# RCI"s The Ultimate Vacation Guide



## dmarcin (Aug 7, 2009)

Has anyone expressed their displeasure to RCI about the 2009 Vacation Guide that RCI sends it's members. I was told that everyone seemed to like the abbreviated 2009 Guide by an RCI supervisor. I for one have not talked with anyone that liked it. I was told to go online to look up the European resorts. What about all the RCI members that do not have Internet access? Doesn't that lock them out of looking. I guess they can always call RCI's toll free number as I was told to do. Maybe I am wrong to think that way. What do you think?


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## deejay (Aug 7, 2009)

dmarcin said:


> Has anyone expressed their displeasure to RCI about the 2009 Vacation Guide that RCI sends it's members. I was told that everyone seemed to like the abbreviated 2009 Guide by an RCI supervisor. I for one have not talked with anyone that liked it. I was told to go online to look up the European resorts. What about all the RCI members that do not have Internet access? Doesn't that lock them out of looking. I guess they can always call RCI's toll free number as I was told to do. Maybe I am wrong to think that way. What do you think?



My RCI Vacation Guides have tended to sit around and collect dust. I prefer to use the RCI website. Much more information there too.


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## dmarcin (Aug 7, 2009)

I try to also, but if you can only get dial up it takes 15 Min just to connect. Plus if you dont have an internet connection what do you do.


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## DianneL (Aug 7, 2009)

I never use the guide, only the website.  But it seems RCI should have better help for those that don't have internet access or that use a dial up service.
To Dmarcin, I am probably the only person that posts on this board that knows where Cottontown, TN is.  I grew up in Castalian Springs.


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## pranas (Aug 7, 2009)

I like the hard copy and agree that the new quides are awful.


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## Carolinian (Aug 8, 2009)

If you want a hard copy that shows resorts in Europe, DAE's European office will probably sell you a copy of their printed resort directory, which is I think GBP 15.

RCI prints a seperate European directory and at one time would sell you one, but in recent times has not wanted to send them out to members in the US.  Now that they have virtually cut Europe out of the directory they send out in the US, they really should make their European version availible for a fee.


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## beejaybeeohio (Aug 8, 2009)

*Out w/ the new*

and keep the old.  My 2008 "ultimate" guide, which was IMHO a downgrade from previous issues, is tattered and torn but used by me in vacation planning, particularly for the maps.

I do use the online guide as well because resorts show up on the website that aren't in the book +  that's where to get the down-low on non-US resorts.

I got rid of the 09 guide after determining it wasn't worth hanging on to.


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## Sandy VDH (Aug 8, 2009)

What I found even more amazing is that they completely removed the Terms and Conditions from the new skinny guide.

I wanted to find out the exact rules for cancellation of an exchange and was very surprised to NOT find that information in the new book.

That is kind of stupid.   I could see how people could now argue they weren't provided terms and conditions for review.


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## Carolinian (Aug 9, 2009)

Sandy Lovell said:


> What I found even more amazing is that they completely removed the Terms and Conditions from the new skinny guide.
> 
> I wanted to find out the exact rules for cancellation of an exchange and was very surprised to NOT find that information in the new book.
> 
> That is kind of stupid.   I could see how people could now argue they weren't provided terms and conditions for review.



Maybe they thought members would discover the language they underhandedly added about rentals of deposited weeks.


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## dmarcin (Aug 9, 2009)

In a moment of frustration I wrote an email to some of the people at RCI in the hope that it might do some good. I will keep you posted on any replies I receive. I sent them to the following people :
cynthia.hunt@rci.com, david.albright@rci.com, geoff.ballotti@rci.com, carole.ablett@rci.com

The email follows:

_Recently I had cause to look up the exchange opportunity in Europe for 2010. I looked in the latest RCI Ultimate Vacation Guide for 2009 that was supplied to me by RCI as a subscribing member The 2009 Ultimate Guide was not much help as it contains less than 25 total European destinations without one description of any of them. I  called the toll free number for RCI and spoke to Henry who informed me there was not a guide for European resorts available to me. The only avenue to me was to go online and look there. When I explained to him that I did not have  reliable Internet connection he could not offer another alternative. I asked to speak to a supervisor hoping he could offer another solution. I spoke to a supervisor who explained that most RCI members that wanted to exchange to Europe used the Internet to research the choices. I explained my Internet problems and he suggested my only other course was to refer to the 2008 guide book.

As a subscribing member to RCI I was promised a detailed booklet to inform me of my exchange possibilities every year. The 2009 Ultimate Guide is far from that. Although I can go to my nearest library 12 miles away and get access I don't think I should have to do that. My question to you is are you going to supply RCI members with a guide that will show them all their choices? This will include all the members that do not have a Internet connection or a computer.

What I would like is to be supplied with a book/guide that will show me all my vacation possibilities.[/FONT]_


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## Carolinian (Aug 10, 2009)

RCI prints a very thorough European version of its directory, but for the last few years has made that almost unobtainable by US residents.  In times past, one could get it for a small fee from the US RCI office.  When it was still availible, it added some resorts not in the US version, but at that time the US version still had a lot of heft in its European section.  Now that they have essentially removed Europe from the US edition, the very least they could do is make the European edition availible for purchase in the US.  That might even make RCI a little money, as they have really created a need for it by removing most of Europe from the US edition.

I have recently ordered a copy of the DAE directory, and will report on what that is like.  It may be something that would make up for the lack of info in the RCI directory.


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## dmarcin (Aug 10, 2009)

I have just received a phone call and an email from RCI. They apologized for the problem I was having and assured me that the information I received was not factual. They stated there is an expanded version of their ultimate guide that list all the resorts including the European resorts. They were also going to send me a copy in today's post. They were very nice and helpful and also stated they would address the wrong information I received from their counselors. The emails and phone calls were from a senior customer service rep and the director of QA. I was satisfied with their answers and they seemed sincere.
I would encourage everyone to express their concerns to RCI in the hopes that they could be handled in the  outstanding manner that mine were. Who knows, you might get lucky like me.
All in all, I was very satisfied with their response and timeliness. 

I also encourage every one to use the tug exchange system, It has worked very well for me in the past with 4 successful trades so far. and it does not cost anything.


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## Mel (Aug 12, 2009)

Perhaps what they should do is publish a set of guides for the various regions of the world, and make them available upon request.  Send the North American book to all US subscribers, and have a simple solution for requesting the other guides - and publicize the fact that they're available.  For subsribers who routinely exchange to other areas, they could tag the accounts to send those books automatically if they want (they could even allow us to request not to get the book if we want to conserve resources).

This would save them money by not needing to send the whole book to everybody, and by only printing as many of the other books as needed, but would balance their costs with our needs.  They could even couch it in terms of being environmentally friendly - conserving paper and energy while they're saving money - and keeping costs down, which results in lower costs to pass along to the subscribing members. 

For that matter, they could also make EV magazine available online, and allow us to opt out of the printed version, but that might cut into their advertiser revenue, if they show fewer subscriptions.


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## Carolinian (Aug 14, 2009)

They already publish these, and could easily provide them if they wished.

Some guides may have information in them that might be embarassing to members in other regions.  For example the Availibility Charts in the European version that gives the lie to ''Red all year'' in Florida.

By ''conserve resources'' I guess you mean cutting the financial costs to themselves, thus conserving their financial resources.  Any other meaning is a real hoot if anyone is foolish enough to beleive it!




Mel said:


> Perhaps what they should do is publish a set of guides for the various regions of the world, and make them available upon request.  Send the North American book to all US subscribers, and have a simple solution for requesting the other guides - and publicize the fact that they're available.  For subsribers who routinely exchange to other areas, they could tag the accounts to send those books automatically if they want (they could even allow us to request not to get the book if we want to conserve resources).
> 
> This would save them money by not needing to send the whole book to everybody, and by only printing as many of the other books as needed, but would balance their costs with our needs.  They could even couch it in terms of being environmentally friendly - conserving paper and energy while they're saving money - and keeping costs down, which results in lower costs to pass along to the subscribing members.
> 
> For that matter, they could also make EV magazine available online, and allow us to opt out of the printed version, but that might cut into their advertiser revenue, if they show fewer subscriptions.


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## Carolinian (Aug 17, 2009)

European Tuggers can probably buy extra copies of the European version of the RCI Directory.  Maybe one of them would buy one for you and send it if you sent them the money for buying and mailing it.  Maybe one has an old European version they are not using that they would send you.  My membership is still with my stateside address, or I would offer to do that.


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## Hophop4 (Aug 18, 2009)

We went to a presentation last weekend to a new small resort affiliated with RCI Points.  The first thing the salesguy pointed to us on the table was the RCI Weeks Book.  Then he pulled out the Points Book.  I laughed about the Weeks Book.  He made sure I saw the Points Book was thicker and had more resorts in it and said Weeks is fading out and that's why it was so small and they will be gone soon.  What a way to sell points.


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## ausman (Aug 19, 2009)

*Just You and I ..*

Just you and I, and a few other folks know that is BS.

But I bet it is an effective selling technique and he may be one of the salesmen with better figures. Nothing like some physical comparison to show what is best.:hysterical:


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## Carolinian (Aug 19, 2009)

Hmmm!  So they aren't ''saving trees' with their Points directory?  Don't they know that this makes their whole argument on the Weeks directory bogus?





Hophop4 said:


> We went to a presentation last weekend to a new small resort affiliated with RCI Points.  The first thing the salesguy pointed to us on the table was the RCI Weeks Book.  Then he pulled out the Points Book.  I laughed about the Weeks Book.  He made sure I saw the Points Book was thicker and had more resorts in it and said Weeks is fading out and that's why it was so small and they will be gone soon.  What a way to sell points.


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## Carolinian (Aug 19, 2009)

Just received my DAE resort directory from the UK office.

Comparing it to the European version of the RCI directory:
- both are full color printed on slick paper
- in physical dimensions the DAE version is slightly larger, being the same width but 3/4 inch higher
- the RCI directory is 290 pages compared to 235 for DAE
- both show photos and information on most European resorts, with a minor emphasis on those outside Europe.  RCI gives pictures and info on a handful outside Europe while DAE just lists the resorts that are not in Europe
- the DAE directory shows a cover price of GBP 10, while no cover price is shown on the RCI directory.
- the RCI directory shows availibility tables, but the DAE directory does not

If you cannot get RCI to provide you with the European version of their directory, maybe some US member can ask a question on Ask DAE about whether there is any way for a US member to get a DAE European directory.


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