% by 31 October. After 31 October points become use/lose for that year.

 

[Arusso]

The only problem with doing this is that when you roll your points forward and then bring them back to make a reservation, if you cancel that reservation you cannot reroll them forward again. They become use/lose points.

One can roll 50% of their points to the next year by 31 August and 25% by 31 October. After 31 October points become use/lose for that year.

thank you for pointing this our to the TUGGERS interested in this forum. A case in point - When I cancelled my Flamingo Beach Villas reservation after hurricane Irma, I lost points precisely due to the "rule" explained in your first sentence. In this instance, points insurance is useless concluding that points, unlike currency, can become worthless. Which raises an interesting question. MFs are paid with cash and a points allocation is deposited into one's account. To be able to do this, Club members pay significant yearly dues. Clearly, there should never be an expiration. But then again, it certainly seems that these "value added" programs benefit DR (the recent corporate restructuring discarded the "International" moniker) more than the owners.