Still down

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

I still can't get down to the actual units available without the red message:

Sorry your transaction cannot be completed at this time. Please sign out of RCI.com and back in to resolve issues. If you continue to experience problems, contact RCI Web Support at 1-800-338-7777 and select option 1. (Error #0112358)

For internal use only: Error from Extra Vacations
Exception while populating GuidedNavigation search request

Kind of worthless to search if I can't post the dates or unit sizes for check-in.

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

Yes Lawren, this is what I get also those times that I do get in all the way to start a search. The search never completes and I get that message.
Has anyone asked RCI to give them the Internet price for an exchange when calling in since we can't seem to complete an Internet exchange? Their response would be interesting to know.

I still can't get down to the actual units available without the red message:

Sorry your transaction cannot be completed at this time. Please sign out of RCI.com and back in to resolve issues. If you continue to experience problems, contact RCI Web Support at 1-800-338-7777 and select option 1. (Error #0112358)

For internal use only: Error from Extra Vacations
Exception while populating GuidedNavigation search request

Kind of worthless to search if I can't post the dates or unit sizes for check-in.

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

Has anyone asked RCI to give them the Internet price for an exchange when calling in since we can't seem to complete an Internet exchange? Their response would be interesting to know.

As a matter of fact Ann-Marie has and they DID try to charge her $25 for the privilege.

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...ange-fees.html

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

Is it me?

This morning I cannot even sign in - I mean there is nowhere on the RCI home page to log in! The only options are to look at the directory, member benefits, travel resources and help (as if that's not an oximoron). I guess that is one way to keep people from bogging down the system with useless searches that can't be fulfilled.

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

All deposits is being computed incorrectly---it matches whatever individual deposit is selected (and tonight when I log in, one of my individual deposits is selected, rather than all.) If you select All deposits, it will be correct (at least, that's what I'm seeing.)

Thanks, you are correct that's exactly what I am seeing. If I check All Deposits then the amount I get is a little higher than my best trader which is in line with what you posted before.
My deposits seem to have settled down in their worth although the formula for calculating the trade value seems to have changed judging from the values I am seeing.
The site seems a little faster now, at least for me.

[Ann-Marie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ann-Marie]

This morning I cannot even sign in - I mean there is nowhere on the RCI home page to log in! The only options are to look at the directory, member benefits, travel resources and help (as if that's not an oximoron). I guess that is one way to keep people from bogging down the system with useless searches that can't be fulfilled.

Hit the refresh button. I have to do it every time.

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

This morning I cannot even sign in - I mean there is nowhere on the RCI home page to log in! The only options are to look at the directory, member benefits, travel resources and help (as if that's not an oximoron). I guess that is one way to keep people from bogging down the system with useless searches that can't be fulfilled.

You're not missing anything. It's worse than ever this morning. It is going to be a long RCI-less weekend I think.

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

As a matter of fact Ann-Marie has and they DID try to charge her $25 for the privilege.

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...ange-fees.html

Thanks Lawren, I missed that post. Unbelieveable!!!!
Now as far as this morning, I am getting in better and it is not as slow and I can actually get all the way through a search. The results right now on trading power from their "enhancements" well that's another topic!!!
Strange thos that everybody doesn't get the same experience at the same time. Maybe they are varying our experiences to make life more interesting for us!!! lol

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

Ken, I get the distinct sense that everytime one of their tech people comes up with a "Maybe this will fix it!" idea, they just throw it on and try it out.

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

Has anyone asked RCI to give them the Internet price for an exchange when calling in since we can't seem to complete an Internet exchange? Their response would be interesting to know.

I have booked two exchanges since the website and gotten the internet price. However, like the OP, I did have to ask for the internet rate. One just did it and the other had to ask a supervisor for permission. Depends on the VG you get.

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

I have booked two exchanges since the website and gotten the internet price. However, like the OP, I did have to ask for the internet rate. One just did it and the other had to ask a supervisor for permission. Depends on the VG you get.

About 3 weeks ago, before this latest web disaster, I found a week I wanted online. When I tried to book online, I got some sort of message to the effect "This unit may no longer be available, please call a VG at XXX-XXX-XXXX". So I call, tell them the exact week I found, and the VG says, "Yeah, it's available", and books it over the phone. Then he quoted me the exchange fee. I thought maybe the normal online exchange fee had gone up, since I don't keep on top of these things. After hanging up, I checked the rate on the web site, and sure enough, I was charged the phone-in rate. I called back, got transferred to a supervisor, and she reduced the rate back down to the internet rate. She actually had to cancel the first reservation and re-book the unit, so I got 2 confirmation and 1 cancellation letters.

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

I have been too busy to waste time on it.

But, this morning it came up as if it was working. My better trader, however, was about 30000 less than before the upgrade.

Since it appeared to be working, I decided to deposit the three 2010 weeks I had been holding off on. One of them disappeared . . . I have a deposit confirmation email, but the actual deposit is lost in the ther somewhere, not appearing on the Available to Exchange page.

The only way I can see is to click on the Additional Deposits link. The two that made it are showing 25000 more availability than previously, and now the other deposits I already had in there are just spinning.

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

Deja vu all over again. This is like the circumstances in 2000 that led me to write the following spoof:

OMINOUS CHANGE IN HACKER ATTACKS ON WEB SITES
03/02/2000
From the Associated Press.

Indianapolis, IN. - In an incident that authorities believe documents increasing perils to companies and organizations operating Internet web sites, computer hackers last night disabled the web site of Resort Condominiums International (RCI), a company that operates an on-line service that allows its members to trade weeks at timeshare resorts around the world. RCI is a susidiary of Cendant Corporation, travel and leisure services company that also franchises numerous hotel chains and also owns Avis Rent a Car.

Authorities are worried that this attack shows that computer hackers are expanding their attacks to include lower profile companies. Many hackers are apparently making this shift in response to security enhancements adopted by the more highly visible and prominent web based companies, such as Yahoo and eBay, which hackers have targeted in previous attacks.

Indicating the seriousness of this attack, US Attorney General Janet Reno announced at a news conference this morning that the US Department of Justice Internet Strike Force is taking the lead in investigating this case. "For some time we have been concerned that hackers might expand their efforts to disrupt web operations. Our undercover agents and informants in anarchist groups have informed us that many of these groups were planning to expand their operations to include disrupting the web sites of companies whose activities they did not agree with. After the WTO demonstrations in Seattle, we noticed a large increase in their efforts to implement these plans. Thus, it is critical that we act quickly and decisively to ensure that the web remains free and open to all users."

Felicia Ramsey, Head of the Department of Justice Internet Strike Task Force, later told reporters that, with the assistance of RCI, they have already determined that the attacks originated from a hacker group known as the TUGs. The members of this group are believed to have adopted this name as a variation of THUGs, believing that they would arouse less suspicion with the new name. As with most hacker groups, they are a loosely affiliated organization of individuals that communicate with each other primarily over the Internet. Many of them also disguise their real names with screen names, such as Fletch, MNdee, Shaggy, Travelnut, Makai Guy and Wonka.

Unlike other hacker groups, however, the TUGs operate a highly visible web site and even have their own web domain at tug2.net. Ramsey is very concerned about this, because she believes it indicates increasing brazenness in the hacker community after their recent successes in crippling the large e-commerce sites. "Now we see a hacker group that isn’t even bothering to maintain a low profile; it’s like they’re sticking their tongues out at us and daring us to stop them. My orders from Ms. Reno are clear that we are to do everything we can to put a stop to groups such as this."

Indianapolis Police are working closely with Justice’s Internet Task Force on this case. When contacted about the case, Chief Jerry Barker said the Police’s Department’s white-collar detectives were working with RCI to collect more detailed information on the attack. Barker added that the Department believes the attack was also triggered by the opposition of some TUGs to changes that RCI is making in its operations.

Contacted later, Ron Jackson, President of RCI, concurred with Barker’s assessment, stating his belief that "the perpetrators of this attack are people who naively oppose changes we are making to our exchange program that will greatly enhance the benefits and flexibility of interval ownership." Jackson added that RCI has previously announced their plans to introduce their revamped program this April at a meeting of the American Resort Development Association, and stated that he believed that this attack was timed to discredit RCI just before they made this important announcement.

The investigators believe they have determined the techniques used by the TUGs to disable RCI’s web site. In what is now a standard method of attacking web companies, the hackers overwhelmed the RCI servers by flooding them with data requests.

The attack appears to have started when several TUGs posted messages on the TUG BBS on Tuesday indicating that new condominiums often became available during the middle of the night, and therefore TUGs should log in to the RCI site early in the morning. This post triggered a first round of heavy traffic to the RCI site. Then later in the day another message was posted stating that popular resorts in Puerto Vallarta and Hawaii had made a significant number of their condominiums available for trading. This second post was apparently made after the TUG leaders realized that the RCI server was still functioning despite the increased traffic triggered by the first post.

Jackson reported that early in the morning RCI’s servers received five requests for information on possible trades in less than two minutes. "Although our servers and our Internet connections were not designed to handle such a large volume of data, we managed to get through this first phase of the attack with only minimal disruptions to service. The real problem came later in the day after the post about the availability of the condominiums in Hawaii and Puerto Vallarta, when people began to log on to our site at a rate of one person every two to three minutes. " Jackson said. "Although we recently redesigned our software to use the latest Java scripting, there is no way we could survive such a concerted attack. We also believe that the hackers somehow obtained information on our vulnerability to such massive information requests and used this information to paralyze our operations."

Jackson also said that RCI made changes to its software this afternoon to improve it’s ability to remain operational. "Now if the system becomes overloaded users will simply get a message that says (ECI_ERR_NO_SESSIONS, -17). While this is not totally satisfactory, we believe site users will be happier receiving this message rather than simply not knowing why our site isn't responding."

This was written during a time in which hackers were regularly taking down or attempting to take down the web sites of large companies using Distributed Denial of Service Attacks. Until I posted this I had forgotten how long it has been since hearing of a site such as Amazon or eBay being taken down by a DDOS attack. The last several times I've heard of DDOS attacks have involved political tactics - I believe that a DDOS attack originating from with Russia was orchestrated on the government and major commerce sites of one of the Baltic Republics originated.

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

That was a classic Steve, thanks for dusting it off and resurrecting it. Lends at least a touch of amusement to the current fiasco.

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

That was a classic Steve, thanks for dusting it off and resurrecting it. Lends at least a touch of amusement to the current fiasco.

BTW - the only fictitious individual in that write-up is Felicia Ramsey. Every other person mentioned was a real person occupying that office.

Jackson was one of the people Cendant axed after that fiasco. I heard that Cendant was leaning very heavily on RCI to move to on-line transactions, and RCI wasn't making the progress that Cendant wanted. I guess that, in response to the pressure, RCI rolled out the Feb 2000 upgrade before it was ready.

******

It seems likely to me that decisions made at that time are still reverberating. As others have noted, the existing system at RCI appears to be a web interface working with a legacy mainframe database and transaction processing system.

The 2000 upgrade would have been a logical time to totally redo the whole system and get out of the legacy systems. But if there was pressure to get the transaction completed, they may have made a decision to implement a faster web interface rather than do the still-needed full migration.

Now, with added bells and whistles and greater size and complexity, that migration project is probably 100x more complicated than it was ten years ago.

Penny-wise and pound-foolish. And even the "penny" decision wasn't all that wise.