Diamond Resorts-is it a scam?

Tangible

It appears that the BBC dropped plans previously to deal with timeshares on the show.

http://www.newstatesman.com/broadcast/2010/06/jenny-bond-timeshare-bbc-rip

I'll avoid passing comment.

slugs

We bought our timeshare week in 1995 no cooling off period then, but we made the most of it, the accomodation has changed hands about four times since then,last one and the worst company Diamond Resorts,fees shot through the roof they also added extras on like sinking fund prior debt,this can be any price they want,you cant do anything about it,so after our fees got to £800+ per year for one weeks holiday, and you had less and less choice of good accomodation plus we noticed more and more people were booking into our "exclusive" timeshare through on line holiday companys cheaper than us, going for £320 last week ASDA travel, we wanted out,we had this on ebay for 0.99 for over a month, but it didnt sell,so our "investment"is a joke, we asked about handing this back free, but told we cant leave,but we could change to points for a fee but we declined, we have to be over 75, dead,bankcrupt, loss of a partner, now none of this is stated on our contract,so we have been in dispute since 2010,we are now hounded by Daniels Silverman debt collectors,we will not pay another penny out to this lot of crooks we want our day in court...I have been told not to buy second hand points has they are not pure points and you will not have as much choice,was also told you can only sell to exsisting members,you will also have to join a exchange group, I know at least 1600 non payers so multiply by £800/£1500 per year they are losing,They have started asset stripping, so i dont think they will be able to keep this up,they might ditch the european branches concentrate on USA. they have started selling rooms to on line holiday companys for a fraction what members pay, we are told no rooms available for that date but they are on line.... membership fees from us then rental fees on top SCAM
Timeshare was a great way to holiday but the greed has set in, although new laws have come in this year to protect new owners,I still cant see the point of owning points/weeks,when you can get a great gold crown resort without the worry and at a fraction of the cost,I would advise anybody NOT to buy into this.

mustBdebt3

I have seen a deal on groupon for a three night stay at a DRI resort in Lancashire. Is this too good ot be true? Will they try and sell me a timeshare?

lesoggy

Tangible
What happened once doesn’t mean it will happen again. I remember a saying if you don’t succeed try, try, try again.
I’m sure if over a 1000 emails all titled DRI arrived in the same inbox, on the same day, someone will question it. If not what have you lost.

Tangible

I agree lesoggy. I'm just a cynic.

The horror is that non-members will always get a better deal than members, as non-members have to be attracted. Members are a captive client base. It's the underlying fault in the whole concept.

Following on from that, as less members pay fees then their 'investment' loses value due to lack of funds to maintain and renovate the properties. As many members now appear to have lost hope of their 'investment' being worth anything, then the whole business loses all viability.

It was almost like a pyramid enterprise, and as long as new members joined there wasn't a problem, but the tide has turned. Even if there are good timeshare deals offered by reputable companies, the whole notion is tarnished by the many people who now hold investments worth nothing.

It seems that some entrepreneurs aren't familiar with the tale of the goose that lays the golden eggs.

1958eab

We're getting threatening letters and phone calls from Daniels Silverman for none payment of fees also. As far as we are concerned we don't own the points any longer as we transfered them to Club Class Concierge two years ago. They tell us not to pay anything to DRI but they don't seem to be paying the fees either. We are at our wits end as we haven't got this kind of money available, husband retired with health problems and I'm redundant and at an age that I'm not going to find a job easily. Please can someone help?

Tangible

If you search back through this thread 1958eab you'll find mention of a website set up to assist and advise people with problems arising from their DRI membership.

I don't know how good they are and I do believe, that to become a full member, they require personal information about you, which they state is to verify that you aren't a DRI employee.

Look them up and take a peek before you decide whether or not to join them. Perhaps someone else from this thread will be able to tell you more about them.

Best of luck.

slugs

1958 eab...hi the site is drip.enjin.com we signed up to this in 2010 and wished i had done it sooner over 1600 people on there now all helping each other with letters and advice NOBODY has been taken to court for non payment DANIELS SILVERMAN can only ask you to pay,tell them not to phone you as you will put the phone down and DO, if they threaten you tell them you will report them to OFT also when you tell them you dispute the debt they should NOT contact you again,if they write asking why you dispute the debt TELL THEM to investigate it,dont do there job for them, the so called debt has to go back to DIAMOND to issue a court order, and they are in a stalemate if they lose the court case it opens the flood gate for all non payers, there is more help like this on the DRIPs site,it takes a little while for you to get registered but believe me its worth it,we need to all stick together...JOIN NOW.. www drip.enjin.com.

slugs

1958 eab....just had a quick look at Club Class Concierge,they were a scam company now out of buisness, if you payed them they said they would take the timeshare off you,but Diamond didn't reconised them as sellers so YOU were still liable for your maintenance fees as Club Class Concierge didnt bother to pay any fees to DIAMOND, I would go with my blog above for now and i would recomend the DRIP site, more people with better info than me on there that would give you piece of mind..good luck p.s there is a blogg on this site about Club Class Concierge not a very nice company.

malc5656

My wife and I recently when on holiday to Lanzarote where we were offered a way out of our DRI pts. This was offered to us as part of a sales pitch to purchase a time share with Grand Holidays. We were told we could TRADE our points, the trade involving a company based in Tenerife called AGENTES CANARIOS SL. I must stress that the TRADE did not appear as part of the purchase contract and we are therefore sceptical of how it can work when,like other DRI owners have been told your in it for life. My take on this that Agentes Canarios is probably acting as a escrow but I am still sceptical as to how they will deal with DRI on our behalf or otherwise. I was told to ignore any correpondance from DRI forwarding them all to Grand Holidays and /or Agentes Canarios who would deal with them. They also have an appointed spanish lawyer who will deal with the trade. It all sounds to good to be true. You mention in your message that your have been offered a way out with DRI if you pay your outstanding fees. I was informed to ignore all correspondance as paying outstanding fees just ties you straight back in with them. How long have you been refusing to pay? We were advised that the trade will be completed in 12 months. How long have you been refusing to pay and are you now free of DRI? MALC