Club dues increase this year

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

Most may have already received notice but, THE Club dues have gone up $29 to $264 for 2011. If my math skills are decent this is a little over a 12% increase. I'm not sure why it needed to go up that much but, it's going up.

[Carlos Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carlos]

Most may have already received notice but, THE Club dues have gone up $29 to $264 for 2011. If my math skills are decent this is a little over a 12% increase. I'm not sure why it needed to go up that much but, it's going up.

I am not suprised. The old saying that what goes up must come down applies to many, many things except maintenance fees.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

What is included in the Club dues? $264 seems a bit high.

Bluegreen is $129 and has changed only once in over 10 years.

[Ryne08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ryne08]

Most may have already received notice but, THE Club dues have gone up $29 to $264 for 2011. If my math skills are decent this is a little over a 12% increase. I'm not sure why it needed to go up that much but, it's going up.

I just checked my Club account the new Club dues was not online at this time.

[Carlos Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carlos]

Club Dues Get you...

What is included in the Club dues? $264 seems a bit high.

Bluegreen is $129 and has changed only once in over 10 years.

Being in the Club includes your gold membership to II and access to all of the resorts in the DRI system. In addition, you get to use your Club points for access to airline miles, cruises, safaris, getaways, etc.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Being in the Club includes your gold membership to II and access to all of the resorts in the DRI system. In addition, you get to use your Club points for access to airline miles, cruises, safaris, getaways, etc.

Okay, BG charges $49 for those extras. So, apples to apples would be $129 + $49 = $178.

[Carlos Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carlos]

Seems Hig o me

Okay, BG charges $49 for those extras. So, apples to apples would be $129 + $49 = $178.

what is the $129? Is that the exchange fee? If so, you still have to pay that with II.

If BG is only $49, then that is a big discount. Marriott is about $165 for similar services, but with their point system you cannot split your unit.

I believe most of the DRI fee is for administrative expenses which is pretty high if you ask me.

[longtimer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close longtimer]

According to the sales pitch we got when we joined the club, many people don't even bother to use II and simply trade within the club. Since there are few DRI resorts on the East Coast (outside of Williamsburg and Orlando), people who want to visit any of these areas still need to trade with II. IMO, the high fees associated with the Club and with the Trust are simply excessive overhead costs. On the other hand, we really don't have a choice and DRI can charge whatever they want. Owners who only have one week may do better by not joining the club and simply trading with II every year, as long as they have a decent trade.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

What is included in the Club dues? $264 seems a bit high.

Bluegreen is $129 and has changed only once in over 10 years.

I.I. membership, Interval Gold upgrade (worthless to me), all internal exchange fee's, access to extras but, there are additional service fee's for extra's such as Cruise exchanges, rental cars et..... Those fee's are based on level of membership (standard, Silver Elite, Gold Elite or Platinum Elite).

I agree that the fee is rather high. It jumped a year or two ago when DRI moved the call center from India with reps who didn't know the system as well as members to the U.S.A. and better trained reps who, as time has gone on, have a better grip on the system and, at least IMHO, provide excellent service to members. I'm still not certain why there appears to be an increase of over 12% this year. I don't think that can be blamed on energy cost, insurance, property tax increases or wage increases. Some of it no doubt will be blamed in increases in medical costs but, 12% is a rather steep increase.

It will be interesting to see what Interval does with it's membership fee's after Jan. 1st. That could be a big reason for the increase. Interval reps have been threatening a rate increase for some time now. If that's the reason then the one and only timeshare I'll have left in my personal account with Interval may either have to go or, maybe we'll have to start using it for personal use rather than exchanges.

I'll pay the extra just so I'm talking to someone in the USA rather then New Deli.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

I.I. membership, Interval Gold upgrade (worthless to me), all internal exchange fee's, access to extras but, there are additional service fee's for extra's such as Cruise exchanges, rental cars et..... Those fee's are based on level of membership (standard, Silver Elite, Gold Elite or Platinum Elite).

I agree that the fee is rather high. It jumped a year or two ago when DRI moved the call center from India with reps who didn't know the system as well as members to the U.S.A. and better trained reps who, as time has gone on, have a better grip on the system and, at least IMHO, provide excellent service to members. I'm still not certain why there appears to be an increase of over 12% this year. I don't think that can be blamed on energy cost, insurance, property tax increases or wage increases. Some of it no doubt will be blamed in increases in medical costs but, 12% is a rather steep increase.

It will be interesting to see what Interval does with it's membership fee's after Jan. 1st. That could be a big reason for the increase. Interval reps have been threatening a rate increase for some time now. If that's the reason then the one and only timeshare I'll have left in my personal account with Interval may either have to go or, maybe we'll have to start using it for personal use rather than exchanges.

I'll pay the extra just so I'm talking to someone in the USA rather then New Deli.

The same items are covered in BG's annual dues which is $129. The extra concierge like services are part of Traveler Plus which is an addtional $49/year and is an optional fee. Call Center is in Indianapolis. BG is directly affiliated with RCI, so owners get a free RCI account. Owners can get an Interval International account and exchange, but they must pay for their own annual membership to that and other exchange companies.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

The same items are covered in BG's annual dues which is $129. The extra concierge like services are part of Traveler Plus which is an addtional $49/year and is an optional fee. Call Center is in Indianapolis. BG is directly affiliated with RCI, so owners get a free RCI account. Owners can get an Interval International account and exchange, but they must pay for their own annual membership to that and other exchange companies.

I bet that you're SO dissapointed that DRI didn't get to buy out Bluegreen aren't you?

I really can't say that I'm all that happy with DRI's membership fee's and I'm certainly not happy with another increase in fee's. When we joined, it seems to me like the fee's were in the $135 range. That's only been a little over 2 years ago.

[kexueli Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kexueli]

Why does everyone pick on the Indians?

I'll pay the extra just so I'm talking to someone in the USA rather then New Deli.

I don't know...the workers in India may have an accent, but they are probably better educated than the average call center worker in the United States. There are quite a few call centers where I live in Tucson, and it seems like lots of druggies work at the call centers.

Remember this?

"Atlanta hosted the 1996 Olympics. When tickets went on sale, a ticket agent on phone (local Atlanta agent) would not sell Olympic event tickets to a person from New Mexico. They were quoted as saying “I don’t care if you’re from New Mexico or Old Mexico – you have to live in the U.S.A. for me to sell you tickets”!"

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I don't know...the workers in India may have an accent, but they are probably better educated than the average call center worker in the United States. There are quite a few call centers where I live in Tucson, and it seems like lots of druggies work at the call centers.

Remember this?

"Atlanta hosted the 1996 Olympics. When tickets went on sale, a ticket agent on phone (local Atlanta agent) would not sell Olympic event tickets to a person from New Mexico. They were quoted as saying “I don’t care if you’re from New Mexico or Old Mexico – you have to live in the U.S.A. for me to sell you tickets”!"

Judging from the complaints I had read online, I wouldn't say that was true of Sunterra's former call center.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

I don't know...the workers in India may have an accent, but they are probably better educated than the average call center worker in the United States. There are quite a few call centers where I live in Tucson, and it seems like lots of druggies work at the call centers.

Remember this?

"Atlanta hosted the 1996 Olympics. When tickets went on sale, a ticket agent on phone (local Atlanta agent) would not sell Olympic event tickets to a person from New Mexico. They were quoted as saying “I don’t care if you’re from New Mexico or Old Mexico – you have to live in the U.S.A. for me to sell you tickets”!"

I have had several high tech firms outsource their customer service to India. The support was atrocious. I try to avoid as much as possible doing business with companies whose support is out of India.