# RCI Trading Power--scam? [Mayan Palace Deposit]



## rdurnberger (Jul 10, 2012)

Does anyone know a good answer or solution to the issue below?

I am an owner at Mayan Palace (I know, I know). Last May (2011) I banked my 2011 week with RCI, and when I banked it, the person asked if I wanted to split my two bedroom into two one-bedroom bankings, which I did, and I used on of those weeks in an exchange. As of last week, when on RCI's website, that one week/one bedroom, which indicated that for those using the week I exchanged, it had a start date of Dec 4, 2011, has a Trading Power of 19.

So, I knew that I would not be using my 2012 week, and figured that if a one bedroom/one week exchange had a Trading Power of 19, why, then, my two-bedroom/one week exchange would probably be worth about double that. Guess what? Not even close, according to the RCI website, that two-beroom/one week exchange has a Trading Power of only 21. I banked this at the end of June, 2012.

Now, I have called both RCI and Mayan Palace to try to figure out why this is so. The only reason that they could tell me was that the week I just banked was for March 2012, which is not as prime a time as December, and thus only worth 21 points. I actually understand why this would be, but when I asked WHY the week I just banked was for March and not December (for the person who would be using my week), both RCI and Mayan Palace said that the other was to blame, that that March or December date was determined at the time of banking, but they couldn't tell me why.

I feel that I have been ripped off (No, really?!) by either RCI or Mayan Palace or perhaps both. Does anyone have any insight into this method that one/both uses to determine which week my banked week gets applied to? Both entities indicated to me that had I banked the 2012 week earlier, I would have had greater Trading Power, but I can't follow their logic there--I banked my 2011 week in May of 2011, and apparently got some pretty good Trading Power for it, and my 2012 week was banked in June of 2012, and it got very weak Trading Power. Relative to the year I was banking, there was only a month difference in when I booked.

I hope this makes sense, and someone can explain whether I'm justified in my exacerbation or not. And if I am, if there is anything I can do about it.


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## DeniseM (Jul 10, 2012)

Mayan Palace determines which week is deposited.


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## rdurnberger (Jul 10, 2012)

I have a floating week--so why would a week in March be selected for one time I banked a week, and a week in December be selected for another time?


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## bshmerlie (Jul 10, 2012)

I don't think any of them are trying to help us out.  But it sounds like the Mayan Palace probably had control over that one. I think RCI already has preset values for size of the unit and the given week.  They are just letting you know what the value is for the weeks that Mayan gave them to deposit.


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## Mel (Jul 10, 2012)

There are two issues at play here:

1 - which week was deposited into your account
2 - the value of a 2BR unit vs (2) 1BR units

First, you own a floating week, so someone has to pick which week gets deposited to RCI.  RCI does not do this - at some resorts owners are allowed to reserve and deposit a week, at others the resort chooses.  When the resort chooses, it improves the ability of owners staying at the resort to get the weeks that they want (either an even distribution of weeks is deposited, or the leftovers)  Owners wanting to visit at Christmas, but unable to commit the day reservations open don't find themselves unable to get a week because they have all been deposited to RCI.  This can also be a benefit to exchangers if they don't typically choose to deposit until their use year is about to expire (deposits made close to the use date have reduced trading power points).  This is a benefit because the resort pre-banks the weeks, and assigns them to you when you request a deposit.  If you deposit less than 90 days out you only get 80% of your value.  If you wait until 30 days out, you only get 60%!  Calling in June, you might be able to get 90% if you get a late December week - but you might also find that everybody else has reserved those weeks, and the only thing available in your use year is the first half of the year, which has already passed (it's a good thing they have deposited weeks to put in your account).

Factor 2 - and this is the one that really matters.  In RCI Points, a 2BR lockoff unit is worth exactly the same whether deposited as a single unit, or as two smaller units.  You will also pay for your exchanges the same way.  With RCI Points, this is not the case.  RCI Weeks will reward you for depositing 2 smaller units, and you can then pay an extra fee ($99) to combine those deposits into a single deposit.  This is because they collect fees for exchanges.  If you make two deposits, they will collect two exchange fees from you, and two from those who use your weeks.  If you make a single deposit, they will only collect once from each.

I looked at one of the Mayan Palace resorts to see how points are given, and this is what I found:

Week 13 March, Spring Break:   2BR 23,  1BR 21  (assuming the 2 sides are identical, 42 total points)
Week 27, often July 4th holiday: 2BR 23, 1BR 22

Week 49 (early December)  2BR 19, 1BR 18 (and if it was deposited less than 180 days out, the 2BR is worth 17!

Week 51 (Christmas holiday)  2BR 36, 1BR 34

You can see by this that the week that was deposited (December vs March) doesn't really make much difference.  The way they were deposited does.  You learned the hard way by not reading up on the way RCI operates (see the sticky threads at the top of this forum).  It was established long ago that you get far more benefit by splitting your unit in RCI Weeks.  You learned your lesson the hard way, now you know.  Individually the two 1BR units will have lower trade power, and not pull quite as much in exchange, but if you care more about the total trading power in your account (and are willing to pay $99 once in a while to combine everything), you have to split everything.

You probably can't get your resort to switch your deposit out, but it might be worth a call - don't tell them about the trade power issue, just that you want to be able to get two trades.  They might tell you you can still do that with the single deposit (you can), but they might be willing to give you 2 1BR units instead.  It won't hurt to try.  Otherwise, use this as a learning experience, and get to understand how RCI works before you deposit again.  (2) 1BR units in early December at 18 TPU matches the best 2BR Christmas week at 36 TPU, but how often are you likely to get that Christmas week?


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## tschwa2 (Jul 10, 2012)

You assumed that a 2 bedroom should get you nearly the same tpu's as 2 one bedrooms or a one bedroom and a studio.  This is a fairly logical assumption and rci points does work this way for the most part.  It was discovered soon after the change to tpu's  (and many suspected it before) that this is not the case with RCI weeks.  RCI wants two deposits so they can charge two exchange fees for someone to get the unit.  They also want you to pay the $109 combine fee to combine each units tpu's into a bigger one.  In order to get you to do this they make the difference between the smaller units and the larger units minimal.  

They don't hide the fact and you can ask usually ask when you call to deposit what the difference would be.  If you have online access to RCI you can also look it up.


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## Pat H (Jul 10, 2012)

MP does bulk deposits well over a year in advance of check in dates. When you ask to deposit a week, MP contacts RCI to make a deposit to your account. I do not know who picks the actual week. You do get the max TPU's for that week even if the date has passed since it was deposited more than a year in advance. 

Last year I ended up paying my MF and depositing my weeks later in the yr (Sept?). I own a 2 bdr which splits into a 1 Bdr and a hotel unit. I ended up with two 1 bdr deposits. If I remeber correctly the total TPU's was over 30. I'm doing the same thing this year.


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## STEVIE (Jul 10, 2012)

Hi, I understand and feel your pain. I own a two bedroom lock off at Vacation Village in the Berkshires. If I deposit the week as two one bedrooms I receive 18 TPU's (9 each). If I deposit the unit as a whole which is two bedrooms I only receive 12 TPU's. I thought the same way, I expected to get almost twice the TPU"s  if I divided the unit into two one bedrooms, but it doesn't work that way.
Sue


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## JulieAB (Jul 11, 2012)

At another resort I used to own, I found that the person depositing the week really didn't know or care what the deposit was worth. She just assumed the oldest available week was the best. When i talked to her directly, I asked if certain holiday weeks were available or to pick "any week in march" and she was happy to deposit it if it was there to assign.  This was prior to TPUs, so she was even able to pull it back and switch the week after I got online to check trading power.


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## Grupo Mayan (Jul 11, 2012)

*Contact Us*

Dear "rdurnberger": 

We kindly ask that you get in touch with us so we can address your query regarding the exchange value of your weeks through RCI. Since each contract is different and every company handles the transaction in a unique way, it is always preferable to get that specific information directly from us.

We are committed to helping you understand the great value of acquiring a membership with us and in that way, obtain all the significant benefits we offer to our members. 

Please contact our Member Services Customer Care Center at 1-800-292-9446 or you can email us at grupomayanblog@grupovidanta.com. We would very much like to provide you personalized assistance.

We are grateful for your time.

Sincerely,
The Customer Support Team.


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## MuranoJo (Jul 12, 2012)

Pat H said:


> MP does bulk deposits well over a year in advance of check in dates. When you ask to deposit a week, MP contacts RCI to make a deposit to your account. I do not know who picks the actual week. You do get the max TPU's for that week even if the date has passed since it was deposited more than a year in advance.
> 
> Last year I ended up paying my MF and depositing my weeks later in the yr (Sept?). I own a 2 bdr which splits into a 1 Bdr and a hotel unit. I ended up with two 1 bdr deposits. If I remeber correctly the total TPU's was over 30. I'm doing the same thing this year.




My understanding also:  MP passes the bulk deposit over to RCI at least a year in advance (which does offer a benefit for those deciding to deposit late).  When you ask MP to deposit to RCI, I believe it is RCI who selects from the remaining bulk inventory to assign you a week.  However, I also believe MP can influence what RCI assigns you, but just to a small degree.

That said, I have had both RCI and MP tell me the other entity was responsible for assigning the week for deposit.   

At any rate, I hope the OP does contact MP Member Services, as they have helped quite a few people on this board.


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## randkb (Jul 13, 2012)

I own several lockoff units and I know that RCI gives more TPU if I deposit them as separate units rather than one unit.  Many of you have stated that you think that a 2 bedroom should be worth twice the TPU's of a one bedroom.   That doesn't seem logical to me as if I rent a two bedroom condo from a resort the rate is very rarely twice the rate of a one bedroom.  Just look at Extra Vacations, the rate for two bedrooms is not twice the rate of a one bedroom.


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## MuranoJo (Jul 13, 2012)

randkb,
Some suspect the reason RCI gives more total TPU for two sides of a lock-off vs. the single 2 bd unit is because 2 separate deposits = 2 exchange fees for RCI (vs. just one for the 2b unit).

At least that's the theory.


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## wrxdoug (Jul 15, 2012)

Also, may I point out you deposited a year ago and now points may be different. I have the same unit same week fixed in aruba and have deposited it for the last few years since they changed to the points for weeks system it was consistently the same for two years then this year for some unknown reason it dropped 10 points!  This was a spring fixed week 13 aruba week so go figure I deposited it last may 2011 and this June 2012 again one year ahead really 10 points drop and I looked ahead a year and if I deposited it two years out still 10 POINTS LOWER! So sometimes they obviously changed the value despite the week and size.


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## learnalot (Jul 15, 2012)

wrxdoug said:


> Also, may I point out you deposited a year ago and now points may be different. I have the same unit same week fixed in aruba and have deposited it for the last few years since they changed to the points for weeks system it was consistently the same for two years then this year for some unknown reason it dropped 10 points!  This was a spring fixed week 13 aruba week so go figure I deposited it last may 2011 and this June 2012 again one year ahead really 10 points drop and I looked ahead a year and if I deposited it two years out still 10 POINTS LOWER! So sometimes they obviously changed the value despite the week and size.



Trading power units are also affected by supply and demand relationships.


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