If You Really Want To Do Something About It . . .

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

other than bitch and moan on the Internet . . .

Our former State AG built a notorious reputation fighting the seemy side of the Vacation Club and Timeshare industry . . . so much so that he is now our Governor, even though he is not of the majority political party.

His AG replacement, also not of the majority politcal party, has the same sort of reputation for fighting as a Prosecuting Attorney.

Although I do not have high expectations, except for the likelihood that I will be targeted for retaliation, I have filed essentially the same complaint with our AG as the Classaction suit.

Today I heard back.

Although the AG cannot represent an individual consumer, he did not turn down my complaint. He has forwarded it to the company asking that it be mediated through correspondence.

The political climate for this type of redress is a pendulum swinging back and forth. Right now it is on the side in favor. At the next election it will likely start its swing back the other way.

Mine was just one complaint. It would make a HUGE difference if an AG received a very small number of the same complaint, say five or ten.

Add to that working through our home resorts and resort chains, bringing to their attention the detrimental impact to the industry of the conduct we object to.

Or, you can do nothing.

I suspect there will also be further lawsuits. A million here and a million there, plus costs, plus the distraction, plus the ill will, can add up, too.

I don't hear the fat lady singing quite yet.

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

It sounds like the AG is just handling this as an individual matter, which they basically shuffle paper on.

The key is to convince him that it is a big enough issue to file an action on behalf of the consumers of the state, like the Fla AG has been doing on some of the sales scams. Yes, if they find they are getting a deluge of complaints against a particular wrongdoer, that might perk their interest.

The best way to get to an AG to get them interested is to have some access, maybe to the AG himself, but also sometimes to one of the more influential key assistants. That usually means some political clout in the same party as the AG. If we ever get an AG from my party in North Carolina, I should have access. The last time around, we thought the incumbent was going to run for another office, which would have given my party a shot. Both of the potential candidates were people I have worked with in politics, one of them all the way back to college politics. Unfortunately the incumbent stayed where he was, so we did not have a chance.

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

My point in saying, "he did not turn down my complaint," is that he did not have to accept it at all.

In the complaint I stated the impact it had on other residents of our state, likely thousands, and I mentioned the likely monetary impact, and that timesharing and the company have a substantial presence in our state.

I also mentioned the reputation of his predecessor.

I believe that is why he is messing with it.

I believe his willingness to mess with it would be enhanced with a few more similar complaints, and, perhaps, by how the company deals with this one.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

The problem is, RCI members sign a legal contract. If memory serves me correctly that contract does not guarentee and exchange or the quality of the exchange, only that an exchange is possible/probable under THEIR terms and conditions. That contract also states that RCI may dispose of your deposited week by renting it if they so choose. Essentially, by agreeing to THEIR terms, you agree that they can do whatever they want once you give them your week. As this is a legal contract that members agree to, there really isn't much an State's AG can do unless there is something corrupt about the actions. I fear that will be a tough thing to prove.

I suppose states could begin to look into the passage of laws stating that "exchange" companies must show a certain percentage of completed exchanges in order to term themselves an exchange company. My bet is that threshold would be so low that even RCI as it is now would be in compliance.

The easiest thing to do is just not give them your business. Use SFX or any other exchange company if you can. Use your home resort week if at all possible. Anything other than just giving your week to RCI for them to rent. Stop paying membership fee's while you're at it.

At issue would be getting enough members to drop their memberships and drying up RCI's rental pool sufficiently to get their attention. Like all other things, I believe this will be impossible to do. Especially since everyone always wants to look to someone else to force RCI to do what it isn't going to do. Everyone talks about how bad RCI is and that someone should do something about it. The funny thing is, no one is willing to quit the game all together.

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

If nothing else, I have taken away the element of the Plaintiffs' attorney getting $1 million out of it.

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

Yeah, we've all heard that before, and we all know what a bunch of BS that is.

Not the contract I signed, the one I first signed.

It is a matter of whether the company is in essence operating as a monopoly, with no real alternative, a point I made in my complaint, and a point that was made to us in our early days, that the company was exclusive.

Exchange companies and affiliates have been fighting about that for 20 years, something else we all know.

Even today there are no alternate exchange companies with anywhere near the numbers. Something else we all know.

For us, the important thing to us, there is no real alternatives.

& if the company engaged in an unfair business practice by unilaterally changing its business model . . . without compensating existing members for reducing the value of their ownerships.

It's restraint of trade/monopoly/breach of contract, stuff right up an AG's alley, not a private attorney. Where are the Kennedys, and the Kennedy-like politicos, when you need one?

Again, if enough cared enough to file the same complaint, it would help. But if they don't, an AG will not go very far with it.

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

I'm through with RCI, unless I can get involved in some class action suit against them. A good reason for the better RCI resorts to consider dual affiliation.

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

A good reason for the better RCI resorts to consider dual affiliation.

Yup, if the affiliates are happy, everything is OK, and vice versa.

It is an industry historically ignorant of or impervious to reality, but there are a number of factors at play right now that may shake it out of its complacency. What does that is $$$, or lack thereof.

&, for what little it might be worth, I have also contacted our home resorts with the message, "Unless the practice of renting exchange inventory ends and we are again able to get the exchanges we are accustomed to, we will no longer need our intervals."

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

A contract of adhesion, which is what RCI has with its members is NOT a ''legal'' contract.

The contract is also not a defense under consumer protection law. Indeed an unfair or deceptive contract can often be the evidence of the defendant's violation of the consumer protection laws. The standards under most state consumer protection laws are whether it is ''unfair'' or ''deceptive'' and RCI's T&C are both.

Further many (most?) RCI members never sign an actual contract when joining and are never even shown the T&C. THis makes it even more deceptive as they have to search out the fine print, which RCI no longer even bothers to publish in its directory of resorts.

The problem is, RCI members sign a legal contract. If memory serves me correctly that contract does not guarentee and exchange or the quality of the exchange, only that an exchange is possible/probable under THEIR terms and conditions. That contract also states that RCI may dispose of your deposited week by renting it if they so choose. Essentially, by agreeing to THEIR terms, you agree that they can do whatever they want once you give them your week. As this is a legal contract that members agree to, there really isn't much an State's AG can do unless there is something corrupt about the actions. I fear that will be a tough thing to prove.

I suppose states could begin to look into the passage of laws stating that "exchange" companies must show a certain percentage of completed exchanges in order to term themselves an exchange company. My bet is that threshold would be so low that even RCI as it is now would be in compliance.

The easiest thing to do is just not give them your business. Use SFX or any other exchange company if you can. Use your home resort week if at all possible. Anything other than just giving your week to RCI for them to rent. Stop paying membership fee's while you're at it.

At issue would be getting enough members to drop their memberships and drying up RCI's rental pool sufficiently to get their attention. Like all other things, I believe this will be impossible to do. Especially since everyone always wants to look to someone else to force RCI to do what it isn't going to do. Everyone talks about how bad RCI is and that someone should do something about it. The funny thing is, no one is willing to quit the game all together.

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

I never signed a contract with RCI.

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

We all know that what Doug means is that when we deposit or conduct other business with the company, we sign off, agreeing to their demands du jour.

The question is whether their business model, including those ever-changing demands, is unfair and deceptive, and whether they make them simply because they can, because their customers have no viable alternative.

Yes, comparable to gasoline suppliers, et al, jacking prices up without justification.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

My point in saying, "he did not turn down my complaint," is that he did not have to accept it at all.

The end result is the same.... NOTHING. What a total waste of time.

If you really want to do something about it.... stop depositing your weeks into RCI and cancel your membership.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

comparable to gasoline suppliers, et al, jacking prices up without justification.

Gasoline suppliers don't need justification to jack up prices. They should charge as much as they can for the product they have to sell. It's called capitalism and the free market.

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

Gasoline suppliers don't need justification to jack up prices. They should charge as much as they can for the product they have to sell. It's called capitalism and the free market.

Working for the company now?

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

The end result is the same.... NOTHING. What a total waste of time.

If you really want to do something about it.... stop depositing your weeks into RCI and cancel your membership.

Well, Mr. Bum, since you have a horse in the race, if we give our weeks to you, can you get us what we need in exchange?

BTW, where ya been?; ya haven't jumped into any of my thoughts in a long time.