Destination Club Forums -- Where Is It?

Does anyone know what happened to www.DestinationClubForums.com?

It has been down for a while saying it will be upgraded, but that's not how things usually work. You don't pull the plug out until you are ready to flip the switch, right?

right... something is wrong...

Anybody got any ideas?

The upgrade story is an obvious lie.

My guess would be that the destination club industry bought them out to shut up the people who posted the ugly truth about the industry.

Just imagine how much the ARDA would pay to get rid of TUG.

There are good timeshare companies and bad timeshare companies. Just like there are good destination clubs and bad destination clubs.

The beauty of these forums is while there is a lot of noise on them, a good amount of very helpful information is out there for folks that fortunately go beyond the slick brochures and websites.

RLG said:

My guess would be that the destination club industry bought them out to shut up the people who posted the ugly truth about the industry.

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I sure hope that isn't the case, but I must say that is the most plausible explanation. For some reason, it seems someone (owner of DCF.com, someone buying DCF.com, etc.) wanted the content of the forum taken down.

I believe the owner (or previous owner) of DCF.com is a poster on TUG as well, so maybe he'll chime in here to offer an explanation?

Word on the street is that the "upgrade" should be completed sometime this week.

On a different note, there is light at the end of the tunnel on another pertinent issue. And the light is suprisingly bright. Keep chipping away at it.

Bourne said:

Word on the street is that the "upgrade" should be completed sometime this week.

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Should we take this as confirmation that the story that the site is down due to an "upgrade" was not entirely truthful per the "word on the street"?

I'm very surprised at how this 'upgrade' was announced ... after closing down the site, instead of announcing the changes when the bbs was active so members could know what was up. I liked the administrator of the site and hope all is ok.

Brian

What's the big deal?

Destination Clubs (DC's) are dead - finished - kaput.

The folks who had "pocket change" of $400k and could buy a membership have sadly learned a lesson - dreams are easy to sell; reality is another thing completely.

I predicted this debacle years ago here on TUG and the skeletal remains of the DC industry drag along like a zombie looking for a new meal.

Don't chuckle too loudly - the timeshare industry isn't that far behind.

Don't buy a DC or a timeshare in 2010 - under any circumstances.

The DC Forum may simply be revamping and might come out with something spectacular - who knows. I sure wish them well and have admiration for the folks there who brought together hundreds of DC owners in a forum for debate. Good luck guys.

As someone who runs 25+ websites, trust me when I say you guys need to monetize your efforts - freebie viewers are simply a pain in the butt...

If you want to discuss with me send me a PM - if not, I'm out of here...

PerryM said:

Destination Clubs (DC's) are dead - finished - kaput.
..
...
Don't buy a DC or a timeshare in 2010 - under any circumstances.
...
....

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You and I, my friend, are at different ends of the spectrum. Like I said before, it ain't over till the fat lady sings......but she gotta get over the indegistion first...

RLG said:

Should we take this as confirmation that the story that the site is down due to an "upgrade" was not entirely truthful per the "word on the street"?

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The quotes were used for highlighting. No hidden meaning. Should have used bold.

I have been acquainted with DC4MS for years and called him regarding the same a few days back. Was told that he is working on some upgrades but also has pressing issues on the day job front.

Too much time on your hands?

Good to see the same folks with nothing else to do but try to find out what happened to the web site.

But the site was very useful in the darkest hours of the PE/UE adventure. If it doesn't resurrect itself soon it may be worthwhile starting it up here.

Bill

wdinner said:

Good to see the same folks with nothing else to do but try to find out what happened to the web site.

But the site was very useful in the darkest hours of the PE/UE adventure. If it doesn't resurrect itself soon it may be worthwhile starting it up here.

Bill

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Amen; I thought that by reading both the positves and the negatives posted at that site was most helpful and informative.

RLG said:

The upgrade story is an obvious lie.

My guess would be that the destination club industry bought them out to shut up the people who posted the ugly truth about the industry.

Just imagine how much the ARDA would pay to get rid of TUG.

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Call me paranoid, but your suspicions may be true. One potential culprit would be Jim Tousignant at Ultimate Escapes. They were getting a lot of bad press from former members (like me) who got screwed in the assessment process last year. Despite this influx of cash they are still bleeding red ink. They are close to getting delisted from the NYSE and they are trying to raise $30 million of new capital to stave off extinction. Shutting down a source of negative press that could spook potential investors would be something that, in my opinion, is plausible that JT would do.

1ncentives said:

Uncertain, what Destination Club offered? Was it a Rental

Company..or ..Ownership?/Thankyou

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Destination Club as a term that relates to an industry. Consider it a sub segment of the resorts/hospitality industry. Like others in the broad segment, it went through a big shakeup with some firms filing for bankruptcy.

The big kahunas in the order of membership are

www.exclusiveresorts.com
www.ultimateescapes.com
www.quintess.com
www.akresidenceclub.com
Destination M [link updated 4/25/17]

DestinationClubForums was probably threatened with a suit

RLG said:

The upgrade story is an obvious lie.

My guess would be that the destination club industry bought them out to shut up the people who posted the ugly truth about the industry.

Just imagine how much the ARDA would pay to get rid of TUG.

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I found Destination Club Forums to be a very useful source of information and insight into several destination clubs. I agree with RLG that some of the companies probably did not like the information presented, nor having members be able to communicate with each other.

Rather than having been bought, I suspect that some club sent a ceast and desist letter, alleging slander or libel, and threatened to sue - and the operator, rather than pay for legal expenses, took it off the air.

It's really too bad as it would be a good place to discuss things like what is going on with UE's current offering.

AKTHUE said:

I found Destination Club Forums to be a very useful source of information and insight into several destination clubs. I agree with RLG that some of the companies probably did not like the information presented, nor having members be able to communicate with each other.

Rather than having been bought, I suspect that some club sent a ceast and desist letter, alleging slander or libel, and threatened to sue - and the operator, rather than pay for legal expenses, took it off the air.

It's really too bad as it would be a good place to discuss things like what is going on with UE's current offering.

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This is the problem with forums open to the public where anyone can join - the owner of the website is responsible for every word said by every person there. A lawsuit costs $25 to file and big bucks to deal with.

Hopefully the folks at DC Forums will make the new forum a paid subscription with a NDA with hefty fines. Make the membership fee just $1 and you will be amazed how many crazies are kept out. The folks who object to paying $1 are the same nuts who cause all the problems - good riddance to bad rubbish.

The NDA and a the state of the art web tools allow you to track every hit and IP address to the website - you can set up any conditions you want.

The DC world is infested with slick promoters who are unethical to begin with and have no problems finding lawyers to sue you.

Of course the posts aren't indexed by the search engines but recaps can be written that are viewable and thus attract the engines.

Most DCs were never designed to survive what the real estate market is doing now - imploding. I just don't think DCs will survive and hang on for those folks with "$400k of Pocket Change" to sell memberships to - those folks were wiped out last year.

Just a suggestion to anyone listening.....

P.S.
S @ 9938 2/5/10-09:00 cst

UE Delisting

Yes, it would have been very helpful if the forum were still up and running to hear what others think about the UE delisting and aborted equity offering.

The suggestion that the offering didn't work because of 'market conditions' was the usual spin by JT in my opinion. I just feel sorry for the club members who bought the shares at $8 thinking that when they got the extra shares and halved their investment cost they would either make money or have a limited downside.

Given all the new hires, increased costs of being public, and general mismanagement, I am anticipating another member assessment.....

msscarlet said:

The suggestion that the offering didn't work because of 'market conditions' was the usual spin by JT in my opinion. I just feel sorry for the club members who bought the shares at $8 thinking that when they got the extra shares and halved their investment cost they would either make money or have a limited downside.

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I do not feel sorry for the members who bought the shares at $8! You had to have your head in the sand not to see where the stock price was going. Come on the UE ripped me off might work last year, but now, with JT's track record. Anybody who joins gets what they deserve and anybody buying the stock gets what they deserve. Do your DUE DILLENGCE and realize the RISK OF LOSS! Just goes to prove, having money does not make you smart.

DC4MS sell out?

Apologies if this has been revealed already, but based on the following it looks like DC4MS sold destinationclubforums.com to UE for 16,667 shares of UE stock:

1. Destinationclubforums.com was founded by William Scherer:

“I originally started Destination Club Forums as a small area on the Internet where I could post messages and discuss exotic luxury travel locations with other destination club members,” said William Scherer, the founder.

(http://newsblaze.com/story/2010042010352000550.pr/topstory.html)



2. In UE's S-1, a William Scherer was the proud owner, and hopeful seller, of 16,667 shares of UE stock:

Selling Stockholders:
William Scherer 16,667 * 16,667

(see page 69 of http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1402364/000114420410031992/v187261_s1.htm)

3. UE bought certain assets from an individual for 16,667 shares of UE stock:

ITEM 2 — UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS
On January 5, 2010, we issued 16,667 shares to an individual from whom we acquired certain assets, as part of the purchase price of those assets.

(see http://www.faqs.org/sec-filings/100513/Secure-America-Acquisition-CORP_10-Q/)

DC4MS Sell Out

So basically UE bought off the one constant source of truthful, er... negative information for $60K+ in stock (value as of Jan). This would certainly explain why Bill and DC4MS disappeared suddenly into the night ....

IMHO, the lack of a thriving forum for the Destination Club industry hurts the industry far more than any negative posts. DC4MS was a huge source of sales lead generation for most of the DCs.

Makes you think ... if the price for UE to silence DC4MS was $60k+ ... how much is it worth to Marriott to silence TUG ???

Also ... wonder if Dr. Bill sold his UE stock windfall before the massive decline in value and liquidity.

Or was it part of a settlement?

travelguy said:

So basically UE bought off the one constant source of truthful, er... negative information for $60K+ in stock (value as of Jan). This would certainly explain why Bill and DC4MS disappeared suddenly into the night ....

IMHO, the lack of a thriving forum for the Destination Club industry hurts the industry far more than any negative posts. DC4MS was a huge source of sales lead generation for most of the DCs.

Makes you think ... if the price for UE to silence DC4MS was $60k+ ... how much is it worth to Marriott to silence TUG ???

Also ... wonder if Dr. Bill sold his UE stock windfall before the massive decline in value and liquidity.

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Another scenario is that UE had sued Dr. Bill or sent him a threatening letter, and that they negotiated a settlement that UE dropped all claims and bought ownership of the website for some stock.

What a shame. Nice detective work UEgly. I guess we now know that DC4MS is not coming back (or at least presumably not coming back in a way that we were hoping). As pointed out on another thread, it was nice to have a place where people could truly learn something about DCs beyond the glossy brochures and marketing hype that made all DCs look great. Hope we can get some more activity on here, so this section can actually be more informative.

AKTHUE said:

Another scenario is that UE had sued Dr. Bill or sent him a threatening letter, and that they negotiated a settlement that UE dropped all claims and bought ownership of the website for some stock.

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Shortly after DC4MS went silent, Dr. Bill stated that the board was NOT down due to legal threats or actions. He also specifically mentioned HCC which had threatened and/or taken legal action against him.

There were some other reported issues for Dr. Bill taking down the board, not involving legal actions from DCs, that other sources discussed but I have no direct knowledge of.

I think the selling of DC4MS, ESPECIALLY to UE, comes as a shock to most of us who were close to the forums as moderators. My personal thought is that Dr. Bill would have updated us if there was a motive other than pure profit. >> Note that I'm not saying making a profit is a bad thing, just wish there was more disclosure.

Dc4ms

Now that I think about it, it doesn't make sense to me that any DC would have bought DC4MS, and not tried to remake it into a marketing vehicle for that DC or the DC industry. They could have started moderating (censoring) the discussions, just like they do on their own websites, and put up marketing information in the form of threads. Even if readership would have dwindled over time, it still would have had marketing benefit in the short run, and the member database would have given them some leads.

Maybe the deal was simpler - we'll give you some stock in return for suspending the site - because UE felt the presence of the site was hurting their membersip sales, so they bought silence.