Welcome to this week’s Friday’s Letter from America, today we publish part two from David Franks, Our Diamond Misadventures. But as usual we start with some news from Europe.
Today there is a Special General Meeting of owners from Anfi, they are being asked to vote for one of three resolutions. These are in order to bring Anfi contracts in line with the laws in Spain, which as we all know are being enforced rigorously by the courts, with almost daily announcements of contracts being declared null & void with all monies returned. As we mentioned in a previous article it is a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
After last weeks article was published there were yet more announcements from the courts, the first was against Palm Oasis (Tasolan SL), with the court declaring the contract null & void with the repayment of 31,577€, a very happy ex-owner indeed.
Then on Friday evening we were informed of another decision from the Court of First Instance against none other than Anfi! The amount awarded is a staggering 59,053€.
So far this week there have been another two against Anfi, another against Palm Oasis (Tasolan SL) and two more from the Tenerife courts against Resort Properties / Silverpoint. So it looks like those lawyers from Canarian Legal Alliance are flying.
The “fake” law firms from the Litigious Abogados family in Tenerife have another name added, a new Procurador going by the name of Daniel Marco Yariz. This Procurador is working on behalf of Abogados Amable & Garcia who we highlighted in Friday’s Letter from America on 12 May. Their documents to those who are not familiar with them do look genuine, especially those from the “courts”. They certainly are growing, the question is how much money have they managed to swindle from unsuspecting owners? (Search Litigious Abogados for all articles).
One of our regular readers has informed us that he has been banned from the forum timeshare talk, because he posted one of our articles about Mr Mark Rowe. Not surprising really, as it is owned by him. So the question is can you trust this forum?
So, now on with this weeks article from David Franks.
Our Diamond Misadventures
Chapter Two: Missouri Loves Company
By David Franks
June 23, 2017
Once back from our two Vegas experiences – the vacation proper and the DRI ordeal as chronicled here:
http://insidetimeshare.com/fridays-letter-america-5/ –
my lovely wife and I resumed our mundane lives and occasionally perused the Diamond Resorts material in anticipation of our membership’s becoming active in 2016. After ignoring several email and phone offers for a “free” weekend resort stay, and realizing that a resort stay was inevitable, we decided to give a resort a chance and – God help us – we booked a weekend and the obligatory “New Member orientation presentation lasting approximately 90-120 minutes” at the Suites at Fall Creek in Branson, Missouri. This would not be too long a drive from our hermitage.
We arrived at the Suites at Fall Creek on Saturday, October 17, 2016. After a check-in that included an introduction to the concierge desk, we deciphered the map they provided and found the two bedroom suite they had hidden at the back of the Suites at Fall Creek property. Though it would pass for nice, with a kitchen I might have been able to get used to during a week’s stay, it wasn’t luxurious, and it didn’t alter our conviction that resort staying is not for us. We went out and drove around for a look at Branson, found a satisfactory restaurant, had an adequate evening meal and found our way back to our pied-a-terre.
We arose early for the 8 a.m. breakfast that was part of the presentation. The dismal breakfast buffet should have served ample warning of what was to come. After that unfortunate incident and being chatted up by friendly salespeople, the group dispersed and my lovely wife and I were ushered into the office of M. W. for our individual “orientation”. He was shocked – shocked! – that M. R. in Las Vegas had sold us such a small membership. He proceeded to tell us what we should have been told in Las Vegas: the membership was too small to accomplish what we wanted. But boy, did he have a way to fix that. (Just think! A tag team that works halfway across the country!) In the face of our complete – and reinforced – lack of interest in resorts, M.K. gave us the same assurances as we had received in Las Vegas: that between Diamond and Interval International we would have access to comprehensive travel services, discounted travel and a 20- or 30-cent point redemption value for all DRI and II services. We mentioned our liking for train travel, and he told us that Diamond was working on an agreement with Amtrak.
In addition to a reprise of the Vegas promises, we were offered the incentive of double bonus points with a purchase, which would put us at Gold membership level for two years so we could really put our membership through its paces. If we still didn’t like what they had to offer at the end of the two years, then we could sell our membership. There was no mention of the particular difficulty of reselling DRI memberships in the secondary market. Having looked at the figures for another assortment of membership packages, membership did not appear to be too good to be true; rather, as presented, it seemed a reasonable value: the redemption value of points at 20 cents was approximately equal to the maintenance fees. We selected a membership that brought us to the Silver level. We were told we would have a 30-cent point redemption value for all services for calendar 2016 and 2017, and 20 cents per point after that. The first two years seemed a good value, but the ability to resell was the clincher.
Among the blandishments proffered was a variety of “Dream Vacations” from which we could select one to try out Diamond’s expert travel service. We selected a Miami-and-cruise vacation for 7,500 points.
About fifteen minutes after filling out credit card applications, my lovely wife and I were each miraculously handed a Diamond Resorts-branded MasterCard issued by Barclaycard US. I say “miraculously” because issuance was based on our assertion as to the value of half of our liquid assets – a figure they could not have verified in the time they took (this was on a Sunday), and a formula I’ve never seen used anywhere else. I guess our credit scores helped. And “miraculous” because the two cards covered the entire remaining cost of the new slab of membership.
M.K. gave us his personal cell phone number, and told us to think of him as our “concierge” if we ever needed anything – the third concierge we acquired that weekend. He also asked us to give him a good rating with Diamond, as he had never received a complaint from a client. With breakfast, “orientation”, selling, credit card applications, additional enticements, contract paperwork, and being left alone in M.K.’s office for awkward periods, the ordeal took over seven hours.
The next morning we were able to flee the premises with little disruption or delay and enjoy a fine drive home.
Important points so far:
- Again, the 20- or 30- cent exchange value of points, for all types of travel, was the only value mentioned in the presentation.
- Again, convenient, discounted travel was emphasized.
- Again, the availability and advantage of comprehensive travel service through Interval International was emphasized.
- The last time I talked to Amtrak, they knew of no arrangement with Diamond Resorts.
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If you are a Diamond member, here is the link to our Advocacy page on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DiamondResortsOwnersAdvocacy/
Thanks to David for your contribution and also to Irene Parker for the editing, we are certainly getting a great team of contributors together. OK, mainly from across the great lake, if you have a story you would like to share, contribution are welcome.
When we have some news from the Special General Meeting being held by Anfi, we will share that with you. In the meantime have a great weekend.
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