Diamond Resorts
reviews and complaints

On Nov. 4, 20 We went to what was supposed to be a 90 minute update, and after turning down offers for 4 (8:00 am to noon) hours, Nick Lunsford, a customer rep wanted to make us happy members. He talked about putting the offers on hold for two years, a concierge service, silver status and 20, 000 points for two years for $3995. He recommended using our regular points first as these points are good for two years and can be extended another year. He showed us the document on his tablet behind plexiglass due to COVID, used Docusign to put our initials and signature on the document and hurried away to print it. When we got the printed document, we left to try to get some golf in as we missed our 11:00 am tee time. That night when we read the contract, Contract No.: 18009338S, we were surprised the 20, 000 points could only be used at Sampler destinations, and not the Royal Palm at St Maartens which we had said we wanted. The customer rep had never mentioned this was a Sampler Package nor that it could only be used in a few locations. If we knew this, we never would have agreed to it. We went back to the Preview Center on Nov 5 and told Nick we wanted to cancel the contract. We wrote that we wanted to cancel and he faxed it to appropriate people. We also sent certified letters to DRI to cancel. On Nov. 6 we had an unsigned email from Diamond Resorts denying our request to cancel the contract. We sent a letter to DRI customer service and I completed an online form at DRI.
On Nov. 12 we had email and phone message from Mary Bini at DRI. We returned her call and said we wanted to cancel the Sampler contract. No points had been given to us, no info sent to us, and no money exchanged. She said the Sampler was not cancellable. I asked why would DRI want to make us angry members rather than cancelling something that costs them nothing? She just said we could not cancel. This does not make any sense that DRI makes us angry for $3995, knowing that we will complain and tell friends, and won't buy from them in the future.

Don't do a Diamond Resort Time share presentation. You will regret it. Don't get me wrong vacationing is GREAT. Don't fall into the pay in advance scheme. Because then you'll pay to get out. Not worth it.
I checked into the a Diamond resort and expressed that I was not interested in doing a presentation. I was assured that Diamond was no longer doing presentations do to COVID-19. (LIE #1) Later on the way to contract I saws more than a dozen couples at presentation tables with sales associates. (LIE #2) I was told that I could see someone to help me save the points I was not able to use this year due to COVID and that is all they wanted to help owners with right now. (LIE #3) I agreed because I was also told that I would not be kept more than 45 minutes because of a new State Governor mandate. (LIE #4) Then she wrote no more than one hour on my slip. (LIE #5) It was very clear that I was lied to when I arrived at the appointed time and sat down. I was kept for 5 & ½ hours and was played on to purchase additional points. I was caught up in the fear they presented and did everything he said out of fear. Let me explain a bit of the 5 & 1/2 hours.
After disappearing for 20 minutes, the salesman returned to tell me that my account had been flagged because I failed to respond to a letter that had been mailed to me at the beginning of the year. (LIE #6) I asked why the account was flagged and he explained that it is not normal for someone to not accept the invitation to save money. (LIE #7) I was curious but very suspicious. I should have left.
They explained that Apollo sent out a letter pre COVID (Lie #9) informing owners that their maintenance fees would be going up 12.5 percent every year. (Lie #10) He wasn't supposed to tell me that Apollo purchased Diamond. (LIE #11) Would I not have known about the Apollo purchase when the letter came, if I had received it? Anyway, he told me that my maintenance fees would end up being over 120, 000.00 dollars over the next 10 years. WHAT!? (LIE #12) I explained that that was insane and that it would price people out of ownerships including me. Then he proceeded to threaten me and tell me that I was locked into my agreements and that if I tried to back out that a lean would be placed on my house and my credit wrecked. (Truth #1?) So we spent the next hour talking about how that the purchase of Platinum for 90, 000.00 dollars would eliminate all future maintenance fees for life including (LIE #13) through legacy (LIE #14) as long as I used 29, 000 points every year (LIE #15) and that those points would be credited to my account as credit towards full maintenance. (Lie #16) Thus eliminating my yearly maintenance. (Lie #17) How is that possible I asked over and over and he explained that all Diamond wanted owners to do was go on vacation because they would spend money. (I can't believe I fell for this)
I couldn't find any about this on the paperwork I received. Because of this I returned the next morning. I questioned him again about the maintenance fee credits for life as part of going platinum and he again assured me that It was in fact there in writing and a very real part of the program. (Lie #17)
Before I went to contract, I was prepped on what to say and what not to say. I was told not to mention the credits towards maintenance or that would raise the price of the program. I was told to only say that I wanted additional points for benefits, and to go platinum. (Now they are asking me to lie #18)
There's a lot more detail that includes additional lies and sales tactics used to place pressure and fear that I will not go onto. Don't fall for this trap. I've been taken for more than 120, 000.

I have owned at Powhatan Plantation for 16 years with a Red Week 25 4 bedroom lockoff. I have always deposited into RCI. RCI takes each lockoff independently. There is no other option. We have loved every minute and stay with our resort and through RCI. Perfectly happy customer for 16 years. This year we accepted the option to deposit in to the Diamond Resort exchange. I understood that I could get 1 week or 2 weeks for my lockoff. As per the norm I took 2 weeks, Who wouldn't. What I didn't understand was that I was getting to tier 2s for my 4 bedroom. If I didn't split them I could have only had 1 week stay in a tier 4. I also didn't understand that tier 2 levels can't be combined back together to make a tier 4.

I didnt know I was locking myself into a 2 weeks of tier 2, with no other option. With RCI I get 23 points per lock off. Most reservations for a 2 bedroom are 12 points. I literally get 4 weeks of 2 bedroom vacations through RCI for my timeshare. With a tier 2, my family of 5 can reserve 1 studio. I have called and was told the split exchange CAN NOT be combined back together. I was told a Supervisor investigated by pulling my call. Because I agreed to split them (who wouldnt want 2 weeks instead of 1 if you didnt understand), and because with RCI I have always split the time (not splitting isnt an option with RCI), I am stuck with 2 tiers 2s and there is nothing anyone can or will do about it. I cant believe that RCI is even part of the decision as it is a different system, process, and program. What I did at one has nothing to do with the other.

If my family and I want to vacation together, we must stay separate in 2 different studios, or I have to pay $500 on top of the other fees and my $1452 maintenance fee to get a 2 bedroom and I would still have a tier 2 that I have to use. I spoke with 4 different agents, 1 supervisor pulled my call and decided without ever calling me to discuss it, I spoke with Mason Kishimoto at cooperate who was stone cold and didn't care about me as a long-time customer or me as a first time user of the exchange program. There is no room for mistakes and no way to rectify misunderstandings. Mason and the Supervisor refused to consider merging them. They refused to consider having me pay more to merge them back so that we can stay together. They refused to help me and my use our 16 year timeshare effectively. They were not interested in me as a customer or me and my 16 year loyalty. And they did not care if they lost me back to RCI for my exchanges instead of using my Owner Program Diamond Resort exchange. When Stephen Cloobeck was on Undercover Boos, he stated how important customers were to him. He sold the company and new ownership does not care about me, my family or you. Its policy and the mighty dollar. No more and no less.

I will never use the exchange again and do not recommend anyone else do it either. The dollar is far more important to Diamond Resorts than the customer is. I will give away my Diamond Resort timeshare to anyone that wants it. I will never recommend Diamond Resort exchange and 100R% will never use it again as long as I have timeshare, which I hope and pray is short. I won't lie, after my 30 years of service in the Army, sometimes I can't believe it is this I fought for and gave so much up for. They don't care about anything or anyone.

Sincerely Barton Jeffs
Disgruntled owner and dissatisfied customer after 16 years

April 2019 and february 2020
Destination xchange - getaway certificate # 522be ending in 6153c
Destination xchange - getaway certificate # f4f3f ending in aef58
They sold us two different destination xchange getaway certificates which they now deem invalid! We were unable to use them when all resorts were closed down due to covid-19, and they never had openings when we tried before 2020. Diamond destinations stole over $300 in fees for these destination xchange certificates after we spent grueling long hours in timeshare presentations. We called numerous times to be told no weeks were available, our certificates were good for a year, yet as of this date 9/25/20 we are told they are of no use. They will not extend and they are keeping our pre-paid funds. This should be illegal - charging funds for services not used is a crime!
Desirable solution - a full refund, and to see this company formally charged for their tactics - they are stealing from honest, unsuspecting customers!

Looked forward to using vacation in Virginia Beach, Hestitated on going on presentation as we were there for a funeral in 2019, but my husband said only about two hours. Now they have lost my certificate information and it ends October this year. It took four hours for presentation. I live in Texas so this is no small thing for a73 year old.

In August of 2018 my family and I attended a sales presentation in Florida. The agents gave us numbers that were too high. We explained we could not afford it. The floor manager offered us a full membership. We were unsure we could afford it. They offered us a free cruise and a Dream Holiday for 2 people to go to Hawaii for free, including airfare. The Dream Holiday was a huge decision maker for us if we could bring our kids. They said we would just have to pay a few hundred dollars per kid.

We purchased 7500/10 year points. August 2, 2018 for $16, 200. The amount financed at 14.294% was $13, 401. The monthly payment is $207.99. We didn't have the money for the $3, 366 down payment so they had us apply for a Barclaycard to charge $1, 959 down and finance the balance of the down payment at $214 a month for 6 months.

Sales: Andrew Sandler #58097

A few months later we called to book the trip to Hawaii. It was a nightmare. We could not have 5 people in the room. We would have to get 2 rooms. It would cost anywhere from $4, 000 to $6, 000. I felt let down and taken advantage of. The Dream Vacation was one of the main reasons we said yes to the timeshare.

In December of 2018 we accepted a free weekend getaway for the Red Lion in St. Louis to supposedly learn how to use our points. We met with a consultant and asked questions about how to work the plan. Instead of teaching us, the sole purpose of the meeting was to sell us more points. We were pushed to upgrade our plan and to upgrade the Barclay credit card. It was strange. We did not upgrade.

In July of 1999 we booked a trip to Mystic Dunes in Florida. One of the customer service girls said that if we met with the sales team we would get a free trip. I wanted to cancel the membership. The Florida salesperson was Allen Dawson and the manager Kenneth Janowitz. Allen informed us that we had purchased a starter plan that needed to be upgraded to full membership. He was confused because he couldn't find us in the system. He said if we didn't upgrade we would have wasted our money. We felt like we didn't have much choice. We had paid so far about $6, 000 for what Allen said was useless.

Why would Diamond allow a useless program to be sold? We have been driven into debt because of this.

On June 13, 2019 we purchased 7500 annual points for $28, 080.71. The down payment of $1, 200 was charged to 2 different credit cards. The amount financed at 15.58% was $24, 401.71. Payments were double the previous amount.

We have been owners for over 14 years and our contract has been paid in full for over 12 years and they have just canceled our account due to non payment of maintenance fees! I never received a phone call, certified letter or notification of any of the action they were planning on taking! Going through personal problems can sometimes take over your focus of everyday responsibilities, but could of easily been resolved with a phone call from diamond resort!

My spouse and I purchased a vacation package and were set to arrive on a Monday. Four days before, Diamond Resorts rep tried to call us & move our reservation- saying the resort was unavailable. I went on line & spoke to resort directly and they were still taking reservations. I could only assume that the need to move us had something to do with their "Presentation". After 30 min of hold & some talk- issue resolved and reservation was to remain as purchased. The next day (Friday)..we check in on Monday mind you. I receive another call from another rep trying to do the exact same thing. I explained that this was taken care of yesterday. She was exceptionally rude and kept saying nothing was taken care of because the reservation had to be changed.

Amazing no notes in file- and now we are to check in on Monday and can only hope reservation is in tack

We had previously owned timeshare at liki tiki villiage in fl. We went to a diamond resorts presentation, they told us our matainance fee with our orher time share were going to go up to about 3000$. That diamond resorts had sooo much more to offer. We traded what we had towards their silver plan plus 25000$. Well it turns out that they are charging the 3000$. On maintenance fees. We have tried to use our timeshare and there has always been unexpected fees due. This is the biggest scam ever. I do not want anypart of this lying cheating company. I cannot pay their rediculous maintinance fees. This corona virus has shut everything down. I cannot make these payments, this company lies and is a fraud. Everything is closed, cant go anywhere and they still keep depleating our bank accounts. Please help
Lenore and kenneth herman
[protected]@netscape.net

In September 2019 I was told that if I upgraded I would be able to 1. refinance with interest of 2-3% because of the equity I already had. Lies! Also my then existing contract and payments would roll over into the new one. Next thing I am getting bills for 2 contracts. This went back and forth for several months. They also convinced me to put another over $12, 000 on a newly opened credit card that would reduce my montly payments. I was on vacation at the resort in Las Vegas for another almost 3 weeks. When I got home, I found out that nothing they said was true so I called to cancel all contracts. This has still not been settled. I have had to hire an Attorney at a large fee to legally get out of this mess that they caused me. I am very stressed over this and if it causing me to have another stroke, I have told my family to sue for wrongful death. At this point I will be happy just to get rid of Diamond and their lies and my $12, 900 back. They can have all the points back that I have already paid for.

We have met with them two times in 2020 at the resort and both times they admit that they did not do what they promised when they took our money on the last up sell. They said they could fix it now it they wished, but we would have to pay them even more money on an additional up sell. They admit they took our money and did not do as contracted, but choose to still perpetrate the fraud commited.

I over paid because of missing 5k+ they lost
Everything shows i took over 11k out my banks for air and transportation
And $9500 cash that she took and counted and put the rest on credit card and gave everyone there keys. At blue-waters in jamaica but why 2 days later $4400 was missing from her drop
But because it was our wedding we did not want a hiccup so we paid it till the investigation was over its been over 9 months . But in all the rooms the kids room i was told by expedia that it was canceled and white sands was holding 3100. So im not understanding what went down and if i need to send this to more people i sent my documents to gm at resort and some other manger that replied on tripadvisor.

I went on a diamond resort presentation. They try to bully you.. A 90 minute presentation takes 3 hrs. I got up to walk out and the presenter threatened to not give me my 100$ for going. So when she sat me in the room with other people I stood up and said I have been here 2.5 hrs and am done. She demanded I sit down or go back in her office. She wanted to being me back to her office and I said no thank you all because I would not sit and I said I would like to stand. She threatened again about the gift so I said keep it and the manager walked over gave it to me and said I can leave. Crazy

We are survivors of the camp fire. we went to Vegas to get away from all the devastation of the fire . We were approached with the offer of the free show etc.. if we go to the presentation at the resort . We made the purchase and had a great time on our vacation within three months we were contacted again by diamond for another vacation. So we went to Sedona Arizona for a vacation were again we went to a presentation and were talked into another purchase always with the promise that we could sell it back at any time. Mind you, we lost everything we owned in the fire with no insurance and told them that at both presentations. Also told them we were still in a daze and hadn't processed everything we had went through. Also explained to them we weren't sure we would financially be able to make the payment's. Again we were reassured that we could sell it back to them at any time. Also told the agent we didn't make enough money to qualifiy for the loan. He said for us to just say we made $2500 a month and it would be fine. Again i said we had just been through a devistating fire and we haven't even had time to process, i didn't think we would be able to make that kind of payment. he introduced us to other people and they convinced us to sign. While all the time i explained we had just been through a desaster! I didn't think we were going to be able to commit to a purchase so soon. We still hadn't had time to proccess our losses. again with them reasssuring us we could sell it back at any time. My Family makes less then $3000 a month for the 3 of us on a fixed income. We do not have enough money to pay a over $400 dollor a month mortgage payment plus another $3000 a yr membership fee/dues . For a timeshare when we don't even have a place to live. We lost our home with no insurance along with everything else we owned. My tools for my trade both our vehicles. we were living in a 1988 winnabago at the time of our purchase. And i told the salesmen that. It has been over a year since the fire we struggle to eat and keep enough firewood to heat our rental which is another $400 a month. plus utilities car insurance, propane, and wood, heat the average temp were we live for this month is 36 deg F. 3 of us live in a 1 bdr literally 3 room cabin type home at 5100 ' elevation it snows average 10' yr. it has already snowed 7' and we aren't in the snowy months yet. The only money we received from FEMA to get a place to live Diamond sales reps talked us into giving them. which at the time I told them all we weren't in our right mind. we hadn't even processed what we had just went through and i didn't think we could afford a purchase of this size. always with their reassurance we could sell it back to them at any time. Now we know we can't afford this we contacted them and they refuse to give us our money back and will not release us from our contract. We realize now that we shouldn't have listened to them when we signed those agreements. We shouldn't have allowed them to convince us to sign those papers. At the time we were and still are trying to process all that we went through and lost on the day of the fire. My 14yr old son still has horrible PTSD from driving through the fire and loosing all our animals except the 4 chickens we were able to take with us and everything else we owned. Along with every thing else we knew to be our lives. we Not only lost our belongings we lost our town, every house we had ever lived in all our friends' house's and the shop were i worked. On top of loosing my father earlier that same yr, dealing with his probate, etc. My woman can't go back to the town were she lived her entire life. because of the pain and the horrible feelings she gets even talking about going. Remembering what she went through the first time they went back with me. She can't take those feeling of death and devastation and neither can my son. I had to go back before them and bury our rabbits that had died in their cages & pens And prepare our destroyed home before i would allow them to come. Even then it was very hard on them and it makes me cry now as i type this thinking of them, how brave my 13yr old was looking at our property consoling his mother while fighting back his own tears. Seeing their reactions from looking at our whole lives destroyed, in front of them. We don't deserve to be taken advantage of after what we have been through! We need to be released from this contract. So we can try to put our lives back together. without this ruining our credit so we aren't able to buy a home. We don't make enough to purchase a home with this as well. If there is a way please contact us. I'm attaching pic's so you may see a piece of our reality. 1. arial veiw of our world gone! 2. the motorhome we lived in and my son uses as a room still. 3. My better half and i rising above the ashes of our destroyed lives. The 3 room cabin we rent now.

This is to inform you of the disappointment that comes from your Orlando Call Center. It's disheartening at what goes on, what you allow for certain people and not others. Kiara Beal should be investigated for attendance and production. She's constantly late, she calls out and her supervisor puts in time she doesn't have or changes her time clock to show she's on time. Kiara brags on the floor about it. She calls out the day before or after a holiday and is still paid, gets time off she doesn't have, lies about death in her family just to get paid and get the time off all with her supervisor knowing. How do you call yourself a reputable company and allow such favoritism. She has been there over a year and has only hit commission once back in March 2018 and you still allow her to keep her job, but others are termed. Due to this favoritism, I have left this company but feel for the ones who are still being let go who actually produce but yet you keep Kiara because she's cool with Chris Owens. Get it together and treat everyone the same

I have been calling and trying to reach someone that can help me out of this contract, i signed up in may 2019 and have not been able to get the person that sold it to me, cant get dates and or any help, i never used it and now being unemployed i told them i have a hardship and they told me i am not eligible for the hardship program, what do you need more than to be unemployed, they told me i still do not qualify for the program. I really cant afford this anymore, i have made payments every month this far. Please help me break this contract. Doreen [protected]

I wrote this on the Better Business Bureau website (9/17/19), and it lead to nothing. I'm posting this here so that others see this and realize that Diamond Resorts is a glorified scam designed to take money from retired people and innocent families who want to travel. While staying at the Royal Lahaina Resort, we were interested in doing the Mount Haleakala bike tour. This resort has a travel concierge and another person (who is working for Diamond Resorts) with them. We were told that the bike tour typically costs close to $400 for 2 people; we had a $50 voucher that would bring the price down to $350. We were told that if we went to a 2-hour time share presentation, the bike tour would only cost us $70. We were also told that we would get this discount right away but we would be charged $20; we would get refunded $20 after we completed the 2-hr time share presentation. We saw the charge for $70 and $20 come through on our account. During the presentation, we were continually hassled to buy things for the entire 2 hours, and we told them no. The last sales person we dealt with was the most belittling, dishonest, manipulative, and horrid human being we dealt with during our stay in Hawaii. We had our time hijacked for 2 hours only to find out that in the end, while we did get the $20 refunded, we got charged full price minus the $50 voucher for everything, ON TOP of the $70 they charged us in the beginning. They lied to us, and this is FRAUD; it is unacceptable.

UPDATE (10/6/19): We received a vague voicemail message stating that we would get something in the mail from Diamond Resorts. About a week later, we received a letter in the mail saying they couldn't reach us, and they supplied us with an email address to contact them. I emailed them at the requested email address, and I have received NOTHING in return. If this complaint or any of the other complaints make it clear, DO NOT do business with Diamond Resorts! They have now LIED to us multiple times. We are DONE with this nonsense and this fraudulent behavior.

I have stayed at this location over ten times I have reccomended coleages, family and friends as well over the last eight years.
My experience has always been wonderful except for today I reserved a stay here for two night for a business meeting on monday I reserved my roon throught hotels.com as per usual. I arrived at 5:00pm and poceeded to check in a gentelman named KYLE persisted to tell me that I dont have a resevation and i must have booked it for another day after giving him my conformation number he still suggested that I must have made a mistake. I then contacted hotels.com with the agent on the phone and Kyle suggested that I wait iutside because he has other guest to check in . I ask to speak to a manager on duty and he stated their was no manager avalible . I then went to the VIP check_ in Guest entry and the representative said that there was no manager avalible. After TWO HOURS I contacted hotels .com to cancil the reservation and to be issued a refund then Kyle finally comes out from the back and gives me my keys for entry. I have never had this terrible experience in the past 8 years of comming here and he was apologenic nor did a manager ever come to assist me with his unprofessional and lack of understanding for knowledge of third party payments at the stay. I will not be visiting The Historic Powhatan in the future as well as I will inform that everyone I know abob the horible expierience and reconsider inviting my employees for the stay that for febuary 2020
Medenia Bush

Unfortunately I was caught in the major hurricane and was unable to connect with Diamond to stop my account from going into foreclosure. Upon my return I contacted Diamond and was told that I was in foreclosure for HOA fees, I called within 10 days of the closure and was told that nothing could be done so I asked for a supervisor call...I never received one. I called back and spoke with the came agents that set up the supervisor call and expressed that they had a meeting that allowed them to send a letter on my behave to the billing dept. and they would get back to me. Never the less, it has been more then 3 business day and still no reply. Now according to the state of NV, CA, FL and NYC for a timeshare you have 30 days to reply or it is a default. So Diamond, what is the hold up...I want to pay and keep the services, but it just seems you want to get rid of a client. Also the hours of operation for said department say 9am - 5pm PST, yet message states closed after 3pm PST.

September 20, 2019

Ref Diamond Resorts Contract number [protected]

We have been waiting for about three months for a formal response on our contract cancelation request. Initially, we sent our cancellation letter 3-5 days out of the rescission period so it was ignored. We have sent a total of 4 letters now to the rescission coordinator in Las Vegas in which we have expressed and pointed out different inconsistencies we found in our contract such as the fact that Diamond Resorts never told us that we will be paying the membership cost for 11 years. During the whole presentation, Daniel Santiago mentioned a 10-year payment. However, when we were able to be at home without pressure to go over our documents, we found out that they added the deferred payment as an extra year, without letting us know. Also, our contract references Bradley Roberts as our seller; however, we do not know that individual. He was apparently off the day we purchased and signed the contract. How and why is he listed in our legal contract as our seller? How can it be a legally binding contract if he was not our actual salesperson?. Another thing was that for a while, we did not have access to the site to see availability. And after some research, we learned that availability is very limited and in our sales pitch that was the opposite of one of his main points. He stated how easy it was to book and how there's always dates available.

We have expressed how we accepted the sale under a lot of pressure, even when we got denied the first 2 times when they ran the credit on us. We told our salesperson we did not have good credit and were reported to collections, but he insisted, making us think that our purchase would help our credit. Additionally, and the most important reason for us to want to cancel this contract is that Ryan lost his job more than a month ago. He has not been able to find another job because of a medical issue on his hip. We have many medical debts, other personal debts as well as a few accounts in collection. We cannot afford any other monthly charge at this point. I have also sent the paperwork to prove that as requested by a phone call.

Due to all of these reasons, we are willing to forego the $1500 deposit in order to terminate the contract. Again, we would like to get to an agreement that satisfies both parties, avoiding any legal disputes. We will await your response.

Thank you,

Jeimmy Angel Arango
[protected]