[2015] Redweek dead

[RLS50]

Easter is generally a harder holiday when the family has children in different levels schools ... plus special activities (trips with school) or sports. Many schools have renamed it to be Spring Break unless your children attend a church-affiliated school. Plus many school systems in the Snow areas ... steal days away from Spring Break to met state required "days in class" if the Snow season is bad.

Waiting is your only option ... be patient.

That is a good point about spring break. The spring break of my childhood was almost always a legit week off from school. My children have not experienced more than a couple of days off during spring break week in the last 10+ years. It is the first place the school systems start to reclaim lost days.

 

[gblotter]

There is another significant contributing factor (for my rental, at least) ...

Spring break airfares to Hawaii this year are sky-high (approx $900 RT from west coast cities if flying on the weekend, $600 RT weekdays). At that price, the planes are half-full with plenty of available seats, yet none of the airlines seems to be budging on price (if anything, airfares continue rising).

For my resort, there are 26 Redweek rental listings with various view categories and bedroom configurations for that particular week. Even after changing the Redweek filters to reveal all listings, NOTHING has rented. Given the high airfares, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

If nothing changes, it may be a lonely week in Maui with lots of available lounge chairs by the pool - lol.

 

[suzannesimon]

Redweek so far has been good to me. All my July 2016 weeks rented in July 2015. I have 3 Christmas weeks still available for next year. Two things I've noticed are that Redweek is removing the "Rented" weeks very quickly and I've talked to other owners who rent their weeks but don't ever change them to "rented" status so they can judge demand. I think this harms a sense of urgency by renters because it looks like nothing is renting and they have a lot of time.

 

[suenmike32]

I also find Redweek to be very user friendly. Just plug in the resort name and whether you are seeking rentals or sales and you're there.
Additionally its an easy site to quickly review resorts you've never been to. (Check room sizes, #of pools, beach facilities? etc).
I just posted an ad on TUG, (in addition to my current Redweek ad) and it was far less user friendly to find. Too many steps, to many filters.

Love both sites.....but I prefer Redweek for advertising (even with the costs)
Mike

 

[NTP66]

Redweek's site is by-far the cleanest. Tug isn't exactly user-friendly (I can provide more details if it'd help the admins), and VRBO is just a barrage of text.

 

[RLS50]

Redweek's site is by-far the cleanest. Tug isn't exactly user-friendly (I can provide more details if it'd help the admins), and VRBO is just a barrage of text.

I do think Redweek has the best site out there. Very easy to use and navigate, for owners and renters.

It always surprises me how popular VRBO is. That site seems like a hot mess to me.

 

[suzannesimon]

VRBO is great for vacation rentals, but works poorly for timeshare weeks. First of all, it is very expensive for simply one week's rental income. Secondly, the customers don't "get" that it is only one week so no matter how many times you block out all the other weeks on their calendar and mention it in the text, you will get multiple questions like, "Is 4th of July week still available?" when all you are offering is New Year's week. I've tried it when I was desperate a couple times and Redweek still worked first, and I had to answer dozens of non-productive inquiries from VRBO. I also like that with Redweek and TUG, you are usually dealing with other owners who understand the process.

 

[TUGBrian]

Redweek's site is by-far the cleanest. Tug isn't exactly user-friendly (I can provide more details if it'd help the admins), and VRBO is just a barrage of text.

always love to hear feedback, what do you find that isnt user friendly?

 

[NTP66]

always love to hear feedback, what do you find that isnt user friendly?

In order of priority, IMO:

• The lack of a free text search in the Marketplace (at the top menu, not after you click through to the individual states)
• The lack of more useful filters once you're down to the state level. Being able to limit your searches to how many bedrooms, bathrooms, view, etc. would be immensely helpful. It's one of the best features on Redweek, and would be easy to implement
• In the filter box, it's an exact phrase search. For instance, if I want to look for a unit a Marriott's Maui Ocean Club, I have to search for Marriott's Maui to pull up results, whereas on Redweek I can search for Marriott Maui

As you can tell, I'm using Redweek as my main example because they've set the standard here. I love Tug, and did list my rental here (and will in the future), but I think a little tweaking will make for a better user experience. Just my $.02, though.

 

[TUGBrian]

In order of priority, IMO:


[*]The lack of a free text search in the Marketplace (at the top menu, not after you click through to the individual states)

should be easy to add, will talk to the developers...we already have this on the sub-pages anyway.

[*]The lack of more useful filters once you're down to the state level. Being able to limit your searches to how many bedrooms, bathrooms, view, etc. would be immensely helpful. It's one of the best features on Redweek, and would be easy to implement

we already have this feature available in a number of options:

1. the search tool here: http://tug2.com/MarketplaceClassifiedBrowse.aspx
2. the ability to type in any filter term you wish within search results, this lets you filter by resort name, or city (cant really get any more granular than city unfortunately)

or is there another type of searching you are looking to do in the marketplace?

[*]In the filter box, it's an exact phrase search. For instance, if I want to look for a unit a Marriott's Maui Ocean Club, I have to search for Marriott's Maui to pull up results, whereas on Redweek I can search for Marriott Maui

see above




keep the feedback coming, as if you experience it...there are surely more who share your opinion and concerns. if we can make it better/easier...we certainly will!

 

[NTP66]

Wow, I'm not sure how I missed the classifieds search on the main page. My apologies!

I still think it'd be worthwhile to add filters for a lot of the same information at the state level. For instance, if I'm looking in South Carolina but not at a particular location, being able to filter on things like bedrooms, view, etc. would help narrow my search. This is exactly what I do when searching for a timeshare at a location that I've never been to before.

 

[TUGBrian]

okie dokie, ill see what we can do to add some quick filters there.

 

[natarajanv]

one more suggestion

okie dokie, ill see what we can do to add some quick filters there.

In LMR section you can see who has posted the AD, is there a way to show the user names on the marketplace as well, so we know who is posting it?

 

[bobpark56]

Show thread topic at top of each page

always love to hear feedback, what do you find that isnt user friendly?

Why can't the thread topic appear at the top of each page?

 

[csxjohn]

Why can't the thread topic appear at the top of each page?

If you're asking what I think you are, it's already there. Go all the way to the top of this page and you will see the progression of where you are and the thread title is the last item.

It's right next to "TUG BBS"

 

[DeniseM]

This is how it looks at the top of this page:

Timeshare Users Group Forums > Timeshare Resort Systems > Marriott Resort System > Redweek dead

 

[TUGBrian]

In LMR section you can see who has posted the AD, is there a way to show the user names on the marketplace as well, so we know who is posting it?

we dont provide user contact data on marketplace ads specifically.

folks are welcome to type into the description of their ad anything they wish to divulge to the public however.

 

[TUGBrian]

Why can't the thread topic appear at the top of each page?

title should also appear in the tab at the top of your browser as the title of the page.

 

[DeniseM]

In LMR section you can see who has posted the AD, is there a way to show the user names on the marketplace as well, so we know who is posting it?

One more point - there is a separate registrations system for the Marketplace. Many people who post in the Marketplace do not have a user name on the discussion forums, or post in the discussion forums.

 

[csxjohn]

title should also appear in the tab at the top of your browser as the title of the page.

I never noticed that, sure enough, mine says Redweek dead page 5

 

[dioxide45]

I never noticed that, sure enough, mine says Redweek dead page 5

Mine indicates "Redweek dead - Page 2". I suspect that is because I have the forum setup to show 75 posts per thread instead of only 25.

 

[DebbieF]

I have been using Redweek for years to rent my units-always had a deal prior to 60 days except this year. If I don't rent, would I be able to change my week if another platinum timeframe is available? I don't have a current II subscription. I don't think it is a pricing issue either since I always get lower offers and I am not the highest price now.

Thanks!

Debbie

 

[NTP66]

I have been using Redweek for years to rent my units-always had a deal prior to 60 days except this year. If I don't rent, would I be able to change my week if another platinum timeframe is available? I don't have a current II subscription. I don't think it is a pricing issue either since I always get lower offers and I am not the highest price now.

Thanks!

Debbie

If you're a weeks owner, no. Inside of 60 days, your only other option would be to enroll in II and deposit the week (I think it'd be a 'late transfer', or named something similar). I'm in the same boat right now with my recently purchased unit, with my rental inside of 60 days. I'm going to hold out as long as I can, because it's a peak whale season unit in Maui, so I think I'll be able to rent it.

 

[SkyBlueWaters]

I have a Redweek listing trying to rent out my unit. While Redweek has been very productive for me in the past, I'm getting little interest this time. It is a prime week in a prime location, and my listing is priced the cheapest. It's not just me - I don't see hardly any listings changed to "Rented" status. And there is much more rental inventory available on Redweek it seems (at least for my resort) - many weeks available but nothing getting rented out.

Has Redweek lost is effectiveness for others folks as well? Are you finding other rental marketplaces to be more productive?

I have my "unlisted" unit at VRBO producing a hundred or so inquiries. I was quite shocked since I didn't even put it up for rent. The ad was from a while back, but VRBO has it as me owning a unit there with an unspecified date. I think it's a marketing ploy on their part to show that they have a big inventory.

Redweek failed to produce any inquiry for me when I had something listed there. Drips compared to the outpouring with different date inquiries at VRBO.

 

[mindface]

With this thread, now I get to know RedWeek is a good place to rent timeshare. I really like the site as its search is really tuned to timeshare weeks. I also found the alert feature, which I just set up alert for a July 23 week in Banff or Canmore.

Since it doesn't have eBay feedback system (or does it) , what's your suggestions to safeguard my interest when renting a week from someone I never dealt with before?

Thanks in advance!