Open Letter to Steve Cloobeck, Diamond Resorts International CEO

mariab418 wrote:

Good Afternoon,

Dear Mr. Cloobeck I am a time share owner with Mystic Dunes for over ten years. In my last stay I was over charged 105.00 for supposedly leaving the place dirty. I have never encountered such accusations. I did not leave the place filthy and I have been trying to resolve this issue. I have left several messages time after time and no manager ever returns my call. I am very disappointed and feel the need to bring this to your attention.

Thank you, Maria Baltazar

Maria Baltazar -- If you really think that Steve Cloobeck reads this I would be glad to sell you the Booklyn Bridge for $10 bucks.

Even he did read it do you actually think he cares? Did you watch that Undercover Boss show and were gullible enough to believe he cares about anything other than separating you from your money?

Get real lady. Your best chance of resolving this is to call Diamond directly and find out who is the person who is responsible for supervising the site managers in the region where your resort is located. Also -- the next time you go to that place take 10 seconds to get out your cell phone and take a picture of how you left it -- that way if they are making false accusations you can prove it, as well as threaten to take them to small claims court if they bill you.

I never cease to be amazed at how naive some people are.

Perhaps it is naive but it is also innocent and sweet. She wrote such a nice, polite message to Mr. Cloobeck. At least it is another public record that could reach the innocents who have not yet been victimized by a timeshare company.

Has anyone read the resume for those wishing to be Board Members of Diamond Resort? They all say they want to reduce the maintenance fee and reduce cost. But not one stated that they would initiate action to let the property owners (time share) sell their ownership back to Diamond. Diamond representatives are constantly saying that the number of points are limited and in great demand. If they would even offer to buy back at 50% of the owners' value they would make a huge profit and the potential buyers would be encouraged.

It is a scam when they say the available shares are very limited. They obviously have a huge inventory of unsold property if they refuse to allow owners to sell their shares back to the Company.

Robert

Me too

Robert Degraca

When will you do the ethical thing and buy back the shares of those who want out of the time share plan? Even if you pay these individuals 50% of their value you would be making a huge profit when these are resold.

Robert

If you go to TUG, you will find that DRI has been taking back timeshare points. Go to tug2.net and read. There are many who have verified that DRI has been letting people out of their timeshare interests.

I think the owner has to not have any loans on the points and must pay a $250 fee, but DRI has been taking them back.

robertd992 wrote:

When will you do the ethical thing and buy back the shares of those who want out of the time share plan? Even if you pay these individuals 50% of their value you would be making a huge profit when these are resold.

Robert

Urge all Diamond owners to read quarterly reports filed by Diamond with SEC, and also to listen to CEO David Palmer discuss Diamond business returns on quarterly conference calls. They are all open to the public.s Bottom line, you will discover that Diamond focuses on several ways to increase profits, and raising maintenance fees is not the primary vehicle. First, they buy back lots of inventory at favored resorts thru foreclosure and/or tax sales. That is how they replenish their own pipeline. On average, Diamond pays $1500 per timeshare interval, then resells it for close to $20K. That's an amazing profit. Secondly, they make good ongoing revenue by managing properties, charging a 15 percent fee of all revenues collected during the year. The 15% is also pure profit, according to Diamond's quarterly and annual reports. Third, they make major league money every time they sell a new timeshare package of points to new or repeat buyers. Last presentation I attended, July 2015 in Maui, points were selling for more than $10 per point. Couple years ago, the same points cost $3 each. So the price inflation on points is also giving Diamond a huge increase in profit and revenue. All of the above info is included in Diamond's own reports on their "investors page" on diamondresorts.com.

Finally, Palmer replaced Cloobeck as CEO in January when Diamond bought out Cloobeck while allowing him to remain on board for two more years. He no longer runs Diamond, but, like many former CEO's, is still getting paid like a king.

robertd992 wrote:

When will you do the ethical thing and buy back the shares of those who want out of the time share plan? Even if you pay these individuals 50% of their value you would be making a huge profit when these are resold.

Robert

Robert: "50% of value" ? What value. If people cannot even give them away then the value is zero, and unless you skipped basic arithmetic in grade school 50% of zero is still zero

Mr Cloobeck, My name is Terry Farris.. I own 3 timeshares, which were purchased.at Grand Beach, Orkando, Florida.... I have contacted them numerous times and have yet to get a reply from them. My timeshares are paid for , but if I want to sell them , I have purchase something else from you for 35,000.00 I want to sell them , not reinvest more money...I've been told that I can not sell them because they are deeded property. .. My husband and I purchased the properties and now my husband has passed away, and I want to sell the properties. .. Every time I call to speak with someone I am sent to their voice mail, and I leave my message for them to return my call before I go to work...WELL.. it never happens. .... I am tired of dealing with this....I want to sell the units and be rid of my headache. .... I'm sure that this will go unanswered also.... It seems that all anyone with the company cares about is how much money they can get from you...No one tries to help you..... Thank you, Terry Farris.

Terry -- The likelihood that Steve Cloobeck or anyone from DRI reads or even monitors this discussion is between zero and zero. Even if they did I would give the same odds about their having any interest in helping you.

In order to sell something it must have a value. The value of your timeshare is zero. If you've read any of the numerous related discussions on RedWeek you would have noticed that people are unable to even give away their timeshares. Why is this? Simple: no one in their right mind wants to be contractually obligated to pay whatever maintenance fees and special assessments DRI (or any other timeshare management company) deems necessary (solely at their own discretion) for the rest of their life, whether they use it or not.

The best you or anyone can do is to send a certified letter to your homeowner association informing them that you do not intend to either use your timeshare or pay the annual maintenance fees from this time forward, and that they can either take the deed back from you or spend a lot of money on attorney fees trying to collect from you. This has worked for some people, but not all.

Don't be so naive as to think that anyone in the timeshare/"vacation ownership" industry cares about anything other than squeezing more money out of you -- least of all Steve Cloobeck.

terryf174 wrote:

Mr Cloobeck, My name is Terry Farris.. I own 3 timeshares, which were purchased.at Grand Beach, Orkando, Florida.... I have contacted them numerous times and have yet to get a reply from them. My timeshares are paid for , but if I want to sell them , I have purchase something else from you for 35,000.00 I want to sell them , not reinvest more money...I've been told that I can not sell them because they are deeded property. .. My husband and I purchased the properties and now my husband has passed away, and I want to sell the properties. .. Every time I call to speak with someone I am sent to their voice mail, and I leave my message for them to return my call before I go to work...WELL.. it never happens. .... I am tired of dealing with this....I want to sell the units and be rid of my headache. .... I'm sure that this will go unanswered also.... It seems that all anyone with the company cares about is how much money they can get from you...No one tries to help you..... Thank you, Terry Farris.

Hi Terry,

It sounds like your best options would be to either sell the timeshares here on RedWeek or on EBay, or to seek counsel to give the timeshares back.

Check out Timeshare Exit Team at timeshareexitteam.com. I have not used them personally, but their services are endorsed by people I have trust and respect for (Dave Ramsey, who hates timeshares, Ben Schapiro, Glenn Beck, and more).

Timeshare Exit Team is not a reseller or listing company (most of those are scams). They are a law firm that works to have the management companies take back your ownership points. If I were stuck with a timeshare that I no longer wanted and couldn't sell, that's the company I would be calling.

Robert Slattery

terryf174 wrote:

Mr Cloobeck, My name is Terry Farris.. I own 3 timeshares, which were purchased.at Grand Beach, Orkando, Florida.... I have contacted them numerous times and have yet to get a reply from them. My timeshares are paid for , but if I want to sell them , I have purchase something else from you for 35,000.00 I want to sell them , not reinvest more money...I've been told that I can not sell them because they are deeded property. .. My husband and I purchased the properties and now my husband has passed away, and I want to sell the properties. .. Every time I call to speak with someone I am sent to their voice mail, and I leave my message for them to return my call before I go to work...WELL.. it never happens. .... I am tired of dealing with this....I want to sell the units and be rid of my headache. .... I'm sure that this will go unanswered also.... It seems that all anyone with the company cares about is how much money they can get from you...No one tries to help you..... Thank you, Terry Farris.

jeff_reports wrote:

Urge all Diamond owners to read quarterly reports filed by Diamond with SEC, and also to listen to CEO David Palmer discuss Diamond business returns on quarterly conference calls. They are all open to the public.s Bottom line, you will discover that Diamond focuses on several ways to increase profits, and raising maintenance fees is not the primary vehicle. First, they buy back lots of inventory at favored resorts thru foreclosure and/or tax sales. That is how they replenish their own pipeline. On average, Diamond pays $1500 per timeshare interval, then resells it for close to $20K. That's an amazing profit. Secondly, they make good ongoing revenue by managing properties, charging a 15 percent fee of all revenues collected during the year. The 15% is also pure profit, according to Diamond's quarterly and annual reports. Third, they make major league money every time they sell a new timeshare package of points to new or repeat buyers. Last presentation I attended, July 2015 in Maui, points were selling for more than $10 per point. Couple years ago, the same points cost $3 each. So the price inflation on points is also giving Diamond a huge increase in profit and revenue. All of the above info is included in Diamond's own reports on their "investors page" on diamondresorts.com.

Finally, Palmer replaced Cloobeck as CEO in January when Diamond bought out Cloobeck while allowing him to remain on board for two more years. He no longer runs Diamond, but, like many former CEO's, is still getting paid like a king.

Thank you for this very informative post. What a racket. Raise the maintenance fees until the owner walks away, then buy it back cheap and resell to another sucker.

@Robert Slattery: I suspect strongly that you just a shill for timeshareexitteam.com. They don't do anything that one can't do oneself, except take some money from you upfront.

As for endorsements by the likes of Glenn Beck, that clown (literally) has been pushing shady investments like gold for years. How is that working out for you? Read the article "Spam Artists" in the Dec 2015 issue of Mother Jones and learn how paranoid right-wing talk radio hosts push phony health tips and bogus investment advice to their constituency.

roberts985 wrote:

Hi Terry,

It sounds like your best options would be to either sell the timeshares here on RedWeek or on EBay, or to seek counsel to give the timeshares back.

Check out Timeshare Exit Team at timeshareexitteam.com. I have not used them personally, but their services are endorsed by people I have trust and respect for (Dave Ramsey, who hates timeshares, Ben Schapiro, Glenn Beck, and more).

Timeshare Exit Team is not a reseller or listing company (most of those are scams). They are a law firm that works to have the management companies take back your ownership points. If I were stuck with a timeshare that I no longer wanted and couldn't sell, that's the company I would be calling.

Robert Slattery

terryf174 wrote:

Mr Cloobeck, My name is Terry Farris.. I own 3 timeshares, which were purchased.at Grand Beach, Orkando, Florida.... I have contacted them numerous times and have yet to get a reply from them. My timeshares are paid for , but if I want to sell them , I have purchase something else from you for 35,000.00 I want to sell them , not reinvest more money...I've been told that I can not sell them because they are deeded property. .. My husband and I purchased the properties and now my husband has passed away, and I want to sell the properties. .. Every time I call to speak with someone I am sent to their voice mail, and I leave my message for them to return my call before I go to work...WELL.. it never happens. .... I am tired of dealing with this....I want to sell the units and be rid of my headache. .... I'm sure that this will go unanswered also.... It seems that all anyone with the company cares about is how much money they can get from you...No one tries to help you..... Thank you, Terry Farris.

Hi Steve

My name is hamza I am replying on your behalf with three to four requests that I want to reach out to you but before that I would like to respond to the person that sent you this letter one is Steve worked hard and smart and been probably and most likely through diffcult challenges to where he is today yes I do understand your point of view of living lavish and expensive because he earned it if you where in his shoes would of you not done the same and more but as I see him yes he is creating a good name for his brand and yes why not i would do the same actually right now I am watching undercover boss and I love his parts because he takes action and really helps people like the lady in Mexico in one of his exclusive properties .... Now Steve I am 22 years old guy I am starting college here in Florida in business admin but I will add more to my learing and I really want the advantage to one day open up hotels and have investors buying and my brand enjoying my services and much much more I am need of oxygen and fuel to boost my projects but I really hope you read this long message I want to learn and become more like you in the field of business I want your partnership I want to invest in you and learn I am the oldest son of five besides my parents have been divorced but that not the case here I want to build an empire for my family to be set and happy in health wealth and abundance my requests are many but I do know with you in my life I can give you many tips I see wrong and many rights that can help boost your business as a whole my email is Higrn19@gmail.com My number 201-707-6493

I pray to God you read this message sir and reply to me when you have the leverage of time in gods will ... May god bless you and your family and loved ones Amen.

Read this New York Times article exposing DRI practices.

Read the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/business/diamond-resorts-accused-of-using-hard-sell-to-push-time-shares.html?_r=2

DRI response here: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1566897/000119312516436185/d127988dex991.htm

Hamza, if you really think Steve Cloobeck will read this, much less respond to you, I suggest you check yourself into the nearest psychiatric hospital as soon as possible.

You say you are "starting college here in Florida in business admin". It must be a college where the only admission criteria are that you are breathing and have the money to pay the tuition. If you are really interested in furthering your education I would suggest that you first concentrate on learning standard English. Your spelling and grammar are awful, but your sentence structure is even worse.

hamzaa2 wrote:

Hi Steve

My name is hamza I am replying on your behalf with three to four requests that I want to reach out to you but before that I would like to respond to the person that sent you this letter one is Steve worked hard and smart and been probably and most likely through diffcult challenges to where he is today yes I do understand your point of view of living lavish and expensive because he earned it if you where in his shoes would of you not done the same and more but as I see him yes he is creating a good name for his brand and yes why not i would do the same actually right now I am watching undercover boss and I love his parts because he takes action and really helps people like the lady in Mexico in one of his exclusive properties .... Now Steve I am 22 years old guy I am starting college here in Florida in business admin but I will add more to my learing and I really want the advantage to one day open up hotels and have investors buying and my brand enjoying my services and much much more I am need of oxygen and fuel to boost my projects but I really hope you read this long message I want to learn and become more like you in the field of business I want your partnership I want to invest in you and learn I am the oldest son of five besides my parents have been divorced but that not the case here I want to build an empire for my family to be set and happy in health wealth and abundance my requests are many but I do know with you in my life I can give you many tips I see wrong and many rights that can help boost your business as a whole my email is Higrn19@gmail.com My number 201-707-6493

I pray to God you read this message sir and reply to me when you have the leverage of time in gods will ... May god bless you and your family and loved ones Amen.

Mr. Cloobeck: My wife and I own two DRI accounts; one account the amortized (cost of maintence fees) cost of a reservation far exceeds the cost of booking equitable resorts. The other account is will under the cost of outside booking. After reading experiences of other owner principles about "they have not any problems" with their DRI bookings. I must say, bless then for they have not realized the "trap" they have paid thousands of dollars to purchase. Seldom can I book a reservation at locations that I would like. Sales personnel promised me that I can book any resort as long as I book early. This simply is not true. Also DRI sales personnel promised me that I could always turn my points back in to DRI. This also simply is not true. I paid thousands of dollars to get myself in this no escape obligation. Not only DRI will not buy back my investment, they will not even accept my contract for $1. If the accessment obligation is not paid, DRI can and probably would issue a foreclosure against me and/or my estate. I plan to attempt giving my points to anyone who will accept them and would get approval from DRI's approval of the title transfer. I cannot believe that I got myself in this mess at my age. I always felt that timeshare ownership was too good to be true. Well, I have my eyes wide open now, but I have no exit plan.

charless345 wrote:

Put in a request to join and we'll accept you.

Another dummy, and one with bad spelling/grammar to boot, who thinks that "Steve" is reading this (much less gives a $#!+).

Giving it away to someone stupid enough to take it would just be like taking your dog to do its business on a neighbor's lawn. The only thing you will get out of that is bad karma.

olenj wrote:

Mr. Cloobeck: My wife and I own two DRI accounts; one account the amortized (cost of maintence fees) cost of a reservation far exceeds the cost of booking equitable resorts. The other account is will under the cost of outside booking. After reading experiences of other owner principles about "they have not any problems" with their DRI bookings. I must say, bless then for they have not realized the "trap" they have paid thousands of dollars to purchase. Seldom can I book a reservation at locations that I would like. Sales personnel promised me that I can book any resort as long as I book early. This simply is not true. Also DRI sales personnel promised me that I could always turn my points back in to DRI. This also simply is not true. I paid thousands of dollars to get myself in this no escape obligation. Not only DRI will not buy back my investment, they will not even accept my contract for $1. If the accessment obligation is not paid, DRI can and probably would issue a foreclosure against me and/or my estate. I plan to attempt giving my points to anyone who will accept them and would get approval from DRI's approval of the title transfer. I cannot believe that I got myself in this mess at my age. I always felt that timeshare ownership was too good to be true. Well, I have my eyes wide open now, but I have no exit plan.

charless345 wrote:

Put in a request to join and we'll accept you.

Regarding selling or canceling a timeshare, forget thinking you are going to sell it like real estate or give it away for $1 on ebay. The escalating maintenance fees will nix those deals. There are many scammers out there that will by happy to take your money and leave you with less money and still own those maintenance fees. Is there any legitimate resources available? Yes! You have to search to find them and then do due diligence before committing your hard earned money. I owned a timeshare that went bankrupt and was taken over by Diamond Resorts. My maintenance fees tripled and have been going up ever since. I heard about Timeshare Exit Team and did my homework. I was, of course, skeptical of their claim that they have a 100% success rate and if they fail, they will return your money. After contacting the appropriate agencies I decided to hire the company. Today, I am free of my Diamond Resort timeshare. Am I shill for the company? Hardly! It worked for me and it might be right for you. You won't know unless you contact them and do your own research.

Undercover Boss ANGEL: I thought you was gonna be a total A** but as the show went on and you met people who works for you and you saw the quality of work that they were producing caused a drastic change in you. Plus what they go through to give that great services I saw this Super Rich Jerk turn into the best thing since FRESH AIR. And to see it twice I am convinced you have a heart so big that you put that A** out. If I'm ever in a position to meet you there would be absolutely PURE LOVE for you. Thank you for being an AMAZING CEO...