Diamond Resorts-is it a scam?

eugeniia

There are good timeshares out there, as well as there are people who feel happy about their timeshare purchases, especially those who enjoy to vacation at the same place and are not spontaneous travelers. Unfortunately, due to the big number of timeshare scams being committed against many vacationers, the industry has gained a terrible reputation. Visit timesharescam.com

crits

I agree with Eugenia's last post.
I've been a DRI member for over 12 years now.
With 5000 Points I have enjoyed 18 trips and look forward to another 3 vacations in 2015.
Took various friends with me over the years - sometimes we were a party of 4;6;8; and even 10 pax on one trip.
Their website is very user friendly and booking is easy especially when one can book 13 months in advance.
All resorts are in tip top condition & well maintained, hence the rising cost of annual maintenance fees ranging from £325 in 2012 to £848 in 2014.
One negative point is that sometimes vacant accommodation is not always available to Members but can still be found at the required resort at other 'booking websites'., at a cost of course.
Otherwise all has to date been very satisfactory.

Hoof_Hearted

I think your posts could have more credibility, Crits, if you posted about things other than Diamond Resorts, always showing it in a positive light.

SpammyTheSpammer

Be fair, Hoof Hearted, Crits did reveal that the basic maintenance cost of a DRI timeshare was more than that for which you could get a full package holiday to the same place. And that is BEFORE the whopping 5 figure "purchase" cost.

I suspect that Crits is a typical scammed sucker, keen to try to convince everyone that they were not royally shafted by a shadey organisation who have taken a fortune off them and will continue to milk them for every penny over the coming eternity.

Remember that timeshares are not just for life, they are FOR PERPETUITY!

crits

A few more figures to amplify my earlier positive comments:


Total sum paid from 2002 to date, inclusive of initial Entry Fee plus Annual Maintenance Fees amounts to just over £15500 equivalent to £861 for each of the 18 trips, with 4-10 people travelling.
So, it wasn't such a bad deal after all ?


As for the perpetuity aspect mentioned, firstly 2054 isn't perpetual and last but not least, I haven't heard of anyone being forced to pay when he's had enough holidaying and/or cannot make more use of DRI's facilities for genuine reasons.


So please let's all try & look at the positive side of DRI for a change.

SpammyTheSpammer

antenna wrote: »

Just looked on Ebay.
4000 + 4000 holiday points with Diamond.......top bid 1 penny......Plus £399 transfer charge,then plus annual charges around £900 and rising every year.........if this is a bargain then i will get me clogs.......................
Edit to explain that only Diamond members can register these points once bought............idiots only then!

.... that just about sums up the value of these timeshare points.

Jagdog

I am just back from a long weekend at Pine Lodge resort near Carnforth, I was charged £120 for a 3 night weekend in a 2 bed lodge, including a marketing meeting. The resort is great, in a nice location with plenty to do and the lodges are lovely, very well fitted out and equipped. The 4 of us were given Sunday lunch and then my wife and I were given a marketing talk and demonstration for about 90 minutes. We were then joined by a Salesman who, when pressed, informed me that my membership would cost about £9860 upfront payment and £1050 per year “maintenance cost”, until 2054. I find it incredible to believe that anyone, no matter how well off they may, be would even consider, for a millisecond, signing up for this, all the resorts can be booked for 2 weeks through third party websites for much less than the yearly maintenance cost, never mind the ridiculous lump sum. We forcibly told the salesman exactly this, he then tried to sell me a mini package, which I refused and then we left. I thought it was quite amusing and had a great weekend, I would recommend Diamond Resorts to anyone and think the marketing weekends are great value, you just have to be forceful and walk out when you have had enough.

SpammyTheSpammer

Jagdog wrote: »

... all the resorts can be booked for 2 weeks through third party websites for much less than the yearly maintenance cost, never mind the ridiculous lump sum....

How do you think that you got the room and "free" Sunday lunch? It was paid for by suckers who fell for the DRI hard-sell.

cddc

I have timeshare. If you buy in the right place it works well.

We went on loads of these "free" or cheap offer weeks including a Diamond Resorts one before we eventually bought 10 years ago in Florida. We paid five grand., and in those 10 years our service charge has never exceeded £200.

We have used it to stay in some of Diamond's resorts along with many others .

There are three key factors as to whether you get value out of the timeshare system.
What you originally pay. Your service charge, and how often you use the system.
You also need to be organised enough to book well in advance to get the resorts you really want at the time you want them.

If all of this applies, it can work for you. We use the system at least twice a year and reckon we have got our initial payment back in terms of what we have saved over booking the excellent standard of accommodation we have had via travel agents.

However, if we had bought at Diamond, under the terms offered to us at the time by them, we would, I am sure, not be nearly as happy.

I would not go as far as calling them sharks, they are a long standing and relatively reputable operation with some very nice resorts. But there is certainly far better value to be had in terms of what is available in the timeshare market.

So whilst I am more than happy to use the system to stay at their resorts, I certainly would not buy a timeshare from them. You can get far better value elsewhere.

BOBBY1

Hi ,
i have also just returned from a really nice 2 night in a 2 bedroom lodge at PineLake Resort, Carnforth which i booked through Groupon a few months ago as a surprise birthday treat for my partner.Well we have to admit the lodge and the location was great for our 2 night trip could`nt fault it really, but on our first morning the telephone in the lodge rang, to which i answered.
At which we were asked how we were enjoying our stay and that we would be entitled to another stay for 4 nights mid week at £89 or 3 nights weekend £89, to which i said sounded great and just to see the rep at check out. Anyway our first thoughts were we would enjoy another stay later in the year so at check out were introduced to a female Diamond Resort rep who handed us a form to fill in and explained we could stay there at Pinelake or other resorts some abroad.
I proceeded to fill the form in and on it was required to add the last 4 digits of my debit card i used when checking in, as you are required to give a £100 breakages deposit on arrival. At this point we were told we had to book our stay within 6 months and could use it within 12 months, we had to attend a Diamond resort seminar for an hour, we would also get a free breakfast and evening meal, when we returned.
An uneasiness when at home that night made me look at Diamond Resorts on the web to find all about the scams and timeshare hells people were having, so a decision not to go back or have anything to do with it, i even re-applied for a new debit card on my digital banking stating my present card was lost. Anyway long story short is checking my banking today i have found that they have taken £89 out of my account, and looking at the form we filled in its non returnable, stupid me. I have no intentions of returning or having anything to do with Diamond Resorts, but my partner is worried that if we dont go to the seminar, as it states £40 a night will be charged for your stay if you dont attend, they will start taking money out of our account, now i have reassured her this cannot be legally done and we have at most lost £89 but it is a worry looking at how this company acts !