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.
Another point of distress amongst RCI members is that the resorts they are staying in are not as they are advertised. For example, a couple returning to the same resort in Mexico yearly has noticed their accommodations have been falling by the wayside – the first few years they made trips consisted of stays in oceanfront rooms with balconies, whereas over the past few years they have been pushed to the back rooms of the hotel into spaces with antiquated furniture and electronics such as kitchen appliances, televisions and bathroom fixtures. It seems, again, that RCI is giving preferential treatment to non-members willing to pay top dollar for gold crown resorts and suites.
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.
Hi Xuxan,
I own one week in 2 years not own month in 2 years. Are there not 54 weeks in 2 years???? If I had bought annual week cost would be more or less double so in that case 20KX52. Yes for that week I pay 697 bi-annual fee irrespective of I use it or not for tax and maintenance of the property. Is it not then 36K annually?? And which RCI timeshare are you talking about which does not have maintenance fee. I had attended few RCI presentations and I did not come across any offer which does not have annul/bi-annual maintenance fee.
I like it. Really the people involved in this industry are. And this industry is running because by trapping people with lie and only lie. I have been cheated and I don’t want other people to be cheated. Simple calculation for my time share: I paid 10K for biannual week for 2BR condo if add the price for whole 2 years the condo cost would be 104X10K = 1040K i.e. more than a million in that price mansion should be available in costliest state. On top of that 700 maintenance so yearly maintenance for a condo is 700X52 = $36400. Tax for such condo would be 500-2000 and you can keep a fulltime servant in that money. On top of that RCI exchange fee is ~$200 for each exchange and membership ~$100. And you will not get the vacation you want; you will find something in Texas in summer and in Alaska in winter but no other way round.
Good for you Hasan – tell it like it is. It is the biggest money sink hole that anyone can get involved in! Xuxan – get a new career!
We don’t even know Xuxan’s real name. He is probably somewhere on the top reaping the benefits of the money he stole from unsuspecting victims!
Like Sappora77 is your real name?
Steal from this insight group who can smell out an RCI agent? Are you kidding?
My name is as real as yours!
I’m retired!
I take back my previous comments – you are not smart enough to work for RCI!
Sappora77, get an education! Pay special attention to your math teacher! If agreed with Hasan’s calculation without question, yet you are taking up the banner to warn the world about Timeshare… the World is doomed!
I agree with Hasan from the perspective that timeshares are rip offs! I need any math to figure that out!
No need for a new career; I did very well the first time, not need for a second chance. You?
Obviously you are doing well by stealing money from unsuspecting hardworking individuals.
Timeshare cost that you paid: $10,000.00 (Okay)
QUESTION: Why would add the price for the whole 2 years of the condo cost to arrive at 104X10K = 1040K. Please don’t tell me that it’s 52 week x 2yrs=104. If you want to use the 2-years as the marker for the purchase price of your timeshare/condo, the $10,000 Purchase Price you paid for the condo should be amortized over 24 months instead. Therefore, $10,000 / 24 months = $417/per month (rounding up from $416.67)
Yearly Condo fee: $700.00 (Agreed)
QUESTION: Maintenance Fee: $700.00. The “Yearly Condo fee” IS the “Maintenance fee” which is a one-time annual payment of $700. Are you saying that not only is the Condo fee a separate fee, but you are actually paying a Maintenance fee also on a WEEKLY basis. Therefore, $700 x 52 weeks = $36,400.00 (???) Hassan, I do not mean this as insult, but I hope that you are managing your own money and is not employing someone to manage your accounts such that they are in charge of paying your bills. Because this person is robbing you blind!
Membership fee: $100.00 (Agreed)
Exchange fee: $200.00 (Agreed)
Here are some of my thoughts about getting out of your Timeshare Contract. I hope others will add their take on this subject as well.
Purchase Contract Cancelation is possible if it’s done within the timeframe allowable in the Purchase Contract. You may be interested in doing a ‘Search’ for “Cooling Off period, US”. Some consumer products are protected under the “3 days Cooling Off period”, but not all. One website I found is: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0176-protections-home-purchases-cooling-rule. Also look for in your Purchase package for the Contract Cancelation section to find out what those requirements are. If in doubt, call the office and note who you’ve talked to, including the date and time. If no one answered at the number you called, note that too. Fax your intent to cancel, and make sure that you get a confirmation printout from the fax machine as well. Ink used by some fax machines WILL fade over time. So make a copy (using a copying machine) as a backup for your own file. Send your intent to cancel via registered mail to the Timeshare company. Note in your letter the address, as you understood it to be, where the Purchase Cancelation will be accepted for processing. This is because if someone in the Timeshare office has a different understanding, and ended up kicking your mail around, that’s their problem. I would even make a copy of their Contract Cancelation instruction, and highlight the section as part of the cancelation request documentations. The date when your notification was “time-stamped” (mailing date), to the best of my understanding, is considered the official Date of Notification (as opposed to when the mail was actually delivered). If your Credit Card company was involved in the purchase, you will need to notify them at the same time. Same thing with your Bank if it involved a “stop payment” check. Identical cancelation documentations that you’ve sent to the Timeshare company should also be send to all relevant parties involved.
IF your decision that Timeshare is NOT for you after weeks; months, or years later… getting out of your Contract may require 1) the hiring of a lawyer, or 2) you might consider unloading your ownership in the re-sell market. Lawyering up does not come cheap, and re-sell in a secondary market works only if your asking price does not represent a financial sacrifice. If re-sell worked for you, I would suggest that you start your research by clicking on the tab of this site, “Do I Need a Lawyer or a Broker to Sell My Timeshare”. You may also be interested to visit sites that handles timeshare re-sell (I believe there’s one in eBay) and get a feel of how offerings are made by other Sellers, such as wordings; terms; prices; Closings; Title Transfer, etc.
*** My suggestions are based on my personal experience in canceling other consumer type contracts, but not with my timeshare.
You gotta love it – getting out of your contract requires a lawyer! Please Xuxan and we’ve had this conversation before! Timeshares are the biggest scheme going. Please people don’t fall for them. Basically you are stuck with it unless you are lucky enough to sell it as a resale and willing to take a loss – just do an internet search on timeshare resales and see how many are out there. You will be lucky if you can sell it. Might have to give it away. If it was such a great deal then the Timeshare Sales Folks would allow you to take the paperwork home, do your own analysis, and let you come back with a decision to purchase or not. But no – they tell you right at the seminar that if you walk that day you cannot get the deal! What a joke and the biggest rip off out there! Did you buy your house with such pressure? Come on wake up and smell the roses! And let it be known that Xuxan is a PR man for RCI.
The RCI agent must have hold a gun to your head and made you sign the Purchase Contract because you are just too investment savvy, and too insightful to be scammed. Please tell me that you did not buy into a Timeshare, did you?
Sappora77: Have you taken the time to review past comments from other contributors to this site. Some of them DO want to get in touch with a lawyer — which is their prerogative (or “rights”). Are you saying that they shouldn’t? Yes, or no?
But I did mentioned that “lawyering is costly…”, and that resale works ONLY if the discount that the Seller is willing to take makes sense. Agree, or disagree?
So basically my point is that, if the Purchase Contract is not cancelled within the allowable timeframe as stipulated in the Buyer’s contract, the outlook is not good. Agree, or disagree?
I did not buy my timeshare or my house under pressure. You mean you did?
So your contribution to those who has already been scammed is: *** So you’ve already been scammed into buying a Timeshare? I’m here to advice you: Do not buy Timeshare! ***After being scammed and lied to into buying a Timeshare, maybe you should consider buying a Condo — it is a wonderful thing! ***Lawyer? Don’t even consider it! ***Smell the roses! ***World, I’m coming to save you!
I did not buy a timeshare – I would never buy a timeshare. And yes I highly recommend that anyone who wants to get out of their timeshare to hire a lawyer. Getting out of a timeshare is very tricky not like selling your investment condo! In fact, you are lucky if you can even get out of your sinkhole timeshare at all.
You missed so many things may be elementary school too How much we paid for the time share and how much we pay annual fee nobody’s business, really??? I can bet that you are RCI agent. Simple math is annual fee $700, exchange fee $200, RCI annual membership $100 + the basic income of the money you invested to see if you are getting a deal or you are losing money and peace of mind. I am in week program. The liar sales person showed long list of resort you can exchange. But they did not say that those are hardly available even if you try one year in advance and some are not available at all like resort in Dubai. RCI website is available to members only so you know all these only when you are already cheated and no way out. I paid 10k for a Berkshire resort, any buyer??
One of the things I learnt from being involved with RCI was that an asset is a real asset only if you can sell it at your choosing and with no hindrance. If you cannot sell it except through the selling organization, then it can best be called a scam. You have a Berkshire unit for sale? Sadly, you will now learn this valuable lesson as I did. Just go and use what ever you have with a better frame of mind. And yes, Xuxuan does come across as a RCI agent – even if he or she denies it. Sigh.
OW, this blog is not about me or any RCI agent. My concerns are straight-forward; iff someone said that they paid $200 a day through RCI, then show me the math!. $700.00 annual Maint. Fee and $100.00 annual membership fee adds up to $800.00 in Fixed Annual fee. If only ONE vacation is taken, that’s a lot of dough when the $200.00 Exchange Fee is added to the equation. You did say that you agreed with Hassan’s math, right? So how was his vacation calculated? You also mentioned that you couldn’t get a resort booking from RCI within a 2-yr window. I asked what resort allows booking 2-years in advance. Give us a name, some math, anything! OW, we are waiting for a show of recemption for the common men as we decried the RCI SCAM on this blog. Please do not let us down! 2 pieces info:
1) Numbers on how the math you agreed with is calculated on the $200.00 a day RCI vacation as mentioned by Hassan. You ‘agreed’ on the math, so you must have the data.
2) Names of resorts that takes 2-years booking in advance.
Be careful not to be less forthcoming than those RCI sales agent!
This is a blog to help people who are hurt by the timeshare experience. If all you are doing is standing by and do little to help, but to repeat what has already been said a hundred times in oh so many different ways, what exactly is your contribution except to drum up negative feelings? Have you thought about giving some pointers to minimize the lost of these individuals?
You’ve been a member since 1989; that’s 24 years ago, and you bought your timeshare around $5,000+? So pro-rated, your purchased price is about $208 /per year. Make us understand what exactly is your beef? That you cannot get a vacation 2-year in advance? That you cannot sell it in the open market in the manner you wished for? A lot of folks have been lied too already. Your championship for those who have been wrong looks shaky!
Just go look at the RCI directory and try booking any of the properties in Chiangmai.
(I actually went to those property developers’s show in Bali and they seem to shy away from expounding on RCI.) I believe no owners have pledged their week but RCI still maintains those property on their list.
After years of being led by my nose, I had turned to allowing RCI to book any week for me within the next 2 years at the location chosen (since they have been aaving so much problem). This recent and last time I dealt with RCI, they couldn’t get a booking but the have the audacity to tell me that the week would be forfeited since I didn’t use it within the 2 year period. Out of frustration, I said I would settle for Bali – and RCI got me Bali – but not for the family but just a studio apartment. (I am “pleased” no end). Then a month later they informed me that since RCI gave me a lower standard exchange I now have some extra points that I should use within some stipulated time.
Like Chinese say:”You think I five year old-ah?”
RCI no longer can carry out its original promises and should close down.
In the Points log-on, there is NO resource listed in Chiang Mai at all that I am aware of. That said, I am not familiar with the Weeks system at all, and therefore the reason why I asked. I am aware of the limitations of the Timeshares structures and could never figured out how the Week Exchange system works. But as I have mentioned, we stayed in one of the RCI unit through a friend (who is BIG into timeshares) and was totally blown away by the amenities between that and hotel room. From that, we attended the RCI presentation and bought a unit under the Points system. Between the time you bought your timeshare and when we bought ours, on-line services have evolved. Even in those few years when we purchased our unit, the RCI on-line booking service has changed — more helpful now than before. They have log-on for both Week Membership and Points Membership. Again, being a Point Member, I cannot log into the Week Member site. I cannot image that they can be that different. I have no problem finding the vacation I wanted, or booking one for that matter. So I really do not know why all these difficulties being reported.
Have to tried selling your unit? Heck, at the price you paid for it, you can afford to low-ball the sale price if that means stopping the annual fees outlay.
DRUM UP NEGATIVE FEELINGS – YES! WORLD BEWARE!
RCI IS A SCAM. WE CANNOT SAY ENOUGH TO WARN PEOPLE OFF.
AND WOE BETIDE ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE.
I have 2 decades of less than perfect experiences with RCI but I can only talk about the most recent as it is still very relevant. Why, you want a long list? I have had weeks forfeited before. I have also had a 2-year request at a particular site and was told, after a year, to “fly out next week if I want it as there is one single cancellation”. Hey, how’s that for a holiday planning?
Ah, imperfect world…. I am shocked!
But you got that backward… do not rub salt into open wounds of people who are already hurt by bad timeshare experience by continuously affirming that they’ve been scammed. Yes, they know that. Do keep in mind that these are the folks whose side you need to be on. Drumming up negative feelings help them in what way? Shouting out that people were taken in as fools is easy. So, any thoughts or advice to lightened their sense of lost? Any input on how to minimize the damage wrought on by RCI on the innocent before it occurred.
My championship for those who have been wrong looks shaky? Who is championing anything for anyone – maybe you and your pal. My main interest is to warn off all and sundry from entering into any contract with RCI.
Like they say, a leopard never change its spots. If I need to keep on shooting at that leopard, I will.
Yep, but by the time they read your blog, it may be too late. Any idea how to get to these folks before that happened?
Ow,
You are too modest! Did you not mentioned in one of your post that you will keep warning the world about keep shooting the RCI timeshare leopards? Sounds like a real champ on a mission! Please, give the world some hope on what your plan of action is in reaching potential buyers before they signed the dotted line.
Hassan,
Yes, really! How much you paid and how you finance speaks your buying and earning power. Most people do considered that personal, and no one business. But you seemed to disagree. So please, by all means, tell us how much you paid for your timeshare. In one of your postings, you mentioned a range of $10k-$20k. (I thought it’s because you didn’t want to share the info. Guessed I was wrong.) Did you paid the the entire deal in one lump sum? Or was it financed? If so, how much of the timeshare is on loan? Was the loan through Equity (because the Interest is tax deductible)? Or was it a Personal loan? What’s the interest rate. We need these info as part of the base cost calculation to add to the following:
How many vacation you take a year? And 7 days? If it’s only 1 for 7-days,
Fixed Annual Fees is $800.00 (Maint fee of $700+$100 membership)
Exchange Fee: $200.00
Then the base price per day is $143.00 ($700+$100+$200) = $1,000
$1,000 /7days
=$142.87 (or $143.00)
If you take 2 vacations a year for 7 days each time, then:
Fixed Annual Fees of $800 /2 vacation = $400.00 /per vacation
$400 + $200 vacation exchange = $600.00 / per RCI vacation
$600 / 7 days = $85.7 (or $$86.00)
If you take 3 vacations a year… etc., the per day will keep coming down.
It is a real possibility that I missed a lot from my Elementary schooling. So I need some help on how you get a $200 or more per day? I understand that you factored in “lost income Investment opportunities”. Which raise another observation as why on earth would a person who’s sophisticated enough to evaluate cash outflow in terms of income investment managed to buy into a timeshare THINKING, or was led to believe that it’s is an investment? Any research would have told you that that’s not even anywhere close to the truth (yes, spoken like a true RCI agent!). And what ‘investor’ put money into anything without some idea of that asset represents?
Everyone seems hell-bent on seeing the math. I keep an Excel spreadsheet of ALL purchase with my Timeshare Resort and RCI. I know EXACTLY what I paid, What I’ve spent, what I’ve saved since my purchase November 2006 while at Desire Resort and Spa in Cabo.Would I purchase again…not in a million years. Ive been through too many hassles with RCI and my home resort in Mexico.
We purchased in 2006 and paid one year of maintenance fees. Due to a contract dispute I was able to negotiate out the yearly maintenance fees with my home resort Christmas 2008. Since this time I only have RCI yearly fees. So my numbers are a little different than most by about $3,500 for the same time period for members who bought into the Blue Bay Resorts Timeshare. However, my travel savings are real when you compare Resort fees, RCI fees to what I would have paid retail on the internet for the same accommodations. Additionally, I settled a PROFECO dispute with Blue Bay Resorts know known as Premier by Original Resorts and was given 4 free AI weeks to use once per year until they are gone. Here is how my purchase breaks down:
$22,000.00 Original Purchase Price of Timeshare
$500.00 2007 Resort Maintenance fees
$124.00 2008 RCI fees
$124.00 2009 RCI fees
$124.00 2010 RCI fees
$124.00 2011 RCI fees
$124.00 2012 RCI fees
$124.00 2013 RCI fees
$124.00 2014 RCI fees
$23,368.00 Total with original purchase and Fees paid to date with Timeshare & RCI
$29,574.02 Total savings year to date
$6,206.02 I am now past the breakeven point
$1,103.00 Fees paid to RCI 2007
$7,721.00 Travel expenses 2007 had I not used RCI
$6,618.00 savings
$283.98 Fees paid to RCI 2008
$1,398.00 Travel expenses 2008 had I not used RCI
$1,114.02 savings
$161.00 Fees paid to RCI 2009
$900.00 Travel expenses 2009 had I not used RCI
$739.00 savings
$3,233.00 Fees paid to RCI 2010
$9,095.00 Travel expenses 2010 had I not used RCI
$5,862.00 savings
$1,213.00 Fees paid to RCI 2011
$15,480.00 Travel expenses 2011 had I not used RCI
$14,267.00 savings
$1,644.00 Fees paid to RCI 2012
$2,618.00 Travel expenses 2012 had I not used RCI
$974.00 savings
$29,574.02 Total savings year to date
I did not buy into RCI – maybe I am one of the fortunate ones. It did not look like a good investment to me. You are better off buying a condominium if it is investment you want in a resort location and then opting to trade spaces with other condominium owners at various locations around the world when you want to vacation. I don’t want any travel restrictions nor have to worry about trading my weeks or points and paying extra fees etc., In all honesty, there are also deals going on at all tourist locations in terms of rooms and amenities all the time – it’s not like RCI offers anything special over non-membership resort facilities. Some RCI participants realize they got ripped off – and the other ones will never admit it. Certainly, not worth arguiing over.
“RCI Timeshare Complaints, Positive and Negative Experiences” is the name of this blog, and I take that to me that both sides of the timesharing experiences are welcomed.
Kudos to you for buying a condo. But unfortunately, those here, who have bought into timeshare obviously are committed to that purchase and not that of a condo. So what some of us are trying to do is to see if our experiences could, in some ways, minimize some of the frustrations experienced by unhappy buyers. Some of these frustrations are no more than finding the screen for booking vacations daunting. That’s an easy fix. I believe between all of us, we can be of some help. Some are disappointed that they could not find availability of the vacation they wanted. That should also be an easy fix by sharing the various methods of planning ones vacation. Yet, there some were unhappy about the “Gold Crown”, RCI’s highest and best rating system given to a resort not living up to its ranking. Well, maybe instead of trusting the RCI ratings system alone, users should also considered filtering resorts rankings by how many “stars” the resorts were given by their guests as well.
What’s important is that there should be room for both about the warnings regarding the negative aspects of timeshare ownership, and room to share helpful instances when timeshare can yield positive experiences. Different takes over an issue should not to be view as “argument”.
Good luck with that! Be happy that I am being polite today because that is not what I really want to say. I suspect you work for RCI or just too embarrassed to admit you have been ripped off!
Sapporo,
Touchy, touchy. What do you think I meant? And good luck for what? To help each other make better use of their Timeshare by sharing some poitive experiences instead of letting it go that unhappy Timeshare owners are doomed? Why should I care if you choose to be polite or not? Your manners are your personal decision, andnone of my business. Suppose that you’re not going to be polite; how is that going to impact me? Not that we need each other to put food on our tables, and neither are our health and happiness depended on each other’s good grace. By the way, ‘suspect’ is not the same as ‘reality’. So now I’m ripped off, yet I worked for RCI? That is a strange story line you have here, pal!
Acutally Xuxan – you look like you are the one who is a little touchy touchy. I did not say anything wrong when I told the truth that if what someone is looking for is an investment and that timeshares weren’t the way to go. Why shouldn’t people know the truth? And why is this a bad place to post that kind of information? People look here for both good and bad information about timeshares – and some people that look at timeshares are really looking for an investment and don’t realize that timeshares don’t make good investments. However, if you believe that they save you on vacations and you like to vacation a lot then go for it. I have attended several timeshare seminars and they use hard-pressured sales tactics and try to scare people into making the purchase right then and there. If timeshares were such a great investment or was such a fantastic option to cheaper vacations why wouldn’t they want people to go home and think about it? A deal is a deal – and if they were such a great deal people would most certainly return to make the purchase after reviewing the details and all the paperwork. Sorry you fell for the BS – better luck next time!
I totally agreed with you:
Your choice of buying a condo is the better investment EXCEPT that those who have already bought into a Timeshare may find themselves unable to participate in such an investment at this point to cure their issue. True / or Not True?
Your point is that there is no need to engage in tit-for-tat. True, or Not True.
The name of this site is in fact, “The RCI Timeshare Complaints, Positive and Negative Experiences”. True, or Not True?
The basic issue I raise was: Are negative comments in this site legitimate but positive experience cannot exists unless one works for RCI? So this one product could only be experienced ONE way, and one way ONLY, and by ONE group — RCI employees? That’s an extreme view taken by some!
Nowhere in my remark to your original posting did I expressed ANY statement that this site is BAD for posting the truth. As a matter of fact, the point I raised was that bad experiences should not be given more weight than positive ones for a fair and balanced discussion. Moreover, anyone who has good experience should step up to help where they can to see if they can walk someone through ‘easy to fix’ issues such as better planning ahead for a vacation or using the screen to book their own vacations. These suggestions actually offend someone?
Anyone can buy any product that they feel is right for them even though it may not be right for everyone. Can that be possible without making any assumption that it can happened only if one fell for some BS?
Looking through this site and reading the comments, I feel lucky — actually blessed, about the importance of making good decisions.
I see XuXan that you changed your name to Sudan.
I just purchased last weekend in Las Vegas.
I only pay $2999 + closing fees for two bed condo in Massachusetts somewhere. And I got 2-1-1-2-1-1 extra weeks per year. I thought I got good deal, but if it is really hard (impossible) for me to make the reservations where I want to go. I am thinking to cancel it. What should I do?
How can I cancel it?
I am not sure what the statue of limitations is – usually in most states you have a certain amount of days to cancel or rescind a contract and if you don’t cancel within those days it is too late – you are stuck.
Debbie,
If you were considering canceling within the 72-hours Cooling Off timeframe, that’s one thing. I have always been happy with my RCI purchase, and therefore do not any personal purchase cancelation information to share with you. I am surprised though, that your RCI contractual package does not contain this information (?).
Debbie look in your pile of papers hidden and it is 5 days in Nevada so you had best move and fast!!
Not sure where you get this pricing information. I was in Vegas last February 17-24 school vacation week and using exchange stayed in Wyndham resort a mile from strip. These are typical 1 BR condo. With all the money I put including annual fee etc. per night cost comes almost $200. I was getting room in Bellagio/MGM almost at that price. Not sure about your vacation style but I don’t want to cook while on vacation so kitchen is useless. I will get 2 queen bed luxury room in good hotel and far convenient with young kids than these one bed condo.
Ditto, not sure where you get yours either! So we’re at the the point for number-crunching. (On this side of the ring are the “Victims”, and on this side of the ring are the “Dreamers”.) Let’s set up some ground-rules:
* How much we paid for the Timeshare and how it’s paid/or financial is nobody’s business. Let’s agree to leave this information out. If the vacation proved to cost more, we’ll ADD the number to the overall cost of the purchase. If the cost for the resort proves to be less, we DEDUCT that from the cost of the purchase.
* The cost of the resort will be set by the site of the Resort itself, not by any 2nd or 3rd Party on-line vendor (for control purpose. This is not a Congressional or IRS audit, but an general feel of the cost of vacation)
* Point paid / or loss will not be calculated since those are the very points we have already purchased. What is being calculated is the Annual fee, and booking fee per vacation (besides the cost of the timeshare itself self)
* Vacation will be calculate on the basis of 7-days.
* Transportation fees will not be considered as part of the RCI vacation unless the points or perks are used as part of the vacation experience.
* Food expenses is NOT a RCI concern because whether one chooses to eat every meal in a restaurant or not is a personal preference, and is NOT a RCI issue.
I saved all my RCI booking receipts as .PDF file (as I have to print it and show it at the Reservation Desk at the designated resort upon arrival). These will be called upon to be provided as part of the calculation process. Agree? Because who knows, this may prove to be the biggest root of awakening of all times! But Hassan, if you’re on the Week Exchange, and made no mistake that I am on the Point Exchange Plan, I am not sure how to address your question. Please confirm if you are no the Point / or Week Exchange system. Thanks.
Hasan, Your math is correct. For most locations, the cost of owning a timeshare plus all the extras that are charged makes the timeshare model noncompetitive; and if we add in the inconvenience and the uncertainty the whole situation becomes unbearable.
I just have to admit I was “luckier” – I got my timeshare back in 1989 at RM 5,700 – dirt cheap. At today’s prices, it is just ridiculous!
My advice to all potential “investors” in timeshare – be aware of the hidden costs and the inconveniences that we are all facing today. Ity is alright to pay a bit more for the peace of mind of booking your holiday online with resorts of your choice and on your terms.
Oops! My bad. Hassan, did you post the numbers in the timeshare math and I somehow missed it?
The point you missing is there is annual fee of timeshare, for me it is $700 and the exchange fee about $200 then RCI membership around $100 so total $800. On top of that initial investment of 10-20K if you add the income of that you can get suit in manhattan for a week. The hotel room you can get around these resorts at $50 per night.
Any one (other than Mike and Xuxuan) has any idea about the class action taken against RCI? No matter how much good stuff our 2 friends can put in – the legal action against RCI is very real. Now, the rest of you, especially new readers of this site, please note that the majority of us are sharing really bad experiences on this site except for Mike and Xuxuan.
I hope all of you get the tone of how serious the scam (run by RCI) is.
RCI does not own any resorts. RCI depends on members to deposit their weeks so that RCI can arrange the exchange. As time drags on, and more people get disenchanted with the failed promises (made by RCI), less weeks are deposited and the the whole “exchange” idea unravels.
When times were better, like 10 or more years ago, you could still get a rather simple exchange -but to cope with the dwindling input by members and the fact that owners of better “properties” have not been participating, RCI has instituted new rules. For example, Star Ratings – and some of us are discovering that our ability to exchange now has new complications. The “unfairness” is that while properties have now been unilaterally rated, the fees charged by RCI are not in tandem.
With the inability to cope with the original exchange concept, RCI has also added in their point system – just to be relevant. The downside is the internet has made the world a lot more transparent. Anyone can now get a relevant booking without an intermediary like RCI.
Until RCI comes up with something more relevant, their time has passed.
OW,
I am truly NOT on the side of RCI one way or another. I just realized that while you are on the Week Plan, I have signed onto the Point system. I am not sophisticated in timeshare enough to know if that makes a vast difference in term of services or resort choices. Therefore, I am not in a position to refute anyone’s experience with RCI as though they are not real. Who is to say that my nightmare with RCI is not just a matter of “if”, but “when”. Should that be the case, I will post it with candor.
Hassan,
That’s about right; I pay around $700 (annual maintenance fee); $100 (annual membership fee), $200 (exchange fee for each reservation). The annual maintenance and membership are fixed, totaling $800, whereas the exchange fee is per reservation.
I visited San Fran and stayed at the Donatello paying $200 for the entire week (vs. $1,500 if I booked in the open market). I saved $1,300 this one vacation alone (offsetting the fixed annual RCI fees of $800 in one trip). In that same year, I stayed at the Rosedale in Vancouver; paid $200 through RCI for the entire week (and again saved over $1,000 had I booked through the open market). True, we did pay $20k for our timeshare, but the accommodation we get is hardly the same in terms of amenities and neighborhood as those that are available at the $50 range. But the best price is stay home and never take a vacation at all. If you’re into the $50 a night stay, I am truly baffled how on earth did you ever allow yourself be talked into to getting a timeshare, lying salesmen or not. The math cannot be more obvious!
The more I read your posts the more I realize that you work for RCI as the PR guy! Too funny!
So your realization is reality? Sappora, why not try realzing that there’s Peace on Earth! That would have been more constructive!
Da? I don’t understand your comment – realizing something and reality are two different words with two different meanings. Pick up Webster’s dictionary sometime and learn the difference.
Are you kidding? Why are you in this cheating business in first place? You know majority of talks are flat lie and using lie you and your industry cheated millions of people with lifelong burden. I have been cheated and whenever I have some time to waste I will attend these presentations and walk out with free gift. I will not buy timeshare even if you give it free since annual fee is 100 times higher than a reasonable cost. I will advise this to everyone. Go get free gift but never buy such sucks. Have vacation when you have money. Don’t be trapped by these liars like me and million other people.
Hasan,
Soon, the conversation would only be between Jack and XuXuan and Mike.
I get the impression that RCI is behind putting in a lot of good and positive response on this website.
But heck, let’s do the social thing and warn everyone – and post comments on this website!!!
I assure you that Mike(aka thats me) is in no way affiliated with RCI or any other timeshare company. If in doubt feel free to contact me by email or check me out on Linkedin. Im easy to find under Bradford Engineering located in the great State of Oregon, USA.
We purchased our RCI timeshare about 14 years ago. We switched to points a few years after that. We have 105000 use year points. We have 5 children and have travelled to many places using the timeshare. We are booked to go to the Outerbanks in a 4 bedroom place for 8 days. We have been to disney twice, the caribbean, grand canyon and many more places. Staying in 3 bedroom full kitchen units. I have never calculated what we have saved but I can guarantee we would not have been able to take our children to sooo many places if we had not purchased a timeshare. Definitley learning how to use the system and planning ahead helps, ( I am not the best plan ahead person) so last minute plans have been met and being flexible kind of helps. As for points, I think it is great, I have exchanged and been to so many places. It is nice to just book a couple of nights at a time and not being committed to a whole week at a time. I would recommend to anyone if they have small children and your not wealthy or rich this is a great way to go.
At some places that we have visited, booking for 7 days, but staying for just 4 or 5 still beats the going market rate.
This is precisely what we do. Overbook/under stay! $139 is what we pay for a week + points still works out cheaper for us in some instances.
Just gotta be willing to play there game. Most of the time you win.
I am one to keep track of every purchase we have made using points. We bought the timeshre with 5.66 million points for $22K in 2006. It was activated in 2007. With all of our trips including our upcoming 2 week trip to Kauai we have saved a total of $29K in travel costs. Airfare and condo rentals are the main points usage. I arrive at this cost by finding out hte online rate for airfare and condo rental and subtract it from what we paid using RCI. I feel good about our purchase.
I love the game RCI uses.
RCI:”Sir, we are calling you regarding your week’s exchange”
Me:”I know what i have got – what have you got to exchange?”
RCI:” Well, you put in your week and then we will see what the register has”.
Me:”Hello – exchange means I give you something that I have and you give me something that you have- what have you got?”
RCI:” Well, you need to deposit first and then we have something in the bank for someone else to use”.
Me:”Good for you and good for him. But what about me?”
(Maybe RCI should get away from “Exchange” and use another more suitable legal term?
If my geography is still relevant. Isn’t Chiangmai in Thailand and Sri Lanka is off India and Bali is somewhere in Indonesia?
I am surprise they haven’t offered you Siberia or a good spot in North Korea at the rate they are going about it.
Ow you are right on! Let’s be realistic – this comment is not meant for you but for people who are considering to get involved with the whole scheme. What did you purchase? A week at some resort. Even if you went back to the same resort every year – you do not end up in the same unit. And the tax write off by itself is not enough to even allow you to file a Schedule A with the IRS. Besides paying on the loan to purchase the time share you have never ending maintenance fees that continually go up every year. And guess what you can’t even sell them at the price you bought it for. The list goes on and on. Buyers Beware!
“Love” RCI.
Requested for Chiang Mai for a week for the family – and pressured to accept Sri Lanka. Finally accepted the remnant of a week in Bali – for just the 2 of us. Love my honeymoon in a place I didn’t bargain for and incurring the wrath of the rest of my family.
Great to have the ‘alone-again” feeling of a newly wed.
Thanks RCI
This is refreshing. Another name other than Xuxuan and Mike. We have begun to suspect that the 2 names were put in by RCI themselves. Welcome, Jack. Lewt’s see what good there really is from RCI.
OW:
Okay, Funny Person, you are cracking me up! FYI, I do have some experience regarding run-ins with RCI! I booked a vacation way in advance that turned out to be just 10 days after the US imposed a “travel advisory” due to the Swine Flu. RCI refused to change my travel date and insisted that it was a cancelation, so no refund. Then they insisted on treating the substitute date as a new booking with all the associated fees. I wasn’t a RCI fan at that point. But to make long story short, the matter was settled to my satisfaction. So I do pick my fights! Will there be occasions when I find myself to be at odds with RCI? Well, stay long enough in any relationship, and there will be bound to be disagreement. So I am not at all surprised that at some future dates, I will find myself locking horns with RCI. But to me, there is a definite distinction when company rules and regulations became ‘silly’ and self-serving, and that of entering into a sale agreement which is a 2-party tango.
You aren’t fooling anybody you are a Public Relations guy for RCI.
Just reading the comments of this site in how you purchased your Timeshare… Yes, I have to agreed that you guys are hard to fool!
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
Hi Mike, my Fiance and I just purchased RCI over the weekend i’m getting alittle discouraged with all the negative responses on the internet with this company. I have 7 days to cancel need to know is this a scam, the only reason I did it was because I want more vacations that I can afford I cant afford the regular prices for vacations at this time please help and advise.
Thanks ED
hi ed,i hope you were smart enough to cancel.i made the same mistake 2 yrs back and cancelled in 7 days.if it gives you no peace cancel it.but i still go to timeshare meeting to stay cheap at places.all they do is take 90mins of the 4 days you are there.so i would trade 90 mins rather than money
Freeloading timeshare junkies don’t need to voice any opinion because all they ever do is go to these meetings knowing they are Waisting that poor representatives time. Those freeloaders are heartless!!!
@Daniel-Are you serious? I have only been to one of the sleezy salespitches, and I didn’t even see it coming. I was asked to view a timeshare unit they had for sale, and fill out a survey on it in exchange for a giftcard. The rep drove me to the unit, had me look at it, then proceeded to drop the hard sale on me. I thought Iwas just going to be critiqueing the unit. After 2 hours of me saying no, they finally gave up. After this experience, i have no problem with the sales reps getting used for freebies. Heck, theses companies seem to trick a lot of people into having to listen to the salespitch, so the shrewd freeloaders are karma to them in my opinion.
Yes we are heartless but so are the Sales folks at these Timeshare Seminar Salesathons! They use pressure tactics to get unsuspecting participants to buy into these losing propositions. The Sales Folks and their employers are ruthless heartless b$trds!
Ed, I utilize the Web site and also call to book travel. Website is cheapest but either way works. I am now a savvy user of RCI points and book vacations I would not normally be able to take.
Example: Two 2 bedroom Condos for 2 weeks each in Kauai in a Condo in Princeville for $240!(Rental online would have been $2500 a week per condo) Ive never had an issue of getting what I want in Hawaii. 3 Round Trip Tickets using points for this trip $1400 (Internet price would have been $2650. When I take into account the condo price, airfare and rental car I would have had to fork out $12K for this vacation without RCI. SO yes, RCI can work for you if you plan…and plan ahead to get what you want. For less then $2K we are spending 2 weeks in Hawaii. Im able to afford 3 vacations like this a year.
Mike, way to go! Good for you.
Wow, realy sound like an executive from RCI – way to go, Mike!
Not at all affiliated with RCI. However, I will tell you I am not a WEEKS owner. I am a POINTS user through RCI. I am not exchanging weeks like some of you BUT I am limited to few locations because of this.
Since a recent divorce I no longer travel as much but still use RCI when I can.
My wife and I tried the “trial membership.” We are frequent travelers and have been very discouraged with RCI. We have not had a single instance where RCI had promised one thing and delivered what they has said they would. We are very happy we did not purchase the membership. When we travel, we want to go our way, not have to be stressed out about not knowing what obstacles they will pull next. It is hard to trust a company that won’t give you time to think before purchasing.
Ed,
Granted that the question you posted is for Mike, I just have to add my two-bits that am thrill to have someone take the discussion on a constructive path, and that is, how can timeshare be used for one’s benefit! For sure, there are a lot of dissatisfied timeshare purchasers posting on this blog. Some maybe be able to get out of their sales contract, and some may just be stuck! You mentioned that you wanted more vacations — more precisely, affordable vacation; that’s a good start. We were in the same boat ourselves when we bought into our timeshare. We are retired now, but at that time of our purchase, I had 4 weeks of paid vacations with my job, and my husband was a freelancer in his. So we were able to go on a vacation quite a bit. But the problem was, airline tickets aside, a so-so hotel were costing us anywhere from $75 to over $100 a night (so that’s over $500+ in the low end, to $700+ for 7 nights for hotel). However, with our timeshare, we paid only $200 for 7 days (and that shave off anywhere from $300 to- $500 from our vacation right from the top). This savings more than pays for my golf games. Considering that all the units we’ve stayed in have kitchen, we further saved by cooking and eating in a couple of times. Something we’re not able to do in a hotel room setting. It’s worked out really well for us because it gives us the option of not having to go out all the time. We especially like having breakfast in our unit — no rush, and just chill. If our unit is furnished with a washer and dryer, we even pack light! Why carry the weight of extra clothing through airports if you don’t have to?
“Regrettable purchases” is just a real! So the question is, can you afford all those vacations that you want to take? As for those timeshare owners who are “stuck” with their purchase, instead of spinning wheels by trading the same horror stories that won’t resolve anything, maybe there is a place in this forum where we can help each other in making a bad situation somewhat more tolerable.
During one of my scuba diving vacation through RCI, both my husband and I fell in love with Cozumel, Mexico. We took early retirement; bought ourself a modest house, and have been living here for 2-years now. We are enjoying the freedom without an office to go to, and the accountability of a job… trust me, I have no reason to be working for RCI or anyone else!
Xuxan, I think you’re forgetting that you BOUGHT that membership. So the $200 that you think you’re paying is $200 + interest on whatever you paid for your points or weeks or whatever they call them now. Think about that money invested. You could have put it into something else. My membership cost $10k. Not too hard getting 5% a year with that. So there’s $500 a year to spend on your holiday. Plus the $200 you fork out to RCI for booking your holiday, there’s your $700 to use on hotel. You can use the money you save by not paying your monthly or yearly “dues” to go golfing. PLUS, whenever you want, get your initial investment back. (Try getting your money back from RCI or try selling your weeks or points on E-Bay, they are worthless). It’s a no-brainer.
Right on!
bbrio1,
No, I have not forgotten the investment side, but then again, I WANTED a timeshare. So, if investment is what I had wanted, I would have done that too! I keep my business and investment objectives separate from enjoyment in Life.
The $200 that I forked over to RCI for my holiday are not just a booking fee, it represents both the handling/booking fee for the entire 7-days stay at the hotel / resort..
Assuming that the ROI is 5% on $20,000 (for the timeshare), or $1,000 interest earning per year. Trust me, my 3 vacations annually would have costs me more in hotel.
I believe the bottom-line is wether the timeshare you bought is right for you when the deal is finalized. Do let me assured you that I have done the math, and I am comfortable with the numbers. If I have quarrels with RCI, it will be probably over some policies, but not over my purchase decision.
i purchased my ‘t.s.’ in feb 2012 and yet have been able to use it. it took til late april to activate the account. now when i read the resort reviews especially the last minute ones, the reviews are terrible. the star rating is not what you would expect and not only that, trying to make a booking and i was passed to some guy at rci trying to sell me an upgrade of 1600 dollars to get access to the ‘exclusive 4800 more resorts’ well I would like to try and use my existing t.s. first and why didnt I get these ‘upperscale resorts’ in my original package….? not impressed. i find the website rather low standard for searching anything, then when i go to book, an extra 200 dollar fee, we were not told about that at the signup. lalalallaala….
i tried to book the marriot through them for one night yesterday, cost:147 us. which is 16,333 points…which is 220 dollars then an 52 dollar RCI fee on top of that….i can do better on those other websites.! i have yet to see where the consumer benefits. right now i have emailed my resort 3 times and left a voice message to try and get someone to sit with me and go throught the whole process!
Using the points for Points partner purchases for single nights is not worth the money. You will always find better deals online.
Where we find out best deals are with Condos, airfare and up until recently the RCI Visa cards. TO get the resorts/Condos we want we book 10 months in advance. I know this is not possible for many people but for us due to careers we need to know well in advance when we will be out of town so we can plan accordingly. We have never had any issue booking where we want when we want even when going to Hawaii, Mexico, Belize, Oregon, Washington State….etc…
Yes, it does take a while for the resort you purchased from to get your RCI account setup and it does take RCI a while to get things moving along. We called 3 or 4 times to see where they were with the process. IT was daunting but in the end its been a great program for our family.
Timeshares, like any consumer goods, will not accommodate every users’ needs efficiently; it’s designed better for something, and not so for other things. Points worked well for 7 days stay — or at least at close to 7 days as possible, but the program designed is definitely not framed around a one/or two days stays.
It sounds to me that you know just how much timeshare you wanted when you signed-up, and the Level having access to 4,800 resorts may not be important at this stage. From your comments you are more interested in ‘giving it a try first’ with a more basic package. If that is the case, then resort choices could be somewhat curtailed.
With the “Last Call” page selections, from my observations, the choices there does not represent the full slate of the participating resorts — whether your package happens to be the basic good, or the upgraded one. I wonder whether this is because not every participating resorts have something to offer in that category. I went to that page because I committed myself to a date to meet up with my friends before I actually nailed down my room reservation. (No, I wasn’t successful in finding anything there. It was easier to reschedule the get-together.)
Using your point for overnight stay, and using the Last Call resource, in my opinion, are really not a good way to gauge how well the RCI Timeshare program will work for you.
Give yourself some times in maneuvering around the RCI booking site. Learning curve is frustrating, for sure. The website has improved from the time when I first used it — yes, I made a few phone calls for directions as well. Although I still want to see some more functionalities added, all in all, the booking site is very helpful.
I hope this will help you in repositioning your ‘getting away’ strategy and take advantage of your membership.
Mike, I never booked my Flight through RCI. Granted, I looked at what they have to offered, but never took the process to the end (for fear of inadvertently booking a fight at that point). So, does the option of using one’s points come at that time? Or do we have to call RCI to have it booked from that end?
you can do it online or call. They will look at your account and tell you how many points you have available to use for points partner purchases.
We are allowed 60,000 points a year for points partner purchases and we use them every year. This year Hawaii in July would have been $2600. Using points from both our RCI accounts we paid a total of $1400. Thats for 3 airline tickets in July. There are some savings to be found using points for airfare.
Fantastic! Thanks!
if you are a blue Bay (Premier by Original REsorts) Memeber like we are you CAN NOT book air travel on line if you purchased after 2008. We own 2 accounts and one is available to book airfare on line and the other is not. I end up having to pay the higher booking fees for airfare booking when I use the second account. RCI is not treating all members equal in this regard. ITs all about getting the most money out of you they can.
I just bought a RCi timeshare in vegas grandview brand new its for week 7 2 one bedroom locked i have many many questions on how to use it in the best way i have 2 grand children so i have one week 7 in vegas (red) plus 4 extra weeks How can i use it the best way the unit can you point me in the direction i need to go in
Thanks
Marc
Marc,
Congradulations! I am a Point Member with RCI instead of Weeks (not sure how that that works).
Regardless whether you are a Point Member (such as myself) or Week Member (like you), I strongly suggest for you to get started by getting familiar with the the RCI Website. For sure there is always a ‘learning curve’ so don’t get frustrated,f you’ll get the hang of it. If all else failed, you can always give the Help Desk a call.
The other thing I recommend is to plan your vacation ahead. The farther you plan ahead, the more options you have in resort choices.
Most complaints about Timeshares can be stacked into two categories: those who buy into a timeshare because they just couldn’t say ‘no’ to the sales-pitch and only to fumed about it later about getting dubbed, and those who have ‘location’ issues with the resorts — either because of their failure to plan ahead and became disappointed to see their vacation week(s) from work slipped away, and those who insisted on a particular week or nothing. Then, there is also a fixation on a particular location. For example, some cities, like NY can draw visitors without the presence of too many Timeshares. Macau, a Mecca for casinos located in China (next to Hong Kong) is another example about the lack of Timeshares there as well. Maybe it’s just RCI, or a trend for certain locations in general.
So once again: 1) Know how to manuever the RCI website, and 2) plan your vacation ahead. That said, I wish you the best in the enjoyment of your Timeshares.
Whenever I “allow” RCI to “plan” my holidays – I give them 2 years to get them right. Like – “3 sites at that place – any time in the next 2 years?” Do you think 2 years is enough time?
Most time, they will call up a few weeks before the end of that 2 years and remind me that will be confiscating my week placed.
I love the aggravation.
OW,
I just saw this posting. Why do you allow RCI to “plan” your vacation? And 2 years IN ADVANCE to boot…? I didn’t know that the booking calendar goes that far even if you call RCI!
Ha-ha, cut the pretense. RCI never could get me my “place of preference” nor at any dates that I need. As a joke and not to lose my deposited weeks, I allow them any of this century to book “there”. I have been an unfortunate RCI booked since 1989. Long enough for you? By the way, I can’t even get them to stop calling me or emailing me. Do you know of a way I could do that?
OW,
What pretense? I’ll be hopping mad if I cannot book the vacation I wanted! I want to know more about what your experience is. This is truly so vastly different than anything I have ever experienced. First of all, most RCI resorts cannot accommodate 2-years advanced booking. I may be wrong, so which resort is that?
I am still not getting how RCI can take it upon themselves to “plan” anyone’s vacation. Can you give further details on how this service?
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.
Robert, congratulations as a new timeshare owner! I agreed with Mike Bassett about using the timeshare’s website for booking. The process of vacation research keeps me focused about the purpose of going to work and paying bills. This is my ‘me’ time.
RCI has a good screen-page that is very helpful in tracking the points in your account. But, if you are not comfortable looking at their layout, you may want to design your own spreadsheet. I did that to track my points before RCI came out with this update. Even after RCI updated their website with this new page, I still continues to use my own ‘scorecard’ because it’s just a lot of fun; I can project my ‘dream’ vacations 1 to- 2 years out.
Robert, here’s the thing: We all know how many vacation days we have from our job. But it never cease to amaze me how we know to schedule work and doctors appointments 3 to- 6 months in advance, but when it comes to taking a week or two of quality time (out of 52 weeks in a year) for ourselves to recharge our batteries, most people are caught like deers staring into a headlight.
Planning ahead also helps in the budgeting and savings process for the vacation. I do not belong to the social strata where snap decisions to take off for a vacation is affordable to me at all with only one or two months to work with. So it’s also about working within our own economic realities. It worth your effort to plan.
Enjoy!
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.
IN spite of what XuXuan says -and what Mike will say or, now Jack, will say – did you get any resolution from RCI?
Try and surprise us with a reply that RCI did something noble for you.
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!
So which month did you wanted RCI to arrange your trip to Chiang Mai in Thailand when it fell through?
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.
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!!!
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?