I have a major complaint with RCI points!

[travelhound]

I forgot to mention why the rep was so convincing. He said if RCI thinks thay can get more in points or more value in rental, then they will not give the units out for 9000 pts.

 

[Sydney]

What will they think of next?

I'll tell you what they have thought of next.

You know how we were told that a pts account could have free guest certificates? Well they got rid of that without telling members nor did they change it in their latest terms and conditions. They just told the VGs so that when I tried to get a guest certificate recently, they insisted on charging me. I told them to check the 2007 pts guide where the terms and conditions were printed at the back and even told them which clause. The VG read it, went away and came back and said even though the latest publication still stated that it was free, they had the right to change it without notice and charge me. I finally got them to do a one time waiver.

Why is it such a trial to deal with RCI and try not to be ripped off? They put in the fee without telling pts members nor updating the terms and conditions in the latest pts guide they sent out to me recently simply to sell the Platinum Membership which has the benefit of no guest certificate fees. What will they do next? Remove that benefit from the Platinum membership and try to sell us the Black RCI card?!

I get so frustrated dealing with RCI that I feel like biting somebody!

 

[taffy19]

I can confirm the 9000 pt thing is simply not the same in the 45 day, or even 14 day window. There are still low point opportunities, in low desirability areas or places where you can not get to on short notice.

I had a week on hold, and called in to confirm it for 9000 pts. The rep, who was well above average on job skills, said this change was made a month ago. They felt there was no need to notify users because this was a 'benefit', not a rule of the program.

I should not be surprised, because this is the way RCI and the developers work. Sell a deal, then after a year or two change it to a new deal. I am glad I always bought weeks I was truely wanted to use. I think the new gimick is giving 3 weeks for one. How long will that last? What will they think of next?

I agree with you completely and that is buy a week or points for a resort that you like to use most of the time.

While I was posting this message, a call came in from RCI offering us a special deal for only $229 somewhere in Cancun and they gave a phone number or web site where to go to. This is outrageous if timeshare owners pay more for maintenance fees alone plus the capital they invest in buying a timeshare, if it is from a developer. It doesn't make sense to me at all.

 

[BillR]

Easter break, spring break, doesn't really have anything to do with the issue of Instant Exchange.

Madge has repeatedly and consistently stated that there are no restrictions, other than VEP, on Instant Exchange within the 45-day window. The problem seems to be one of training for the RCI Guides, as many of them do not seem to know about the 9K point maximum for IE.

If it were a week I wanted, I would have put it on hold, and called in the following day to confirm it at 9K pts.

Hopefully, RCI will fix their *@$#& web site, so these trades can be completed online.

- It is NOT a mystery to me that the affiliate points representatives of RCI (their account managers for the resorts) know little about VEP . VEP, in points, is an INTERNAL tool RCI uses to establish the values of the resorts. VEP and Points, after points are assigned, have NO RELATIONSHIP as Points are Points.

- The points system is sooo complex that many of the affiliate representatives have little knowledge of it. Their affiliate handbook is 95 pages and there are still answers that cannot be found. The VR's should know but . . . they all do not know.

- 45 day last call points from weeks is from 6000 to 9000 points REGARDLESS
of what the computer says.

- People seem to forget - and I am repeating this AGAIN - the available intervals are only posted when there is nobody searching for the particular space. REMEMBER that the last call space is posted ONLY when someone has not reserved the space.

- I agree that the unit mentioned above should have been booked and the verification call should have been made on the next day.

- Finally, RCI should fix their %@*&^~ computer system. It s _ _ _ _ :annoyed:

 

[rickandcindy23]

I forgot to mention why the rep was so convincing. He said if RCI thinks thay can get more in points or more value in rental, then they will not give the units out for 9000 pts.

See, now this makes no sense. If I have 92,000 points in my account, I will pay $1,640 to RCI for my ten Instant Exchanges and if I use them all at once for a Shearwater, they only make $164.00.

 

[AwayWeGo]

So Far So Good With R.C.I. Points.

You know how we were told that a pts account could have free guest certificates? Well they got rid of that without telling members nor did they change it in their latest terms and conditions.

They didn't tell me my points account was good for free guest certificates, only that I could sign up as many as 5 people as Additional Users on my points membership, & that I can get guest certificates for those 5 at no charge. The 5 Additional Users we listed when our RCI Points membership went in are our 2 sons, our nephew, my brother, & The Chief Of Staff's sister. So far, we have got guest certificates at no extra charge once each for our nephew (January 2007), my brother (April 2006), & our older son (December2005).

BTW, we heard about that Additional Users feature from the resale broker who sold us our cheap, dinky eBay points timeshare. Before that, we never heard of it. When the blank membership form was delivered in the mail for us to fill in & sign & return, sure enough, spaces were right there on the form to fill in for up to 5 Additional Users. So we did, & the rest is history.

So far, every feature of RCI Points that we were expecting before we signed up has turned out to work exactly as anticipated. Then again, all we've done with RCI Points since joining up in 2005 is Instant Exchange 3 times (for 7,500 points each time) & Points For Deposit twice. We're obviously not taking enough vacations.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Pit]

In my case, I have called to no avail. I have to call as I can not book online. I have tried calling more than once and have even spoken to a supervisor who insists that there is indeed a restriction even within the instant exchange period of 45 days. I even told them to check my weeks account that the weeks only resort was actually available. They confirmed they could see the weeks but that it wasn't available because it's a school holiday wk. Now being a school holiday wk should have nothing to do with it but apparently, it does to the Australian VGs.

Perhaps if you point them to the text on the RCI web site, it may help?

Go to "The Answer Place" tab on rci.com, and enter "9000" as the search text. It's pretty clear that you should have the week.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I will try that, Pit. Thanks.

 

[Sydney]

They didn't tell me my points account was good for free guest certificates, only that I could sign up as many as 5 people as Additional Users on my points membership, & that I can get guest certificates for those 5 at no charge. The 5 Additional Users we listed when our RCI Points membership went in are our 2 sons, our nephew, my brother, & The Chief Of Staff's sister. So far, we have got guest certificates at no extra charge once each for our nephew (January 2007), my brother (April 2006), & our older son (December2005).

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

RCI pts in Australia had and should still have free guest certificates. I have in my hand the 2007-2008 RCI Points Directory of Resorts sent to me this year. At the back on page 60, there is the Disclosure Guide To RCI Points Network Australia. Clause 6 titled Network Membership Fees and Transaction Fees has a list of charges. Point D amongst other things says, "Guest Certificate: No charge".

 

[Sydney]

Perhaps if you point them to the text on the RCI web site, it may help?

Go to "The Answer Place" tab on rci.com, and enter "9000" as the search text. It's pretty clear that you should have the week.

Thank you. As can be seen by my other posts regarding charges for guest certificates, it has become clear to me that the AU VGs have been trained to disregard the RCI terms and conditions. Do I feel like ringing up again today to argue with them? Not today. Maybe when I have a bit more energy.

 

[AwayWeGo]

And The Water Goes The Other Direction Swirling Down The Drain.

RCI pts in Australia had and should still have free guest certificates. I have in my hand the 2007-2008 RCI Points Directory of Resorts sent to me this year. At the back on page 60, there is the Disclosure Guide To RCI Points Network Australia. Clause 6 titled Network Membership Fees and Transaction Fees has a list of charges. Point D amongst other things says, "Guest Certificate: No charge".

Whoa! Different rules Down Under. Who'd a-thunk?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[rickandcindy23]

Perhaps if you point them to the text on the RCI web site, it may help?

Go to "The Answer Place" tab on rci.com, and enter "9000" as the search text. It's pretty clear that you should have the week.

Their own site is very clear and there are no exceptions for high-demand weeks. No exceptions are listed at all. What gives? :annoyed:

There are nine weeks available for Hawaii right now, with the latest check-in date of 4/18 and none are discounted.

If they are changing things, the least they could do is tell us about it and change their website. Stupid company.

 

[Sydney]

Whoa! Different rules Down Under. Who'd a-thunk?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Err, not anymore.

Although, I guess we don't even get the 5 names you get. They just removed the benefit by telling their VGs. Memebrs don't get notified and they don't even bother updating their printed terms and conditions. Is this even legal. I'm not even going to go there. Life is too short and there are plenty of other exchange companies. My Pts contract will end in July and I will most likely lose over 9000pts but at least I won't have to deal with RCI pts anymore. I still have the wks account though for the next couple of years.

I would really like to use RCI. I really want to stay with them but as you can tell, I've been a tad frustrated and worn over the years dealing with them.

 

[Sydney]

Sydney, my points resort is Mansfield in Australia.

Cindy, we're going to Mansfield on Friday in 2 days time. Our kids love Mansfield. That's what I was hoping to do with the instant exchange, tag an extra wk onto Mansfield at another wks resort between there and Sydney, before my pts expired. Oh well.

 

[travelhound]

Interesting that the web site is clear on the 9000 pts. I will ask for a supervisor next time before I give up a week.

 

[Dani]

To me, the thing that is of most concern is that but for TUG and other sites, the average RCI customer would never know how to over-come these glitches. Until I read this thread, I had no idea that in many cases you have to click through on the reservation to see the appropriate points cost. Also, some of us do not have enough points in our accounts to hold certain weeks. As such, we are not able to reserve a given week and then call RCI later. The fact that Points members are expected to call RCI to see cross-over weeks that for some reason are not placed on-line is bad enough, but they really need to fix this glitch with respect to 45 day exchanges.

 

["Roger"]

Whoa! Different rules Down Under. Who'd a-thunk?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Just so that you know, there are three divisions of RCI -- RCI North America, RCI Europe, and RCI Pacific (might have the wrong title here). Each runs it Points program slightly differently. So, yup, it is no surprise that Sydney hits upon some different rules. (Maybe sometime we should put together a sticky for the top of this board with the differences. I know the European ones are often quite different. They, for example, have neither points for deposit nor the 9000 rule. They probably look upon us as a bunch of whiners when it doesn't go as smoothly as it should.)

By the by, there is also RCI South Africa. They are so disconnected with the rest of RCI, I can't figure out if they are even really part of RCI - Wyndham Worldwide - or if they are an entirely different company that has some kind of sharing agreement with the rest of RCI.

Not all that relevant to this thread, but speaking of glitches. Go to the RCI site, before logging in, go to the Resort Directory, and from the pull down menu choose "Hawaii." The only resorts listed are those on the big isle. I don't see any other choice that would call up the other resorts.

Dealing with RCI can be an adventure quest...

 

[helenbarnett1963]

Just so that you know, there are three divisions of RCI -- RCI North America, RCI Europe, and RCI Pacific (might have the wrong title here). Each runs it Points program slightly differently.


a bit off topic here, but i'm curious.
I live in the UK, but own timeshare weeks in the USA. I've always paid my fees in GBP and received the europe version of the RCI Guide - I guess my membership somehow defaulted to RCI europe based on where i live rather than where my resort is situtated. My resort is now offering to convert weeks to points - if I did convert to points, would my points follow the RCI Europe rules (where I live) or the RCI North America rules (where the resort is)?
This is really an academic question as I've recently cancelled my RCI membership - one sucessful exchange, but DAE suits me better.

 

["Roger"]

The rules go by where you reside, not where you own.

(...and, of course, as soon as I say this someone will post that this is not true for them. But, what I wrote is the way RCI is supposed to work. As you know, "supposed to work" and "does work" can be two different things for RCI.)

 

[travelhound]

I had no idea that in many cases you have to click through on the reservation to see the appropriate points cost.

The clicking through no longer works. Nor did calling the RCI agent work for me. RCI is attempting to limit this feature.

 

[mocat]

Confirming reservation now causes points to revert to higher level

As an experiment, this morning I searched the RCI weeks section for more 45 day Instant Exchanges in Florida, where there are normally quite a few resorts shown. 19 resorts came up but when I tried to "reserve" several of these, the message "This resort might have already been booked; please try another search" came up. Finally, I found one which only showed the discounted points (7500) but when I attempted to "confirm" the reservation, the points reverted to the full point value for the resort.

As a result of this, it is my belief that there is a glitch in the system rather than an attempt by RCI to remove the Instant Exchange procedure.

 

[ctreelmom]

Not really, it's big time Easter break this year!

That's right--our school vacation is the week of 4/16 this year and it's been later.

 

[Sandy]

My experience today

I just checked on RCI's site for units surrounding my son's graduation. I found a unit, but the points total wsa 40,000 for the two bedroom. Another unit, one bedroom, at the same resort had the correct points - 9000.

So, I put the unit on hold (full points 40000) and called RCI. The VC found the unit, put me on hold, and checked something. Finally, she came back and said, "I have confirmed this for you at 9000 points."

I am not sure why the web site listed them differently, considering that both had the same check in date. Perhaps RCI glitch.

In any event, I found calling the VC directly worked for me. Also, if this had occurred when RCI was closed, I still would have confirmed/held the unit until the following business day and then made the phone call.

But I am not so naive to think that RCI might not be changing the rules or tweaking the system, most likely to our disadvantage. I only wanted to report what happened this morning.

 

[travelhound]

I had a happy ending to my story. Although I was unable to get my original 9000 pt exchange attempt, I just was able to get a 2 BR at the same resort instead. The points shown were still dicey. This time the were correct at the onset, but reverted to 62000 pts on the final confirmation page. I called RCI and they booked it at 9000 with no questions. Odd web page. They must have the worlds worst programmers.

 

[pippin]

RCI points back to weeks

I am a first time buyer, dont know anything about anything.! I brought 87,000 RCI points on ebay- home resort is St Maarten Artium, Gold RCI resort, red week. It sounds like points arn't very good is there a way to convert back to weeks with the resorts?

So sorry, I'm new, really really new! I guess I will learn! Meant to post this not reply!