Diamond Resorts 30,000 Purchase Recission Question

[applepie]

We recently bought DRI's newest promotion, which is 7,500 points for $16,700 for 10 years. They gave us a Dream Vacation, and the deal doesn't start until 2020. They will bill us about $1,000 for maintenance fees for the next 10 years. We are new to timeshares, and this would give us a chance to try out the product and see if we like it and would want to use it longer term.

We were told that we could convert the points for a low cost at a later time within that 10 year period of time.

So, they gave us a Vacation of a Lifetime sort of package where we went to a resort for 3 days where they took us on an event and fed us food. We had to attend a sales presentation where they were going to show us how to use our benefits, but they ended up telling us that we could buy points for 4.50 a point as our 18-month lock in rate. However, since we were supposed to have had the opportunity to convert the points within 90 days at a lower rate, then they had to give us that option. So, they brought in multiple offers where if you bought more points, the price per point went down. I got really excited when I saw the 30,000 points for $3.02 a point. And, I really thought I could swing it financially. They also gave us a second dream vacation with fancier options like a 15 day Norwegian Cruise to Scandinavian countries.

From what I could figure, I'd be able to pay it off now while I am earning money now and have my vacations pre-paid in the upcoming years. I'd just pay maintenance fees. The salesman said that we would be able to use the points for airfare with that many points. When I got home and read the fine print, airfare is not a good value. The best value is accommodations.

Also, the raise in maintenance fees from $3800 to $5000 since 2014 is concerning.

Unfortunately, they want you to make a decision quickly, so we pulled the trigger. I made some assumptions about what I could afford, and I am not able to comfortably pay for this product. I am thinking about cancelling as we bought on Saturday, and I'll send in a cancellation tomorrow.

Besides, when we were at the resort, there was a couple that said they recently bought 20,000 points for $1.79 per point. They already owned 10,000 points. Perhaps they'd offer us points for cheaper at a later time.

Was I a big dummy? What are your thoughts? Should I UPS this letter? I'm worried that they will say that they did not receive it.
​

 

[RLS50]

IMO you should rescind immediately. Don't even think about it, just do it. Here would be my reasons...

* Not High Enough Quality: Diamond does not have bad properties, some of them are decent and some we enjoy. But in my opinion no way does Diamond offer the quality and flexibility to warrant the kind of investment you are making. It's a system full of 3 star properties with a few 3.5 to 4 star and maybe one or two 5 star properties in it.

* Too Expensive: See above. Why pay one of the highest maintenance fees in the industry for a collection of properties that are not the best in the industry? And to a company that in our experience currently does not offer the best owner services and support in the industry? Diamond would need to significantly step up it's game to be close to being worth what they are currently charging for it. You could buy into the Wyndham system which has properties comparable to Diamond and pay significantly less in annual maintenance fees.

* Not Flexible Enough: For all the money an owner pays them, Diamond (officially) does not allow the rental of points like other systems do. Marriott and DVC points can be purchased and rented by their owners if needed. Not with Diamond.

* Diamond points are worthless on the resale market. You can acquire virtually unlimited quantities on the resale market for $0 with the Seller paying all the closing costs. Think about that...you are paying $90+K for something that you literally can't resell for $1 the next day?

* What you already purchased, not even factoring in the TVM component, averages out to about $2,700 a year for the next 10 years. With only 7,500 points you will likely not have enough points to acquire a peak season 2BR anywhere unless you are going to try and take advantage of last minute deals offered for discounted points. Even a 1BR might be tricky. Not even sure you will be able to get a peak season 1BR with 7,500 points. Maybe. But for $2,700 you can rent a peak season 2BR at many prime locations (summer beach / winter ski) and most certainly you can get a nice 1BR almost anywhere for that price.

* You could take your money and instead invest in a prime deeded week somewhere you think you might want to go every year. If you don't use it you can always rent it for a profit. Or look into buying into a Points system on the resale market. There are many here on TUG that are practically experts on the points systems they are members of.


We also purchased directly from a developer in the past and overpaid for what we got. I sure wished I had found TUG during our rescission period like you did.

And although I wouldn't do it...if I was going to (hypothetically) invest $100K in a points system it would probably be Marriott. Maybe DVC. Because they will at least retain some resale value and I would have the option to rent the points out if needed. And when I used my points I will be assured of staying at almost all 4 and 5 star properties.

 

[applepie]

Thanks for the information. I have drafted up 3 letters today and am going to get them mailed off. Unfortunately, I have meetings much of the day. But, I am going to Fedex next day, UPS it, and try to do certified mail. I don't want to take a chance that I'll be stuck. My recission language has a street address to which I can mail the forms, and it also just says that I need to send a written cancellation letter. Thank goodness it isn't a PO Box. I have taken pictures of my letter, and I am willing to pay the extra to next day these items.

Unfortunately, I don't think the post office has forms just sitting out that you can use to send a certified with return receipt, so I'll likely have to sneak away today to go to the mailbox and to the UPS Store. It is Wednesday and has to get there by Saturday.

I originally signed up for the $2,700 a year thinking it would be a wash and that we would be able to get cheap deals because the sales guy was telling us he could get a hotel room for $19 a night at one of the properties. Now, nobody can tell me what that deal is. They think it is Flex points. I also like the option of buying the traded in weeks, but when I looked at the list, there were a lot of meh properties.

I was originally looking at Marriott deeded weeks, but I heard that you pay the seller and then Marriott also makes you buy points.

Okay, time for me to go get ready so I can get to the Fedex store right when it opens and to the post office to see if they have these certified mail labels just sitting out.

 

[RLS50]

Thanks for the information. I have drafted up 3 letters today and am going to get them mailed off. Unfortunately, I have meetings much of the day. But, I am going to Fedex next day, UPS it, and try to do certified mail. I don't want to take a chance that I'll be stuck. My recission language has a street address to which I can mail the forms, and it also just says that I need to send a written cancellation letter. Thank goodness it isn't a PO Box. I have taken pictures of my letter, and I am willing to pay the extra to next day these items.

Definitely worth it to do whatever is needed to get this out immediately. Get you receipts and tracking number and pay to get return receipt to prove delivery.

I was originally looking at Marriott deeded weeks, but I heard that you pay the seller and then Marriott also makes you buy points.

Absolutely not. You can buy a Marriott deeded week resale from another owner and as long as it passes ROFR (Marriott steps in and buys the property from the Seller) you can buy as many deeded weeks as you want with no points obligation. Now if you buy a deeded week directly from Marriott, it will cost more because it will probably be bundled with points. But those are 2 different types of transactions.

But whether it's Marriott or Hyatt or Westin or HGVC, or whatever, maybe find a prime deeded week somewhere you think you would want to travel each year and buy it. Even some of the Diamond deeded weeks (Hawaii, Virginia Beach, Sedona, etc) might be worth buying and owning depending on the location. A Diamond deeded week could also be used to trade via Diamond's internal Destination Xchange program. There are also smaller, independent type resorts where a deeded week may require an upfront investment but worth paying and owning if you really love the area or specific resort (i.e. Key West area, etc).

There are also points systems you can buy resale that might be worth considering. Like I said, you can even add to your Diamond points if you really wanted to and get resale points for $0. There are some restrictions on usage buying resale vs direct but depending on how one plans to use resale points, those restrictions may not even matter and not really affect you. Hypothetically you could pick up 7,500 or 10,000 Diamond points resale and together with your 7,500 you would now have the ability to book 2BR prime weeks depending on the collection.

So you have lots of options. Save your $100k and take the time to figure out what you really want and then go buy that...probably for a fraction of the cost you were going to pay.

 

[nuwermj]

Rescinding is a good choice if you have the slightest hesitation about your purchase. After rescinding you can do more research and find an option that's best for you. 30,000 points for $3.02 a point is not a good deal. It's not an un-common price, especially when buying such a large quantity. You will be able to get that deal again. That said, I'm skeptical about the accuracy of 20,000 points for $1.79 per point. I've never seen a price that low.

My own view about Diamond Resorts is that they are way too expensive for what you get. Almost any other system offers similar accommodations for less money; or like Marriott, better accommodations for the same money. Diamond has other problems too: poor management leading to poor customer service (it is common to get different answers from differ people when one has a question); very lumpy availability (too much in some places, almost nothing in many places); and a highly dysfunctional resale market compared to its peers (that is, resale points in other systems are more useful). If you can, avoid Diamond and look at other companies.

 

[Iggyearl]

When you get out of this (which you will) consider spending the $15 to join Tug. You can search forums for all timeshare companies, and look at listings for rentals and sales. You can be more educated when you get ready to purchase. You were very wise to read your contract, and discover "anomalies." Most of the buying public does not understand that there is a clause in every contract that says the client did not use any information the salesman gave them to decide to purchase a timeshare. In other words, salesmen can lie and get away with it. Tug will help you distinguish between the lies and the truth.

 

[chemteach]

If you like diamond, the best way to do it is to buy a few diamond deeded weeks resale, (NOT the US or Hawaii Collection - their maintenance fees are too high), and then go to a sales presentation to bring the deeded weeks into The Club. I did that a few years back and became gold by buying a small US Collections package. My deeded Diamond weeks were worth 13,000 each, so with those and the purchase, I was over 30,000 points. The purchase was a bit over $10,000. It was worth it to me because I really like the resorts in Diamond. And the maintenance fees on my deeded weeks are low enough that it made sense for me.

 

[artringwald]

If you like diamond, the best way to do it is to buy a few diamond deeded weeks resale, (NOT the US or Hawaii Collection - their maintenance fees are too high), and then go to a sales presentation to bring the deeded weeks into The Club. I did that a few years back and became gold by buying a small US Collections package. My deeded Diamond weeks were worth 13,000 each, so with those and the purchase, I was over 30,000 points. The purchase was a bit over $10,000. It was worth it to me because I really like the resorts in Diamond. And the maintenance fees on my deeded weeks are low enough that it made sense for me.

I bought 2 deeded weeks and never brought them into the Club. I can exchange them for any other Diamond managed resort through their Destination Xchange program, or I could exchange them through Interval International or RCI. The Club does allow easier booking and you can book any length you want instead of by week. Is that flexibility worth $10K? Maybe to some.

 

[TUGBrian]

congrats on saving nearly 17,000 bucks! and welcome to TUG!

 

[applepie]

I actually spent $17,000 and am saving $70,000 by cancelling. I sent off a Fedex next day with signature, USPS Priority Mail with signature, and a UPS next day with signature to the tune of $100 to make sure that one of them gets there. Do I also contest the credit card charges for down payments? The paperwork says that it could take 45 days to get refunded.

 

[applepie]

I sent the cancellations 3 ways, and I also emailed the coordinator that the cancellation was coming. The sales person called me and offered me an additional 7,500 points at $1.99 a point as their very lowest price offer. And another 7,500 dream vacation. This will take me up to 15,000 points (the original 7,500 for 10 years will convert to permanent as well as 7,500 new points for a total of 15,000 points. That would put us at Silver status with 14 upgrades a year where we could rent a studio and get a 1 bedroom at resorts 14 times. The maintenance fees do go up to $2,900 per year. The cost for these extra points would be $14,900. And, we'd have silver membership VIP status. I don't completely know what that means.

 

[applepie]

Oh, and, from looking at the points book, this would give me 1 week in Sedona and 1 week in Hawaii. So, it would be 2 weeks of vacations a year at a minimum. Does this sound right to you guys?

 

[nuwermj]

I sent the cancellations 3 ways, and I also emailed the coordinator that the cancellation was coming. The sales person called me and offered me an additional 7,500 points at $1.99 a point as their very lowest price offer. And another 7,500 dream vacation. This will take me up to 15,000 points (the original 7,500 for 10 years will convert to permanent as well as 7,500 new points for a total of 15,000 points. That would put us at Silver status with 14 upgrades a year where we could rent a studio and get a 1 bedroom at resorts 14 times. The maintenance fees do go up to $2,900 per year. The cost for these extra points would be $14,900. And, we'd have silver membership VIP status. I don't completely know what that means.

The upgrades are by the day. You would get to upgrade for 14 days.

$2,900 per year for 15,000 points is correct. A 2BR at Marriott's Canyon Villas is $1,400, for example. These are lock-offs and trade in II for two 1BRs. The 15,000 points will get you only two weeks in one bedrooms.

The benefits summery is at this link. From comments by members on the facebook pages, upgrades are about the only valuable one.
https://cmsprod.diamondresorts.com/...869_US_2018-Member-Benefits-At-A-Glance_1.pdf

 

[chemteach]

CANCEL!!!!!! The maintenance fees on the Diamond collections are way too high.

 

[Iggyearl]

The sales person called me and offered me an additional 7,500 points at $1.99 a point as their very lowest price offer. And another 7,500 dream vacation.

Isn't great to know that you got the best deal possible? Oh! Wait... You got the best deal possible after you canceled. How nice of them.

 

[chemteach]

Having owned Marriott, Vistana, Worldmark, and Diamond at one point or another in the last 10 years, I'd go with just Marriott or Worldmark if I were now choosing between the 4. Diamond can be great for some places, but the maintenance fees are too high. Marriott resales are amazing for trading in Interval. Worldmark can get you most places in a nice (not Marriott quality) resort for very low maintenance fees and very low buy-in cost - about $4000 for enough points to get two weeks a year in a 2 bedroom unit in Hawaii, California, Canada, etc., with maintenance fees less than $2000 total a year.

 

[Karen G]

I actually spent $17,000 and am saving $70,000 by cancelling. I sent off a Fedex next day with signature, USPS Priority Mail with signature, and a UPS next day with signature to the tune of $100 to make sure that one of them gets there. Do I also contest the credit card charges for down payments? The paperwork says that it could take 45 days to get refunded.

The date you mailed the letter is the key, not when they receive it. That is the reason we always recommend sending a rescission by certified mail because you'll have a receipt from the post office showing that you mailed it within the rescission period. If you rescinded within the rescission period you're good.

Don't talk to the sales people any more. Take your time to do more research and understand the timeshare programs you're interested in. There's no need to rush into a purchase. The deals will always be there no matter what the salesman is trying to get you to believe. Take your time and be an informed purchaser just like you would do for any major purchase. Also, if you have to finance a timeshare purchase, you can't afford one. It's a luxury item. If you can't pay cash, just rent for the time being.

 

[TUGBrian]

holy smoke, 70k is nothing to sneeze at! we are so glad you found us in time!

 

[applepie]

What I was originally going to do was buy a week at a Sedona week for a deeded timeshare and then buy a week in Hawaii. I was originally looking at Marriott Ocean Club in Maui for the Hawaii week and Diamond for the Sedona week. We really like to go 3 different places -- Sedona, Hawaii, and Mendocino/Fort Bragg area on vacation. I got really excited when they offered me a 25K trip to both Hawaii and Australia or a Norwegian cruise to the Scandinavian countries. All I am really trying to do is get a week in Hawaii and a week in Sedona, and now I have 7,500 points for 10 years with Diamond that will cover the Sedona part of the equation. If I bought the 7500 more points (not sure the Financials work out though), I would have a week in Hawaii, too. The maintenance fees on the Marriott units I was looking at are $2800. I don't NEED the Marriott Ocean View villa though. I could just do a 1 bedroom. I really did like the Marriott resort. That being said, I really enjoyed my stay at Los Abrigados (even though the rooms could be spruced up). The location was great and the resort itself was pretty nice from my perspective. I am not a seasoned timeshare person though. I do like the points option from the perspective that I could use them in other locations from a flexibility standpoint. But, it probably isn't as good a deal as a deeded week that you can sell on the resale market.

 

[chemteach]

What I was originally going to do was buy a week at a Sedona week for a deeded timeshare and then buy a week in Hawaii. I was originally looking at Marriott Ocean Club in Maui for the Hawaii week and Diamond for the Sedona week. We really like to go 3 different places -- Sedona, Hawaii, and Mendocino/Fort Bragg area on vacation. I got really excited when they offered me a 25K trip to both Hawaii and Australia or a Norwegian cruise to the Scandinavian countries. All I am really trying to do is get a week in Hawaii and a week in Sedona, and now I have 7,500 points for 10 years with Diamond that will cover the Sedona part of the equation. If I bought the 7500 more points (not sure the Financials work out though), I would have a week in Hawaii, too. The maintenance fees on the Marriott units I was looking at are $2800. I don't NEED the Marriott Ocean View villa though. I could just do a 1 bedroom. I really did like the Marriott resort. That being said, I really enjoyed my stay at Los Abrigados (even though the rooms could be spruced up). The location was great and the resort itself was pretty nice from my perspective. I am not a seasoned timeshare person though. I do like the points option from the perspective that I could use them in other locations from a flexibility standpoint. But, it probably isn't as good a deal as a deeded week that you can sell on the resale market.

I'm a little confused - did you actually purchase the 7500 points per year for 10 years? I thought you were rescinding. If you did purchase that, you can use those points to stay at whatever collection you purchased. If you want to stay in the Diamond Hawaii units, I would advise you to get a deeded week on ebay that you can trade in Diamond's Destination Exchange program. If you can plan a year in advance, it's pretty easy to get into Kaanapali or Poipu with the Destination Exchange system. You could get an Ocean Beach Lockoff unit, deposit each side separately into the DE program, and just pay $150 per "Tier upgrade" for the unit you desire. The Ocean Beach 2 bedroom lockoffs have maintenance fees around $1200. So that's $600 a side, plus paying the exchange and Tier upgrade fees - it would be less than $2000 total fees yearly for 2 weeks of yearly vacation.

 

[applepie]

I did purchase the 10 year deal for 7500 points. When I went to the timeshare, they offered me an upgrade for 70,000 to take me to 30,000 points. I rescinded on the 70,000 purchase. They've since offered me 7500 more points to put me at silver status with free upgrades for $15K.

 

[chemteach]

I did purchase the 10 year deal for 7500 points. When I went to the timeshare, they offered me an upgrade for 70,000 to take me to 30,000 points. I rescinded on the 70,000 purchase. They've since offered me 7500 more points to put me at silver status with free upgrades for $15K.

Got it! If you like Diamond resorts, purchasing a lockout unit and using it to exchange in Destination Exchange is a great option. I've been able to get Xmas in Cabo and Hawaii. It's one of the cheapest ways to stay at Diamond Resorts. Availability is great at the 12 month point.

 

[skimeup]

If you like Sedona (which I love) and Hawaii, consider buying Hyatt. The Hyatt Pinon Point is beautiful and centrally located and the maintenance fees are quite reasonable. Among the lowest of the Hyatt family. You will find them offered on tug, ebay, and redweek among other places. Hyatt also has a Hawaii resort that gets rave reviews - not sure which island, as I'm not a beachy fan. Hyatt has nowhere near the number of resorts that Marriott or Worldmark has but it has extraordinary trading power in Interval International.

Mainly, what we are saying here is do a lot of homework, read about all these resort systems (including Starwood, which I know nothing about but has some nice properties.) And then buy on the secondary market. Diamond has overpriced maintenance fees and requires a lot of work to make it work. Just as a note about Diamond. I owned two weeks at Los Abrigados and could not find a reseller to handle them or even price them, they were so off Diamond. I basically gave them away to get out of Diamond.

 

[macmanrider]

We recently bought DRI's newest promotion, which is 7,500 points for $16,700 for 10 years. They gave us a Dream Vacation, and the deal doesn't start until 2020. They will bill us about $1,000 for maintenance fees for the next 10 years. We are new to timeshares, and this would give us a chance to try out the product and see if we like it and would want to use it longer term.

We were told that we could convert the points for a low cost at a later time within that 10 year period of time.

So, they gave us a Vacation of a Lifetime sort of package where we went to a resort for 3 days where they took us on an event and fed us food. We had to attend a sales presentation where they were going to show us how to use our benefits, but they ended up telling us that we could buy points for 4.50 a point as our 18-month lock in rate. However, since we were supposed to have had the opportunity to convert the points within 90 days at a lower rate, then they had to give us that option. So, they brought in multiple offers where if you bought more points, the price per point went down. I got really excited when I saw the 30,000 points for $3.02 a point. And, I really thought I could swing it financially. They also gave us a second dream vacation with fancier options like a 15 day Norwegian Cruise to Scandinavian countries.

From what I could figure, I'd be able to pay it off now while I am earning money now and have my vacations pre-paid in the upcoming years. I'd just pay maintenance fees. The salesman said that we would be able to use the points for airfare with that many points. When I got home and read the fine print, airfare is not a good value. The best value is accommodations.

Also, the raise in maintenance fees from $3800 to $5000 since 2014 is concerning.

Unfortunately, they want you to make a decision quickly, so we pulled the trigger. I made some assumptions about what I could afford, and I am not able to comfortably pay for this product. I am thinking about cancelling as we bought on Saturday, and I'll send in a cancellation tomorrow.

Besides, when we were at the resort, there was a couple that said they recently bought 20,000 points for $1.79 per point. They already owned 10,000 points. Perhaps they'd offer us points for cheaper at a later time.

Was I a big dummy? What are your thoughts? Should I UPS this letter? I'm worried that they will say that they did not receive it.
​

I don't know where you like to vacation at which is a good place to start rent at different resorts. I like fixed weeks. My 2 weeks are at Costa sur in PV Mexico. Which is up at 2030 as you can only own for 30 years. With a renewal for another 30 years. My other is at lake Tahoe ever other year as it close to home and we can use for day use. We like fixed because everyone shows up the same time ever year. So it's more fun we go to dinner. Downtown. Shopping together. Have fun shop around.

 

[Ruthn]

Hi I'm a new Tug member. My husband and I bought a Diamond Resort timeshare. Cost $13,900 for 10 years, 7500 points and about $1,000 for MFs. We have been reviewing our docs and we have changed our minds and we're cancelling. Per their contract, we have 7 days to cancel and today is our 4th day since the purchase and today is Friday. So we followed your cancel sample letter and went to UPS and sent it Certified just like as stated. It will leave the UPS store tomorrow morning. We also emailed the letter to the sales person and sales manager. I don't know if this was necessary. Another dumb thing we did was to open a Barclay credit card and we put our entire purchase price on it instead of financing it through Diamond Resorts. Its a 6 month no interest and we thought we could pay at the end of 6 months. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

I'm seeking advice. Do you think there's something else I need to do to make sure I cancel this thing correctly and get all our money back? I want to do all I can in this 7 days rescission period. Thanks in advance.