RCI resort closed

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

Hello,
I am a new user and posting for the first time here. I am a Hilton Grand Vacations Club member and made a reservation through RCI in Udaipur, India in May 2018. The reservation was for dates in Dec 2018. The resort apparently closed, but RCI never emailed us. Now that we are trying to call the resort to confirm our stay, the phone numbers are disconnected. When we called RCI, they first refused to acknowledge that the resort is closed. It is apparently active in their system. When we tried calling again later, they agreed that it was closed and were willing to cancel our reservation but refund the booking fee as a coupon. They want us to use the booking fee by Jan 2019 and the points by Dec 2018. But, we already have flights booked for the travel that we planned in May. There are no other resorts available in the region during our dates. RCI is refusing to give us additional time to use our points.

I am shocked that their representative said that the resort closing is not their fault. Does anyone have any suggestions for what we can do in this situation? We cannot possibly book another vacation to use up the points by end of December 2018. I believe that the least they can do is give us a little bit of time to research and book another vacation for next year. Are our points and money gone? And should we not be booking through RCI, if they cannot guarantee their reservations?

I appreciate any suggestions that anyone can make.
Thank you.
ssdga.

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

Sorry this happened to you. Just to clear something up though, RCI has NO fault if a resort closes. So their representative telling you it wasn't their fault is true. However, not notifying you, IF they knew the resort had closed down, is their fault.

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

RCI seems to be getting worse every year. The last straw for me was when they cancelled an exchange on me 2 weeks before check in. They did get me another resort at he same area and time, but the wait and the whole episode caused me to cancel my membership and they did not refund membership fees. Too many crappy resorts and lousy customer service.

[M. Henley Class President Find all posts View Profile Close M. Henley]

RCI seems to be getting worse every year. The last straw for me was when they cancelled an exchange on me 2 weeks before check in. They did get me another resort at he same area and time, but the wait and the whole episode caused me to cancel my membership and they did not refund membership fees. Too many crappy resorts and lousy customer service.

You are correct Tony!!

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

RCI seems to be getting worse every year. The last straw for me was when they cancelled an exchange on me 2 weeks before check in. They did get me another resort at he same area and time, but the wait and the whole episode caused me to cancel my membership and they did not refund membership fees. Too many crappy resorts and lousy customer service.

I still use them. Got two consecutive weeks on Maui in March for 2019 at the one resort we requested. Doesn't get much better than that.

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

And if they cancelled one on you 2 weeks before occupancy ?

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

And if they cancelled one on you 2 weeks before occupancy ?

Hasn't happened yet. Let's not tempt fate.

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

Since the present owners bought RCI, they have gotten worse and worse. I dropped them years ago. I still belong to SFX, UKRE, and DAE, and they have worked good for exchanges, and a whole lot better to deal with. Sadly, RCI is buying DAE so that will change, although, I hope the European office of DAE, which is a franchise ends up going its own way. I have friends who use HTSE, and also speak very highly of them.

- - - Updated - - -