another newbie-maybe?

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

We went to the presentation Sat (5th). Put a $500 deposit down, told them we'd send them the paperwork to do bank stuff. But, I have been reading through archived forums, and have some questions before we go any further. Hopefully you guys can answer soon!
We were offered 60,000 RCI points for about $20k. Don't know if this is good or ugly.
No mention was made of home-weeks, or anything else that I've read about. We were just told that if we want to stay at this resort, we could- actually recommended not to use points, but to pay the last minute 50% off rack-rate deal for owners. So does this mean we have "floating weeks" or what??
We are a young family with a 5and 7 year old- which means that basically we can only travel during holiday times. So will this work without booking years in advance? The reason we thought we'd do this was because "it's easy to do last minute vacations" and "you'll have tons of options"!
I am also concerned about all of the extra costs. What do you all think? We will probably really only do one big vacation/ year, and were looking to do short hop stuff on long weekends. Is this really worth it, or are we better off to just find last minute deals on-line?
REALLY hope you can help me! Thanks.

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

If you have any doubts about your purchase, I would cancel the contract. Did you buy direct from a developer? If you did, you have a few days to change your mind and you can cancel the contract and receive your deposit back. Read the rescission notice that you received with the contract and follow the instructions word for word.

After you have canceled, read the forums here and ask questions and people will answer you. I don't know anything about RCI points but I know that you can cancel the contract if you do it in time.

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

Rescind now!

Everyone's going to jump in and say the same thing but you will want to rescind your purchase now. Depending on where you live/bought, you likely only have 5 - 7 days from the time you signed to cancel. Make sure you review your paperwork and follow the exact instructions to rescind, sending the paperwork in registerd mail so you have a dated record.

60,000 RCI Points for $20K is way too much. You can buy them resale for $3500 or less. Where you buy the points is an issue as you need to consider the annual maintenance fees for those points. However, before you actually buy, you should take a step back and decide what you really want.

There are lots of members here that can help you fill in your picture on what might be some options to suit your needs. There's no one answer but we can give you some ideas on what to look for

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

another newbie- maybe?

The price, believe it ot\r not, is not what is freaking us out. We are young, and yes, we want the best deal, but over our lifetime, it isn't that much.
Yes, it was through the developer.
We went on a "special weekend rate"- $149 for 2 nights if you go to the presentation + $50 gift cert for attending seminar. They also gave us $25 GC because I made such a stink about missing lunch (we were captive for 4 hours). So we paid the hotel rate, and we used the GCs for dinner. If we rescind, what happens to that? We did fulfill the obligations of going to the "seminar".

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Yes you have fulfilled the requirement. The 50% off rack rate for a last minute vacation is no special deal. First, RCI has last call vacations which you can book even further out for a couple of hundred dollars for a week. Second, last minute vacations at a desirable resort during school vacation time is going to be a bit rare. Take the advice and get out of this now.

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

Definitely get out now. Use this forum to find out about timesharing, and then buy ON THE RE-SALE MARKET what best suits your needs. While $20,000 isn't much over your lifetime, $3500 over your lifetime is considerably less. Don't forget that there are yearly maintence fees. Belonging to RCI or II costs money every year. Making an exchange costs money each time.

Makes much more sense to minimize the opening cost; then, for your yearly fees, your vacation with a two bedroom unit so both you and the kids are comfortable becomes much more cost effective.

To cancel, do exactly what the contract says you must. Send it in the mail exactly as they tell you to. If you decide you want to pay a developer $20,000 for a timeshare, you can always do it next month. The developers are always there waiting for your money. Meanwhile, you will have learned enough about timesharing to make an informed decision.

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

another newbie-maybe?

Thanks everyone!
One last question (at least for now!)- do we need to send back all of the paperwork, catalogues, etc? I'd kind of like to keep it for reference, but no biggie.
We will be cancelling tomorrow, and then you will all be hearing lots from us as we are still interested and have tons of questions.
Ang

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

The paperwork should tell you exactly what you need to do to rescind, whether you need to send back the info and catalogues or not.

Just make sure you follow it to the letter.

RCI Points can be complicated for a newbie so make sure you read up here and ask lots of questions to see whether what you're buying will achieve your purposes.

We've been RCI pts Aussie members for 6 yrs and it ain't all pretty. Especially if you have to travel during school vacation. Do your due diligence before spending the $20k for something you can get for $3k.

Rescind and don't get talked out of it by the salesperson.