Diamond Resorts-is it a scam?

BFG_2

WOW....

roughadnready has made a post that ISN'T telling us how brill Diamond scams are!!!!

Whatever next...he admits that Diamond Resorts are a complete scam??

chris.s_5

I was just wondering if all comments had ceased or been censored out (last post published early September). MSE is one of only two or three active conduits of information for ex-members of DRI to find out what is going on with this awful company and as such I for one would much appreciate keeping it going. The 2010 demands for payment will be going out soon presumably which should at least afford some amusement for those who were sensible enough not to be entrapped by salesmens' lies

yorksrabbit

roughanready86 wrote: »

BFG


holidays in luxurious hotels or appartments dont come cheap.

And there for all to see is the nub of the scam: pretending that the only alternative to paying top prices for 'luxurious' accommodation is to sign up to some exploitative outfit like Diamond Resorts.

The scam's as old as timeshare and easily confounded by using the Internet to check for destination deals and late booking sales. Bottom line: holidays in luxurious hotels come a damn sight cheaper than chucking money into DR.

As for 'appartments' though, they tend not to figure in any search engine results.

Dicky_Heart

Just had a thought.
Is it a scam?
Well, if it's run by someone called
Stephen Cloobeck American Male it spells it out.
The answer must be YES.
:T

Probe

Hi,

Well against our normal better judgment we have just signed-up for a "Sampler Membership" with Diamond Resorts International.

We parted with a £300 deposit against a £1995 total price. We are obviously kicking ourselves after the event although the implication appears to be that this element of the scheme may be reasonable value given that it's an initial 1 week stay then 10,000 points to "spend" over 18 months (at which point they will then try to sign us up for the big spend).

We now realise the main stumbing block is the availability of the weeks at non-peak periods, hence maximum price on the flights. Had I been mentally quicker I would have realised the membership figure of 400,000 and 130 resorts makes for a lot of people competing for the same room/week.

Still, that said, the contract looks pretty tight (the term "non-cancellable" is used) so I guess we're saddled with either:

1. Losing the £300 deposit and calling their bluff with any legal action or biting the bullet.
2. Taking the weeks where we can get them and DEFINATELY not taking up the full product at the end of the 30 month "Sampler" period.

Does anyone have any thoughts/experience?

Cheers

BFG_2

DEFINITELY you should try to do a chargeback on your credit/debit card.........

Probe

BFG wrote: »

DEFINITELY you should try to do a chargeback on your credit/debit card.........

Thanks BFG,

If I do this, and are successful, will I be breaking the contract? I.e. will I be letting myself in for legal prosecution or would it be something I could fight/ignore?

(Sorry, I appreciate you're most likely not a lawyer & won't hold your opinion as 100% authorative!)

Xendar

As with most financial agreements like this, won't there be a cooling off period? Normally this would be 14 days.

BFG_2

Dunno for deffo, but you'll be no worse off.

They DEFINITELY won't give you your money back willingly, but they MAY be reluctant to go to court [for £300]

So you've nothing to lose by doing a chargeback...go for it!!!!!

BFG_2

Xendar wrote: »

As with most financial agreements like this, won't there be a cooling off period? Normally this would be 14 days.

Typically not as you've gone to their premises [which removes the cooling off period]

That's the very reason why [for a while] double glazing salesmen used to try to hard sell in the home but 'just nip you down to the office for a big discount from my boss']