listen up, diamond

Time has rolled around for the Annual Meeting of the Diamond Resorts U.S. Collection Members Association.

It's to be held 28 September 2021 in Las Vegas.

I've thought about attending over the past few years, but have not yet, nor will I this year, since Savannah is now at more than 1.3% COVID positive.

For folks not adept at math, that means one in eighty people that I may meet on the street or in a building are infected by SARS-CoV-2.

ONE in EIGHTY.

I'll be keeping my mask on, thanks.

That's the reason I'm not going to movies on weekends - far too many of the under-30 crowd, unvaccinated and without masks, there for the plethora of horror flicks.

I guess the horror of dying on a ventilator is not real enough for them.

What does any of this have to do with my 'vacation ownership' at Diamond?

I'm clearly explaining why I have not traveled much these past few months.

I follow the science, as does Mayor Johnson of my fair port city, and, having watched his Tuesday address twice this morning, I will certainly stay masked up.

And, much as I would love to go off to Ormond Beach or Daytona, I will abstain.

I did not abstain from voting for two candidates for the Board of Directors.

After reading the candidates' statements, it was clear who I didn't want: people who were resume builders (obviously in for the short haul), people who were happy to be Diamond Platinum (too rich to benefit those disenfranchised), and people who were obviously old (and possibly prestige driven).

Paul Bedoe and Hilary Jones Rojo fit the bill for me.

He wrote: "Why Paul?"

That definitely grabbed my interest, as it was not the litany of credentials of the majority of the candidates.

He also wrote that he is the "father and grandfather of 15 who understands the cost and complexity of traveling, including the needs of the travelers."

Amen to that!

Hopefully, he can put the kibosh on the concierge desk hassling owners for sales pitches throughout their stay.

He is very active, listing hiking, camping, fishing, golf, skiing - so his vacation time is not spent lounging poolside with a drink at the resort.

Amen to that!

She wrote that she has been an owner for 20 years "of Diamond, Sunterra, Epic...", which means she has been through the same takeovers that I have.

December of 2000 was when I first purchased at Epic Resorts, which became Sunterra.

That was a pretty gentle transfer compared to that of Diamond several years later.

I wouldn't say Diamond's takeover was hostile... but it was close to it.

So, why have I stayed?

Believe me, I've been trying for the last five years to get out of it.

I even thought I had finally found a buyer this past December, when I was contacted by a lawyer for a travel firm offering me $103,500 for my 18,000 points.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?

It turns out it was a scam.

Elite Travel International, based in Albuquerque, NM, turned out to have a fake website (elitetravelint.com) that had vanished by February.

The lawyer, Carlos Enrrique Garcia, was a licensed attorney, but he had a website (cegassocintlaw.com) that didn't exist, either, as well as a series of phone numbers that didn't concur with those on the paperwork.

One phone number and address was even that of what may have been the metalworks company (Garcia Sheet Metal Corp.) of his family.

I had balked on completing the form that requested my bank information.

At least I didn't lose money on that deal.

So, I still need to address the question: why Hilary Rojo?

Like me, she is tired of the head games played by Diamond Resorts.

As she says, she wants them to "become more answerable to its owners" and she wants to "help them quit changing the rules/plan of ownership".

Amen to that!

The last sentence of her statement resonated with me.

"I am just one person, but it can start with me."

Yeah, I throw starfish into the ocean, too.

My dear Thomas, fellow member of the League of Savannah Bloggers, posted this on fb a few days ago, and it's perfect for this post.

 

"When people talk about 

traveling to the past, 

they worry about 

radically changing the present 

by doing something small, 

but

barely anyone in the present 

really thinks that they can 

radically change the future

by doing something small."

 

Amen to that.

I'm using my one voice to vote for change.