Kudos to DAE

I requested a ski week at Tahoe for my son's 25th birthday (yesterday) and within a day, they responded with two choices, one of which fit what was needed. I was very impressed and this was using my two bedroom Lowveld Lodge week.
Liz

Typical of DAE

They are good and getting better.

mamiecarter said:

They are good and getting better.

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They are also up against competition which only cares about ripping off the customers.

In other words, they are working in an industry where simply treating the customers fairly makes them practically unique in the marketplace.

The future looks bright for DAE, and, if I might say so, there actually seems to be some hope for timesharing itself now that there is an actual decent exchange company out there dealing with owners on a fair and square basis.

Congratulations Liz,
Wish I had the same luck as you have. Today two of my DAE deposits are expiring. This means that I have tried for 3 years to get a decent exchange, have paid for Gold membership in Europe 3 x 30 GBP + 300 GBP maintenance fee without getting anything back. I check their availabilty several times a week and I have put in at least 50 requests during these years, not always difficult ones; for instance a week in October or April in the UK or several other European countries. My advice: never do a deposit first and if you live in Europe, don't waste your money on a Gold membership.
Loes.

Loes,

I certainly sympathise with your feelings, but if nobody deposits there isn't going to be any availability either. Something of a Catch22 situation unless DAE can obtain excess inventory.

DAE has come through on a couple of very specific requests for me for weeks for honeymoons for a neice and nephew. In both cases, the request was for a specific week in a specific location, one even for a specific resort. The first one, for Morritts Tortuga Club, DAE came through in a week or so. The other for a beachfront resort in the Phillipines took about 3 weeks, but they came through on that one, too.

Keith,

Of course your theory is right. I had the same thoughts and therefore did the deposit first. Gave them 2 very good weeks in highseason. The weeks were gone immediately. DAE even e-mailed me a few months ago to ask me if I wanted to deposit more weeks (we own a cottage in the Netherlands).
But after this negative experience, I would be a fool to do a deposit first again.

Loes.

Loes said:

...I have put in at least 50 requests during these years, not always difficult ones; for instance a week in October or April in the UK or several other European countries. My advice: never do a deposit first and if you live in Europe, don't waste your money on a Gold membership.
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Wow, that's pretty bad! They couldn't get you anything in those countries for October or April? Or, were there just certain locations during those times that would work for you?

I've been wondering if I want to try DAE, but that makes me think twice about depositing with them.

DAE got me a week in the UK last summer and for exactly what I requested - Canaltime. They also got me a week in France last summer for exactly what I requested - French Riviera.

Judy,
I have put in so many requests, sometimes I excluded certain areas, sometimes the request was for several countries without mentioning certain locations. One time they offered me 2 1B units in Wales instead of the 2B I needed, would have cost me 2 exchange weeks, so I refused.
On TUG you can read many stories from members who were succesful in trading at DAE. I can imagine one is getting the impression that a DAE trade always works, my story tells you it does not.
Loes.

Those of us who have gotten great trades with DAE seem to be using the US office, while Loes is using the UK office. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

I once lost a week with DAE because they couldn't find me anything that would fit my needs. But I continue to do business with them because I prefer their business practices to those of ________.

Now that I've learned the hard way that DAE has limited inventory, this is what I do (maybe it would work for you too): I request before depositing. Or, if I have a week that needs to be deposited ASAP, I check out DAE's available inventory. Although what shows online are the left-overs, the list gives a good indication of the areas and resorts where DAE is strong. I only deposit with them if I see some possibilities that would work for me.

DAE is growing. My system might be obsolete soon