RCI Timeshare Complaints, Positive and Negative Experiences
There are a number of sites on the web that RCI members use to voice their complaints about past experiences they have had with RCI. A majority of these issues have to do with the inability to trade weeks once they are deposited. The inability to exchange weeks for vacations at other resorts is exactly the same problem that the class action lawsuit, Murillo vs. RCI (which is currently in the discovery process) is focused upon – the idea that RCI is withholding weeks for sales to non-members or for use by executives as perks.
Personally, my major complaint with RCI is the way that they conduct business using their deceitfully underhanded, high-pressure sales tactics. Their main goal is to prey on the weakness of people and convince them, no matter what their financial situation, that a timeshare is a valuable investment. They are no better than corporate bullies, hustling and ready to say whatever you want to hear in order to get your signature on the dotted line. I do not care how many people comment that “it’s your own fault to give in and buy something you did not really want”, there is certainly some truth to that, but the real truth is that people are trusting by nature, and do not want to believe that there is someone out there trying to reel them in for a scam.
People need to be aware about the truth about timeshares, and I encourage you to post your experiences with RCI below, positive and negative, to help inform consumers as to whether or not RCI timeshare is a good investment.
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I AM an RCI member by way of purchasing a timeshare in Mexico. While the Mexico portion is not so great I am having some success with RCI when I book vacations and air Travel. I am restricted to 60,000 points use per year for airfare but I can use unlimited points for accommodations. We purchased our timeshare in 2006. Since that time we have been to Belize, Mexico, Hawaii twice, Lake Chelan Washington, Colorado and a few other places locally. WE paid $22K for the timeshare and as of today April 5th 2012 have saved a total of $28K in travel costs. As we continue to travel from this point forward all we do is save even more money. I would never be able to afford 2 weeks in Hawaii each year if I didnt own the RCI portion of the timeshare. Ive learned to use the system to my advantage and know when I can book accommodations. FOr all vacations I do book 10 months in advance so I can almost be assured I get the place I want to stay. There have been rare occasions I do not get the location I am looking for. Good planning and diligent searching on there website have landed us in amazing locations that I would never be able to afford otherwise.
I have left negative comments on here in the past. However, after talking with RCI and using there website I found how my family can best utilize our timeshare/RCI and not feel like we were taken advantage of. I am leaving my name and email address so there is no misunderstanding weather or not I work for RCI. We live in Portland Oregon and travel twice a year with RCI points.
Mike and Shelley
I just bought one week time ahsre in the caribbean,and am hoping that all goes well
any advise you can give would be of help
I shall add you to my list of people I pray for. May you enjoy RCI in many ways that all of us have not.
Make usre you use and take advantage of the WEBSITE. You do get better deals on line then you do by calling. Its cheaper to book on line as well. Be diligent with your vacation browsing and book as soon as you possibly can to ensure you get the location you want. We have never had a problem booking on line even when looking for highly desirable locations like Kauai, Hawaii. YOu have to be a little flexible with where you want to stay with the accommodations. YOu wont get the Ritz but you wont get some flee bag motel either. We have had gret luck with staying in very nice places with all of our bookings.
We spent a week at Wilderness Dunes at the end of February 2012. Excellent. The new management has stepped up the service even more than the usual and we must congratulate Wilderness Dunes for keeping up the high standard all the years.
I see that the Protea Hotel has closed down in Wilderness, but it does not get mentioned on the Protea Hotel website.
MANYANE RESORT PILANSBERG – MARCH 2012
We visited friends staying in Manyane. The place is quite neglegted. Bad roads, very dirty swimming pools, no shop, no restaurant and overall standard of maintenance just shouts neglect and poor management.
What I would like to know:
Being an RCI cliet myself, I dont feel it safe anymore to exchange my points for a resort, because I do not know what I will find at the resort.
Does RCI do quality checks on the Resort’s status and management?
You cannot trust the the icons shown of what is available is still operational and of good quality.
Not a good sign for RCI members at all.
Has this happened to you? RCI condo confirmation notice received….no condo reserved.
We received an e-mail from RCI in March 2011 confirming a stay in a RCI condo in Sedona for October. We purchased plane tickets etc for our vacation. Two days before our scheduled vacation, I called the Sedona condo to find out about check in time. I was told that we were not on their list of guests. I contacted RCI and they had the information about our reserved weeks in Sedona, but did not show a condo being reserved for us. RCI rep said he would find us an equivalent condo within the next 24 hours. He was not able to find an available equivalent condo and we ended up paying to rent a house on our own (24 hours before our plane flight).
Needless to say, we’re not getting any response from RCI re this situation. Has anyone else received a condo confirmation notice from RCI and then found out that the promised condo was not available?
Fortunately, “No”. About a week or 10-days out before my arrival, I usually contact the resort to confirm my Unit# as it appears on the RCI confirmation notice. Not that I am being cautious, but because I usually want to make sure that I can have my mail forwarded to me. For the resort to accept my mail in my behalf, I need to have a valid Rm# in my name with them.
Thank you for taking your time in sharing your story. After reading your ordeal, maybe contacting the resort prior to arrival is a step that I should take regardless.
I am truly sorry to hear about your ordeal. I understand Sedona, AZ is a beautiful place, and I hope that in some way, it made up some of the disappointment and frustration that you must have endured.
Same thing happened with me & my husband last month, & I somehow allowed myself to get suckered into this stupid thing…probably the biggest regret of my life. My saleswoman was Tracey – she even gave me her email address so I could contact her with any questions I had. Just tried emailing her & the message bounced back to me as undelivered….so she probably lied to me about her email address from the beginning. She went on & on how I could sell the points package back to them at any time, I am almost certain that was also a lie. How can these people get away with this? If you purchase something anywhere else in this world & want to return it, you almost always have that option, even if you do have to pay a penalty or a premium. I’m shocked to hear that some people are being told that they are NOT allowed to cancel & that they will be sent to collections. Tracey told us how Resort Holiday Group does not work with creditors & are always willing to work out a payment plan if your financial situation should change, all a bunch of lies. I feel like a complete fool
Thsi is what I wrote to RCi follwoing my recent “retreat” to Bali:
RCI + Me
I am so HAPPY that RCI helped me have a holiday I never knew possible.
I first banked in my week and asked for Chiang Mai for a holiday with
my wife, kids and my parents – more like I insisted strenously.
The RCI consultant tried to convince me about the folly of going to
Chiang Mai and had me consider Goa, some parts in India, China,
Phillippines, Indonesia. BUT I was adamant. Finally after being
threatened to have my week forfeited, I reluctantly agreed to a studio
apartment in Bali. As a result, I had to ditch my parents and my kids
and had a honeymoon instead with my wife.
And since I hated the sun, I was cloistered in the studio unit
practically the whole day – and I saved money and I really enjoyed the
view of the garden (and pathway) from my bedroom during the day.
Thank you RCI! I never knew having a holiday without my family can be
so much fun!
My husand and I have been members of RCI for a few years now. The only BAD experience we’ve encountered with them was during the Swine Flu outbreak in Mexico.
Ten day prior to the trip, a Health Warning against traveling to Mexico was issued. When I called RCI to delay the trip until the crises blew over, they insisted on charging me a cancellation/re-booking fee; my conversation with them quickly became deservingly ugly. This is especially true when the manager countered that “… he has no problem taking HIS family to Mexico for a vacation under the same condition..” — as though he is the standard bearer for the risks that RCI members should be willing to take, just like him! What a jerk!
In the end, RCI did gave me a full refund. I didn’t even bother to convey a ‘thank you’ because their lack of common-sense in the face of an obvious health issue, but demonstrate a willingness to used exploit it to boost their bottom-line. Having to have to engage them in an argument to point out the obvious danger really takes the cake.
But kudos to them — since that event (and prior to it), we really have had very good vacationing experiences with RCI. I hope it will continue.
Temptations Cabo/Cancun f***ed me over bad too. I paid off my timeshare in full too. 60,000 RCI points and 8 weeks per year and I was supposed to have 1 free week per year. They fight me every time I try to book. I haven’t been able to use anything that I have tried and I wasted $25K on nothing. I am in for 25 years and pissed. I would have been better to use that money and just book the travel on my own. On top that if I want to go I have to pay the all inclusive fee which is more than if I would have just went to a good travel site. Premier By original and RCI are such a bad investment and SCAM. They tell you one thing and add addendums to the contract that you are always fighting them on because they are worded in ways that they try to go back on. Right now I am fighting this. “Max use is one free all inclusive week per year.” They are saying this was a one time thing and I can’t use this every year. Don’t buy a timeshare!!!
I had a conversation with RCI recently and they insisted that the class action against them has been resolved. Is this true?
Thank you, Thank you to all who posted. My husband I were seriously thinking of purchasing from RCI. There are alot of advertisements and resales listed on the web for RCI properties and there is abviously a good reason why there are so many. Lots of folks want out.
Thank you again for your posting your experiences.
We will look else where.
Ray,
Well done -letting your inner man hang out. I like the frankness – the agressiveness in your response (quoting you for the rest who don’t know your response:” I would gladly let you get on the table and do a song and dance and then rejoice as they cart your @$$ off to jail where you deserve to be for behavior so UNBECOMING of an adult.”.
So, the rest of you who are about to be approached by people pushing timeshare, you might just meet a Ray. And if you do, ask them what @$$ means. (That’s how they view us, suckers)
Ow
Just got back form a presentation in Hilton Head Island recently. I told the sales guy up front that I wasn’t going to buy and that I was here because I had to be here. He was rude and disrespectful. He had the nerve to ask me “Don’t you want to take your wife on nice vacations?” I decided not to get confrontational and instead I made a game of it. I told him my will to say no was stronger than your ability to sell. That did it, he ended up leaving our table for three different breaks of 5 minutes each while we waited the mandated 30 minutes before we followed him to view the property. I got to stay at the Westin Crowne Plaza for 4 days and 3 nights for $150 to sit through this charade. It looked, smelled, and felt like a scam and after reading this forum I now KNOW it’s a scam. An earlier poster said it best. When dealing with money I’m in control of how I spend it and get instant results. When I trade my money for points I now put YOU in control and that makes no sense. I would let them put me up in the Westin for another 4 days for $150 if they want to. Anytime. Like I said, my will to say NO is stronger than their will to bully me into a sale. Plus, it was only a 90 minute presentation, not bad at all.
Just returned from what I THOUGHT was an educational meeting about how to use RCI points as a WorldMark owner. It turned out to be a pressure sales presentation where they tried to sell me over 100,000 RCI points, at a cost of 9,000.00 and then said that I’d only have to pay $700 over the next six months and, magically, by renting out 9000 of my points, I’d have the entire purchase paid for. Good grief–how stupid do they think I am?
Got suckered into a timeshare at Vacation Village Weston FL through RCI. Presentation supposed to take 2 hrs took 3.5 and had not even gotten to the “sit down” sales pitch. I was rational at first and tried to get away to think about it, told them I just bought a car…they give you this “ANYWAY” pitch where this is money you will spend vacationing anyway and then some so may as well spend half what you would have spend over the course of a lifetime. I started to see things from their perspective and after 7 hours finished the paperwork. Thought I got a 24,000 timeshare for 9,900 felt ok. Then ran into another couple from our presentation who were offered 4,000 after they sad no a couple times!!! Can you say screwed!!! I felt nauseous the rest of the night then saw the 10 day cancellation clause. I went on my “Free” cruise now I am 4 days in and sending the cancellation letter ASAP. Better get my deposit back…am thinking I will need to send back the textbooks they gave me looks like they may charge $50 for those if I keep them, they are not getting a dime from me if I can help it reading all of these horrific stories! Any tips to make sure this 10 day thing will 100% work?
This February 2011 we were in RCI vacation village resort at Parkway, FL. We were pushed for the overview of the new units marketing and reluctantly agreed. Same old business tactics, brand new unit with marble, no specific week, come any week of the year, new RCI point system, you don’t have to use whole week, use fraction, any day to any day no specific day check-in etc. etc. bull shit as usual. Market price 39k your price 12k, then 10k, then 8k. But I already had experience so absolutely no and did not get into another trouble. Try to do little math, cost for one week 10K so for a year 52 week 520K, buy in Manhattan. Maintenance fee 700-800 per year for one week so 40K a year for a freak condo. I wish I did this math before signing last time or at least cancelling the transaction in 3 days as Mass allows. Stay away from RCI.
Bought RCI points through H10 Dominican Republic. Like everyone sounddokay on purchase and we did get extra for H10 resorts booking. Trouble we only get that when we book 12 – 24 months ahead. Cannot hardly find anything we want when trying to book with 1 – 3 month range, but will often find it when we look at weeks, then the want $150 to $200 to convert to weeks reservation (eventhough we would be staying for at least a week on points). I pay annual fees to both RCI and H10. The all inclusive costs are usually unrealistic per person (wonder if they don’t make thier money off that alone). Try comparing all inclusive costs through RCI reservations and reserving directly to the hotel and you will find big difference in the higher cost of RCI. 95% of the time when I can’t find the hotel, location, or time period I want, I cn go on Expedia and find it at a much lower cost (usually room and AI for less then cost than AI only thru RCI website)!.
I paid USD $28000, which will take about 10 years to use up comparable POINTS, but meanwhile RCI has all our full money in advance to keep in their bank account and co0llet interest or be invested in higher return investments! I calculated points are worth about 2-5 Cents each based on cots of same rooms direct. But beside beign restricted to 60,000 points when I try to use them for airfare or other Partner ites. works out to about 1 cent per point.
When i ask RCI about this I get a long speel about try to book in advance, uncertaininmty of future costs, but never a direct answer. TLooked at selling, but based on prices I seee buyers paying – would lose at least 75% of what it is worh to me by what I paid – big loss.
Fan of RCI – NOT!!!
We too attended Georgian Manor resort…. we received a call saying that we won a 2 nights free stay, however we had to endure a 90 mins presentation….we too were put in the old section …. after the presentation and tour of the newly renovated suites….
we told them we were not interested..maybe later – then we were told it’s now or never – we could not revisit this at a later time.
Then we still said NO…then they said well you could buy into a test drive package which still gives you all the perks of a full RCI member and if we didn’t like it we could cancel & they’d sell it to someone else.
So we got sucker into that $3150 expense for a 3 year trial.
So we tried to plan our trip which was 2 months away and told to wait for the 30 day window to get a place for 9000 points or less as well only had so many points to use…then when that time came – nothing was available where we wanted to go with our family. Then they told us to find another time to go when places were available …we explained we couldn’t change our holidays- we work! Tried to cancel as we had not used this package, said we were not satisfied…got no response back, then we inquired again and they told us that they would NOT entertain our request to cancel & they were working on trying to find us a resort to stay at for a week … We told them that we were not interested. When we told them that we ere just going to cancel and not pay anymore they told us that they’d send credit collectors as we signed a contract.
Then we contacted RCI directly and they told us we should be able to cancel however we were not RCI members as we purchased a trial package with the resort and that our contract was with the resort & us….that we had to deal with the resort….
Where do we go from here? We haven’t used this thing…they can’t find any place to stay for our holiday & the saver express thing is a joke too. No savings on flights really & car rentals were more than double what I could find for an online booking…. SCAM….
I wish we could have read these comments before we left for our stay at Georgian Manor resort….. We would have said NO!
I was so unimpressed – It’s ridiculous. I am at present trying to source how RCI, specifically in this case the Georgian Maner Resort got my contact info. They misrepresented themselves from the moment we spoke on the phone – unfortunately hindsight is 20/20!
I was contacted by someone representing the Georgian Manor saying that they had recently renovated the resort – upwards of a couple million – and were offering these ‘deals’ by which I would be requested to give my opinion of the renovations – and would have to take a 90 minute tour of the facilities to comment on what was done.
From the time we arrived I knew something was afoot as nothing was what I had anticipated… and the final ‘blow’ came on Sunday with our 90 mins tour being a presentation on buying into RCI. When we told our rep Ruth that we were not interested for different reasons, she became ‘surly’ and told us “a little advice – the next time you attend a presentation you really should make sure you come better prepared…” Well – can I tell you how NOT impressed I was?! I had not come prepared to have to drop a couple of thousand dollars – I was expecting that I may be asked to buy a membership to the resort – or even some of its ‘sister’ resorts in the province – but not to buy a timeshare!! Then, at the end of Ruth’s bit – another comes over to ‘check us out’… he suggests that we sample the various resorts in the group – instead of becoming members – and then perhaps we could decide later if we wanted to join. BUT that required more money – and another ‘commitment’! Holy Crap – nothing ever ends with you people!!
To compound the ‘insult’, we weren’t even put in the ‘renovated’ section – we were put in the ‘dumpy’ end. One would presume that if you are trying to get my business, you’ll give me at least a taste of the good stuff to ‘wet my appetite’!
Rookies – all the way around!! Mickey Mouse is too advanced a reference to make when speaking about this crew!!
We did the exact same thing, we even got Ruth as our ‘salesperson’. As soon as we gave her a valid reason for not buying into RCI she wanted nothing to do with us. We told her from the moment we sat down that were not going to spend a cent on any type of investment for another year. She still went through the process while i still had in my mind that im not buying it.
The upstairs suite was the best part about the whole property anyway, everything was getting run-down and out of date. I noticed every little detail about the place, even the picture (faded print) in the restaurant was from 1985. I could go on and on.
My Husband and I purchased a Timeshare, way back in 1978. I also pd. for exchanges, bufor exchanges, but it was with Interval.We enjoyed it for a few yrs.,but now we are Seniors, and the Maintainence fees keep going up, and we can no longer afford them. They call my house everyday, sometimes 2 or 3 times. They sent us to a collection agency, and charge 40% late fees.Now they are on my credit report, and Bank of America, now wants to charge me, for my card, annually. My credit was excellent. We have tried to sell them for yrs., paid out, about $2500.00, and they were never sold. They are nothing but CROOKS, in Florida. I would think that after reading, all these complaints, that either a political figure, or a real smart lawyer, would come up, and help us all. I would gladly pay a lawyer to help get us out of these TS. Please, somebody should be able to help us. Maybe Oprah could help. She seems to be the only person who gets attention.
Most of these complaints seem to be about RCI points. I inherited my timeshare, and I’ve used it successfully many times. NO More. Didn’t you people know that Cendant bought RCI, and the Cendant Ceo is probably still in prison. The company was split up, and Fairfield and RCI went one way, and the real estate business another.
RCI Weeks just gave us owners another “improvement.” We now know the value of our week, so they say, and we cannot get the exchanges we have been getting. We cannot even get the exchange we deposited for Sept., 2011. It is, however, available as an “extra vacation” for rental.
We can, however, combine two deposits and get a better exchange. Two deposits equals two $500 maintenance fees plus an exchange fee plus $99 for combining. For that much money, I can rent whatever I want. About $1300 for a week, and if it’s in an RCI property, it’s probably rentable for less for a non-owner. This is supposed to be an “improvement??????”
I feel sorry for the points owners. But don’t get a class action lawyer. RCI has already been sued and lost. Owners got about $15 out of that. If you have a lawyer, sue them on your own.
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RCI for las vegas is a joke!!! We spoke to this lady named holly and a lady who used to be a body builder the worst money hungry evil c*nts for RCI. The only reason i got the timeshare was because the b*tches told us if u cant afford your timeshare then we can buy it back from you. So of coarse when it came to that time to sell it back because i was going back to school they told me if it was in writing then they would do that. My stupid fault it wasnt in writing and never again will i ever ever buy a timeshare by the way those ppl that are at the luxor trying to give you free tix to great shows at an affordable price spit on them they are scum!!!
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RCI is truly a Company without any heart. We Paid $109 to extend a vacation for 6 months. During that time a family member got cancer and wasn;t expected to live. They died in late-November. At the end of December we remembered that we had the week unused. I called RCI and asked them to extend it for 3 months at no charge due to the circumstances. My reasoning was that I could use the week and they could earn a trade fee; it would have been a good thing for both. But they wouldn;t hear of doing such a thing.
I guess a good business decision and a good customer service thing is not for them. They only want your money. Also, their online email syatem has not worked now for a week. I truly wish I coiuld get away from them.
Wow, once again, all I can say is we dodged a bullet! We just got back from a resort in Cancun where we got the high-pressure sales pitch, and like many of the rest of you, saw the price of the membership drop from $39,900 to $7,450. We spent the morning with these folks, but we did get an $80 credit which we used to offset the cost of a couple massage at the spa later that day. Boy, we deserved it after that 5 hour ordeal!
My husband works with contracts for a living, so we dragged them down to the bare bones deal along with every option on the table they could offer. Interesting, after reading these comments, how probably none of that was really true. So, in the end, we finally told them (the truth) that my husband had been laid off a few weeks before, and they stopped pushing and let us walk away. May I recommend that strategy to anyone else who is looking for an 'easy way out' the door?
Seriously, if you have trouble saying no to these people, have a strategy to get out and stick to it. Never buy anything the same day it's presented. Everyone on this board who is in trouble got there by SIGNING ON THE DOTTED LINE without doing your due diligence first. We bought a car one time the same day we walked into the dealership, and we regretted it every day afterward until we got rid of it. We learned our lesson then, to NEVER, EVER buy something without sleeping on it and doing our homework.
So, here's your helpful tip: Tell them you're unemployed. (It gets rid of telemarketers too!) And go enjoy your massage (or free gift) and get on with your vacation!
I don’t know why they still charging transaction fee for 167.00 and some minimal fee, totaling 195.00 just to book in Las Vegas. I am a member of RCI timeshare and paying maintenance fee for almost 500 dollar every year and membership fee, you total everything you pay is more than the amount than booking yourself in that hotel. This is ridiculous, where is the money you put at the beginning.
We just went to Las Vegas to see some shows. Our first time there. Before we even got to the front to desk to register we were pounced on by a nicely dressed young man who asked if we wanted some free tickets to a $100 show…all we had to do was listen to a 2 hour presentation. To make a long story short, the 2 hour presentation was actually a very slick high pressure 4 hour sales presentation, full of bait & switch, unsubstantiated claims, wonderful promises a life of 5 star hotel multi-week vacations, and then they asked us to buy into their timeshare. We said, “No, not intersted.” Then came the pressure. “Why not? What don’t you like? I’m sure we can give you a better deal, one that will meet your needs. Don’t you like vacations?” and on and on. We still said “No, not interested”. OK, then they lowered the price two more times, and we still said “No, not intersted”. Even on the way out, they tried to give a third, “very special offer”, one of which they only had a dozen available, with a much lower price, still we said “No, not intersted”. Then we had to sit in a lobby for another 20 minutes to get our “free show tickets”. After all of that, it hardly felt like the tickets were free.
RS Says:
October 18th, 2009 at 9:29 am
I love RCI. Sorry everyone but I love RCI. I bought 2 seperate resale timeshares for a resort we go to every year for a total of $4000+maintenence. Actual value $25000. It previously cost us $4000 to rent for a week. Good score!! The weeks are not the actual times we want to go and have a higher point value through RCI therefore we are able to go for 10 days to that resort and we’re going to The Crane (reg.$1300 per night) for a week for our second time. This is livin! Through our RCI points membership we are always able to find something even in March. You just need to check very often for new trades.
___________________________
Be careful folks. Usually when you read a positive comment such as the one above it is considered a online troll. Probably someone from the company trying to make an otherwise useless comment to deter others from cancelling their contracts.
On another point I’d like to make. We, as Americans, are very ignorant when it comes to contractual obligations and contract law. Do yourself a favor such as what I did. I studied for a term at school of Contracts I and Torts I at my local law school. It was amazing what I learned about what Contract Law is about. It is NOT what YOU THINK. Contracts are NOT WHAT YOU THINK. We do not really know anything about contracts like you think you do until you have a law professor teach you what Contract Law is. These RCI folks play on your ignorance and you end up thinking that you cannot do anything after the fact. That is not true. I am not an expert, but I know far more than I did and I also come up with better questions to ask before signing. I am also better suited to argue the terms and I am much more direct and expect them to follow through with the terms. I decided to quit after one term because I want to get a paralegal certification instead of the spending the money for law school because I decided that I do not need a JD, but only a cert to enhance my current career, but my term was worth every penny. Find a local college or online school and take Contract Law and learn. You won’t regret it, but businesses will regret it because you’ll become wiser and informed and that is NOT what they want. They want suckers!
I just came back from St Martain which I stayed one week at my time share and was disgusted. They take your deposit of $150 for sure.BUT WAIT FOR IT?—- only would give one key—when there was two of us,– and pool towels wern’t available untill that evening.— Bareing in mind we did not bring our own towls and wanted to go to the pool right away Then when I got to my studio only to find –white bathroom towels were on. the floor? rack was broked also second clothes rack was hanging down also broken..The door it under the sink was laying on the floor– toilet wouldn’t flush—-Tv was so noisy on several channels we didn’t bother using it. Stove? what a joke we couldn’t regulate it- S0 So dangerous.. No teaspoons etc etc — And no orientation to talk to anyone – So what if it rains? – or only a few people show up. – HAVE IT IN THE LOBBY—-One person is as inportant as 100.. Plus they make sure on arrival that the least helpful person assists you —all we were told over and over WAs come back later- and when we did do that — then the night staff said OH come back in the morning…Terrible Terrible What are we paying our money for– And the manager I did speak with the next day — Had no interest wehat so ever. Something needs to be done about this. after all we go to get a nice vacation and relax and al it was was stress “SHAME ON YOU ” for not making sure before people arrive that there hotel or time share is maintained especially when you know the time and day they are coming..Where is our money going Disgusted
mgb.
Hi Everone,
I appreciate this forum to learn more on RCI and timeshare and your negative experiences with this. I am glad that i did not agree to buy the timeshare that was being offered to me last night (a resort here in the philippines that is affilliated with RCI). The sales agent was urging us to accept the offer on the same day. Probably so that we would not know any negative experiences that other had experieced with it. I almost sign in and paid the downpayment fee that they were asking me. Thanks.
Anthony
I've heard most, if not all of these stories many times. Just different folks. Remember the old saying(s). "This sounds to good to be true" or "Stupid is as Stupid does" Well………? As some have said, always buy on the resale market, buy low and search for resorts with low maintenance (hard to find). I own 4 red weeks, in a small timeshare in Washington State. I pay low fee's and have a fantastic group of people to work with at our resort. We also have excess to extra weeks with our resort.
We have been members of RCI weeks for almost 20 years. We learned from the gitgo, if you want a certain resort and you are not flexible with planning out 12-24 months (weeks only) you more then likely will not get it. Do I always get what I want? No. Close, Yes. I have traded all over the US and Canada with only a few glitches.
Like most all of you, I have my own issues with RCI. Maybe I've been lucky 150+ times.
One thing I have learned to do is put a resort on "Hold" check it out on the internet before I confirm my reservation. For those of you who are sticking with timesharing, I'm looking into other sources as, DAE, Platinum Exchange, Redweek, etc; Good Luck!
I decided to read these comments because I work at RCI and know how it is for the customer and the employee. Most say that the RCI practices are not ethical and you can't get what you want. Even saying the employees don't care. Well I'll address this. I work there. They try to make it seem like it's the "Greatest Place to Work" by baiting you with multiple vacations and contests to make it seem like a "fun" environment. We get treated worse than the customers at times. We had a tent day that "appreciated the employees for three hours", during this time you would have thought wow, they really love me, but the intent was to impress the CEO and previous owner so she doesn't know how the "family oriented and quality service company she sold" is now full of management that treat you horrible. Call Center work EVERY weekend, Most don't have two days off in a row, and you don't have leniency for family emergencies. While they do have days where they go out their way to appear like it's a fun job, the everyday, weekly, monthly meetings say it all. They say they want you to give customer service, but they tell you that your call MUST average no more than 5 minutes. Is that RCI rep rushing you or pushing you?? Yes, why?? not because we don't know how to treat you the customer, but because we are mandated to get you sold and push you off the phone on to the next call. The managers there do not care about the individuals, they tell you that there is inventory in there, that we aren't searching but really, honestly…there is none. Yet they've increased not decreased our expectancy levels. Think I'm lying.. I invite you to call and ask for ANY PLACE in the USA for the Summer and you may find a STUDIO in Branson, Absolutely nothing on the entire east coast, nothing at all west except Las Vegas or spots in Arizona. You better want to go to Mexico cause that's IT! They'll tell you that you should have called sooner which is true but that hold us the reps responsible for hitting goals OR ELSE. They have it set up in now FOUR areas that hit these marks or you are fired in three months. That's that good ole "Greatest Place to work" ethics. So while you the customers are feeling, we are feeling the rath as well and probably won't have a full center within five months… You will see something new about those "WEEKS" you have. Nothing is ever in NYC, nothing is EVER in Puerto Rico UNLESS you purchase it.. So most of these statements are accurate just remember that rep that's pushing you off the phone, is doing so not because they want to, it's because they have to, it's monitored and if they don't meet their standards of pressure, they're out the door and to the unemployed world
Just arrived home from a RCI sales event.
We thought it would be interesting to experiance the sales techniques that are used as we are both in sales.
Wow these people are insane and will do just about anything to rip you off.
Our sales rep used a walker to get around and used that disability to gain our trust. We are really not sure that he even was disabled.
He took us on a very calculated ride which increased the pressure to buy slowly over the hour.
Although we were aware of what was happening, when it came time to say yes or no, it was hard to say no.
We were snapped out of the trace when I pulled out my laptop and googled RCI on their wireless network. Needless to say the salesforce was not impressed by what I found. Scam over.
These people appear to be normal people trying to make a living but they are snake oil salespeople who's only goal is to separate you from your money.
Buyer beware
We also foolishly bought into Temptation Resort (formerly Blue Bay Premier). This place is such a scam, they said they could rent our additional weeks (3) for $500 a week and this would cover our deposit. Big lie. They said that we could easily get a week from RCI for 9000 pts. Not on your life(even in the 45 day short notice!) They made us sign a waiver that rescinded our rights to our 5 day rescission period. They actually have the nerve to say that they did have us sign it (they can't lie because I have a copy), but that it is not part of the contract! (Illegal by their own laws!) They didn't include the cost of airfare in the whole breakdown. Its gonna cost us more money to fly to Mexico and pay for the all inclusive that it would be to buy a package including hotel from a travel agent! Disgusting! With all the fees and charges RCI requires your next family vacation will cost 3 x's what it should have.
tried to extend my vacation time at the wyndham boardwalk in hawaii before i got there but was told there was nothing available When i arrived i noticed there did not seem to be very many people their. I went to the front desk and asked casualy where everyone was. They said it was not very busy about half full and that part of the hotel was shut down so as not to incure expences. What a great way to say nothing is available at this time.
This whole RCI point system is a joke. I am on what is called a test drive. Have 25,000 pts to use in 2 years. Tried this winter to go to Puerto Rico, waited my 45 days prior to fine there was nothing left. Your only option is constantly Domincan Republic. Heck then tried Collingwood Apr 16 & 17 (nice quiet time of year), again it would cost 16,000 pts or $350 for 4 ladies in a 2 room unit. In order to use only 9,000 pts, you have to stay a week. Therefore I said, put me for a week and I’ll come for the weekend…that no longer worked either for some strange reason. When I said it cost me $3000 to test drive the program for 25,000 pts and that one weekend would be equivalent to $1200 dollars, the subject was over. There has to be away to use these points without the constant restrictions. This is more trouble then booking online, and more expensives I should add. So chances are my husband & I will probably be kissing $3000 goodbye. Please think twice before buying into RCI….they say alot in 90 mins, but leave out the important "in between the lines stuff".
I, as a ten plus week owner, have decided to bycott RCI and to use sites like redweek.com, trading places, private rentals, Timesharing Today, owner to owner exchanges and rentals, and owner organizations, etc. I have successfully used all of these tools to by pass RCI, as I had long believed they were using our units, they did not pay for, to rent out. They used to get 10 units a year or more from me as well as trade fees. They call me all the time now telling me how valuable my weeks will be if I give them early, They are right they would be very variable … to RCI and their rental revenue.
We owners pay RCI them to take our units so we can be screwed, and so they can earn substantial revenue from our assets without recompense. They make us pay a fee to belong to an entity that we allow to screw us. How many landlords would allow their tenants to sub-lease leased space at a profit with not even a rent being received back by the landlord. Effectively that is what we are doing.
However, what we really need is an formal advertised "RCI-boycott" internet site where we would soon have enough hits and enough members for this site to be high on the list people see as soon as they type RCI. This site should be sure to have only accurate information as shown by the court case and its totally ridiculous outcome, and that is my intent here.
As I understand it, RCI can and will rent out your banked week within 30 days if they are able to. If I am incorrect in that understanding please advise me of the correct interpretation. If RCI are able to rent out all banked weeks there will be no weeks left for exchange. At least only less or totally unattractive weeks are left.
If all members stopped giving them weeks, resigned their memberships and paid no dues, and stopped renting weeks from them they would be forced into higher advertising cost to rent their weeks and would run out of weeks to rent that they do not own them selves. The executives might even have to start living like the rest of us.
I would actually like to see an international "not for profit" company created with each private time share unit owner becoming a voting shareholder for some nominal amount (less than a membership to RCI, and charging reasonable transfer fees to hire management and staff to operate this entity. A singe transaction fee whether you or a guest is using the unit, or at least only the cost of preparing and sending such a certificate, when necessary.
We could all vote by internet for a volunteer board of directors, to set and enforce owner beneficial policies, to be carried out by our employees. It would take an initial infusion of capital through the initial share offering to legitimate unit owners to start up. The amount per owner small in relation to years of fees for little real benefit. The shares could have restricted sale, by requiring them to be transferred with unit ownership. Further we could restrict maximum votes per owner to a reasonable number, to avoid creation of a controlling block owned by developers or corporations such as RCI. With voting by internet, security password controlled, we could decide not allow proxy voting to further limit a voting block control developing.
The owners of time share exchange companies, management companies, etc. make huge money. See how they live and where they live. Do they live better than you?
That why they are in a business where the asset owners have no power. There are immense profits made at our expense. If we had all individual unit owners participating, we could negotiate from strength with developers, management companies to limit the immense profits being removed from owners and to, not just put a hold on maintenance fees but to, begin to reduce them. Imagine taking all of the profits from all of the parasites that live on we owners and putting those profits towards maintenance fee reductions, reduction of trading fees, banking fee and other fees.
I, as a professionally certified accountant, would love to see some lawyer time share owners, some private business person time share owners, other finance orientated time share owners and any one with appropriate business skills, that would like to start such an entity to get together and take on the parasites.
Lets hear it owners, are we going to just roll over, stick our legs and arms in the air and keep taking it, or can we all put a few bucks where our mouths are and start the boycott and put together a founding committee for our own non profit trading entity.
interested? norcen@hotmail.com
Hi All,
I worked for RCI for 6 years, and it is the biggest rip off out there. Not joking. They take your week, and if it's a good one, they will sell it as a cash vacation. So, when you go to exchange your weeks (or points) with RCI, don't expect to really ever get a good resort-those one's they will sell to you for a couple of grand, but they won't be available to trade.
As for their guides, there are so many guidelines they make us go through to even meet our stats. If you call in looking for Hawaii on the beach, we must try to sell you Arizona or Boise Idaho instead. We are recorded, and if we don't meet our stats, we are in big, big trouble.
Most guides start out there very friendly and enthusiastic, but a few months there, knowing you can never give the customer what they want, and deserve, it gets a little old and tiring, causing most of us to lose interest in the job.
I would never recommend RCI to anyone. They really do rip you off in a big way. I could go on and on, but I don't have a week to write it all down!!
My wife and I were recently in Las Vegas and got involved in what we thought was just a 2-3 hour tour of a new resort to give them our input over lunch. Sounds simple..doesn't it? All in the sake of (2) FREE tickets to a show. Don't even waste your time with this one folks! After boarding the bus we headed off to what I can best describe as a "Cult"! Once we arrived, we were greated with over anxious and overly excited people, where we made our way into the movie chamber and had their so called lunch. After about an hour of listening to their cult like pitch about how "time shares are such a great investment", we headed off for a tour of two sample rooms…why I still can't figure this out! There pricing starts @ $42,000 for 1 week for life, then after we expressed no interest it dropped down to $29,990 followed up a visit from our reps "Manager" which then cut it to $19,990. After we told them we weren't comfortable with a decision at this point in time they said, o.k., we'll have you exit interview with so and so down stairs. Finally, I thought we were getting out of this Hell Hole of high pressure sales and lying tactics! Then our exit strategy with the closer was nothing more than another feable attempt as trying to crack us again. this time the price dropped to $5,490. One of the most annoying aspects of this whole entire day…yes I said entire day (6 hours), was how the just lie to your face. Why couldn't we think about it for a few days, you know, sleep on it? After I asked the upstairs manager this, she said that once we leave this part of the presentation, they could not offer this deal to us for an entre year. But, after we listened to all of the B.S. down stairs on our exit interview, then he said we could get back to him in a few days in case we changed our minds! What a bunch of B.S.! After listening to these boobs… for hours I cannot believe they haven't been investigated and shut down! Folks…you are gaining absolutely nothing by buying into this hogwash…if you thisnk it's such a value…go see it for yourself @ the Grandview in Las Vegas! BTW – they push thru over 300-400 tours/day of couples trying to buy into this idea…what a bunch of losers!
RCI sucks and I feel they are running some kind of scamm. We are leaving for Puerto Vallarta and I checked our reservation with the hotel. What RCI calls sleeps 4 and 4 privacy turned out to be 1 bed and 2 sofas. I know the resort well and what they call a sofa is a hard banquette attached to a wall. Where is the privacy?????
My daughter would have to sleep on one of those. We will end up spending more money upgrading so the poor kid can have a bed.
Too much aggrevation and I know we will sell our timeshare. Anybody want a time share in Sedona, AZ??? RCI is running some kind of scam. I can never get any location I want.
I just came from a "presentation" made by a very nice but competent sales person and her rude supervisor. After I told them that I wanted to check on the RCI-member resort (Balai Isabel in Tagaytay, Philippines) that is sponsoring the presentation and on RCI itself prior to signing-up, this sales supervisor promptly told me that "nobody who says they are interested but will come back ever comes back!" She reiterated that I do have an option to back-out within 15 days after signing up and paying a "deposit" but unless I can provide substantial proof of deceitful claims on their part, I'd have to pay around USD500 for legal fees related to my backing out. What??? I am thankful that I was able to keep my cool and that I did not allow my self to be bullied into signing-up. Too bad, I actually found the concept very attractive and the resort itself as quite good. The sales supervisor put me off and this website (and the comments in it) made me glad I was able to walk away with my dignity–and wallet–intact.
Due to busy schedules, we find it difficult to find time to travel outside of our kids' school vacations, and rarely are we able to plan more than six months in advance. We have been RCI weeks (as opposed to points) members for about 15 years and have NEVER received an equal quality exchange for our timeshare in Maui, and most times we are told nothing is available in the location or date range we request. This is completely the opposite of what the salesman told us in the sales presentation. We were told our Hawaii timeshare on the beach was the most desirable in the inventory, we would have no troubles at all trading for whatever we wanted, and even that our one week would equal two weeks at other resorts. None of this was true, unfortunately.
In addition, availability of units to you is extremely poor once they have your money. I was told recently, when trying to exchange my week in Maui, that there was nothing available on the beach or on a lake in California. Yet I live near the beach in California and went to a local RCI affiliated resort to find out if they had units available, and they quite enthusiastically said they did and that we could even stay at a reduced rate if we were willing to attend a timeshare sales presentation. What?!?!? Needless to say, I am one of the many involved in a class action lawsuit against RCI and am allowing my membership to lapse.
I do not understate the case when I say they provide the worst customer service of ANY organization I have ever been associated with. EVERY time you call to make an exchange, they will aggressively try to take more of your money in fees by trying to extend your membership. Even after I explain how unhappy I am with them, they STILL try to get me to extend my membership for additional fees. It's almost comical, really, as if they have no ability to listen to their customers at all.
You may want to believe I am just a disgruntled RCI member trying to slander
RCI, or that RCI may work for you in your individual circumstance. But this is the first time I have ever been unhappy enough with a company to complain about them on the internet. If you are able to plan your vacations a year in advance outside of holiday and school breaks, and you are able to look at a unit in advance to ensure the quality, you may have an "OK" experience with RCI. But there are so many better companies and options out there, why even bother with this bureaucratic, dieing dinosaur?