# Duplicate housekeeping fees of 150 dollars per week being charged to RCI traders at Sands Villa Resort



## allsmiles277 (Nov 13, 2020)

I booked 4 weeks at Sands Villa Resort at Atlantic Beach, NC 28512 through RCI. I was informed today that I would be charged an extra 150 dollars per week for an extra housecleaning fee. That is 600 dollars I had not counted on. If I cancel the 4 weeks with RCI I will lose 996 dollars in  trading fees and my week values will go down. How can a timeshare complex legally charge a duplicate fee that has already been paid by the owner ? I don't care what anybody says this practice is wrong and descriminatory since it is only directed at RCI traders. It is also wrong since the timeshare owners have already paid this in their maintenance fees. It is getting to the point that timeshare complexes will figure out any way to separate you from your money. I wish a good attorney would sue them and take them to the cleaners. I know the head of the Board is an attorney so that even shocks me more. I think of the word CROOKED when these things happen. I hope RCI's legal department will take action but even RCI has let me down many times in the past. I get the idea that people that are timeshare owners should put their timeshares in an LLC to protect themselves from these criminals.


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## dioxide45 (Nov 13, 2020)

The owners have likely only paid a portion of the fee and they are using the revenue from the fees exchangers pay to subsidize their fees. Sadly this is becoming more common. I don't agree with it at all.


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## bnoble (Nov 13, 2020)

The fee is disclosed in the "Fees" section for the resort on the RCI website. I agree with you that such fees are bogus, but as long as they are disclosed you have the choice to accept the exchange there, or not.

This is why I generally won't consider an exchange into a Diamond property via RCI. But, I will consider an exchange in HGVC or DVC, depending on the circumstances and location. In those situations, the extra cost is worth it for the location or what the resort provides vs. others in the area.


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## pedro47 (Nov 13, 2020)

Is the Sand Villa Resort a Diamond Resort.
The only Diamond Resort listed on their website is Peppertree at Atlantic Beach, NC.


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## bnoble (Nov 13, 2020)

No. But nearly all Diamond resorts have a daily “resort fee” charged to inbound exchangers. Nearly all of them have alternatives as good or better in the area that require similar trade power but have no comparable fee c


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## chaparrusa (Nov 14, 2020)

all Diamond resorts have extra fees , usually is a 16.50 a day = 100 extra a week . nickel and dime . The Hiltons have a $25 daily resort fee , which is $175 a week , in my opinion and as someone already mentioned , totally worth it . NOT the diamond resorts . 
in regards to the cleaning fees , that is the other one , i was recently hit by $150 cleaning fee at the Wyndham Grand Desert for a 2 bedroom unit . and i know more and more resorts are adding it . we went from a courtesy midweek cleaning (included) to a mandatory cleaning .
timeshare = scam , anyway you look at it .


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## karibkeith (Nov 14, 2020)

This is why it is important to answer Yes to unexpected resort fees when submitting a review. This brings the total cost of an exchange vacation closer to the rental cost and will hurt exchanging in the long run.


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## pedro47 (Nov 14, 2020)

chaparrusa said:


> all Diamond resorts have extra fees , usually is a 16.50 a day = 100 extra a week . nickel and dime . The Hiltons have a $25 daily resort fee , which is $175 a week , in my opinion and as someone already mentioned , totally worth it . NOT the diamond resorts .
> in regards to the cleaning fees , that is the other one , i was recently hit by $150 cleaning fee at the Wyndham Grand Desert for a 2 bedroom unit . and i know more and more resorts are adding it . we went from a courtesy midweek cleaning (included) to a mandatory cleaning .
> timeshare = scam , anyway you look at it .


with all these extra fees; maybe timeshare vacating is losing some of its value for a family. IMHO.


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## little1 (Nov 15, 2020)

pedro47 said:


> with all these extra fees; maybe timeshare vacating is losing some of its value for a family. IMHO.



Ahh...........That's why I support this website 100%, but never wanted to become 1 of you (timeshare owners). More ways to scam owners and I think it will only get worst with time.

Renting from the owners are much better choice. I have had very good deals renting over last 15 years. Most of the time less than what an owner pays for the maintenance fee.


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## NiteMaire (Nov 17, 2020)

bnoble said:


> The fee is disclosed in the "Fees" section for the resort on the RCI website. I agree with you that such fees are bogus, but as long as they are disclosed you have the choice to accept the exchange there, or not.





pedro47 said:


> with all these extra fees; maybe timeshare vacating is losing some of its value for a family. IMHO.


I just consider the fees as part of the overall cost prior to confirming the exchange.  Outside of Vidanta having ridiculously high fees a few years back, I found (and still find) exchanges/timesharing to be of great value.  Even with the extreme fees, I could still get a 2BR cheaper than an owner's MF.


little1 said:


> That's why I support this website 100%, but never wanted to become 1 of you (timeshare owners). More ways to scam owners and I think it will only get worst with time.
> Renting from the owners are much better choice. I have had very good deals renting over last 15 years. Most of the time less than what an owner pays for the maintenance fee.


While I agree renting is a viable option, I don't consider it a "much better choice" for us.  We, too, have had very good deals for the last 15 years, primarily staying in Vidanta's Grand Luxxe, Marriott resorts, and Westin resorts.  We stayed for less than owners' MFs in each case.  For example, we spent back-to-back weeks in 2BR Marriott units on Oahu (Ko Olina) and Kauai (Waiohai) in April/May 2019; we followed it up in September with a week in a 1BR Westin on Maui (WKORV).  The exchanges cost roughly $2,900 in total for the 3 weeks.  The $2,900 included II (platinum) membership, II exchange fees, Marriott LO fees, etc.  It's a little more if you amortize the $3,500 combined purchase price of the 2 units I exchanged.  After exchanging, I searched Marriott online and those 3 weeks in the same units would have cost $11,500!  We couldn't afford it if we didn't own timeshares.  I don't think we could have rented those 3 weeks for less, especially considering the combined MFs for those units was roughly $6,000.  
There are pros and cons of owning and renting.  For us, owning is currently the better option.  It could very well be different in the future, especially if our travel diminishes and we still have MFs to pay.


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## rickandcindy23 (Nov 17, 2020)

I have noticed a drop in trading power requirements for Diamond properties in RCI.  That covers some of those ridiculous fees.  After all, RCI wants to get the exchanges, and if people do not book them because these fees are causing them to think twice, it costs RCI too.  So the decrease in trading power is entirely on Diamond.  Serves them right.  Same with Hilton and other RCI properties that charge fees.


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## samara64 (Nov 17, 2020)

@NiteMaire your advantage is you are here in Hawaii so if you find a nice unit with check in in 1 or 2 days, you can book it. for us, it involves air fairs and taking time off work. Lucky you.


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## NiteMaire (Nov 17, 2020)

samara64 said:


> @NiteMaire your advantage is you are here on the island so if you find a nice unit with check in in 1 or 2 days, you can book it. for us, it involves air fairs and taking time off work.


Hopefully, I don't take this tangent too far...while it's true now, it wasn't when we traveled in April 2019.  Yes, DW and I (along with @frank808 @PearlCity @Kapolei and others I've missed) can schedule last minute weeks here on the island; while we did it October/November, I don't think we'll do it again without taking time off.  Using ACs made it extremely affordable, and we figured the occupancy rate would be low; however, we didn't get to enjoy it nearly as much as we'd hoped, though the GOOs were great.  Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed it, but one month was plenty as we still had to balance work, home life including caring for our dogs, and time at the resort.  I don't anticipate doing that again unless we take time off and arrange for a dog sitter, but if we're going to do that, we would consider travelling to one of the other islands, Asia, Australia, or New Zealand.  The others may or may not agree with me, and that's okay.

Back to the subject at hand, I didn't mention anything outside of exchange costs since it would be the same regardless of renting/owing.  FWIW, the 4 weeks at Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club cost us approximately $1,000.  That's 3 weeks in a 2BR and 1 week in a 1BR, all for that low, low price!  Yes, it was a special situation, but it would not have happened if we didn't own timeshares.  That was a definite pro for being a timeshare owner!


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## samara64 (Nov 17, 2020)

@NiteMaire Fully understand. I can do the same with close resorts like Vancouver, BC and Seaside, OR which are lots of fun too. No ocean swimming though.


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## PearlCity (Nov 18, 2020)

NiteMaire said:


> Hopefully, I don't take this tangent too far...while it's true now, it wasn't when we traveled in April 2019. Yes, DW and I (along with @frank808 @PearlCity @Kapolei and others I've missed) can schedule last minute weeks here on the island; while we did it October/November, I don't think we'll do it again without taking time off. Using ACs made it extremely affordable, and we figured the occupancy rate would be low; however, we didn't get to enjoy it nearly as much as we'd hoped, though the GOOs were great. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed it, but one month was plenty as we still had to balance work, home life including caring for our dogs, and time at the resort. I don't anticipate doing that again unless we take time off and arrange for a dog sitter, but if we're going to do that, we would consider travelling to one of the other islands, Asia, Australia, or New Zealand. The others may or may not agree with me, and that's okay.
> 
> Back to the subject at hand, I didn't mention anything outside of exchange costs since it would be the same regardless of renting/owing. FWIW, the 4 weeks at Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club cost us approximately $1,000. That's 3 weeks in a 2BR and 1 week in a 1BR, all for that low, low price! Yes, it was a special situation, but it would not have happened if we didn't own timeshares. That was a definite pro for being a timeshare owner!


I agree @nitemare! It is hard to juggle real life wity resort life. I dont know how @frank808 does it! @samara64 i so much wish i lived near a drive to worldmark like you so i could take advantage of bonus time and the awesone locations! 

Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk


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## allsmiles277 (Nov 24, 2020)

dioxide45 said:


> The owners have likely only paid a portion of the fee and they are using the revenue from the fees exchangers pay to subsidize their fees. Sadly this is becoming more common. I don't agree with it at all.


If the cleaning fees are already paid the owner I would not think it would be legal to collect double the fee when the owner paid it in their maintenance fees. Maybe I need to get an attorney to look at this. I know some of these Boards do what they want to whether it is legal or not. And what better than to have an attorney at the helm because they are the best candidates for getting around the law aka CROOKS !!!!


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## Eric B (Nov 25, 2020)

allsmiles277 said:


> If the cleaning fees are already paid [by] the owner I would not think it would be legal to collect double the fee when the owner paid it in their maintenance fees. Maybe I need to get an attorney to look at this. I know some of these Boards do what they want to whether it is legal or not. And what better than to have an attorney at the helm because they are the best candidates for getting around the law aka CROOKS !!!!



I would suspect that the key to this is "if the cleaning fees are already paid by the owner."  That is likely the case if you are renting an owner's usage and that usage doesn't cost them additional cleaning fees and it is within their rights under their ownership to rent it out.  That's not always the case, and it's somewhat unlikely, though not impossible, that any particular resort considers the cleaning already paid for when a resort usage is deposited into an exchange.  I don't own with Sands Villa Resort and have never been there, so I couldn't hazard a guess as to how things are run there, but as an example, here is a recent budget for a resort I do own at:



			http://media.campaigner.com/media/60/600565/194250_2021%20Budget.pdf
		


As you can see, the resort budget includes a line item for "Housekeeping revenue."  The listing for this resort includes a statement that corresponds to the budgeted revenue line item, reading, "Housekeeping fee for all RCI points reservations: There may be a fee of 75.00 U.S. dollars for all units, per stay. Cash or Credit is accepted."  An exchanger may or may not like it, but it was disclosed on the RCI listing for the resort and budgeted for in the information provided for to the owners.

At other resorts I own, my yearly fees used to include covering the resort facilities external to the unit costs.  A few years ago they decided to alleviate the potential rise in maintenance fees by raising resort fees and shifting those costs to people that were actually there rather than the owners that could be exchanging out.  I doubt we are seeing the end of these; I also doubt there would be a good case against them for an attorney - they typically find the ways to operate within the law rather than getting around it whether or not we like it.


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## dioxide45 (Nov 25, 2020)

My answer on these is don't go or if you go let them know in the resort evaluation and in any online reviews. They may or may not care about the shame, but if I am not expecting an exchanger to pay additional fees when they go to the resort I own, I certainly don't expect to pay them when I go to theirs. Disclosed or not SHAME is the name of the game!


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## Patri (Nov 28, 2020)

If that is one unit for four consecutive weeks, what is the fee really for? They aren't doing the typical weekly cleaning since you aren't moving out! Can you call and negotiate directly with the resort?


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## allsmiles277 (Nov 28, 2020)

Patri said:


> If that is one unit for four consecutive weeks, what is the fee really for? They aren't doing the typical weekly cleaning since you aren't moving out! Can you call and negotiate directly with the resort?


Since they are RCI trades you might get 4 weeks in 4 different units. The bottom line is that owners pay the cleaning fee in their maintenance fees so the fees have already been paid by the person who spacebanked the week with RCI. You should not have to pay another cleaning fee because it has already been paid by the owner.


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## allsmiles277 (Nov 28, 2020)

NiteMaire said:


> I just consider the fees as part of the overall cost prior to confirming the exchange.  Outside of Vidanta having ridiculously high fees a few years back, I found (and still find) exchanges/timesharing to be of great value.  Even with the extreme fees, I could still get a 2BR cheaper than an owner's MF.
> 
> While I agree renting is a viable option, I don't consider it a "much better choice" for us.  We, too, have had very good deals for the last 15 years, primarily staying in Vidanta's Grand Luxxe, Marriott resorts, and Westin resorts.  We stayed for less than owners' MFs in each case.  For example, we spent back-to-back weeks in 2BR Marriott units on Oahu (Ko Olina) and Kauai (Waiohai) in April/May 2019; we followed it up in September with a week in a 1BR Westin on Maui (WKORV).  The exchanges cost roughly $2,900 in total for the 3 weeks.  The $2,900 included II (platinum) membership, II exchange fees, Marriott LO fees, etc.  It's a little more if you amortize the $3,500 combined purchase price of the 2 units I exchanged.  After exchanging, I searched Marriott online and those 3 weeks in the same units would have cost $11,500!  We couldn't afford it if we didn't own timeshares.  I don't think we could have rented those 3 weeks for less, especially considering the combined MFs for those units was roughly $6,000.
> There are pros and cons of owning and renting.  For us, owning is currently the better option.  It could very well be different in the future, especially if our travel diminishes and we still have MFs to pay.


Yes you are correct and that is why I got full refunds back from RCI and all of my trading power back too........I am happy.......but I think it is illegal to charge the same fee twice.


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## Kozman (Jan 9, 2021)

Deleted.


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## bogey21 (Jan 9, 2021)

allsmiles277 said:


> How can a timeshare complex legally charge a duplicate fee that has already been paid by the owner ?


The answer is simple, because they can...

George


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