The Truth About Mugwump Swamp & Slimey Slough

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

When Marriott rolled out the new destination club and assigned points to weeks owned, they incorporated a "skim" whereby the points you received for your week if deposited with the Destination Club would only book you 5-6 days in your own resort and season. This "skim" has been the focus of most of the anger towards Marriott due to its blatant violation of the fairness principle. When RCI charges more TPU than it gives for the identical week this is an analogous "skim", and clearly unfair.

Yes, that is what I have been saying and seeing. A sad state of affairs. I do think that Marriott has been quite purposeful about it in view of its other points devaluation strategies in timeshare as well as other points based business (gifts, travel, etc). But with RCI, I'm not yet convinced it's purposeful skimming. It could be just f'd up coding, calculations, etc... or not. Too many inconsistencies to be sure of intent. Yet.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

I have noticed this in several instances. VERY frustrating. I pulled a deposit because even at maximum deposit value it wasn't given enough trading power for me to trade back into my own week.

I'd check ours, but weeks we deposit get taken.

Change that . . . I found one we get 22 to deposit & it costs 26 to trade in.

Out of all that, and some of the sniping about Mugwump and Slimey, even by some on the other side, the amazing thing about today is that all along RCI agreed that we have been getting even trades, especially the most recent and current ones . . . now that we can see what they think they know.

Up until now, it was just uninformed people blabbing about crappy deposits getting uptrades.

Of course, even though I now know they agreed they were even trades, and still are, they have fixed it so they aren't.

And, of course, despite the facts, some are still talking about crappy deposits getting uptrades.

This is all beginning to sound very "Marriott Destination Club"-like!
There is a "skim" involved......just as is reported here.

It used to be, you would get like for like PLUS pay an exchange fee - how RCI makes it money but NOW in order to trade, it is like + exchange fee + MORE = a trade....

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

This is all beginning to sound very "Marriott Destination Club"-like!
There is a "skim" involved......just as is reported here.

It used to be, you would get like for like PLUS pay an exchange fee - how RCI makes it money but NOW in order to trade, it is like + exchange fee + MORE = a trade....

I see I missed the post below this...it seems we are all seeing the same thing.... on the other hand I have a deposit I got a LOT of points for that does not cost as much to trade back in....what's with THAT???

Quote:
Originally Posted by calgal

When Marriott rolled out the new destination club and assigned points to weeks owned, they incorporated a "skim" whereby the points you received for your week if deposited with the Destination Club would only book you 5-6 days in your own resort and season. This "skim" has been the focus of most of the anger towards Marriott due to its blatant violation of the fairness principle. When RCI charges more TPU than it gives for the identical week this is an analogous "skim", and clearly unfair.

Glitter

Yes, that is what I have been saying and seeing. A sad state of affairs. I do think that Marriott has been quite purposeful about it in view of its other points devaluation strategies in timeshare as well as other points based business (gifts, travel, etc). But with RCI, I'm not yet convinced it's purposeful skimming. It could be just f'd up coding, calculations, etc... or not. Too many inconsistencies to be sure of intent. Yet.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I see I missed the post below this...it seems we are all seeing the same thing.... on the other hand I have a deposit I got a LOT of points for that does not cost as much to trade back in....what's with THAT???


Glitter

That's right.. Enjoy it while it lasts - I don't expect it will be long...

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

With Marriott's system, nearly every single fixed week was skimmed.

With RCI's TPU system, it looks like some are lower, some are higher, and some are about the same. It's not clear to me why that is, as I can't quite find a rhyme or reason to it.

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

Looking at resorts of very high demand and very low supply on both sides of the pond, many which rarely appear online any time of year, and especially when compared against some overbuilt areas and some others that make no sense, like a resort WAY off the beach in Myrtle Beach that gets a 60, my conclusion is that there is either serious incompetence or serious fraud or a combination of both in RCI's numbers racket.

As an example of an overbuilt area that is clearly overpointed, RCI was giving 50 points lite for a Vacation Village at Parkway week 51 1BR for 2011 if someone deposited it, but at the very same time was only requiring 10 points lite for a trade in. Note that is 2011, over a year away. I can see the value of a week changing over time as supply and demand shifts. That makes perfect sense and is how trading power should operate. But different values in as opposed to out at the very same time spells F-R-A-U-D.

You know, looking at the TPUs for so many things as I do, I don't think there are a ton that are unreasonable or unfair. There are several that I've noticed, and there are discrepancies within a region, and some plain obvious glitches. But there are a lot of very good trades available in the mid-range. And I think what happened in May was that there was an adjustment to try to level the playing field some, and to cut down on major upgrades in terms of supply/demand. And unit size, which is now accounted for at least to some degree. Now we all have an opportunity to adjust however we choose.

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

I see I missed the post below this...it seems we are all seeing the same thing.... on the other hand I have a deposit I got a LOT of points for that does not cost as much to trade back in....what's with THAT???

Quote:
Originally Posted by calgal

Glitter

That is a resort where a developer was able to get RCI to put its thumb on the scales.

Sold out resorts need to monitor these things. Then they need to pressure RCI on behalf of their members. They need to organize and lay down the law to RCI. Get a large number of the resorts in a particular area together and simply tell RCI ''Treat us fairly or we are all going to II in a block and severing all ties with you''. HOA's do not need to let themselves get pushed around and their members treated unfairly.

II should be monitoring what is going on, and using it to snatch resorts away from RCI.

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

If you can't get your own week with your own week, it is not a trading power issue. If you can't get something that they give the same credit for depositing as your deposit gets, it is not a trading power issue.

It is fraud & price gouging.

Period.

So, why do you think it is that no one has evaluated their exchange history, to see if they can still do what they've been doing, like I did? Why have more not done what we've done, seen if they can get their own week with their own week, or get an exchange with a comparable deposit?

Too much work?

Don't get it?

Don't wanna face the truth?

Don't really care?

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

For the most part, I have. It is mostly the same. There are a few I cannot check directly, because there are not currently equivalent deposits in the spacebank, and I've come to believe that the deposit calculator is at best a rough guide for what the spacebank values actually are. But, I am seeing inventory that is comparable in scope and quality to what it was in the period from 5/30/09 to 11/15/10. It is slightly lower than the pre-5/30/09 period, which is when RCI did adjust global trade power significantly. I was dinged on 5/30/09, but less so than it sounds as though you and Lawren were (and less so than many others as well.)

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

That is a resort where a developer was able to get RCI to put its thumb on the scales.

Sold out resorts need to monitor these things. Then they need to pressure RCI on behalf of their members. They need to organize and lay down the law to RCI. Get a large number of the resorts in a particular area together and simply tell RCI ''Treat us fairly or we are all going to II in a block and severing all ties with you''. HOA's do not need to let themselves get pushed around and their members treated unfairly.

II should be monitoring what is going on, and using it to snatch resorts away from RCI.

As you know, historically resort HOA's have cow-towed to RCI, as have the affiliates in areas such as marketing. &, as you know, RCI has always thrown up their hands and said, "Not us. The affiliates are separate and do what they want."

An important part of the Settlement Agreement is that the Court did not buy that, and requires RCI to police the affiliates, for the first time recognizing, legally, that RCI does what it does, is what it is.

There is big difference between everyone in the world knowing how something is and a Court recognizing it.

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

I just spot-checked all of the SW FL resorts that have availability.

At all but one of them, a relatively obscure one with only with deposit, there are weeks that cannot get themselves with themselves.

scam?

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

I just spot-checked all of the SW FL resorts that have availability.

At all but one of them, a relatively obscure one with only with deposit, there are weeks that cannot get themselves with themselves.

scam?

Time for a mass exodus to II

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

As you know, historically resort HOA's have cow-towed to RCI, as have the affiliates in areas such as marketing. &, as you know, RCI has always thrown up their hands and said, "Not us. The affiliates are separate and do what they want."

An important part of the Settlement Agreement is that the Court did not buy that, and requires RCI to police the affiliates, for the first time recognizing, legally, that RCI does what it does, is what it is.

There is big difference between everyone in the world knowing how something is and a Court recognizing it.

The ''settlement agreement'' is really the sellout agreement. The class action lawyers basically laid down for RCI so they could get a million dollar payoff for themselves. This agreement was basically written by RCI's lawyers and rubberstamped by a group of shameful sellout plaintiff's attorneys who were only looking out for themselves.

None of this is being driven by the class action. It is being driven by what RCI wants to do.

The affiliates are the resorts. How is it that you think RCI is now ''policing'' them?

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

As to both preceding posts, yeah, they illustrate my points.

First, of the 50 or so RCI resorts in SW FL, only 22 had any availability.

Of course RCI is not/will not police the affiliates. They are obligated to by a Court Order, but . . .

My point is that we have to. Anyone taking a tour at an RCI resort should report if the affiliates are disclosing what they are supposed to be disclosing.

Anyone who cannot trade for their own week with their own deposit, should report that.

Anyone who cannot now get a trade they got in the past with the same deposit, should report that.

There is an order in writing, and it is being flagrantly flaunted.