Complaint Review: DIAMOND RESORTS/CLUB SUNTERRA

My husband and I went to a Club Sunterra timeshare presentation in Williamsburg, Va September 2006. We really had no intention of purchasing, but the salesman was a nice guy and very skilled at what he does. His presentation was in a format that was low pressure and made us feel very comfortable. He did a great job and we decided to go ahead and purchase this "point system" timeshare to force our family to take vacations. We put a deposit of $1,755.60 on a credit card and financed $15,800.40 at 13.9%. Our payments were $244.38 a month.

January of 2007, we received our maintenance fees bill and paid it as we were supposed to do.

Later in 2007, we paid the note in full because we didn't want to pay the high interest. So now over $17,000 paid in full for points to use for family vacations.

Now we started to receive letters and emails regarding Diamond Resorts taking over Club Sunterra and how great it will be etc etc.

Everything was fine, we hadn't used any of our points yet, but intended to.

November 2007, DIAMOND RESORTS sent out the 2008 Assessment Fee invoice. There was a new line item this time called Operational Fee and the whole invoice was different than Sunterra. The total amount due was $785.80.

We were confused about the line items on the invoice, particularly about the "club fee" for $155. We didn't pay immediately because we wanted an explanation of what all of the fees were. Every time we spoke to customer service we received a different answer about the "club fee". We started to receive notices with late fees etc. So we called again for an explanation as it was getting critical that we make a payment. We were told the the "fee for point (maintenance fees) and Operational fees had to be paid and the "Club Fee"
was not mandatory. The club fee could be paid at any time and that the club fee offered us more options and vacation benefits. With that being said, we paid $675.80. (maintenance fee per point and operational fee and a $50 late fee)

We then started to receive certified letters stating that they were going to retain our membership due to nonpayment of 2008 assessment fees. The letters stated that we were delinquent and that our membership was suspended. We did not want to blindly pay $155 plus now additional late fees without an explanation. April 28, 2008 we sent a letter to Diamond Resorts. We just wanted clarity and to resolve the problem. We received no response to this letter.

We then received another certified letter from Diamond Resorts intent to retain our membership due our nonpayment of the $155 "club fee" that we were told is optional. We then called customer service again and this time we were told that our membership was in fact already canceled and that there was nothing we could do. We pleaded our case to the rep on the phone.... we have a timeshare paid in full over $17,000 haven't used it once and now you are taking it away over $155 that no one could explain!!!!! We were given the name of a Manager in the Loss/mitigation dept. Bill Durso....702-804-8600 ext 48509 FAX # 702-804-8606. We tried to reach him several times....left messages and also faxed over letters etc with of course not one response!!!!!

Finally on 6/2/08 when we got his voice mail we hit "0" and explained our situation to yet another Diamond Resort rep. This woman was the first person who actually listened and somewhat understood the situation. She even reassured us that Bill Durso did in fact exist.

However, despite the fact that Diamond's letter dated May 19th stated their intent to cancel our membership; our membership had in fact already been canceled. She expressed that there was nothing she could do and that we needed to send a letter stating our objection to this action immediately. She told us that the BOARD OF TRUSTEES would meet and decide whether or not to let us retain our "membership"

On June 5, 2008 we sent a package Fed-Ex to Diamond Resorts with a letter stating our case. We included copies of our previous correspondence, and also the letters we received from Diamond. It is now July 15, 2008 and we have not received any response!!! No surprise here!!!! Someone did sign for the fed-ex package at Diamond on June 5th 2008.

So here we are $17,000 plus two years of maintenance fees paid for our time share and we are being told everything is canceled and that we cannot utilize anything because we didn't pay $155 club fee that we were told was optional. Diamond Resorts even has a blurb or their website faqs that says the club is voluntary. No details, therefore still confusing. We haven't even gotten the pleasure to utilize any of our points. We have been trying to rectify this with phone calls and letters. NO ONE AT DIAMOND CARES>>

Michelle
shamong, New Jersey
U.S.A.