# Ok what is the story with banked OLCC weeks at RCI?



## scooooter (Jul 15, 2009)

I am thoroughly confused.

I started having problems with this back in February with the promise from RCI that it would be "fixed", but now I am being told it is what it is.   

We own a 2 bedroom in the west and a 3 bedroom lockout in River Island.  

On RCI.com we can "view" the inventory available for the West, but we cannot book it because of the 1 in 4 rule.  (which, of course, doesn't apply to us because we own there, but their website doesn't recognize that, so we have to call them to book the week that we want.)  Not a huge problem, at least we can see the banked inventory.  River Island is another story.

When we search using our banked River Island week, we can only pull up 3 1 bedroom units.  Yet, when I call, there is "tons" of inventory available, including lots of 2 bedroom units.  

?

I have been told it's because of the 1 in 4 rule.  If that is the case, why in the world can I pull up those 3 1 bedroom units at River Island??

I have called many, many times over the last several months.  Today, this is what I was told

Because of the 1 in 4 rule, I am not EVER going to be able to see the banked River Island inventory, even if I am searching on a banked RI week!  :annoyed:      I was on the phone for well over an hour and it kept coming back to that is just the way it is.  If we want to book something into River Island, we can NOT do it online.  We can't even view the inventory available, we have to call.  How stupid is that??  Why is it that we can at least see the west inventory??  I don't get it!  

I was given the feedback email (feedback@rci.com) and was told I could email them with my feelings about it, but that was the way it was, at least for now. 

Can someone explain this to me?  And, if that is the case, why is it that I can see 3 1 bedroom units that are banked???

Can someone who has a banked River Island week do me a favor and check to see if you have this same problem?  See if you can pull up a RI week with a ri week you have banked?  

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!!!

Rhonda


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## bnoble (Jul 15, 2009)

> Can someone explain this to me?


Sure.  The explanation is simple.

_The website is broken._

If I were in your shoes, I would email feedback with a simple, polite request to have this functionality fixed.  Re-send it every quarter.  After a year, send a written letter to RCI.  But, don't spend too much time on this, because it will drive you bats, and it is likely that they have bigger broken-webiste fish to fry, from what I can see.

In the meantime, whenever you want to know what's out there, just post a sightings request, and someone who isn't blocked on 1-in-4 will tell you what's where, when.


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## scooooter (Jul 15, 2009)

Thank you for the advice.  I have been calling every month or so since February.  I agree, I think this is a glitch that they just have to fix.  It makes no sense why I can at least view the West inventory, but not River Island.  Why is that?  Why not at least allow me to see the inventory with a message that I can't book it and then I can call to book what I want?


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## bnoble (Jul 16, 2009)

Like I said, you are going to drive yourself crazy if you insist on trying to understand why.  Just work around it by positing sightings requests and calling when necessary.


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## Mel (Jul 20, 2009)

A couple of questions...

Do you own any weeks at resorts other than Orange lake?

What resorts was your first?  What are the first 4 digits of your RCI membership number?

Also, are you a points member, or weeks?  Or are you weeks split - one in points, one in weeks?

The VC's don't always understand how the system works, so you might be getting the "right" answers for the wrong reason.

The inability to confirm online sounds like a function of 1-in-4 (or in OLCC case, 1-in-3) rule.  But given your ownership, it shouldn't be functioning that way.  I own OLCC West Village plus another resort.  I can confirm any OLCC visit with any deposit (as long as I can pull it).  I was at OLCC in April, so I don't think staying there recently would trigger the 1-in-3 unless they "system" thinks you don't own there.  The only explanation I can think of is your primary membership being another resort.  If your RCI ID starts with 0670 or 8881, this shouldn't be a problem.

As for River Island, I don't know what to tell you.  I can see 24 different unit size/weeks available with my non-OLCC week.  What size River Island unit are you searching with?

It sounds to me like whoever you talked to has no idea why you don't see those units, but knows that sometimes 1-in-3 comes into play, so figures that must be the answer.  Hopefully you can get a better answer for feedback, as they seem to be more knowledgeable about computers, and their system in specific.

Can you run a search under "all deposits" and find any RI units with another week?  If so, look under "ineligible weeks" near the bottom of the page, and maybe you can find an explanation there.


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## lyh212 (Sep 21, 2009)

*orange lake owners confusions 1 in 3 etc*

any olcc owners still having problems?

i called rci to get a new account that starts with my olcc resort number (instead of another resort) and the rep said it cant be done. they say something about waiting 4 or 5 years.

what are they smoking there. does anyone there know what is going on?

are there owner services folks at orange lake that are aware of this hassle the owners are experiencing? or do they even care?


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## silentg (Sep 21, 2009)

My question is this, if you own a week at Orange Lake, why are you going thru RCI to trade into Orange Lake?  You can do an internal trade without going thru RCI.   My membership with RCI was messed up for a while after I bought a week at Orange Lake. Now I have a separate RCI membership for my non Orange Lake timeshares and If I do any trades into Orange Lake with Orange Lake weeks, I go thru Orange Lake instead of RCI.  One thing about Orange Lake is that they are always trying to "upgrade" our timeshare, by inviting us to Owners' updates and then pulling the salespitch on us.  Does this happen to the rest of you?  I am happy with the timeshares I own and do not like to be pressured on my vacation to buy more or upgrade if you want to put it that way.   TerryC


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## bmurr33 (Sep 30, 2009)

I own a two bedroom on the West Village of OLCC weeks 41 and 42 and I have been having MAJOR issues with RCI over the last 2 years. It almost seems like the refuse to fix their system. I was trying to trade my week I have banked from St. Maarten, for a second 2 bedroom at OLCC during week 42 of this year and I almost had to reach through the phone and strangle someone. Even though I am an owner,and the 1 in 4 rule does not apply to owners, I still get that same 1 in 4 rule message when I try to trade. It tells me that I have to call...annoying, but ok I called. I was on the phone with the VC while I was looking at the online inventory, and it was like talking to a wall. There were 5 2 bedrooms available and the VC just kept telling me no, there is nothing available for that week over and over. I kept telling him that I see it right in front of my eyes, how can he not see it but he either really didn't see it or he was very very inept. He said that there was nothing he could do, and then proceeded the sales pitch I get EVERYTIME about upgrading this, or extra vacation that, and renew my membership for a lower rate. My membership is payed through 2011, and once that is over, I am DONE with them. I am moving to redweek.com I think! RCI has gotten progressively worse over the years, especially how they nickle and dime us to death. I am interested to see how this Holiday Inn Vacation Club thing progresses.

As far as the "owner update" I get the "invitation" every time I check in. I just tell them no thanks, I already own two weeks and have no desire to switch to points in a polite but stern way, and they back off. I never really hear from them again after that, but the first year I did go to the updat tour thing, they called my unit 2 times a day every day. So, in my experience, if you don't go to the tour thing, they won't bother you. But, if you do go, they will pound you to buy.


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## gjw007 (Sep 30, 2009)

silentg said:


> My question is this, if you own a week at Orange Lake, why are you going thru RCI to trade into Orange Lake?  You can do an internal trade without going thru RCI.   My membership with RCI was messed up for a while after I bought a week at Orange Lake. Now I have a separate RCI membership for my non Orange Lake timeshares and If I do any trades into Orange Lake with Orange Lake weeks, I go thru Orange Lake instead of RCI.  One thing about Orange Lake is that they are always trying to "upgrade" our timeshare, by inviting us to Owners' updates and then pulling the salespitch on us.  Does this happen to the rest of you?  I am happy with the timeshares I own and do not like to be pressured on my vacation to buy more or upgrade if you want to put it that way.   TerryC



The internal exchange program is only if you are in the Holiday Vacation Club.  Many owners didn't wish to the spend the thousands of dollars to join to save $80 on the exchange.  For other owners, it made sense as they can use the points-based system to their advantage.

As far as upgrading, I have always felt that it was easier to get an upgrade via RCI than via HVC although I have no problems with the upgrades internally.  The reason I say it is easier is the cost is the same whether you book a 3-bedroom unit at River Island or a studio in the West Village.  HGVI is cheaper in $$$$ but there is a cost difference in points which doesn't exist with a weeks-based exchange.

There is no such thing as an owners update.  It is a pure and simple hard sales pitch.  Many of the sales people have little idea of what is going on at the resort but certainly know what they have to sell and make a strong push toward getting a sale.

I do wonder whether these exchange problems are when the RCI account doesn't start with 0670 (or the other current OLCC codes) thus invoking the 1-in-4 rule.


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## matbec (Dec 4, 2009)

gjw007 said:


> I do wonder whether these exchange problems are when the RCI account doesn't start with 0670 (or the other current OLCC codes) thus invoking the 1-in-4 rule.



FWIW, I just checked RCI and it looks like this problem has been fixed! I'm one of those people whose RCI account doesn't start with 0670. I searched against a non-OLCC week and I could book an exchange into any of the villages, including River Island, without running into the 1-in-4 rule.


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