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Open Letter to Steve Cloobeck, Diamond Resorts International CEO
Dear Steve,
I saw your Undercover Boss show. Thank you for sending me and email informing me when it would be shown. I also appreciated the survey you sent about how my image of you had improved after seeing the show. Unfortunately, it did not improve. Seeing your lavish and expensive lifestyle only made me think that I am paying for that with my maintenance fees, which have increased over 40% in the few years since you took over my resort. The fees are now so high that I could rent a week at a comparable or better place for a lot less. If you want me to think better of you, roll back the fees, sell the private jet and take commercial flights like the rest of us.
It also did not help that the show was so obviously contrived. All the employees you worked with had personal or work issues that you were able to solve in the end with a show of generosity. I am sure the intention was to show what a good guy you are. Maybe you are but the fees are killing me. And you missed the point with your maintenance person who did not have a power sander. It is very nice that you bought him this inexpensive tool. But as a leader of the company you should have been thinking how it could occur that he did not have the proper tools to do his job. You should not have to think of that. His supervisor should have thought of that and taken care of it so he was more efficient in his work. The only thing I can think of to explain why your maintenance man did not have a $50 tool needed to do his job is that the organizational culture is focused on reducing operational costs to the extreme. But that contradicts the reason you told me that you needed to increase my fees: to spend it on the improved maintenance and upkeep of my home property.
And now you are marketing the "Undercover Boss Special" on your web site! You seem to be using this to get more unsuspecting prospects to your resorts for the high-pressure sales pitch. I hope to educate people about the realities of timeshare ownership today. I paid ILX a lot of money a few years ago for a week that is now virtually worthless on the market. It was worthless the moment I signed the papers. I actually could pay somebody to take it of my hands. Now DRI is squeezing me for ever increasing "maintenance fees" and I can't do anything about it. You might even hit me with a "special assessment" of thousands of dollars as I hear you have done at one of your other resorts.
Would you buy it back from me, Steve? I understand DRI has no buy-back program but I figure I could ask you personally. I would be happy with half of what I paid for it.
Sincerely,
Bob
P.S. - Your disguise was terrible!
Robert R.
Hi Bob. Hope you get a reply. Your problem reflects a very common theme these days. We bought into a system that is no longer the model and are desperate to get out. When people are willing to give away what they spent tens of thousands of dollars to purchase, it gives you an indication of what kind of investment it was (or wasn't). Buyers beware of any timeshare or vacation club offers. It could happen to you.
Larry P.
Here is the announcement for which we have all been waiting! The lawsuit has been filed! It was filed Friday in Federal District Court in Hawaii. COPP will be mailing out a note with the lawsuit attached. It will also be going up on our website. I think that we will have DRI's attention now! What did Mr. C say? Yes, that's right, there are "10" unhappy customers. We'll see
David L.
I, too, was disappointed in Diamond's part in Undercover Boss and felt Steve Cloobeck was just a pompous, self-centered individual who could have done much more in improving his company and helping his employees. Makes me worry about being associated with Diamond Resorts.
Donna B.
Dear Bob, I heard about your situation and my co-owner and I have been desperately trying to free ourselves from this burden called Diamond resorts. Did you get any response from Cloobeck? I have never heard the word "yes" from them in 11 yrs of ownership. Money out with nothing to show for it. Barbara
Barbara M.
to whom it may concern, call your homeowners association concerning maint fees. they control them not the developer. the developer is there to sell units. the owners decide to raise fee's or not. there is a homeowners association you can try to get on and then would see how everything works. i worked for diamond resorts as wells as some others and they all work the same. it is a big myth that they make money on them, they are not allowed to by law. so you are barking up the wrong tree. find out who they are and complain to them. hope this helps.
Chris G.
mark531 wrote:I own three timeshares and Diamond is by far the best. It is more flexible, there are more options, there is better availability and more value for the maintenance fee dollar. Buck up little camper!
So if I offered you all of my points for $1, you would jump at the opportunity?
Linda W.
lindaw642 wrote:mark531 wrote:I own three timeshares and Diamond is by far the best. It is more flexible, there are more options, there is better availability and more value for the maintenance fee dollar. Buck up little camper!So if I offered you all of my points for $1, you would jump at the opportunity?
Linda, I would most certainly buy them from you for $1. However, just like I wanted to buy a flat screen television, I will wait until I need them.
I have 30,000 points. That is more than enough for my current needs along with my Marriott points. Thus, with these two I pay over $5000 in maintenance fees each year. However, even if I were a newbie coming into the system, I would not pick up your points unless i could get DRI to allow them to become Club points. I would want total flexibility and not be handcuffed to only a portion of the DRI repertoire. Now I have heard that they do allow you to bring in resale points as long as you buy a certain amount of developer points.
Because I am a happy owner, it does not make me go beyond my piggybank to make a foolish owner. :-)
Charles S.
Wow, there are a lot of bitter feelings toward Diamond. I am also an owner and just have not had a bad experience yet. Yes, the value of my timeshare has gone down but that is true for virtually every company. I sold my Hyatt time share for about 50% of what I paid.
Maybe Steve is a pompous ass but then I suspect that every CEO has a little pompous ass in him or her. I own points mostly in the Hawaii Trust with a handful in the US Trust and have been pleased with my experiences in Kauai, Maui, Florida, Virginia, and Arizona.
My experience is that the maintenance fees always seem too high no matter the resort. Staying at a nice resort sure beats the hell out of a hotel room.
Dan B.
dan825 wrote:Wow, there are a lot of bitter feelings toward Diamond. I am also an owner and just have not had a bad experience yet. Yes, the value of my timeshare has gone down but that is true for virtually every company. I sold my Hyatt time share for about 50% of what I paid.Maybe Steve is a pompous ass but then I suspect that every CEO has a little pompous ass in him or her. I own points mostly in the Hawaii Trust with a handful in the US Trust and have been pleased with my experiences in Kauai, Maui, Florida, Virginia, and Arizona.
My experience is that the maintenance fees always seem too high no matter the resort. Staying at a nice resort sure beats the hell out of a hotel room.
Dan, we have a DRI owners site on Facebook. Come join us. It's a closed group, but we welcome all DRI owners. We have DRI owners from across the globe. We share our various experiences with DRI and ways to maximize our ownership. It's a lot more positive site.
Charles S.
charless345 wrote:How do I join a closed group?dan825 wrote:Wow, there are a lot of bitter feelings toward Diamond. I am also an owner and just have not had a bad experience yet. Yes, the value of my timeshare has gone down but that is true for virtually every company. I sold my Hyatt time share for about 50% of what I paid.Maybe Steve is a pompous ass but then I suspect that every CEO has a little pompous ass in him or her. I own points mostly in the Hawaii Trust with a handful in the US Trust and have been pleased with my experiences in Kauai, Maui, Florida, Virginia, and Arizona.
My experience is that the maintenance fees always seem too high no matter the resort. Staying at a nice resort sure beats the hell out of a hotel room.
Dan, we have a DRI owners site on Facebook. Come join us. It's a closed group, but we welcome all DRI owners. We have DRI owners from across the globe. We share our various experiences with DRI and ways to maximize our ownership. It's a lot more positive site.
Dan B.