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This is the letter that I sent to RCI in regards to their recent cancellation of my confirmed reservation. I wish I was better at writing stuff like this, but I tried to get my point across. The big thing I missed was that I had to book my own hotel at the last minute, and it cost my a lot more in AI fees than I was going to have to pay with the hotel that I had confirmed through RCI.
Here is my letter.
I would like to express my extreme disappointment with the service I received on my last extra vacation purchase. After much consideration and research, I booked 2 rooms as an extra vacation offer to Grand Sirenis Mayan Beach, for the week of March 27 to April 1 2010. One week before our group, ( my husband and myself, 2 seniors with disabilities, and 2 teenagers) I received an automated phone call from RCI informing me that " my ongoing search had turned up a match, and I could see it on RCI.com" This caused me concern, because I have never done an ongoing search! When I checked the website ( one week before we were booked to travel on non refundable seats that cost me about 6 thousand dollars) I notice to my horror, that my previously confirmed rooms ( I had the copies that you sent me in the mail) were now GONE!
With a great deal of panic, I phoned RCI and was informed that they could no longer get me into my confirmed resort, as the resort had unexpectedly decided to do maintenance on some of their rooms at this time. At this point, I told the girl that I was talking to ( i wish I had gotten her name because she was particularly rude) that I believed that you were lying to me. I told her that no Mexican resort in its right mind would close rooms for maintenance during one of the busiest times of the year, specially during an economic downturn like this. Her response to this was " how do you know it is the busiest time of the year?" My answer was " its spring break!" to which she snidely remarked that it was not spring break in Mexico!
The next day when talking to Brian he admitted it was an overbooking situation. He offered to send us to the Mayan Palace instead. I told him that the Mayan Palace was nothing like the vacation that I had booked, and I had done a lot of research and had booked the Grand Sirenis for very specific reasons. None of which were met by the Mayan Palace. I needed a safe beach with easy access for my mother in law, all inclusive for my bottomless pit of a 16 year old son who has been unable to travel with us for the last 3 years due to sports and school, and most likely not be able to travel with us again for several more years. It was really important to me to make this a special vacation for him and for my mother in law. Also of importance were the all inclusive fees. The Grand Sirenis was by far the most reasonable in regards to fees, and even at that we were really stretching our budget for this trip, because it was a very special family time for us. Most likely the last time my mother in law will be able to something like this, as her health is failing.
I was told that they would do what they could to find me a resort that would fit my needs, and I would have to be patient. Frankly patience was not something that I had, as my carefully planned vacation was falling apart through no fault of my own. ( I should note that i called the resort myself after getting my initial confirmation from RCI to confirm that they had gotten my reservation, ( because I have previously arrived at a resort booked through RCI and they did not have my reservation, that was during low season so not much of a problem, but has caused me to double check with the resort from that time on) The resort did not have my name, so I called RCI and was told that the names were not sent to the resorts untill a week before arrival, so I should call them back then.
The worst part was the waiting, and never being given the feeling that I was going to be taken care of. If there was any indication that I would be made whole, and that RCI would take responsibility for the error, I would have remained much calmer. I felt as though i had booked with the "Worlds Largest Timeshare Exchange Company" and they should have the ability to honor their obligations or make sure that I had an equal or better vacation with no additional burden to myself. Unfortunately i was only ever left with the feeling that i would be stuck with leftovers or be forced to pay all inclusive fees that were far beyond my budget ,at the last minute during spring break. This is not a very comforting feeling when we have made ( what is to us) a huge financial commitment to this trip, base on your company's CONFIRMATION. I continue to question what the word " Confirmation" means to your company.
After waiting 4 days ( we now only had 4 days before we travelled) and still not having been provided any solution by RCI, I put my foot down and told Brian that this needed to be resolved today, one way or another. He told me he could not guarantee that, and that I would have to be patient and that I should stop calling him and everybody else. At the last minute, on that day, Brian phoned me and told me that he was able to get us into our resort. He said the manager would be phoning me to make any special arrangements we would need for our elderly travellers.
When the manager phoned me he was very nice and told us he would take care of us, but they would have to move us all into one big room for the last night of our trip. To me that was unacceptable to waste half a day of our trip on the last day, and to uproot a couple of seniors. If it had been on the first day before we had settled in, it would have been annoying but workable.
At this point I called Brian back the next morning and told him it was unacceptable, and I wanted my money back. Little old me would have to do what the "WORLDS BIGGEST TIMESHARE EXCHANGE COMPANY" could not or would not do. Find me the vacation that I had booked. I had lost all patience to fight, and I just wanted out, you had worn me down. If that is what your company wanted to achieve you were successful. If your company was trying to provide good customer service, and instill a sense of confidence in your members, you FAILED MISERABLY!
I will post these comments on TripAdvisor and all of the Travel and Timeshare forums that I was on explaining my problem, while waiting for you to fix your mistake. Myself and many current and possibly future RCI members will wait for your reply.
Here is my letter.
I would like to express my extreme disappointment with the service I received on my last extra vacation purchase. After much consideration and research, I booked 2 rooms as an extra vacation offer to Grand Sirenis Mayan Beach, for the week of March 27 to April 1 2010. One week before our group, ( my husband and myself, 2 seniors with disabilities, and 2 teenagers) I received an automated phone call from RCI informing me that " my ongoing search had turned up a match, and I could see it on RCI.com" This caused me concern, because I have never done an ongoing search! When I checked the website ( one week before we were booked to travel on non refundable seats that cost me about 6 thousand dollars) I notice to my horror, that my previously confirmed rooms ( I had the copies that you sent me in the mail) were now GONE!
With a great deal of panic, I phoned RCI and was informed that they could no longer get me into my confirmed resort, as the resort had unexpectedly decided to do maintenance on some of their rooms at this time. At this point, I told the girl that I was talking to ( i wish I had gotten her name because she was particularly rude) that I believed that you were lying to me. I told her that no Mexican resort in its right mind would close rooms for maintenance during one of the busiest times of the year, specially during an economic downturn like this. Her response to this was " how do you know it is the busiest time of the year?" My answer was " its spring break!" to which she snidely remarked that it was not spring break in Mexico!
The next day when talking to Brian he admitted it was an overbooking situation. He offered to send us to the Mayan Palace instead. I told him that the Mayan Palace was nothing like the vacation that I had booked, and I had done a lot of research and had booked the Grand Sirenis for very specific reasons. None of which were met by the Mayan Palace. I needed a safe beach with easy access for my mother in law, all inclusive for my bottomless pit of a 16 year old son who has been unable to travel with us for the last 3 years due to sports and school, and most likely not be able to travel with us again for several more years. It was really important to me to make this a special vacation for him and for my mother in law. Also of importance were the all inclusive fees. The Grand Sirenis was by far the most reasonable in regards to fees, and even at that we were really stretching our budget for this trip, because it was a very special family time for us. Most likely the last time my mother in law will be able to something like this, as her health is failing.
I was told that they would do what they could to find me a resort that would fit my needs, and I would have to be patient. Frankly patience was not something that I had, as my carefully planned vacation was falling apart through no fault of my own. ( I should note that i called the resort myself after getting my initial confirmation from RCI to confirm that they had gotten my reservation, ( because I have previously arrived at a resort booked through RCI and they did not have my reservation, that was during low season so not much of a problem, but has caused me to double check with the resort from that time on) The resort did not have my name, so I called RCI and was told that the names were not sent to the resorts untill a week before arrival, so I should call them back then.
The worst part was the waiting, and never being given the feeling that I was going to be taken care of. If there was any indication that I would be made whole, and that RCI would take responsibility for the error, I would have remained much calmer. I felt as though i had booked with the "Worlds Largest Timeshare Exchange Company" and they should have the ability to honor their obligations or make sure that I had an equal or better vacation with no additional burden to myself. Unfortunately i was only ever left with the feeling that i would be stuck with leftovers or be forced to pay all inclusive fees that were far beyond my budget ,at the last minute during spring break. This is not a very comforting feeling when we have made ( what is to us) a huge financial commitment to this trip, base on your company's CONFIRMATION. I continue to question what the word " Confirmation" means to your company.
After waiting 4 days ( we now only had 4 days before we travelled) and still not having been provided any solution by RCI, I put my foot down and told Brian that this needed to be resolved today, one way or another. He told me he could not guarantee that, and that I would have to be patient and that I should stop calling him and everybody else. At the last minute, on that day, Brian phoned me and told me that he was able to get us into our resort. He said the manager would be phoning me to make any special arrangements we would need for our elderly travellers.
When the manager phoned me he was very nice and told us he would take care of us, but they would have to move us all into one big room for the last night of our trip. To me that was unacceptable to waste half a day of our trip on the last day, and to uproot a couple of seniors. If it had been on the first day before we had settled in, it would have been annoying but workable.
At this point I called Brian back the next morning and told him it was unacceptable, and I wanted my money back. Little old me would have to do what the "WORLDS BIGGEST TIMESHARE EXCHANGE COMPANY" could not or would not do. Find me the vacation that I had booked. I had lost all patience to fight, and I just wanted out, you had worn me down. If that is what your company wanted to achieve you were successful. If your company was trying to provide good customer service, and instill a sense of confidence in your members, you FAILED MISERABLY!
I will post these comments on TripAdvisor and all of the Travel and Timeshare forums that I was on explaining my problem, while waiting for you to fix your mistake. Myself and many current and possibly future RCI members will wait for your reply.
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