Just signed up: Did I get ripped off?

[naturebay Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close naturebay]

Hi, all you experienced folks in this business.

My wife and I just signed up for the following (we are complete newbies to this).

PACKAGE
30,000 RCI points per year for 50 years (1.5m points)

PRICE
$19,500 (pay $1,950 on signing and installments for 120 months)
$405 annual usage fee to RCI (I think)

1.35-cents admin fee for every point used (so, a 14,500 point booking would be charged an additional $195)

1.75-cents admin fee for every point used from future years

2-cents admin fee if we want to "rent" points.

Plus I think there is a booking fee of around $40-to-$20/night, depending on length of stay. For example, if we book for 6 nights it is around $120.


BONUSES
30,000 free points on signing (with 5 phone numbers of friends, which we provided)
$1,000 air voucher through their travel agent
$405 annual usage fee is waived (or included) for first year
Free Week at a resort in Dominican Republic
We get an additional 5,000 points everytime we get a referral to go and hear their sales pitch, and we get 30,000 points if one of our referrals buys a package.

Our home resort is a decent place on Georgian Bay in Ontario. I am not sure how this works, but I guess we get nights there for around $50 a night and no points required, but I am not really clear on that.

For all you vacationers with experience in this, does this make sense?

I want to book weeks for 1-2 bedroom units in Austria and southern Germany. Can this be done on short notice or do we need to book years in advance?

Thanks in advance! This forum is an amazing find!

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Nowadays, anything above just closing costs for just about anything is a bad deal . . . when so many owners are actually paying people to take over their ownership.

I got us far as $19,500, and know you should rescind . . . research . . . decide again.

Almost any vacation time you might want is available on the Internet for less than a year's maintenance fee . . . especially what the uninitiated consider to be the most popular destinations and times.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Welcome to TS4MS and I am glad that you found us.

If you bought from a developer, you paid too much most likely. I am sure that is for point packages too.

You may have a few days to cancel your contract so do it now while you still can but follow their instructions carefully. After that, read if it makes sense to buy on the resale market or not? You may want to have some more questions answered here before you buy the right point package.

Good luck!

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

Exchanging into anything in Europe (other than Spain) is very difficult--even with years of notice.

You definitely paid too much. I'm glad you found this forum while you can still get out. All of us do own timeshares, some in weeks, some in points, and we've all enjoyed our timeshares, so when we tell you to get out while you still can and learn about the whole process, you need to assume that you're getting good advice.

Timeshares are, as JLB said, truly available free, and they are definitely not poor units from poor companies. A lot of people simply want out of the maintenance fees because they can no longer use them or because their financial situation has changed. Timeshares are easy, easy, easy to buy and very, very, very difficult to sell. This is the ultimate buyers' market. Get out, research, and then buy something you understand and will use--or find out from us where to rent.

[naturebay Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close naturebay]

You guys rock!

Thanks for the notes from all of you who responded!

I have ten days to cancel the contract (from last Friday). I will search this site some more and find out how you all do it. What I like is the thought of getting a great apartment in places like Austria or South Germany (where my son lives) or in British Columbia (where I visit alot). I have had the bad habit of booking vacations late and then staying in hotels, so this sounded like a good alternative. But since I can always book ahead, I will try to figure out a market for apartments for rent that doesn't require me to commit to $20k up front. If any of you know of a website where I can find apartments of similar quality to RCI apartments, I am all ears.

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

We have been very, very pleased with VRBO is Vacation Rentals By Owner and
www.homeaway.com

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Having read your second post, I am even more certain that timeshare, and RCI, are not for you.

$19,500 will pay a lot of rent on a lot of weeks in a lot of "apartments".

[fishingguy Member Find all posts View Profile Close fishingguy]

yes rescind

You definately want to rescind your purchase with the developer. Instructions for doing so should be in the packet of stuff that they gave you when you listened/and signed the contract -- so follow instructions for rescinding exactly as written. The clock is ticking....

You are not getting anything special that you can't get elsewhere for pennies on the dollar.... And yes, timeshares might not be the way you want to go.

[naturebay Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close naturebay]

It appears I made a mistake, but not really ...

You have all shared excellent comments. I knew when I signed up that I had 10 days to do research and cancel. I just spent a few minutes on the HomeAway website recommended by PStreet1 and found so many great apartments in Southern Germany and Austria.

It appears that with a worldwide inventory available online at reasonable prices, why get locked into a limited RCI network? RCI has about 15 resorts in Austria, versus thousands of apartments for rent online.

I would like to believe that RCI Points is a good deal and have been searching for evidence that it is, but now I think it may be a good idea to bail and invest my $19,500 in other ways.

One problem is that I only have 10 days to cancel, but my RCI membership only goes live in about 60 days, which means that once I find out what kind of inventory is available in the weeks I want, it will be too late to get my money back if I am not impressed.

Anyway, at least I am learning about a new way to travel instead of the usual booking an air/hotel package and ending up in a crappy hotel room. How nice to stay in an apartment instead!

[eal Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eal]

You can invest your $19,500 in SO many other ways! That is a lot of money to throw away on RCI points.

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

Let me assure you that the RCI inventory will absolutely not impress you--and the chances are you won't be able to use it if it does. They have essentially zero inventory in towns. What they do have is in Alpine retreats, and they don't have much of that. Getting into those resorts is really difficult even with a lot of notice. RCI doesn't have the inventory unless someone surrenders his week--and it seems that most people use them. The result will be that you decide two years in advance when you want to go and don't find a week; you may instead be notified that there is a week 4 weeks earlier or later in a place you really didn't want to go in the first place--and that's if you are lucky. Europe (and British Columbia) are not easy trades.

I'm not sure, but I think even as a non-member you can go to RCI's website and look at their list of resorts and see pictures.

Take a look at VRBO is Vacation Rentals By Owner in addition to Homeaway.

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

I think you should have had enough responses by now to tell you that you did NOT get a good deal. Please rescind now. As someone said, follow the instructions exactly. Do not Fax or Fed Ex if they tell you to "mail" the document. Get a return receipt at the post office so that you have proof that it was received. Also, do not call your sales person. It is their best interest, but not yours to try to talk you out of rescinding.

The deal will still be there next week of next month if you decide we were wrong (but we are not) and that you really want it after all.

We see questions like yours very frequently. Please take the good advice you asked for.

Sue

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

It's refreshing to have someone new come here, ask for advice, and accept it.

Good job.

[naturebay Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close naturebay]

You'all Rock!

I talked it over with my new bride and you guys are right. Thanks! I looked at the inventory of apartments around the ski resorts in Austria, southern Germany, and BC, not to mention Maui etc. on the various sites for "apartment rentals by owners" that you all mentioned, and saw lots of great deals! My son gets a week off every October and June, so that is off-season and a great time to see Europe. Well, the sales guy who gave us the champagne might not be too happy. I will be searching this forum for more info on how to rent condos.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Around here, that's y'all.

Thanks for listening. It beats us beating our heads against the wall. Why we do that for strangers not wired properly (not you, someone else) is beyond me.