The Onset of the Internet and It's Ramification ...
JoeMid said:
I don't have paperwork confirmation on my unification, although I see the unified points online. On the telephone they said that 20 years was what was left on my "original" contract (all bought resale) so that's what they say I have left on the unified contract. Several of my contracts were good out 25-26 years, with 20 years being the oldest, so how do they determine which one is/was "original." I don't believe the clock reset scenario, I think a weighted average of the contracts is what it should be, like Spence says above. Their admin is hosed.
I don't think this particular company is hosed, but rather the whole industry is hosed. The problem that besets RHC is they don't have the brain power to figure out which end is up. With RCI and II, they at least have the cash flow, and the captive market, to hose first.
What we're seeing is something remarkable. One of the upsides to the internet is it gives the little guy some platform, some magnified role, that did not exist prior to the internet.
The timeshare industry operated in a clandestine, lie-to-your-face model. Let's mark up the units and pump them up, using whatever bald-faced lies we can conjure up.
The internet and websites created forums for discussion and exchange of information. What? The Salesman told you that? He promised what? He gave you what bennies? I never heard that. I never got that. I never saw that.
Now we little guys are sitting around in front of our pcs swapping information and getting back to the big guys and confronting them with their own realities, or rather, their own deceptions.
In the process of doing so we figure out unique combinations, permutations, these big guys never thought could be possible.
Prior to the internet, how many people owned more than five timeshares? Not too many. Prior to the internet, how many people thought of combining multiple ownerships by common deed, etc., etc? Not too many. Prior to the internet, how many UDI owners figured out ways to leverage their values? Not too many. Prior to the internet, did you go on fewer vacations?
Yes, the whole timeshare industry is at a fractal bifurcation point. Something is going to give, all because the equalizing effect of the internet for us little guys.