????Anyone Still Need Proof . . . . .

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

. . . . how RCI's bad behavior costs their members?

Tough. I'm gonna show you anyway.

First, review this page:

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...-yours-24.html

You will see that I was not able to see an exchange for something we have regularly gotten in the past, and others were able to see it.

Here's some of our past ones:

Exchange Details
Wyndham Nashville (# 3688 )
City: Nashville State: TN
Country: USA
BR(s): 2
Start Date: 07/30/2006 End Date: 08/06/2006

Exchange Details
Wyndham Nashville (# 3688 )
City: Nashville State: TN
Country: USA
BR(s): 2
Start Date: 07/13/2007 End Date: 07/20/2007

Exchange Details
Wyndham Nashville (# 3688 )
City: Nashville State: TN
Country: USA
BR(s): 2
Start Date: 07/20/2008 End Date: 07/27/2008

The date of that previous discussion, 11-20-09, I was only able to get a 2-bedroom 8/6 for any July, 2010, dates as a rental,

2 BR 8 (6) Full 25-Jul-2010 01-Aug-2010 USD 1,187.99

even though bnoble confirmed they were available as exchanges.

Today, dates in July are still available as rentals, at a lower price than before. I still can't get most of the dates as an exchange, only as a rental, but, strangely, 3 dates are now available to me/us an exchange or a rental. That means they still might go to someone not contributing a Spacebank deposit instead of someone who does:

This is my exchange search today:
1 BR 4 (2) Full 02-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 04-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 09-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 16-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 18-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 23-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 30-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 01-Aug-2010
2 BR 8 (6) Full 23-Jul-2010
2 BR 8 (6) Full 30-Jul-2010
2 BR 8 (6) Full 01-Aug-2010

This is my anything search today:
Exchange, Extra Vacation and Last Call
Note: You are searching against all your deposits

2 BR 8 (6) Full 02-Jul-2010 09-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 04-Jul-2010 11-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 09-Jul-2010 16-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 11-Jul-2010 18-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 16-Jul-2010 23-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 18-Jul-2010 25-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 23-Jul-2010 30-Jul-2010 Exchange Fee -OR- USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 25-Jul-2010 01-Aug-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 30-Jul-2010 06-Aug-2010 Exchange Fee -OR- USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 01-Aug-2010 08-Aug-2010 Exchange Fee -OR- USD 809.99

As I said in that previous discussion, after 20 years and all the $$$, it is enough to piss me off.

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

. . . . how RCI's bad behavior costs their members?

Tough. I'm gonna show you anyway.

First, review this page:

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...-yours-24.html

You will see that I was not able to see an exchange for something we have regularly gotten in the past, and others were able to see it.

Here's some of our past ones:

Exchange Details
Wyndham Nashville (# 3688 )
City: Nashville State: TN
Country: USA
BR(s): 2
Start Date: 07/30/2006 End Date: 08/06/2006

Exchange Details
Wyndham Nashville (# 3688 )
City: Nashville State: TN
Country: USA
BR(s): 2
Start Date: 07/13/2007 End Date: 07/20/2007

Exchange Details
Wyndham Nashville (# 3688 )
City: Nashville State: TN
Country: USA
BR(s): 2
Start Date: 07/20/2008 End Date: 07/27/2008

The date of that previous discussion, 11-20-09, I was only able to get a 2-bedroom 8/6 for any July, 2010, dates as a rental,

2 BR 8 (6) Full 25-Jul-2010 01-Aug-2010 USD 1,187.99

even though bnoble confirmed they were available as exchanges.

Today, dates in July are still available as rentals, at a lower price than before. I still can't get most of the dates as an exchange, only as a rental, but, strangely, 3 dates are now available to me/us an exchange or a rental. That means they still might go to someone not contributing a Spacebank deposit instead of someone who does:

This is my exchange search today:
1 BR 4 (2) Full 02-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 04-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 09-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 16-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 18-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 23-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 30-Jul-2010
1 BR 4 (2) Full 01-Aug-2010
2 BR 8 (6) Full 23-Jul-2010
2 BR 8 (6) Full 30-Jul-2010
2 BR 8 (6) Full 01-Aug-2010

This is my anything search today:
Exchange, Extra Vacation and Last Call
Note: You are searching against all your deposits

2 BR 8 (6) Full 02-Jul-2010 09-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 04-Jul-2010 11-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 09-Jul-2010 16-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 11-Jul-2010 18-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 16-Jul-2010 23-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 18-Jul-2010 25-Jul-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 23-Jul-2010 30-Jul-2010 Exchange Fee -OR- USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 25-Jul-2010 01-Aug-2010 USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 30-Jul-2010 06-Aug-2010 Exchange Fee -OR- USD 809.99
2 BR 8 (6) Full 01-Aug-2010 08-Aug-2010 Exchange Fee -OR- USD 809.99

As I said in that previous discussion, after 20 years and all the $$$, it is enough to piss me off.

Just because they're out to get you, doesn't mean you're paranoid, or something like that. Certainly, when you've gotten something continuously in the past, you expect it to continue. Their trade power is dynamic and we all don't agree with it, but we know it is dynamic - meaning it CAN change. Sorry for your loss.

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

OMG Jim,
30 pages of posts about this.
You're really pissed aren't you?

Are your resorts so bad to stay in yourself instead of trading with RCI?

Why can't you just use your weeks and come down in the summer for a cheap RCI rental. I think you'd be less frustrated with RCI that way.

If you can't beat them then use them. I know I do.

Now I've got to learn how to use II better too.

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

I'm chuckling to see the first post quoted in the second post, like someone would forget from Post 1 to Post 2, or not be able to see while reading Post 2. Nothing personal, it just caught my funnybone.

Dynamic . . . I believe that is RCI-speak for screw me.

Actually, the All Deposit search option is new, and includes a newly-added, much better deposit, a 2-bedroom Gold Crown in peak Peak. The previous exchanges were obtained were lesser deposits.

I'd like to hear RCI's explanation of this. That would be entertaining.

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

OMG Jim,
30 pages of posts about this.
You're really pissed aren't you?

Are your resorts so bad to stay in yourself instead of trading with RCI?

Why can't you just use your weeks and come down in the summer for a cheap RCI rental. I think you'd be less frustrated with RCI that way.

If you can't beat them then use them. I know I do.

Now I've got to learn how to use II better too.

The naysayers like to say that . . . buy to use.

RCI actually recently said that to me. How insincere is that, an exchange company saying you should buy a timeshare to use, cuz, gosh, if everyone did that, there would be no exchange company. Just on it's face, you know that statement is deceitful, not what they really mean.

Then there is their own promotional material:

· 88.5% of all timeshare purchases ever made by current RCI members were positively influenced by the RCI exchange opportunity, according to members. These total about 2,686,000 weeks, representing aggregate sales of an estimated $20.1 billion by developers, homeowner associations, and on-site resale companies.

· 38.7% of all timeshares owned by members would not have been purchased without the RCI exchange affiliation, according to members. These total approximately 1,176,000 weeks sold for an estimated $8.8 billion.

· 41.5% of RCI members say they would not have purchased their first timeshare without the RCI exchange affiliation. These total about 600,000 weeks sold at an estimated aggregate sales volume of $4.5 billion.

· Members attribute and average 24.8% of the value of their timeshares to the RCI exchange opportunity. This represents an estimated $5.7 billion of value added. Fully 94.0% of members feel the RCI affiliation adds some value.

· Of members who received one or more years of RCI membership with their most recent timeshare purchase, 81.6% say this was of at least some importance in their purchase decision, and 30.2% say it was “very important.”
- - - - - -
I guess I'm just one of 2,686,000!
- - - - - -
Our first requirement at our first tour more than 20 years ago, at Orange Lake, was to sit through an RCI video. The dye was set. We were allowed to tour our first resort only after being sold the benefits of exchanging. That's the way it was for everyone.

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

The naysayers like to say that . . . buy to use.
- - - - - -
I guess I'm just one of 2,686,000!
- - - - - -

I guess I'm just NOT one of the 2,686,000.

Why? Well I purchased 5 TS's before I knew what I was doing.
I purchased them as an alternative to owning a second home on the beach and in Orlando because it just made sense to do that at the time and it still makes sense for me seeing the hassle of having a second home and the values plummeting along with all the carrying costs when it's vacant or having to find a snowbird to subsidize my vacations.

All teasing aside, I appreciate everyone here including you who have educated me so much on TS's to the point where I have purchased 2 more since joining TS4M's and I don't regret it yet. So now I own more time than I need but I still love my fixed week beach weeks in off season that I use every year.

I know I'm a bit of an opportunity traveller so I don't need that high prized week like you snowbirds do, but what I have learned here is that my energies are better invested in working around the roadblocks they keep putting up instead of trying to blow up the bridge. So take the wife's advice and Dump your doggie weeks and buy some HGVC points. They're real cheap now and maybe one day we'll meet in Seawatch. Heck I might even come visit you in January but with my parka on.

No sense in living in perpetual frustration. Life's just waaaaaaaaaay too short. Take it from me, I'm an ICU nurse watching everyday how short life is. Some things are just not worth our time, it's better invested in your golf game.

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

No one has worked around the roadblocks harder than me. It is what has kept us in it for 20 years.

Sometimes I think they design the roadblocks with me in mind; they probably have my letters to Ken May framed and hanging on the wall.

You're half right . . . my wife suggests dumping . . . but not buying.

& when I golf, I golf.

Which reminds me, it's time to go back to work.

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

Certainly, when you've gotten something continuously in the past, you expect it to continue.

It's one thing if you can't get something because none have been deposited.

It's one thing if you can't get something because of trading power.

It is something else totally when you can't get something you know is there for no other reason than they want to get more money from you.

It is something else totally when you might not be able to get something that was there, deposited by an owner for another owner to use in exchange for another deposit, but you can't get it because someone else was willing to give more money for it.

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

For what it's worth, 8/6 units were offered for exchange for what looks like nearly every Friday and Sunday in July, as recently as early January.

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

I'm chuckling ...
Dynamic . . . I believe that is RCI-speak for screw ...
I'd like to hear RCI's explanation of this. That would be entertaining.

Sometimes I think they design the roadblocks with me in mind; they probably have my letters to Ken May framed and hanging on the wall.

Just because they're out to get you, doesn't mean you're paranoid, or something like that.

All teasing aside

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

The dynamic trade power of exchanges should only be impacted by the volume of exchange deposits versus the volume of exchange requests for particular weeks. It should not be distorted by RCI's withdrawal of prime weeks for their rental pool, but that is exactly how RCI is screwing the pooch.

Since RCI has started their rental-to-the-public flim flam, I have seen exchange availibility in the UK nosedive. Resorts that used to have decent availibility with an OBX blue week 5 or 6 years ago into shoulder season at least now have none at all or only weeks in deep off season using a prime summer UK week to search. Of course, there are some high season weeks availible if you want to rent them from RCI.

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

The dynamic trade power of exchanges should only be impacted by the volume of exchange deposits versus the volume of exchange requests for particular weeks. It should not be distorted by RCI's withdrawal of prime weeks for their rental pool, but that is exactly how RCI is screwing the pooch.

Since RCI has started their rental-to-the-public flim flam, I have seen exchange availibility in the UK nosedive. Resorts that used to have decent availibility with an OBX blue week 5 or 6 years ago into shoulder season at least now have none at all or only weeks in deep off season using a prime summer UK week to search. Of course, there are some high season weeks availible if you want to rent them from RCI.

Of course, but that is not JBL's current rant.

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

No one has worked around the roadblocks harder than me. It is what has kept us in it for 20 years.

Sometimes I think they design the roadblocks with me in mind; they probably have my letters to Ken May framed and hanging on the wall.

You're half right . . . my wife suggests dumping . . . but not buying.

& when I golf, I golf.

Which reminds me, it's time to go back to work.

See now that's the spirit. Go work at your golf.

The wife sounds like a wise woman.

Now that I've got an in with HGVC just letting you know that I just made a ressie without using my points, in Orlando, where there was hardly any availability in anyplace nice for 2 weeks from now with RCI. I got it pretty cheap with the open season which was readily available to the club members. HGVC also makes these weeks available to the public on their rental site and it didn't seem to impact my ressie, I could have used my points or paid cash (very nice feature). I chose to pay cash because I only need a few days and wanted a 3 bedroom. Definetely not an easy trade for me in RCI, would have cost me $900 or so either with cash or using my week or points when all things would be considered. Unacceptable to me for just 4 days in overbuilt Orlando.

I think this is the beginning of a new love affair for me with HGVC. I'm hopeful that it will work for me in SW Fl too.

Why don't you look into it?

It looks like I might even have a shot at going to Hawaii with HGVC without too much hassle. Life is good, so far.

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

Of course, but that is not JBL's current rant.

Maybe not the stereo speaker guy, but that is exactly my current rant.

It's not just rentals to the public; after 20 years of forking $$$ over to em, they were trying to get us to rent what we had theretofore got as a exchanges.

The rant did not start until the evidence was in; Zero for SW FL where there ustabe a dozen to choose from, and gouging us for the other trip we do.

Nice plan: Get inventory for free, rent what you can, and make what you can't rent available in the 14-day window. Is that about it?

Even Madge said it screws the pooch when deposit weeks are rented.

Remember Madge?
- - - - -
BTW, they have two years to get us something for SW FL in January, 2012, so that is why I'm starting this early. Would I like to see them change for everyone . . . sure . . . but if they only take care of us, that would be fine with us.

(I've tried to help others in the timeshare world for more than ten years and have learned there is not much in it.)

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

,,,, after 20 years of forking $$$ over to em, they were trying to get us to rent what we had theretofore got as an exchanges.
.....................................The rant did not start until the evidence was in; Zero for SW FL where there ustabe a dozen to choose from, and gouging us for the other trip we do................................................ .............
Nice plan: Get inventory for free, rent what you can, and make what you can't rent available in the 14-day window. Is that about it?

...........
(I've tried to help others in the timeshare world for more than ten years and have learned there is not much in it.)

Did RCI ever guarantee that there would always be inventory for exchange to SW Florida?

Although you know I love the area as much as you do (okay, maybe a little less than you do), I never thought of RCI as my go-to place for SW Florida exchanges or rentals. I have always known it was almost impossible to get anything decent over there even without discovering TS4M's and TUG, (my RCI guides told me so), so I resorted to renting directly from owners or the resorts themselves, even ebay has some deals every now and then. I think it's just the nature of the market over there.

I'm pleased as punch to get an exchange like I did last year to beach club I and an upgrade to a 2 bedroom unit with RCI but I know it's not something I can rely on every year and I don't. I just browse the inventory and sometimes I get lucky. Come down in December. There seemed to be alot of ex-ops then and to nice places.

I think there is definetely much in helping others. I am very grateful for the help I get here and on TUG and MO and I also try to chime in with my limited experience along the way. Unfortunately most of my TS experiences have been in Florida so that is usually where I chime in. Believe it or not on MO now I'm kind of the RCI expert. They are really clueless about RCI and since they've helped me so with my DVC how can I not return the favor.

I know somewhere in God's scorebook, I'm at least breaking even and hope he is pleased and will shine down on me every now and then with a nice vacation exchange. And honestly, he hasn't let me down yet.