Diamond Resorts-is it a scam?

PJ323

Being taken to a timeshare presentation usually offshore and subjected to hours and hours of sales pressure, at which point you lose the will to continue and eventually agree to sign the most contentious of documents, brainwashed even after the 14 days cooling off period has elapsed ala DRI, is very similar to Rendition which has been condemed by the United Nations. I often think that Rendition would have been the better option..It certainly would have been cheaper.

stu3105

I'm afraid the handback scheme was just that. I returned my 9000 points and received nothing as the points were worthless. It just meant that I no longer had to pay the £65 per month management fees and whatever "other fees" they may add in the coming years.

Basically I took the loss and moved on.

From memory the hand back scheme lasted for about 6 weeks after they announced the management fee increase around Autumn 08. There was such a stink about it that when the company was taken over again the new company directors in America offered this to any disgruntled European customers.
I recommend you to look at the Sunterra/Diamond Resorts Members Forum on yahoo.

I apologise if I led you to believe I sold them.

Best of luck.

mpython

roughandready,

You appear not to have answered a few of my questions:

How are prizes awarded?
Is the award system independently verified? If so, by whom?
Is there a relationship between signing up and winning a bigger value prize?

Winning a £2k cruise or £2.5k entertainment system is not much of a prize if you can only win them by signing up to membership (@ £150k based on previous posts & threads).

Winning holiday that you have to pay £25 for is not a real prize, especially if you're then subject to more sales pitches.

roughanready86

hey there mpython

you wanted to know how they were awarded basically we call you offering you to come down to our presentation day either on saturday or sunday either of your choice then if your still happy with that then i let you know that you will recieve 2 of 5 gifts on the day you come down the 2 gift codes will come in the post which will determine what you walk away with on the day so that way we cant favor people who sign up to the holiday club to the ones who dont. the gift codes are done automatically and there is 5 alternative codes that get prossessed out to people. the only product we sell is a trial membership valued at around £3000 which is a 3 year membership allowing 10 holidays if used correctly or 5 if you go for the far more exoctic places. at any point you are not under any obligation to sign up we would much rather you tell someone who will benefit from it, baring in mind some of these posts are from old experiences times now have had to change basically to still be the largest private company in the worl. we do appreciate that it wont be for everyone and that is why all our advertising is down on these 2 of 5 gifts for coming and basically all our other advertising is down to you the guests to pass on that is why we wont bully you as people keep saying. the people saying that are more likely to be the ones that havent turned up in the first place they are just sceptical. you after bare in mind there is going to be about 60 couples in the place all in the same situations as you would be if you came so obviously where not going to pressure people the likelyhood of trouble breaking out would be quite bad so making sure you get your gifts and realise what is going to happen when you turn up is essential. yes it would be great if you signed up for us but we cant aim to please everyone.

but please let me reassure you the gifts are chose at random and the worst you will get is the £500 cash and the camera. the holiday at £25 per person is that what it say a 4 night break you would of already had our presentation so why would we go through it all again. this is a gift not a chance to pressure you.

thanks roughanready

mpython

roughanready86 wrote: »

ps i emailed this to you if you look on the inbox i sent it about a week ago thanks

roughandready, you emailed it to me 3 hours before your reply to casey1709, nearly 2 weeks after I asked.

I am dissapointed that you won't give a straight answer to straight questions.

Therefore I'm left to conclude the prizes are not independently verified. (If they are, please provide a list of winners and the auditor)

As a seasoned "comper" I have never, ever heard of anyone winning one of the big prizes without having signed up to the timeshare.

You can deny it all you want but the fact remains, the memberships offered by your company are dreadful investments and wholly unfairly one sided.

roughanready86

mpython

how can i not have been straight with what im sayin when i said we send the gift codes out to ya before you even attend. how clear does it after be. just imagine we have 60, 70 or even 80 couples coming in at the same time dont you think it would be a cooincidence if they all walked away with the worst 2 gifts on the day. your forgetting we are bound by law to give out the gifts so we after make sure that all the gifts are given out each month. end of day you go in your own travel agents get a gift from them for having a look at there holidays its not going to happen is it. least where actually giving you something<<<WEATHER YOU SIGN UP FOR THE POINTS OR NOT. as for the scheme not been worth it how many people have complained on here to how many members are there currently diamond resorts has roughly almost 390, 000 members and still growing. yet there is only a few people who are actual real diamond members on here complaining. most are just enquiring about it on here. ps i thought i was helping mpython by replying but if you dont want my replys dont bother asking. have a proper conversation about it and i will be ok too. and if you think i not been helpfull ask a lady on here called DBRET who asked for my help to sell her points which i have fully been cooperative with on the situation and doing my damned hardest to help resolve her situation.

chris.s_5

roughanready86 wrote: »

mpython

how clear does it after be. QUOTE]

A lot clearer than that! I think it's fairly clear to everyone the kind of people DRI recruit to do their dirty work. Why don't you come clean and call the so-called gifts what they quite obviously are BRIBES. Any company which has to rely on tactics such as this together with lies and deceit has no place in this country. And you are quite wrong about mainly non-members voicing disgust at this company's operations. What kind of response do you think DRI would get if they were ever brave enough to survey current members' feelings about them - which of course they won't because they know the score. If they are so well-endowed with clients (390,000???) why to they cling so tenaciously to the 'few' who want out?

chris.s_5

roughanready86 wrote: »

you see chris.s signing into the company is done by a contract you buy however many points you want and thats it, unfortunately some people are experiencing money troubles which i myself would be upset if i couldnt afford to pay the fees and would most definately be in the same boat carrying on. but you see you agree to buy more points and obviously you sign saying you accept that this will be ok, you get a contract phone and you lose your job they still wont let you end your contract as it is a LEGAL signing by you and your partner. unfortunately the system isnt that easy which i generally do feel sorry for some of you. i dont have nothing to do with that side of it anyways i just ask if you want to have a look at the timeshare and see if it would work for you and this is strictly on a no obligation basis and i give you 2 of the gifts im nowt to do with any sales that go on thats all to do with the u.s side of the company. also they cling on to the ones that are already members as you are members and you sign for however many points you want so this must ome at a price too. ya see im helping them who are not being nasty as most of you are but ive even offered to buy the points of one lady just to help her out as she wanted help with her situation

bye.

And yet you continue to peddle this discredited product. Without wishing to be nasty I hope your leg falls off

roughanready86

chris.s your such a nice guy why do you after come out with something like that. considering im disabled already i suggest you keep them comments to yourself. not at any point have i suggested any harm come to you. im basically trying to let people on here know what happens when they come to the preview days, im not disputing some of you may be annoyed. but the part i am on about is about the day out we offer and gifts. im nothing to do with the timeshare side of this i there to help people get a cheap day out that cheap that its totally free and we give the 2 gifts. like i said what i do is nothing to do with the points system so before you say threats like hoping my leg falls off i suggest you talk to me in a civilised manner. sorry but i just dont get why some of you take it out on me when at any point have i been nasty to any of you. if you would like to know more about what i do feel free to email me in private or on here

thanks roughanready86

mpython

roughanready86 wrote: »

mpython

..... how clear does it after be..... a lot clearer than that - did you pass english at school? Somehow, given your current employment I think not.

..... your forgetting we are bound by law to give out the gifts so we after ....... really? which law then?


... as for the scheme not been worth it how many people have complained on here to how many members are there currently diamond resorts has roughly almost 390, 000 members and still growing. yet there is only a few people who are actual real diamond members on here complaining....

You don't understand statistics or sampling do you? Why don't you show us where we can find some independent customer research on your company



.... ps i thought i was helping mpython by replying but if you dont want my replys dont bother asking. have a proper conversation about it and i will be ok too. This is an open foru, and as long as I stay within the owner's rules I'll ask whatever questions I want. You, however, are free to evade, dodge and not answer the questions asked.

So in conclusion, I'm correct in believeing that the award of prizes are not independently verified and there is no published list of winners to confirm that people who do not buy actually win real prizes.

As you have been so unconvincing in response to my simple questions, and clearly english is not your strong point, maybe we can try maths.

As you like and believe in your company's product so much, can you tell us how much you bought from them and how much you will spend over its lifetime to Dianmond Resorts? Just 2 numbers are required in reply, no MP's waflle or txt speak required.