Ken May's ''legacy'' at RCI

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

I have seen most of Ken May's letters or emails to resort affiliates, and the one dated November 1, 2007 will thankfully be the last, as May has been sacked as CEO of RCI. That one claims five major items as May's legacy at RCI:
1) the deal to rent RCI weeks through major outlet Leisure Link
2) Endless Vacation Rentals (renting timeshare weeks, not magazines!)
3) Registry Collection
4) RCI Points
5) Endless Vacation Magazine (?????!!!!!!)

The magazine is as dull as before May arrived, and maybe the Registry Collection is a good thing, but the rest of it is kicking the props out from under the ownership/exchange model of timesharing, and may well qualify Kenny Points Boy May (as timeshare columnist The Shadow called him recently) as the Darth Vader of timesharing.

Good riddance!

Can a new person right the ship at RCI? Hard to say, but May's vision (or nightmare) may have taken hold of things for too long. Stopping the rentals would probably require unwinding RCI Points which would bring howls from the points crowd. There may be enough of them now to make this impossible, as a practical matter, at least as to RCI doing it voluntarily.

Back in 1999 I posted a paragraph from an early Ken May letter on the old TUG board where he was talking about using RCI's power as a ''market leader'' to ''take timeshare to the mass market''. When I suggested that this sounded like they planned to get into the rental business, certain Tuggers at the time said I was crazy and shouldn't be saying such horrible things about good ole RCI.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Back in 1999 I posted a paragraph from an early Ken May letter on the old TUG board where he was talking about using RCI's power as a ''market leader'' to ''take timeshare to the mass market''. When I suggested that this sounded like they planned to get into the rental business, certain Tuggers at the time said I was crazy and shouldn't be saying such horrible things about good ole RCI.

And within our differences, one area in which you and I have always agreed is that RCI's business model always included getting into the rental business. As I've posted many times, I believe that RCI intends to operate more like ResortQuest - with an associated timeshare component as part of the source of inventory - than as a timeshare exchange company.

I think their goal has always been to be a middleman between providers of vacation condos with users of that inventory. That's a much bigger market than timesharing only, and it's really the only way that they could go to meet Wall Street expectations for growth and profits.

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

I think their goal has always been to be a middleman between providers of vacation condos with users of that inventory. That's a much bigger market than timesharing only, and it's really the only way that they could go to meet Wall Street expectations for growth and profits.

But how can they justify taking DEPOSITS given to them for TRADE and renting them out? If they want to rent then accept inventory under the understanding that it will be RENTED and work out the reimbursement rate with the owners taking that method of use. What isn't fair, I agree with Carolinian, is to take a deposit with the intent of trade and then, unilaterally, deciding they can rent it. Sure it generates income - free inventory that can be rented for whatever they can get, how can they fail? - but it isn't what the members signed on for.

The answer to the problem is to cut off the flow of inventory if thats their intent. Not to have costly and fruitless lawsuits. That Carolinian & I disagree on.

[brucecz Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close brucecz]

Poor old Ken May is crying all the way over to the bank to cash a termination check that is more than some people earn in a lifetime.

Bruce

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

But how many people are really aware of the extent of RCI's rentals of timeshares? The poor folks that have no knowledge just deposit and go on their merry way. Maybe the class action news will hit them and wake them up.