Unconfigured Ad Widget

Collapse

Unconfigured Ad Widget

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Is RCI a scam?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Is RCI a scam?

    I not getting how the whole RCI systems works. I deposit my week, which is a red , gold star week. I go and look for a vacation and they only have 6 available in a 3 month period in the New England states.....6. I find this hard to beleive. I go over to the extra vacation and they have 1500!!!! how is this possible. they say they can only give me whats in my bank. Well if you have it availabe why can't I trade and have that week???? Maybe I don't understand how the whole thing works here. My fees for the year are paid so why can't I have whats available. This just seems like a scam the same as the RCI magazine that you must buy and all the timeshare scammers!!!! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

  • #2
    Red isn't always red, sometimes it is pink, or light red

    When you sign into RCI , go to search for a vacation then on the blue bar above the picture on the right side is click to change , click that, then select Show all available RCI Vacations, then at the bottom of that page hit update search.
    Now you will be able to see everything that is available, even if you don't have the TPU's required to make the trade.

    Greg
    Yes it is Safe in Mexico



    http://www.timeshareparadise.net

    Comment


    • #3
      And, to some extent RCI could be considered a scam. They take your week and offer you other places to go for a week, but they rent out a lot of weeks that are deposited which reduces the amount available for exchanges. They are mainly concerned with making money and not making the customer happy and for that reason I chose to end my membership a while ago.

      Comment


      • #4
        RCI's rental program does indeed qualify it as a scam.

        Comment


        • #5
          You would need to read the collected posts relative to RCI, from over the last almost 20 years, to fully understand what has happened to RCI since Ms. De Haan sold it to Cendant in the early 90's.

          I have a thread on the Florida Board "SW Florida in January" where I have discussed what has happened to availability in SW FL in January since I started my daily searches, Spring, 1997. There, since roughly 2004, availability has gone from a selection of 16-20 resorts to just one, crappy resort every now and then.

          Like I said, it woulod take nearly 20 years of posting to tell the whole story.
          RCI Member Since 24-Aug-1989/150-plus Exchanges***THE TIMESHARE GRIM REAPER~~~Exchanging/Searching/SW Florida/MO/AR/IA/Consumer Advocacy/Estate Planning/Sports/Boating/Fishing/Golf/Lake-living/Retirement****Sometimes ya just gotta be a dick

          Comment


          • #6
            TONYG....where do you trade now that you are not with RCI?

            Comment


            • #7
              Over the years the problems in dealing with RCI have changed.

              When we first began, it was mostly because of lack of understanding how RCI works, something not helped by what people were told to entice them to buy. In those Good Ole Days, folks were given the impression that if you "buy here, you can go anywhere, anytime," and similar other falsehoods.

              I know many who own RCI timeshares who refuse to deal with RCI because of their own misunderstandings. It does take familiarity, effort and knowledge to make RCI effective, and some people are not willing to do that, or should they need to.

              Over the post-deHaan years it has grown from that, fairly simple problems associated with misrepresentation and misunderstanding, to very real, serious problems with the way their program works, and doesn't work.

              Today's problems are because of understanding, not misunderstanding.

              Companies don't get sued because they are doing all the right things.
              RCI Member Since 24-Aug-1989/150-plus Exchanges***THE TIMESHARE GRIM REAPER~~~Exchanging/Searching/SW Florida/MO/AR/IA/Consumer Advocacy/Estate Planning/Sports/Boating/Fishing/Golf/Lake-living/Retirement****Sometimes ya just gotta be a dick

              Comment


              • #8
                So what other companies are their other than RCI??and what are the benefits of these other companies???
                Pretty new to this site so if their is somewhere I can look it up myself please show me..Really want to learn everything I can about this investment I have made...
                Thanks

                Comment


                • #9
                  There are several alternatives to RCI. You can use II if your resort is affiliated with them. You can also use the independent exchange companies like SFX, DAE, etc. regardless of your resort's affiliation.

                  I canceled my RCI membership many years ago and have used SFX exclusively for the past 14 years.
                  John

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by srt_unit
                    So what other companies are their other than RCI??and what are the benefits of these other companies???
                    Pretty new to this site so if their is somewhere I can look it up myself please show me..Really want to learn everything I can about this investment I have made...
                    Thanks
                    In addition to II, there are a number of independent exchange companies such as:
                    '
                    Timeshares & Time Share Exchange Service-DAELive.com

                    HTSE

                    SFX Preferred Resorts - Quality Timeshare Exchange Services

                    www.platinuminterchange.com

                    Trading Places International - Home

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by srt_unit
                      So what other companies are their other than RCI??and what are the benefits of these other companies???
                      Pretty new to this site so if their is somewhere I can look it up myself please show me..Really want to learn everything I can about this investment I have made...
                      Thanks
                      It might help us to help you if you tell us what you own and where you like to travel. Sometimes one independent is better than another based on where you want to go.

                      If you are having trouble with RCI, what week/year did you deposit and when did you make the deposit. Where are you trying to exchange into and what months/year do you want to go there.

                      The same questions for you too, ladydi.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        OK I own a 1 bedroom 4/4 at Grandview in Las Vegas every other year...Our Week I believe is JUly 22nd ...I deposited my week about a week ago for this year....We would like to travel to Puerto Rico or Miami this year. Planning to go either in July or December.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          DAE gets inventory in Puerto Rico from time to time.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by srt_unit
                            OK I own a 1 bedroom 4/4 at Grandview in Las Vegas every other year...Our Week I believe is JUly 22nd ...I deposited my week about a week ago for this year....We would like to travel to Puerto Rico or Miami this year. Planning to go either in July or December.
                            The following is based on the assumption that your deposit is not in RCI points but it is in RCI weeks.

                            Based on the deposit calculator for this resort, the highest trade value you can get for your deposit it 18 and you likey got 16 since you deposited less than 270 days before checkin.

                            You can see all that is deposited in Puerto Rico and Miama by clicking on the 'Search for a Vacation tab'.

                            Look for this text -
                            You are currently searching ยป Exchange Only , Bookable Only

                            and click on it.

                            Look for:

                            Select Your Inventory
                            Show all available RCI vacations
                            Show vacations that match my deposits

                            at click on 'Show all available and 'Update Search'.

                            In Puerto Rico, 16 or even 18 tpus will get you only a hotel unit in August at the Villas de Costa Dorada. Royal Holiday Club Cala is even higher than that. That means a one for one exchange into Puerto Rico does not seem likely with RCI Weeks with your deposit.

                            There are no Miami deposits out there right now. However, there are plenty on the southern Atlantic coast near Miami that you could trade for now.

                            Platinum Interchange has a lot of inventory at Club Cala de Palmas. They have every month from April to December of this year available. Check the reviews on this resort before you decide. There is one resort in Puerto Rico that is pretty run down but I don't remember the name of it. The do not have any Miami. You can check this yourself by signing up with them for free.

                            Trading Places has nothing in their directory for Miami or Puerto Rico. You can check what they have for free without signing up. Just go to their website and look for online exchanges.

                            You can sign up for DAE and for free and do the same checks I am doing. You can use user 9999 and password htse to check to see if Hawaii Timeshare Exchange has what you want.

                            The snag is that you are doing these checks to see where to put your next deposit since you may not be able to get your deposit out of RCI easily.

                            If you are stuck with RCI for this deposit, make the best of it. Get on their site, turn on the 'show all deposits' display and look around for place to go that matches the value of what you put in.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              To add to that, if that is the case, you have until July, 2013, to use that deposit.

                              The way the new Weeks Points system is supposed to work, on short notice you are supposed to be able to get resorts that you cannot get further out. In practice, that is not as advertised . . . yet . . . but some of us are pointing out the unfairnesses and hoping RCI will see the ill of their ways.

                              The Adjustment Schedule is also on RCI.com, where you oughta be:

                              Days in Advance of Deposit Start Date Percentage Retained
                              < 14 days 45%
                              15 - 30 days 60%
                              31 - 90 days 80%
                              91 - 180 days 90%
                              181 - 275 days 95%
                              276+ days 100%

                              Some of us feel that to be truthful, RCI should charge for exchanges the same amount they credit for deposits. If that was not the case, you could get your own deposit with your deposit, which is absurd . . . but true right now.

                              Using the schedule, an exchange that would normally require 20, should require 9 within 14 days of check-in date.

                              16-18, BTW, is close to average, so, based on my searchings today, you should be able to see somewhere around 130,000 exchanges. Of course, I understand that the only one that is important is the one you want.

                              The sad thing is that even if you take the time to learn how things are supposed to be, if they are not, it does not help. &, for now, they are not.
                              RCI Member Since 24-Aug-1989/150-plus Exchanges***THE TIMESHARE GRIM REAPER~~~Exchanging/Searching/SW Florida/MO/AR/IA/Consumer Advocacy/Estate Planning/Sports/Boating/Fishing/Golf/Lake-living/Retirement****Sometimes ya just gotta be a dick

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X