# Dikhololo availibility at RCI shows owners being shortchanged on TP



## Carolinian (Apr 17, 2011)

With the 2012 year just opening up last month for deposit and many owners depositing with RCI (and many reporting their deposits already in their accounts) it is very curious to look online and see how many weeks are availible for exchange at Dikhololo.  That number is a mere 7 (SEVEN); four 1BR, two 2BR, and one 3BR.  Two availibilities are in 2011 and five in 2012.  Dik is a large resort and the fact that a month after 2012 deposits started there are only 7 availibilities speaks volumes about the supply / demand curve at Dik, and it also screams that owners there are getting hosed by RCI on the number of points lite awarded for deposits.  The directors at Dik needs to start rattling RCI's cage about this ripoff of members.

In comparision, Vacation Village at Parkway has 633 availibilities and the points lite awarded their members are significantly higher.  That one resort alone has roughly the same number of availibilities by itself as all the resorts in South Africa COMBINED (650).

Of course, Dik is not the only resort to get hosed.  England is not being treated fairly by RCI either.  Right now there is not a single summer availibility in England with RCI for any of the summer months of 2011 and nothing for summer 2012 in the England - Not Canalboats category.  Yet Gold Crown summer weeks in a resort with only one availibility (a winter week) in the next two years with RCI are only awarded points lite in the mid-20s for deposit.

Two other resorts where many Tuggers own are also interesting.  MT. Amanzi showed 9 exchange availibilities while Sudwala showed 106.


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## JoyC (Apr 17, 2011)

Agreed totally.   We have been deposited 2 DIK weeks with RCI for almost 10 years.  But, going forward, I have no intention of depositing DIK with RCI.   

We will wait to see if the situation will correct itself ......


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## glypnirsgirl (May 14, 2011)

Has anyone decided to try DAE instead of RCI? If so, what have been your results?

elaine


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## PaulT (May 16, 2011)

*DIK & DAE Exchange Weeks*



glypnirsgirl said:


> Has anyone decided to try DAE instead of RCI? If so, what have been your results?
> 
> elaine


 
I gave DAE 2 Dik weeks 3 years ago (1BD + 2BD) and never received what I would consider to be a good exchange.  I tried doing ongoing exchange requests too and that never worked either.  Finally, I had to take anything I could get just so the weeks didn't expire.

Fortunately, I just stopped paying my MF's so I no longer have that problem.  Now all I need to do is find some replacement weeks.


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## Carolinian (May 17, 2011)

glypnirsgirl said:


> Has anyone decided to try DAE instead of RCI? If so, what have been your results?
> 
> elaine



I have been giving DAE one of my Dik weeks for several years, as well as other deposits.  Now that they have whacked the points lite they give my summer south of England weeks during the school holidays (un-freaking-believable!), I give one of those to DAE as well.  The other goes to SFX.

I have an upcoming DAE exchange to the Canary Islands, which is no great exchange as it is overbuilt in timeshare and easy to trade into with anybody, but I had never been there and when looking at warm places to go at Thanksgiving it seemed logical.  Also a summer UK canalboat.  I have had several emails and calls offering two other UK resorts this summer I had on requests in for, but they were at times I could not take them.

Past exchanges with DAE include late spring at Seasons at Knocktopher Abbey in Ireland (in response to a request I was offered any week I wanted between April and July, 2BR), summer on the French Riviera, summer beach in Poland, summer beach on the Croatian coast, and another UK summer canalboat.  Back when I was living in the states, I also used DAE to trade into summer Myrtle Beach, summer OBX, summer coastal SoCal, a houseboat on the St. johns River in Florida, and early summer Smugglers Notch.


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## jwcoleman (May 17, 2011)

RCI does not show all (or even most) availability for DIK outside of SA.


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## Carolinian (May 17, 2011)

jwcoleman said:


> RCI does not show all (or even most) availability for DIK outside of SA.



proof???????

BTW, I am looking at inventory at RCI Europe.  Europe is SA's biggest source of tourists, so if they are holding back inventory from Europeans, then it would only be due to demand in SA that would push them to ring fence some of it so that South Africans have something to trade into.  They have long done that with Europe for European members, and it is the better inventory they ring fence.  If it is a ring fence strategy, then it just shows even stronger demand.


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## DavidnJudy (May 18, 2011)

This is why I am dumping DIK. It is tough but for 10 years DIK was good to me - Cape Cod summer, OBX late summer, Myrtle beach summer, Orlando - Vistana, Summer Bay, Grand Beach, Westgate; Massanuten - Woodstone xmas week, Hyatt Regency California, but steadily seeing it decline and having to work the system so hard to get something is no fun anymore.

It used to be 200 for MF, 150 to exchange, 70 for fees, coming to something like 400 dollars total. Now it is 350 for MF, 180 to exchange, 90 for yearly fee, so I am looking at  620 a year for a week that doesn't pull what I need (my wife works in a school and my kids are school age so we need US summer holiday weeks.)

It's all about the TPU. So if DIK doesn't warrant the TPU then bye bye.  I am looking at combining two DIK to get what I want next year - ugh.  That means 620 + 350 + 99.. you are looking at over 1000 dollars for a week in Orlando over spring break, that is no longer cheap enough.

Well at least the points transparency taught me what I already knew - trade power for SA was going down - big time.  What the reasons are - who knows? We can all speculate. But at least we can now put a number to it now (14), and I don't have sit there with an ongoing search for something I know is probably not going to happen.

bye DIK - you were good to me, I'll miss you


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## Laurie (May 18, 2011)

DavidnJudy said:


> This is why I am dumping DIK. It is tough but for 10 years DIK was good to me - Cape Cod summer, OBX late summer, Myrtle beach summer, Orlando - Vistana, Summer Bay, Grand Beach, Westgate; Massanuten - Woodstone xmas week, Hyatt Regency California, but steadily seeing it decline and having to work the system so hard to get something is no fun anymore.
> 
> It used to be 200 for MF...
> 
> bye DIK - you were good to me, I'll miss you


At some point, MF's were as low as $75 US for a 1-BR, due to the exchange rate, and trade power was amazing ... those were the days, eh?

I divested myself of mine for the same reason: I was having to work too hard some years (actually only every other year at the time, that's how much mine was fluctuating in trade power, pre-TPU days) which ultimately stopped being fun. 

So I said goodbye    but maybe not forever, because if things change, I can obtain a week again I'm sure, or maybe even visit someday by swapping use of one of my current ownerships with a Dik owner.

You're fortunate you can do a deed-back if you don't feel like finding a buyer yourself - the management there is pretty helpful in the transfer procedure.


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## Carolinian (May 18, 2011)

You are absolutely right about how it is nuts to combine points lite from two lesser weeks for one trade. Two middling weeks might make sense but not two lesser weeks.  That dog doesn't hunt.  Especially when you are trading into overbuilt areas like Orlando and Massanutten where RCI rentals can often be less than m/f.

It is not just SA, though, that has been whacked by RCI.  My summer UK weeks during the school holidays in one of the most hard to get areas of a country that is itself hard to get during warm season got bushwhacked in Points Lite, too, although not as bad as SA.  Well, if RCI chooses to play that way, fine, I have taken my UK weeks to DAE and SFX, and might even try one with UKRE (which will give me double credits for school holiday weeks).

I hope that the associations in SA can market the weeks they will be getting in bailouts like yours locally, because I think they may be getting a lot of them.






DavidnJudy said:


> This is why I am dumping DIK. It is tough but for 10 years DIK was good to me - Cape Cod summer, OBX late summer, Myrtle beach summer, Orlando - Vistana, Summer Bay, Grand Beach, Westgate; Massanuten - Woodstone xmas week, Hyatt Regency California, but steadily seeing it decline and having to work the system so hard to get something is no fun anymore.
> 
> It used to be 200 for MF, 150 to exchange, 70 for fees, coming to something like 400 dollars total. Now it is 350 for MF, 180 to exchange, 90 for yearly fee, so I am looking at  620 a year for a week that doesn't pull what I need (my wife works in a school and my kids are school age so we need US summer holiday weeks.)
> 
> ...


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## Laurie (May 18, 2011)

Carolinian said:


> My summer UK weeks during the school holidays in one of the most hard to get areas of a country that is itself hard to get during warm season got bushwhacked in Points Lite, too, although not as bad as SA.  Well, if RCI chooses to play that way, fine, I have taken my UK weeks to DAE and SFX, and might even try one with UKRE (which will give me double credits for school holiday weeks).


Off topic somewhat, but I bet you'd do well by posting your summer UK weeks in TUG's direct-swap area.

Or OY.


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## Carolinian (May 18, 2011)

Laurie said:


> Off topic somewhat, but I bet you'd do well by posting your summer UK weeks in TUG's direct-swap area.
> 
> Or OY.



Good suggestion.  I might try that for my 2013 weeks.


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## carl2591 (May 23, 2011)

i currently have 2 dik week in rci.. the one that was before red sunday, (when rci rolled out the TPU's) was valued at 27 tpu.. my other one deposited last year is at 17.
for me they still work somewhat. we typically dont vacation during summer,. last year did june week at mass and year before (pre TPU) did july week orlando and got good trades. one bed at Cypress palms and 2 bed at summer bay.  

with MF going up and RCI going up on exchange fees it might be sooner rather than later i send one week packing.. i have a 2 bed DIK and one bed Sudwala lodge unit. DIK get 17 TPU  Sud get 7 or 9 i guess.


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## Reggie_Hammonds (May 24, 2011)

*Giving back my Dik weeks*

Come next year when it's time to pay.  If I don't, what do they do?  What can they do?  If I just "disappear" am I done with worrying about the bad exchange rates, crappy trading power, etc?  It was a great run. I'm going to finish up with a week in Oahu next Spring Break.  Had to combine two weeks but that's still a hell of a deal given how much Hawaii cost.  

I need a gameplan for what to do going forward.  I'm not combining two weeks to spend an average of $100 per night when you can find that most places if you search hard enough.


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## PaulT (May 26, 2011)

Reggie_Hammonds said:


> Come next year when it's time to pay. If I don't, what do they do? What can they do? If I just "disappear" am I done with worrying about the bad exchange rates, crappy trading power, etc? It was a great run. I'm going to finish up with a week in Oahu next Spring Break. Had to combine two weeks but that's still a hell of a deal given how much Hawaii cost.
> 
> I need a gameplan for what to do going forward. I'm not combining two weeks to spend an average of $100 per night when you can find that most places if you search hard enough.


 

I just walked away from my DIK weeks (a 2BR & 1BR) and let the resort take them back after I stopped responding to their emails and m/f requests.  As said previously, the cost of the M/f's + RCI costs just wasn't worth it any more.  As an example, I rented a 2BR in Princeville & a 2 BR in Kona last year for $1,000 total.  Not too bad compared to the DIK and RCI costs.


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## jwcoleman (May 31, 2011)

When I spoke with RCI, they about DIK not showing up, they said that they basically reserve the inventory for SA RCI and if I want to reserve a week that I would have to call.  Additionally, they told me that my deposit from last year was not used.  I have no reason to doubt them.


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## Carolinian (May 31, 2011)

jwcoleman said:


> When I spoke with RCI, they about DIK not showing up, they said that they basically reserve the inventory for SA RCI and if I want to reserve a week that I would have to call.  Additionally, they told me that my deposit from last year was not used.  I have no reason to doubt them.



Hmmm, the very same RCI which tried to tell us they were NOT renting out spacebank deposits to the general public for a very long time before they finally fessed up to it?  The same RCI which tried to tell us that Black Sunday did not happen?  The same RCI which claimed they were not changing trading value relationships when they imposed Points Lite but in fact clearly did so?  Any thinking timesharer has every reason to doubt anything RCI tries to tell them.  RCI just has too much of a track record of dishonesty.


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## carl2591 (Jun 1, 2011)

Carolinian
well said.. 
RCI has a way to go before they are believed again in my view.


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