RCI posted my negative review....this surprises even me!

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

I had a very unsatisfactory exchange thru RCI into Connemara Country Cottages in Ireland this past June - I do enjoy luxury accommodations but will accept clean and comfy if the location is great - an example of this is my love of Bluebeard's Beach Club in St Thomas - basic, roomy for a studio, simple, clean and a fabulous location on the ocean.
Here is the review I submitted to RCI and they have posted on their on-line resort directory...I have to say i was surprised to see them post it.

Connemara Country Cottages ( #0385 )
Leam East
Recess
County Galway, , Ireland

Not as Expected....Very Isolated and dated cottage Date: September 23, 2007

Best things about resort
Individual Cottages and Galway area location - spacious but dated units

Best attractions or restaurants nearby
Unknown - we checked out after one night!


Review
I was not expecting fancy but I did expect clean and in good repair - the linoleum in the kitchen and bathrooms looked as if they were original to the cottage that was built in 1980 - many cracks, tears and signs of extreme wear. The heating system was broken - there was a leak in the fuel line - and there was no concrete time frame to getting this fixed. As we were checking in on a Saturday at 4 pm - we really weren't hopeful that the system would be repaired - there were 2 electric heaters in this 3BR 2 story cottage but only one worked. The gentleman who checked us in did provide additional comforters when we requested them and was very thorough in explaining the workings of the cottage. He also gave us prepared sight seeing materials that would have been excellent if we had stayed.
The kitchen was very outdated and in poor condition - it would have been difficult to prepare a meal there.
We were able to start a peat fire in the living room which would have been charming if we didn't have to huddle around it for heat.
The cottages were 1 mile off the road on a dirt track and from there you are 6 miles to a small town - with restaurants/pubs, one internet connection and 2 grocery stores.
I had looked forward to this exchange for 2 years and visiting this part of Ireland but the condition of the cottage was so unsatisfactory that we left before 8 am the next morning.
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[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Do you recall a few years back when I posted a negative review on a Fairfeild resort in Orlando? I posted to Madge and all hell came down. Maybe it did some good.

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

If the RCI review site is to have any credibility it must publish honest negative reviews as well as honest positive ones. A review system that only prints the positive will soon become a laughing stock.

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

I agree Keith, I applaud that they DID post it - I tried to give a fair view but as you can see, it wasn't very satisfactory.
I will also add that I did not 'go after RCI' and demand anything from them when the week didn't work out for us.
I knew going in that this was a standard resort - but I still expected it to be habitable and clean.
I felt others should have the info they need to make an informed decision.

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

I thought I was beyond being surprised by RCI but this floors me too!

Nice to know that they can be truthful.

I am sorry the exchange was so far below expectations Pat. I know you were looking forward to it for nearly 2 years.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Do you recall a few years back when I posted a negative review on a Fairfeild resort in Orlando? I posted to Madge and all hell came down. Maybe it did some good.

No, I don't recall reading it so it must have been before my time.

Why would RCI care as it wasn't a Wyndham resort? They obviously care when it was a Fairfield resort from what I read in Frank's post. Personally, I find reviews are too personal. What is clean or luxury to one person may be a dump and not clean in someone else's opinion so I don't pay much attention to reviews unless there are many opinions one after another that a resort is good or bad.

Has anyone read a bad Wyndham resort or are they not posted? Just curious. Are there many reviews in RCI? I have never looked.

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

No heat would be a definite, definite deal-breaker for me, too. I hate being cold. What a disappointment for you, Pat!

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

True Story!

Do you recall a few years back when I posted a negative review on a Fairfeild resort in Orlando? I posted to Madge and all hell came down. Maybe it did some good.

Frank, I doubt it! Here is an example! RCI has notified a Points resort and has demanded that a certain salesperson be banned from calling them as that person continues to expect RCI to exercise common sense, customer relations and some business acumen. (The sales person is a dreamer.)

The sales person simply complained when two customers purchased a points membership (3 years of course) but RCI would only give the customer 2 years of points.

To get the 3rd year of points, the customer has to purchase a 4th year membership WHICH automatically signs them up for another 3 years (which they might not want to do). The salesperson simply suggested that any Consumer Advocacy Group would probably have the opinion that the sale was less than ethical and perhaps illegal.

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

Two reasons reviews like this are to RCI's benefit are:
- expectations are in line with what folks find when they get there - *if* they accept an exchange
- resorts may be more motivated to upgrade, or fix broken stuff

I'm sorry your experience was as reported - but until I read this, I didn't get why my Gold Crown resort wouldn't ever see Connemara, and my standard would - normally they are almost identical. This is why RCI guides don't like to do VEP overrides. I lost a confirmation into Connemara for this past summer due to RCI screw-up, and have been so regretful ever since because I really wanted to be on the west side. Standard, no-frills furnishings are fine with me, and I can deal with cracks in the linoleum. But no heat - that's the worst. We've struggled with that at a few RCI resorts too, and have huddled around stove burners and worn hats and gloves to bed, no kidding. (By the way: we took Fitzpatrick Castle instead - I was sick in bed a couple of days with the flu and chills - their radiator heat goes off during the day, only comes on at night. Brr.)

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

Laurie, I didn't want to get toooo negative, but the bathrooms were both disgusting . cracked floors and stained toilets, tubs, sinks and ..... Now another cottage might not have had the same problems - as each was built at different times. For my family, the bathrooms were the deal breaker!

Sorry you were cold at Fitzpatricks - I own there and we had just come from a weeks stay. It isn't fancy but it is comfortable.
Another member of this board owns a week in a resort in Galway that is comfortable and clean ... that is really all I ask - but a Gold Crown week SHOULDN'T see CCC - it just isn't anyway comparable.

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

Normally Fitzpatrick's heat schedule wouldn't be a problem, folks should be out sightseeing in the day! We called them a couple of times to say our heat wasn't working, they told us how to fiddle with it, to no avail during the day - I think we ultimately figured out that it came on only in the evening. Also if my memory serves me correctly, by the middle-end of the week we'd rummaged around and had found a space heater in a closet (?) - by this time I was dragging myself out of bed and going out on daytime excursions, in the biblical blowing-sideways rainstorms. I didn't have the energy for long drives to the west, in the rain... I'd like to get to Ireland again someway to see that west coast. Did you check into b&b's, or what did you do?

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

Normally Fitzpatrick's heat schedule wouldn't be a problem, folks should be out sightseeing in the day! We called them a couple of times to say our heat wasn't working, they told us how to fiddle with it, to no avail during the day - I think we ultimately figured out that it came on only in the evening. Also if my memory serves me correctly, by the middle-end of the week we'd rummaged around and had found a space heater in a closet (?) - by this time I was dragging myself out of bed and going out on daytime excursions, in the biblical blowing-sideways rainstorms. I didn't have the energy for long drives to the west, in the rain... I'd like to get to Ireland again someway to see that west coast. Did you check into b&b's, or what did you do?

We drove into the very small town 6 miles from CCC -Ougtergaard? - and there was one place in town with an internet computer - I logged into RCI and couldn't access anything until 3 days out (they don't allow you to search same day) - so I logged on to II - and did a search for THAT day and there was a unit available at Old Killarney Village - I confirmed it - we had dinner in town, we went to sleep with the extra quilts they had given us and were out of there before 8 a.m.!!!

We did drive around to the Cliffs of Mohr and thru the Burren on the way to Killarney - but i was very sad not to have gotten to tour the west coast..but WOW were we lucky to get that OKV unit!
And what a beautiful place that is ...... check it out as they do rentals - 3BR 3BA - really nice.