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RCI

RCI's Web site says the company has over 3,700 affiliated resorts located in 100 countries, with over three million subscribing members living in more than 200 countries. Its "RCI Community" is an exchange network of three million timeshare owners worldwide who participate in RCI's traditional week-for-week and points-based timeshare exchange networks.

John of Federal Way, WA February 6, 2008

John of Federal Way WA (02/06/08)
I've been an RCI member since 1998. I was initially very impressed with the ease of use of the system and how I could almost always find an acceptable exchange. In the past few years I'm finding RCI outsourcing calls to other countries, particularly to Manila where there are language barriers and other barriers created by the lack of knowledge of U.S. geography. For example, about three years ago I requested an exchange for Sedona, AZ and I was contacted by an RCI rep from Manila several weeks into my search. He offered a beautiful property located in Orlando, FL over three weeks off the time I was seeking in Sedona! When I told him this was out of the ballpark he then offered something in the D.C. area! I complained to an RCI supervisor in Indianapolis and when I mentioned the problems I was having with the language barriers and lack of geographical knowledge in the U.S. I was told that my racist comments would not be tolerated! What in the world is racist over expressing problems with lack of communication and a lack of geographical knowledge?

In the past two years I've noticed RCI calling to push me to deposit my resort weeks so far out that my resort won't even make them available for deposit even if I was ready to deposit. I've also noticed RCI guides telling me right up front that my exchange is not going to work and that I need to look into an instant escape or something similar before all inventory is gone. Most recently I called in mid-October and requested a trade for either Kauai or Kona nine months in advance. This was for my honeymoon and I really wanted everything to be special. Right up front I was told that the trade would likely not happen and that I needed to look into an instant escape to ensure I'd have somewhere to stay on my honeymoon. Over the next month or so nothing happened, but at the end of December I got a call from RCI indicating there would we quite a few weeks getting deposited at the end of the year and that something would likely materialize for a trade.

Instead of getting calls for trades, I got calls trying to push instant escapes. One was in Kona and after I turned that one away, something suddenly came up for Kauai. I was just about to accept until I learned it was also an instant escape and the time it was to be booked for was four weeks prior to my honeymoon! Obviously that was canceled and today I had a message on my answering machine indicating RCI had found a match. I got excited and called only to find it was also a week for an instant escape. I then asked how my exchange was looking and the guide told me they had no record of my ever having placed an exchange request, despite the fact my credit card was charged with an exchange fee nearly five months earlier! I began to complain and the conversation rapidly became heated and she hung up. I called back and got a supervisor and after threatening legal action, I was suddenly accommodated with my desired exchange in Kauai during my requested time frame.

Bottom Line: RCI appears to be withholding our deposited weeks and instead is selling us Instant Escapes rather than accommodate our requests for trades.  I think this is nothing more than fraud so RCI can line their pockets at their members' expense.  I'm interested in getting a class action suit going. 

We will have to spend over 3,000 for a hotel when we could have had an exchange.

Lucia of Boonton, NJ February 6, 2008

Lucia of Boonton NJ (02/06/08)
I own a timeshare in Cancun and have enjoyed depositing my week with RCI and going elsewhere every year. In the last few years I've banked my weeks. Yet, when I went to try to book something, there doesn't seem to be anything left anywhere I would like to visit! I put a search in about 7-8 months in advance for a Caribbean beach vacation for my 40th and got only two RCI location options that seem to be in surplus, Mexico or Dominican Republic! That's it! Now, I've been to Mexico 5 times already! Aside form the fact that most of these places demand you participate in their outrageously priced all-inclusive program! I am now in my 8-9 month of searching, have pushed my vacation time even later, and still nothing! When I call RCI I've been told oh, all the retirees book the good places years in advance, people who own there (caribbean) hold on to their place and visit every year, if you want to go to Hawaii you have to reserve it about 2 years in advance. Well, I can get you a nice place in caribbean if you want to reserve now for next year! With the unpredictability of daily life with small children, how can I take advantage of this? I now have two paid weeks that are about to expire and two more weeks that I am hesitant to even pay for since it's a gamble as to whether I'll even be able to find anything!

This has been a waste of our money and time. We hardly have enough money to take a nice vacation and banked on using our timeshare. We now do not have the money we spent on our banked weeks, the vacation we had anticipated nor the option to use our paid weeks at the Cancun location we purchased at!

Garry of Cedar Rapids, IA February 3, 2008

Garry of Cedar Rapids IA (02/03/08)
My wife and I are time share owners at the Canada House in Pompano Beach, Florida. We were RCI members. We have the 17th week at our time share which is in April. Every time we go to out time share, RCI sales people try to sell more time shares or their new point system. In 2005 we bought in to the point system because of all the promise that RCI stated. In 2006, we traded our timeshare for a timeshare week in Orlando with our daughter and granddaughter. Under the old contract before the Point System, you just had to pay 400 or 500 fee to exchange time shares. We found out that we do not own enough Points to do anything with them. We had to pay out several thousand dollars to exchange time shares even with our points.

In 2007 we banked our time with our timeshare to double our points. In January 2008, we contacted Canida House that we will be coming down on our week there. We later receied a call from Canada House that since we were now on the Point System that we had to book our time with RCI. The supervisor at Canada House told me that a family who owns a time share there had traveled down there on their regular time to find out that RCI had already rented their time share out. They were turned away. I bet they had to spend a large amount of money to stay somewhere ealse. We contacted RCI and was told our regular time share time was rented already by them, RCI. I was a very upset and so was my wife. We were never notified that RCI rented out our time share and that they could do that without our permission. We also found out that if we were going to stay at our time share, we would have to notify them in advance by 13 months! I don't know about other people, but we never know if we could take off work 13 months in advance. My wife's place of work requires you to sumit the vaction week you want off. You do not know for sure if you will get it untill February 1st. 13 months advance notice?..Get Real!

After calling RCI several times about wanting to be at our time share, they said that they didn't have anything in April open and that we would have go to Canada House in June but for additional cost plus our point of a few hundred dollars. I was on the phone with the supervisior and was able to get them to waive the fee, but we may still have to pay a house keeping fee which we had already did for April. This fee would be a new fee. I did contact the Florida Attourney General about the RCI practice and the misrepution of the Point System. We will be getting off the Point System, It's just another Florida rip off. I am a retired person over 60 with a wife who still works. This is a total rup off. Don't be fooled about the Point System. It is switch an bait and you are not told up front your rights with the point system. I did not recieve the paper work for our records when we sign up for the point system.

Anna of Covina, CA January 22, 2008

Anna of Covina CA (01/22/08)
January 22, 2008 RCI 9998 North Michigan Road Carmel, IN 46032 I am very dissatisfied with the point system. I believe the point system was mis-represented. Had I known at the time that I would have to pay a transfer fee for my own resort, I never would have purchased this point system. I thought I was purchasing the ability to travel around the world for a transfer fee. At the time of purchase I informed the sales rep that I already had lifetime RCI through Sunterra. The rep instructed me to wait on the free trial period, then call RCI to get the resorts combined. Well, to my surprise when I called to confirm that my rooms would be in the same vicinity, I was told that I had to pay RCI 124 or my reservations would be canceled. At that point I had no choice but to pay via credit card. What a scam! When I called RCI I was told that I could not combine Resorts because they are separate (more lies). Then I find out that my family cannot check in unless I check them in or purchase a gift coupon that cost 49 per room. They had to wait several hours before I arrived. Another scam!

Secondly, I have a hard time getting reservations when I want them. We rarely get to Summer Bay, and that's because I cant seem to get reservations. I was lucky to get the December-January time. But what a rip off and disappointment it was. We weren't even able to enjoy ourselves because of these problems with having to pay extra money to stay at my home resort. How do I get out of this point system and get my 6,000 back? This has been a continuous loss of money.

Grace of Mohegan Lake, NY December 14, 2007

Grace of Mohegan Lake NY (12/14/07)
I am a timeshare owner in a prime resort in Orlando, Fla. My maintenance has been 800 plus/yr over the past 4 yrs, but this year it is 941. Over the past 4 yrs I have banked two weeks with RCI on the premise that I could use these weeks at any affiliated resort in the world when it was convenient for me. I have called RCI at least 5 times over the past year to try to use one of my weeks for a vacation. Different times, different locations and they did not have anything for me. They did ask me to give them money to be in a continuous search, but number one, that should be a service they provide without a fee and two, I am not in a position to hope that they will find me something in a week or two. I have a high pressure job and need to make decisions about vacations in a timely fashion. I have just lost one of my banked weeks, money down the drain, not too mention the aggravation and the calls looking for more money to extend my time to use the week. I am so dissappointed with the service. I cannot pour more money into the hopes of them being able to get me a vacation that works. I will also lose my 2nd week if I don't subscribe to the service. It looks like I am out of pocket for 2000 plus at the present point in time, and RCI have benefitted by having a very usable commodity which I provided them with. Can anyone help me?

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