Diamond Resorts reduces owner benefits again!

Dear Guido, have you had a chance to speak with an attorney regarding all of this? It seems that if you (and hopefully me) bought into "the club" then you should be able to sell "the club" otherwise it would be written in the contract that upon resell, the membership exempts the privileges of "the club", right? If it doesn't exempt it, then it is included. And it wouldn't be legal to make new policy regarding what you own after the fact (contract). Does your contract speak to any of this, implied or otherwise? Also, would you prefer we speak on your website?

To CindyK175: Hello. Did you get any results from these complaints? I just followed your advice today and filed complaints with the 3 entities you mentioned but I would like to know if anything came of it for you. Thank you

Yes I have spoken and hired the attorney a few months back, we are gathering facts and information of Diamonds Resorts practices. If any body is unhappy with what Diamonds Resorts has presented to them please go to the site below and see if these are your concerns also. If not let us know what your concerns are.

http://www.diamondresortsowners.com and send me an email.

Thanks,

GuidoB

Hi Susan, thank you for your update email.

GuidoB.

http://www.diamondresortsowners.com/

cindyk175 wrote:

Nena,

I agree with you Nena! They have been successfully taken to court for a couple of lawsuits for misrepresenting finances to their stockholders. How much more serious is it that they misrepresented to us as buyers! They're hoping you'll just walk away from your money which they said would be well invested, if your presentation was any like the one I attended! And, apparently around the time of at least one of these lawsuits they sold more "timeshares" than ever to unsuspecting people?

File a complaint with these 3 bodies. It's worth it! Don't let them just get away with this... Tell your story simply. Tell them about any misrepresentation that they have done; I don't know which state you purchased in, so I gave the information for at least Arizona. Then, you can check for your own state. Were they supposed to give you a Public Offering Report - and before you signed - which warned you not to sign until you read it?

Report them/complain to 1. Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ 2. Arizona Dept of Real Estate http://www.re.state.az.us/ 3. Arizona Attorney General http://www.azag.gov/consumer/

You will see the links on these pages for "complaints" and information on how to file successfully. Don't let them continue this illegal way of contradicting.

Cindyk, did you get any responses from these 3 complaints? Susan

I agree with you Nena! They have been successfully taken to court for a couple of lawsuits for misrepresenting finances to their stockholders.

Where can I find out more about these lawsuits regarding their stockholders? Thanks........

My wife and I are owners at the Palms Resort in Orlando and we received in the mail about 2 - 3 weeks ago a letter stating that we were now part of DRI and quite frankly after having gone through this email string I'm not feeling too well. We've been very pleased with our timeshare since we purchased it in 2001 but I think that feeling may change. I'll keep everyone informed if things begin to change.

Mike and Susan Hamme VA

To Michael: I think that as long as you are not member of the club, you can just continue to use your own timeshare as you have been doing in the past. But you would have to go through Interval to do any exchanging even within the DRI system. I joined the club when my timeshare was still with Sunterra. Although I am deeded at Grand Beach in Florida, since I live in Florida, I never stay there . Rather I have always used it for exchanges...either internally or through Interval. Recently, I thought about quitting the club and going back to weeks instead of points, so I could join RCI and take advantage of their more extensive network. However, I learned that under DRI, if I went back to weeks, I would be limited to my own resort. That is, unlike with Sunterra, I could not exchange even within DRI. I would always have to use Interval, which woud mean paying their exchange fees. So this is another way in which DRI has reduced benefits enjoyed by those of us who bought when it was Sunterra!

to whoever bought into dri and the club: our timeshare was originally with epic, then sunterra and finally with dri. we therefore do not hold any paperwork/contract with dri. so we cannot argue with them based on an agreement with them. does anyone out there have an original contract with dri?

if so, does it state in the wording that when you sell your timeshare that it does not include the club even though you paid for membership in the club?

There is a class action suit. for Flamingo and Royal Palm. I don't know the name of the person. He is at Royal Palm.

I don't know how to leverage this idea, but maybe somebody else does. What needs to happen at ALL of these resorts is contact all of the owners to throw Diamond out. The problem remains that we are unable to get the contact information. The time share resellers know who we are. Is there some way to enlist their help in contacting other owners, either through friendship or through coercion? They seem to have the info which we need!

I originally owned with Sunterra then it became part of DRI. That is when everything went downhill. I had trouble getting into resorts and became so frustrated. While in St. Maarten they finally convinced me that all would be fine if changed my Sedona Summit week into points and bought into the club. What a mistake. I felt used and abused!! So I would not continue to get stuck and then have to pass this nightmare onto my kids I finally PAID to get rid of the timeshare..... What a rip off! I felt like DRI was just a scam....and I know that not all timeshares are the same. We own with the Marriott which is a reputable company. I think it would be great to get a class action lawsuit against DRI.

Diamond filed a prospectus with the SEC just this past Thursday July 8th & they have lied about everything to everyone. They told the courts in Sint Maarten they would go bankrupt without their large increase but in the Prospectus it clearly shows they are profitable in the Hospitality & Management part of their business.

I don't know how to go about disputing this filing but if anyone knows what can be done I will get you the prospectus.

so how do we take it back?

Guido, I sent you an email with this information and my contact info. We are owners at Greensprings in Williamsburg, VA since 2007. We purchased our side-by-side units from another owner in a private sale. At that time the maintenance fees were $767.00 They are now $1,256. 64%—that is ridiculous! Every year when we are on vacation at our resort, they try to convince us that they have a great plan for us. They will take out deeded units off of our hands, convert them to points (hardly any)—and of course we have to buy more points for $12-20,000 and join the club. Why would we just give them back our deed, our asset? I am a retired County Fiscal Administrator and my husband is a retired High School Principal. We just sit there wondering how they could actually say what they say with a straight face. It is almost as if they would come to a homeowner and say, “Just sign over your deed to us, and you won’t have any of the worries of being a homeowner. We are here to help you get out from underneath this great burden, and by the way, for a mere $20,000 more you can also take a couple of vacations a year.” To make matters worse, when we say no, they always bring in a supervisor to try to belittle us and try to reaffirm how dumb we are for not buying into their scheme. We own other timeshares (love them!) and have been to many presentations, but these presentations at Greensprings are absolutely the most pressured, demeaning ones we have ever attended. I feel they have raised the maintenance fees at Greensprings to be in line with the club memberships so that we feel the pressure to collapse or just say, “You can have my timeshare, I can’t afford it anymore.” I would think they would be hard pressed to prove the need for a 64% increase in maintenance fees. I have been angry and would be willing to participate in a class action suit. I am not sure if many Greenspring's owners have contacted you, but I hope so. I feel it is nothing more than a Ponzi Scheme. I am also going to file a complaint with The Federal Trade Commission, the VA Atty Gen and Dept of Real Estate. Theresa

We are former Sunterra owners ,now DRI, and really are disgusted with the increasing maintainence fees. We have been invited to a "member update" in 2 weeks and are really concerned that the 90 minutes will turn into 3 hrs. What could they possibly tell me that I don't already know: The Club is a joke The availability is spotty at best, except at the "least desirable" places in the off season The rules constantly change, are they now charging $250 if you "transfer" a reservation to a family member to use? Worst of all, my $13,000 dollar investment is worth $100 Give me some insight...should we attend this update, they are offering a $250 Visa Card as a carrot? Thanks for any help you can give me..........mso in Tucson

randallb46 wrote:

Does anyone know if legal action is pending on Kaanapali Beach Club? My maintenance fees are going up every year, I am told it is because I am one of a fee owners who still holds a deed and hasn't converted to points, so they are trying to force the issue by putting a disproportionate percentage of the fees onto the few remaining owners. Any ideas on how to fight this would be much appreciated.

We are fee owners and we have points. I don't understand what difference having a deed has to any increase in annual fees. That being said, I would be thrilled if the fees stayed the same but expenses don't seem to remain the same from yar to year. I'm not aware of any legal action pending.

I am so disappointed. I started this thread two years ago and people are posting the same thing without learning from any of the posts over the two years.

In reference to the recent posts about losing Club, it is not acceptable for DRI owners to claim theiy don't know what CC&R's they are bound to simply because they did not buy from DRI. Call DRI and ask for the Club Rules And Regulations Governing Document, or Rules and Regulations. Then read it, Please!

I am no longer an owner with DRI, so the best I can do is quote from the 2009 rules. - First, I bring to your attention that anyone in Club participates in the Club membership. "Membership" is usually something you do not have rights to, but privilege to. This suggests you or whomever you sell your ownership to might not have continued access to the Club membership. - Second, the 2009 rules on page 8, section 3 "Participation in the Club" begins with this sentence "A purchaser becomes eligible to join ..." which as far as I interpret it means you don't have the right to join, you have the privilege to join ... regardless of whether you realized it or not. - On page 9 of the same section there is text stating no purchaser shall become a member of the Club automatically, even though once you become a member your membership will be automatically renewed unless conditions dictate your membership be terminated. My apologies for not quoting, the PDF from DRI is setup to prevent copy/past actions. - There is more information in the articles, and I am confident the 2011 version has revisions to it. - Specifically in the articles, article 3.5 on the 2009 version page 15 basically states that aside from a few exceptions, Club membership will not pass to a resale purchaser. PLEASE read this to understand the details! My summary is not what you should rely on.

It's important to request and read the documents you signed when buying, and request and read documents from the company which aquired the company you purchased at. Even resale buyers have access to this, and in the last few years DRI provides this (the last I could look) online to download. Please call DRI for help downloading these docs. There are a good number of important ones to read.

I've also read a lot of posts about anger regarding fees going up, resorts going to pot, class action lawsuits, and how owners need to get control of their resorts. Stop talking about it and do it! And I've got to say, for all the people complaining about the quality of their resorts, I've seen a lot of improvements and upgrades since DRI increased the maintenance fees. Powhatan, for example, is significantly improved - as are others I've seen before and since DRI took over. If you don't like the manner in which changes have taken place it's a tough task to get owners to cooperate ... and that includes you.

Sorry for being harsh, just sad that after two years I don't see anything new.

PeterP, I thought this thread was started by mnop. But who cares who started it. This thread is about airing ones frustration with DRI. Why are you going on and on about all these Sections and Articles. If you have nothing to do with DRI since 2009 why does this thread even have an interest to you? But seriously, why do you take the time to document all these Sections and Articles ?

Come on, Really!

Really!

I will expand on an early post. If a company decides to put things in their contract, that restrict trade, that is not OK and it will be up to the courts to decide, not what their contract says. So forget the Sections and Articles.

If DRI during the sale process puts a value on the club, and then uses not paying for it as an inducement to purchase. They have established a value to it. So whether you paid money for it, or it was an inducement it to purchase makes no difference the Value is there. The value was established by DRI. Without that value you might not of purchased, therefore taking it away would definitely decrease the value of your points. So if anyone has purchased and the contract does not say you paid for the club, it is very relevant. If you gave your contract back to DRI, or sold it and you feel you did not get the value that DRI led you to believe it was going to be worth you might want to contact me.

If DRI has a policy that purposely diminishes the benefits of a contract that is a huge liability for them.

You should contact me. I am in the process of filing a lawsuit against DRI. The more people we have to accurately testify to their practices during the presentation the better. Whether you are no longer an owner or you continue to own with DRI, if you feel you have not been treated fairly please contact me, the link is below.

http://www.diamondresortsowners.com and send me an email.

I thank everyone for contacting me and sending me their experiences with DRI. We are reviewing them and will contact you with any helpful information we come across to help you.

GB

For marciao11,

I also have read some people have complained that theirs was much longer than 90 minutes. If the $250 Gift card is your goal, will they put in writing you get this instantly. So in other words you time them openly, after 90 minutes you get up and leave, with your gift card in hand. Maybe you insist they show you the gift card before they start. But keep in mind this is their sales presentation to get you to upgrade your membership. So good luck with whatever decision you make.

GB

Whether you are no longer an owner or you continue to own with DRI, if you feel you have not been treated fairly please contact me, the link is below.

http://www.diamondresortsowners.com and send me an email.