# DVC RCI Waitliist automatic confirmation question



## rfc0001 (Jul 31, 2013)

I've asked this is another thread and on DISboard, but haven't gotten an answer so hoping to get an answer by posting a new thread.  So, I know DVC RCI Waitlists are automatically confirmed if there is an "exact match".  My basic question is what constitutes an "exact match" -- actually I'm more interested in what *doesn't* constitute an exact match (e.g. larger room size than requested) and what happens in that case (i.e. do you still get notified of the potential match and have ability to confirm).  Thanks!


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## Lisa P (Aug 1, 2013)

When you list a specific resort ID#, with unit size and check-in date, and it matches, that's an "exact match" but I'm not sure about larger units.  I've had weeks "match" to my searches which actually were "exact matches" but for which they simply sent me an email.  But when I looked at the week online, there was an alert-type message in the "My Account" section and I actually had to confirm the exchange (which was only on hold) anyway.  My account was at least $10 short of what was needed for the exchange, so that may have prevented the auto-confirm each of those times.

Back when RCI Weeks was the only program they offered, they used to:
--- consistently require a prepaid exchange fee for each and every search request
--- automatically match and confirm any match to a search for specific resort IDs (size upgrades happened when you had enough trade power)
--- place a hold on matches to a regional search

Now, larger units require more TPUs and sometimes searches are running without a prepaid exchange fee or money on account.  So automatic confirmations are less certain.  But they still use the same terminology.  I think:
--- if you have sufficient money prepaid on account to cover the exchange fee, and
--- if you have sufficient TPUs associated with your search or in your combined points account, and
--- if the confirmed week exactly fits within the range of your search request, they then confirm the exchange for you.

If any of these features is lacking, they may just put it on hold.  This hold will stop the search from continuing to look for another match, so you don't want a search to include features that you're not sure about, like an entire region.  I could easily be wrong about how they do it now, but this has been one person's experience (mine).  HTH.


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## rfc0001 (Aug 3, 2013)

Hmm, so does this mean an exact search is only for a single check-in date (e.g. same beginning and end check-in date), therefore *any* range of dates will require a confirmation?  If so, I'm fine with automatic confirmation.

My concern is when you do a search for specific resorts for a large range of dates, e.g. 5/29-8/3.  I've researched the resorts beforehand, so am willing to accept any of them, an I am available for all the dates, however for destinations like Hawaii, where you want to stay at least 2 weeks when you spend that much time and money to go there, you really need to work backwards from a match and find adjacent week(s) lodging, and to compare airfare for flying into various islands on those various weeks, etc.  Long story short, there are a lot of variables that need to be quickly researched once a match is found in a large date range -- which is why RCI gives you two business days to confirm a match, and why I think the DVC RCI system of automatic confirmations is ludicrous.

Typically, the odds of me accepting any given match is about 1 in 3 even with specific date ranges and resort ids that I've already researched.  With DVC, that would mean wasting $99 every time you get a match and having to start a new search, which also means you could potentially catch the same fish you just threw back in (which doesn't happen with ongoing searches).  It also means your DVC points are deposited to RCI even if you cancel and no longer available to DVC and the 2 year timebomb starts ticking on them.

I'm not sure why DVC would opt for this other than it is more similar to their DVC Waitlists so perhaps they think it is easier for DVC members to understand if it works the same way (the fact they are called "Waitlists" and don't have any guest certificate fees -- both of which are similar to DVC Waitlists also makes me think this might be the reason).  Or, DVC may just be paying RCI less for their corporate account than HGVC, for example, and getting worse terms as a result.  Regardless, It's frustrating to say the least, since I have no way of knowing what I'm going to get and will most likely lose my fee and DVC points in the process.  The only saving grace is technically according to RCI terms accepted when you login, you have until the next business day to cancel a confirmed ressie and get your fee refunded.  I'm not sure what happens to DVC points in this case though.  I was hoping the room size had to be an exact match, so I could just put "Hotel" in the search which guarantees an exact  match won't be found, and I hoped that in such case larger room sizes would trigger a partial match and prompt to confirm -- like a normal RCI account.

Sorry to rant


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## Lisa P (Aug 4, 2013)

I'm not certain that I completely understand some of this.  We sold our DVC points years ago, and they traded via II at that time.  There was a small chart of unit sizes and color/season.  The number of points needed for each size-season combination was provided on this chart.  I think a red (prime/high season) 1BR was something like 160 points.  Back then, IIRC, they offered two ways to search for an exchange via II... search first or deposit first.

With "search first", we could request the region(s) and/or resort IDs, the range of check-in dates and the minimum unit size we wanted.  Whenever a unit matched a specifically requested ID for a date within our specified range, and it was for the minimum unit size, the exchange was automatically confirmed and the corresponding number of points were taken from our DVC account and given to II.  If the available unit size was larger than our request, they put the unit on hold to verify that we were okay with the larger unit and with the correspondingly larger number of points, which were required to give II in order to confirm the trade.  This was both a pro (did not have to tie up points with II, in case the exchange never succeeded) and a con (no free upgrade in unit size).  If the unit fell within a requested region but it was not a specifically requested ID, then it also was put on hold and we needed to actively confirm the trade.

With "deposit first", we would ask for a deposit of DVC points to be given to II, for future use, in an amount off of the exchange grid or chart.  At the time of making this deposit (or later, until it expired), we could make an exchange search request to trade into the corresponding unit size and season, using this deposit, or we could request a lesser value (smaller unit or quieter season).  If the first match to be found was actually for a larger unit, it matched automatically and the bigger unit size was a free upgrade.  We could not request a smaller unit size than the smallest unit size offered at a requested resort - always risking getting matched to the smallest unit size requested.

In the past, with II, they required an exchange fee to be paid at the time that any search request was made.  But we did have 24 hrs to cancel an exchange, keep the fee, and retain the II deposit points.  If it was a "search first" but _we accepted the exchange_ and then cancelled it shortly thereafter, the points remained on deposit with II as a credit for us.  If it was a "deposit first", the points also remained on deposit with II as a credit for us.  Only if it was a "search first" and it never matched and was therefore never confirmed, did we not transfer the DVC points over to II, and so, they never left our DVC account at all.

Unfortunately, I have no idea _whether *any* of this has changed_ since DVC now exchanges via RCI.  And I'm not sure this answers your questions.    DVC has always used terminology which somewhat distances them from anything "timeshare", in general.  Sometimes it's helpful, sometimes not.

RCI's general policy for cancelled exchanges within 24 hrs is to refund _both_ the exchange fee and the week/TPUs/points used for the trade, back to your RCI account.  I'm not sure if they will refund for insurance or guest certs purchased at the time of confirmation or not... maybe not.  But once my Wyndham points are given to RCI to confirm an exchange, I cannot get them back out of RCI if I cancel the exchange.  They then return to my RCI account with their original RCI expiration date.  I don't know why DVC would not have a grace period for cancelling a trade within a day, if RCI will keep the DVC points as a credit to you, in their spacebank.  Worth a phone call to DVC Member Services, I'd think.    HTH.


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## rfc0001 (Aug 4, 2013)

Thanks for the response.  Sounds like it worked the same way with II, which may be another reason why DVC uses automatic confirmation for RCI as well.  I'm used to the opposite having used RCI with HGVC -- nothing is automatically *confirmed*-- instead it is automatically *held* -- for 2 days which then you have to confirm to reserve or release it to continue the search.  If you don't do anything it is released at the end of the second business day.  You get an email saying a match was found so unless you are asleep at the wheel it's not a negative to have to confirm.  The positive is you get to review every match.

What you say about having to confirm bigger room size and region searches are two good examples where you would want to confirm.  Even with a match on exact resort ID, if its for a large date range, there is still a dependency on confirming other travel plans, so it's nice to have 2 days to make your travel plans prior to confirming.  The nice thing about how RCI normally works, is you just release the match and the search keeps going -- no additional fee, and the search is smart enough to not find the same match you just released, and no points are deposited with RCI unless you confirm.  DVC short circuits all of this with their automatic confirmation.

Glad to hear you think the points should return if cancelled.  That's how it worked with HGVC as well, but they always insisted they weren't supposed to do that and they were doing me a favor.  I always reminded them it's in the RCI terms I accept every time I log into the site.  The confusion in terms is due to the fact only the RCI Weeks and RCI Points terms are available on RCI.com (if you follow the Terms link after clicking I Accept).  However there technically are different terms for DVC members (ones you've never been given and don't have access to from rci.com or dvc.disney.go.com sites).  I think it's just part of RCI's ineptitude that they can't post the right terms to their site (the same problem exists for HGVC owners), but regardless the ones that are out there (for Points and Weeks) do clearly state you can cancel a confirmed ressie within 24 hours, and in the past when I've done this with HGVC they did begrudgingly do it and return the points and fee.  So, as long as that is the case with DVC, the automatic confirmation isn't the end of the world, but it is still less optimal than the normal 2 day release/confirm model IMO.

I am still a little dumbfounded DVC has been using RCI 3+ years and I'm the only one that has posted about this.  I guess either most DVC members don't take advantage of RCI, or just don't know any different since it works like II and DVC Waitlists.  The problem I see is people may not be using RCI because they think they have to do an exact resort/date search since it is automatically confirmed.  The fact so many DVC threads on RCI complain about it being impossible to find anything, leads me to believe this may be the reason.  If DVC didn't automatically confirm ressies, DVC members could make much broader searches and find a lot more potential matches, and probably use (and enjoy) the system more.

At the end of the day, I guess I'm fine if everyone else is happy with how it works.  I just want to know how it works, e.g. does a regional search still require confirmation, does a larger room require confirmation, is it still automatically held and you have 2 days to confirm if so, and do you get your fee and points returned if you cancel an automatically confirmed match by end of next business day.  If I knew these things I could work with the system.  As it is, I'm just rolling the dice and may lose use of my DVC points unwittingly and be forced to endure going through the same thing over and over until I finally get a match that I actually want.  Unfortunately neither DVC or RCI is providing these details.  It's very unclear and confusing.


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## Lisa P (Aug 5, 2013)

rfc0001 said:


> I just want to know how it works... As it is, I'm just rolling the dice and may lose use of my DVC points unwittingly and be forced to endure going through the same thing over and over until I finally get a match that I actually want.  Unfortunately neither DVC or RCI is providing these details.  It's very unclear and confusing.


Given that your questions are quite specific, I think it would be worth a phone call to DVC Member Services.  A _supervisor_ should be able to clear them up for you.  Let us know what they say.


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## Myxdvz (Aug 5, 2013)

rfc0001 said:


> I am still a little dumbfounded DVC has been using RCI 3+ years and I'm the only one that has posted about this.  I guess either most DVC members don't take advantage of RCI, or just don't know any different since it works like II and DVC Waitlists.  The problem I see is people may not be using RCI because they think they have to do an exact resort/date search since it is automatically confirmed.  The fact so many DVC threads on RCI complain about it being impossible to find anything, leads me to believe this may be the reason.  If DVC didn't automatically confirm ressies, DVC members could make much broader searches and find a lot more potential matches, and probably use (and enjoy) the system more.



I think a lot of people agree that using DVC Points for RCI is a terrible use of points.  The only reason I would personally use it is if my points are distressed.  And even then, I might just rent it than do an RCI exchange.

On tug, you will see more people trying to go thru RCI to GET DVC, not exchange DVC points for an RCI.  At best, you'll get an HGVC... everything else would be a downgrade.  Why waste expensive TS points?


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## rfc0001 (Aug 5, 2013)

Myxdvz said:


> I think a lot of people agree that using DVC Points for RCI is a terrible use of points.  The only reason I would personally use it is if my points are distressed.  And even then, I might just rent it than do an RCI exchange.
> 
> On tug, you will see more people trying to go thru RCI to GET DVC, not exchange DVC points for an RCI.  At best, you'll get an HGVC... everything else would be a downgrade.  Why waste expensive TS points?


In general, I would agree.  I think HGVC Hawaii is the exception.  I actually own HGVC and DVC.  It's actually more advantageous to use DVC points to exchange for HGVC properties and HGVC points to exchange for DVC properties -- whenever possible.  For example, for a typical 1 bdrm premium DVC week can be exchanged for *two* 1bdrm HGVC weeks -- any week any resort.  Conversely, for a premium 1 bdrm HGVC week, I can get nearly 3 DVC 1bdrm weeks -- again any resort, any week.  So, obviously getting 2-3 DVC weeks and 2 HGVC weeks is better than getting 1 DVC week and 1 HGVC week.  Of course, this isn't always possible, but this illustrates why you would want to do so.  Put another way, to pay for two HGVC Hawaii weeks out of pocket would cost more than to pay for a 1 bdrm DVC out of pocket (or what you could get to rent the equivalent points).


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## davemari21 (Aug 24, 2013)

WoW.  I thought about the HGVC program via resale?  What's their going rate and do they have. ROFR process?


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