SFX - Bad Deal

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

Under the advice of a Mayan Palace Sales person, I obtained a "free" SFX membership in June 2006. Immediately I deposited a Mayan Palace 2 BR "red" high time timeshare week... From August 2006 thru this last week, I tried to exchange this week... sometimes requesting several locations, with several weeks of check-in dates... in each case, SFX had no 2BR units available, and tried to push me out of "red" times.. (For example, they once offered an April 20, check in Date - 1 BR , non beach resort, for my March - Early April check in request... After no luck in two years, my exchange is expiration will be here shortly... and SFX will not extend.... so they took my 2 BR Red Week and sold/traded immediately... then made excuses for 2 years... told me I could not travel during "red" or "high" season... This company is a joke and no competition for others such as RCI.

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

Sorry SFX has not been able to help you. What exactly were you looking for.

I for one am thrilled with SFX. They got me London in August of 09, and skiing in Park City this coming January (that one sleeps 8).

[bezerk Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bezerk]

I myself have not had the best luck with SFX. Seems they always want to trade me from a 2 BR to a 1 BR. Then I am always told I do not give enough flexibility which is probably true, but I do give lots of advance notice on my requests.

I did have a bad experience at a resort they had me at with a bonus week and then had another week scheduled and I told them I could not return to that resort and they handled that immediately with another resort. That was good, but I know one time RCI sent me to a resort and I had a problem and I sent an email to them and they actually gave me an additional week for my week being ruined, so I guess I have to say I ahve fared better with RCI up to date.

I would like to place another deposit with SFX, but I like to be able to see online what is available etc. which to date you cannot do with SFX, plus I like to recieve like for like Ie: 2 BR for 2 Br.....so I have held off on another deposit in contemplation.

I know many people have fared well with SFX, so guess if you are real flexible and want to go where they have an abundance of resorts, then maybe it works.

Sorry you have not had good luck....

[camachinist Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close camachinist]

SFX appears to specialize in certain geographic areas. Mexico certainly is one of them. There are others, which are discussed in the exchange forum as well as in Ask SFX. We've got some friends going on a guest cert to Kona Coast 2 in a couple of weeks on a 2BR/2BR exchange which cleared about 11 months out. They seem to have pretty good coverage in Hawaii, on Kauai and the big island, anyway.

Properly shared, sometimes a difficult trade can get the attention of the SFX rep here. Hope it works out for you.

Pat

[bezerk Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bezerk]

Guess I should clarify a bit....I think SFX is a good option for those who have good flexibility and who wish to travel in areas of which SFX specializes.

They have been more than responsive and kind to me, but unfortunately I just do not have flexibility in my trades for the most part. Plus I am I guess very interactive and like to plan and know where my options are routinely, as with RCI. I have done very well with RCI, with little to no flexibility in Mexico and East Coast and I can do everything online and track daily which I like. I also found in the one time I did have an issue with a resort, flooding in room, RCI, gave me an additional week free for my ruined vacation and clothes etc. The resort did nothing.

SFX also responded quickly when I had an issue ( 2 issues in over 18 years of timesharing, so not too bad I guess, one with RCI resort and one with SFX resort, both in Mexico LOL), and they immediately changed a second week I had a week booked with the same resort but though I appreciated that immensely, RCI did more with a free week.

I am still going to continue to try with SFX as I do think under the right circumstances they are a good exchange company and for some with more flexibility they could be better than RCI.

Right now I have no deposits in with SFX. They do specialize in Mexico but some of the resorts in Mexico are just not to my liking that they have or they just need too much flexibility. Plus I am pretty particular in that if I deposit a 2 bedroom Mayan, well then I really want a two bedroom unit in exchange. And I really want to be able to interact more online.

As Penderz said he/she had bad luck but I disagree in that SFX is a bad deal. Maybe penderz could extend his/her deposit by renewing membership or another deposit if they wanted to try once more time. Sounds to me, like penderz is more flexible then me...so it is possible it could work for penderz...obviously with any exchange company new to someone there is a learning curve.

I do know there are a lot of other posters who have had very good luck with SFX. I also have to say that I did receive a PM from Mark at SFX, regarding my post so obviously they are receptive to comments and such, which is impressive.

Now since I mentioned RCI as a favored right now....what has happened to their site.....hope they fix it up asap...can't do a thing.....this is a good time for SFX to capitalize on what is occurring with RCI for sure....

Good luck to all with exchanges!!!

[abc31 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close abc31]

There are 2 things that bother me about SFX. I am also someone who prefers to be able to look online and be more in control of my vacation. The other thing is that if you ask them to do a search for you and they find something that matches, you are obligated to take that exchange. For one thing, by the time they find an exchange the airfare might be through the roof for that location. I would like to be able to put the resort on hold, like you can on RCI, check out the resort and make sure I can find a reasonable airfare before accepting it.

For that reason, I have only tried to get things at the last minute and haven't had any success so far. I have one deposit in with them, and I'm not sure if I will deposit any more.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Under the advice of a Mayan Palace Sales person, I obtained a "free" SFX membership in June 2006. Immediately I deposited a Mayan Palace 2 BR "red" high time timeshare week... From August 2006 thru this last week, I tried to exchange this week... sometimes requesting several locations, with several weeks of check-in dates... in each case, SFX had no 2BR units available, and tried to push me out of "red" times.. (For example, they once offered an April 20, check in Date - 1 BR , non beach resort, for my March - Early April check in request... After no luck in two years, my exchange is expiration will be here shortly... and SFX will not extend.... so they took my 2 BR Red Week and sold/traded immediately... then made excuses for 2 years... told me I could not travel during "red" or "high" season... This company is a joke and no competition for others such as RCI.

I have to but in here, It is easy to give a bad rap to a company in an open forum but to be truthful is something else. penderz You are a new member here so I do not know if you know that SFX is on this site helping out to answer questions in there own forum and they look at many other forums. The owner saw your post and emailed me both your correspondences. Do you think it is fair that a person with a history of mostly late requests for extreme demand times such as Major Holiday weeks (Spring Break /Easter, July 4th Holiday weeks). Not only were the weeks you requested not available with SFX, they were not available with other exchange companies too, as They are “networked” and tried with other exchange companies to get them for you. Unfortunately in most cases you have submitted an “incorrectly” placed request with restrictions for just one specific week, and major Holiday weeks, even though SFX have clearly advised that such requests have the least available space no matter which exchange company you use. Compliance with procedures would have made a big difference.


As with all other exchange companies, if the week is not used by the expiration date, it is expired. SFX currently have a promotion that offers a one year extension at 2009 Deposit Special. If you are not interested in the offer, as a courtesy SFX GAVE you a 45 day certificate good for one year. This means as of the official expiration date, you will have one year in which to redeem your week for an exchange, but cannot book space more than 45 days in advance.


Now I did take some of the above which was in the email that Mark sent you, So it shows that you were offered an extension and that you were told about holiday weeks and to be more open. But yet you come here with one post and try to smear a company because you did not get your way even if that company was being fair to you and told you from the start to be more open. IF I were SFX at this point I would no longer even try to help you and in fact revoke your membership for trying to make them look bad when it was not called for. Heck let me put in for an exchange for a 3 bedroom beach front July 4 week at Laguna beach and if I do not get it let me rant and rave a bit to see if I can get it.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

There are 2 things that bother me about SFX. I am also someone who prefers to be able to look online and be more in control of my vacation. The other thing is that if you ask them to do a search for you and they find something that matches, you are obligated to take that exchange. For one thing, by the time they find an exchange the airfare might be through the roof for that location. I would like to be able to put the resort on hold, like you can on RCI, check out the resort and make sure I can find a reasonable airfare before accepting it.

For that reason, I have only tried to get things at the last minute and haven't had any success so far. I have one deposit in with them, and I'm not sure if I will deposit any more.

I hate to tell you this but II does or at least used to do the same thing. Think about you tell them to find you something and when they do is it fair to them that they are stuck with it?

[Hoc Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Hoc]

I haven't gotten a decent trade from SFX in about a year, but I have gotten decent trades from them prior to that. In fact, I have gotten some fantastic trades from them prior to that.

I wouldn't write them off just yet.

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

I have not had much luck with SFX, but I like the other exchanges so much, that I have not invested much time in them, I have deposits, and have pretty much snagged off season Mexico stuff which they have a lot of.

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

Heck let me put in for an exchange for a 3 bedroom beach front July 4 week at Laguna beach and if I do not get it let me rant and rave a bit to see if I can get it.

Let me know when they build such a place...I'll put my request in right away.

This is where I chime in with "Know your product" SFX isn't perfect, no exchange company is, but it helps to know your product.

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

I have been quite satisfied with SFX. They have gotten me 2BR at Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta twice, both Thanksgiving and Xmas weeks. I put my requests in over 12 months in advance in both cases, so prime holiday weeks are certainly possible from SFX with sufficient lead times.

[abc31 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close abc31]

I hate to tell you this but II does or at least used to do the same thing. Think about you tell them to find you something and when they do is it fair to them that they are stuck with it?

I understand the reason behind this and I didn't mean to imply that it makes them a bad company. I just meant that for this reason, it does not work well for me personally. As I said, I have not really requested anything except at the last minute, so I can't judge their abilty to make requests. It is just that since you can't see anything online, I have no way of knowing what requests they can most likely fill. So I feel that any request I make is really a shot in the dark. That being said, I do feel that they have been honest with me, when I did ask for something that they felt was a real long shot.

I don't belong to II, but I do belong to RCI and I like to have the option of turning something down if I there is something about the property that I don't like. It is true though, that RCI has a lot of undesireable properties that SFX just doesn't accept. I have appreciated Mark and he has helped me on more than one occassion. In fact everyone that I have spoken to at SFX has been very pleasant.

I guess I forgot the title of the thread when I posted. I am in no way agreeing with the op that SFX is a "bad deal". There are definitly some plusses to their way of doing buisiness. You just have to decide what is right for you.

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

In my opinion, SFX is a GREAT deal.

What other company:

- offers 3 weeks for 1 with over a year to use each bonus week?,
- has Free membership,
- offers only high quality resorts?,
- has amazing customer service reps who remember your name, likes, dislikes, etc.?, And
- has a means of communication (ie, the forum and e-mail) where you can request candid advice and assistance with your travel plans to a specific person that is known to many as honest and trustworthy?

[Keitht Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Keitht]

This company is a joke and no competition for others such as RCI.

In my opinion, SFX is a GREAT deal.

And the reality is somewhere in between the two opposed opinions. All this proves is that although a system may work/not work for one person the outcome may be totally different for another.