rescind RSI.....

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

We are on a vacation in Pigeon Forge Tn for 2 days and than moving on to
Gatliunnburg to Westgate.
Today we attended a presentation with a company, called Smoky Mountain Getaways.
They offered a membership with annual fees of $149
and took one of uor Wyndham timeshare back for a $400
Upfront cost is $5000, wich we paid full as of today.
We have 7 days to rescind.
RSI membership......
They showed us some incredible pricing....
Any input, advise would be appreciated.
Thank you, csavargo

[Chap7 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Chap7]

You haven't told us what $5000 upfront plus $149 per year gets you with Smokey Mountain Getaways.

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

There is no guarantee that they will actually transfer your ownership and the membership is probably unsustainable or virtually worthless. Rescind immediately or you will be very sorry.

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

I would listen to Tony. Get your $5,000 back and rent. It is so much easier today and you are free of yearly obligations. You have only one chance to rescind!!!

[fishingguy Member Find all posts View Profile Close fishingguy]

search google

If you search google using "complaints Smokey Mountain Getaway" or "Smoky Mountain Getaway", and similar, you'll find several pages of links. Page 2 gets into some of the specifics offered by the club... doesn't look good.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Let me start by saying that I am not a big fan of non-deeded vacation clubs as a rule, since they have a history of going bankrupt and leaving the members with no real protection or long term viability. However, I do feel that RSI is one of the best and most stable financially of the lot.

It's important to understand that there is a difference between RSI itself and the marketing companies who sell it..

RSI (Reservation Services International) is a fulfillment company for many of the non-deeded vacation clubs that exist today. Their business model is set up to operate from the annual fees that are paid for the various vacation clubs. Because of this, it is vital to their business to provide quality service and pricing to members. They depend on the renewals as their income base.

Sales are done by numerous independent contractors who have no direct affiliation with RSI. These contractors market the various club names (they are all operated from the same massive booking engine) and their model is set up to operate from the original sales price they can obtain. All the complaints for RSI and the clubs that I have seen related to these sales and marketing companies.

RSI has access to massive amounts of vacation inventory! They have relationships with all the major vacation distributors, and with many developers which feed cheap weeks into their system. In the past, I've tried to set up models where individually owned weeks could be submitted into their engine- but to be honest the required price points were too low and made this impractical.

Once you are a member of RSI- I believe the club itself has real value- as often the prices are lower than direct rentals and don't involve any of the hassles or risks of renting directly from an individual owner. I would assume that the few absolute steals shown to you by the salesman were probably hand picked, but the overall pricing I've seen for reservations is still very reasonable.

What you will have to consider is the sales aspect of your transaction.. Negotiate aggressively (there is no cost other than marketing and agent commission for the selling company) and be wary of any buyback promises. I'd recommend you focus on simply giving away the timeshare you no longer want- and if you can negotiate a price you feel is fair, you'll have a solid program.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Reservation Services International is a large Vacation Club based out of Florida. One of the better ones out there with a good Better Business Bureau rating.

Vacation Clubs do tend to work in this way, Taking your timeshare off your hands in exchange for purchasing their membership for $5k. Then you pay "x" for so many weeks per year for x number of years.

It's a decent business model with some benefits over timeshare ownership.
A) The one time fee is small relative to retail timeshare purchases.
B) If you submit your request well in advance you stand just as good a chance (or probably better) of getting where you want to go as exchanging.
C) It goes away after a while.

I would be curious as to all the details and promises you were made.

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

Rsi

Friday morning 8 am we were able to rescind....
They offered an unresisteable deal at the last minute,
pay only $2,250 and give up Wyndham Cypres Palms....
Thank you for all the private messages and phone calls we received.
Our decesion was based on the advice from TS4s members and a fact, that
during our stay, here at Westgate, my 7 years old ended up in a hospital twice, we believed it was a stubborn flu...
I doubt, that we will be traweling much in the next few years.
She has been diagnosed with LEUKEMIA.
We are leaving Tenneesse Sunday and start with onkologist.....
Ill be postig a tread about Lk.
Thank you, csavargo

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

and all of a sudden the timeshare becomes background noise.

My prayers and thoughts for your daughter, you and your entire family.

[Kay H Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kay H]

I am happy that you recinded and so sorry to hear about your daughter's illness. Your timing for recinding was excellent. Hope your daughter does well.

[Timeshare Guru Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Timeshare Guru]

Are you sure it wasn't RCI membership? Smokey Mountain Getaways is merely a travel club. What was the main reason you got rid of your timeshare, maintenance costs? Lack of use? How long did you have it and what was its original cost? To spend $5,000 on a travel club, usually does NOT pan out. You can get great discounts on travel nowadays right off the internet and, had you kept your ownership, you could have rented your weeks in the years of non use to cover costs, plus you would have the same access to RCI's last calls and travel deals as well as the ability to trade for points even if you own weeks. I say cancel and either keep your timeshare or, even if you gave your timeshare away for free, you would be better off. Quick question, When you originally bought your timeshare, why did you get it? You wouldn't be buying into a new club if you did not plan to travel. I think you have just not been tapping into the benefits you already have available to you through Wyndham and are sinking another $5400 plus $149 yearly for a program that only discounts your travel. As a member of many rewards programs, you can get virtually the same discounts without dropping $5,000.

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

Sorry to hear about your daughter's illness. Wish you all the strength to fight this!

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

Best wishes and prayers for your daughter's wellness.