Always this annoying?

[winnipiseogee Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close winnipiseogee]

So I finally got my points account up activated and I was pleasantly surprised with the exchanges that were available. I talk to the wife look at the properties and decide on a trade (Newport in Sept). I start booking the resort and when I get to the credit card screen it comes up with an error message.

I call RCI and they tell me that the unit being displayed is an error and that room isn't actually in inventory. Ok - disappointing.

I try again this morning - this time for a Cape Cod in Sept. Guess what - SAME DARN ERROR MESSAGE!!

Does this happen a lot? Are the trades shown as available just a mirage??

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

Grrrrrr....Sorry, that really stinks.

I've only had a few trades through RCI so far, made one just the other day, and they have gone through without a hitch.

It's terrible to get your hopes up, only to be told the week doesn't really exist.

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

My last exchange thru RCI was cancelled 3 weeks before occupancy. It was a family get together and the week following was rather tense, but I ended up getting a different resort in the same location-same time. It was the last straw, I cancelled RCI a few weeks after I got back.

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

My last exchange thru RCI was cancelled 3 weeks before occupancy. It was a family get together and the week following was rather tense, but I ended up getting a different resort in the same location-same time. It was the last straw, I cancelled RCI a few weeks after I got back.

Yikes! Scary stuff!

How horrible to be in that situation. I don't even want to think about it. Ugh!

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

It's not always that annoying. Bad things happen on RCI, but they do have a lot of good weeks. Their website is terrible, though.

Put in an ongoing request for the exchanges you want--they'll find you something. (And keep looking yourself!) There should be decent availability for Newport/Cape Cod in September. Just don't accept any matches that aren't exactly what you want/need.

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

With 116 exchanges, what you have to do to get them has become so commonplace that it is nice to hear from folks not accustomed to it.

It has always been problematic and aggravating, even back when they actually had stuff for other timeshare owners/subscribers, instead of the rental folks they cater to today.

In all those exchanges, however, we only had one cancelled, in 1999. In that case there was only one RCI timeshare in the entire state, so I appealed to them pretty hard to get it straightened out. We knew there were empty units sitting there. they finally told me, "We have a legal department for people like you."

When it comes to people who say people like you, passing off their condescending value judgements, I have never cared for people like that.

What was the question again?

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Wyndham was just deposited for October they have a few resorts in Newport. Maybe that would work for you?

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

What was the question again?

Oh yeah.

I have always attributed to other people being able to look at the same stuff I am looking at at the same time, & they select something before I do.

But, that was a long time ago, when I was actively looking for the purpose of selecting.

[SOS8260456 Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close SOS8260456]

These are called "ghost inventory". They were there, but someone else booked them, but they haven't been fully taken out of the computer system yet. They can be very very very frustrating My first experience with one was trying to book a 3 bedroom DVC. It kept showing it was there, but we couldn't get the calendar to work.

I don't understand why they don't have a better search system.

[winnipiseogee Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close winnipiseogee]

Thanks all - Guess this just my first experience with why people are frustrated with RCI. I've called and put in an "ongoing search" Although there are lots of great options now in October we've got a baby due at the end of Oct so that might be cutting it too close...

Forgot to ask RCI - What is the cancellation policy with RCI. Should the baby happen to show up a month early do we just lose all our points and fees paid?

Thanks

[scootr5 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close scootr5]

These are called "ghost inventory". They were there, but someone else booked them, but they haven't been fully taken out of the computer system yet. They can be very very very frustrating My first experience with one was trying to book a 3 bedroom DVC. It kept showing it was there, but we couldn't get the calendar to work.

I don't understand why they don't have a better search system.

Wow, that's terrible. How can they not be pulled from inventory immediately once they are reserved?

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

Thanks all - Guess this just my first experience with why people are frustrated with RCI. I've called and put in an "ongoing search" Although there are lots of great options now in October we've got a baby due at the end of Oct so that might be cutting it too close...

Forgot to ask RCI - What is the cancellation policy with RCI. Should the baby happen to show up a month early do we just lose all our points and fees paid?

Thanks

I don't know if the insurance is the same with Weeks and with Points. I'm in Weeks. There they offer two kinds of insurance: for $49, you can cancel and you get your TPUs back; for $89, you get your TPUs and your exchange fee back in the form of a coupon that has to be used within six months (that is, you have to book another exchange within six months--you don't have to take the exchange within the six months).

[hac Member Find all posts View Profile Close hac]

We have had continual problems with RCI's online week's site. We have an Extra Week certificate. For a while we had an on again off again problem with seeing availability. When we would do the search based on our Extra Week we would sometimes get a list with locations and available units and sometimes just the map would show up. However, when we clicked on the location it would say "0 Available Units" - even though it indicated there were 52. We could go down the list and click on every location - same thing would happen each time.

RCI gave us a list of things to do on our computer - settings to check, etc. We did all of these things and tried four computers - each with different operating systems, different versions of internet explorer, etc. The results were the same, so it obviously was a glitch with our account or the system. When we called, the RCI tech person said sometimes when they added an Extra Week Certificate for some reason the problem mysteriously disappeared. Guess what - it did. She said the Extra Week would be for our troubles. Well we used the one certificate and are back to only having one in our account again. Would you believe the same problem occurred again? We haven't been able to see availability since. When we spoke to RCI and told them the chronology - they basically said there was no way adding the Extra Week Certificate could have helped. Well, explain how the online tech support person added it and the problem was resolved. We used one week and the problem came back again.

Actually, with the new exchange fees, taxes added, etc. these Extra Weeks certificates cost just about as much to use as a Getaway and there is probably not as much availability. But, nevertheless, very frustrating to be told RCI can't resolve our problem and we can call in instead to check - that pretty much guarantees you will miss out on a lot of new inventory. I might check the internet every evening but I am not going to call RCI every day.