Resale Buyer - Not allowed to use online reservation system?

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

I bought a resale membership in the US Collection almost 5 years ago - under the Sunterra management. I have always been able to use the online reservation system to make reservations at the 19 US Collection resorts, and have generally been well pleased with the process and the trips we have taken.

About three weeks ago, the online reservation capability disappeared for me. I called DRI today to inquire, and was told that I can no longer use the online reservation system because I am not a member of "The Club". I will have to call and talk to a reservations representative to set up a reservation or inquire about availability.

This is a dramatic step away from Simplicity. Even with all the bad press these people get, I am still amazed that they will withdraw such a basic and cost effective customer service system from people who still write them relatively large checks every year.

Is this correct? Are other resale owners being denied the web reservations system? Is this a new rule, or have they simply overlooked me in the past?

Information would be appreciated.

[DRIvaDiva Banned Find all posts View Profile Close DRIvaDiva]

I bought a resale membership in the US Collection almost 5 years ago - under the Sunterra management. I have always been able to use the online reservation system to make reservations at the 19 US Collection resorts, and have generally been well pleased with the process and the trips we have taken.

About three weeks ago, the online reservation capability disappeared for me. I called DRI today to inquire, and was told that I can no longer use the online reservation system because I am not a member of "The Club". I will have to call and talk to a reservations representative to set up a reservation or inquire about availability.

This is a dramatic step away from Simplicity. Even with all the bad press these people get, I am still amazed that they will withdraw such a basic and cost effective customer service system from people who still write them relatively large checks every year.

Is this correct? Are other resale owners being denied the web reservations system? Is this a new rule, or have they simply overlooked me in the past?

Information would be appreciated.

Interesting and from what I've read, typical of any developer's drive to devalue the resale ownership and try to twist everything to make their product worth something only if you bought it from them.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

All in the eyes of the beholder, I guess. Non-Club owners at Po'ipu have been frustrated at being directed to the on-line system instead of making reservations through the resort.

[madmitch Member Find all posts View Profile Close madmitch]

YES they shut me off too and my initial ownership was EPIC Resorts with the Grandfather Clause.
I was told it was available in error all these years. I was also told by someone at DRI it was probably a mistake and would come back soon.
Did they alter your OnLine log-in and Password too???
SO far they have only succeded in pissing off a semi-satisfied owner.

With the lack of option to search and reserve OnLine I am considering the option to give my points back, but that's 4 contracts and at $250 per it's $1000 to not pay the $3000+ M&T fees, plus the loss of investment of course which we know wasn't coming back anyway.

Now if they would allow us to Upgrade into The REAL Club (not The little Club they force on us) at a reasonable rate... to get OnLine Reservation options at least... it would be worth that $1000 I plan to shell out for them to take my points back (then they resell to someone for $$$$)

Has anyone every researched something like Anti-Trust/Class Action? DRI creates the rules, they interpret the rules, they alter the rules and they enforce the rules all without HOA vote from us "Trust/Collection" owners.
Is that legal? Is that what we signed up for with CSV-1 Sunterra or Epic?

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

I would say that all of us who have US Collection Accounts which were not in The Club, have universally lost our online access for reservations and now have to call in. I've confirmed this change with friends in the same boat. This change became effective quietly and without announcement some time this past week.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Has anyone tried sending an e-mail to Cloobeck about this? I'm pretty sure that there would be a direct response from him, and, who knows, they just might change it back.

DRI senior management does seem to be very sensitive to comments and feedback on matters such as this.

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

Has anyone tried sending an e-mail to Cloobeck about this? I'm pretty sure that there would be a direct response from him, and, who knows, they just might change it back.

DRI senior management does seem to be very sensitive to comments and feedback on matters such as this.

I believe one of the posters on this thread was working with a principle at DRI on this. That person was under the impression that it was a glitch in the system and could be corrected. I haven't seen a responce on the yahoo forum as of yet.

Unfortunately, all of the DRI reps at the call centers aren't always on the same page. It's better now than it was a last year but it still seems to be a work in progress.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I would like to think that DRI would be interested in welcoming all owners, resale or developer purchased, in the spirit of good owner relations. Over the last year I've had only positive outcomes when I've had a concern or questions.

[madmitch Member Find all posts View Profile Close madmitch]

My thoughts expressed to the DRI person I've been talking with forcing us to use Phone Reps will be a Killer on their time.
I search various dates, resorts and the like for deals. They won't be able to give me what I use today, no way.
It won't be time efficient for them, it'll be frustrating and block others from having free phone reps to call.
If their Programmers can "fix a glitch" in the system by shutting us off, why can't they create a limited booking system allowing us to research and use OnLine Booking for the 19 resorts available?
(The old CSV-1 Trust or however it's referred to internally)
As one poster pointed out, if enough of us email Cloobeck's person directly with the same info and concern, there's a SLIGHT chance they might look into it a bit differently. Find the link to Stephen J. Cloobeck here
https://www.diamondresorts.com/contact.aspx
Legal question: When one entity makes the rules, interprets the rules, enforces the rules and changes the rules without oversight, isn't that the basis of an Anti-Trust or a Class Action Case in the Making? (not that I have the legal background or the $$$ to really figure any of that out)

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Legal question: When one entity makes the rules, interprets the rules, enforces the rules and changes the rules without oversight, isn't that the basis of an Anti-Trust or a Class Action Case in the Making? (not that I have the legal background or the $$$ to really figure any of that out)

The simple answer that I see as a non-lawyer is "No".

A trust action is when a number of competitors work together jointly to manage a market. The most common examples are price-fixing and bid-rigging. Since a trust, by definition, involves more than one entity, there is no anti-trust issue here. If you were alleging that Diamond, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Starwood, and Worldmark, and Wyndham were alll collaborating on structuring or pricing their programs on to prevent additional competitors from gaining ground, there could be an anti-trust case.

A class action as an option comes into play if a party has done something wrong that affects numerous people similarly, but the damages to each person are too small for any single individual to support a legal action. But class-action has to first start with an allegation of a specific improper behavior.

***

So it comes down to being able to identify something that DRI might have done that was wrong; specifically what did they do that violates the terms of any contract between you and DRI or that interferes with your deeded usage rights.

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

Good News!

Following some of the suggestions earlier in this thread, last Sunday I sent an e mail outlining my story about the loss of online reservation capability to Patrick.Duffy@diamondresorts.com and Jeff.Shelton@diamondresorts.com. I got their names from an earlier thread in this forum about someone needing help with issue resolution from DRI.

I have yet to hear a response to the e mail, but I just signed on to the DRI website and the online reservation capability is showing for me again. I don't know if this is a result of my e mail or of some other action, but I am happy with the result.

Hope everyone else out there is seeing the same thing.

[madmitch Member Find all posts View Profile Close madmitch]

I had a call late this afternoon from the DRI person I've been talking with and was told DRI reads the threads and listens and I suspect the various complaints about WHAT is the Reservation Fee for if not OnLine access may have helped.
Who knows what was thought or said in the Mahogany Lined Offices in Las Vega$ but I indeed have regained our access to research and hopefully book OnLine Reservations.
I was seriously researching the option to PAY $250 per contract to be done with this mess for good, but I like my holidays and have used the OnLine Reservation options to my advantage and plan to continue doing so.

Did we (Regional owners) dodge a bullet or just prolong the inevitable of being forced into paying big $$ to become a full member of THE Club?

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Personally, I think you're making this into a much bigger deal than it is. I'm skeptical there was ever any underlying nefarious intent. There was really no logical reason to remove the on-line reservation capability as long as the system was already programmed to do so. The easiest and simplest explanation is that someone was doing some coding and made a mistake. Or some lower level supervisor made an ill-informed decision that was readily reversed at a higher level.

Unless there is specific evidence to the contrary one should never attribute to design that which can be as easily explained as incompetence or indifference.

*****

In a similar vein, I'm in the Club and a member with a deeded Home Resort Advantage. But ever since the "upgrade" because I'm not in the Trust the on-line system seems to think I don't have a Home Resort Advantage. I've brought it to DRI's attention, and they've acknowledged that there is an error in the Reservation system. I haven't checked lately to see if it's been fixed, but in the meantime I can't reserve on-line. I can only reserve via phone.

[madmitch Member Find all posts View Profile Close madmitch]

I was told several times there was a previous glitch in the system that allowed Regional Owners access to options we weren't entitled to and they "fixed" that and shut us out of OnLine Search, Reservations and Select Bookings.
I was told to use the Phone System during standard hours and they would tell me what was available and how many points it would run me.
These were direct quotes on the PHONE and via EMAILS -- if you would like a copy of the email tell me were to send it. (I didn't record the phone conversations but talked with two or three different CS Reps)
Also, every call and piece of email had a reference to Owner Enhancement to sell me an upgrade to THE Club.

Trust me, this WAS a big deal to me and to others I have been in contact with.
Not big to you but MAJOR to many others.

(And I am a Grandfathered EPIC owner which has never been properly documented so THE Club didn't get rolled in as it should have... been through this with them many times so I understand your personal frustration noted)

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Trust me, this WAS a big deal to me and to others I have been in contact with.
Not big to you but MAJOR to many others.

(And I am a Grandfathered EPIC owner which has never been properly documented so THE Club didn't get rolled in as it should have... been through this with them many times so I understand your personal frustration noted)

I didn't mean to imply it wasn't a big deal to you - but in rereading my post I can clearly see how it came across that way. I should have caught that before I posted, but I didn't. My apologies.

I was trying to write with myself in DRI's position, and I was trying to say that I thought you were trying to ascribe too much intent to DRI concerning the change. I couldn't see it as part of some plot to drive people to pay more money for the Club, when it appeared to me to be more of a programming glitch or a decision made by a low-level functionary.

[madmitch Member Find all posts View Profile Close madmitch]

No worries
We owners need to remain in open forum contact so if DRI (or other developer-management companies) try to play games with individuals or specific groups we can back each other and voice our concerns and opinions.
Some resorts offer excellent HOAs, others make it clear it's their ball and we get to pay to watch the game as they opt to play it.