Diamond Resorts International DRI Diamond Resorts is a SCAM! Insane fees & impossible customer service!!!! Internet, Internet

DRI customer service is an oxymoron. DRI is in the business of deluding people into believing DRI has a product to provide (vacation destinations) and service to help you. They have neither. DRI provides Mr. Cloobeck with a fabulous income from his sales staff misleading, pressuring and telling fabricated lies to honest folks trying to find affordable vacations for their families. After 4 years of dealing with DRI customer service on many levels, I can tell you their real job is ONLY to delay your dissatisfaction level witth empty promises and get more money for higher fees or purchasing more points. Eventually you will give up and get smart and just stop paying. Yes, you will lose the money you gave them, but the sooner you stop throwing good $ after bad $ the better.  

I think we should try to get together for a class action suit against DRI for fraud - flat out, customer fraud. DRI does not meet their obglations in the contract Even though you do. Any one interested? 

I just wanted to say that I completely agree with you.  I just signed up for this program mid-last year (2011) during my vacation and I wasn't allowed to use it until this year.  I sat at the place for 3 1/2 hours telling them that although I liked the place that I stayed at, I didn't want any more bills and therefore didn't want to purchase anything from Diamond Resorts.  The sales people kepts pushing me by offering me "gifts" and telling me how cost efficient signing up would be and that it would be very affordable for me to handle.  They told me that signing up would save me money on vacations since my family and I went on vacation every year.  Like I said after about 3 1/2 hours and a, what seemed to be, nice gift, I finally said that I would try it. 

Towards the end of last year, I received a bill for the maintenance fee total $792.  It was a hard hit, but the worker did tell me that the maintenance fee would initially be that high.  I assumed that it would go down because they said that I had made a huge mistake in paying a $350 maintenance fee that I had from a different vacation package from another company which gave me 7 day vacations every year in condos just like them.  They told me that that fee was not good.  They said that I should get their package and get rid of the one I have with the other company.  Naturally when they said that, I assumed that their fee would end up being much lower.  It seems that I'm wrong.  After reading countless reviews and contacting Diamond, I see that they likely lied to me about the maintenance fees, withheld important information that would have had me walk away without a question and much more.

At the begining of this year, I was finally able to start planning my vacation.  First, I called customer service to see how I could activate the 3500 pt gift that I recieved while signing up.  During that call, I was told that I would have to pay about $400 to use those 'gifted' points.  At that point I started getting mad and researching Diamond Resorts.  What kind of gift needs to be paid for?  No one mentioned that to me when I signed up.  I would've never went for it and they know that.  I sent an email to the company and never received a response.  Then I started looking at diamond resorts website to plan a BIG family vacation that the sales person told me I'd be able to go on with my family this year.  He suggested Las Vegas or Hawaii.   I knew that it would be a problem because I wasn't going to pay for the so called gift of 3500 pts.   I began looking for a nice place online.  I was having trouble figuring the online booking out so I called customer service for help.  After contacting customer service and still not being able to find a vacation in either of those spots for the regular 2500 pts I got when I signed up.  I noticed that there wasn't much I could do, that I'd actually like, with the points I was given.  By this time I was steaming and I haven't even went on a vacation yet with the points.  Not being able to find a reasonable vacation, I called Diamond again and explained my situation and disappointment, then I asked about using the points towards flights becuase that is something the salespeople stressed to me that I could do instead.  The lady at Diamond told me that I would only be able to get a $175 flight ticket with the 2500 pts that I paid for becuase each point was only worth $.04.  My jaw dropped.  When I signed up, I was told that it costs $3 per point.  I really started going crazy by now.  How are they going to charge someone $3/point then only have the points be worth $.04 when you want to use them?  I then tried to calm myself down and talked to a supervisor.  I told her that I had sent an email, through the website, months ago about my complaints and situation.  She told me that she'd definitely have someone get in contact with me.  Meanwhile I sent another email out.  Thankfully she kept her word becuase someone finally contacted me about my latest email a few days later.  I was told that they would have 2 of the people I talked to on the day I signed up contact me.  Within weeks they did and that's when more drama began.  

First they tried to explain about the 3500 'gifted' points.   In one conversation with one of the people, he said that the first person I talked to should have told me that I'd have to pay a fee for the 'gift'.  In another conversation with the other guy, I was told that the last guy I talked to should've told me about the fee.  They then said that they'd give me 2500 'free' points not the 3500 pts I was originally promised.  First I was told I would have the points added to my account in no more that 72 hours.  Two weeks later, I contacted them becuase I still didn't get the points.  I was then told it would take a max of 30 days.  After about 40 days I contacted them again and they told me they'd look into it again.  I finally received the 2500 pts. today.  These people are a  money hungry mess.

Then regarding the almost useless amount of points that I have, the first guy that I talked to told me that he wouldn't have suggested for me to get the package with the points that I have becuase I can't really do anything that I wanted to do regarding vacation with that little amount of points.  I questioned why they would give me something like that if I can't do much with it and he told me that it was just an introduction package, which no one told me about at all when I signed up.  Then he had the guy that gave me the presentation call me about the points problem.  The guy tried to make it seem like I was the problem by lying and saying that he told me that the points was only a part of an introduction package.  I replied and told him that he was lying and that he never told me such a thing becuase I told him that I didn't ever plan on buying more points and that a lot of my family goes on vacation together.  I told him that I wanted to be able to have those types of vacations with the package and he said that I'd be able to.  So, while I was talking to him he said that he never told me I'd be able to do a big family vacation to somewhere like Hawaii or Las Vegas.  My mom and I told him that he was lying because my mom was there with me when I signed up.  He then said that he'd be able to find me a vacation like that to Vegas.  I got online and he walked me through what to enter and was able to find one place in Las Vegas that I'd be able to take my family.  He then got smart saying that I tried to lie on him.  I again said that he's the one who lied.  He thought that just becuase he was able to find one place, which was only a one room that he said that I'd need to book multiple times to take the amount of people that I wanted, that I should just be satisfied.  I'm not.  There's still way too many things that I'm finding out that he and others neglected to tell me that should be required to be told.  Like, I was told after contacting customer service one time, that there is a $45, or something close to that, fee to book a hotel through Interval, aside from the $198 charge.  I've never go for that either.  Also, though I haven't been in long enough to experience this yet, I see, through thousand of complaints I've read, that the maintenance fees regularly rise to ridiculous rates.  The fee seems to get so high that it is better off to pay for your own vacations as you go each year.  Also there's the HUGE problem with not being able to sell back once you've paid the purchase off and decide that you don't want it anymore.  It should be required by law to tell someone that they've just signed up for a lifelong contract and there's basically no way out.  It should be illegal period.  I'd never sign up for something I'm bound to for life and I doubt most people would.  Why should I have to keep paying maintenance fees when I don't want the package anymore?  Total scam.  I want to keep as many people as possible from disrupting their lives by signing up for this.  I can say so much more, but I don't want to type anymore right now.  I need a way out of this and I'll continue for do my research until I find that way.  Sadly I haven't even used this yet and have had so many problems.

Hi Shelbi,