Diamond Resorts Points devalued again

There are more choices for renting the Diamond properties from Expedia, etc for a lot less $$ than points, in my opinion that is why they shortened the cancellation policy. Try to get a week in Sedona, Az in the winter months now it is near impossible. They are making $$ and screwing the Diamond owners. We need to band together and stop this fraudulent activity...

stpatty wrote:

The Interval International (II) Flexchange period for Diamond Resorts International (DRI) members was reduced from 60 days to 30 days, at DRI's request, eff 2015. This means you only get the 50% discount off normal points requirements for starting dates of 30 days or less. The period 31 - 60 days before start date is regular points. This puts DRI members at a distinct disadvantage because all other II members can still book 60 days out for 50% off while DRI members must wait until 30 days out to get the discount. Also, unless you are driving, the plane ticket will cost much more. My cost of ownership has been going up every year since DRI took over. I was waiting until retirement to add more points but am glad I did not. Why would I pay more to get less.

That is true according to meetings I've had a sales presentations, but why would you buy more points? You can rent for less as diamond has units online and with interval, plus sams club/costco, groupon. why wait to see what your next maintenance fee bill will be. You know there will be a 2%-5% increase each year at least. Unless you have hawaii and the erosion project special assessments are added. Good luck..

Its logical to assume that if you convert from weeks ownership to points or when you buy points, you do not have any rights to a specific week. Diamond Resorts or any other timeshare company for that matter, can rent out that "hot" week and retain most if not all the profits from it. The Diamond Resorts point system makes it easier for owners to exchange, but will ultimately cost you more if you want to go to a more popular resort during primetime. You cannot get a primetime week at any resort unless you use full points because Diamond can sell it to any renter for much more than what anything less than 100% points will bring in. If you abandon your ownership, the resort company will try to get whatever they can out of you, then resell the points again. Thats why its better for the various Timeshare Compnies to pool the points from multiple resorts so there would always be available points to sell. Remember, a person just can't buy points from just anyone because it will cost you several thousands of dollars for you deposit them into your existing club account. If you don't put the points into your current existing account, you cannot use them to trade anywhere else other that where you own. That why the Diamond Resorts points are basically worthless on the secondary market. Try giving them away and see if you get any takers. Yes, I have found that it may be cheaper to rent the unit from other sources. Just calculate your annual cost for each point you own and multiply by the number of points it will take to reserve you a particular week you want. Then compare it to the cost of renting it from other sources. Voila!

Can you please explain more about this “new gimmick” you mentioned in your post. I recently was talked into a new sales pitch. I was assured it was not an “owner update” and hard sales pitch like before. So I reluctantly agreed to see if it was different. It wasn’t but it was very strang. The first person who spoke with us started some song and dance about us never being told about this “new system”. He then when and checked and came back and explained some of this new system. When I told him his BS was the same as before, telling me I’m missing out on something because they never told me and going to find out is we are still eligible. He disappeared and two other people showed up. Told us they don’t talk about Apolo they are Diamond. But the first person told me when Apolo took over they put in this new system. Then they basically talked but nothing of substance. Then told us we don’t have “Club Combo” and we should buy a sampler package to get that added to our account. We do have Club Select which is the same thing.

When we kept asking about new system we were being told about the would not answer the question.

Any insights?

Every year they do the shell game and declare a new system to get more money from you .

national and state timeshare laws and strict regulations are not easily found. THEY ARE ESSENTIAL TO STOP THE FRAUD AND THIEVERY OF VERY MANY TIMESHARES COMPANIES. CONTACT YOUR STATE AND NATIONAL LEGISLATORS AND DEMAND THAT STRINGENT TIMESHARE LAWS MUST BE ENACTED AND STRICTLY ENFORCED

carl2591 wrote:

best bet.. stay away from Diamond Resorts DRI period.. they change the rules to benefit them not the dues paying owners.. Just like WestGate in trying to screw the owners. scum scum scum.

i feel your pain. we are in the same boat. dianne and doug

Diamond Resorts has been the worst outlay of our entire life. They act as if you should be thankful of getting inferior service and less than optimal lodging for outrageous annual fees. Buy in was steep and the maintenance fees keep going up every year. Please count me in on any class action to get out of this crummy deal.

barryl134 wrote:

Please count me in on any class action to get out of this crummy deal.

You don't necessarily need any class action suit "to get out of this crummy deal". Just check out Diamond's deedback program where they're accepting back a select, limited number of units from current owners. Just make sure that your mortgage is paid off and the maintenance fees are up to date.

This will be a lot easier and a lot less headache and probably less expensive than a class action law suit.

I walked out of Diamond 3 years ago and now simply book holidays at the same resorts for less money. I can also use Redweek to find rentals. I gave up my 22,500 points for $0.00 but am free forever. Diamond always sold me a line of bull**** so when I wanted out, I sold them one about illness, old age and financial hardship...they were as gullible as I was. :)

I just booked 7 nights at the Hilton in New York using 100% points. I’m a platinum elite member. Has anyone else gotten calls offering them offers like this. I own in the Hawaii Collection and Embarc and they said it was a new relationship.

It was shocking. I was going to pay $3,000 dollars now I’m using 8,250 points.

I also heard at the pool that the Hawaii collection will be merged with Hilton. I feel bad for the other members but selfishly I don’t use my points at any US collection property.

Anyone else heard of this and have had these Hilton offers in your email?

Owner since 2003 Owm 100,000 Hawaii points and 2 weeks with embarc.

Omg I will be first in line for a class action suit against them. Gave in after 18 years of saying no to upgrades, feel really used and abused...

All of you get out of this stupid business. Not only you are loosing every year, you spend a lot of time and only Steven Cloobeck the owner is laughing all the way to the bank or the other possible owner! They have the most undesirable locations that people with no ideas go to these kind of locations, and you can not control your choices but they alway control availability and shift people to those locations that no one wants to go. Don’t waste your money, annual fee is getting higher and higher, many other disadvantages. Get out and cut your losses!

I love our ownership. Why is everyone so md on here....but whenever we vacation. OMG. I need one. Going crazy at home. But all the owners love it. You all just don’t like to buy it. Be honest. There is no way to stay in Maui for 2 months in a one bedroom condo on the water for $5,000 in Jan-Feb. that’s like $90 a night. Those rooms rent for $800 a night. Florida. Yes. You can rent for $100 a night. But, You have to get to platinum or higher and own in hawaii. It works for us. We bought 1 week on resale and the rest direct. 75,000 HI. 25,000 Cabo. US collection is garbage. Glad it’s going away.

From what I've been told by Diamond sales department, if you are currently a diamond owner and want to add points that count towards loyalty levels, a cheaper method is to purchase the point from another diamond owner. Otherwise, you will end up paying full price for points through Diamond when you attempt to convert points you have purchased on the normal resale market. If you are an owner, and want to buy points from another owner, Diamond has a program that allows for you to make that purchase between the private parties but then make the transfer of points from owner to owner. Become a diamond owner...go find another owner who will sell you points! I would sell some of my points at a much cheaper price than what Diamond sells for if I found an member who wants to buy!

Agreed.