RCI Reviews

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RCI Reviews

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    Page 6 Reviews 640 - 840
    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 27, 2014

    We made reservations with RCI in July 2014 for December 2014. Upon arrival, we learned there was no public transportation to and from the resort. Attempting to change our reservation to a resort closer to attractions failed. We had no alternative but to show up at 11 am. The resort refused to store our bags until the 4:00 check-in, despite knowing we had frozen food, no car, and no alternatives. They were rude and made no efforts to accommodate us. I will never recommend an RCI resort to my family or friends.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Dec. 22, 2014

    My wife & I paid $495.00 to Elite Retreat Corporation back on 10/28/13 for a listing of our timeshare on their website as for sale. I called and spoke to Kevin a month or so later after I handed Elite Retreat Corporation $495.00 since they never called me in the meantime, well they had already posted our ad when we had paid for it which probably took them 10 minutes as it appeared that they had a template that they use, not bad for $495.00. So, when I called Kevin a month later since I did not hear from him since we paid for the ad and he states that he already had 3 interested parties to possibly buy our timeshare and after hanging up I thought to myself and wondered if he truly had interested parties why did he not call us. I realized that RCI is a sham and I knew that I had been taken so I just gave up. This company & RCI are bad and should be investigated and shut down.

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    Sales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 21, 2014

    Please, please NOBODY buy a timeshare especially in FL. They are nothing but liar and scam artists. Once they get you that's it. It's a living death sentence. You get tossed around department to department. A few time I booked a hotel (1) one month in advance still when I get there the hotel was not given the payment in form of a credit. So I end up paying for the room myself because I had two children with me at 11 pm cold and raining outside and had to get in a room. Few other incidents very, very bad service. Never never buy a timeshare and nobody wants to buy this crap. Those people are smart.

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    Price

    Reviewed Dec. 19, 2014

    I feel that RCI is a huge money-making opportunity for RCI. We will never buy another Timeshare. If you want to sell your time share it is next to impossible. RCI charges for everything, I feel that they are way too greedy and do not do lots for what you pay.

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    Price

    Reviewed Dec. 10, 2014

    My wife and I were coaxed into buying a Vacation Village at Parkway resort in Kissimmee, Florida - 2 bedroom unit for 2 weeks every alternate year in 2007 during a sales presentation. The membership sold to us was for Weeks. The annual maintenance charges and RCI exchange fees were exorbitantly high, but we wanted to give it some time to see how it pans out. We never got a resort of our choice when we wanted, even if we booked 6 months in advance. We stayed in a resort in Switzerland and had to change our flight dates basis RCI resort availability. These resorts are so far away from the main city, that we had to be back by 6 p.m. if we had to catch the last bus up the hill to the resort daily. Still we were patient.

    Then in 2011, when we were back in India (both RCI and the Resort Member services were aware of this as their records had been updated, they gave us a seemingly lucrative offer to convert our Weeks membership into Points. They said we can book any hotel (not necessarily resort) using our Points. That meant more availability, split weeks, hotels nearer city centers. We fell for the bait again and agreed to move to Points. This was around 3 times more expensive than Weeks. Now, when we want to book hotels in central Europe (for a holiday we want to go to during May 2015), the Points Partners program flatly refuses saying they can't service us as we are not residents of the US. We are being forced to use Points resorts and not hotels.

    Also, during the sale process, nobody mentioned that booking a Points hotel used twice as much points as booking a Points resort. We are paying exorbitantly through our nose and have no benefits to claim against it. They should not have sold this to us in the first instance given our place of residence and should have cautioned against the various pitfalls. Then, there is no coordination between the Resort, RCI USA and RCI India. I have torn my hair out trying to coordinate between these three entities for the past 1 month, trying to solve their internal back-end issues. I would be thrown about like a shuttlecock from one entity to the other and nobody would know anything about how the other functions. Or were they acting plain dumb? Net, this is the worst investment of our lives. We definitely need a class action lawsuit to hold such providers to account.

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 9, 2014

    Tried to call representative due to calls trying to sell upgrade weeks to points. No literature, no guarantee if real or not. Attempted to call RCI, no response, vicious loop. They need to be investigated by federal government. Current marketing efforts on phone are illegal. Absolute no service. Do not buy a time share at all. Biggest scam going. Need to be outlawed. We need a class action to sue this group and all timeshares.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed Dec. 9, 2014

    I had a very bad experience with RCI agency. I cancelled the flight and hotel within 24 hours. Got refund from flight, but for the hotel I was told that I had to keep my credit that I paid until end of the month. But when I called them during this month nothing was available for this credit and I had to pay extra money. Another thing - I made flight reservation and verify all the details with RCI. I got one price, but the airline charged me twice of the price. I was trying to correct the mistake with RCI. I spent 2 of my days off on the phone waiting for hours and finally nobody helped me with this problem. I was told that everything is my fault.

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    Verified purchase
    Customer ServiceSales & Marketing

    Reviewed Dec. 6, 2014

    Made reservations through RCI, had confirmation. Son Ryan and daughter in law Kristen called evening before to confirm reservation. Were told guest fee required and the reservation would not be honored unless the $59 guess fee was paid. I called several times today which was a disaster. First I was told guest fee required by resort, then told RCI received the fee apparently to provide a guest certificate for the Holiday Inn to honor reservation. So I stupidly paid the $59 and when Ryan and Kristen called to say called hotel and still no reservation, I called 2 more times. First on hold for 10 mins and second time, finally was told faxing again the guest certificate and at my request would call the resort.

    However, they did not call the resort to fax 2 times the guest pass, NEVER RECEIVED by resort. Ryan and Kristen arrived and were told reservation there and would honor as long as could give them my address, which they did. So I was charged $59 for something that was never provided at the expense of upsetting not only me, but was not the best start of a vacation for Ryan and Kristen. I paid for this trip as a graduation present to Kristen on her graduation from pharmacy school. I have demanded my $59 be refunded since no service was provided and I received nothing but misrepresentations from RCI. Watch out for these "guest certificate" charges with RCI which nothing more than a scam.

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    Linda increased rating by 4 stars.
    Staff
    After a positive interaction with RCI, Linda increased their star rating on Dec. 9, 2014.

    Updated review: Dec. 9, 2014

    This issue has been resolved to our satisfaction by the company.

    Original Review: Dec. 5, 2014

    My husband and I went to a time share presentation, and even though we should have known better, we're bamboozled into signing up. We cancelled within hours and were charged "closing costs". Shame on them!!! And on us as we should have known better. Do not do business with these people.

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    Verified purchase

    Reviewed Nov. 28, 2014

    Have a prime time share location and been depositing the years with RCI. In the past three years, spent many hours in efforts to obtain reservations at prime locations, checking internet and calling RCI directly, many months in advance; only to be told "site you wish to visit has been sold out for 1+ years", and your

    credits are expiring is further punishment. RCI is extremely oversold and unable to reasonably accommodate, while forcing members to maintain pricey membership - Considering discussing this with associates who prosecuted the Erin Brockovich class action and wonder if there are many others with similar complaints.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Nov. 21, 2014

    I paid several months for a promotion for some cruise packages. My financial situation changed and I could no longer afford to pay for the package nor to travel. RCI refused to return my money, because it was past the 30 day cancellation period. Therefore, although I am an RCI platinum member I am out hundreds of dollars, for which I received absolutely nothing. A representative laughed at me when I insisted I was going to get my money refunded, guess he really got the last laugh. To make matters worse, I am forced to be an RCI member and to pay yearly dues for the rest of my life in order to get the most out of my timeshare. I had a membership with these pirates 30 years ago and cancelled when I realized they were rip-off artists. I hate that I am forced to deal with them again!

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaffProcess

    Reviewed Oct. 31, 2014

    Called and placed on hold for 25 minutes. Agent finally came on and told me to use the website to learn about membership benefits including Platinum. I explained that every time I clicked on information about Platinum Membership the site took me to a JOIN screen with no explanation. So he told me that he would put me on with a Weeks expert to help me. He put me back in the regular queue and I sat another 30 minutes. A girl came on and I explained the whole thing again and she referred me to the website and that if I was "patient" I could figure it out on my own. Not really. I'm actually ahead of the curve when it comes to using the web, and in fact I'm ahead of the curve when it comes to TimeShare and RCI as well since I work as a Sales Manager for one of the largest TimeShare companies in the world located in South Florida. If this process is tough for me you can safely assume that it will be tough for many others. Most will likely simply throw their hands up and join not knowing exactly what they are getting or exactly how it works. Both agents told me that there is so much information when it comes to membership, one said there was a whole book of information, and so it's not possible for them to get into it.

    My sense is that it's more likely that three other factors prevent them from providing proper customer service...1 - They are working as booking agents and are paid for bookings not customer service (unless it's part of a paid booking), 2 - They probably don't know themselves or at least the RCI legal department doesn't want booking agents to be explaining something wrong and getting RCI in trouble, and/or 3 - RCI obviously doesn't have a formal Customer Service Group for this type of information. RCI would likely tell you that this is so simple and since it's not rocket-science over 300,000 people use the system without too much difficulty. If true that's a pretty weak concept for a company that doesn't have anyone around to explain their product to people before they buy. That's just becoming a member...the convoluted system inside can be far more vexing...do lots of homework and go slow...that should help. Finally, with all the upset about RCI there will certainly be other Exchange Networks formed and managed for a better customer experience...and with lower fees (DAE).

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 24, 2014

    I attempted to purchase airfare through RCI and their system failed to allow them to due to a "computer error". My Platinum account has an auto-renewal setup through Summerpoint resorts. My account was scheduled to auto renew November 1st. But because I needed tickets for after the renewal is supposed to kick in their system wouldn't allow them to search for flights. Even after I have a Summerpoint representative on the phone with us at the same time. When I tried to purchase the tickets, they were ranging between $1250-$1300 per ticket. When I eventually had someone look up tickets, the prices had jumped to $1800. Unbelievable! Really poor experience from a supposed respectable company. Not anymore.

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    Contract & Terms

    Reviewed Oct. 15, 2014

    We received a letter saying that the hotel in St. Maarten has been auctioned off by the bank of Nova Scotia and bought out by Algeria. Now Algeria is saying that they no longer honor any timeshare and lease agreement. Now RCI told us that once our points run in 2 years we would have to rebuy and find another timeshare. Talk about putting us in a boat with no paddle. Thank you, RCI.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 11, 2014

    Booked a trip through RCI back in July for Nov10 - Nov24 at two different resorts in Mazatlan. When we booked, we were charged a fee to extend 2 weeks we had banked that were about to expire (expected) and then we were charged TWO exchanges because we were using deposited weeks which we only expected to pay for one since one of the weeks is at our home resort (??). When we discovered our confirmation was for Nov3 - Nov17. We immediately called and the only thing they could do was put us at our home resort for 2 weeks and they were going to charge us another exchange fee which didn't happen. But now we are paying 2 exchange fees for 2 weeks at our home resort. I would have thought that the least RCI could have done was refund both the exchange fees paid to make up for their mistake. To top it off there was not even an apology from either representative we talked to. Their customer service is AWFUL.

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    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Oct. 5, 2014

    After check in Mizner Place, Weston Florida, as usual, to get my parking allowance, I was redirected to RCI saleswoman who sell me a welcome breakfast by USD 20.00. In exchange they would give me a gift card of USD 75.00 and get my opinion about the new room the hotel would offer. Even being at the booked time on the place, I was prevented to get in (on the VIP entrance) because my wife wasn't with me (she was taking care of my daughter who was feeling sick). I was oriented to go back to the hotel and get my money back. However, they didn't refund me even after my explanation. Beside of it, I really recommend do not trust on the RCI sales persons and if have other options against RCI you will avoid many problems and surprises as associated.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Sept. 23, 2014

    I signed up for Timeshare in Florida in 2004 for 63,500 points every other year. From 2004 to 2012 I was quite happy with my lot and we had some very good holidays in Europe and indeed all the apartments were excellent. I had no complaints. At end of 2012 I received a letter from a company in Florida called Festiva Hospitality Management saying that my points were being cut to 36,300 because a "mistake" had been made when I purchased the points. I contacted RCI who said that it nothing to do with them but "just keep paying your Membership Fees or else". When we signed up, the reps all had RCI badges and all the walls of the room were decorated with RCI posters so as far as we are concerned we signed up with RCI and have dutifully paid our Maintenance Fees and Membership Fees without fail since 2004.

    However, I have not paid Membership or Maintenance Fees in 2013, why should I pay for 36,300 points when I signed for 63,500. If a "mistake" made, I did not make it, I know what I signed for. RCI have now sent me a Solicitors letter threatening court action which I have responded to and will fight vigorously. I am retiring this year but still have plenty of fight left in me. By the way did everyone know that a class action lawsuit is being taken in Florida by Finn Law Group against Festiva and RCI for alleged fraudulent practices. Can't wait for the outcome of that one.

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    Verified purchase
    Customer ServiceInstallation & SetupStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 12, 2014

    Just to recount the nightmare I went thru along with my family at Munnar: We booked the Innova taxi for Airport pickup thru Mr. ** on phone and it was conveyed that we need to pay to the driver Rs. 4731. Rs.4800 was paid on arrival at the resort just after getting down at the premises only in cash. No service document was presented at that time or even the next day to us either by the driver or the resort staff. They raised this issue only a day before we were to leave the resort. On explanation they did not show any respect to us and in fact were De-courteous to us & treated us as if we were at fault. Resort staff were saying we have CCTV camera installed at the location (Outside reception) but did not co-operate to show us the footage. It was due to their inefficiency and lackadaisical attitude we got into trouble. They sided with the liar driver and the union goondas. Such scene was created that we could not leave the hotel, as if we were kidnapped. We could not call police. We could not call any other taxi & we were to miss the flight.

    Ultimately we got humiliated and was left with no option but to pay the Taxi fare again. This episode was so frightening that the idea of going for a holiday next seems simply getting into one more Nightmare. We were also shocked at the poor service standard & the maintenance of the resort. On the other side, before booking your RCI executive had promised us of 7 star like facility. RCI Membership Number: **.

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    Sales & MarketingPunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 5, 2014

    About a month ago I was in Vegas with my husband and was approached by one of your reps. We ended up speaking to Rick regarding discount show tickets if we come back and listen to a presentation. Unfortunately we were leaving that day, we still signed up because Rick assured us we could come back to any kiosk/ desk and get our tickets when we returned. We came back Labor Day weekend. Went to the kiosk/desk informed them what Rick had mentioned. The gentleman told us we'd be taken care of after the presentation. We went to the presentation which ended up taking 5 hours! Instead of the 2 1/2 - 3. I told the rep after showing us the property we would need time to research more info. He still presented prices.

    One thing that really made me mad was I asked the rep a question and when he answered he only spoke to my husband and ignored me did not make eye contact! I was the one who asked! Of course he eventually got his supervisor to come to "offer lower prices". After 2 more times of telling them no, we needed to do more research, Finally we had to get up to just leave. Then they let us go. Our rep was "hurt" that we started to walk away from him, after telling him 3 times not interested. We then had to wait another 20 min before the bus would even leave. After numerous times reps saying they don't care if we buy, no high pressure sales. That your company is very "ethical". We gave your company over 5 hours of our time and never got show tickets that we were promised when we first signed up! (I am not talking about the ones you get with the $200 option. I am referring to the ones they will give you for signing up.)

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    Reviewed Aug. 25, 2014

    I'm reading all these complaints which have been going on for years and nothing is ever done to improve the situation. No one cares about RCI customers including the BBB, Consumer affairs or any type of watchdog organization. I have owned timeshare for over 20 years and have seen RCI do just about anything they want. In a recent class action suit about not being able to book weeks or points vacations because of no availability, but yet the same units are available for "rent" the plaintiffs received $12.00 each. I could go on for hours but why, nothing will ever be done to stop the dishonest tactics which RCI uses to deceive trusting customers.

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    Reviewed Aug. 24, 2014

    My wife and I purchased time shares (points) in July 2012 while on a cruise vacation in St Maarten after we were told what a great investment this would be for us and the kids. Now after 3 years and US$15,000 poorer we realize that through the maintenance fees of $800 and booking charges, this investment is a total scam and does not make sense. I really trust potential purchasers look at the total picture, and in particular the lack of a resale market as a key indicator that this investment is not what it is marketed to be. In summary: "the worse investment I have ever made" and in Barbados we have investments yielding less ROI than most USA projects.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 21, 2014

    I paid my annual maintenance fee at the Divi Phoenix for my 3 bedroom Penthouse. For the past two years, as soon as this is paid, RCI sends me a confirmation email confirming my Home Week. Having not received a confirmation email, I called RCI to ask about it and was told by a customer service rep that my week was put back into inventory for Exchange because I didn't call to confirm. Being very upset about this, I asked what could be done and they said "nothing, it's been put back into inventory and released. That week has been booked".

    So, MY Home Week, the one I OWN was put back into inventory and released??? I said that being new to timeshare ownership I am not familiar with this policy (that I need to call and confirm) since it has been automatically done for me for the past two years, and was told firmly and rudely that it was "In my Contract". I have scoured my contract and I cannot find this clause. So now I am out my membership fee and have no week to go to in 2015 but have paid my $1039 maintenance fee. I am beside myself with the lack of quality customer service received. When I called, the customer service rep did escalate this to her supervisor and I was told I would receive an email in 24-48 hours. I got nothing.

    I called back and was then told that it was "my fault" it was released because I didn't call to confirm. So, then I had to ask "Well, is there anything you CAN do for me?" and was told that the database would be searched and I would receive an email on dates that a Unit (not my unit, mind you) would open up and if I agreed to one that they found, I would be charged an additional Exchange Fee? An additional fee? Seriously! That should be WAIVED.

    So far, two days have gone by and I have received NO email. No one at RCI seems to care about customer service or clients. I will be cancelling with RCI pronto. My commitment to them as part of my Timeshare was to be a member for 3 years. I have met that commitment. I don't need them for my future Home Week booking. I will book directly thru the DIVI from 2016 on. I am VERY disappointed in the whole experience and would never recommend RCI to anyone. My past experiences with customer service have been less than satisfactory as well, so this is not just one "sour grapes" comment.

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    Customer ServiceContract & Terms

    Reviewed Aug. 19, 2014

    Mom booked a couple of units in northern Oregon for mid-2015. When she looked at the bank withdrawals for these she noticed a couple of $49 charges that she didn't understand. I called RCI to inquire and was told that they were "protection" in case we had to cancel within the 14-day window. Since this is a year out, I asked them to cancel the protection since we would not be using it. They then said that the protection can only be cancelled WITHIN 24 HOURS OF BOOKING THE RESERVATION, and refused to cancel it. So now RCI has screwed Mom out of an additional $100 bucks. This is the kind of behavior that I would expect from shady used car dealers or door-to door vacuum cleaner salesmen -- little terms and conditions that they don't tell you about to nip you in the ass down the road.

    Apparently, RCI also falls into that category. Mom will NOT be renewing her RCI membership, nor will I renew mine when it expires. Besides not being able to get a lot of places that we tried to get, shady business practices like this have convinced me that there are FAR BETTER CHOICES than RCI. If you deal with them, then beware!

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    Reviewed Aug. 14, 2014

    We were all set to go through with things but weren't prepared for the down payment. So I put down $100 towards it. My wife went online while we were there and saw the horrible reviews. So we told them that we would come back tomorrow with my final decision. The guy assured my wife 3 times after her asking if they were going to pull my credit because we were trying to buy a house. Bob assured us they wouldn't. So I went back the next day and got my refund. This has been about 5 days ago. So when I went to the bank and applied for the loan, it showed they pulled my credit and it dropped my score. Remember Bob assured my wife 3 times that my credit would not be pulled.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 13, 2014

    I purchased a cruise & resort vacation from RCI, it is for 1 week vacation at the resort of my choice and 1,7 day cruise. The payments were reasonable only $161.92 over 18 months. Which started on September 13, 2013 and last payment would be on February 13, 2015. I have just been told by an RCI representative that I must make the cruise reservation by August 28, 2014 and the Resort reservation by February 28, 2015. Why would I make reservations prior to paying off my program. They did offer to let me make higher payments and let it be paid off faster but what is the big hurry.

    So I called and asked about booking a cruise and now they want an additional $775.00 to upgrade to a balcony. What happened to the 1st class treatment we are supposed to receive. They called me 3 times and told me how great this program was and how I would have my own travel consultant who I never heard from again. I will be switching to a more reputable company. Besides when I tried to find accommodations in Italy for this December, the pickings where very slim. Time to get away from these _____________ you fill it in.

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 6, 2014

    Somewhere in March-April when JetBlue opened Fall 2014 reservations, we booked tickets to St. Maarten to stay at Divi where we have 2 timeshares. I checked with staff there that I am booked for my home weeks, was told yes. In May I was in St. Maarten on a cruise and stopped at the resort and double-checked if I am down for my 2 units. Yes I was, but was told to check with RCI so they can deduct points. Something that I don't understand because I already paid maintenance fees. But as an obeying citizen I did call. The guy at the other end said he can't take my points because there is not 6 months between the date I called and the stay and that the resort has the power to take reservations without using points - I paid my yearly fee. I can accumulate my points for next year.

    Fast forward to today. I just found out that RCI cancelled my reservations on May 28th!!!!! Without letting me know! I have 9 (!) airline tickets and a reservation that disappeared. Ended up buying extra weeks' stay that I had off of one of my contracts. So no matter how I analyze this, I am coming up with a formula that tells me I have paid double for my stay! Asked for a supervisor at RCI, had to insist couple times before I was transferred to this woman. Since this whole ordeal was cutting into my work time I asked her for her extension number so I can call her back. She said she didn't have one!!!! And that she is going away for few days so calling her back would not be helpful. Anyone reading this post can tell by now that I am annoyed with RCI. Can anyone tell why they exist? I think this is a scam to take people's money in exchange for giving them a hard time. Who is going to give me my money back?

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed July 30, 2014

    I have been with RCI for some years and each year my Cabo San Lucas exchange has gotten worth less and less. I felt so frustrated when I received a call today stating that my ongoing search for Greater Mesa, Scottsdale, AZ area would probably not happen because my week in Cabo is only worth 13 points. A bit of history: When we first went with RCI, we were weeks. Could trade straight across for a red week. Then they started saying that it was really points and now it was transparent to us.

    Today, the woman told me that Mesa, AZ resort I had traded straight across for in 2008 had a trading power of 38 points and my Cabo was only 13, so sorry. I said that I have two weeks banked and that should be at least 26. "Oh," she said, "we have changed that. Now it costs $129 to combine weeks." I was so angry I called back and asked for a Supervisor. Finally after waiting and having to tell my life story to service person and asking several times for a Supervisor, I got Scott. I thought this was personal but, no, after reading some of the complaints here, I find they are telling my story verbatim.

    As previous complaints on this site have cited, I was treated in the same robotic, go-to-the-web, "Now is there anything else I can do for you today?" condescending mentality. I am angry and feel like RCI is charging more each year for member fees while devaluing and discounting my TS exchange. I have a really nice one-bedroom on the Pacific side of Cabo with an ocean view. You'd think I had a studio off the beaten track in Podunk, USA, population 4. Our hands are tied and if I could get Interval International to take over my exchange, I would. I have never had a problem with my other TS with II.

    I feel this is criminal and misrepresentation to gouge every cent you can, not really caring about your long-time members. If RCI wants to make more money by changing the rules, do it with new members who don't know the difference. Grandfather in the sustaining members like most honest bus. try to do. The Robotic supervisor said in one breath, "We changed the rules in 2010 for everyone no matter how many weeks you had. What you have to do now is pay us to combine. There's lots of properties in Cabo. It is supply and demand. Is there anything else I can do for you today? Goodbye." What a lot of double talk. I still get a catalog from II but not from RCI. I told Scott that I would go to the media with no other recourse open to me as this would not go higher than him. I guess I'll write to anyone that has a web site or who will listen. Maybe if enough of us complain something will happen.

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    Sales & MarketingPriceStaff

    Reviewed July 29, 2014

    We bought into RCI last year January 31,2013. We have been trying to book a vacation or just even a hotel room for a weekend in locations such as Las Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco. There is nothing available through RCI or too expensive. Whatever RCI is promising, it's a flat out lie. We paid $ 5800 for a scam. Their representatives are clueless and aren't helpful either.

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    Online & App

    Reviewed July 27, 2014

    I own two bedroom beachfront units at the Royals in Cancun. These are top rated units by TUG and Travel Advisor. For over 20 years, I could and did exchange to the best Marriotts, Hiltons, even Four Season. My resort has been II only. But a special deal was offered by our resort to join RCI for trading purpose. And I thought to try it out by placing 2 units in for trade with RCI. I was giving a trading value of 11 basically junk status. I can't find any kind of decent unit to trade into that is something more than a glorified motel/hotel conversion.

    Queries to RCI as to why I have this rating have gotten me nothing but a run around such as how to use their website to find trades and no real help. I am now having to write off two high quality beach front units as untradable. After researching RCI, I noticed that they had to settle a class action suit against them, bringing into question their business ethics. I will only use II from now on and will not purchase any TS affiliated with RCI. I have also warned other Royal owners.

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    Verified purchase
    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed July 14, 2014

    I booked points with RCI for a vacation in the Canmore area for my daughter's wedding. I was given a resort in the area (this was almost 1 year ago). I was in Canmore two days ago and decided to check out the resort. At the front desk I was told they would not have a room for me. In fact, they had notified RCI several months ago that the rooms they were to have available were not built yet. I never heard a word from RCI and had even spoken with them the day before we left to go to Canmore. When I called RCI today I had to talk to a supervisor who said he would send me back the fees I paid to RCI. I paid almost $1000 for the weeks I booked plus two sets of fees to RCI. I wanted full compensation. He would not let me talk to anyone above him and was quite robotic in his answers when I asked him if he would like to be treated this way. Canmore is a destination wedding site and everything within reason is booked the week I need. Where do I go from here? We all need to start a class action suit as this is not the only problem this ripoff company has presented. Every time I try to book a room with them there is a hassle.

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    Reviewed July 11, 2014

    I so wish I had discovered this site before signing up with RCI. I own a timeshare in St. Maarten for week 43, have paid the maintenance fee and due to a new job can't take the time off. Years back I heard good things about RCI so therefore figured I could "bank" the unit and trade it for another timeshare next year. After paying the fee, I have learned that many locations are not tradeable. I don't understand why this happens. If I join Intervale would I have similar issues? What service does RCI actually provide? Kindly steer me in the right direction to "bank" this unit for future use.

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    Customer ServiceInstallation & SetupContract & TermsSales & MarketingStaffReliabilityProcess

    Reviewed July 11, 2014

    This is a total scam. DON'T EVER SIGNUP FOR THIS. Worst I've been treated in my whole life. Everything about free days and so easy to stay there was wrong. The free cruise is a scam. When I got my cards three weeks after I signed up they had nothing on me. The RCI person was rude and decided to get out. I tried to reserve a room at Conroe and Galveston. Conroe had two days open during the summer and Galveston none! I found this out two days after I got the cards. I called to have everything cancelled and the guy gloated about my six days were up and too bad. I wrote a complaint to the BBB and the three credit bureaus. I will post it and I have now had to write a third after the way they treated me.

    COMPLAINT: Silverleaf Resorts timeshares - When I was introduced to the Silverleaf Resorts program agents told me how lucky I was and that very few people got the offer I did. I was getting property from someone upgrading and I was to get free days from Sunday thru Thursday. Each of the agents said they couldn't believe it was available and that very few people had the free days. This was an unbelievable offer they said. And they added, "Don't tell anyone. They will be upset you have the free days and they don't." It turns out I would learn the unbelievable part was true. Then they explained that I could get up to six days a week (five free days) and I could do it every other week. I was skeptical and asked how they could do it and they told me that most people spent their two weeks with RCI and the rooms were available.

    They told me I could reserve a week before of even a few hours before. Three separate agents made a point to confirm this, shaking their head saying they couldn't believe I could get an upgrade and all those free days. Then they showed me the fancy places on the water. It was like a dream. The two bedroom place was fantastic. I was sold. They told me to wait two weeks for the cards and I would be able to spend up to ten days a month at their resorts. I am extremely upset with the Silverleaf Resorts program and the way I was treated by RCI. The way the RCI representative talked with me by phone was enough to cancel my agreement and demand a return of my funds. I would never tolerate being treated that way and would never want to be involved with RCI or recommend my friends. They told me to wait two weeks until the cards arrived.

    When they did arrive I called and was treated rudely and nothing like a customer. I was immediately concerned about the program after my treatment. I understand making a reservation and that they might not be available but what I discovered is that reserving a place after you enter the program is the next think to impossible. You are more of a standby than a member. If there was anger on their part and a failure to work with me on my two weeks on the first call I doubted it would get better. So I decided to see how the Silverleaf Resorts resort and the free days would work. Before I contacted Silverleaf Resorts I decided to check out the free cruise they had offered as a lure to get me to listen to their presentation. I got the hook on the cruise. Turns out I need to send a hundred dollars to hold the vacation and request the weeks I want. If they aren't available then I need to pick new dates.

    I have a year to get the vacation or I lose my hundred dollars. Let me ask you this, wouldn't it be better and easier for them to tell me what dates are available and let me pick? A few years ago I received the same offer where they told me the weeks they picked were full. This continued for the year. After the year I lost the hundred dollars. Silverleaf Resorts uses the same company; a total rip-off. Now I was really worried about Silverleaf Resorts and it was time to find out about what I had really been offered. I feel I've been deceived and neither offer is really any good. It wasn't much better when I received the cards from Silverleaf Resorts. The agent did call me and told me to log in. But they couldn't tell me how to log in and there were no instructions as how to log in. There were no instructions as how to do it. I never got logged in.

    It took a few days to get a service agent. I was put on hold numerous times and would hang up after ten to fifteen minutes. A few times I got through but the connection was so bad I couldn't hear them. The whole reason for joining Silverleaf Resorts and RCI was for the vacations. The reason I joined was not only the two weeks per year because $9900.00 down and $14760.00 in fees per year don't come close to a two week vacation per year. The main reason was I paid double so I would have access to the free days (Sunday night through Thursday night). I'm 65 and want to vacation 3 to 6 days a month. The free days were perfect. I had five couples interested in joining and my brother was getting his boat ready so we could enjoy Canyon Lake, Conroe and Galveston. How nice to stay in a fancy place (unlike the one they introduced us to at Conroe). I could actually drive to Conroe from work and intended to use six free days a month or more. The offer they made does not exist.

    When I finally talked to an agent for Silverleaf Resorts to reserve three days they told me there were no openings on Lake Conroe for three weeks and it was only Sunday and Monday. There was another opening in six weeks for Tuesday and Wednesday. You can imagine my surprise. I asked about Galveston. Guess what they said, "No openings until September." I was shocked and I said, "I don't know if you have it with my membership but I'm a Diamond member with free days during the week." I thought it was a misunderstanding because they told me only a few people had free days and I was a Diamond Member. The lady on the phone grunted and said, "ALL members have free days during the week." I was more than stunned. It made me sick. It was obvious nothing they said was accurate or true. I'd like to know who the person was I got the property from and to what did they upgrade.

    When summer ends I would have paid over $9000 down and an additional four thousand in payments. In other words instead of up to thirty days of blissful summer vacation at Conroe and driving there from work I would have paid $13,000 and not received or enjoyed a single day of vacation. The offer was worthless and I stopped the charge card payment, never receiving a single day of what they said I was entitled. What they offered was not honest and it didn't exist and that was why I want nothing to do with their program. For what I would be paying over the next ten years I could go on a one week cruise every other month, and those offers are real and enjoyable. I have not had a single moment of enjoyment from Silverleaf Resorts. Even the room I stayed in was not enjoyable. It also means that if the rooms are free for EVERYBODY then the likelihood of getting the room they showed me is actually zero.

    Actually the deal they have is not really a good offer for anybody, unless you want to stay at home and not go on vacation. For me this was a total rip-off. I'll bet even the free days are not free even though I'm paying about $1300 a month. I have the names of the three people who told the same false story. I can provide them if you want. The program they sold me does not exist. They already have $1900.00 of my money. I also want it back and I'm sure they won't do it. So based on the fact I did not receive what I purchased I want you to stop the payment. I think if you go to the BBB you will find numerous complaints. I think I can produce close to a hundred that you can verify. They did not present an honest program and lied. I am not the only one.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed July 10, 2014

    My experience is similar to Linda's. We purchased a package on 5/27/14 with two "bonus" trips. We were told we would receive a package in the mail detailing everything included in our trip and an email with our "bonus" cruise. An envelope arrives with a travel brochure and two certificates for the regular trips - no bonus information. As of today, still haven't received the email to activate our bonus cruise and when you call, they tell you that your bonus trip has been activated and must be booked by 8/27. Yet you can't get through to the person to book it, nor can anyone give you any information about resorts and availability. They all tell you to call them directly, yet when you call they've already left for the day or are not available.

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    Price

    Reviewed July 9, 2014

    I booked a cruise with Oceania thru RCI (where I am a points member). I modified my flight dates and paid a $350 charge on the day the flight was booked, 3/11/2014. The invoice confirming my flight indicated the correct flights and the $350 Air deviation charge. Last week RCI charged my credit card for the final 50% of the cruise (which was indicated on the cruise invoice), AND an additional $350 charge for air deviation AND an additional $398 charge for airport deviation. When I questioned, they agreed to reverse the $350 double charge but said the $398 is valid. They indicated that it was "mentioned" to me in Feb. Yes it was and OH BY THE WAY they waived the fee!!! That is why there were no $398 charges on the invoice!! I would not have agreed to the flights with that additional charge had it not been waived. I would have booked it myself. How can they charge my credit card for more than the invoice? Is that even legal? What can I do? They refuse to reverse it. They indicated that if I dispute the charges ''my cruise would likely be cancelled''. HOW CAN THAT BE? HELP!!

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed July 2, 2014

    On 6/23/2014, we purchased a cruise package with airline tickets for 8 people. On 6/24/2014, during the 24-hour reservation requirement, (where you can cancel or change a flight within 24 hours without any fees) we called back to pay and we tried to change 4 of the people's date of return. We were told there is a fee of $189 per person. Figuring there was no option, we paid anyways. We discovered the 24-hour reservation requirement and contacted RCI again. They quoted the same thing and when we brought up the mandated regulation, they said they are familiar with it and will call us back after some investigation. We called again, they still said it will cost us $189 per person and these fees are by the airlines. They said the fees are the difference in airline prices. To fly on the original date it's $397 and to change the date the $313.

    Asking for the new price to be sent to us they said no, that is just the price by the airlines. After telling them that price is different than what is online, they advised they are hooked into US Airways database and the search engines on the Internet aren't accurate and if you book online you would eventually have to call in to get accurate pricing. Advising RCI of the violation of DOT regulation, they invited an official complaint to be filed with the DOT. Calling US Airways, we still haven't been ticketed after a week and the fee to cancel or change a date is $200 or more per person. It is unknown what the $189 fee is for. It has been recommended to dispute our credit card charge since no tickets have been ticketed as of yet or buy a one way ticket at a cheaper rate than to pay the fees they are trying to charge. US Airways says there is nothing they can do to assist us since this was purchased by a 3rd party and the tickets still aren't ticketed.

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    Sales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed July 1, 2014

    When using your points or weeks for a cruise, make sure you compare the prices with the actual cruise line. It seems that RCI likes to create their own fees - when you think you are getting a good price using your points, you're not. They actually double the port and govt fees. When you compare the cruise with RCI and the cruise company, the only difference in pricing is a few dollars. I am not happy at all, and on top you need to pay an exchange fee to book it. It's a scam. District attorney should look into their practices.

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    Staff

    Reviewed July 1, 2014

    I have owned a timeshare week and been a RCI member since 1999. In the first 5 years, I was able to book vacations with millions of options. My timeshare is a Gold Crown Resort, so the options were endless. In the last 5 plus years, I am lucky if I can find a vacation 6 months in advance and the options are few and non-popular destinations. My timeshare status with RCI has not changed, but RCI now offers last call, special offers and discount vacations to the public. I don't think you have to be a timeshare owner to be an RCI member now. I don't think my deposited week even matters to RCI now. RCI is now just a vacation planner site for anyone.

    I think RCI members that own timeshares should file suit about the lack of availability of vacations and any week owners (the way of that past) should not have to pay an exchange fee for what little vacation options we have left since they allow the resorts to list their properties as paid vacations and not exchange vacations these days. What is the RCI membership benefits now? Just throwing money away on nothing!! I paid for my exchange cost, and searched over 2 years for a vacation on the beach in Florida or Myrtle Beach, and NEVER found a resort that would exchange. I even combined my points and had over 40 points on RCI for exchange power. So this year, I decided to just set up a ongoing search, RCI wanted me to pay $20 for that ongoing search... CROOKS !!!!!!!!!

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed June 28, 2014

    I made reservations through RCI Travel on Feb. 7th 2014 for 2 weeks in Mazatlan Mexico July 5-19. They sent me a confirmation for the second week. However, I never received confirmation for our first week. I called RCI on June 25th and spent 2 hours on the phone and they said it will be sent in an email. I never got it. So June 26th I called again and got the same runaround. I waited for the email and it never came. I called on June 27th, spoke with Beatrice at Ex. **, she was very nice and assured me things would be taken care of. She emailed her boss and still no confirmation. June 28th, I called Beatrice again and I'm currently on the phone with her. I have spent over 5 hours and still no progress. I'm very upset and frustrated with RCI service.

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    Process

    Reviewed June 25, 2014

    I believe that we spoke to the same salesperson - oh yea, he was going to be our personal contact from now on. We needed to be sure to take down his cell number. After reading some of the comments, especially from Howard, I called the process off. Thank you, Howard. You saved us over $3000.00 in membership and processing fees! I am calling my resort to let them know about him.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsStaff

    Reviewed June 22, 2014

    My wife and I already owned a time share at ARI and kept losing weeks. We considered upgrading our membership when the phone rang and it was a charming smooth talking representative from RCI. We listened to the sales pitch and decided to sign up. Bad move. The salesman promised that we could call him anytime. He even gave us his cell phone number. Before we signed on the dotted line he was always available, he even called to say "hi" a few times. After signing a contract we started getting his voice mail. Ok no big deal. But every time? He never called back even after leaving threatening messages. Before he guaranteed that he was our personal travel representative. I want to warn potential RCI customers. Beware of the smooth talking snake. We have not used our membership yet, but if the lies that we were told is any indication, we're screwed.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed June 9, 2014

    How do these unscrupulous people stay in business? People be warned, they are vipers! They own Holiday Inn Resorts, magnuson water resort and many more, I am sure. Those are two. Unfortunately the sales people got us to come and visit. Rude! And please note, it is federal law they cannot keep you there past 90 minutes.

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    steven increased rating by 2 stars.
    Customer Service
    After a positive interaction with RCI, steven increased their star rating on July 7, 2014.

    Updated review: July 7, 2014

    Shortly after posting this review I received a message from a RCI's E-Commence. At this time I am able to access my account and am not 100% sure RCI ever blocked it. They claim they never blocked it and some of the evidence they provided seems to indicate that could be true. Truth is I don't know what happened, basically I'm not convinced either way at this point. I do know I currently have access. I'd also like to state that even though the staff on the phone and through RCI's on-line chat were completely useless, out and out rude at times, the person (s?) I dealt with via their E-Com Dept. was always professional and resolved every issue I had regarding this matter and my most recent exchange. I wish every dealing with RCI was handled in the same manner as their E-Com Dept resolved this issue. At this time I'm willing to give RCI a little more benefit of the doubt. Had my dealings with the first few RCI staff regarding this matter been as professional my update rating would easily be a four or five rather than three. It's not possible to "unring" a bell.

    In short RCI has changed over the years. But the entire travel industry has changed. For example most of the resorts in areas and regions I prefer to visit have switched from standard to "all-inclusive required." This is not something RCI has done, it's something the industry has done. Blaming RCI for the change isn't really fair to them and benefits no one. I still believe RCI has issues they need to work on, sadly there's a lot of room for improvement. But given the way my issue was handled perhaps they are, in fact, working on making improvements. I for one would welcome any changes that bring back even some of the RCI of old. Following up and being professional with customers is a step in the right direction. A big step.

    Original Review: June 8, 2014

    Same rip off company, new trick. Tell the world what a joke RCI has become and it's highly likely you'll find access to your online account restricted. I've posted repeatedly online warning about the tricks and absolute rip off tactic of the "new RCI." Each time I've revised their practices. I was contacted by someone, I'm guessing actually a "bot," emailed me with a "we want to resolve this matter." Have no idea how they planned on giving me back my time, doesn't seem possible. In fact it's not. Now when I try to long on to use the last remaining weeks I find I have no access to my account. I called, was transferred to "tech support." They informed me my username and password are correct. Maybe but they don't work on any computer I own... or my friends own... or with any browser I know of.

    So I call to try to use the phone system to use the weeks I have remaking, shockingly I was cut off after a long hold time. Give them a bad review and run the risk of losing whatever you have banked with them. Sounds like a reputable company to do bunnies with, right? Consider yourself warned- RCI waving good bye to your money is likely the best outcome, spending a week or two in a complete dump instead of the great beach vacation you planned is also very likely. Walking away a happy customer completely unlikely. Save yourself... Don't do business with this rip off company.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed June 4, 2014

    I bought a timeshare from Las Vegas Grandview in 2011, total rip off. They sugar-coated the whole thing. Telling me that if you are on a vacation budget, RCI is the choice for me. Total lie! It is hard to book anything online or over the phone. Everything is booked for 2 to 3 years in advance and there is not very many options for the type of timeshare I bought, even though I was informed differently. I bought mine for $4900 and can't use it. I am still making payments of 94 bucks a month and more than half goes to interest and some $1.31 finance daily charge. I still owe $2900. Does anyone know how to get out of this? What happens if I stop paying? Times are tough for me, but I make the payment in fear that I will get sued. Can they sue me and foreclose? What is the worst that can happen? Anyone out there stop paying? I do not even see it on my credit report that I even own it?

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed June 3, 2014

    When I called to ask about cruises, I was given a hard-core sales pitch for their "hotel savings" program. They offered me all types of vacations and savings for $1,699. I bought it all. Big mistake. When I went to book, I found that they only had a few limited hotels involved, and that the fees associated with their "promotion" made the resorts more expensive than if I booked directly on Priceline or Orbitz.

    I had already booked two stays (another mistake), but they refused to honor the very expensive travel insurance I had purchased. They also triple-charged my credit card, and refused to refund the extra charges. The company was extremely difficult to deal with, leaving me on hold for 15-20 minutes at a time as we tried to work things out. This is a terrible bargain and their advertising is extremely deceptive and misleading. I strongly recommend against having anything to do with RCI.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed June 2, 2014

    I have used RCI for 20 years or more and never felt the need to leave until this Resort. It was unclean and the rotten steps were unsafe. Our rockers on the front porch were unsafe! A blanket in the extra bedroom had a huge spot of dried blood and grass clippings, leading us to feel very uncomfortable. No service for T.V. or phone AND a huge dirty spot in the Master bedroom. So we checked out.... being charged $240 for our Yorkie.

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    Reviewed May 24, 2014

    A few months ago, my wife and I booked a getaway with Diamond Resorts through RCI. Our reservations were for two-bedroom villa at the Mystic Dunes Resort and Golf Club in Orlando. As soon as I completed the payment online, I received a confirmation number and a reservation certificate in my email. I printed out everything. About two days before we were to leave for the trip, we received an information packet from Diamond Resorts. In the packet, it stated that we would be staying at the Holidays Inn. We acted as if we never got the packet and we to the resort. The receptionist looked in the computer for our reservation and found our confirmation and payment. We had a great time but we are still not sure about what was going on with the packet. We were considering getting a timeshare, but after that experience we are not going to chance it.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed May 24, 2014

    I booked 2 -1 bedroom suites at Pueblo Bonito Rose as Extra Vacations through RCI. I then booked flights for everyone going with me. 3 weeks later RCI calls and says that per Pueblo Bonito, because I am an owner at Emerald Bay I can't book 1 bedroom, only Studios & they have to CANCEL MY ROOMS. I told them I had never heard of such a thing, (why would they penalize their own owners?) and I would call Pueblo Bonito and get it straightened out. I spoke with Pueblo Bonito and they said that is not their policy, it must be from RCI.

    I play phone tag with the supervisor at RCI then finally reach her and tell her they denied mandating this change. She said the person I spoke to at Pueblo Bonito doesn't know what they're talking about. She said she has 2 Studios, she can put me in instead and do I want them before they're gone because she is CANCELING my 2 -1 bedroom suites. I explain that I already have flights for everyone and 2 Studios won't accommodate us. I said if you don't believe me then please contact Pueblo Bonito yourself and let me know if you are told something different. A couple days later I wake up to an email that says my 2 -1 bedroom suites were cancelled!

    I call Pueblo Bonito who again says they would not do that and this is something done by RCI. I go back and forth with RCI and the best resolution I can get is 3 Studios which we will try to fit in. I just can't believe they would CANCEL OUR ROOMS AFTER I'VE ALREADY BOOKED OUR FLIGHTS! RCI's hold message says "You're vacation means the world to us" but it should say "You're money means the world to us." Seriously. Inventory gets worse every year and if I use my points (21) for a lesser value unit (8), I lose the other 13 points. When I bought my unit they told me you could bank unused points. It seems they just look for new ways to take advantage of their members. I will NOT be renewing my membership.

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed May 17, 2014

    We signed up with RCI on 04/10/2014 and paid for a vacation package. As of this date 05/17/14 we have not received a password or any other documentation of membership to this club. We cannot book anything from RCI. I have called and spoke with James **, Jim ** and Andrew several times all with empty promises or putting packages in the mail and e-mails and nothing but lies. We were very patient and gave them the benefit of the doubt until a few days ago then I called my credit card company to dispute the charges. It is their hands now. This was a scam, pure and simple! Beware of this place. Do not do business with them. Nothing happened, I got nowhere with these people. I got no service and nothing for my money.

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    Valerie increased rating by 1 star.
    Customer Service
    After a positive interaction with RCI, Valerie increased their star rating on May 21, 2014.

    Updated review: May 21, 2014

    RCI has corrected the trading power. The trading power of my combined weeks was restored and the correct number was deducted from the week I selected.

    Original Review: May 17, 2014

    I put a vacation on hold, requested the time off then tried to confirm within the 24-hr period. A website problem only allowed each field to show credit card choices until I tried entering my info out of order but continue, didn't work either. After trying to use contact us which only gave me error messages, I called the office but it closed 15 min prior to my call. I used the feedback popup to explain the problems I had. The next day the week was no longer available.

    I replied to the feedback response and the week which became available again was put on hold for me for almost double the trading power. Customer service said the resort increases it based on demand but could not explain how the resort has access to info on their website. They also are taking the 14 trading value from my combined weeks limiting my chance for a higher value vacation. I was going to use the one with 10 for the original 8 trading value. Customer service isn't what it use to be and unless it improves, I cannot recommend this company or renew membership.

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    Verified purchase
    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed May 11, 2014

    RCI CRUISE and VACATIONS = SCAM!!!!!!!!!! I had been looking into cruises as timeshare exchange with RCI. Prices were extremely high. A few weeks later, I receive a phone call from RCI vacation/cruise (here in known as RCI VC) offering me a great deal...available right now....unable to receive great deal if I hang up or call back later. For $3100. I receive week end in Florida, a cruise and weeks lodging at resort. To make a long story short: Did not use Florida weekend because it had to be used within 30 days. I could not get time off from work. Use of resort for 1 week - these resorts are usually in least popular areas with poor reviews of resorts. Plus an additional fee of approx. $200 to upgrade to 2 bedroom.

    I will NOT be using my resort which is Treasure Cay Abacos, Bahamas because airfare from Boston would cost $3300 for party of four. Cruise - again because of deadlines, selections were limited and expensive. Had to book 1 year in advance, yet most cruises open their selections with RCI VC 6 months AFTER booking deadline! So, I chose a lovely cruise from Venice to Athens for this summer. 2 weeks ago, I receive anonymous phone calls stating "this is an important message, your cruise is in jeopardy of being cancelled. Please call us back at 1-800 whatever. Surely this was a prank call: my name or RCI VC was never mentioned? Out of curiosity, I called backed a few times.

    Again, name of company not identified, waited on hold for 20 minutes with no pick up from co. This surely must be a scam! May 8, 2014 email received from RCI VC stating I owe $$ or cruise would be cancelled. I immediately called. Cruise was cancelled May 7 for outstanding balance of $18. Credit card on acct had expired. They felt anonymous phone call were appropriate. BUT for an additional $ 1400 (because cruise fairs have increased) my reservation could be reissued. Had to be paid within 24 hrs. I got now where with RCI. Royal Caribbean states they would never cancel for low outstanding balance and credit card co. denies any declines. BOTTOM LINE: AVOID ! ! Does anyone have suggestions short of hiring attorney which would cost more?

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed May 5, 2014

    Even though you pay $60 to have a vacation transferred to your name, you will still be considered a second class citizen by RCI. A coworker of mine offered to allow me and my fiance to use their timeshare package for our honeymoon. We made the original purchase, gave all of my personal contact and bank account information, and was informed I would receive confirmation by email within 3 days. When I never got the confirmation (it went to the owner, the husband of my coworker, who assumed I had received it too), I called RCI. They refused to help me without the owner's account info or my confirmation info. Hello?!?! That's why I'm calling! The lady yelled to speak over me to inform me she refused to help me.

    I called a few days later to resolve another issue, and lo and behold! After going through the rigmarole of pretending to need a million pieces of information to pull up my vacation and actually HELP me, when the agent got annoyed that I was going to need to look up one of the pieces of identifying information about the owners on my computer she said "Never mind, I have it right here," and proceeded to tell me my name, address, vacation location, dates. They both had it the whole time, but not being an owner of the timeshare, just a guest who has paid more than the owner would have paid, they did not feel obligated to treat me with the same respect. I listened to them give the owner when we booked my vacation on speakerphone. The first question asked when you call is what is your account number? I've never heard a tone of voice change so quickly when I said I wasn't an owner, but had purchased a guest certificate. RCI, I COULD HAVE BEEN A POTENTIAL LONG TERM CUSTOMER!!! The WORST customer service I have EVER seen. I wish I could give them negative stars.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed May 5, 2014

    Last Dec 2013 I booked a Cruise to Alaska as well as a cruise to the Caribbean. After you speak to the salesman in Phoenix thru I.C.E. you can forget; a) ever speaking to the salesman again, b) don't even think of speaking to an agent regarding questions about of your booking, c) and do not renew your membership with RCI. I have the best luck with HSI; better customer service for one and more knowledgeable agents who can answer your questions promptly and courteously.

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    Reviewed April 15, 2014

    I recently contacted RCI to cancel our membership because we just found out that we are having a baby. We will not be able to afford to pay them the amount. They emailed me back implying that as long as I submit my requirements there would be no problem. Now, they are harassing me that I cannot cancel anymore since it lapse the time. I can't remember them telling me that I can't cancel. I know that I can't have refund and I told them that it is okay for the loss. I should have followed the reviews when I read them here. Now, they will be a part of my stress.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsOnline & AppStaff

    Reviewed April 8, 2014

    I was offered this "extra value vacation packages" that was supposed to include a 7-day cruise, hotel savings, 7-day resort certificate, etc. and paid for close to 2,000 dollars. I must say it can be frustrating to book vacation because you may need to do a lot of adjustment as to what is available in their inventory. The terms they use for your certificate is so different from what you actually see on the website which makes it all the more confusing. I was finally able to book last week after about 3 hours of being on the phone with an agent and all was well until I receive a call from another RCI agent today saying that the certificate used was after all not valid therefore I may need to re-book. Now, this is my first time to use my certificates so the error if anything definitely was not my own doing.

    To make the matters worse, I was transferred to the "Account Executive" Department who was obviously talking the whole time with "sarcasm" in his tone stating he has been doing this vacation deals for 12 years, walked me through the website like making it appear that I do not know how to use their website. I was so upset the whole time until finally, he said that if I want to completely cancel my previous booking to get back my 7-day cruise benefit, he needed to transfer me to customer service. He said he will transfer me and talk to the agent first and let them know what is going on just to save time.

    He transferred me and disappeared from the line and to make it even worse, I was told that I was transferred to the wrong department and that they are not able to help me with my issue. What do I really get from paying 2,000 to RCI Vacations? Hotel savings certificates? 7-Day cruise which you could actually get for the same price if booked elsewhere? Rude agents? (I am not saying all of them but out of the total of 7-8 agents I have gotten the chance to talk to only one was nice, although she was the one who did my booking and it was a messed up) I hope RCI stops getting money from people and telling lies.

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    Staff

    Reviewed April 2, 2014

    I have been with RCI over 15 years and now they are NOW the snottiest people to deal with. They talk while you're talking and really don't be listening to what you have to say. I just spoke with a supervisor to extend not losing a week without being charge to keep it because I had 4 deaths in the family within the past 2 months; he told me no. I had to pay to extend the week because I am taking a vacation 2 months after expiration date. I'm retired and not working and I don't need RCI after my subscription expires.

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    Staff

    Reviewed March 26, 2014

    I have been a member of RCI for over fifteen years. In the earlier days of our membership, trading resorts was not too much of a problem. Today however is an entirely different matter. It seems that the "Inventory" of comparable units has shrunken to a painfully smaller number. For the last three years it has been a real task to trade your unit for another unit just about anywhere desirable. If you want to go to downtown Detroit you can probably exchange fairly easily. If you prefer somewhere like the beach... good luck!

    For what the maintenance fees, the exchange fees and "Space Bank" fees cost, not to mention if want to have an RCI agent help you fee, it's getting to where it is less expensive to book through a travel agent and get a better resort. RCI gets from $200. to $250. a night for an "All inclusive resort" per person. I have spent half of that and gone to extremely nice resorts and didn't have to wait for an open room so to speak. The bottom line for me is maybe it's time to sell my two timeshares and just do what everyone else does and not be limited to the horrendous task of "TRYING" to book a week through RCI.

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    Sales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed March 24, 2014

    The RCI Cruiser promotion is a BAD deal for consumers. It cost +/-$3100 and promised at least 3 vacations or cruises. We got one cruise (outside cabin at no increase charge), another cruise for which our added up-charge was about the same as a friends total cost was from a travel company (so our net was the up-charge + 1/3rd of the cost of the certificate), a week in a condo in So. California where the up-charge was about the same as the "off the street rack rate", and a week in a B&B in San Jose CA. No up charge for the San Jose week, but the rack rate for that is less than $150.00 per night. So what did we get for our $3,100? Actually a week in San Jose (not known as a premier vacation spot, but all that was available as the certificate was about to expire although I had been searching for at least 6 months), and one cruise. NOT a good deal and no availability without significant up-charges. Do not fall for the sales pitch.

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    Reviewed March 17, 2014

    We're actually another vacation point company customers exchanging our points through RCI plus paying an exchange fee to stay at the Vacation Club in Bellaire, Michigan. Horrible vacation complements of Vacation Club and RCI being of absolutely no help and being the responsible party in booking our stay wrong and then not being willing to make it right. Our only recourse was to forfeit points for our next stay at this same resort and still pay the exchange fee and just not go. Absolutely unbelievable that if you have any problem with the resort no one from the resort or RCI was willing or is willing to fix the issue. As the consumer you're out of luck with both these companies!!!

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed March 13, 2014

    A 5-year plan was sold to me at the 3 years price. The seller called offering it as I had been a customer of RCIs for several years. Now that I call to cancel my account, because it has been too difficult to use my weeks I was informed that the plan was a buy 3 get 2 free so there would be no refund and he was unable to connect me with someone in the finance department. It wasn't until I insisted on speaking with a supervisor that I was able to determine what my refund would be so I would know what to expect in return upon canceling my account. RCI has in general become too difficult to work over the past 10 years. I have moved my bookings to another company.

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed March 9, 2014

    I received a phone call from a salesperson representing RCI. I have been a member of RCI since 2001 and have been happy with this company for the sole purpose of exchanging my home condo and sometimes extra vacations. When I received this phone call I trusted the person because they said they were with RCI. I did not understand the entire deal so I told them to send the info via mail so I could review it. I first had to agree to a $199 down payment. This locked me into the package and I only had a few days to cancel.

    After reviewing the package I decided to purchase it at $3299. This "included" 2 cabins for 2 on a cruise and a 7 night resort stay for 2. Ok fair enough. WELL. Once I started to search the cruise lines there were tons of additional FEES that the cruise line itself did not charge for. For the cruise, I paid an additional $2734 for 2 cabins 4 guests in one cabin, 3 guests in the other cabin. I have done quite a bit of research and so far this matches other websites and directly with the cruise line quotes - No deals just fair market price (this includes the $3299 package).

    Now, I began to search out the resort side of the "deal" what a joke this was. All kinds of "upgrade fees" no availability. No availability. No availability. I posted a few dislikes similar to this website and received phone calls from "management" wanting to "do whatever it takes to make me happy". I settled for an ADDITIONAL $1523 in resort fees because "Hawaii is so desirable." Anyone who knows how to book a condo in Hawaii, knows that you can get one for $1500 PERIOD without it being in a $3299 package. The management told me that this "deal" was the price RCI pays for and they would not be getting any extra money for it - like they did something special for me... Sounded more and more like I was making a deal with a car salesman.

    So here is what I am out grand total - $7546. DO NOT let them fool you. This is NO deal. This is a high pressure sales pitch using RCI's name as leverage. If I booked the exact same cruise and condo I would have saved $600+. I would have been able to stay in a condo EXACTLY where I wanted, when I wanted. There is no flexibility when you work with RCICRUISER. PLEASE PLEASE do not buy into this. I am still paying $182.99 a month for the $3299 package. RCI should not be affiliated with "RCICRUISER" period.

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    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Feb. 27, 2014

    I paid $800.00 for a vacation package that I was to use within 2 years. Before the two years had expired, I paid $99.00 for a two year extension as I couldn't made the vacation prior to that. They tried to get me to pay $400.00 for an extension. Well within the extended time I tried to book a vacation in Napa Valley. They started to book the reservation but then asked if my husband and I made over $50,000 a year I said no, so then they proceed to tell me that we could not use any of the resorts. So I asked for my $900.00 Back. They said no because it wasn't within the allotted time. But I paid for the extension so I should get my money back or go on the vacation. They just said no.....They did say they would refund the extension money of $99.00....I'm very angry that I'm out the $900.00. Also, they didn't mention the fact that we had to have a combined income of $50,000 when I was sold the package....

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    Reviewed Feb. 19, 2014

    (1) Yesterday my daughter helped me make reservations. She called RCI with me behind her (I'm 77) and tried to make reservations for a hotel in Arizona in November. She was referred to that department. The reservation was made for 46,750 points (which they valued at $374). NOT MUCH VALUE!

    (2) This morning I called RCI about my points, and was told that I have 46,750 points from 2012 that will expire 4/30/14 unless I pay $190.00. I told him I had just used 46,750 that were only worth $374. He said those were 2013 points that were used. I asked why 2012 points were not used and he said I had not extended them. I asked why that wasn't explained?

    RCI just does whatever they want with your money and your points and they tell you it is your fault, because you don't know all their stupid little rules. It seems sensible that anyone would see that the earlier points should be used first, and that should be explained to the customer. I have had this happen before.

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Feb. 18, 2014

    We were contacted for a trip to Ft Lauderdale and a cruise to the Bahamas the price started out at $300 with a free rental car after all the upgrades we wound up paying almost $1000 dollars. The car that was included was a Chevy aveo which I don't think I could have fit in another $182 dollars for a bigger car. There are so many hidden feee and taxes, it is ridiculous. I would have hate to seen the size of the room on the ship if we didn't upgrade as the room we had was small enough. We were also told the presentation would be 2 hours long, 4 hours later we finally got out of there. You have to stay the whole time in order to get your cruise vouchers. We did tell our sales man that we are not interested in in buying so to save his time and ours we just wanted to go but that wasn't possible, he said he had to go through the whole tour in order to get paid.

    So we did got back and started with the pricing, it started out at $32,000 but if we bought right then and there it we only be $28,000, still said no. He went to get his boss. She came back with a price of $16990, still said no, came back again with a price of $9990. Finally just told her we want our trip vouchers and we wanted to leave. She got an attitude because we didn't buy. Finally got out to get the vouchers and one more man came tried to lower the price again to $5990, we still said no and 4 hours later we were finished. If you ever get a call from RCI do not take there deal for a vacation. You can probably get it cheaper on your own. We heard so many stories this past week it would make your stomach turn into knots. This is the biggest scam I have ever gone on. I would not recommend this to anyone.

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    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Feb. 12, 2014

    We bought a package from RCI that included both a cruise and resort package for $3200. We needed to reserve our vacations within 12 months. When we bought this package, we asked if they had Alaskan cruises and resorts in Ireland. Yes they had both. So we purchased this package. What a mistake. The cruise was easy to book. However they said we could upgrade for free and by the end we probably spent close to $10000 and I think we could have done the same thing without them. Next we could never book in Ireland. No available resorts. Waited until the end and then tried Hawaii. Found a place in Kauai and booked it. It is 45 minutes from Princeville and not a place that I would stay. I didn't know this at the time and when someone told me, I tried to cancel. Too late. So not only couldn't I book where I wanted to go but also lost package, money for the resort. Do not buy any package from RCI. It is a rip off.

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    Sales & Marketing

    Reviewed Feb. 5, 2014

    Do not sign anything from these RCI parasites. I just returned from losing $13,000.00 in the Collingwood courts. Never had a vacation with this timeshare but they kept my money. I was glad to be rid of the whole scam. Any vacation we could have wanted was not possible. They said we could sell it anytime if our lives changed... not true. BEWARE and do not sign anything without a lawyer reading it.

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    Contract & TermsPrice

    Reviewed Feb. 4, 2014

    I live in Canada. Hooked up with RCI thru Ocean in Dominican. As I self contract, it is hard to book days off too far ahead. I was recommended points as they were supposed to be flexible (no timeshare). For the last 5 years, we have just been going where RCI has openings usually with poor locations or times (nothing for more than 7 days usually and only 3-4 days) often even in low seasons without a year's notice or more! And even then crap. Every time you cannot find something at a location you would like to go, there are many availabilities on the others - booking.com, Expedia, etc) for those same times. The prices for room and all inclusive are usually well below what RCI wants for all inclusive fees alone which you have to take when offered.

    I could never drink, eat or throw away $200 $1200 food and drinks a day. I have tried to sell my points, but only options all turn out to be ripoff, nobody serious wants them especially when they read forums like this. I paid $30,000 USD and have not even received what would be bank interest worth of value of it yet. Every time I book a vacation now I pay exchange fees to get anything thru RCI. Partner exchanges are a joke as you only get about 30% of the value for your points and then only to 20,0000 points. Other than try to use up my points the best I can, I will never have anymore to do with RCI and tell everyone I can to stay away from them.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Jan. 15, 2014

    My husband and I went to Daytona to stay in 2 timeshares from a vacation cruise package we purchased from RCI. We checked into the first timeshare on 1/04/2013 at 2525 S Atlantic Ave, Daytona, FL. It was much smaller than we were accustomed to but was clean. The second week 1/11, we were scheduled to check into Seven Seas Resort at 2433 S Atlantic ave. While riding by, we noticed construction equipment in front of the resort. When I went in to check to see what was going on, I was told the place was being renovated and RCI was supposed to have notified me.

    RCI never notified me of the renovation nor did they give any explanation why not. They totally ignored the renovation part in our conversations. They were still taking guests but there was jack hammering and the balconies had been removed among other things. My husband believes the place was physically unsafe for guests. I checked the unit we had been assigned for the next week and discovered that due to lung conditions that my husband and I have it would not be medically safe for us to be there due to the poor air quality.

    On 1/05, the day of discovery I began calling RCI Cruise and Vacation division (877-724-2628) to request a transfer to a place where we would not become sick. I spent hours on the phone calling many times daily and was told at first we could not cancel because the deadline had passed. I explained I was already in Daytona and did not want to cancel but wanted a place where I could stay without being sick. I had paid $ 181.99 for upgrade to 1 bedroom in June when reservation was made. I was never allowed to speak with a supervisor but was told that they were only awaiting an email confirming my reservation at another place.

    Finally on Thursday evening, I was told they were still waiting for an email and there was nothing they could do. I explained I did not have time to wait because I had to check out Sat by 10 and leave Daytona. No one ever returned my calls as they said they would and as of today 1/11/14, I am back in TN I have not heard from them. I'm sorry I did not think to take photos of the renovation.

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    Reviewed Jan. 13, 2014

    We upgraded our resort units at a fee of $135.00 each week, total of 2. We won't go into all of the details but ended up paying $195.00 for one unit at Weston, Florida and $189.00 for Little Harbor in Florida. I have receipts for $135.00. It is a long story but I would be glad to fax you all the paperwork I have.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Jan. 7, 2014

    Does this process sound familiar to anyone else? Yesterday, my husband called to bank our two timeshares. He called our first timeshare resort and was told that he needed to do this through RCI. He had spent so long on "hold" for RCI that he threw up his hands and asked me to do it today. I called RCI today, was on hold for 40 min. only to be told that we were told wrong--we need to bank thru our resort, Polynesian Isles. Already frustrated, I called the phone number for Polynesian Isles on our billing statement from them. A recording said "This phone number is disconnected or no longer in service." Their bill also said that they were managed thru SPM Resorts.

    I did a search and finally came up with the phone # for SPM and called them. SPM said they no longer managed Polynesian Isles and gave me the phone # for Diamond Resorts Int'l, who has been the current manager since 2007. They banked our week (hopefully). Ok, now it's time to start the rigamarole all over for our second timeshare. For that timeshare, you need to call the resort manager. They give you a number to confirm that your fees have been paid. Then you are required to call RCI and tell them this number before they'll deposit your week. Of course, this will be another 40 minute hold on the phone.

    When I complained to RCI, the phone lady said, "Well, we ALL have to spend time on these vacations if we want to have them." At this point, I hung up on her. I should have asked her to send my wages for taking care of the coordination of administration between RCI and their resorts. They need to coordinate with their resorts instead of requiring their customers to do it. They take the attitude that now that they've got us over a barrel, they don't need to do customer service anymore.

    As more and more people default on their maintenance fees, maybe RCI will begin to understand that this will lead to the downfall of RCI meaning their employees will all lose their jobs. If you RCI workers want to keep your jobs, READ ALL OF THESE COMPLAINTS AT CONSUMER AFFAIRS and DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE COMPLAINTS. Do you notice that almost 100% of the comments give you ONE star? Hello? Something's dreadfully wrong here.

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    Reviewed Dec. 1, 2013

    This is a JOKE! I signed my timeshare in Mexico (Los Cabos) which I was told that my trade points are able to trade for a nice resort room; and I traded my week in Hawaii (Kauai) with resort name: "Wyndham". They gave me a room less than a motel room. The room looks never been remodeled since 1970, and it is very small, I can't even cook because the cooking place is too small.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 17, 2013

    Let me start by saying that I think timeshares are great! My husband and I recently were gifted two weeks to an Orlando timeshare. Upon check in, we were told that we were getting the VIP breakfast and a 90-minute presentation. Absolutely okay with us. During our meeting, we were told that since my husband was military we would get a discount. When we met with the man in charge of telling us the prices, he took my husband's ID as he had to go review it with his manager to make sure we could still get the discount. He returns saying yes, we are eligible and because of this he would give us an extra week every year. Sounded great and we were almost ready to buy but after much debate we decided to wait.

    Now comes the attitude and high pressure rudeness. So we leave this area and now after almost 3 hours (so much for 90 minutes!) we are forced to talk to someone else. This gentleman proceeds to let it slip that everyone gets the offer of the extra week and it had nothing to do with my husband's military service. I have only been a military wife for a few weeks but I am absolutely appalled and disgusted that a company would disrespect my husband's twenty years of service by trying to play on it. I have never been so angry! If your associates are misrepresenting info at this level, I wonder what else they misrepresented during this "90-minute" VIP breakfast!

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Nov. 12, 2013

    Paid my fees online at Daily Management, who support my resort (Vacation Village at Parkway). More than 3 weeks later my points are not posted. Daily Mgmt says to talk to RCI and RCI says to talk to Daily Mgmt. RCI says each resort is owned and operated separately - not by RCI. I get that, but I did not choose to outsource these functions away from RCI. I am their customer and they should track this down for me. I pay my RCI membership fees + taxes + maintenance fees and RCI is not helpful at all. Quite frustrating, to say the least. What ever happened to simple customer service?

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 12, 2013

    I have been an RCI member for 8 years. I've had some good experiences with RCI, not everybody does and not all of my experiences have been good. I was contacted by RCI Vacations regarding a package that included 5 luxury hotel certificates, a discount on a cruise or a 5-7 day resort vacation plus a 7-night resort bonus. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM. PLEASE LEARN FROM MY MISFORTUNE. The package offered all sounds great. They allow you to review many resorts online that are part of the package so it all looks great.

    YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO USE THE HOTEL CERTIFICATES AND THE BONUS WEEK IS THE BIGGEST JOKE OF ALL. In order to book the bonus week, you must talk to a representative. Before you can talk to a representative, you have to go through their automated phone system. I have been directed to the wrong representative, had the system hang up on me, left on hold and waited for 20-30 minutes without ever getting a representative on the line. AND THE ON-HOLD MUSIC IS SO LOUD IT'S OBVIOUS THEY ARE HOPING YOU WILL GET FED UP AND HANG UP. If you lower your phone volume to a level that is bearable, you won't hear the representative when they finally come back on the line.

    Back to the bonus week. When you do get a representative on the line and talk to them about the kind of vacation that interest you, they put you on hold for several minutes (loud music, hoping you'll hang up), then when they return they start offering resorts that don't meet your criteria and if the resort does meet your criteria, YOU HAVE TO PAY AN UPCHARGE TO USE THE BONUS WEEK. The hotel certificates are a joke too. I have called to arrange a hotel stay on several occasions. On two of those occasions, I actually thought I found a deal that worked for me and my guest. THIS IS A BIG BAIT AND SWITCH SCAM. On both occasions, something happened and mysteriously my call was disconnected.

    When I called right back, of course, I had to talk to a different representative and THE HOTEL DEAL I HAD ARRANGED WAS NOT AVAILABLE 30 MINUTES LATER (I called them right back but by the time the new representative recreated my exact request, it took that long), NOW THE SAME ROOM I HAD ARRANGED 30 MINUTES EARLIER WAS $100 MORE PER NIGHT. I have worked with the representative who sold me the package on several occasions and have been assured that he would help me out, get access to the bonus week availability online, or some other access. NEVER HAPPENED.

    RCI package salespersons are the worst of the worst. THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY, THEN YOU NO LONGER MATTER, LOWEST OF THE LOW. If you appreciate the time I have spent to save you from wasting your money and time, you can call Daniel ** and let him know that he represents a horrible experience for the consumer and he should be ashamed. Here's his contact info: (877) 291-1108 x**. Hope you have great vacations. Use the money you saved by skipping the RCI Vacations Package and have some fun.

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    Laura increased rating by 3 stars.
    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPriceStaff
    After a positive interaction with RCI, Laura increased their star rating on Oct. 18, 2013.

    Updated review: Oct. 18, 2013

    Everything has been figured out thanks to Kathleen.

    Original Review: Sept. 28, 2013

    I have been a member with RCI since 2001. I have had a few issues here and there, but it happens so it was never a problem until now. I was looking for a 3-bedroom unit in a specific region in Colorado and there was no such unit available. However, there was a 2-bedroom unit available so I figured I should reserve it before someone else does and it is no longer available. Now, a month away from the trip, there is a 3-bedroom unit available in the same facility I booked the 2-bedroom unit in. The price of the 2-bedroom unit and 3-bedroom unit is the same. The only issue, is that now that it is close to the date, the price has gone up a couple of hundred dollars. That's fine, right? I should just be able to make a quick phone call, pay the difference and have them switch it over. WRONG.

    I spoke to a customer service representative who said that I was past my grace period to change my reservation and they would have to cancel my current reservation and I would lose half of what I paid. Then, I would have to pay the difference back on top of it. Here's the kicker, my membership is set to expire in a couple of months, which I mentioned, and asked if there was any way whatsoever this fee could be waived so I could just pay the difference for the 3-bedroom unit. I was told, "This is the policy and I can't do anything. " So I said, "I understand if you can't do anything but maybe I can speak to a supervisor?" Suddenly, his tone changed completely and became very huffy and agitated, "Well, they're just going to tell you the same thing." Rather than continue this conversation I simply said, "Can I please speak to a supervisor?" I was then connected to Betsy.

    From the second she was on the phone, her attitude was rude and aggravated. Don't get me wrong, the field of customer service is certainly a difficult one, but it's the name of the game and if you can't handle it, well, you're probably in the wrong field. Anyway, Betsy proceeds to tell me a similar story. After I explain that I have been a member since 2001 with no issues, even going as far as mentioning the fact that I have paid many penalty fees in the past without qualms since I understand why they exist. The difference here is that I am not making a change for fun but rather to a unit I originally wanted which was not available. Betsy proceeds to inform me that that is how the program works. You have to book what is available at that time or take the risk of waiting to see if the unit you want becomes available. Weird, I didn't know I was paying RCI to practice my casino skills... gambling a?

    I then explain that I understand that all I am asking is that the penalty fee is waived so I can book a 3-bedroom unit in the same facility which is the same price as the 2-bedroom unit on the same exact date and I will pay the difference of the price raise. Betsy then tells me that that is not a practice RCI likes to follow. If they do this for us now, then we will expect it later. Valid point, Betsy, except for one detail.... This "practice" that RCI does not follow is called CUSTOMER SERVICE. It is how you keep members since 2001. Your attitude and complete close-minded service is exactly what loses members. I was simply asking to switch to a unit one size larger which was previously unavailable for the same date in the same facility and more than willing to pay the difference as well as renew my membership. But guess what, they just couldn't do it. So now, I will write a review about RCI in every place possible, end my membership, and write to whoever else will hear because if this is the service this company wants to supply, it's nothing but a money hungry scam.

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    Customer ServiceSales & Marketing

    Reviewed Sept. 18, 2013

    We are on the Do Not Call list. Received a call at 8:30 pm from RCI ** 855 480 7670 trying to pressure me into buying some $1799 program. Pretty much sounds like the usual scam. Even though I expressed no interest ah would not hang up the phone.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Sept. 1, 2013

    So picture this... We attend the local fireworks show and my naive husband registers to win a "free cruise". A month later, he receives a call and he has won. All we have to do is attend a 2-hour presentation and the trip is ours, paying only port charges and taxes. We assume it is time share and we are not buying. We get there and it's a vacation club membership for only $6,000 down if you buy today and $99/year but there will be no high pressure sales... ha. We explain our daughter is being married next year and we do not want to spend that kind of money at this time. We are then passed on to another person who tried to pressure us into a trial membership and she got nasty with us when we again said no.

    We then get our voucher for our "FREE" trip. This requires us sending the form along with a self-addressed envelope which we do. Now we have to send another voucher along with $4.95 to another address to get our vacation registration package. From what I can tell, there will be a $99 per person processing fee, another $100 non-refundable fee along with taxes and port charges for the cruise which total $192 for a couple. So our "Free" cruise is now costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $500. I would have had no issue if what they said was true and we would only be responsible for $192 in taxes and fees but then they pile on all this additional crap. So they wasted 2 hours of my time and they want me to give them $6000 without knowing a single thing about them or how they operate. TRY AGAIN.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 2, 2013

    This is in reference to a charge of $20 that has been charged for incorrectly reserving the wrong city: I asked for a full refund and only got a cancellation of the rental, no confirmation has been received of this confirmation number **. This is in reference to Owner ID # **; my name is below. On Wednesday, the 31st of July, at 9:55 am, I canceled a car rental, #** that was reserved on Lihue, because we were not able to get a flight. I asked for a reservation for Honolulu for the same time. As you can see on Confirmation ** you reserved for the same city I had canceled. And did not get my reservation for Honolulu.

    I pointed this out to your customer service person by the name of Sabian, Ext # **, and he refused to listen to me and still charged me the $20 for a service that was not done completely. He said I could complain if I wanted to but I would still be charged. Now, as a result, I went directly into the counter at Budget and they were very kind and extended my rental for the time needed at the same rate. The person that took the reservation for #** said I could not do that and insisted that I have do to what I did and so I reluctantly gave my credit card for # **, and now I have to pay your $20 fee for services that I did not receive.

    On another note, to try to get this corrected by phone, I spent over an hour, with hold times as long as 20 minutes, and got cut off 4 times. I gave my number to a guy by the name of Johnny to call me back if I got cut off, and when I got cut off again, he never called me back. That's my story and the facts back this up and hope someone gets this email as this is the only way have to communicate since your phone system does not work. This is a great way to have a vacation trying to correct things. Hope to hear from you soon. ON ANOTHER NOTE: HAVE NO ISSUES WITH RCI ITSEL.. Just the Travel.

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    Price

    Reviewed July 22, 2013

    RCI/Wyndham on an online exchange disables the ability to exchange without buying their $49 buying power guarantee. We tried on two computers to book without this fee, but the confirm without the fee button is locked out. Amazingly, we could book the week with the fee. They are getting so greedy with charging fees for everything and increasing them all the time. Meanwhile they put no inventory out for exchange but you could rent a good week for a big dollar amount. Stop giving your week to them and find other options!

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    Staff

    Reviewed July 9, 2013

    So here's a good one I'm trading from a different timeshare to stay at an RCI resort in Hawaii. I asked RCI about availability next spring in Hawaii, and they said they could not check for me until I joined RCI. So I paid them and joined RCI, and they checked and surprise! Nothing was available! Now I'm an unhappy member of RCI with no place to stay in Hawaii, or Mexico where our original timeshare was. Do not trade your timeshare with these people. Sell it or rent it on Craigslist. You'll be treated like a second-class citizen. I fell victim to a clever ruse as a result of a standoff but will not happen again!

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPriceStaff

    Reviewed June 19, 2013

    I've been an RCI member for nearly 25 years. Each time I've used their travel service, I've been disappointed. Each time, I swear "this is the last time" and each time some deal sucks me in. They once booked myself and my now ex-wife into a room so bad in Hawaii she wouldn't sit on anything in the room. The window of the ocean view was about 6in wide by 30in tall and too dirty to actually see through. Wouldn't have matter since what was advertised as ocean view was several blocks, in a horrible neighborhood, from the beach. The room and the entire hotel, at that time an "Outrigger" since sold to another company, was simply unbelievably awful. The sheets had not been changed and were stained with various bodily fluids. I looked under the bed and found various "adult items."

    I did a walk through of the bath/kitchen (who would combine these areas?) and found burn marks on the stove where junkies had heated up spoons and knives to cook their "rigs." When I first saw the burn marks I wasn't convinced that was the purpose but the sign on the mirror instructing "hotel guest" on the proper disposal methods for their "used syringes." I called RCI travel and was told I'd been given a "no refund rate" and they'd not had any customers complain about the property. I spent an hour on the phone and after getting a supervisor, I was told I'd have to submit photos and a letter explaining why I wanted a refund. She did offer to book me into another property and I told her, "Fine, if you refund or apply the cost of what I paid for this hell hole." "Oh, no I can't do that until we review the complaint and pictures you submit." I declined and we left.

    As we walked through the lobby, a manager approached and asked if I was Mr. **. "Yes, why?" "Well, I just got a call saying you had some problems with your room?" I politely told him the entire property was horrible and more suited to junkies and prostitutes than families. He asked, "Why would you say that?" I told him, "For one, you have sign in the room telling junkies how to dispose of their needles." His response was "We get a lot of diabetics here." Right, diabetics who have no idea how to throw out their needles safely. We took a taxi to the Sheraton on the beach. When we told the desk staff the story of our experience at the Outrigger and RCI travel, the manager came out and said, "Wow, just stay out of that end of town all together and never use RCI. Don't even think we deal them with anymore." She told us room rates were $195 a night but since we were having a bad trip, she could offer us a suite with a view of "Diamondhead" for the same rate. We ended up with a great two-room suite that was just fantastic. I've been a Sheraton, Starwood customer since.

    Okay, on to the most recent ** experience with RCI travel. Myself and a group of three other friends were planning a getaway to Florida for two weeks this July/Aug and we were having trouble finding what we considered reasonable airfare. I had an RCI magazine on my coffee table and my friend’s wife stated, "Hey, it says here they promise the best airfares. Let's try them." I told them I'd had several bad experiences with RCI travel and with RCI timeshare trading but since we'd checked all the usual suspects, I agreed to log on and see what they offered. Entered our dates and came back with a price that was about $25 per person less than the best price on JetBlue. I heard, "Oh, let's do that. It'll save the four of us a total of $100." I sighed and went along but something told me I'd regret it... and I was right.

    I entered all our names, passports, DOB's etc. and my CC #. After several minutes of "processing," the screen showed a reservation complete with seat numbers and total price. Everything seemed fine. A few moments later, I got an email with the same confirmation info. About two weeks later, I logged onto my CC account for a completely other matter and noticed I was never charged for the flight. I'd collected the funds from my friends to pay me to use my CC. I called RCI and asked why my card wasn't charged. At first, I was told the reservation didn't go through, it failed. I asked, "If that's the case, why do I have a confirmation number and e-mail?" "Oh, yeah it does show that. Let me take a look... Yes, it looks like you chose seats that should have cost more money but the system didn't charge you for them and that probably caused the system to reject the reservation. Anyway, I can re book your flight at no extra cost."

    The agent went down the list of all my friends' names, ID #, DOB's, etc., the dates we wanted to fly and then said, "Okay, now JetBlue has upped the price a couple hundred dollars so you'll have to pay that extra amount. Do you want to use the same CC?" "Umm, you told me no extra cost?" "Yes, RCI isn't charging you more for this personalized service, Jet Blue has changed their price." "So since your system failed and gave me a confirmed reservation but didn't actually buy the tickets you said you had, you want me to pay the additional amount." I asked to speak to a supervisor and I spent over an hour on the phone. The result was "Email me a copy of the email with your confirmation on it and I'll call JetBlue and see if they'll honor the price you were first quoted but really this is your fault since you didn't notice you weren't charged for over two weeks." "It's my fault your system failed?" Okay, sure if you say so. I waited a day and a half and simply called JetBlue myself and they gave me the same flights and dates for nearly the same price. I think we ended up paying another $44 bucks. I have yet to hear back from RCI and hope I don't.

    I happen to like my home resort and only belong to RCI to trade timeshare weeks. That too has just become a complete joke anymore. I can only find "all-inclusive" resorts to trade into. I have yet to find a week I can trade my two-bedroom red week into for less, then I can simply log onto Orbitz and buy the week outright for RCI's "all-inclusive rates." Same thing with trading weeks for cruises. I recently called to see if I could trade a week for a cruise... "Sure, give us the week and $795 per person and we'll get you an upgraded ocean view cabin." I called the cruise line and asked about a quote for an "ocean view cabin" for the exact ship/cruise/week and they quoted me a price of $595 per person. I have about two weeks left to trade with them and will try to use them before my RCI membership expires next year. When it expires, I'm done with RCI and will just spend a week a year at my home resort. If I can the weeks I have before then fine, if not I'll just let them go. Dealing with RCI anymore is not worth the massive headache. RCI is a joke and rip off any more. Avoid them at all costs. Even if it sounds like you're getting a deal, you're likely be sorry if you deal with them.

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    RCI
    Response from RCI

    Hi Steven, we came across your post and wanted to offer our assistance. Can you please email us at talktous@rci.com? Be sure to include your membership number.

    Kathleen M., RCI Customer Care

    Customer Service

    Reviewed June 1, 2013

    On a stay in Weston, FL, we had to give them a $20 cash deposit for we were told would be a free breakfast. But when we got to the "free breakfast," it turned out they wanted to sell us crap. Surprise! We immediately told them that we were intelligent and didn't want to buy anything, and that we wanted our money back. They said they couldn't issue refund and that we'd have to go back to the registration building to get the money. When we went there, they said they couldn't issue refund. Thus began a 2-mont journey of runarounds, unreturned calls and fake "the check's in the mail" notices. All over 20 freaking dollars!!!

    P.S. The resort room was awful too. The A/C didn't reach the bedroom; the queen bed was awful; and we had to listen to the elevator running ALL NIGHT long.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed May 15, 2013

    I have been a member with RCI for almost 10 years. I deposited my week late this year online. I was told online that it was deposited and I only had 8 points to my credit because I deposited late. That was okay because there was still almost 3 weeks to go. I went through with the transaction and it told me when I click that I'll lose my week. I clicked and thought the week was gone. Now when I went to book for later, I was told that they have no record of my canceling. I cannot find my email where it says I deposited my week and have a year to transfer. I called RCI to ask why my 8 points were not showing. I was told they never got it. I did have an email, but must have deleted it.

    I am now out a week's vacation after paying the charges on the timeshare. Please be aware that RCI can do this to people and you have no recourse but to lose a week due to their incompetence. Check and recheck. Do not trust them. I know next time I will print out all cancellations from them because of what happened.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed May 13, 2013

    I requested a refund for May 9, 10, 11th, 2013 for a motel I made reservations for my mom and sister for Mother's Day weekend. When they arrived on May 9, 2013 at midnight Phoenix, Arizona time to Knights Inn motel in Mesa, as they entered their rooms, there were cockroaches running on the walls, carpet, in the tub and on the bedroom floor. It is unacceptable to expose my mother who has chronic cough and cannot expose this to her kids too. Here's a list of what was unacceptable at Knights Inn motel. The pool was murky, green and dirty. There was no continental breakfast as it says on amenities. It's infested with cockroaches. Customer service was poor.

    On May 10, 2013, I called RCI Travels and asked for a refund so that we can use the money for another motel. RCI Travel representative's suggestion was to call the motel and take it up with them. So I called the motel the first thing in the morning and spoke to the manager and he said to call RCI because they are the ones who would make the refund, etc. I wanted to protect my mother and prevent bringing home cockroaches so they left the motel and made other reservations elsewhere. I wanted to alleviate any unhappy experience for my family at that point. My nieces refused to bring their bags into the room and refused to take a shower. I have pictures of the cockroaches and the murky pool as evidences. Please feel free to call me or email me for any questions. Also I've been a member of RCI since 1998. Please I would like a refund.

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    Staff

    Reviewed May 6, 2013

    Don't ever give up your home week for RCI points. We were convinced by the representative at the Quarter House in New Orleans to upgrade to the RCI points system. We have been with Interval and were told that they were on the way out, and the points system was a much better program. What a load of crap. Not only have we never been able to find anything to exchange for points, but RCI hijacked our home week because we did not notify them 13 months in advance that we were going to use our home weeks. We had notified the Quarter House that we did not want to exchange our weeks when we paid our maintenance fees, but have now been informed that because we had not notified RCI, they are forced to release our unit to their point program.

    RCI does not have anything to exchange for so we appeared to be out of luck. We have asked to cancel with RCI and were informed that we are shut with them until 2015. I guess we missed that fine print. We are finding out that the only way these big companies can stay in business is to trap consumers in fine print. Buyer beware.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed May 3, 2013

    They are horrible and rude. They don't care about you, your situation, or what you want. Very upset with their service and how they speak to you on the phone. They talk over you when you are trying to talk and they don't listen to a word you say.

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    Sales & MarketingPriceStaff

    Reviewed April 15, 2013

    My wife and I bought into the Coral Resorts points program on 6/21/08 at a price of $15,000.00. We were verbally misled in regard to the benefits by our salesperson Paul **. Let me re phrase "misled" and say we were lied to by Mr. **. This in our opinion constitutes fraud in sales! Mr. ** told us, very plainly, that we had one free week at Coral Resorts in Hilton Head every year and if we chose not to use this week, that Coral Resorts would rent it for us and we would net approximately $1,400.00 after deducting the prorated maintenance fee. Based on this info, we purchased the Points Program. We were lied to! Mr. ** denied saying this, but he did and we accepted this as fact! We confirmed this with Mr. ** three times during this conversation.

    Mr. ** has been fired. But I am still chained to the RCI points program! So will my children and grandchildren! We have on multiple occasions for 4 1/2 years to book vacations, but the place we wanted would not be available and the options had terrible reviews by other Points Members. We have accepted the fact that our $15,000.00 is gone! How can the Attorney General of South Carolina let this company continue this scam?

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    PriceStaff

    Reviewed April 8, 2013

    While vacationing in Las Vegas, NV, my girlfriend and I were walking in front of Treasure Island and approached by a salesman. He offered us a choice of three awesome shows and $100 to use at a local casino. We chose the Cirque Du Soleil because we've heard they are a very good performance show. I was told that tickets normally run from $69 to $119 per ticket depending on your seat location. He told us that he would give us a deal on the prices. All we had to do was pay $25 each for the tickets, and take a tour of a new hotel suite/casino that was located a short drive away. Not only that, they even promised us a free lunch buffet. We were even offered a free shuttle to this hotel/casino. It couldn't get any better than that so we agreed. One of his other co-workers showed us to a shuttle bus along with a few other people.

    Little did we know that this hotel/casino was not even located on the strip but miles away from it. We arrived at a very large and impressive Grandview at Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Upon arriving, we were given name tags and greeted by a friendly host. She led us upstairs to their buffet that was nothing more than cold cut sandwiches, fruit, pastries, juice, etc. Hardly my idea of a lunch buffet, but it was free. After that, we were led into a room for a presentation. We were told that this would last about 1 1/2 to 2 hours at the most, and at the end, we didn't have to purchase anything. Purchase anything? This had me a bit worried, but what the heck. We gave it a shot. A lady entered, and gave a nice background of herself, a presentation of what the company was, and what they are known for - vacation timeshares.

    After hearing that dreadful "T" word, I wanted to get up right there and leave the room. My girlfriend told me to just relax and see what they have to say. After that ordeal was over, our host gave us a tour of the property. And yes, it was a very impressive 5-star hotel and casino. After that, our host led us to a table, and we were offered the chance to buy into their timeshare. We simply told her no, but she again offered more reasonable prices to suit our budget. I told her that we were not interested in purchasing a timeshare. She excused herself for a brief moment and returned with her manager. Once more, he tries to coax us into buying this timeshare and even cuts the price down even more. He asks us why we didn't want to buy, and we told him that we just weren't interested in it. He asks us, "Well, why did you come here?" I told him because we were offered a deal on tickets to a show, and the guys on the strip never told us once that this was about a timeshare. The once friendly host that we had changed her cheerful expression to disappointment. I thought to myself, "Look lady, you told us in the beginning that we don't have to pay a dime." Well after much more haggling, he finally said okay, shook our hands and then we were led downstairs into another room.

    Just as before, we are greeted by another manager and given one last chance to buy into their timeshare. We told her no and that we'd need some time to consider it. She told us that this offer is no longer valid after this day. What a crock of doo, I thought to myself. So finally, she gave us a handshake and led us into another room full of bewildered, upset, and annoyed people. Did these people also get this same ordeal? Why are we being treated as if we've wasted their time? So pretty much, we got an indirect way of them giving us the boot. Oh, and the 1 ½ to 2 hours had now gone on to be 3 1/2 hours! The shuttle came and gave us all a ride back to our original locations. I wanted to find that salesman and explain to him that he should be more honest with people. He had already left, and another salesperson was luring more innocent people in. In the end, did we get suckered? Yes, kind of. We lost a good 3 1/2 portion of our trip dealing with RCI. But hey, at least we got to see our show, and we got the $100 casino cash.

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    Customer ServiceProcess

    Reviewed April 3, 2013

    I have been a paying member of RCI for over 20 years. During this time, I have been very frustrated with the process of booking my home weeks. I own a quarter share in Hilton Head which is 12 weeks a year. I should be able to book my weeks online. Many times when I have tried, I get the message that I have to call them as there is a problem with my account.

    Today, I spent 40 minutes on the phone trying to book some of my weeks and was unable to. I was told that they would fix the problem in 24 hours and contact me. I will probably have to call them again and who knows who I will get on the phone this time? I wonder what country they are based in, as I never get someone without an accent of some kind. This maybe the last straw and I will cancel my membership. The only reason that I have kept it, is that I have used my points to go to other areas and have had good results with that. It seems that if they get money, then it works. When I am trying to get my own weeks back, there are problems.

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    Reviewed March 31, 2013

    We attended the timeshare presentation at the Grandview in Las Vegas. After busing us in from the strip and chatting with us for over an hour, the rep learned that our vacation interests were geared more towards adventure tours and backpacking. So she got up and left the table saying she was wasting her time. The manager then came over and said we did not qualify for our free show tickets because we weren't there for the mandatory three hours! We were lucky to get a ride back to the strip. It doesn't really matter because we would never spend $18,000 without researching a company first and after reading these reviews, I am glad it worked out the way it did. Based on the way we were treated at the presentation, I tend to believe the negative comments posted here.

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    Staff

    Reviewed March 28, 2013

    I paid $17,000 and $23,500 for two RCI resorts. You are restricted in so much as you have to bank time with RCI. There was one resort I was not pleased with so I banked with RCI yearly. There have been several times as a timeshare owner that I could not get into an RCI resort but non-members could. This time, Expedia, Orbitz, Diviresorts.com and Divi Pheonix of Aruba itself had many, many rooms for April 6 - 10. However, RCI had nothing for me during that period. For all the above companies, I would have to pay more cash on top of my yearly dues ($3,425) to stay during those 4 days. You see, if I left on April 6th, I would have to pay American Airlines $1,000 more. So, what I ended up having to do was put up in a bed and breakfast on the other side of the airport and spent an additional $600. Today, I find out I am spending my last 4 days in the seedy side of town. Oh joy! I am going to find a way around using RCI as a banking company. I am so heated. I will complain on any internet site I can find. They have screwed with the wrong person!

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed March 26, 2013

    I have gone over this so many times by phone and reports. I really do not think your company cares. To have the attitude of "What do you expect us to do, not our fault" is a very poor and sad one. I myself have owned and operated restaurants for twenty five years and I would never have said that to an unhappy customer. Why does RCI or Pueblo Bonito think that it is okay to give separate individuals a two-bedroom to share instead of two separate executive suites that they paid for, so each person has their own kitchen, own living room, own balcony. I could have upgraded for much less for that.

    Do the math: 1 executive 1 bed, 2 bath,1 LV room,1 kitchen, balcony = $850/year maintenance; 1 president 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 LV room,1 kitchen, balcony. Why would I want to share a living room, kitchen and balcony and only have one bathroom and pay two exchange fees? Retrain your staff on public relations and offer compensation. What are we paying for?

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    Contract & TermsSales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed March 26, 2013

    We got lured into a timeshare meeting at the Grandview Resort in LV. Knowing that we will not return to Vegas for at least 6-8 years, we are not interested in purchasing it. The saleslady told us that we can join RCI which will allow us to exchange our timeshare to many different way of traveling, including choices of their 4,000+ resort worldwide, cruise, all-inclusive resort, airfare, etc. We thought that may work for us, so we purchased the timeshare and joined the RCI Point Membership. But after spending one month trying to use my points to book our vacations, everything would cost more than I booked it at Expedia.

    For cruise, I will have to use 40,000 points (costs about $400) plus additional $6,000.00 for my family of 4 on a Hawaii cruise in August. I ended up booking it with Expedia and it only cost us $5,000.00. Everything from airfare, hotel to all-inclusive, you can easily find better deal online than book through RCI. It is a big scam. I only joined them in December 2012 and I have not used their services so far. I asked to cancel my membership since I have not received the membership bill. They sent us a contract saying that if I cancel it, all our points for the whole year will be lost. Now I am stuck with them and no way out. It is a terrible scam.

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    Reviewed March 14, 2013

    RCI recently created a "trading power" system and forced it on those of us who have been with them for years! This new system is really a bunch of crap! When we first bought our timeshare, it was the "red" most valuable easiest to trade! This was explained to us because it is located in Hawaii, and it is a 2-bedroom. Now, because of this new trading power, they are telling me it is not as valuable and I don't have an easy time getting anywhere! Also in the last 6 years, RCI has not gotten us a place where we searched, and we had to settle for a different location! Please let me know when there is a class action lawsuit! I will be in on it!

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed Feb. 22, 2013

    I purchased timeshares from RCI and was told I would have an additional "Developers Week" to use any time during the year; it would be free as long as it was used at the home resort of Hilton Head. I would only have to pay a small maintenance fee. When I tried to call to schedule a week vacation for my family, they told me the maintenance fee would be almost $1,500.00. I told the person I was speaking with that wasn't correct and the week was supposed to be free. Her response was that it was free, and the $1,500 was for maintenance. I tried to explain to her this was not free, and I could get a hotel room for this process; there was no advantage to having this developer week. Then when I tried to use my points, they told me they had no availability for point usage.

    This is a complete scam. I would be better off simply vacationing where I wanted. I have yet to be able to use the package I paid for. RCI and Coral Resorts are a scam. Do not do business with these people. They will deceive you or simply not answer your questions or requests for information.

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed Feb. 2, 2013

    Today, I had 2 experiences with RCI. The first was fantastic and the other one dreadful. I am taking care of my mother-in-law’s affairs at the moment. She broke her hip and is just back from rehab and trying to sort through some things. One of those things is her RCI stuff. She realized that this was February and she would lose a week if not used. With her moving from here to there, she realized she did not have her RCI info or book. A year or 2 ago, I contacted RCI and made arrangements for her. I was told my name should be on the account so I could help her with her dealings. I set her up online for me to access with/for her.

    My mother-in-law was worried about her weeks that were expiring and asked that we use the week and if not, she asked if I could talk to someone for her at RCI. I phoned this morning and spoke to the nicest person I have ever dealt with at RCI. She told me I could combine the weeks, which I did. I gave her my credit card to pay the $109.00. She explained how everything worked and helped explain depositing/banking weeks and how trading power worked. It was an eye opener, and I was very, very grateful. I really appreciated the information I was given to help her. I rang my mother-in-law and proceeded to book her a few vacations. So, we are booked, and I paid for them online. It was great since she hasn't used the RCI resorts for years. So now, she has a few things to look forward to.

    I talked to her about depositing the rest of her 2014/2015 weeks for the trading power, and she just told me to go ahead and take care of it; which I did online. I came to the Interval and Starting Date and was a bit confused. I thought I knew that interval, but was not sure so thought I’d ring back to confirm. I made the mistake of phoning RCI back. This is where I encountered who I am calling, Beth. She immediately told me that she could not talk to me. I told her that I was listed on the account as her daughter-in-law and that she should be able to talk to me. I asked her if she had checked the computer. She said no and that I was not my mother-in-law so she could not talk to me. I told her what had transpired earlier and that I just wanted to know the interval week. She said call the resort. I asked how I was able to deposit over the phone earlier and she said they must have looked it up. I asked her if she could look it up. She said no as she was not allowed to talk. Well, you get the picture.

    She put me on hold for quite awhile and came back to tell me that my mother-in-law would have to pay $149.00 so that I would be a guest and be able to discuss matters with me for a 5 year period. Yes, my name was on the account as daughter-in-law, but that was previously; and my mother-in-law had paid something for that. This sounds like a bit of a scam, but I guess that is their policy. I imagine there are a lot of aging members and they can make quite a few dollars when the family member can't handle their own matters. Nice one RCI. She then told me the other person was new and was not allowed to speak to me. What a shame. I certainly hope that this person does not get in any trouble. It was a great start to my morning and I enjoyed chatting with her; she was extremely informative.

    What a horrible experience it was with Beth. I will never call back if there is a 50/50 chance that you will get someone with no people skills. She should have looked up the account and she would have found my name; and explain that she was sorry. But here is the issue, I would have still been angry because an 87-year-old woman has to pay $149.00 so that her daughter-in-law could discuss minor, minor, minor issues with them; but this would not have reflected on the customer service representative. Anyway, just my 2 cents. I had to vent somewhere so here it is.

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    Customer ServiceSales & Marketing

    Reviewed Jan. 28, 2013

    On or around October 30, 2012, I was contacted by Rory (866-707-8411, ext. **) from RCI Cruiser vacations. He told me that I could buy a 7-10 night cruise for two people for $1799, which is a $500 savings. If I purchased this cruise, I would also get a 7-night resort stay (I could choose from over 600 resorts) and a bonus 3-day hotel stay for two and $150 to offset upgrades on the cruise. Rory's supervisor, Adam, confirmed the deal and told me to wait until January/February, wave season, to book since I was interested in upgrading to an aft or mini suite. We went through the pricing on a cruise that I would want to take and I was told the balcony was not an upgrade so I wouldn't have to pay more but if I wanted the mini suite, it would be $499 per person and $549 per person if I wanted an aft. As it was explained to me, I thought it was a good deal so I bought two.

    On January 25, 2013, I called RCI Cruise (866-707-8412) to redeem and book a cruise. Lo and behold, to my surprise, the balcony upgrade was $639 per person. I was flabbergasted. I said no, that can't be right. That is more than what NCL is charging on their website and I was told I was getting a $500 savings. Monica told me the upgrade price was non-negotiable. NCL is offering a balcony room for $1,319 person or $2,638 for two. I had already paid $1,799 for the cruise and now she was telling me I had to pay an additional $1,278, that's $3,077. That's $439 more through RCI for the same cruise I could get on NCL for $2,638. Where's my $500 savings? I told her that this is false advertising and I was misled into thinking I was receiving a savings when in all actuality, I am now paying more. I told her I wanted to cancel both the cruise vouchers and get my money back. She put me on hold for half an hour (I'm sure in hopes that I would hang up) and then transferred me to Chris at ext. **. I am not sure who Chris was, maybe her supervisor.

    I went through the explanations again and he said that I had purchased a vacation package that included a cruise and a resort/hotel stay. I told him I purchased a cruise that had add-ons of a resort stay. He said the cruise was valued at $1,150 and the resort stay was valued at $750, and that is why I think I am paying more for the cruise but I am not because I am also paying for the resort stay. I told him that wasn't the way it was explained to me and this is the first I have been told about the breakdown. I was misled into thinking I was purchasing a discounted cruise and getting a free land vacation for purchasing it now. I told him I would like my money back. He told me it is past the 10 days from purchase date so I do not get a refund. So now, I am reporting these deception practices to the FTC and the BBB in hopes that an investigation takes place. I already have a timeshare. Why in the world would I purchase two resort stays? I purchased two cruises and the resort stays were included for free. I truly hope all my conversations with these people were taped. If anyone else is running into this issue, please report it to the FTC and the BBB. Thank you.

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    Price

    Reviewed Jan. 27, 2013

    I am so fed up with the new system of point value for a unit. When we purchased our timeshare for $15,000 in Virginia, one of the perks was that we could exchange our unit (a 2-bedroom fixed Red Week) for a like unit. Since RCI has put an outrageous point scale on their 2-bedroom units anywhere, it forces us to deposit 2-3 years' worth of vacations for one of my Gold Crown weeks. I have recently tried for several months to get a 2-bedroom unit for a wedding in Orlando and all I can get is a one-bedroom partial kitchen unit for a 17-31 point value. I would be forced to pay my maintenance and taxes for 2 years in advance and pay an exchange fee of $300 to get this unit and then I'd have to pay $109 to combine the points. Never before in my 30 vacations with RCI have I had such an experience. I have stayed in 2- and 3-bedroom units in Orlando at peak times for the agreed exchange price they pitched to me at the sales promo. But now my 2-bedroom unit at a Gold Crown Resort is worth nothing! Time for a class action suit?

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Jan. 26, 2013

    I have never been so angry about anything like this in my entire life. My dad, who is the one of the best and nicest people I have ever met in my life, nicely offered to let me and my fiance book our honeymoon through his timeshare - which is Holiday Inn club points. The reason he offered this and wanted us to do it in the first place was because he and my mom had not booked a single vacation through them in about 5 years. Now I know why! When I booked through them, they first charged me a transaction fee of $200. Then they charged me an additional $60 for checking in as the person who doesn't own the timeshare. After eating these costs and booking two separate hotels for a week each (total of $520), they had an additional all-inclusive fee that I would have to pay. Make sure to check these fees carefully as one of them was $380 per person per night.

    When you book a room like this for two people for a week, this comes to a total of $5,320. Then when I called to confirm this amount, they told us actually it was more than this since we had booked a room that could accommodate four adults, so it would actually cost $10,640 for the all-inclusive fees. Mind you, according to the lady on the phone, this was a special RCI deal. When we looked at booking a week at this hotel for ourselves through our own money, it was actually cheaper, but the lady on the phone couldn't tell us anything about that. On top of this, when we realized it and cancelled our reservation, they took our transaction fees.

    Since we were planning to stay at this hotel for the second week of our honeymoon, we then attempted to book the same hotel that we are going to stay at for the first week for an additional week. They initially said yes and took my credit card information. After I asked if there would be that additional $60 fee on top of the original $200 fee, she said, "Oh yeah, there will be since you're not your dad." Following this and putting me on hold for another 15 minutes (this about 45 minutes into this call), she finally told me, "We can't book this hotel for two weeks in a row. Sorry!" After this I finally hung up and I'm hoping that they didn't charge me for the room that I wasn't allowed to book. Good news is that I'll get to find out about a month from now on my credit card statement. Yay RCI!

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPriceStaff

    Reviewed Jan. 8, 2013

    They have not cooperated in accordance to the terms agreed upon when the purchase was made. I requested they review their tapes of the conversation but they said they do not keep the recorded conversations after so many weeks. They continually ask for more money to book what they said was included in the purchase price. They do not return phone calls. They continually pass me along to other people, but no one will work with me on making good on their promises. I would like to join a class action lawsuit if anyone has started one or find out how many others would be willing to join me if I start one myself. I also have currently stopped payment on the monthly charges but was required to cancel my debit card in order to do this. Now, I have to contact all of my monthly bill payees and set up my accounts again. This is another learning lesson for me!

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    Price

    Reviewed Jan. 5, 2013

    The nonsense and ripoffs don't stop even after you've finished paying for the timeshare. There are so many extra fees, rules change constantly, and RCI is always looking for a way to cheat you out of your already paid for week, so they can offer it up to some other sucker for more money! If you have access to the website and are a member, you know that when you go to book a vacation that it's slim pickings! But look on the section where you can "buy" more vacation weeks, and lo and behold, that's where all the availability is, where you have to spend more money.

    I have been cheated out of two weeks (one per year) by RCI, and I've had enough. Then on top of all the fees, I have to do battle just to resolve everything before I can use a paid for week. I spend so much time and aggravation; it is not worth it at all. The last straw was when I booked a week, they withdrew it because their technology screwed up, and they didn't notify me that they withdrew it. Had I not gone onto the website for something else, I would have shown up in another country, with no place to stay! I think with spending $15-20k on the timeshare, then the annual fees that add up to close to $1000, you should at the very least get what you are paying for.

    There are better vacation choices to be had elsewhere and at a much more reasonable cost. Oh yeah, they still haven't refunded my money for the vacation that I booked (another $250 to book it) and that they withdrew. It's absolute crookery! It is time for a class action lawsuit to help RCI understand fairness, customer service and giving people what they pay for!

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    Sales & Marketing

    Reviewed Dec. 31, 2012

    In August 2010, we were quoted a price for a cruise and paid as agreed. When we tried to book the cruise, then they told us about the extra $350 per person! Seriously, isn't there a class action suit regarding this scam?

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 21, 2012

    The company has processed an unauthorized bank debit. I have a letter from RCI dated 10/21/2012 wherein they state my full name, address, my account numbers and a message "Thank you for your recent subscription renewal payment" - $267.00 was paid to RCI to extend membership. Problem is, I was not due to expire. I did not approve any payments. When I called 877-call-rci and asked about this issue, I was told, "It was extended in error." When I asked to escalate the problem and file a complaint, he gave me his supervisor (Tim, I think) who said "No such thing happened! There is no activity on your account since 2/12." Then he said there was nothing he could do about it - he had no knowledge of any letter or payment. I said I wanted to speak to his supervisor who he said was not there.

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed Dec. 20, 2012

    Telephone call scam - I received a call from RCI about a special for their Cancun resort recently. After listening for 10 minutes about all the details (because the girl refused to go "off script" and just answer my questions about cost, airfare, etc.), I got to the details about price, holding the reservation, and how I would know that my down payment would be guaranteed. This was when the operator who worked for RCI began to get very flustered, fumbled for words, asked me over and over whether I was interested, and treated me like I was making insane requests by asking about the legitimacy of the offer. Although I had listened to her speech and followed her script, and even though I was only asking questions that any consumer would ask before turning over their credit card number, the girl finally just hung up because she was not willing to give me any specifics.

    Clearly, either RCI needs to hire some better people to make their calls, or this company is basically just a poorly-organized operation that borders on old-fashioned scamming techniques. Either way, I won't be willing to listen to or travel to any of their properties, and I would encourage any other consumer who is considering dealing with such a shady operation to take their business and money elsewhere.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 19, 2012

    We (two couples) booked a cheap flight to Aruba in November and found a place in our budget, 1000 dollars a week that sleeps 4. We recently found a place through my parents' RCI timeshare which would save us 800 dollars. On the RCI page, it was never clearly explained that it was mandatory, all inclusive. I checked the resort which clearly states that they have both an all-inclusive option and non-all-inclusive option. Considering the room I booked had a full kitchen and no fees came up upon booking, I figured I was safe. Also why would I need a full kitchen in an all inclusive resort? (Sunday)

    RCI called my Dad to collect a "gift" fee and confirmed with him that the room I booked was non-all-inclusive (as he was worried and she made it abundantly clear that it was non-all-inclusive. Also he wanted to get me a gift card to a nice Aruba restaurant for Xmas) so I proceeded the cancel my current accommodations (Monday).

    The next day we got an email from the hotel stating we owe $5200 in all inclusive fees as they are mandatory. RCI claims I agreed to these terms and conditions. Despite the confirmation phone call, it was my fault. In short, does anyone have room for 4 in Aruba this New Year's? Seriously, I understand these things happen and the girl on the phone missed a minor (huge) detail but because she did, I cancelled my accommodations and RCI as a company is taking no ownership of their own mistake. On top of this all, it has been causing an enormous amount of stress for my father in his 60s as he feels responsible as he relayed the message that RCI said it was non-all-inclusive and we were good to go. My stress is now to find a new place to stay for close to 1000 dollars in Aruba with less than 7 days' notice.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Dec. 19, 2012

    I signed up for a trial membership with El Cid Resorts. They pressured us forever, and we finally agreed to try it out. They showed us a three-bedroom overlooking the beach, and then when we called, they said that room was not available unless we paid significantly more. Then I tried to schedule our trip for one of two weeks in February 2013 (I called in November 2012), and I was told there are no rooms available until the last week of April. Conveniently enough for them, our 2-year trial period ends April 30th. They refuse to refund our money because they say we need to pick other dates, but there are no other dates available for us.

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    Reviewed Dec. 18, 2012

    We own a week at Sedona Pines Resort in Arizona. Unfortunately, they automatically deposited our week with RCI. We just wanted to use our week at our home resort and had paid all of our maintenance fees up to date. So, we decided to cancel our RCI membership to keep from paying a yearly RCI membership fee and an exchange fee. We were told when we called RCI that we "might" get our points transferred back to our home resort when we cancel. Well, we have canceled, and now all of our points that we had on deposit are gone and we don't get to use our time anywhere! The only way we can use our points is to pay another $300+ to RCI for one week and reinstate our membership, and get on the same rip-off merry-go-round we just got off of! Ripped off for over 2 years of points! Do not do business with RCI if you have a choice! They are a rip-off and you will get sucked into yearly membership and exchange fees that continue to go up and up with nothing to show for it!

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    Sales & Marketing

    Reviewed Dec. 11, 2012

    I recently tried to make an exchange and found that our Red Week (Most Valuable week) in a Gold Crown Resort was now only worth 14 points. If we wanted to trade to almost anywhere, we would have to give up two weeks to receive one week's vacation. I would have to give up two years’ worth of timeshare power for a one-week vacation. This is not what I signed up for when I bought my timeshare at $10,000. RCI has changed the rules of the game that is a bait and switch over the years. What recourse do I have?

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    Reviewed Dec. 6, 2012

    I recently tried to make an exchange and found that our 5 star resort was now only worth 14 points. If we wanted to trade to almost anywhere, we would have to give up two weeks to receive one week's vacation. This is not what RCI should be all about. I would have to give up two years worth of timeshare power for one week. What goes?

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 5, 2012

    I received a recorded message to my cell phone from RCI claiming a friend entered my name into a contest and I have won air travel for four adults, plus numerous amenities, to Cancun. Intuiting this was a scam after being switched to a live agent confirming I am over 25 and have a credit card, I grilled him to get to the point, refusing to hear his sales pitch. Had I won tickets or not? The CSR eventually admitted this was an RCI promotional offer. When I proclaimed their message was false advertising (to say I "had won" a contest, when this was simply a promotional offer) and stated I would contact the FCC, he hung up on me. RCI's local to Portland, Oregon phone number is: 503-427-7493. My cell number is registered on the Government Do Not Call List.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 28, 2012

    I booked a hotel through RCI travel club while traveling through New Orleans, Louisiana because every hotel that I called at that time was full. They (RCI) did find a hotel, the Wyndham hotel, $157.00 per night. We went through their rules and regulations and I agreed. Several hours later, I needed to cancel the reservation due to an extreme emergency. I tried to call RCI back the same date, only 5 hours later, which was Friday. Monday, they answered at the same number. I was told that I could not get a refund the first time because I didn’t call until Monday and that the phone lines were always open. I had other people trying for me to no avail (my word against theirs).

    I am still trying to get my refund this time, weeks later, and I talked to a supervisor. He was very rude, fast talking and only he was doing the talking saying, “As soon as you agree to the rules and regulations, if you call back to cancel, it doesn't matter if it's two minutes later, it's too late” and again they refused my refund. They did give me back booking fee, which was $20.00. If they could give me back my booking fee, they could have refunded my entire amount. It’s better to book it yourself. They are rude and merciless. Someone needs to review their rules. Plain and simple, RCI travel took my money and I received no service.

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    Process

    Reviewed Nov. 27, 2012

    Buyers beware! They are disorganized. The information they give to the customers is not always accurate. There have been a few years where we would get a confirmation for our timeshare spot, only to show up at the resort and not have anything available. Frustrating process - would not go with these guys if you are considering it. Their fees arbitrary go up every year. Smarter way to travel is through vacation swaps and shares - AirBNB, Craigslist.org vacation share, etc. Cheaper and more flexibility.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Nov. 24, 2012

    I booked a week at Alto Mantagua (resort 5482) through RCI. I received confirmation via email with a wonderful welcome notice. Upon my parents' arrival on 11/23/12 (I had also paid for a gift certificate), the resort announced that the place was full and that they had no record of any reservations by RCI under any of our names and my parents were turned away. Do not trust reservations or exchanges done through RCI!

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    Sales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed Nov. 17, 2012

    I have already paid in $1,000.00 through Visa monthly charges and am just now trying to schedule a cruise. The total amount I am to pay is $1,800 for the package which I was going to use to take an Alaskan Cruise. I was told that a cruise & 7-day resort vacation or 3-day hotel stay would be covered by this price. When trying to book the cruise, I found out that there are more charges for port fees and taxes not included in the amount I am already paying. The total amounts to $2,730.00. I called to book on my own through the same cruise line and found that I could get a better cabin, not an inside cabin. I could get a cabin with a window for $400.00 less. When I tried to book the resort vacation in conjunction with the cruise through RCI, I was told that would cost me an extra $95.00 per night at just a hotel. The RCI website stated "no additional charge with your certificate". The salespeople are very misleading and smooth talkers. Beware! Book your own vacation. If there are any class action suits against RCI, please let me know.

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    Price

    Reviewed Nov. 13, 2012

    We purchased the RCI Timeshare through GEVC. We were not told about the hidden fees involved outside of the maintenance fee. There are four types of fees involved when trying to use the RCI points: 1. Annual Maintenance Fee due to GEVC; 2. RCI annual Exchange Fee; 3. RCI Reservation Fee per reservation; 4. Resort Fee/Clean-up fee per stay. After all the fees are paid for the stay, I found it is more expensive to make the reservation using the RCI point than booking it directly through the travel sites online, which makes our RCI points worthless in that sense.

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    Reviewed Nov. 13, 2012

    I was contacted by phone to purchase a RCI Cruise and Vacation Package for $1,900. Do not get involved in this. The package is not what is represented. Additional fees are excessive and availability unbelievably limited. I tried to cancel within 15 days and was denied. I have been a member of RCI for 20 years and have never felt so lied to and cheated.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed Nov. 8, 2012

    RCI Timeshare Vacation Exchange - RCI is a total rip-off! We basically burned the $9,000.00 they got out of us. We literally have nothing to show for it but a bill for maintenance. Everything they promised us was untrue. The day we left Sedona Pines, where we got robbed, they stopped taking our calls. Even the 5 free cruises they threw in as a bonus for payment in full turned out to cost more than booking a cruise ourselves. I was unable to ever get a satisfactory login to the RCI site, and after a year, we have written it off as a total loss. Get the word out to save others. RCI is a total rip-off. Stay away!

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    PriceStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 28, 2012

    Apartment is not suitable, up a very steep hill 20 minutes from reception. It took us twice to try and find it. The male receptionist took in a van and agreed it was not suitable. I spoke to RCI and after waiting 3 hours for an email, we got an apartment at Sunset Beach, as it was fully booked at Playa Real. It cost us 56 euros by taxi there and 45 euros to Sunset so I feel I should be reimbursed not with a voucher, as we shall no longer be joining RCI, would just use our week at Sunset. Playa Real is not 4-star and badly in need of a clean-up outside. I await your prompt reply.

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    Sales & Marketing

    Reviewed Oct. 14, 2012

    This is a scam! I am so upset that my parents got involved in this. The "cruise deals" they can offer is the exact same cruise deals you can get from other places except they still use your points for the "discount" that you can get elsewhere for free! I have been to two condos so far, and both of them are rundown and outdated (!), not to mention the service and yearly fees you have to pay on top of the hefty points packaging. I am telling everyone, you can get better deals on your own! Do not buy RCI! And I really think they target senior citizens to take their money.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 1, 2012

    RCI called me to say I had won a Disney vacation package in 7 days/6nights in Orlando, 4days/3nights in Daytona Beach, and a Bahamas cruise. They said the trip was worth over $3000, and I just needed to provide my Visa credit card expiration date over the phone and for the one-time $287/adult registration fee. It seems like this company is branching out in its scams, not just swindling condo owners out of their condos, as most of the 211 complaints on Consumer Affairs. Their number is 1-289-802-1175. I was called by a "friendly" lady named Darla. When I asked for confirmation information, I was transferred to a closer sort of person, Myla, who repeatedly pressured me to provide my credit card expiration date and said she already had my name, address, and Visa number beginning with 45 (don't they all begin with 45?). I said I wasn't going to provide my credit card information over the phone, and she said it was a one-time opportunity and only 3% of people in the contest were winners (I don't remember entering a contest). I just hang up.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Sept. 30, 2012

    First, we were searching for a time share in Key West a year in advance. Twice, they left messages that they had something. The first time we called them back, we found it was for a year away from what we were searching for?! The second time, we returned their call to find that there was nothing available. So 6 months later, we called them to see if we could get any resort in Florida for that same month of February. Nothing was available! So 4 months out, we called to get a place anywhere in South Carolina. The only thing available was a hotel unit at a resort. This is a poor company! I am a guest too. Never would I suggest RCI to anyone!

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    Punctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 25, 2012

    My August bank week deposit value is lower than a week in the same resort in May. How can this be? The rather irate lady from RCI informed me it was due to my late depositing on the week. She said I should deposit 10 months in advance.

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    Online & App

    Reviewed Sept. 23, 2012

    We have so many hundreds of thousands of points with RCI because their website is useless and you can never book a vacation where you want to go. Also, you can't use many points for other things. They cap how many points you can use for other things like cars and it doesn't provide much savings anyway. You are practically throwing your points away. RCI is the very worst timeshare company. I hope that before you get roped into RCI that you read some reviews and don't.

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    Sales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 16, 2012

    During our sales presentation, our rep made a bunch of claims that sounded too good to be true. When asked to see them in writing, we were asked "Don't you have faith in me?" We replied no and then we're told, "Well you probably don't believe in creationism either." Really guy? That is a pretty big leap. Maybe next time, keep your mouth shut about your personal beliefs and have numbers to verify your claims and you might make the sale. Very unprofessional! This is not the first time reps have been unable to support their claims, so glad we don't have to deal with people like that again.

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    Reviewed Sept. 5, 2012

    I have been trying for one year to get a two-bedroom unit in Papakea Resort. My timeshare is for a one-bedroom. I kept being told the two-bedroom units just weren't available because the owners hadn't decided if they wanted to use their units or pay the maintenance fees. I got tired of waiting, I booked through Expedia, flight, hotel and car, not to mention the two-bedroom unit with an ocean view. I spent more than I wanted but I have peace of mind that we have a place to stay. I love this property and have been there many times, not using RCI. I can never get what I want with these clowns. I still get the emails from RCI that my search is ongoing. Next step is, how do I get off the RCI circus train?!

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 28, 2012

    Poor business practices: I recently took a trip to a resort in Mexico through my parents RCI account. I was aware this was an all-inclusive resort, and double and triple checked with the company of the fees for the week I was staying. Everyone I spoke with told me it was $420.00 per person, per week. However, when I arrived in Mexico, they had only reserved two people instead of three and told me my all-inclusive fee was over $2,500 for a week for only two people; another $1,250 for another person. Since RCI wasn't open until Monday, I put the fee for 3 people on my credit card for three days. On Monday, a rep for RCI told the resort it was $160.00 per person, per day; not $60.00 per person, per day that I was quoted before I left on my vacation. I immediately called RCI in the US and they told me it was the rate they initially quoted me.

    I was told a supervisor was going to return my call, but a representative in the Mexico RCI office called me and told me there was nothing she could do and that the day I was leaving the rate dropped to what I was originally quoted. However, she refused to honor the cheaper rate. My parents, the owners of the timeshare, and I were on the phone for two full days (mind you, I am on vacation). They ended up switching us from that resort to one 40 miles away in Playa Del Carmen. The lady from the Mexico RCI office sent me an email but failed to attach the confirmation letter for the new resort and then left the office for the day. I called the new resort and there was no reservation made, so I paid out of pocket again for another room for the night until everything was figured out 4 days after the beginning of my trip. I’m very, very disappointed with RCI.

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    Reviewed Aug. 27, 2012

    First, when I bought my vacation, they never mentioned that it was non-inclusive. Secondly, when I asked them for an alternative location, they created all those ** rules. So, I spent $540 for nothing. That’s how ** is RCI worldwide.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 22, 2012

    Luis of RCI, connected to Sunset Lagoon Resort in Cancun, called us several weeks in advance of our vacation (Aug 4-Aug 9) for payment on this all inclusive resort. We gave him my wife's American Express number **. He said that he was having problems communicating with AE, and that he would call back later to confirm. He never did. A week before the vacation, a lady by the name of ** called and wanted a Visa card because they do not accept AMEX. We gave it to her. Now we have two charges: one for AMEX, and one for Visa. Please fix this ASAP!

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    Customer ServiceContract & Terms

    Reviewed Aug. 20, 2012

    I informed RCI I was no longer interested in being a member. I gave ample notice so that any weeks banked could be used by them. I quite simply did not like how they treated me when I tried to make an exchange. Anyway, they threatened to take me to court for breach of contract. I said "go ahead" and they backed down. I haven’t heard from them since. So stick to your guns if you want out and they try to get heavy!

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    Sales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed Aug. 19, 2012

    I called RCI to renew my fees after getting so many reminders of my upcoming renewal. Since I never used half of my points, I was told to keep it. I would have to pay $99 to keep it, $39 processing fee and $125 for one-year renewal. That is just RCI fees. Then I needed to renew my maintenance fees where I purchased my RCI. That was close to $700. So just to keep my name clear with RCI and resort, I am in the hole of close to $1,000. Then RCI CR took advantage of my willingness to pay, so they offered me a great deal of $1,699 for three trips anywhere in the world with use in 2 years’ time, one-year payment plan. I asked if I can use my points rather than paying $1,700 and after paying fees to RCI and resorts. I was told I could not.

    To understand if I am saving with RCI, I asked for a vacation to Argentina exactly a year away. I was told I would need to use half of my points and a hotel way outside Buenos Aires. I was told I would need to pay close to $1,000 for a week's stay, processing fees and losing points. That excludes airfares, etc. I checked the same hotel I was told and turns out, I was only saving $20 per night. However, it was outside the city so I would need a car or other forms of transportation to get to the city. There are many other hotels in Buenos Aires that are cheaper.

    RCI is a total scam. I regret buying. I'd rather book with Expedia and other online sites where you have the flexibility to select dates, hotels and prices. With RCI, you don't have that option. As an RCI member, I realized that I am in for life. I called RCI to sell and I was told, "You have to sell it on your own." I asked, "If I don't pay the yearly fees, would that end my membership?" In response, "You will default and collection agencies will call you." This is the worst investment. I have gone on vacations far cheaper than RCI. I am wasting money with RCI. RCI is a big scam!

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed July 29, 2012

    I have now been working with 1 of the largest law firms in S.C. to resolve the issue of misrepresenting RCI Points’ sales. There are laws in S.C. against such practice, as in most states. We have sent several letters to RCI, Wyndham (the parent company), and the Thunderbird Resort with no response. Finally, on 7/27/12, I received a statement that RCI does not sell points or timeshare. This is from their legal rep, so apparently there is no way of getting out of this crap short of death. I will be contacting my state rep in S.C. and see if there is another route I can go, so as the old saying goes – “Thieves stick with thieves.” As far as the RCI points program, as I said months ago, I've been a member of the Weeks program and have had many good vacations, but this is just plain out robbery.

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    Reviewed July 10, 2012

    I too feel taken by RCI. I transferred my week to RCI and then to may dismay, was told I could pay the two years fees totaling $378.00 plus the membership fee of $89.00 totaling $567.00. With deals out there, you can get a wonderful vacation on other site. The funniest was that they could get me, at my own resort, a bigger unit. So besides buying into my unit, they would need the $567.00, plus I have had to pay maintenance of $517.00 totaling $1084.00 for my own timeshare. Come on, don't you think that's taking members advantage of?

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    Price

    Reviewed June 24, 2012

    Now that RCI has placed point values on resorts, I may have to use two of my weeks to get a one week exchange because the resort I want to exchange for is worth 40 points and my resort is worth 20 points. Most of the resorts I want to exchange for are worth more than my Gold Crown home resort is worth. Frankly, it seems RCI puts high point values on the few desirable resorts they own. Most of their resorts are undesirable because they are in bad locations, are bug infested and run down, or charge lots of extra fees, i.e. energy surcharge, cleaning fees, etc! When I bought my timeshare, the deal was a week exchange for week anywhere in the world! They have certainly changed that agreement. Also, does anyone know what is with the additional housekeeping fees, energy surcharges, and some other extra fees resorts charge, especially in the Caribbean? Some resorts say they charge around $150 for electricity for the week. My monthly electric bill for an entire house for an entire month is $60. Also, it would seem that I would be paying double energy and maid fees if I exchanged for one of these resorts since I already pay maintenance fees for my home resort. Are there any alternatives to RCI?

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed June 4, 2012

    My husband found on-line a 2 bedroom Disney property condo exchange week for this coming September. He immediately paid the $189 exchange fee, confirmed the week on-line and printed out the confirmation he received. Within 12 hours of printing this confirmation, he went back on-line to read up on the location details only to discover that his points were all returned to his account. And that he had nothing in our on-line reserved, confirmed condo status. He also noticed that his $189 exchange fee though was still charged to RCI without being refunded.

    Concerned about the situation, he called first thing this Monday morning and was told that there was an $89 yearly fee we were to have paid. And since it was showing not paid, an RCI assoc took it upon themselves to take the week out of our reserved status and away from us.

    We are angry because there was absolutely no communication about this additional $89 fee ever. And that no one at RCI would bother to contact us concerning the matter to give us a change to pay this fee in order not to lose the confirmed the week! Adding insult to injury, we are even more disgusted to discover after the fact that RCI would yet still keep our $189 exchange fee! Through this ridiculous experience, we realize now that RCI carries on extremely fraudulent unethical business practices. We highly advise you before considering buying into RCI you don't and go with a more reputable timeshare company.

    I also want to add that when my husband was speaking with the RCI customer service rep, the rep continued to advise there was nothing he could do to compensate us for this situation or resolve the problem by letting us pay the $89 fee to get the week we had confirmed back. He was very callous on the phone and it was evident he could care less how angry and disappointed we were. We did end up getting our exchange fee refunded to us, but it wouldn't have happened had we not initiated it.

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    Reviewed May 18, 2012

    Along with many others, I was awarded damages in a class action lawsuit against RCI for illegal manipulation of members. I have first hand knowledge of their unfair practices. After being a member of RCI for 32 years, I will not renew my membership. The existing RCI does not represent the fair values or service of the original company with whom I contracted. This is the first time in over 30 years that I did not deposit my unit for exchange because I was planning to use it in June 2012. When I notified the property manager of my home resort that I would be on site this year, she replied that RCI had already confirmed the exchange for my unit.

    I called the RCI customer service dept. and was moved laterally for several days. They finally insisted that I did deposit my week via the internet, and could not return it to me because they had confirmed an exchange. But they could find me other accommodations in the Myrtle Beach area, for an exchange fee of $189. Knowing I did not deposit my unit for the year 2012, I explained I would be on site the day of my scheduled check-in. The CSR repeatedly advised me I had forfeited my claim to my unit. Knowing I had not, I decided to appear at my home resort with deed to my unit, legal resolution of the lawsuit and an officer of the court. When I asked the CSR who did he think the county sheriff would believe, he said he would remove my unit from their inventory.

    This same thing has happened with my son and various other acquaintances. I know for a fact that RCI will profit from weeks they have no rights to. My son has not used his home resort for several years, and has not been a member of RCI for two years, yet he recently learned RCI still deposited his unit to their inventory. I have other horror stories about RCI but won't fit into this small space. I advise anyone associated with RCI to seek other avenues for an enjoyable vacation. RCI has ruined my last vacation.

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    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed May 15, 2012

    I had booked a resort almost two years in advance for Albuquerque, NM. Two weeks before the start of the trip, RCI called to notify us the resort was no longer in the RCI system and we had no reservation. They would to try to find another resort, but being so late, there was nothing available close to our original location. Problems are: They agreed to return my deposit, but they used my money for almost two years with no additional compensation, and only offered a credit, not cash; the exchange unit I was trading was to expire by the end of the month. Way too late to use. I was to give up a week of exchange, even though RCI had used my unit almost three years earlier; Calling the resort directly, I learned RCI ended the affiliation, not the resort. Obviously, this is something RCI had been planning for sometime, yet thought so little of its customers. We were not notified until the last minute. In fact, most were not even called, but were only mailed letters.

    The resort directly offered me a week for $300. I asked RCI to offer me a $300 credit. Since they already charged me $179 for the exchange plus earned interest for two years, the cost to RCI was about $100. They refused. The net result, I am dropping out of RCI after 25 years. Our unit has a week exchange value of 32-33, the highest in their system, yet they are willing to give it up, plus my exchange fees (now $189) and my annual membership dues. Not smart management. You learn a lot about a company when they must deal with problems and spend money to correct their errors.

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    PriceStaff

    Reviewed May 14, 2012

    If you have ever tried to exchange a deposited property for one of the many properties RCI claims to have, get ready to spin your wheels forever. I deposited my gold crown unit and expected to find something comparable. I was not prepared to find nothing. I thought there was a technical problem because as I hit buttons for available units or even for reviews of resorts that came up, nothing happened.

    I sent an email (to document my situation) and called. "Rebecca" told me nothing happens because nothing is available. I asked about a specific resort and was told that it's booked through 24 months in advance. Just how does she know that, I ask? Suppose someone decides to deposit a share from that resort tomorrow? How can I be notified? She says I should set up an ongoing search but I have to pay $199 upfront for that privilege, for the cost of a trade. I am already paying for a membership in RCI, apparently just to look around getting nowhere. Do not use RCI. If your timeshare location only has RCI, it's a very sad thing. I am very sad that I ever bought a timeshare in the first place!

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    Sales & Marketing

    Reviewed May 11, 2012

    I booked a week at the Morritt's Tortuga Club on Grand Cayman. I am required to pay for electricity, resort fees, and taxes. What did I get for the money I paid for a week at a timeshare resort? If I am paying for all these things, RCI is not paying a fair share for the money I have invested. I am actually a Wyndham owner and was informed when I made my purchase that there was a great RCI exchange option. I feel that I have been scammed.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed May 11, 2012

    I booked a vacation to Punta Cana through RCI using our points. After a 16-hour trip, we arrived at the resort, only to be told we were not in the system. I had a printout of the reservation with the confirmation number on it and details of our stay. They said they did not have any record of our reservation and that they had no empty rooms. They found us a place at a different resort. They told us they would have availability the next day. It was late in the evening, and RCI was closed.

    The next day, we called RCI and spoke to Jack. He said he had all our info and was going to fax it to the hotel. We spoke to the hotel, and they said the fax was broken and gave us an e-mail. We called RCI back and spoke with someone with a strong accent I could not understand. His name sounded like Mouso. He was very rude and refused to e-mail anything to the hotel. He said he would fax to the front desk.

    We called the hotel back (H10 Ocean Blue and Sand), and they said they did not have any rooms available. We informed them that the guest services said there were rooms. They argued with us, then we offered to pay; and all of a sudden, there was a vacant room. We were out of pocket 2 taxi trips and 5-day all-inclusive fees. This is not acceptable. When I booked this, I asked the CSR at RCI, "Is there anything I need to do besides print off my confirmation?" She said, "No, just let the resort know if you will be arriving late."

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    Sales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed April 29, 2012

    Wish I read this website before sinking $3,300 into an RCI cruise and resort stay which I am reading is a scam! I am trying to use my cruise certificates with an abrasive and defensive CSR at RCI who read my rights and informed me my certificates had expired! What?! The certificates have no expiration date on them! They want an additional $199 to reactivate the cruise certificates. So I have to pay these greedy people another $199 to use my money?! And that doesn't even include the resort vacation which I'm reading is probably a scam too! Don't buy from them unless you have read the fine print and are prepared for fighting for what is yours. You'll do better to go with a travel agent or book yourself online than wasting money with these incompetent people.

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    Sales & Marketing

    Reviewed April 28, 2012

    I am so upset I don't know where to start. RCI offers you the world and delivers none of it. The so-called "deal" on a cruise-resort package is a complete fraud. After spending more than $3000, I never got an upgrade on the cruise, was charged $1600 in hidden fees and given a studio for a 7-day stay in Cabo San Lucas. Imagine all the money I've spent, and studio and no meals. Please do not listen to anything they say and do not give them your money. You can plan your own vacations for less money. I have spoken with several people in RCI and Wyndham which owns them but no one will offer me anything to rectify their unethical and misleading sales. When my membership is up with RCI, I plan to move to another company.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed April 25, 2012

    I have been waiting 29 business days for my account to be reinstated. I have spoken to 10 customer service representatives and a supervisor and nothing has happened. I wanted to take a trip in May, but obviously, RCI does not want my money. The incompetence is unbelievable.

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    Reviewed April 24, 2012

    Every year, I attempt to book a vacation and am always told there is nothing in my area. I found out today I actually don't have enough points for the week I am looking for, even though we bank a whole week each year. I was offered to purchase a higher amount of points if I would like, but I would have to wait for them to contact me. But there is no number where I can contact them. Class action lawsuit?

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    Contract & TermsStaff

    Reviewed April 17, 2012

    RCI Company has changed policies without regard to owners - In 1981 my wife and I purchased two weeks of timeshare in Florida at a wonderful gulf front condo (Sleeps 6). When purchasing the timeshare/condo, we were told by the sales force and RCI that there were 3 options: Red, White, and Blue. If you purchased a "red" week, that was the top ranked and you could trade anywhere in the world - any time. I also bought a condo in Texas (1BR) in 2003 - white week, and I understood the consequences and trading power.

    Well 2012 is here and the game plan has changed. I can no longer trade my red week anywhere because my week is now compared to a "points" value system. I'm told many different items by RCI representatives, but the most confusing is that I must pay my current year fees to my home resort and deposit 9 months in advance to get premium trading power. Well - my 2 weeks are the last 2 weeks of August and I do not get my invoice until December. So if I hustle and pay my invoice in December, I still miss the 9-month curtain. In my opinion, our contract with RCI has been voided.... there is no regard for a 30 year+ member.

    I am told by RCI that they are a supply-and-demand company and that they have huge demand. Well, I would agree with them, if you have someone with a 30-point unit and they trade for two 15-point units. RCI is making exchange fees twice. Anyone with a low trading power resort must combine and pay those fees. Yesterday I was told I could combine my Florida and Texas weeks for a cost of $89... today that changed. I think that this is a real shame and there is exactly nobody to talk to about the crime that has occurred. If I bought a house 5 years ago at the peak in California where I live and I took out a mortgage with BofA, I'd still have the same terms and conditions.

    RCI changed items; those members that buy now should observe 2012 rules, those of us that bought in 1980's, we were in a much different rules environment. In my opinion, the theory of "weeks" and "points" does make sense, but the "points" has failed to honor what the "red-white-blue" promise was set up to be.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed April 17, 2012

    On October 6th, I received an email from Petchey Leisure to say that I had cancelled our canal holiday. I called the office and they explained it was because my RCI exchange fee hadn't been paid. If they had asked at the time of booking, it would have been. However, I duly arranged payment over the phone and was told the holiday had been reinstated. On Dec. 6th, I received an email of our account statement, clearly showing the holiday had not been reinstated at all. I sent emails on Dec. 30 and Jan. 29 to query this, both of which I received confirmation of receipt (initially assigned case number ** and then confirmed by Catherine **), but no actual action.

    At the beginning of March, I phoned the office and spoke to Mike **, who informed me a search for our requirements had been set up and copied me the sample confirmation. I am still waiting to date to get this holiday reinstated despite numerous emails and phone calls. While I understand that there is no availability with your own RCI units, I am disgusted that Petchey is not pulling out all the stops to provide my family with the holiday that I booked 6 months ago, and which you cancelled in error! I personally (with no urgency on your part whatsoever) have been trying to rectify for 5 months! I am not prepared to wait until the last week in May to see if any availability happens to crop up and if not, have a points compensation. We will not have a holiday at all, as by then all holidays will be fully booked (being half term week and, as it happens, the Jubilee week).

    Mike has explained the company policy that another holiday with an outside supplier will not be provided and I am appalled that you are willing to let this atrocious customer service continue without providing a suitable alternative for my family to have the holiday we booked in all good faith. Your error, your responsibility to correct at whatever cost! It's basic business ethics!

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    Price

    Reviewed April 17, 2012

    RCI has become a huge ripoff. When my husband and I first bought a timeshare and joined RCI, it was good. Our place is considered high trading power. Now we cannot use it for anything. In fact, most of the all-inclusive resorts that you give them your week to try and trade for are more expensive than booking the same week at Apple or Funjet and their packages include airfare! Last year, we wanted to trade to book a Disney Cruise and the Disney official site was cheaper than RCI. We asked for a least a price match because we were giving them our week, and they would not match. We are required now to deposit our week at RCI if we want any other week besides our own at our home resort. We cannot even trade for our home resort because our deposited weeks trading power is lower than the other weeks even though it is in the same "red week" timeframe. I think it's time for a BBB complaint as well as a possible class action lawsuit. Taking our money and giving nothing in return. Nice properties being traded in and being offered horrible properties.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed April 8, 2012

    I called about a cruise in May 2012 and the girl told me I couldn't use my whole 87,000 points. I could only use half but told me I could use the rest for airfare so she suggested I call them to see what they had for me to get to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. So I called them on April 1st to check out the flights. I called them and the lady, Veronica, who was helping me got so confused that she turned me over to a man named Ryan **, who was quite rude to me at first. But after being on hold off and on for about 3 or 4 hours, he became a little nicer. I told him I was booking a cruise from 5-19-12 to 5-27-12 from St. Louis to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

    Now mind you, did anyone tell me I had to be there 2 hours before the cruise take off which was at four? No, they didn't, not until everything was booked. He gave me a flight that got me there at 2:05 which already made me 5 minutes late. So when I told the lady at the cruise line what he did, she said as long as I got there by 3:30 I would be okay. Now how can I arrive at 2:05 get off the plane, get my luggage and make it to the port by 3:30 with 3 children and a senior citizen? If I didn't make it on time, I would lose the cruise and couldn't get a refund on cruise or airfare.

    So I tried for 3 days to get a hold of Mr. **. I kept calling the airfare people to help me and no one could help me. They said I had to talk with Mr. **. I finally got a hold of him on 4-6-12 and told him the flight he gave me wasn't going to get me there in time to get to the cruise line in time. He said that it wasn't his fault that it was the cruise dept's fault. So I ended up having to change my flight which got me there on the 18th instead of the 19th. He said that was the best he could do for me, so I said, "I guess I would have to take that then." He said it would cost me an additional $1,168. If I didn't accept this additional amount, I would lose the money I already paid for the cruise and airfare so I had to accept it because I didn't want to lose all the money I already paid.

    What I don't understand is why they only offer you American Airlines. I know there are other airlines that are cheaper. Another thing I don't understand is why you can't speak to anyone higher up to complain about this problem and why I was being charged so much more to go in a day earlier on the same airline. I will never use RCI again and won't recommend them to anyone. This has been the worst experience and very stressful vacation I have ever had.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed April 5, 2012

    As a former insider at RCI, as well as a (now former) member, and (now liberated) timeshare owner, I can assure you that what you hear is true. RCI claims to not sell or buy timeshares, however, they do! They do all the marketing, cold-calling and selling of your personal and ownership info to 3rd parties, who then contact you "On RCI's behalf" to talk you into coming to lunch and buying some expensive, exciting, vacation opportunity. It was (still is) the RCI policy to deny that RCI buys and sells timeshares. Agents are even instructed not to discuss the financial matters of your ownership or how to sell your timeshare. It's actually a penalty for an agent to do so and they'll get coached by their manager should they be caught doing so.

    The membership fee is high, not to mention the exchange fee (which both go up every year) and agents are handsomely rewarded for suckering you into buying 5 or even 10 years of worthless membership. Weeks members are given a make-believe number called Trading Power for your week deposits, based on the supposed Supply and Demand of the resort and week you own. You can only trade into a unit that is equal or less value than what you own. Only the real movers and shakers get the prime spots. Everyone else is just lucky or not.

    Points members are probably the ones most effected by RCI's policy of confusing everyone (Including employees) about things. There is no consistency at all. One agent may find something, another agent may not find anything for your vacation. RCI outsources 70% of their calls to low-paid, unmotivated call center reps, who don't even work for RCI. Not how I'd want my vacation plans handled. Short story, pick another exchange company (not that any are much better), better yet, sell your timeshare or even give it away. You'll be better off paying for your vacations with cash. The timeshare exchange notion is all illusion.

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    Reviewed April 2, 2012

    We arrived at our resort, Wapato Point in Manson, WA, on Friday night to find that our unit, which we have deeded ownership to, had been listed in RCI's trading inventory. RCI had booked someone else into our unit. We do not belong to RCI. We did not bank or trade our unit. The resort was able to accommodate us in a comparable unit for the week, but no one at the Wapato Point or RCI would admit to making this error. We purchased this unit in 2008. RCI is still allowing the previous owners to bank our unit. RCI says they cannot stop this from happening. Our resort says the unit bookings are auto downloaded into their system from RCI, so they can't stop this either. We are going to consult with our attorney. This all **.

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    Price

    Reviewed March 30, 2012

    We had a timeshare that we couldn't use for one year, and I signed up with RCI to trade it. What a mistake! We paid a year's fee ($89) and were told that we had three years to pick a new week. I then found out that the three years was meaningless in that if you wanted a week next year, you had to pay RCI for another year of membership.

    Now, they want me to pay for one more year plus a transfer fee, and it will cost up around $400 to get a week at a different resort. But all the resorts that they have will let anyone without an RCI membership rent for around $500 a week, just by showing up. This is, in my opinion, a criminal organization and I'm letting my week go. So now, I'm out the $650 annual maintenance plus my $89 to RCI. But at least I'll never deal with these crooks again.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed March 30, 2012

    RCI doesn't care about you after you take the membership. I've been trying to book my honeymoon with RCI since last 20 days. I've been calling them again and again for the last 20 days and they are supposed to call me back with the list of resorts that are available, but they didn't. I'm honestly frustrated and angry with RCI as they don't care about their customers. I have the names of the representatives also, if an authority at RCI would like to know. I would sincerely like a refund, but it's not in their policy. So I am angry with their services, but I can't do anything but write.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed March 21, 2012

    I made a reservation thru the RCI website on February 11, 2012 for April 13. On March 15, we received an email that stated the resort we had reserved no longer included breakfast and if we chose to cancel our reservation, it would be the normal cancellation policy. On March 16, we received another email from RCI in which they stated that our reservation had been cancelled. When we called, they claimed that the resort was undergoing renovations. But when I called the resort directly, they stated that no renovations were occurring.

    When I queried RCI about this, they claim to have rechecked and there was a renovation of the room we had reserved. I then checked the resort via the web and it showed that there were still vacancies in the resort. RCI finally got back to me and offered another resort that was priced about 30% less than the original resort. I requested they just rent the available room in the original resort, but they declined and thereby placing the problem in our hands. I have had nothing but disappointment every time I use RCI. I am a Vacation International member and will never use RCI again as they are nothing but problems. There are few condos ever available. And even when we find something, they find a way to mess it up anyway. RCI is a disappointment and a rip-off!

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed Feb. 27, 2012

    I personally wasted money on buying time share in Oak N Spruce, Lee, MA years ago and regret ever since. The maintenance costs are the real murderer. RCI is another big scam promised to sell my time share and charged me $1,125. I never heard from them. They have very deceitful sales tactic. They are no better than corporate bullies and hustlers. I don't know who to turn too because there are millions like RCI cheat and charge you for selling your time share and turn their back. It's robbing from the weak and they should be brought to justice. I will and am tweeting/Facebook every day about this matter.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Feb. 24, 2012

    I tried to book my RCI vacation this year. I used my debit card online and paid my annual fee of $124.00 and a fee for $183.00 to exchange. I was sent a bill in the mail that said I owed $412.00 for a vacation that I took in 2009. Then I received another bill that said, I owed $150.00 for a previous membership fee that I had to pay. Then another bill for $248.00 that said I had to renew for two years. Then another fee of $26.00 for something else. When I called RCI, they said my debit card was declined. I contacted my bank and RCI had never attempted to take funds from my account.

    I contacted them and was treated very rudely by customer service. If you can call it that. They said I had to mail them a check or they would cancel my vacation! In all, it would have been cheaper for me to have booked my own vacation. There is no way I owed all these fees, I use RCI every year. I plan on selling my timeshare after my membership expires this time, as RCI sucks! If I had another choice to book through, I would keep it. I have always had a difficult time when traveling out of the country with my reservations. I think all my fees have been paid and when I get to the resort, they hit you with more and more fees! Something needs to be done.

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    Reviewed Feb. 23, 2012

    We have on multiple occasions, for three years, booked vacations, but the place we wanted would not be available, and the options had terrible reviews by other Points Members. We have accepted the fact that our $15,000.00 is gone! We do not intend to put more money into this "black hole"! Island Links and/or Coral Resorts has our $15,000.00 that we know we have lost. We are writing it off to a "bad investment". If you insist on pursuing the collection of $971.99, I have alerted my attorney by phone, and a copy of this email to be prepared for court action.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Feb. 23, 2012

    Hello RCI subscribing members and timeshare owners. We'd like to take this opportunity to provide some clarification and offer assistance. RCI doesn't own or operate any timeshare resorts, nor does RCI sell timeshare. Our role in the timeshare industry is to provide exchange services to vacation owners at RCI affiliated certain timeshare properties. This exchange service is designed to offer flexibility and choice to timeshare owners who opt to become RCI subscribing members.

    Today, we have 3.7 million members worldwide and over 4,000 affiliated resorts in countries around the world. In addition to being the largest vacation exchange network, we are also a longstanding member of ARDA (American Resort Development Association), an organization that holds its members to strict standards in the services they offer. We're listening to your comments, and we invite you to send an email to talktous@rci.com with specific information about your particular issue so that we can best advise you. Most importantly, if any RCI member reading this site has questions about how to use their RCI membership, feel free to contact us at talktous@rci.com. Our team will be happy to address any questions you may have.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Feb. 23, 2012

    I read a large number of the posts before deciding to add our story. As some people have said, you have to keep the sales staff at the resort separate from RCI. We made the decision to purchase points through a resort in Collingwood, Ontario. We were shown a suite and advised that we should be able to receive similar suites during our travels. We were also advised that we could stay at our home resort for a discounted charge any time we wanted. This has turned out to be false.

    We have used our points for one trip to Florida. I was able to make the booking online without too much of an issue. When we got to the resort, we checked into a two-bedroom suite. It was a little shabby and dated, but it would serve our purposes and so we settled in. We were asked to go on a tour, which we did. We were shown a beautifully updated suite and then they tried to sell us on ownership there. I told the manager I was not interested and pointed out that we had been led to believe the new suite was the standard for a Gold Crown resort. They indicated that these suites were reserved for the owners. However, the concept as explained to us was that we were buying access to suites an owner did not want to use!

    By my calculations, a point costs us approximately $0.026. So, our seven nights in Florida cost us $975 or $139 per night. I would not consider that astronomical but neither is it a deal. So, my experience to date is that we can use the program but it won't be providing us with any great savings. As a side note, I have looked into using points for airfare, cars or cruises. But I can either get the same deal without forking over my points or the savings is not close to the cost of the points. So we will use the points for accommodations when possible and nothing else.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Feb. 19, 2012

    I booked our 50th anniversary with my family with RCI. They had a special offer; pay for 4 days and receive 3 days free with four massages in Jan. 2012. We had difficulty getting flight for 13 so we called and asked for the same deal and were offered Feb. 11 - 18, 2012. On arrival, the hotel will not honor the deal. We called and the RCI supervisor was nasty and hung up phone on us. Imagine being up at 2 am with 3 and 8 year old to travel. She surely was trained in a sewer. Instead of trying to calm the customer and resolve the issue, she hung up the phone. No one called back until 3 days later, never resolving the issue.

    I saved for this family vacation for years and it cost me $20,000.00. It was sure a vacation from hell! The staffs were rude and need to be trained, especially the manager. She just stood there and said, “I am sorry. The deal is not in reservation.” I worked for 35 years in handling the public and hanging up on a frustrated customer was not an option. I should have given the money to my daughter for a down payment on a home for her kids. It seems all they cater for is the wealthy, catering to all their whims and fancies. What RCI needs to do is an undercover boss episode to see what their employees are like with customers.

    Just remember that we the second class citizens are the ones who make them filthy rich, because we are the ones spending their hard earned money. The rich get everything free, even though they can afford to pay for it. I can write a book on how nasty the staffs were at this resort. I've been to Mexico several times and they bend over backwards serving you. Guess where my money will be spent next vacation? I used to have a membership with RCI and never renewed because my daughter has had her membership for over ten years and you would not believe the problems she's had over the years. There are too many options available today to tolerate such rudeness. They have ruined my most special vacation with my family and nothing could bring it back!

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    Contract & Terms

    Reviewed Feb. 17, 2012

    We paid $1000 for five-day stay and found out before we were leaving that we had to pay all inclusive agreement of $2000 more. You guys suck.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Feb. 8, 2012

    I bought the cruise and resort package which they made it sound like a good deal at the time. With RCI, everything is difficult, there are fees that were not previously mentioned, the employees lie. I would never buy anything from them again. I booked a cruise date yesterday, their brochures say one thing, the person on the phone says another.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Feb. 6, 2012

    Purchased a time share from Coral Sands. We were told that we had no maintenance fees for any of our timeshares and traded in a time share for it. They took possession of a timeshare we owned and we had no idea of trading it. The price was $12,000, none of it was true. None of the people will return my calls.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Feb. 1, 2012

    Made reservations in advance for a trade show at the Worldgate resort, Kissimmee, FL. 1/19/12 -1/22/12 . Drove 7 hrs, went to check in, resort didn't get the confirmation. Called RCI, person said they would fax it there, no good, the resort was booked solid. After a 2 hour run around, GM got involved, mind you the town house they wanted us to stay in wasn't clean, single beds were not changed, same sheets from someone else, bath room was used, no clean towels, all used left on the floor. Finally got a 1 bedroom hotel room, which was for the handicap.

    The room was still not clean, no AC til 2sc. The day my daughter said our confirmation came 1/21/12 to my home, hooray? The staff here acted like they were doing us a big favor, the GM, Rob ** helped ss much as he could, but my wife, myself and others we talked to at the show were so disgusted with the staff, from the front desk, to the restaurant, bar and gift shop, The people selling tickets didn't know where anything was, at the bar, we were charged on our drinks with tip included, this also got everyone *off, when we go to these shows, we all over tip because everyone wants to out do the others [big shot complex].

    Overall, we have never been treated with such disrespect at any other resort we've been to. Now, to RCI pts. Called, got the same treatment no respect, finally they would give us 1 week vacation, for $249.00, plus a trans fee of $189.00 to another resort. No good, I want the 15,600 pts. put back in my account. I'm not going to pay again for their screw up .

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Jan. 25, 2012

    I paid $3,000 for Cruise and a week. I booked cruise after I paid the $3,000 for the certificates. They wanted an additional $2,000 for the Cruise for the time period we wanted. They said the $2,000 had to be paid in full 90 days prior to the cruise. When I recently called to pay the balance, they told me the cruise was cancelled even though they gave me confirmation numbers for my 2 cabins. They said someone called my house asking for a deposit. I never spoke to anyone from RCI. I did not receive any email or mail correspondence stating that they cancelled my reservation. They want me to pay $398 to reinstate 2 certificates and an additional $200 to get the cabins back that they cancelled. This is ridiculous, someone please help. How do I file a lawsuit?

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    Customer ServiceSales & Marketing

    Reviewed Jan. 24, 2012

    We were scammed! We were first invited to a free meal and had a presentation about moving our weeks into points. So, we paid a fee and thought that our now weeks were permanently moved into points with RCI. What they did not tell us is that it is good only for a year. The following year, we would have to pay again to move it into points. We feel that we were scammed. I have learned that if you have to decide now, do not do it! That is a pressure sell, so you cannot think it through. No matter how good an offer they make you, do not do it! When we called them, all they said is "sorry that is how it is". If you cannot go home and think about it, then they are scamming you.

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    Reviewed Jan. 23, 2012

    When I bought my timeshare, RCI assured me that availability was not a problem because only members of the program can access the timeshares. I have since learned that availability is a serious problem. RCI engages in the practice of skimming a large percentage of the timeshares from the system, including many prime timeshares and renting them to the general public at a profit to RCI or selling them to vendors who then rent them to the general public. As a result, no matter how meticulously one follows RCI's rules and procedures and no matter how far in advance one begins looking for a desirable exchange, one simply cannot find available destinations. Since RCI does not allow extending points into the following year without a $99.00 payment, one is forced to either forfeit the points or pay an additional $99.00.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Jan. 21, 2012

    I bought a membership in Gold Crown at a resort in Mazatlan last Nov. The salesman, Brad **, lied to me about what my membership included when he saw I wasn't interested in what they had to offer. He said I could use my weeks for airfare. It was a total lie. It wasn't until I got home and received my password that I discovered the scam. Customer service said they had nothing to do with the sales people and what they say. Everyone I talked to said I "misunderstood" and cannot get a refund. My girlfriend and I both know what we were told. In fact, we went over several ways in which we could use the airfare with Mr. Brad ** and assured by him that was included.

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    Reviewed Jan. 17, 2012

    RCI has now started basing "Weeks" trades on trading power and offering "Trading Power Credits" when you trade to a lower value unit. They then turn around and require you to pay $109 to combine your own credit (that you received after paying $199 to exchange your week for one at another resort), then you have to another $199 to exchange the now combined trading power for a new week.

    Essentially, you have to pay to exchange for a vacation, then if you have a credit, you have to pay to combine it and then pay again to exchange the combined value for another vacation.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Jan. 15, 2012

    I have owned it for 4 years. I tried numerous times to get it started. Today, another several hours put in, only to be given another number to call. The last call to 800 832 8033 cut me off every time I got to a real person. We have yet to recover one minute or penny from this company, $18,000.00 later. I guess we're either out the money, or I'll pursue the Mexican government route to fraud suit. I chose a rating of zero, but it won't register less than a one.

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    Reviewed Jan. 15, 2012

    I urge all of the people who were misled, or felt they were scammed by RCI to contact the Arizona attorney general's office. They have a complaint form on their website. I have been an RCI member for a long time. The one time I was able to exchange my gold crown resort, I ended up in a roach infested resort in isle Margerita, where wild diseased dogs and cats were wading and drinking out of the swimming pool. When we called to complain, we were told there were no other resorts available. If you read the posts on this website, you can see that there are far more complaints than positive reviews. I wonder if some of the positive reviews are posted by RCI employees.

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    Reviewed Jan. 3, 2012

    I've read the comments going back about a year from 1/1/12. My wife and I have been a condo owner and a RCI member for about 14 years. We ask questions, prepare ahead, plan our options and have never had a poor vacation exchange due to any negligence on RCI's part. For example, if you wait until March to look for a condo/resort exchange on the Outer Banks of NC for that summer, it isn't going to happen. On the other hand, if you wait until March to look for a nice condo/resort exchange for that summer in the interior USA, such as Branson, MO or Gatlinburg, TN, you'll have a grand time with numerous possible selections. You may get some good spots still in Orlando, as the economy has caused that vacation wonderland to have an overload of empty condo rooms.

    We've been to very nice spots in Phoenix, Cape Cod, the Outer Banks, Myrtle Beach, Orlando and have had very nice vacations. Once again, we realize that those kind of spots, especially along the coast, are in high demand and we plan on out 9-12 months. Neither my wife nor I are employed by any resort, condo owner, RCI or any affiliate.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 23, 2011

    In October 2010, my wife and I banked our week at a 5-star resort in hopes of exchanging for a week at Disney. Within one week, we received a call from RCI stating that we could go to Disney's Old Key West resort. Unfortunately, we were not able to travel during the week that was offered, so we declined but RCI continued to search for us. A few months later we were offered the same resort but at a time that did not work for us again. After over a year of waiting, I checked the RCI website to find that Disney resorts are available in early January (when we want to go). We contacted RCI to inquire about this and are now being told that we don't have enough exchange value for any Disney resorts. The rude customer service reps claim that there is absolutely no possible way that our banked week will ever qualify for an exchange to Disney. When we informed them that we have twice been offered Disney resorts (but had to decline because of scheduling issues), we were called liars!

    The reps claim there is no record of any offers and that we are mistaken! RCI has apparently made recent clandestine "enhancements" to their Weeks Exchange program and will not own up to their misgivings. We have been waiting for the opportunity to take our children to Disney for more than a year and are now being told by RCI that we've wasted our time. Therefore, we will no longer waste any money on RCI. If you're reading this, you shouldn't either. RCI is shady at best. Save your money and plan your own vacations. Something smells at RCI!

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPriceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 21, 2011

    My wife and I were talked into buying a Points membership while on vacation at the Sunset Beach Club in Bellamadena, Spain. We have two children, and we were told that if we purchased 30,000 points, that would guarantee us a week's holiday anywhere, anytime at high standard accommodation. We were foolish enough to purchase, as the pitch sounded great, and we paid the 4,500.

    We did get a free week the following year. And again, there were representatives from RCI that called on us, and they told us that 30,000 points was not enough for our needs and tried to sell us more. We got worried that we had made a big mistake. But the next year, I was able to book online a week's holiday in Holiday World, Spain which was great but it cost us 57,500 points. But we had carried over a year's worth of points, so we had enough.

    We now realize after trying resorts in the RCI site, that our points will only get us a week's holiday every two years, if we are lucky enough to get where and when we want. We have decided that this is now not suitable for us, as paying the annual membership fee of $450 and points maintenance of 150 each year and having only a one week holiday every two years means we could put 1,200 towards holiday accommodation of our own choice.

    Accommodation is really all you are getting with RCI. I contacted RCI to cancel our membership and was told that it takes twelve months, yes, twelve months. So we still have to pay the 600 for this year's membership and points which we will not use. We were told lies right from the start about what we would get for our money. And now, we want to get out, and they still want money from us for nothing.

    RCI, please inform new members what they are really getting for their buck. Please be helpful in dealing with member's issues and stop ripping people off. I am sure that membership of the points scheme is suitable to some people, if you are free to travel often and at short notice and can get flights suitable at the right price, etc., etc.

    But it is definitely not for all, and RCI should be ashamed of the way they treat members. Their behavior is why they are getting such a bad name as a scam company when all people want is to be told the truth and treated honestly right from the start. Take care out there.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Dec. 9, 2011

    I received a call from RCI about a cruise and resort package. I explained to them that I was in an unsure financial situation and did not know if this was a good time to buy a vacation package. I told them I would know better in a week or so. The supervisor got on the phone and assured me I could call her next week and cancel with no problem. (She did not tell me I had 10 days to cancel). When they sent me the package with the cancellation requirements, they sent it in my daughter's name. By the time my daughter (who does not live with us) came and opened it, it was too late to cancel. They refused to give me a refund stating that they were under no legal obligation to tell me about the 10 day policy over the phone.

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    Contract & Terms

    Reviewed Nov. 22, 2011

    Purchased 30,000 points of supposed timeshare locations to vacation. Since our purchase in September, we have yet to be able to book a date. Have complained to RCI and RCI is "trying" an ongoing search with no results. We have requested a refund but of course they will not process one. We have not been able to book anything. We have asked our credit card company to reverse the payment and they attempted to do so, but RCI submitted a copy of the contract stating that there is a 7 day cancellation period. We have received nothing from them and our "year" time frame will be up soon and I would like to receive something for the money we have paid.

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    Punctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 15, 2011

    I must comment to Chase from Longmont, Co. If RCI is asking you to pay a reinstatement fee for your points, you were canceled for non-payment of your membership. You didn't pay for your membership for at least 3 years. RCI did not sell your points. They revert back to the resort that you own. And RCI has no control over the points. They are administered by the resort. If you let your membership lapse and you pay the reinstatement fee, it is up to the resort whether or not you get your points back. You have 3 years to the use the points: the first year you get them, if you do not use them, you pay a $26.00 fee to "roll them forward" to the 2nd use year. If you do not use them the 2nd year, you pay a $99.00 fee to extend them to the 3rd year. If you do not use them during the 3rd year, they expire.

    RCI has it's good and bad points. Having been a member for over 20 years, we have never had a bad vacation because we book early, or if it is a "last minute" trip, we take whatever is available. We keep close tabs on our membership, if something does not sound right, I call and get clarification. When you buy your timeshare, or are thinking of buying a time share, do some research first. The resort sells the condos, not RCI. Most of the salespeople do not know who RCI works, and they tell you that you can do anywhere in the world by exchanging through RCI and they are correct, but they fail to add "if there is availability". Don't blame RCI, blame the salesmen!

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsSales & Marketing

    Reviewed Oct. 30, 2011

    My wife and I were on vacation in New York and were approached in the lobby of our hotel about RCI's Manhattan Club. We went to the sales pitch and when we said that we needed time to make up our minds and needed a few days to research and think it over, the salesman who had been insisting that this was a 'no pressure' sales pitch got nasty with us and called in his boss who attempted to insult us by saying 'you only came for the tickets.' The sales desk in the lobby had a big sign offering persons Broadway and other show tickets to listen to the sales pitch.

    The irony was that we did not go to the sales talk for the tickets. But any company that needs to rush you into entering a contract after 90 minutes is not above board. And reading about the persons who have actually been scammed by this company, we are lucky we got away! What RCI is doing is not right. They are posing as a legitimate company when they are really big time con artists and the US government should do something to stop this. It was the only sour note in an otherwise wonderful vacation.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Oct. 5, 2011

    I ordered an RCI cell part for my air purifier and it didn't work. I got permission to send it back, which I did, and now the company is saying that they never received it. I tried calling them and a recorder is on and they won't call me back.

    When I didn't have their phone number, I tried getting it from the yellow pages and they’re not listed. Then I found out that they’re not allowed to sell EcoQuest products on eBay, which they did. I think they're a fraudulent company and I want to report it so they don't do it again to anyone else.

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    Sales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed Sept. 27, 2011

    When purchasing the Travel Certificate, all of the hidden costs are not exposed until you have purchased the package. I was up front on what I was trying to accomplish. Now, all the parties who contributed to pay for this certificate are told to stay in the place they have listed for the amount of people, it will cost more money. I find this to be false advertisement.

    All cost should have been put on the table. I cannot use the certificates, unless I want to lower my expectation. I am very disappointed, and I am deciding on what steps I should take. $3,000 for a family trip is a lot to just end up being disappointed.

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    Reviewed Aug. 16, 2011

    Thank you to all of you who shared your experience with RCI.

    My husband lost his job eight months ago. We took our very first vacation ever (by ourselves) to Las Vegas this past weekend. It was a birthday gift from my parents. We've been together for nearly five years and have a typical "Brady Bunch" with my family, his and ours, totaling seven of us.

    My oldest just joined the army and his first duty station is in Italy. I travel three-four times a year for work and family. I thought this was an answer to "how am I going to afford a trip to Italy to visit my son next year?" We had a great salesperson. With all of the bonus points we would've earned if we signed up "today" and the "free weeks" thrown at us, my trip to Italy would've been practically paid for.

    My husband, always skeptic, was almost sold. Thank goodness for iPhones and the capability to Google right there on the spot. When we were given a few minutes to ourselves to talk it over, we typed in RCI and this page was the first link on Google's front page.

    This could have and would have been a huge financial risk for us. But, again, I thought this was my affordable way to get to Italy next year to see my son. I am truly sorry for your bad experiences. A lot of you said if you can prevent this from happening to just one person it would be well worth it. Well, consider this your reward. I can not thank you all enough for remarks and sharing your experience. My husband and I said "thanks but no thanks" and were immediately shown the door.

    Wow. I am truly grateful that we were able to pull this up, read your comments and check it out before signing on the dotted line. What a relief! And we got to enjoy the rest of our vacation with $250 of their money for only three hours of our time.

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    Reviewed Aug. 6, 2011

    We purchased a California timeshare after explaining that we would be trading it the first 10 years and using it thereafter. We were assured it would get us a 'red' week top US or international RCI resort anytime.

    We tried to get a week in Florida, which seemed like a simple, easy trade. But it was not so.

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    Reviewed Aug. 5, 2011

    I have been an RCI member for 13 years. My family and I went to book our vacation with RCI. We were told that our member ship was overdue and they had sold all of our points over 100,000.00 because we let our membership go past due.

    We could become a member again, but we had to pay $300 and we would not get any of our points that we put back in. We love our time share but going to the same place every year was not working, so we went to the point system.

    It is wrong that RCI can take your points that you banked with them and sell the points for its own gain. It was over $1,000 worth of points. My goal is to get my story out on the web.

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    Reviewed July 14, 2011

    paid a fee to get an exchange and deposited my weeks vacation for an exchange and never was able to get anything.

    and they rented my week and i am sitting here with nothing . this has been going on for a long time.

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    Reviewed July 10, 2011

    Me and my boyfriend at the time (we weren't married, didn't have the same address or last name-requirement is to be married for the timeshare) were in Vegas and got a timeshare, because we thought it would be a good idea to have something we could travel with and keep after we paid off. However, when I went to use the points the place was booked 5 months in advance and there was only 1 place in San Antonio? Anyways, finally used it to stay in Galveston for a Family Reunion. I put up my immediate family and they said it was going to be 60,000 points for each room (which later on found out it was 60,000 total for the stay). Which sounded like a lot and it was. The place was not that nice.

    A few months after I called RCI/WHYNDAM to see how many points I had and they said I had none until 2012. I asked why and they said my points had expired for the 2 years lapse (keep in mind I just purchased it a year ago) and that I would have to pay a transfer fee in order to use my points now, than in 2012. I was never told my points would expire. I was actually told that I would Never Lose My Points. One person says something, you call back and talk to another person and they say something else. I asked what the value of my 120,000 points are that I get each 2 years and they said it would be the value of paying all the maintenance fees of the year. Which comes out to be $372.00. I'm paying close to $200.00 a month.

    I don't understand how these corporations can take peoples money and lie to them and never give them what they pay for. I guess grandma was always right about "If it is to good to be true, than it's to good to be true."

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    Reviewed March 29, 2011

    My sister and I purchased a timeshare through RCI at Blue Bay Resorts, also being told we could use points and pay only $49.00 for airline tickets. Like many of these other complainants, we were misled and told later on that they were restricting us to 60,000 points per year which isn't even enough for even one of us to use for airline travel. While I'm still making payments on the original mortgage for the past 2 years, I have refused to and will continue to refuse to pay the maintenance fee for something I cannot use. We have used none of our points since buying this useless points timeshare. We really wish someone would put a stop to this ripoff and get back at least some of the money we have paid to them.

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    Reviewed March 3, 2011

    RCI list resorts in its resort directory that are unavailable for trade. My concern is that they use these names to attract people to join and then it is too late to discover that they cannot go there. This has happened to me twice in the last 3 years, when I offered my timeshare as a gift. It seems to me that this can't be legal and should come under some consumer protections.

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    Reviewed Feb. 6, 2011

    I need to respond to Cindy of Pueblo, CO. You read the complaints and don't see the problem. Really? We are capable of real time road conditions and even accidents via Navi. The systems in our personal vehicles but Worldwide RCI has no way to inform members of remodeling going on at the resorts during their stay. This is not something you may like to know before you lay out a bundle of money to relax and have fun one week a year, say they were repairing the chimney on that cute Smokey Mountain cabin next to you. Have you ever had to listen to a gas cement mixer and banging of hammers for hours on end? Guess what? It's not relaxing!

    Shame on RCI for being ambivalent with resorts they book with. They need to admit they are just a broker for the resorts and have little or no interest in assuring the comfort of the paying members that trust them. My condo, Perennial Vacation Club, has rules for the company they keep. If an exchange resort does not live up to the standards set by the club, they don't get any more business from them unless corrected. Period! One lady had problems with a San Diego resort and RCI didn't return her call for 5 days. Don't you see the problem with that? You sound like a DCM to me, "damage control mole". It's one thing to express your experience as positive. But to say the rest of us are winners who don't take the time to learn to work the system just shows you haven't read the posts here from real people with legitimate issues.

    I hope someone who hasn't mailed the check to RCI will read this forum and make up their "informed" mind as to if they want to dive in. I didn't. Never again. Learn from others' experience for piece of mind without surprises. One more thing: What is all that stuff concerning the amenities? I've stayed in the French Quarter at the 200 yr. old ammo depository of Jean **. There isn't any dishwasher, disposal pool, or even a fountain to dip my toes in. I knew this before I booked. All resorts have an amenities section in their description. It's not an issue in the posts I read. It is the surprises, deception, and rudeness people encounter that seems to drive these posts. Yet, I don't see anyone reposting that their problem was cheerfully resolved by RCI. Cindy, I apologize if you are not a DCM. But please, don't be naive. P.S. My experiences with RCI are listed in earlier post below.

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    Reviewed Jan. 23, 2011

    R.C.I. timeshare exchange is a rip-off. R.C.I has over three million customers that pay an annual exchange fee (resulting in millions of dollars for R.C.I.) for the right to exchange your timeshare for a vacation at another location. The only thing we are getting for our annual fee is the guarantee my husband I and will not be taking a vacation through R.C.I. It is next to impossible to use the exchange to take a vacation when and where you want to go.

    My husband and I have a signed contract that reads "I have purchased a one bedroom unit that accommodates four persons at Grandview and qualify for an exchange through R.C.I for four persons. On or around Nov. 2010, R.C.I. put a new system that makes timeshare exchanging next to impossible. R.C.I. now rates your timeshare. For example, if R.C.I. rates your property as an 18 and you want to go to a property rated 25, forget about going. You can get a week in the middle of nowhere. Our contract has no rating or point system. In the past, it was very easy to exchange our week for another one bedroom timeshare when and where we wanted to go-now it is next to impossible. Most Americans and companies abide by their contracts, but not R.C.I. This company is deceitful. All the reports from people stating it is impossible to find an exchange at a desirable location at a desirable time of the year are true. The best thing any consumer can do is not enter into a contract with R.C.I.

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    Reviewed Jan. 9, 2011

    Their sales pitch says, last minute reservations 45 days or less from check-in will be 7500 points. After waiting and waiting this fall for the points to come down to 7500 points on the website, I called and was told that it had been changed in November and is now 30 days before check-in. I called again because this is still not happening. I was told they were having trouble with the system. I told the representative that this was a scam and he said it was not. I had tried to give my timeshare away and have looked into selling it, but the options don't appear honest. This is certainly a scam industry.

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    Reviewed Dec. 28, 2010

    We arrived at our hotel, tired but grateful we dodged a scam at the airport! We checked in at the front desk where we were told, “Yes, your room is ready but please see Caesar, your concierge, for more information. Caesar began by getting somewhat, we thought at the time, was harmless information from us like single or couple, age, reason for vacation and then it got funny when he asked what type of credit cards we have. He gave us a coupon for $5.00 off at the nail salon and told us he would meet us tomorrow for our first free breakfast to discuss the resort.

    The next morning we ordered free continental breakfast delivered to the room. The phone rang around 0930, it was Caesar insuring we would meet him for breakfast. We went back to the front desk area where we were then introduced to Mike and we were told he would show us around the resort. Mike escorted us to our free breakfast (the free breakfast buffet at this all inclusive resort). We had a few meat items as these are not available on the breakfast in room menu. He then encouraged us to drink mimosas. I had about 3 and my husband had about 4. During our walk around, a young gentleman interrupted our conversation with Mike and told us that upgrading was the best thing he ever did (We now think he was an actor).

    This young man also was a few years younger than me and my husband, same race, and we believe to be a US citizen. After showing us around the resort and inviting us to the VIP room for drinks (Jack Daniels) and other upper cut drinks that you will not find in any of the bars, Mike began to explain a Vacation/Time Share deal. Honestly, I can't remember all of the details, he sketched some stuff on a yellow note pad and talked about 2 different packages ranging between $5k and $10k. Mike stated it was not a timeshare but a vacation package/plan. I literally mentally checked out of the conversation 2 times and when I left to go to the bathroom, Mike also excused himself to go as well.

    When I came out, it was as if he was waiting for me. My husband was at the table with another person named Bernie, claiming to be an RCI representative. Bernie popped in and out of the conversation when Mike felt he had a hard time explaining the company concept, package and point system. Bernie did this with the other 10 or so tables in the room that were also getting an "RCI powered by original" sales pitch script. When he decided to use the bathroom, Mike followed him as well. This entire scam took 4 hours of our vacation. We stated we were building our credit to purchase our vacation home.

    When confronted with this were told we could put down a deposit and pay the remaining balance later.

    We stated we had money in our safe but did not want to go through our vacation money for something we had not discussed and budgeted for; we were then told we had to make the decision that day. That same day, our safe malfunctioned and we had to have someone come up to unlock the safe. The bell person brought the keys but the safe would not unlock. He had to send maintenance who opened the safe with a screwdriver and reset the safe with new batteries. Needless to say, we did not use the safe after that. When we arrived home there were 3 inquires on my credit report. One from the credit bureau and 2 from American credit card companies: Bank of America and Chase on the same day we toured with Mike RCI.

    I have called both companies and will send them a copy of what I am typing here. Fortunately I have been accomplishing credit repair for the past 2 years and in early November, I noticed a fraudulent address on my credit report so I requested a fraud alert on my credit report that requires anyone seeking to extend credit take further steps to verify my identity. I believe this is what stopped these fraudulent charges. I don't believe these guys are associated with RCI although they used the name repeatedly. I did manage to walk away with a card that stated powered by original RCI was nowhere on the card.

    I think perhaps RCI is a legitimate company but the people we ran into pardon me, we were sent to by the resort front desk staff, are part of a terrible scheme that I will see one day on the show American Greed.

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    Reviewed Dec. 18, 2010

    This was the letter I sent and it took many days for it to at least be looked into and now they are trying to deny me of cancellation and they also have the facts wrong according to my membership. Please read on. Good afternoon, on 12-04-2010 I spoke with a very nice customer service rep name Jamie ** at lifestyle VIP customer service and I told her that we've just received our first bill just a few days ago and I was very, very upset seeing the fact that we are being charged an APR of 2.99% and not only that but an APR Balance Transfer rate of 16.99%.

    When we sign up for the vacation club, my wife and I were given "ear candy" verbally stating that the Bank of America credit card would have no APR and 0% on Balance transfers as well for 7 months, then after 7 months the sales team at Puerto Plata told us that was could transfer our remaining balance to another card (the example given to us was a Citibank card.) for another duration of 11 months of 0% APR. It all sounded well but to my knowledge my wife was told to sign a piece of paper with nothing in the back stating any contact so they can check her credit score and limit.

    The paper was just an application with front page only, back page blank! After she was approved they gave us back a copied version of the "RCI Elite Rewards World MasterCard" application with now an agreement, absolutely nothing they said was written down. When we were there they seems like nice people with great ideas and very caring of our needs, if that's the service of lifestyle, we have nothing to fear, so I took the liberty of believing them and signed on.

    Upon receiving our first bill automatically I saw that our credit card agreement was something other than "said", I then back tracked looked at our agreement and the front of the page was a copied version of my wife's hand writing to "check her credit score/limit" but on the back a perfect print of another, not stated contract of 2.99% APR and 16.99% Balance Transfer, if it was an actual copy the front and back of the paper would look gray-ish not a perfect black.

    Now with that all said who in the right mind would sign up for something so expensive and actually have APR? There are many credit cards out there with an introduction APR rate of 0%, so logically we wouldn't have signed up if there was a rate other than 0%. So please look into this because I am very unsatisfied and will not just take this without a fight. I feel very taken advantaged of and lied to and I would very much like to cancel my membership and be refunded of my fee's, the person I spoke to I don't particularly remember his name, but the name on the authorization form, his name is Thomas ** or something of the sorts, the hand writing is hard to decipher.

    I haven't used any of my weeks/time yet and if more needs to be said I can be reached via email (**) or called at **. My phone number is also in your files so there should be no reason why we cannot be contacted. We've also called many times since receiving our bill and only once they called back during a weekday in the morning where people have jobs to do and no one is home to answer, so logically the right thing to do would be to call at night after hours or on the weekend where you can actually reach someone.

    I would very much like to resolve this matter quickly and painlessly so please look into this. If this is how the people are being taken advantage of, to join your membership, I am very sure you will lose many customers due to "un-professional" employees with their tricks up their sleeves. I really am not trying to be nasty or hasty here but this kind of customer service the world can do without. If any of this needs to be referenced or followed up you may talk to Jamie ** about the conversation we had. Thank you for your time.

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    Reviewed Dec. 17, 2010

    I received a phone call from someone purporting to be with RCI. Since I had missed a local meeting by RCI to members, I was being invited to lunch so they could tell me how I could make RCI work better for me and new features. I arrived at a Ft. Lauderdale restaurant and was greeted by one of 4 people, given lunch and then the pitch. Since I had weeks, which were a passé way of getting timeshares, I should get points. But in order to do so, I had to buy into a Timeshare that offered points. Then I could convert my other 2 timeshares to the point system. They offered a resort in Palm Springs, believe it Club Trinidad, at a price of around $10K.

    By the time I was ready to leave without buying, it had been reduced to about $6K. There was a man, Jim ****, standing by who was a travel agent and in such need of my many points that he was willing to offer me ten cents per point. All I had to do was put the purchase on the new RCI card I had to get and then within about 2 months, I would have all the money from Jim that I could pay it off. I reported them for fraud with State's Attorney General. First, I was induced to come under false pretenses. I doubt they were realtors licensed in Florida and found out that Jim had been ordered by North Dakota to cease and desist same practices there. So apparently, they travel about the country swindling seniors!

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    Reviewed Dec. 1, 2010

    I have read all of the complaints, and I am not sure what the problem is. It is really quite simple. RCI does not own the resorts. They do not control the availability anywhere. If you want Hawaii, you have to have a member that owns in Hawaii to trade their week. I spent nearly two hours on the phone with new member services finding out exactly how this works.

    If you own a timeshare, you give that week to RCI and so does everyone else that is a member. There are 2387 condos that are owned in Hawaii. There are 5000 members that are trying to get to Hawaii. Do the math. There are only 1500 members that "deposit" their week for Hawaii. Do the math. Florida in the wintertime? Forget it or book early. Anywhere southern coastal during Spring break? Forget it or book early. Take your head out of your backside and try something new so what, you have a "gold crown resort"

    Are you too good to accept anything less? One of my favorite resorts is in the Smokey mountains. I stayed in a 140 year old cabin! I slept on an antique brass bed that was almost as old as the cabin. I was on vacation. It was awesome! I do not have to have seven pools, a game room, etc., etc., etc. I can find something do do wherever I go. Your vacation is what you make it so keep your gold crowns and keep complaining about how you cannot get anything. I always trade my gold crown and never have a problem finding anywhere to stay!

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    Reviewed Nov. 6, 2010

    I have a 3BR week in Lake Tahoe that I traded during my 3-year membership with RCI. First I traded down for a one BR in Vegas because they said it was all they had available. We arrived to a regular size hotel room with two walls built around a queen sized bed in the corner with a window and door to the living area. Mind you, there was just enough room to walk around the bed to change the sheets, not a bedroom. We immediately went to the front desk to complain and they upgraded us to a beautiful 2-bedroom unit for an extra fee.

    The next trade was in Miami, FL for a two-bedroom. A week before we left, I called to confirm the reservation with the condo resort and they told me they only had one BR reserved for me. I called RCI and they said it was their error and offered me another BR in addition to the first one that was 5 mile down the beach. I guess the kids would love having their own private room away from the grown-ups, but that wasn't going to happen. I refused the offer (it had horrible reviews). We went to the one BR with the intent to "shoehorn" the 4 of us into a cramped vacation. We got there and lo-and-behold, they had a two BR available for an extra fee. Huh? Beginning to see a pattern here?

    The next vacation to Brownsville, TX./S. Padre Island was a 2-bedroom that turned out to be an aging apartment complex converted to condos. Some owner occupancy mixed with timeshare weeks. I went to the manager to ask why there were no 3 BR units available in such a large complex and he said there were several available to RCI but they cost more than the 2 BRs. He said they never request the 3s and his hands were tied.

    So the bottom line is: if RCI would spend half the time on service that they spend on figuring out ways to bleed extra money out of these condos, they could be a stellar company. Instead, they come off as shysters and money grubbers to the discomfort of their paying customers. I feel like I gave them 3 chances. 1st try: failed. Second try: failed. Third try: failed. RCI continues to send membership offers. That'll be a cold day in hell!

    PS: On one occasion, while my wife was making a reservation, the operator frustrated her so bad she handed me the phone. I listened a little to the long winded sales pitch before trying to interrupt him to let him know I was not interested in the offer, but he just kept on talking. I finally had to scream into the receiver several times before I could get his attention and he acted miffed that I would scream at him while he was talking. I said I was sorry that I had to resort to screaming to get his attention. Maybe he should keep the headphones on while he reads prepared sales pitches to humans (not sure, he might have been a robot).

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    Reviewed Nov. 1, 2010

    I have quoted a couple of the comments I saw posted on this site and caution readers to be wary of these type of postings. For instance, the one from Alisa of Street, MD on August 29, 2010: "I have yet to have a bad experience with RCI.” Linda of Carmel, IN on August 29, 2010: "I think if these complaining members of RCI would spent just 5 minutes with the New Member People who call out to all the new members to learn how to use the system, then they would see how easy the program works. My experience has been good!"

    Obviously these people are fictitious and their stories have been planted on the web. My wife and I have had little or no success in the past 5 years dealing with RCI while trying to find accommodations. Let me add we have tried up to 10 months in advance in some cases, as is recommended, to find accommodations in the desirable locations, such as beach front in California, Texas, Florida, and Mexico.

    We have never been successful in any of our attempts. It is very frustrating. Suddenly, this year we thought we had finally found what we wanted. My wife booked a beautiful condo on the beach in Pensacola, Fla for April, 2011. We paid the reservation fee and made sure our maintenance fees were up to date and then told our kids we were taking them there during the Easter break. Or, so we thought. We found out this week that there is no record of our transaction and we have no condo reservation booked there or anywhere with RCI.

    We even had a confirmation number for our reservation. A representative from RCI told us this was not the correct amount of digits to be a proper confirmation number. My wife dealt directly with RCI for this reservation! When attempting to find out what was happening with our vacation, we were told a supervisor would be calling us back within 24-48 hours. They never have.

    We again are left in the dark, which it seems is where you usually are when dealing with these people. Fortunately we had not booked airline tickets yet; but we are out the money for the reservation fee. And of course our RCI points keep mounting, yet we can't use them. Last year some of our points lapsed because we couldn't find a location to use them before their deadline. My advice to you is this: if you want to waste your money, buy a fractional ownership with RCI. Otherwise, keep your money and take 5-6 nice vacations over the next 10 years and consider yourself lucky that you didn't fall into the trap that we have found ourselves in. We lost our reservation fees. We had our holiday plans cancelled. We were unable to use our RCI points, which we pay for to extend each year. We pay maintenance fees for condos which we never get to use.

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    Reviewed Sept. 26, 2010

    Members of Vacation International used RCI in 2010 on exchange program, using points and cash as well as paying fee to be a member of RCI. RCI booked my wife into the Lafayette Hotel and Suites of San Diego, CA, a Ventana Hotel and Resort for five days in June of 2010. Yes, I went online and printed a copy of Lafayette's amenities, bar and patio, two cafes/lounges, heated pool, spa sun deck, a/c in the room. What a surprise to show up on June 9, 2010 to construction and no lounges, no bar, pool in need of refinishing, carpets wet and mole smell throughout. My wife called me upset with these issues and I started that evening to inquire to RCI.

    Someone returned my call five days later. My wife was only staying five days. In my research, I found out through old newspapers that a major updating to the Lafayette would be taking place from late 2009 thru 2010. You can be sure that RCI said, "Mrs ***, the Lafayette will be under some remodeling at the time of your stay and some amenities may not be available. Not! Two months after I filed a complaint, K. *** and Christy M. replied, RCI is largely dependent upon staff at affiliated properties to advise us when construction and/or refurbishment activities take place. I think a projected 2-year project constitutes knowledge.

    In an effort to cover their statements, next reply, "RCI with the construction and cost involved in the exchange, we, RCI, took that into consideration when pricing you vacation thru us." RCI forgot one problem, I decide if I will book a reservation at a resort under construction or remodel. Never would I have paid $124 to join RCI. Given up point and paid another $200 + in fees to stay at the Lafayette under construction and lacking in amenities.

    My wife took pictures of the conditions and had friends come by, stated, "This is ghetto." It is easy to pick out a lie in written form. Letter from RCI K. *** 08/04/2010, first stated you are not aware of affiliate properties construction unless they advise you. And later stated even knowing about construction any and all fees charged took construction and or remodel, lack of possible amenities into consideration, attempt to cover up through writing. I am the one who need to decide how my funds are spent and what value it's worth, not by items withheld by RCI or Lafayette Hotels.

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    Reviewed Sept. 11, 2010

    My wife ordered a package from RCI Cruises about 10 days ago. She had to give a credit card for $99 deposit. The trip is supposed to be cancelable and the $99 is to be credited back to our Visa. On 9/8/10, I canceled the cruise by phone. On 9/9/10, I canceled the cruise by fax and on 9/10/10 I sent a letter of cancellation. According to the people on the phone, two days ago, I was to receive a call from customer service within 24 to 48 hours to verify the cancellation. It is 10pm PDT on 9/10/10 and I have yet to hear from anyone. I am beginning to get a little nervous because of all the hoops necessary to do a simple cancellation. If anyone has had experience with this cruise organization, I would appreciate hearing from them.

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    Reviewed Aug. 29, 2010

    I have yet to have a bad experience with RCI. We purchased into the points program & every year have been able to find accommodations at desired locations on a regular basis. The properties & units have been exceptional & my favorite is in Manhattan. Since I live in MD, I visit NYC at least 4x a year for a long weekend or at least overnight. I don't always find a unit available exactly when I want, but when I do, I book it & rearrange my schedule so I can go. I've also been successful in using points for car rentals. I'd say in the past 5 yrs of usage I've saved our family thousands of dollars using RCI. You just have to learn how to use it. Once you do, it's pretty easy. Next year we are planning a trip to Europe again & I'm already starting my search for places I'd like to stay.
    Oh yes, you might want to setup Alerts, as they will notify you when a property does become available, but you got be fast to get it. It's all about timing

    Good luck, I'm not unhappy yet!

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    Reviewed Aug. 29, 2010

    I think if these complaining members of RCI would spend just 5 minutes with the New Member People who call out to all the new members to learn how to use the system, then they would see how easy the program works. My experience has been good! I let RCI teach me how to use RCI and did not rely on what the sales person told me at the time of sale. RCI tries to teach every member, but most only buy and pay no attention to how the system works. It is their own fault that they can't find their vacation.

    They prefer to play the victim role, instead of taking responsibility in learning that they bought something valuable. It takes some important information from RCI to be followed by the members if they want the vacations, when and where they want them. Hey, members, own up to learning you are not the only member. We are all in this same boat, learn how to master your ship, learn the rules and follow them. If you're too late one year, start earlier the next year. Grow Up, and be accountable for your lack of interest in learning the RCI system at the start.

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    Reviewed Aug. 26, 2010

    I am never able to find resorts where I want to go with my points, but can find them if I purchase them under "extra vacations" which I have done several times. So my points are accumulating because I haven't been able to use the points and now I have to pay $99 to extend 111,000 points. I want to use them for airfare which I had done about 15 years ago, buying three tickets for my family. Now they say I can use a minimum amount of points to use for air, which doesn't even pay for half of one ticket. I pay high maintenance fees for my resort plus a first time refurbishment fee which was unexpected. Why have points if you can't use them? Anyone have a suggestion?

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    Reviewed Aug. 24, 2010

    We signed a contract on June 15, 2010 for fractional time share. During the signing of the paperwork, I was told by Rafael ** that Mexican law allowed five business days in which to cancel a contract. We decided to cancel, and on June 18, 2010, sent an e-mail, a fax and a registered letter to Francisco **, the developer's agent, notifying him that we wanted to cancel .He replied to our e-mail, wanting to call us and get details as to why we wanted to cancel. He never called.

    In addition, the saleswoman, Marisela **, lied about the foreign exchange transaction fee. After we were told we needed to apply for an RCI credit card through Bank of America, my wife asked about the fee and was told that "the company would absorb the fee." Residence Club La Jolla is defying national law by refusing to cancel our contract, and Bank of America has added a $233.75 transaction fee to the charge.

    We have contacted PROFECO, the Mexican government's consumer protection agency about Residence Club La Jolla and are waiting to see what action they take before we look at other possible actions.

    None of the credit card companies involved, Chase, Bank of America and Capital One, are helping with our dispute. Bank of America has a vested interest in keeping the $7125 (plus foreign exchange transaction fee) because it owns an interest in RCI! And, by the way, there was absolutely no need to have another Bank of America card because my wife has three with no balances on them. So, Bank of America and CIA Holelera Nadia, dba Residence Club La Jolla, are "partners in crime. "

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    Reviewed Aug. 19, 2010

    RCI website and process for finding available timeshare units is not functional. It is impossible to find available units and their selection criteria on the website do not work. I think they do this on purpose so people have to call them to book units. I wrote a lot in my previous attempt to submit my complaint to Consumer Affairs only to have everything lost when I entered the wrong encryption code. I want to say that there is something terribly wrong with this company. They website does not work and the search functions also do not work.

    Lost time and money, I have to take a day off work tomorrow to call RCI and troubleshoot why their website returns no units available for Taiwan/Singapore all the way up to July 2012, that is unbelievable. I tried e mailing RCI helpdesk only to be told to clear cache and cookies and use the 3.5 version of Firefox which I did but the website still does not work. Is there some clause that stipulates that if a company advertises that their website will allow users to search for units that they company therefore must provide such a service? It's like they promised something that they cannot deliver.

    I lost money on having to extend my points to Feb 2011 (this costs money to extend). But I had no choice since I could never find any available units online and I'm extremely busy at work and cannot spend an hour on the phone with RCI while they look into which units are available. Plus I don't trust them and would like to see the units myself online to see if I like them or not. This has taken an emotional toll on me as well being stressed out about having to try to book something before my points expire in Feb 2012. Also my hand is killing me having to keep clicking and searching the RCI website only to keep getting "no units available" notifications. I looked for units in Singapore and Taiwan up until July 2012 and RCI website told me no units were ever available. That is impossible or this is a huge scam.

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    RCI Company Information

    Company Name:
    RCI
    Year Founded:
    1974
    Address:
    9998 North Michigan Road
    City:
    Carmel
    State/Province:
    IN
    Postal Code:
    46032
    Country:
    United States
    Website:
    www.rci.com