Oberstaufen Germany RCI canx exchange

[elaine]

Last week I had a call from RCI that my 2 BR Oberstaufen Germany RCI exchange for July 2013 was canceled due to unit being repossessed. RCI had an alternate in Austria--but 2 hours away and in the mtns with car necessary. We decided to go elsewhere and not use a timeshare and RCi was very nice, of course refunded everything and also extended a few weeks/points for free (that was all I could think of to ask for). But, I have seen a few others get canceled out in Europe over the years. I would never rely on RCi again for Europe (or at least have a good contingency plan) after this. Elaine

 

[Carolinian]

As a former HOA member who is familiar with resort operations and exchange procedures at resorts, this excuse by RCI strains credibility. I wonder if they really needed that week for a rental?

When a member deposits a week, RCI does not put it in inventory until RCI gets a confirmation from the resort. This is the resort's opportunity to raise issues like unpaid m/f's or other problems. If the resorts confirms the deposit, they have an obligation to allow the transaction to continue. It flabbergasts me that RCI would allow a resort to back out of their confirming a deposit. This would clearly be discretionary with RCI. When the resort confirmed the deposit, the resort is on the hook for it.

I have never heard of DAE backing out of an exchange this way. I personally kn ow of one situation with DAE Europe where there was a miscommunication between DAE and the resort on the week start date on an OBX deposit. DAE worked with the resort to find another week which was ultimately successful, when the resort manager got another member to deposit a week in the time that DAE thought the deposit was, but DAE had also worked on the ultimate backup - DAE renting a substitute week on the open market to make their member whole. That is a level of customer service long gone at RCI.

 

[mav]

RCI cancelled a summer exchange for me into Zell am See, Austria because the owner had sold the unit. I was actually fine with it. I booked a room at the Grand Hotel instead and actually I would rather stay there anyway. RCI cancelling the exchange gave me a good excuse not to use a timeshare.

 

[Laurie]

I've had more than one European exchange cancelled by RCI for similar reasons, including "the owner took back their week." (I thought this was impossible, since our bankings in the US are always final transactions - this should apply even if the owner sells their week.)

As I understand it, RCI Europe is somewhat of a different entity than RCI US, with practices more lax than in the US - one of the supervisors assigned to me even said as much. It's anyone's guess whether this was/is true ...

We've been offered alternatives, some of which weren't acceptable, because they were too far from our chosen area. Instead we changed our itineraries entirely, or did private rentals - so yes, a contingency plan is a good idea, as long as you have the ability and willingness to pay out-of-pocket should the need arise.

All in all though, we've gone on so many wonderful trips to Europe primarily using RCI exchanges, I wouldn't stop using them.

At least you got something back from RCI, which doesn't always happen.