# Suckerpunched by RCI?



## CJnRaeHedstrom (Mar 7, 2010)

Years ago, we attended a presentation which ended up with my husband and I purchasing a bi-annual week in November at our timeshare.  We made our payments, through thick and thin, and even paid our RCI dues, however, whenever we wanted to exchange our week, it never seemed to work with the RCI people.  We finally paid off our timeshare loan and owned our week free and clear.  Note that in all the time we were making payments, we visited our timeshare for a total of one night!
Interestingly enough, shortly after receiving the deed in the mail, we were invited to attend another presentation and stupidly we agreed to attend and hear the pitch for converting our week to points.  Because we were guaranteed that points were so much easier to use than weeks and at the time our daughter was planning a beach wedding, we agreed to "upgrade".
We tried to use our points to get to the Outer Banks for the week of the wedding, we even purchased "insurance" from RCI.  Within a week of making our plans, our daughter changed her wedding venue.  We promptly cancelled our plans and requested a refund of our deposit, because we had purchased insurance.  Nada.  We didn't get our deposit back.
The following year (2009), we ceased paying our RCI membership, as it was just one extra expense at a time when my husband was notified that his job was going to be out-sourced. However, we're still stuck paying for this "upgrade" that hasn't benefited us in any way shape or form.  
After talking to our resort, we are back to a week - the upgraded one we are paying for until April 2017, because we don't want to mess our credit up by stopping payments on it.  We sacrifice to pay our maintenance fees. Apparently, our new week is supposed to be a prime one for exchanging, but not for renting, so we can't seem to find a way to get some relief. It's so frustrating to feel so trapped. 
We've been suckered twice by these companies that offer to sell it for you and they keep calling or emailing.

The promises that are made during the sales pitch aren't satisfied and I'm certain that we're not the only one who feel this frustration.  

Somehow, I don't think the lawsuit against RCI went far enough.


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## DeniseM (Mar 7, 2010)

The rental market has nothing to do with RCI - it's the economy.  Travel is depressed and the rental market is suffering because of it.  If you look at the TUG Last Minute Rental Board you will see some very nice and expensive rentals that aren't moving, even when the owner is asking $700 or less.

Timesharing can be frustrating -  to be successful it really takes some research and advance planning.  You've come to the right place!


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## timeos2 (Mar 7, 2010)

*Why buy & pay if you don't use?*



CJnRaeHedstrom said:


> The promises that are made during the sales pitch aren't satisfied and I'm certain that we're not the only one who feel this frustration.
> 
> Somehow, I don't think the lawsuit against RCI went far enough.



Unfortunately you made an expensive purchase for all the wrong reasons. Buying any timeshare to TRADE, not use at the resort, is almost a guarantee that you'll be disappointed with your ownership. Trading was never designed to be the primary reason to own a weeks based timeshare but merely an option to use occasionally for a bit of variety or because during one use year you can't use your deeded ownership.

Since you seem to be planning to stay curent on payment it behoves you to at least USE the week you pay for! You liked it enough to buy it originally so why not take the time to enjoy it now? Or, as an alternative, rent it very low cost to a friend, neighbor or relative - even some money back on the fees is better than giving the use away for nothing. 

If you haven't already drop your RCI membership as that is another expense you just don't need to pay. Good luck!


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## CJnRaeHedstrom (Mar 7, 2010)

timeos2 said:


> Unfortunately you made an expensive purchase for all the wrong reasons. Buying any timeshare to TRADE, not use at the resort, is almost a guarantee that you'll be disappointed with your ownership. Trading was never designed to be the primary reason to own a weeks based timeshare but merely an option to use occasionally for a bit of variety or because during one use year you can't use your deeded ownership.
> 
> Since you seem to be planning to stay curent on payment it behoves you to at least USE the week you pay for! You liked it enough to buy it originally so why not take the time to enjoy it now? Or, as an alternative, rent it very low cost to a friend, neighbor or relative - even some money back on the fees is better than giving the use away for nothing.
> 
> If you haven't already drop your RCI membership as that is another expense you just don't need to pay. Good luck!



The salespitch done by RCI wasn't to sell us on our week  - it was all geared towards the "trading power", so you're correct when you say that leads to disappointment. 
Actually - we never even visited our resort until AFTER we purchased it and then only for one night.  We only make the payments because we didn't want the damage to our credit report. We're seriously considering letting it go into foreclosure now as we've been reduced to a one income family.


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## timeos2 (Mar 7, 2010)

*RCI didn't sell you a timeshare. Neither did the resort Association*



CJnRaeHedstrom said:


> The salespitch done by RCI wasn't to sell us on our week  - it was all geared towards the "trading power", so you're correct when you say that leads to disappointment.
> Actually - we never even visited our resort until AFTER we purchased it and then only for one night.  We only make the payments because we didn't want the damage to our credit report. We're seriously considering letting it go into foreclosure now as we've been reduced to a one income family.



RCI doesn't make "a sales pitch". They do ot sell timeshares. They are an exchange (and now rental) company that offers a service to owners. Your sales weasel saw you as a mark for exchange and thus played down the ownership at the resort vs playing up the use as a trade. But if you look at what you paid for and who sold it, RCI has nothing to do with it. As a novice buyer you were roped into a slick presentation designed to make you hear what you wanted but blaming RCI is completely incorrect. Be angry if you must the sales people, not even the resort as they too didn't sell you anything - the Association simply exists to run what you and every other owner willingly purchased from a developer/seller - is what you can do. But blaming those who are on the periphery of the primary transaction isn't going to get you anything. Only what you signed and agreed to counts and in there you'll not find a single promise from RCI except possibly the ability to be a member (if you pay). You are blaming the totally wrong group(s).  

Yours is a very common story, and not a good one, but RCI wasn't at fault. They have plenty of other things they do wrong to answer for but sales of timeshares for any reason is not one of them.


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## Carol C (Mar 7, 2010)

There are  people on TUG who swear by RCI points. They know how to get best value out of them, so why don't you post specifically how many points in RCI you have, and seek advice from savvy folks who've learned how to milk that cow?


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## vacationhopeful (Mar 7, 2010)

*Learn what you now own; ask questions about how to use it.*

Reading your posts it appears you:
Own 2 timeshares.
One, is a fixed week (or float)?
Second, is an RCI Points timeshare?

Is this correct?

If you have NO interest in going back to your FIXED/FLOAT week resort, read up on posts about how far in advance you should deposit to get "okay" exchanges. Then put in "ongoing searches" with RCI. Did you PFD this resort week into a RCI Points purchase?

If you do have a RCI Points timeshare, how many points to you have (last years, this years)? When is your use year start - as you might have a full years of points that need to be "save" at a minor cost. Are in a HOME RESORT GROUP with that type of priority? 

If you have both of these types of RCI products OR if everything is in RCI Points, you must learn to use what you own. There is NO training class at the resort - they are just more sales presentations - which you should know by now are not a smart place for you and your wallet to be near.  Read and learn.  Almost everyone here, on TUG, brought a full price developer TS.  Almost no one here would recommend that type of (full price developer)purchase to good friends, but most of our friends think I have some really nice vacations.

PS When I am at a resort with my brother (the lawyer), he is amazed how many times he has seen the "E F Hutton" effect I have at the Tiki Bar.  Later, I explain that so&so spent $65,000 or $125,000 on his TS and the so&so#2 spent $20,000 yesterday for what I got for $1 on ebay. And most of them are asking, how do they book a vacation to XXYYZZ during the XYZ month. Yes, I give them the TUG site info.


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## CJnRaeHedstrom (Mar 7, 2010)

Thank you everyone - your feedback is interesting.  
Vacationhopeful - We only have one timeshare and supposedly bought up from a paid-off week (after Thanksgiving) to 43K points in 2007 - a year before our daughter's wedding. 

Say what you will, it was a salespitch, every "no" was met with a counteroffer until the "Price" was reduced to something that seemed so affordable, we'd be stupid not to take it, with a constant emphasis on the ease of points as well as the benefits of ownership. I still have my notes.

Telling us to plan ahead, to bank weeks - it's not that we didn't try.  We banked weeks/points, we tried to reserve in advance.  We were constantly met with brick walls. We talked to personal friends who are timeshare owners and got their advice.  

We own a vacation plan with Global Exchange and have never had the issues using it a we've had with RCI. Hawaii - Mexico, easy as pie and much less expensive. Our children have used it with no issues as well. We truly expected a similar experience with RCI.

I can't stress enough that we own the decision in all of this, we made the choice and we're trying to live with it.  Sometimes, a person just has to vent and perhaps some other novice will benefit.

Thanks.


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## DeniseM (Mar 7, 2010)

CJ - I think the point that others are trying to make is that you did not buy or upgrade with RCI - RCI is strictly an exchange company.  They don't sell anything.  What you did was pay to change the type of ownership that you own, so it can be traded in the RCI points system - but you made that deal with your resort - not with RCI.

What trades have you requested?
How far out did you put in the request?
Where would you like to go now?
What were your goals when you first bought your timeshare?

One problem that I can see right away is that November is very off-season and a fixed November week is not going to have strong trading power.  If it's Thanksgiving week, it will be a little stronger, but school holiday weeks are better.

Exchanging can be overwhelming until you learn the tricks of the trade, but we can help you.


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## CJnRaeHedstrom (Mar 7, 2010)

DeniseM said:


> CJ - I think the point that others are trying to make is that you did not buy or upgrade with RCI - RCI is strictly an exchange company.  They don't sell anything.  What you did was pay to change the type of ownership that you own, so it can be traded in the RCI points system - but you made that deal with your resort - not with RCI.
> 
> What trades have you requested?
> How far out did you put in the request?
> ...



Thanks Denise - that makes sense. 

We requested the Outerbanks - in 2007 - as soon as was possible for the wedding in June 2008.  That was the only time we were "successful".  We paid the insurance but lost our deposit anyway when we cancelled after a week.

We requested Mexico in 2003 for a week in December 2004.  We ended up using our vacation plan, because we couldn't get an exchange with RCI.  

We tried to get into the BlackHills, Iowa and Wisconsin Dells... none of them would work.

It is what it is.  We've dropped RCI and will do what we can with the resort, and are not ruling out letting it go into foreclosure.


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## vacationhopeful (Mar 7, 2010)

In the past year, I have seen several post is the sightings thread (one of the few areas on TUG which you must be a "member" to see or post) for RCI Points vacations at desirable places which I booked. One was a bulk deposit for early winter units (2010) at Disney Vacation Club (DVC) and a Fall week (2010) at NYC Manhatten Club. 

There are other posts here on how to use the RCI Points to book last minute 7,500-9,000 RCI Points vacation on the WEEKS side of RCI. I have found the RCI Points website to be a little annoying on doing online searches.

Sorry you have run into "brick" walls. Wish you better luck in booking your 2011 vacations.


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## DeniseM (Mar 7, 2010)

> We paid the insurance but lost our deposit anyway when we cancelled after a week.



I am guessing that you mean you lost your exchange fee - correct?  Why didn't they honor the insurance?



CJnRaeHedstrom said:


> We requested Mexico in 2003 for a week in December 2004.  We ended up using our vacation plan, because we couldn't get an exchange with RCI.



Did you request a holiday week?  If so, you were requesting a very high demand week and that's probably why you didn't get it.



> We tried to get into the BlackHills, Iowa and Wisconsin Dells... none of them would work.



How far in advance did you put in the request?  
Did you request holiday weeks?
Did you put in the request with points?

If you still want to exchange, you should consider joining RCI again, because your November week is going to be a very weak trader on it's own.  Since you are paying for the upgrade to points anyway, you might as well use them.  Points will trade far better than your November week.

If you let it go into foreclosure, they will turn you over to collections, and it will damage your credit.  If you just can't make the payment that's one thing, but if you can, you will have to decide if it's worth damaging your credit or not.


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## e.bram (Mar 7, 2010)

it is not the question of who to be angry with, but who you have to pay or not to pay to reduce living expenses. Everyone involved is part of the conspiracy to swindle you, I believe, you don't have to give quarter to anyone. You are a victim and all the other parties are perpetrators.


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## DeniseM (Mar 7, 2010)

e.bram - please remind me again about *your* experience with letting a TS go into foreclosure?  I can't seem to recall the details.....


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## CJnRaeHedstrom (Mar 7, 2010)

DeniseM said:


> I am guessing that you mean you lost your exchange fee - correct?  Why didn't they honor the insurance?
> 
> Honestly - I don't know. I didn't take notes on that conversation. I believe we lost 200.00 or so.
> 
> ...



When we tried for Mexico in December, 1994, it was for the 2nd week in December - well before Christmas.  The others were off season requests - generally in 2nd/3rd week of October when the kids had break.

We're down to one income and need the breathing room.


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## Carol C (Mar 7, 2010)

CJnRaeHedstrom said:


> When we tried for Mexico in December, 1994, it was for the 2nd week in December - well before Christmas.  The others were off season requests - generally in 2nd/3rd week of October when the kids had break.
> 
> We're down to one income and need the breathing room.



You are going way back to December 1994 to recall a Mexico vacation you were'nt able to get? Are you sure you remember it correctly? I'm not trying to argue with you, but any TUGger will tell you that the second week of December is one of the very easiest weeks to get in RCI, II or any exchange company. I've gotten into Mexico back in the late 90's for RCI "Last Call" prices of $99/week...for the very same week of December, the second week. I think you should try again, frankly! And try an ongoing search, enter the search early, say, 1 or 1.5 years in advance, for the second week of December. You'll get matched to terrific Gold Crown resorts in Mexico and have a nice choice of sizes too, I'm willing to bet. Honestly, join RCI for a year, try the strategies folks are suggesting to you in this thread...and get yourself some great vacations with your points!


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## DeniseM (Mar 7, 2010)

Rae - If you can talk to your family and decide exactly where and when you want to go on vacation, I think we can help you put together a strategy for 2011.  I am not a points expert, but there are others here who definitely are.

Have you just been letting your TS sit empty for the last several years?


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## CJnRaeHedstrom (Mar 7, 2010)

We've had it as a week for 8 years and it sat empty for all of them. Its been in points now for 3 years and again, empty.


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## CJnRaeHedstrom (Mar 7, 2010)

Sorry Carol, that should have read December 2004, not 1994. We were going for our 10th anniversary.


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## timeos2 (Mar 7, 2010)

*You've taken a good first step toward getting value, now figure it out*



CJnRaeHedstrom said:


> We've had it as a week for 8 years and it sat empty for all of them. Its been in points now for 3 years and again, empty.



The RCI Points system is meant to be used as a trade. It exists for no other reason. From approximately 10 months out to about 5-6 months you'll find plenty of inventory available by simply logging in to your account and searching. Often ten, twenty or even a hundred or more choices with just a simple on line search. It is very hard to believe that in three years (!) you haven't been able to find a resort/week/date you'd be able to use in that system. What did you try to get?  Unlike weeks the RCI Points system is easy. If you have the points you simply claim the use time by assigning your available points. I don't mean to sound condescending as obviously you haven't figured out how the system(s) work but to say RCI has suckerpunched you simply makes no sense. It really sounds like you haven't made the effort needed to discover how trades work, when/what to request and how to make it most likely to get the trade / resort you desire. 

As others pointed out a trade to Mexico in early December is probably one of the most readily available trades  there are. Something is wrong with your approach or you are waiting way too long to request. And again it is hard to blame RCI for the "loss" of your use in June that you requested, got and then changed your mind about. They didn't force you to take that week. As for insurance again you are dealing with yet another third party (on top of your resort, the sales group, now long gone and RCI).  What their rules are for making a successful claim is stated in their contract. "Changed our minds" usually isn't a reason they will pay. Normally it is an emergency or a natural disaster type occurrence that triggers insurance pay outs. 

Overall it sound like timeshare and your lifestyle aren't a match. Buying in was a mistake from the start but since you own it you should get what you can out. I hope the posts here will help you understand how to get value out or that you manage to sell/give away your ownership so your budget can be saved. You are correct that taking a credit hit would be another mistake so try to find a better answer. Plenty of people here will be happy to give you a helping hand with whatever you decide to do. We really do like timeshares and want to see other people succeed with them as many have here.


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## timeos2 (Mar 7, 2010)

CJnRaeHedstrom said:


> We've had it as a week for 8 years and it sat empty for all of them. Its been in points now for 3 years and again, empty.



Since you assign it to RCI automatically when you belong to RCI Points it is doubtful that it was empty. Your points went unused but the use of your unit was given to RCI and, unless it is a really off season, low demand time, was claimed by someone who used their points to reserve & use it. You should have been saving those points for those years to build up your total (and making them good for use for up to 3 years) not just letting them go to waste unused. More learning curve.


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## Mel (Mar 8, 2010)

CJnRaeHedstrom said:


> We requested the Outerbanks - in 2007 - as soon as was possible for the wedding in June 2008.  That was the only time we were "successful".  We paid the insurance but lost our deposit anyway when we cancelled after a week.


Did they tell you why you didn't get your deposit back?  I'm not particularly familiar with the insurance on the RCI points side, but my understanding is that they deposit the points back into your account, but maybe there were terms regarding the reason for cancellation?


> We requested Mexico in 2003 for a week in December 2004.  We ended up using our vacation plan, because we couldn't get an exchange with RCI.


Did you place an ongoing search, or did you simply call to ask what was available?  If you called in 2003, it is likely most of the resorts would not yet be available - you were requesting more than a year out.  While you can request that far out, some resorts don't allow owners to deposit their weeks that far out.  In many cases, people don't want to pay their fees 2 years ahead in order to deposit that early, and in other cases, if the resort has floating weeks, they can't be reserved until a year ahead (sometimes, less than that), so they can't be deposited that early.


> We tried to get into the BlackHills, Iowa and Wisconsin Dells... none of them would work.


It sounds like you were looking for your school vacation perhaps?  Even if it's not as popular as summer, Wisconsin Dells is very popular among locals, and I would expect it to be harder to get during any time local schools are off.


> It is what it is.  We've dropped RCI and will do what we can with the resort, and are not ruling out letting it go into foreclosure.


You said you traded in for your points.  Did they simply convert your existing week to points, or do you now own a different week?  You tell us what you tried to use the week for in 2007/08, but what have you looked for since then?  It sounds like the points program was not explained well at your presentation.  RCI can only make a reservation for you with your points if that reservation is available.  Even if you have the points available, you can't reserve the best week in the nicest resort if it is not made available by the owner - and most of the really nice resorts are part of resort groups, where other owners of not only that resort, but other resorts within that group can reserve before you.

Your best bet at this point would be to try to use what you own, or try to exchange directly with someone who is interested in your week.


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## Tia (Mar 8, 2010)

November week northern Minn. is original posters ts location. Snowmobilers and cross country skiing would be good if there is enough snow, which Minn relatives say snow has been down until this year. I would think red prime would be the summer weeks on a lake, not winter, but that is what I like. Sales people sell and they lie  to do it sadly.


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## zcrider (Mar 8, 2010)

*where do you want to go now?*

OK, 
  We understand the past mistakes.  But how can we help you use your TS now?  You are down to one income, so spending extra money on vacation is out the window most likely........so what is in driving range that you would like to visit?  You have a kitchen in your TS, so you eat there for the same price as eating at home.......as long as you don't drive too far then you shouldn't need much money to go relax for a week in a new location and do some stuff as a family.  Go swimming, hiking, seight seeing, put a hard puzzle together as a family....whatever your family enjoys doing go do it somewhere else in the week you already payed to own and for once enjoy a week of relaxation.  
  Let us know where you want to go and someone here will gladly tell you the best stradigy to get it.  I personally do not own RCI points, but as several other people pointed out there are some real pros on TUG who can help you.
  If you want to rent the points to help pay the MF's I think there are several places to post RCI points up for rent.  I think the going rate is 1cent a point....so 43K points could get you about $430 toward you MF cost.  I have no idea how much your MF is or if that is enough, but every bit helps when you need cash!  I believe you can simply rent these out to another RCI points member who needs more points and transfer them to their account once you recieve payment.  Should be easy, but someone else could tell you better then I can.
  Good luck and just let us know on here what you would like to do for this year with your points and we can help you.


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## JudyS (Mar 13, 2010)

CJnRaeHedstrom said:


> ...We promptly cancelled our plans and requested a refund of our deposit, because we had purchased insurance. Nada. We didn't get our deposit back....  We paid the insurance but lost our deposit anyway when we cancelled after a week.....


Like DeniseM, I am confused by what this means. The insurance that RCI offers should provide you with your exchange fee and points back if you can't go on a trip. It has nothing to do with any sort of deposit that you might have made for the purchase of your timeshare week, or to upgrade your week to RCI points. 

On the other hand, if you mean that the resort was supposed to let you rescind up to a week after your purchase, and refused to honor your right to rescind, then you might be able to get out of the deal. 

Frankly, it is very hard to follow what you are saying. I think you will be better off if you stop focusing on how you were cheated in the past, and just tell us what your situation is _now_. You also need to focus on just _who _you have made deals with. The resort is one company, RCI is a completely different company, and if you bought trip insurance, that is with yet another company. 

As others have said here, your problem is with the resort, not RCI. The resort, not RCI,  sold you the original week and the conversion to points. My opinion of RCI is that they have high fees and poor customer service, but I have still gotten some _amazingly_ good deals when I have traded through them.

Here are some questions that will help the folks on this board help you:
1) You say you have to pay the resort until 2017 for your upgrade. By this, I assume you mean you have to pay until 2017 for the points conversion. Is that correct? How much do you pay a month? 
2) How much are your annual dues (paid to the resort) each year?
3) Do you still have any interest at all in traveling?  If so, where do you want to go?


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## hardhat (May 17, 2010)

I assume Rae means they didn't get their exchange fee back. In Weeks the insurance returns your exchange fee & deposited week. In Points it only returns your points, you don't get the exchange fee back.


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## skimble (May 24, 2010)

CJnRaeHedstrom said:


> Years ago, we attended a presentation which ended up with my husband and I purchasing a bi-annual week in November at our timeshare.  We made our payments, through thick and thin, and even paid our RCI dues, however, whenever we wanted to exchange our week, it never seemed to work with the RCI people.  We finally paid off our timeshare loan and owned our week free and clear.  Note that in all the time we were making payments, we visited our timeshare for a total of one night!
> Interestingly enough, shortly after receiving the deed in the mail, we were invited to attend another presentation and stupidly we agreed to attend and hear the pitch for converting our week to points.  Because we were guaranteed that points were so much easier to use than weeks and at the time our daughter was planning a beach wedding, we agreed to "upgrade".
> We tried to use our points to get to the Outer Banks for the week of the wedding, we even purchased "insurance" from RCI.  Within a week of making our plans, our daughter changed her wedding venue.  We promptly cancelled our plans and requested a refund of our deposit, because we had purchased insurance.  Nada.  We didn't get our deposit back.
> The following year (2009), we ceased paying our RCI membership, as it was just one extra expense at a time when my husband was notified that his job was going to be out-sourced. However, we're still stuck paying for this "upgrade" that hasn't benefited us in any way shape or form.
> ...




I have one piece of advice. Timesharing is rot with deceptive scams and greed.  You fell into the trap at the timeshare presentation, and you fell into the RCI Points conversion trap.  There's one other trap for you to avoid-- the resale scams.  This is just a respectful caution... don't pay any money upfront for the sale of your timeshare.


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