RCI Cancelled our December 27 Vacation

[marcmuff]

Apparently Inverness at South Padre decided to shut down until further notice to repair damages from Hurricane Ike.

What to do now? We have our plane tickets, of course.

 

[philemer]

RCI has specific people that deal with these issues. Have you called and spoken to this expert yet? They can find alternate facilities most of the time. Also, most airlines will let you cancel your tickets and they'll give you XXX amount of time to reuse them (less a fee of course).

[Edit: Muriel, it wasn't really RCI who cancelled your trip. It was INVERNESS. They're closed so can't accept guests.]

 

[Sandy VDH]

I had my Dec 20th Silverleaf Seaside Cancel and RCI was NO help at all.

They refunded my exchange fee and returned my week, but at a reduce trade power.

That was a real help, NOT, as I made the booking because I had an expiring week ending Dec 31st. Now if I want to book anything I will have to pay to extend my week.

I was in Galveston a few weeks ago. Things are starting to be up and running for some restaurants and shops, but there is a lot of people still in Tents and a lot of home that need repairs.

 

[dcmoony]

Sorry to hear about your cancellation at Inverness at South Padre.We had a 1 bedroom 1 bath Nov 2nd check in at Royal Beach and Tennis club in South Padre. RCI called the Thursday before the weekend we were to leave. Said Royal Beach over booked. Was really ticked off for about a minute or so. RCI gave us back our week at full trade power. gave us back our exchange fee. Then we decided to go to Hot Springs Arkansas instead so they gave us a two bedroom two bath free for the week. When we made it back home our daughter and son-in-law asked if they could use the week that was returned to us. So we booked them in Colorado for june of next year. Worked out real well for us. By the way had a great time in Hot Springs there was still a lot of color in the trees.

 

[dougp26364]

I believe your issue is with the resort shutting down. Now I'm no big RCI fan but this one isn't their fault. If the resort shuts down, it's not going to take anyone. It wouldn't matter if your exchange was through RCI, II, SFX or Redweek. It wouldn't even matter if you'd rented your week through the resort, through an indivicual or even through Expedia. You're vacation would still be canceld because the resort decided to close.

 

[pcgirl54]

Muriel -in the past when we had an issue and a RCI specialist is assigned to help you. You are given top priority for weeks. We got back our week and received a like exchange and our exchange fee was refunded.

Ours was not related to a resort closure but to owner of a Siesta Key resort renting out the week after it was deposited. Neither the resort nor RCI knew this. The week could not be taken back from the renter so we were left in the lurch and we had our flights booked. We ended up at Anna Maria Island and still had a wonderful time. I also had my original week to use. So in the end we came out ahead.

I am so sorry to hear this because I know how I would feel. Please call RCI and ask for that specialist team.

 

[Sandy VDH]

In my case at Silverleaf the resort is open, but RCI is not allowing inbounds in until the new year. If I was a Silverleaf owner using my own resort that I would be fine.

So it is an agreement between Silverleaf and RCI that is preventing my using by exchanged that I booked.

Not sure about the Padre Island situation. I would think that if the resort was closed the OP would have been notified earlier.

 

[Hophop4]

When did you book this week?? Was it before the hurricane???? Inverness has been shut down since the summer when Dolly hit. Their website says opening might be first week in Jan ....maybe still not sure of opening. How could RCI allow the exchange in the first place for December?

It was Hurricane Dolly that hit South Padre last summer not Ike which was in Sept.

This is from Inverness website:
http://www.invernessatsouthpadre.com/dolly.html

We went to South Padre in September at Royale Beach and Tennis Club and this resort was shut down for repairs from Hurricane Dolly and opened up the week we got there. RCI did not block us from going like they are blocking in Galveston now. And yes, we will be going to Seaside the week of December 26th.

 

[marcmuff]

Well, we cancelled that trip and had to pay $50 each to get Continental FF miles back (husband) and NWA (my sister), and for my non-refundable $705 ticket, I can get another ticket on Continental within a year and pay $150 to use it.

I didn't call RCI after that first day when I got the Email since they said there wasn't anything anywhere near there for that time period and I didnt know where or when we could go anywhere again.

Today, I found a 1-bedroom unit at Pueblo Bonito (Blanco) for check-in Monday, January 26, 2009. I couldn't reserve it on-line, but called RCI and got it. So I'm happy. Since it has a Monday checkin, it takes fewer FF miles -- we got two RT from Sacramento to SJD for 70,000 FF miles.

Anyone know where Unit 412 is at the PB Blanco?

 

[marcmuff]

Today, December 27 (THE DAY WE WERE SUPPOSED TO CHECK IN TO INVERNESS AT SOUTH PADRE) I received a letter dated December 8, 2008, telling us the resort has informed them that they will be unable to welcome guests for the dates we had confirmed and "Since it was cancelled as a result of a natural disaster, the deposit used for the confirmation is no longer eligible for another exchange and the fee is not refundable."

Well, luckily, they actually did return my week and refunded the exchange fee, and I have used it. Scarey, though.

If I hadn't received the Email notice on December 10, we could have been in South Padre today without a place to stay.

 

[dougp26364]

Today, December 27 (THE DAY WE WERE SUPPOSED TO CHECK IN TO INVERNESS AT SOUTH PADRE) I received a letter dated December 8, 2008, telling us the resort has informed them that they will be unable to welcome guests for the dates we had confirmed and "Since it was cancelled as a result of a natural disaster, the deposit used for the confirmation is no longer eligible for another exchange and the fee is not refundable."

Well, luckily, they actually did return my week and refunded the exchange fee, and I have used it. Scarey, though.

If I hadn't received the Email notice on December 10, we could have been in South Padre today without a place to stay.

I'm glad this worked out for you.

At the same time, I do hope that you realize it was not RCI that cancelled your trip. As mentioned in the letter, it was mother nature that cancelled the trip. Incidents like this are when trip insurance comes in handy. Not just the loss of use insurance sold by RCI or I.I. but insurance that would reimburse you the unrefundable portions of your airline tickets as well.

There are many times that I don't purchase travel/trip insurance but, anytime we're heading for a hurricane prone area it's something I generally purchase. Especially if I don't want to eat the cost of my lost MF's, exchange fee's and non-refundable airline ticket change fee's.

In the end RCI did you a favor when they didn't have to do anything at all. If you don't purchase trip/travel insurance, you're taking your chances and risking the non-refundable costs of that particular trip. Since the circumstances were beyond RCI's control, they really did not have to do anything for you.

Now, notifying you by mail AFTER you were suppose to have checked in is unexcusable IMHO. RCI should have been getting letters out to all exchangers into this resort the moment they knew the resort was closed. Unfortunately, standard customer service isn't what it use to be. It's now up to the consumer to pay attention and become the squeeky wheel looking for some grease.