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The week I used to exchange into the MC expires on 4/30 so it will be worthless to me unless I extend it, which will cost $ anyway. I'll be keeping this exchange, but I'll grumble about the charge at the desk just to make some waves.
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Jacki
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RCI fought this with the MC before sending letters to members who has exchanged in there. The MC just said "Too Bad, So Sad" and wouldn't even consider a grace period.Originally posted by jancpa
RCI is offering to cancel without prejudice, returning exchange fees and restoring trading power for anyone who wishes to cancel.
This, however, doesn't help people who already have airfare booked, time off arranged, etc.
The people who should really be concerned are the MC owners, who are likely to see their trading power nose-dive when members stop requesting the Manhattan Club!Comment
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And the loss of the Gold Crown ranking that owners treasure even if Bootleg doesn't!Originally posted by Bootleg
All those 1's won't take long to end that ranking level. Who are the Board members at the MC anyway? Is it owner controlled? If so they had better get this thing changed or face the ire of very unhappy owners.Comment
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I agree that the downgrade in trading power should be giving the owners pause. I wonder how many owners even know about this yet. Even without the bad comments they are in for, the punitive fee will make it a less attractive trade.Originally posted by timeos2And the loss of the Gold Crown ranking that owners treasure even if Bootleg doesn't!
All those 1's won't take long to end that ranking level. Who are the Board members at the MC anyway? Is it owner controlled? If so they had better get this thing changed or face the ire of very unhappy owners.Comment
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I have a casual friend, who I met at the Grand Velas and who owns at the MC, so I am going to call her and find out. She is not very timeshare savvy so may not know either but I will try.Comment
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Thanks for filling us in with what is going on Bootleg. We appreciate it.
Originally posted by Bootleg"If a Nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.... If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
-- Thomas Jefferson to Col. Yancey, 1816Comment
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I'm sure bootleg is right on the trading power issue; but it is exactly opposite what rci told me when I cancelledComment
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I called RCI yesterday about our upcoming April week... I was told by the VG that since I booked in advance of the fees being announced, I wouldn't be charged. I pressed him to check with a supervisor since this was contrary to the letter I received. He checked with a supervisor, and insisted I wouldn't be charged. I asked him to make a note in my account to this effect, he hesitated and said he'd check with the Manhattan Club while he put me on hold. Couldn't reach the MC, but continued to insist I wouldn't be charged. Wouldn't give me more than his first name and initials, but said he entered it into my account.... So it's either a) the issue has been revisited in view of the impending backlash, or b) RCI is suffering from a case of "one hand doesn't know what the other is doing.." We'll seeeeeee......Comment
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Loss of trading power is wishful thinking.
I think loss of trading power for those who are annoyed at MC is wishful thinking. For every TUGGER who is upset here there are a 100 RCI members who would jump at the chance of getting MC in NY as an exchange even under the new rules. Even using a relatively high Maint fee week of say $700 and adding and exchange fee of $150 and resort fee of $150 a one week stay in NY vs a hotel is still a bargain.
If anyone has looked at the availability in the 45 day window you will notice that even unattractive resorts do not last long. Only unattractive offseason weeks seem to linger.
JMHO
Short
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Manhattan Club fees-waived for pre-fee exchangers?
Is there any more news re this fee waiver formerly mentioned? We have a week in July which was scheduled a year ago. Perhaps the location is worth an extra charge, but certainly not without notification before making the exchange.
AnitaComment
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Yes, it is a matter of supply and demand so bad score cards won't really affect them and this resort knows that so they can get away with it but RCI should have looked out better after their exchange members as the resort needs our business unless RCI is planning to rent more on the open market so that's why they didn't do more for us. They may make more profit that way. JMHO.Originally posted by shortI think loss of trading power for those who are annoyed at MC is wishful thinking. For every TUGGER who is upset here there are a 100 RCI members who would jump at the chance of getting MC in NY as an exchange even under the new rules. Even using a relatively high Maint fee week of say $700 and adding and exchange fee of $150 and resort fee of $150 a one week stay in NY vs a hotel is still a bargain.
If anyone has looked at the availability in the 45 day window you will notice that even unattractive resorts do not last long. Only unattractive offseason weeks seem to linger.
JMHO
Short
Let's hope they will improve their amenities (updated computers and fast wireless internet) for everyone to use because I read that it was bad.Comment
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Just checked out of the Manhatten Club and we were charged the $25/day "hospitality fee". Chose to use the Express Checkout to avoid having to speak to anyone at the desk less the topic of the fee came up -- it is a sore subject for us.
When we checked in, we complained about the fee -- MC tried to "hide" the fee at check-in ... there is a box $25/daily checked but the MC desk person made no effort to point the fee out. When asked about the fee before we signed the check-in slip, she only indicated that the fee was a daily mandatory hospitality fee and we would need to speak to RCI about it.
Called RCI from our room, was told by the VG that since we made our confirmation before the mandatory fee was imposed, "most likely" we would not be made to pay the fee, but she was going to have a supervisor call me back to discuss.
Received a callback from RCI supervisor -- it was a rather condescending call and the supervisor got rude with me. Basically, she told me the resort has the right to change the rules at anytime and that since RCI had "notified" us of the change, we had to pay it. If we didn't like it, we can go find another hotel .. right now. I was rather shocked by the response -- when asked if I could speak to her manager, she told me there was no one above her -- she was the supervisor. Right. I told her I was extremely unhappy with the response and needed to end the conversation for that reason.
Outside the Manhattan Club the next day there were picketers. We received a handout which I am posting verbatim here.. please edit/remove if is against policy to post this here:
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The Manhattan ClubTo the Owners and Prospective Buyers of the Manhattan Club:
The Truth
My name is Girardo DiFiori. I am a licensed real estate agent who was a sales rep at the Manhattan Club since May 1999. During my 7 years at the Manhattan Club I produced in excess of $6 million in gross sales and always maintained a professional demeanor. I resigned from my position last week for 2 major reasons.
1. From approx. June 2004 - May 2005 The Manhattan Club sold the Penthouse Suites in Pre-construction. When construction was completed in the fall of 2005 the commission money (approx. $2 million) owed to the sales reps was released from escrow but was never paid. By December 2005 approx. 20% had been paid to the reps. To date less than 40% of these commissions have been paid. This payment history has been a permanent pattern for the Manhattan Club. Example: Commissions and bonuses are paid 3-4 weeks later than is allowed by law according to the Independent Contractor's Agreement between the Manhattan Club Marketing Group LLC and the real estate agents.
2. The gross mishandling of funds has also resulted in the inability to fulfill their financial obligations with some of the nearby hotels that were used to accomodate families who were offered the promotion to tour at the Manhattan Club. As a result, for the last few months an excessive amount of these families are staying at the Manhattan Club, making it very difficult for owners to get a reservation. After finding out this information, I feel that I can no longer represent a company that is depriving the Owners who are investing approx. $20,000-$45,000 for a timeshare unit.
WHERE DID THE MONEY GO???????????
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Perhaps item #2 is why the Manhattan Club needs to charge the hospitality fee to the RCI exchangers?? That is just our guess ....
Other than the surprise fee, we were relatively happy with our stay. Our unit was not top notch, by far. We had a broken dishwasher (it was broken the entire time) but daily housekeeping washed our dirty dishes for us so that did not matter much. We were surprised to see that, although we had 2 televisions in our unit, they were old 19" models and there were no VCR or DVD players .. not even a CD player. The temperature was controlled by the Manhattan Club and we could only turn the fan up/down (hi/low) or open the window. MC only interrupted us once to ask if we wanted to do the tour -- we declined and there was no pressure. The concierge was helpful -- twice :-)
We comtemplated not leaving a housekeeping tip due to the hospitality fee, but since we could not be sure that the housekeeping staff would be paid any "tips" from the hospitality fee, we left one in the end.Comment
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travelSFO, Your post is helps explain what is going on. I was scheduled to chechin on 4/08, instead gave the unit to an employee. She was thrilled. I was less thrilled when I received the RCI letter of notification of the hospitality fee. I picked up the cost of the fee, but, If I had known in advance, I would have just cancelled the whole thing!!!! BenComment
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Make sure that when you get your evaluation form from RCI, that you give them a ''1'' in the resort hospitality and check-in/check-out categories to show RCI and MC your displeasure. It would seem that in your situation a low score for unit maintenance would also be in order.Comment
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Very interesting. But I haven't heard any owners complaining that they couldn't get reservations. Has anyone else heard that?~Arlene
"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."
- St. AugustineComment
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