Thursday, August 16, 2012

An Open Question For Diamond

When in doubt, take to social media.

Back in March of this year, I was in the UK speaking at TATOC's (http://www.tatoc.co.uk) conference.  While there, I found out that Diamond Resorts International (DRI) offered UK owners a way out of their timeshare, referred to as "Resignation of Ownership", provided that one of four criteria were met.

These criteria are:

In recognition that there can be certain exceptional circumstances for owners, Diamond Resort will take into consideration the following:

1.      Death of either member with no possibility of transferring to family members – copy of death certificate will be required.

2.      Bankruptcy or CAB/ solicitor’s involvement to resolve serious debt issues – specific documentary evidence detailing income, outgoing, assets and liabilities will be required.

3.      Over 75 years old with no possibility of transferring to family members – copy of birth certificate will be required.

4.      Medical problems/terminal illness necessitating reduced travel and/or decrease in financial resources to maintain membership – medical evidence will be required
Now, you would think that this is a good thing.  Diamond doing a good thing for their owners that don't have other options.

So I called Diamond and asked if these criteria were in place for US owners.  Months went by with no answer.  I e-mailed.  Again, no answer.  I called again and this time I was told that unless I was an owner, they would not talk to me.

So, Diamond...what's the answer???



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I wonder why they did that in the UK?

I suspect they were forced in some way.
Clearly it's not in their best interest to let anyone out of their contract for any reason.

But it's not nearly enough, why should anyone have to prove to a private company that they are too old or sick to travel? You shouldn't.

I've said it before:
When the timeshare interest liability of the purchaser is limited to the value of your interest in the property, this would all change and customers would become a valuable commodity to timeshare companies.

They would have to keep you satisfied and paying your maintenance fee or you would walk away.

That's the last thing they want. They need you there paying your bill and happily using the property.

As it is now they would prefer you pay your bill and never darken their door.

I want to be an important customer. I don't want anything to dilute that!