Diamond Resorts-is it a scam?

geeka

hi everyone. ive just searched and found this thread. i could do with some advice.
my parents have 8000 points with Diamond REsorts. they are sick of paying out the crazy fees. what are there options, ive seen people selling them on ebay for 99p but after speaking to my mum she says diamond resorts have said something about going through a timeshare agency, is this a load of flannel to try and stop her selling them. whats the situation with ebay? the ones that are being sold say they can only transfer to exsisting diamond resorts members, is this the get out clause? any help would be great as they are retired and all this stress about finding 900 quid per years is getting to them
thanks

slugs

hi geeka,i wouldnt bother with ebay nor with dri apointed resale company, they charge about £190 for advertising but you cant sell.. have you heard about a group of us called DRIPS this is a self help group, some of us have managed to leave with template letters,good info from members worth a look we havent payed since 2010 will leave the web site i takes about a week to join you need to give a few details but it has been worth it for piece of mind.also if your parents are 75 or over i think there would be a get out for them. www.drip.enjin.com

geeka

Hi, thanks for that, ive forwarded the link onto them and they have applied to join. Hopefully i can help sort it out for them.
much appreciated,
Tim

tdotedot

I'm trying to help my mum who bought a Bluegreen Resorts timeshare for Florida in 2005 and is close to retirement now and cannot afford the flights to use the points. She hasn't had much success in swapping the points, nor in renting them via Bluegreen's own system, so she hasn't covered any of her costs and just loses the money she pays for the points every year.

I've been trying to look into ways of getting rid of the timeshare, she's already listed it on some websites where people can buy them but there doesn't seem to be any demand for this. I was wondering whether she could give it back, but apparently the company won't let her although I don't think she's put a lot of pressure on them.

I've read a few threads in various places and can't see a way out of this at all, the maintenance fees are £800 per year and she's getting nothing back for them. She's paid off the cost of the points so it's just the maintenance fees that are ongoing.

Can anyone suggest any options? Are there any legal avenues I could explore - writing letters, threatening legal action or referral to ombudsman etc? I don't think she'd mind getting nothing in return for it if it meant she could stop paying the fees.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Tdot

oscar55

For any Diamond resort member wanting to resign their membership it seems if you join DRIPS website the chairman stephen cloobeck is willing to let anyone leave at no cost.Looking bad for the remaining members which will end up paying even higher fees as well as Diamond resorts having to sell off more resorts in europe.Watch out for for the bbc programme in november RIP OFF BRITAIN when diamond resorts will be appearing.

slugs

Thttp://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20588 here is a email which can be filled in from the direct.gov if anough people fill this in something might be done.I am also a member of DRIPS.

slugs

Due to rip off brittain doing a show about timeshare and DRI,Mr cloobeck CEO, has offered his GENEROSITY he is such a generous man!!! to let people out with all unpayed fees wavered, this offer is only open untill nov 30th, Of course the airing of this program,he hopes dri will look good offering this amnesty.
Only problem, all who sign the get out letter is to be silenced, we will not be alowed to talk about this again,or there is a 10,000 fine,for every time i mention DRI to any web/media/you/just about everybody.... Will i be on here again who knows.... rip off britain starts mon nov 28 at 9-15 (morning) not sure yet when DRI will be on but late dec was mentioned.

slugs

Well i DID'NT sign the gagging letter,so i can carry on telling how this company scams its members,first off this offer was ONLY given to members of DRIPs,we had a direct email to cloobeck which then went to the uk offices,paper work was sent out from there,THE OFFER.. we sign the gagging letter we are out,dont tell any one else,so all the fees owed by us was wiped off,or perhaps its added to existing members fees this year to claw back, some of us was in arrears by over four years, times that by people who left ...ouch, there will be over 2000 members of DRIPs in the next few weeks...

gjojones

I'm a member of www drip.enjin.com and recently resigned my point’s membership with DRI, but even though they accepted my resignation, I was told I was still responsible for ongoing management fees until my point’s allocation were sold.

You can't sell your points as no-one wants them and DRI won't take them back.

Prior to this year (2012), I have always paid my management fees and managed to book accommodation at one of their resorts - although almost never at my 1st choice location, or dates.

Management fees have increased so much over recent years that you can actually book at DRI resorts cheaper by using a travel agent, than if you are a member of DRI and that is not including the original fee spent to 'buy-in' to the system in the first place.

Not too bad if you are booking for 4 people in a 1-bed unit or 6 people in a 2-bed unit to help share the cost, or if you book in Florida etc, but the sums just don't work if using in Europe.

Martin - you need to put some emphasis into helping resolve this fiasco.

tridentbibbyone

I am about to join the ranks of DRI Europe members who are refusing to pay the management fees. They have gone through the roof and now that I have retired are not affordable. I missed the 30th November 2011 cut off for getting out of the system so now have to run the gauntlet and .of holiday in Europe though the USA appears to have more choice. Whilst the standard of accommodation is good there are more and more holiday makers paying for the accommodation and many of the resorts are not exclusive to DRI members. I would not recommend buying points to anyone, on top of the constantly rising maintenance fees you have airfares which the sales people fail to mention. I have two holidays booked for this year using my points allocation from 2011 for which the management fees were paid in full. I wait with baited breath to see if DRI cancel these bookings.