Diamond Resorts
- Address:
- 10600 West Charleston Blvd
- Las Vegas, Nevada 89135-1014
- Phone:
- Website: http://www.diamondresorts.com/
- Contact: Steve Cloobeck
- Email:
Complaint #1
WARNING! Diamond Resorts International for High Pressure Sales, Misrepresentation and Outright Lying!
Diamond Resorts International
www.diamondresorts.com
10600 West Charleston Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89135-1014
United States
Warning to all consumers! The timeshare industry is full of fraud, scams, deceitful/high-pressure sales practices, and outright lying. In particular, we want to call your attention to the practices of Diamond Resorts International – headquartered in Las Vegas, NV. They are not members of the BBB, but the Southern Nevada BBB shows that they have had 219 complaints in the past 36 months of which 65 were not resolved to the customer’s satisfaction. On the industry comparison chart they are shown to be number 1 or worst in the industry. Fifteen of the 65 unresolved issues involve sales issues. After you get the main sales pitch from one of the sales associates who will tell you all kinds of things – some true and many false. If you convince that person that you are not going to buy anything, you have to meet with the sales manager who will give you lower or other offers and is harder to convince that you are not interested. Diamond headquarters says that they have written policies that these practices are not tolerated, but they need to get out in the field undercover to see what really is happening instead of saying that there is no evidence of our claims and that our written contract stands.
It is our experience that Consumer Protection Laws of both Missouri and Arizona have been violated numerous times in regards to our timeshare – first by Sunterra Corporation and their representatives, and then by Diamond Resorts International when they took over our contract and did not provide us with the choice or opportunity to leave our contract and in fact informed us such action was impossible. The entire mess started in 2000, when we were convinced to buy a timeshare based on the following promises:
- Hassle-free, inexpensive vacationing at entertaining, high-class resorts.
- Would be able to take vacations at a reduced rate through the points system.
- Would be able to use points to pay for flights, car rentals, and hotels/motels.
- A variety of locations readily available for owner use.
- A vacation service that doubles as a real estate property we could sell for an eventual profit.
- A real estate property we would be able to write off on our taxes.
Things went from bad to worse in 2004, we went to an upgrade presentation at the Suites of Fall Creek, Branson Missouri location on November 22. We went because we were told we needed to attend an owner’s update meeting for our Sunterra timeshare. This is actually a long-running complaint about our timeshare ownership – since we purchased our property in 2000, we have been pressured on almost every vacation to attend a thinly-disguised sales meeting advertised as an “owner’s update” or “ownership information” seminar. The worst offenders are the resorts at The Suites at Fall Creek in Branson, MO and The Summit in Sedona, AZ. This is extremely frustrating, and to be completely honest, this knowledge alone would have prevented the original purchase. If they had told us back in 2000 that almost every single vacation would be interrupted with high-pressure sales from then on out, we would have walked out without a second thought.
At the November 24, 2004 high-pressure sales meeting, we were introduced to a Jarry McCoy, who was our sales representative. We were upset with our timeshare and how little value and use it was turning out to be. Jarry McCoy convinced us to upgrade, claiming that we had not initially been sold the correct type of timeshare for what we wanted. He proceeded to make the following claims:
- Once we upgraded, we would be able to rent our unit for a profit.
- With our rental profits, we would be able to pay off our timeshare mortgage in 36 months.
- We would have the benefit of annual vacations wherever we wanted, and all we would need to worry about were maintenance fees (once we paid our mortgage).
- The maintenance fees would rise slowly, in pace with inflation (the upgrade fees went from $1,500 to $3,200 in 6 years).
We thought by purchasing the upgrade, we would not only be able to completely pay off our timeshare, we would finally get the travel and vacation benefits that had initially been promised to us – easy, hassle-free, inexpensive vacationing on a flexible, owner-friendly schedule. We were lied to, once again. During the upgrade sale, Jarry McCoy stated “I guarentee you that you will be making money with your timeshare if you do exactly what I tell you”. He gave us a list of 25 locations that had Sunterra resorts that were located close to big events, such as the Daytona 500, Phoenix Open, New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas, etc. and told us that he would help us get started. We specifically asked him about the clause in our contract that stated the timeshare was not an investment, and Mr. McCoy told us to ignore it. He claimed it was there for legal reasons, to protect the consumer. He told us people regularly purchased timeshares as a real estate investment, and he himself regularly rented his timeshare units out and supplemented his income with the profits. In retrospect, it’s obvious he had a slick, immediate answer to counter every question or hesitation we brought up – at the time, he seemed incredibly helpful and eager to assist us in every respect.
We hoped, with Jarry McCoy’s assistance and the benefits we were promised for upgrading, we would finally get the services we had bought back in 2000. In the four years before and all the years since our upgrade, neither Sunterra or Diamond Resorts International have fulfilled the promises that convinced us to buy in the first place. Many times when trying to schedule, we had to use International Interval and pay the exchange fee out-of-pocket. Some times we were not even able to use International Interval. In other words, we experienced substantial difficulty getting in when and where we wanted. When we did get a reservation and arrived at the resort, we were roped into owner’s meetings that are represented as “mandatory,” and are usually pre-scheduled – we just arrive and they tell us when and where the meeting is as they hand us our keys. Only after much haggling with the consiere, could we avoid the meeting. This is a huge deterrent to vacationing and a pretty big hassle to deal with when traveling. As for writing off the property on our taxes, we have not found that to be the case. In fact, when we contacted tax professionals about doing so, they could only figure out how to write off some of the mortgage interest, but nothing else. And the points system is a joke – based on value per point, it’s far less expensive to just pay one of many available discounts out of pocket. When we try to redeem our points in any of the ways promised, we have to work within ridiculous restrictions on when and where we can use them. The past three years we have used approximately 80,000 points to pay approximately $3,500 toward about $9,000 in maintenance fees.
At the owner’s update meetings, they continually make claims about the various ways we can lower our timeshare costs. They claim owners can refinance through their banks, write off timeshare expenses on their taxes, and rake in rental or sales profits. If year after year of sitting through these mandatory owner’s update meetings has taught us anything, it’s that the fraudulent sales claims and deceptive practices are endemic to Diamond Resorts International/Sunterra. The consumer fraud used on us was not an aberration – it is obviously a systemic pattern of deception practiced by Diamond Resorts International/Sunterra, and scam artists like Jarry McCoy are encouraged and nourished in the unethical, dishonest business environment cultivated by Diamond Resorts International/Sunterra.
After the 2004 upgrade, we quickly discovered we had been lied to again. Jarry McCoy was to be our coach in helping us to rent our time shares. We tried calling him several times the first few days after the sale and left voice mails which he didn’t return. When we called the front desk at the Suites at Fall Creek in Banson and demanded to speak to a manager, we were told that Jarry McCoy no longer worked there – one week after he signed off on our paperwork. The prices quoted during the upgrade for renting our timeshare have been nowhere near realized. After booking five locations associated with key events in January of 2005, we were only able to rent a one week two bedroom booking at Steam Boat Spings during spring break for only $250 total – not the $250 per night we were quoted. We never had another oportunity to rent our time share even after advertising on Ebay and with severall timeshare rental firms, such as RedWeek. Furthermore, the cost of maintenance fees was seriously misrepresented to us – rather than keeping pace with inflation, they have steadily outpaced inflation at 14% per year without any apparent reason.
Shortly after, in 2005, there was a strange closing of the sales office of the Suites at Fall Creek in Branson, Missouri. We later learned this was due to the forthcoming bankruptcy of Sunterra, but at the time this information was not provided to owners such as ourselves. It added to the confusion that some offices (such as those in Missouri) shut down, while others (such as those in Arizona) did not. We even asked a Sunterra/Summit sales person at one of the so-called ownership updates about a sales office closing at the Suites at Fall Creek, and he indicated he was unaware of any other offices closing. Shortly after, Sunterra went bankrupt and sold out to Diamond Resorts International.
After Diamond Resorts International took over Sunterra Corporation, we tried to notify them of our long-running complaints in early 2007. We wanted out of the timeshare, and we wanted Diamond Resorts International to release us from the contract they had bought – we never agreed or wanted to be Diamond Resorts International owners, and we were not happy about being Sunterra owners. After several e-mails back and forth, the final response from Diamond Resorts International to our request to void our contract was that Diamond Resorts International was holding us to the original contract with Sunterra Corporation. It seems that a corporation just as crooked and unethical as Sunterra took over our contract. We’ve had enough of the games and dishonesty. In January of this year we disputed the right of Diamond Resorts International and the basic validity of this contract, which we believe was sold to us through the violation of consumer protection laws. We have asked for a written cancellation of our timeshare contract and no further claims on moneys due to Diamond Resorts International. We have filled complaints with the Missouri AGs Office and the BBB in both Missouri and Nevada. After pursuing these avenues, Diamond Resorts International still refuses to meet our request. This posting is just the next step.
- Van
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My husband and I visited the resort on Sat. 3/31/12 in Vegas. The price was “only” $90,000 and we would be assured of a beautiful resort forever (I am 69). Well, the demo unit in Las Vegas had a stained couch and the other “lower priced” studio was so small that it was a joke. We’re thinking “are they crazy?” $90,000 (they did reduce the price to $70,000). That much money so we could vacation in places like this forever?
The promised 2 hours of time totally was 4 1/2 hours, as we had to be at the place early and then travel time and the over 3 hours of time badgering us. I use a cane and told them that we now always stay Downtown as it is easier for me to get around, and they just would not let up on the “comfort” of the place. Big deal. A kitchen, but no grocery store to buy the food, and when we go away, a hotel room in a convenient location of our choice is what we need when we are not on a cruise.
We even asked about a couple of locations we had in mind, and there was no resort in those places. Yes, they had us talk to the progression of people who also tried to wear us down. They did not suck us in, though. Nothing but a Big Scam…a yearly fees to boot.
I bought a timeshare with ILX in Sedona in 2000. I was satisfied with the service. My week was the odd year and so I would pay monthly installments on my estimate of what my maintenance fees would be for the year I used. Little did I know that ILX had filed for bankruptcy. They didn’t notify owners. So… this company called Diamond Resort became the owners. Didn’t think anything about it until I received the maintenance bill for the year I was using. Wow!!!!Of course , I called , wrote letters complaining. I didn’t understand the point system. So I thought I had everything straighten out. I didn’t have to pay for club membership, that allowed me use of facilities included when ILX were the owners. In short, my maintenance fee was in the area of what I had been paying. We used our week in 2011 at Los Abrigados in Sedona. Hadn’t been there since 2009. The place looked, well not good. They were no longer serving breakfast. It didn’t as many people were working anymore. Forward to 2012, the year I don’t use. I received a statement for maintenance fees. Wait, I thought…”I don’t pay fees during the year I don’t use,.” Well, it seems that with the “new point” system I can now use each year. Not for the full week 1750 points. I send a letter stating that my week is on the odd year and that I will send a monthly payment so that my 2013 maintenance fee will be almost paid. Did you know that you are support a political PAC and is included in your fee? You can request it be taken off. But it doesn’t tell you that. What has happened essentially, is that DRI has figured a way to bill you every every year and double your maintenance fee. I am still having discussion with them. One final thought. During our stay we were invited to the “owner update” and offered a $50.00 gift card. I said OK. They charged me $20 to make sure I kept the appointment. I called to tell them I could not make the meeting and ending up with an argument to get the charge off. They are not, in my opinion, a reputable company.
went to diamond vacations pitch. wanted 14,000. we said no they said 4000.00 with 400 annual fee. we left. now they call and say we won a free membership just pay 299 year fee? what does ayone think?
Helen: Their act of desperation to drop as quickly as they did should tell it all. I would not trust them and also, the maintenance fee has no cap on it so it could be $ 800/year the following year and you have no control over it. Also, when they do major repairs, you will be faced with assessment fees. If you desperately want a timeshare, you can buy them on eBay for next to nothing. Even in that scenario, you still have maintenance fees. Keep in mind, you can not trade as easily as they would have you to believe. Unless you want to vacation in Williamsburg and Florida every year, I’d just rent where you want to go…you have a better selection.
Run away from this outfit as fast as you can! I bought points and deeply regret it. It is worse than pouring money down the drain. They increase their maintenance fees regularly and beware special assessments! Once you’re in, you are lucky if you can even give it away. You would be so much better off to just rent a nice hotel, motel or condo.
I was lied to during saleds pitch. My contract lists priced, but does not state price increases. Worst of all they sent me a bill with the wrong address. I paid the bill and those lying scum had the nerve to charge me a late fee because they sent me the wrong address. How Scummy? I hope Karma catches up to them. I cant wait to see them suffer in court when someone has the balls to charge them with unethical practices.
We just attended a Diamonds sales pitch in Los Abrigados in Sedona last week. It looks like my concerns (which I kept to myself because I knew the salespeople would try to rebut them) were correct–no limit on raises in maintenance fees and poor choices of resorts.
Los Abrigados was a clue–very attractive on the outside but mediocre operations and maintenance in the interior and in the rooms. \
The Arizona AG and US Justice Department should be chasing this organization for criminal fraud. I would be happy to wear a wire to a sales presentation.
Dear BG
You have really stepped out of place with your lack of knowledge. You speak so highly of yourself I can tell, most of us who have purchased a time share with DR have individual unresolved situations that require a solution to our challenges with this company. It is not up to you to speak for us or am I asking you to speak for me. I dought that you have all the facts for each individuals situation. Education is power Karl I suggest you start studying the facts. Time Share owner Hawaii. PS FYI I can afford this time share but like you this is not the whole story
You cannot take anything these people tell you at face value. Diamond Resorts and anyone affiliated with them are total liars.
I agree with #7 Diamond Hater. I was 30 hours too late to legally cancel my contract signed when my family was in Maui. I was suspicious about their initial 6500 points for $26,000 but made the mistake of signing up for 3500 points for $12,900. However after finding others that have had problems with DRI, I have been refusing to give them any bank payment information. I figured out why they encourage you to pay for the full amount using your own line of credit. At that point they’ve got you and will badger you for maintenance payments. From what I have been reading it would not be a fun experience. I have received over 60 calls from DRI Financial. It will be a cold day in Hell before they get another nickel from me. Once they let someone off the hook the exiting will be a stampede so they have to protect their little crooked empire.
Thank you to this site, I think I just saved a ton of money and frustration. My wife has been on my case to sign up with Diamond Resorts but I was able to convince her not to thanks to this site.
Jeff: Good move; it could be one of the best decisions you and your wife have ever made. Glad we could save you from going through the same grief many of us have. I feel as though this is one way we can all get back at the large greedy firms. Also, I don’t want you to think all Timeshares are ripoffs. I would suggest you go to http://www.tug2.com which is a website dedicated to timeshare users and you can get a ton of information on timeshare owner experiences, people who rent their timeshares, sell them etc. which would give you a lot of information to make an informed decision. You can view the site for free but some areas require membership which I believe is $ 15. I wish you well.
Unfortunately I was not as smart as you and did not do my research on these guys. I am now stuck with a worthless money pit.
Its good to see consumer reviews that really mean something! This site provided the feedback I needed to NOT make a 29,000 mistake as well.
Sitting through the marketing presentation, I was skeptical, as I’ve seen probably 10 of these same strategies, each with Timeshares. My suspicion was that the model unit that they show is not at all representative of reality. This week I stayed at Greensprings Resort in Williamsburg VA, and the accomodations were adequate (not elaborate and not slummy). When we went to see the model on Powhatan with the sales agent, we got a huge surprise. It was PHENOMENAL! She explained that all Diamond properties carry the same level of detail, with granite counter tops throughout and “This” is a typical Diamond luxury unit. Unfortunately, we were staying at Greensprings, and must have gotten one of the units that weren’t yet renovated….or so we thought. We didn’t have granite, nice furniture, or even the decorative curtains, wall fixtures, and ceramic tile flooring (in the areas not carpeted). The sales agent told us that Diamond doesnt typically rent out the better units to space available customers, else the property owners would get upset. But wait, this was supposed to be one of the owned/deeded properties that someone had paid money for, right? Just to be curious, we went to the concierge and asked about the Greensprings model, and they directed us to it. WOW!!! The same level of detail that we witnessed at Powhatan was here at Greensprings, BUT only in the models. What a load of BS!
I’m so happy we didn’t get duped by these crooks, and after reading the owners’ stories on here, we’d have been just one more victim, wishing we hadn’t made this purchase. Thanks for sharing the stories, and for presenting honesty to a corrupt and crooked scam!!
To anyone thinking of signing up with Diamond Resorts… I strongly urge you not to do it. My husband and I have been trying to get out of our deal with them for years and have not had any luck. There are only 2 properties that we can ever book and the maintenance fees are ridiculous. They seem to rise more and more every year. Definitely not at the pace of inflation like was promised to us when we initially signed up.
We have spent thousands of dollars with this company with very little enjoyment to show for it. This is partly our fault for not doing our research before hand, but Diamond made a lot of promises to us that frankly they did not keep. Very shady company. I hope they get what is coming to them.
Second this… I was going to make a new post about this but your thoughts and situation matches mine perfectly.
Alrightythen…
Anything not written in the contract will be a lie. Anything writtenon the contract will be enforceable in court. Get it in writing.
Don’t believe a word told to you by a salesperson – if their lips are moving they’re lying to you.
Don’t EVER buy anything, sign anything, agree to anything the first day it is put in front of you. If they won’t allow you the time to look at it and think it over, then it’s a HORRIBLE deal for you. Run like hell.
I’ve heard the lies: We’re only offering this discount today… (BS) tomorrow or next week they’ll be offing the next S.O.B. in that same seat/desk/room the SAME DEAL.
If they’re trying to rush you, they’re trying to rape you.
Leave. Also, on that note, I would NEVER take their ‘transportation’ to and from a presentation, I always provide my own. Saves you from being stuck wasting severasl hours of your valuable vacation time.
After one such “presentation” I made it a point to never attend another since this is MY vacation time and my families time – why waste it with these bastards?
Just my ten cents worth.
“Don’t believe a word told to you by a salesperson – if their lips are moving they’re lying to you.”
This is some of the best advice I have read here. Unfortunately my husband and I are easily fooled and trust people when we probably shouldn’t which ultimately led us to this massive headache and bad experience with Diamond Resorts.
Great words of wisdom. I agree that most sales people are shady. And if it looks to good to be true, it probably is!
Aint that true!
This is coming from a sales guy too by the way
My wife and I attended a seminar in Vegas with these guys (Diamond)…They provided a comfotable limo shuttlebus to the hotel where they were conducting business. Had to sit thru a ton of high pressure BS in a small room packed with other loud salespeople pitching to their clients…they separated our group into one-on-one sales meetings. The guy had an answer for everything we said…it didn’t take long for us to figure out this wasn’t for us, so we flat out told him NO, we aren’t interested. Should have seen the look on his face….I won’t make a quick decision when being asked to pay 22,000.00 at 17.5% interest with maintenance fees. We were there for 1.5 hrs at this point. He then counter offered the same deal at a much lower price, we still said NO. He then sent us downstairs to meet with his high pressured sales manager who in turn offered another “affordably ” reduced deal…I kept wondering why the deals kept changing so frequently, maybe if we stayed just a little longer they’d have just given it to us!! Long story short, we said NO, and were escorted down the back “hallway of shame” and shown the back door, no shuttle to take us back to our hotel where they picked us up from. (I’m pretty sure if they had any “takers”, they were given a nice limo ride back to where they came from!) Funny thing, too, was they (Diamond Resorts’ shuttle limo)could have driven straight down Las Vegas Blvd 6 blocks from where we stayed to get to the Polo Towers where the presentation was. Instead, they more or less took back roads on the way down more or less to try and confuse us as to where we were going to. We walked out the back door, and 1 half block later was back out on the Vegas Strip. (I was thinking: What if a person had a medical condition and they just left him/her there on their own?) If you go to Las Vegas, the rule I found out is just keep walking and don’t start talking–these people are pretty good at trying to get your attention with offers of free shows, free food or free gambling money. STAY AWAY! THIS IS A SCAM!!!!!!!
You are an idiot. The industry would be so much better off if they refused to send people like you on fantastic vacations. stay home, go cow tipping, count fish in your pond while sleeping in your car at walmart,….just stay away from me and my family …….get a life
Wow.. you and the other guy on here talking like it’s the clients fault need to fix up. i understand that people should always read the fine print – but telling them to drop the timeshare is a useless peice of advice.. as useless as your presence on this planet i might add… Diamond won’t let them drop the time share. you can’t give them away cos no one will take them off your hands – you can’t even pay people to take them they’re that bad. I don’t have one thank god but if i did i would simply stop paying and when they threaten debt collectors i’d say bring it on! nothing on the planet could make me pay them a sigle penny. check out ripoff britain season 3 episode 14…
Lynn,
You need to buy more points. Cloobeck, et. al. have an inflationary cash cow with the point system. If you have enough points you can get whatever, wherever and whenever you want. If inventory starts to decrease they simply raise the price, i.e., require more points.
I just want to be able to get a reservation a year ahead of time! I can’t get anything on the east coast unless it’s in Williamsburg or Florida. Whenever I request something, there are no openings for a year or more. I was promised the ability to take vacations at any of the resorts that Diamond owns, but I can’t get any availability!
I know… This is what frustrates me the most. There are only a handful of places ever available. Unfortunately there isn’t much we can do about it I dont think.
JJ: That’s exactly right; my wife and I had the same problem, only Florida and Williamsburg and we owned in Williamsburg. I mean how many times can you go down Duke of Gloucester Street. They will tell you that you have priority over everyone else by owning under Diamond but what a farse. The prime places were never available. The only way to get them was to rent them. Funny how they were available for rent but you couldn’t trade there. We tried the year in advance tip and that doesn’t work either…at least not through Diamond. I don’t really see where Diamond ever gave us any kind of priority. We got tired of the ever increasing maintenance fees, assessments, not being able to trade anywhere and using a lot of our points to pay towards the maintenance fees and not be able to use them to actually go on a vacation. For those reasons, we finally used a timeshare re-seller to sell our DRI points. It cost us to buy the timeshare, maintain it and then pay to have someone get rid of it but at least I can finally say I am maintenance free and will continue to be an advocate to tell others the true story about DRI so they don’t get hosed like we did.
We are having some of the same problems. Very disgusted with DR. Which time share seller did you use that wasn’t fraud? Please advise. eh
Richard: We used timesharefree.com. We got one of those mailers and my wife and I went to the presentation and I was a bit skeptical at first but they checked out on BBB and they use a separate closing service, Time Share Closings, Inc. The way it works is they do charge a fee (everyone attending thought they were going to sell their timeshare but when they show similar timeshares on eBay, we soon realized we weren’t going to make any money but rather had to pay a fee but since we were paying $ 3,000 a year for 22,000 points, we figured it would eventually pay off. We ended up paying $ 5,000. I was ready out on the presentation after I heard that but my wife said we will just continue to pay the maintenance fee until we did something. Fortunately, we did, their system works and you really do get rid of the headache. It’s sad that you have to pay to get rid of something you already paid a lot of money for but since maintenance and assessment fees were just getting out of hand, we said enough was enough. How does timesharefree.com get rid of the unit? They sell them to wholesalers, you never know who the buyer is. Also, the fee you pay is held in escrow with TimeShare Closing Services until closing so it truly is a system that works. At least it did for us. You could try to sell the unit yourself and use Timeshare Closing Services to close but we just decided it was too hard to sell and just wanted to be done with it. If you decide to take advantage of their service, I truly hope it works for you. I would definitely try to negotiate the rate with them…don’t be shy.
Best Wishes.
This is one of the many things that put me over the edge. It was ok at first but we can only go to florida or williamsburg so many times. If that’s what we signed up for them I would be fine with it, but they promised us the availability of a much larger number of destinations.
Is this common with these types of timeshares? Or is this unique to Diamond Resorts or companies that run borderline shady operations.
We’ve been burned too by Diamond, out of Sedona Summit. We just stayed at Grand Beach in Orlando. The resort is quite nice and the hired help are indeed helpful. Not so for the sales scumbags. After speaking to the concierge, my wife convinced me to attend another sales meeting in an effort to try to find out how to get good usage out of our “investment”. We paid almost $17K for 5000 points in Sedona and the maintenance fee is almost $1100. We listened to their bullshit for almost 3 hours trying to learn as much as possible but definitely not getting any deeper into the quicksand. You don’t get much much for the money. We can only find openings at places we’re not too eager to visit. I even saved the pts. one year since theoretically we’d get more choice. No help. We very foolishly paid the points purchase right off. If I knew then what I know now, I’d have defaulted. Now if we can just get out from under this mess, we take a hit for the $17K. Now, get this. At the very end of our meeting the sales guy says we need to answer a very brief evaluation of the meeting. The manager comes with a sheet and starts “Were you treated professionally and with respect?” And on it goes whereupon it morphs into yet another sales pitch. The bottom line was he offered to GIVE me 20,000 pts. He asked why I said “NO!” “Because I don’t want to pay your exorbitant maintenance fees”. That’s how desperate they are right now. I traded 4000 pts. to be in the place we’re in now (Calypso Cay”. 1 BR unit is nice but small. Beware- they have 2 sizes of 1 BR. THe folks next door got a large 1BR as a getaway for $325. So the screwing never stops. And the heated pools, AREN’T! GET ME THE HELL OUT OF DIAMOND!!!!
What a nightmare. I am sorry to hear about your troubles. My Aunt was looking into signing up with Diamond but I told her to hold off until I did some research. Lucky I found this site and posts like yours and can now convince her to stay the heck away from them.
Good call… I would stay away from these guys at all costs. Honestly, there aren’t many timeshares out there that are actually any good these days. You may be able to find one. But always do your research before agreeing to or signing anything.
I have actually had some good luck with timeshares in the past. Diamond Resorts are the very first that I’ve had any complaints about. Guess I have just been really lucky.
Do you have anyone in particular that you recommend? I still like the idea of a timeshare but don’t want to get burned. Was on the verge of signing with Diamond Resorts but thankfully did not go through with it.
Would still like to give it a try with someone though.
Run fast away from Diamond Resorts. I’m a local in Las Vegas, and after the Undercover Boss episode, the CEO of Diamond Resorts said he’d give a refund to unhappy owners, since it was just 10 out of hundreds of thousands of his owners. I emailed them, and called them, needless to say they didn’t take care of me. It’s only the Poipu owners they are working with. Even the writer of the story in the Las Vegas Review Journal doesn’t want to write about the story anymore. Cloobeck is poison to the industry. The maintenance fees for Diamond have skyrocketted since he took over from Sunterra. (at least 50 percent) A maintenence fee for Sedona is over 1200 a year, but I’m glad I’m not an owner in Poipu, where it’s over $2000, and they just got a $5000 special assessment. Stay away from Diamond.
Yikes! That is a steep maintenance fee. I suppose this is something you should really look into your contract about if you are signing up with these type of companies.
Buying into Diamond Resorts has been the worst mistake we have ever made. Watching Undercover Boss with S Clobeck made me Ill. So arrogant …saying they are a company of “yes”. We have not found that to be true. High maintainable fees, then we got assessed another 2,000 for the damage at Poi Po. Such a “successful” business and their insurance doesn’t cover damage done. HUGE FRUSTATION is wanting to book a place and N O T H I N G is available, BUT for ANOTHER couple of hundred you can go to Interval International and rent through there. the sales people are ‘slick’. Watch out!
Wow,, its very interesting to see everyone complaining so much. You know these people have a job to do, just like you unless your a spoiled brat. People have to feed themselves. Of course your going to be pressured into going on a timeshare presentation at a timeshare resort. Hello, thats how they keep mouths fed. People tend to forget that many are struggaling in this country and are forced to do jobs they might not particularly want or have any desire to do. We must do things in life that aren’t always appealing. Its these things that makes us stronger. Hating a fellow worker is truly hating yourself. You have no respect for yourself. Owning timeshare is a luxory and if you can’t afford the maintenece fees, then learn to cut the cord. YOU CANT AFFORD TO BE A TIMESHARE OWNER. Your living a lie. YOu bought a timeshare years ago and don’t ever expect the fees to go up. Wow what a fantasy you all live in. Stop being naive and take responsibility for your unwise investment. It is up to you now a days to not get ripped off. If you have been, its your fault. We live in a society were profit rules. republicans like the owner and ceo fight to de regulate. So knowing the bottom line in this country is profit, maybe you should act and get to the polls and stop being lied to by these people. Don’t keep lying to yourself and family members that you can afford this when you can’t. when has anything ever gotten cheaper over time. Ask yourself some questions. Are you made at diamond or your selfs? This country will not change if you people keep bitching about how you got ripped off. It will change when you start using your minds for greater things. You deserve better. Leave the timeshare and move on. Who gives a crap about the tiny ding you might get on your credit. People are leaving there homes everyday because they know better than to keep something tying them down. Homes!!!
So by leaving your timeshare is a distress, is pitiful, maybe one day you will see what struggle is and get your priorities straight.
BG: you are so full of **** til it’s not funny. you talk like a saleman, fooling and lying to people so you guys can beat good people out of their hard earned money. now you want to tell people how to take control of their finances. you must be STUPID! There are a lot of people that purchased a timeshare from you guys on things that was told to them, how i know, i own one too! now to read this shit, i’m pissed too. Question to You BG. Do you own a timeshare? or You living a Lie in AMERICA?
I am sorry BG, but this is BS. Yeah these people have families to feed, but doing at the expense of other innocent people is not okay by any means.
BS: under your theory, anyone who works is entitled to do anything bad (even to other workers).
The mean people do not justify the ends.
I totally disagree, but to each their own I suppose.
Dear Karl Boatman
You have really stepped out of place with your lack of knowledge. You speak so highly of yourself I can tell, most of us who have purchased a time share with DR have individual unresolved situations that require a solution to our challenges with this company. It is not up to you to speak for us or am I asking you to speak for me. I dought that you have all the facts for each individuals situation. Education is power Karl I suggest you start studying the facts. Time Share owner Hawaii. PS FYI I can afford this time share but like you this is not the whole story.
Dear BG
You have really stepped out of place with your lack of knowledge. You speak so highly of yourself I can tell, most of us who have purchased a time share with DR have individual unresolved situations that require a solution to our challenges with this company. It is not up to you to speak for us or am I asking you to speak for me. I dought that you have all the facts for each individuals situation. Education is power BG I suggest you start studying the facts. Time Share owner Hawaii. PS FYI I can afford this time share but like you this is not the whole story
TRANSLATION: Karl (obviously a timeshare salesman from his lingo) believes that Darwinism applies here. Of course the salesmen are lying, and if you believe them, then Karl blames YOU, the victim for not uncovering the lies by reading the fine print. (And you know who he blames when a 12-year-old girl gets raped while wearing typical pre-teen attire).
But thankfully there are laws regulating this industry. After the lying bottom-feeders get shutdown, they will move on to a new place to run their scams, leaving this industry with a tarnished reputation.
But he does have it right about Wyndham, I’ve been a happy owner for 12 years. (But I wouldn’t nearly call timeshare ownership “an excellent source of secondary income”, that’s just another saleman’s exaggeration).
You would recommend Wyndham then? Maybe I will look into this as an alternative.
Diamond Resorts is by far and away the nastiest company to deal with….they will not stop until they have emptied your pockets and left your timeshare unsold for 1$ on EBAY….even then they will come after you if you have anything left.
Yes, the timeshare industry is really bad. I am sure you can find the odd good private one, but companies like Diamond Resorts try to take you for every penny they can.
Agreed. And believe me, we have tried to get rid of ours and actually did list it on eBay as a last resort but were unable to unload it.
You can seriously find these on eBay for a buck? Wow, they must be bad!
If you are inclined to buy into a timeshare, I would STRONGLY suggest that you buy only at a resort that is run by the homeowner’s association and a HIRED manager, NOT a management company. The management companies all seem to get greedy and decide to screw the homeowners eventually.
Does the homeowners association have a site or somewhere that they list approved members?
Aaron: Glad you are happy. Just check out eBay or see Craigslist where people are paying you to take their timeshare. There is one in Williamsburg right now that will pay you $ 750 to take it. That my friend, tells the entire story. Why don’t you grab it since they are such a great deal? Merry Christmas, my gift to you.
Wow, what does that tell you when people can’t even pay someone to take their timeshare?
Yeah that’s a pretty big red flag right there.
Marriott, Hyatt, Westin, Four-Seasons, didnt join an industry that doesnt work. Timeshare is the way we vacation in the 21st century. Period. IF you got ripped off, or allowed someone to BS you, its your fault. People drive lemon cars. Do we say, Cars suck. Cars dont work. never buy a car. Look up the 4 seasons in scottsdale, hyatt in aspen, atlantis, ocean club marriot in aruba or hawaii, and observe people paying 7k-12k bucks a week on the open market and remmember that others are exchanging in for 164 bucks, meaning they are even on their timeshare in as little as 1-3 trips. and go every year on 5k dollar vacations for their maintenence fee.
You obviously haven’t paid attention to DRI. Check out fb page: Point of Poipu Angry Owners
That’s a pretty good point about the lemon cars. But at least if you buy a lemon you can easily get rid of it and don’t have to continue paying for it if it sucks.
I am a very dissatisfied customer. Diamond International has jacked up the Maintenance Fees over 40% in the last two years without offering any improvements to their Los Abrigados location in Sedona AZ. If there is any increase for 2013 I will give away my deeded property as I refuse to pay more for the maintenance fee than to rent a place for 7 days
Who are you going to give it to? No one will take it.
So does the initial contract you signed with them not have anything in it about maintenance fees? How can they just raise the prices to whatever they want and demand you continue paying?
I believe the contract does say they can raise maintenance fees. However I was led to believe that they would only raise at the rate of inflation.
I actually have a copy of our contract right here and this is correct.
How much is your maintenance fee right now if you dont mind me asking?
VAN, the person that said quit being a mooch is right. you do not have to go on presentations! my wife and i dont. its kinda like you are complaining abt buying a car but you keep going to the car lot because the offer you a gas card for looking at a car. i would be on your side if it was one time but more than once is your fault buddy!!!
Wow – has someone brain washed you !! (you are the ONLY person I’ve seen on dozens of complaints site that has said anything even remotely positive about this total scam of a company ! ) Not only did they try to sell us on their bogus “Club” plan during our recent visit…they outright falsified (and have since acknowledged wrong-doing) and forged documents…! In my 54 years – I have NEVER experienced a bigger rip-off company then Diamond (they even make Bernie look good) – they bought out Tempus Resorts (which had it’s issues but was 10 times a better company then Diamond) and reduced every owners property down to basically nothing (and raised fees – of course)…they have totally breached our contract…and we WILL be pursuing legal action against them…you can count on it….we are VERY unsatisfied with them.
In my Opinion…
DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL is FLEECING the ENTIRE DRI memberships, ALL Collections and ALL DEEDED OWNERS even those that did not sign up with the GREEDY, CORRUPT and MORALLY BANKRUPT BA$TARD$ who seem to operate with impunity.
Oct 11th 2011 DRI’s Hawaii Collection gets hit with a 90 day notice to pay 3-5k in MF, and DRI’s now infamouse Special A$$esments (Legal Money GRABs). Ever since DRI took over our Hawaii Resorts they have only TAKEN from us.
Our Budget for the Resort has gone from 12 million in 2007 to 26 million now and the majority of that JUMP was for Administration and Management FEES paid to DRI through some corporate veil. The “Services THEY provide are half what they were back in the good old SUNTERROR days. We keep having to pay into the MONEY PIT that is what they call “The Diamond Difference” I believe is their Motto.
Diamond Resorts Does not OFFER any BUY BACK nor can you SELL what you have DRI will not allow 3rd party sales of their worthless Magic Mystery Points (Not that any one could sell them unless they were a GIFTED LIAR). So you the original purchaser are STUCK holding points which evaporate each year when you can’t book What you Want When you Want. While Diamond Resorts RUNS to the banks(offshore [guessing]) with all of our money.
This PONZY SCHEME once revealed will probabbly make the likes of BERNIE MADDOFF look like a lemonaid stand robbery or our Buddy’s at ENRON look like Eagle Scouts.
If you can not tell by now, there is no love lost here…
CVO
CVO. i guess you havent read what you wrote because it sounds silly. you are talking somewhat good abt a company that went bankrupt, sunterra but are talking bad abt a co that is doing well and adding more and more resorts for us to go to? you said ponzy scheme? why dont you do some research? oh and my wife and i have seen so much inventory over the last yr even during peak time!!
Jeff,
If you say so, I guess it must be true and all the other hundreds of folks like those in the UK collection that can not get “What They Want When They Want” are probably lying…
Whatever Jeff, even Maddoff made money for some, you do the research…
CVO
Jeff
I have a real good deal for you on Poipu Point…you’re gonna love it!! Diamond Resorts will make everything just great for you!
Everyone! We need to get testimony from everyone who has ever been scammed during their sales representation. Please get into contact with my group at:
twitter.com/downwithdri
or
complaintsboard.com/panel.php?action=groups&subaction=view&id=185
We’re putting together the necessary testimony that we can all use to get out of our contracts, as well as supply the county prosecutor’s office with the ammunition they need to bring a criminal case against them. Your voice matters!
Plantation at Fall Creek was very nice. After Sunterra and DRI it is awful. Cannot afford fees anymore and feel ripped off in the process. Using TScomplaints.com to resolve and get rid of at a hefty price.
Sales people when contacted lied about the promises at sales mtg.
It’s common knowledge that people are getting scammed on. Why try to BS with your loyal loving remarks towards timeshare companies that have been sued, like Wyndham/Worldmark Class Action in the Supreme Court of California… I guess you still love them!
You must be in the minority because you can find a few ticked off people at poipuowners.org and kbcowners.com let alone all the timeshare forums. Just Google Diamond resorts lawsuit and see what shows up. Or Point at Poipu lawsuit. You will find what you are looking for.
Have you had any luck with this? Not sure if you continue to check this site so maybe I will contact you through twitter too.
I am not an owner at Diamond Resorts, but am just a curious bystander… Did this actually get anywhere?
I had a timeshare for years through Diamond Resorts at Powhatan Plantation. Powhatan was a great place at first until the “Scammers” like DRI purchased them. We got sick and tired of the rising maintenance fees, trading to the least desirable or “left-over” timeshare units in the middle of winter, etc. I had looked at several of the companies that professed to sell your timeshare and they looked like scammers too. I did finally find a reputable company to do it but it costs me $ 5K to get out of a $ 3K per year maintenance fee. If interested it was timesharefree.com. I will say they were able to take it off my hands in about 2 months. They buy them and sell to wholesalers. It works but it wasn’t cheap. If I had to do it again, I found if you go to tug2.net, its a timeshare users group that people in the same situation help you out to sell your unit and you can do the same thing timesharefree does but just use a timeshare closing company for a few hundred dollars once you get a buyer. Tug2.net is very informative. I wish you all well as I have been there and just hoping I can help someone else wanting to get out !!
Wow thank you so much for posting this. this is exactly what I was searching for! I have not been able to give away our time share and have desperately been looking to get rid of it. Will head over to Tug2.net right now. Thanks again!
Jimbo MAYBE if you stopped mooching and wasting 2 hours of your family vacations you wouldn’t have to deal with people you HATE. Maybe the manager should of beat you instead of the sales rep for being a IDIOT and signing up to waste 2 hours of your time that you will never get back for a few dollar discount. No one forced you to take the presenation in Mexico, you CHOSE to go on it.
I hate Moochers
I attended a timeshare pitch once in Mexico. The agent lady actually broke down crying after I told her I wasn’t interested and she kept sobbing “my manager beats me” and “they will fire me if I don’t sell one.”
I hate timeshare sales people. They are right up there with used car salesmen.
It is unbelievable how ignorant people are about timeshare. Because of one or 2 bad apples, idiots like those on this site seek to denigrate one of the most robust and important industries in the country. This idiot who complains he couldn’t rent his timeshare for the amounts of money promised, is clearly a lazy, ignorant, redneck who doesn’t want to put in the time required to make the incredibly large profits that can be made with timeshare ownership. While this company doesn’t seem to live up to the standards of the great timeshare companies like Wyndham, He most certainly was not lied to by anyone. If he had read his contract, and put in the slight few hours required he would have an excellent source of secondary income. He whines like a little baby about not being able to get into a vacation room when he wanted to. Of course what this means is he expected to be able to use the room with no notice during a busy holiday season. It is idiots like this guy who ruin it for the rest of us. I have owned my timeshare for years, and consider it the best investment I have ever made. This post is clearly written by someone that does not have the brains to make the oodles of money that are just there for the taking. He probably doesn’t even know how to read. He makes me sick. Oh and that bulls**t story about “my manager beats me”…….. please stop telling lies so that you can feel good about your meaningless, worthless life. That is why you are poor. You suck.
KARL,
You have owned timeshares for years and that’s the best investment that you have…..so really, what Diamond Resort do you own at, how long and how many units?
Surely you jest. The industry is rampant with bad apples. What does reading the contract have to do with being able to rent it out for a profit?
Yes Karl, there are some good ones out there. But I’d say the “bad apples” far more than outweigh the good apples.
Slavery was abolished in 1865 when a lot of folks fought to free the lietral slaves. Financial slavery looks different but amounts to the same thing. Defaults are not acknowledged probably because it would trigger a stapmpede for the exits. Anyone who is happy with their T/S good on you. Anyone not satisfied should be able to withdraw without further hassle. No way should one mistake enslave you for life.