UPDATE: RCI CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT - must read for all RCI members [Includes Results]

[Goofyhobbie]

You Don't Like It - Do Something About It!

NickSeaGarden said: How can RCI rent my unit and not give me part of the rental income??

Nick, I am assuming that your question was not meant to be retorical.

RCI, in their opinion can do anything they want with your deposited week including rental of the week to any member of the general public.

Until a Court of Law says they cannot RENT your unit, they are more likely than not going to go ahead and RENT IT without giving you ZIP!

If the current proposed settlement wins the approval of the U. S. District Court, RCI will be able to point to the Court decision as validation that they can RENT your Unit without giving you anything but the opportunity to request an exchange which may or may not ever be consummated.

Once RCI gets the Court validation of the proposed settlement every other "Exchange Company" is likely to jump in the same pond. So don't count on getting good Exchanges through World Wide Exchange Companies in the futrue.

The only realistic hope we have at this point is getting you and hundreds of other RCI Members to realize how important it is to object and to get you to spread the word!

 

[crazyhorse]

AdamCort77 Post 712

I know I should not butt in before Susan has had a chance to answer your remarks, but on a few points:

1st question: A few years ago there was much discussion in the Tuggs boards about the fairness of the "benefits" that Points members had versus Weeks members. I do not want to raise these again so I won`t!
However, Points members cannot be presently too happy with their lot, because a similar court case (to the Weeks owners) against RCI regarding their exchange practices is also going through the US courts.

2nd question: I see your point regarding discounted products, and in many cases this is valid commercial business. However if a product, say your Armani coat has been obtained in a dubious manner, then offered for sale at below cost price, then the sellers may have a case to answer. Think also of "unfair" practices such as illegal downloading, copyright infringement, black market sales. Some practices are clearly against the law, but others are in "grey areas" and this is where the courts come in to argue the issues, for and against, and this is exactly where we are with this Class Action against RCI.

3rd question:Have you calculated exactly how much that Hyatt room cost you? Have you added up the exchange fee, plus the maintenance fee on your own resort? Is this sum less than what you would have paid if you had booked directly with Hyatt, or with a Hotel Booking agency?

 

[zgreg9]

Wyndham Worldwide 2008 Annual Report Highlights- PART 1

PART 1

2009 Annual Meeting — Held May 12, 2009

Wyndham Worldwide 2008 Annual Report

http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/docs/2008-Annual-Report-on-Form-10-K.pdf

I have reviewed Wyndham Worldwide 2008 Annual Report to see what was contained in the report concerning legal proceedings and to see if anything was in written form concerning taking exchange weeks for rental inventory. I found on page 14 (16 of 133) a sentence under VACATION RENTALS stating that “In addition……we market inventory from our vacation exchange business…”; but did not explain which, why, how or under what terms and conditions they market exchange inventory for rental.
Below please find highlights from the report. (Bold face, highlights and underscoring are by me).

from page 9 (11 of 133) CENTRAL RESERVATIONS & INTERNET BOOKINGS through RCI EXCHANGE CENTRES

"Central Reservations and Internet Bookings
In 2008, we booked on behalf of our franchised and managed hotels approximately 3.5 million rooms by telephone, approximately 13.3 million rooms through the Internet and approximately 2.4 million rooms through
global distribution systems, with a combined value of approximately $1.5 billion in bookings. Additionally, our global sales team generated leads for bookings from group and meeting planners, tour operators, travel agents,
government and military clients, and corporate and small business accounts. We maintain contact centers in Saint John and Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada; Aberdeen, South Dakota; and Manila, Philippines that handle bookings generated through our toll-free brand numbers. We maintain numerous brand websites to process online room reservations, and we utilize global distribution systems to process reservations generated by travel agents and third-party Internet booking sources, including Orbitz.com, Hotwire.com, Travelocity.com, Expedia.com, Hotels.com
and Priceline.com. To ensure we receive bookings by travel agents and third-party Internet booking sources, we also provide direct connections between our central reservations system and some third-party Internet booking sources.
The majority of hotel room nights are sold by our franchisees to guests who seek accommodations on a walk-in basis or through calls made directly to hotels, which we believe is attributable in part to the strength of our lodging
brands and loyalty program. Through our various channels such as telephone, Internet, loyalty program and global distribution systems, we booked approximately 33% of the total system’s gross room revenues on behalf of our
franchised and managed hotels."

For complete Group RCI Overview go to report link and read from page 11 (13 of 133) to page 16 (18of 133) and for complete WYNDHAM VACATION OWNERSHIP Overview read from page 16(18 of 133) to page 24 (26 of 133)

from page 11 & 12 (13&14 of 133)

GROUP RCI
Vacation Exchange and Rentals Industry Overview

The estimated $44 billion global vacation exchange and rentals industry has been a growing segment of the hospitality industry. Industry providers offer products and services to both leisure travelers and vacation property
owners, including owners of second homes and vacation ownership interests. The vacation exchange and rentals industry offers leisure travelers access to a range of fully-furnished vacation properties, which include privatelyowned
vacation homes, apartments and condominiums, vacation ownership resorts, inventory at hotels and resorts, villas, cottages, boats and yachts. Providers offer leisure travelers flexibility (subject to availability) as to time of
travel and a choice of lodging options in regions to which such travelers may not typically have ease of access to such choices. For vacation property owners, affiliations with vacation exchange companies allow such owners to
exchange their interests in vacation properties for vacation time at other properties or for other various products and services. Additionally, affiliation with vacation rental companies provides property owners the ability to have their properties marketed and rented, as desired and, in some instances, to transfer the responsibility of managing such properties.
The vacation exchange industry provides to owners of intervals flexibility through vacation exchanges.Companies that offer vacation exchange services include, among others RCI (our global vacation exchange business and the world’s largest vacation exchange network), Interval Leisure Group, Inc. (a third-party exchange company), and numerous smaller companies, some of which are solely internet based. In addition, some companies that develop vacation ownership resorts and market vacation ownership interests offer exchanges through internal networks of properties. To participate in a vacation exchange, an owner generally contributes intervals to an exchange company’s network and then indicates the particular resort or geographic area to which the owner would like to travel, the size of the unit desired and the period during which the owner would like to vacation. The exchange company then rates the owner’s contributed intervals based upon a number of factors, including the location and size of the unit or units, the quality of the resort or resorts and the time period or periods during which the intervals entitle the owner to vacation. The exchange company then generally offers the owner a vacation with a comparable rating to the vacation that the owner contributed. Exchange companies generally derive revenues from owners of intervals by charging exchange fees for facilitating exchanges and through annual membership dues. In 2007, 78% of owners of intervals were members of vacation exchange companies, and approximately three-fifths of such owners exchanged their intervals through such exchange companies.
The overall trend in the vacation exchange industry has been growth in the number of members of vacation exchange companies. We believe that current economic conditions will result in slower growth in the near term, but
believe that the longer term trends will support a return to stronger growth. Longer term, we believe one factor supporting growth in the vacation exchange industry will be growth in the premium and luxury segments of the vacation ownership industry through the increased sales of vacation ownership interests at high-end luxury resorts and the development of vacation ownership properties and products around the world. In 2007, there were approximately 6.2 million members industry-wide who completed approximately 3.6 million exchanges. We believe
that existing trends within the vacation exchange industry reflect that timeshare vacation ownership developers are enrolling members in private label clubs, whereby the members have the option to exchange within the club or through external exchange channels. Such trends have a positive impact on the average number of members, but an opposite effect on the number of exchange transactions per average member and revenue per member.The vacation rental industry offers vacation property owners the opportunity to rent their properties to leisure travelers for periods of time when the properties are unoccupied. The vacation rental industry is not as organized as the lodging industry in that the vacation rental industry, we believe, has no vacation rental-specific global reservation systems or brands. The global supply of vacation rental inventory is highly fragmented with much of it being made available by individual property owners. Although these owners sometimes rent their properties directly, vacation rental companies often assist in renting owners’ properties without the benefit of globally recognized brands or international marketing and reservation systems. Typically, vacation rental companies collect rent in advance and, after deducting the applicable commissions, remit the net amounts due to the property owners and/or property managers. In addition to commissions, vacation rental companies earn revenues from rental customers through feesthat are incidental to the rental of the properties, such as fees for travel services, local transportation, on-site services
and insurance or similar types of products.
We believe that as of December 31, 2008, there were approximately 1.3 million and 1.7 million vacation properties available for rental in the United States and Europe, respectively. In the United States, the vacation properties available for rental are primarily condominiums or stand-alone houses. In Europe, the vacation properties available for rental include individual homes and apartments, campsites and vacation park bungalows. Individual owners of vacation properties in the United States and Europe may own their properties as investments and may
sometimes use such properties for portions of the year.
We believe that the overall demand for vacation rentals has been growing for the following reasons:
(i) the availability of lower-cost and flexible transportation options;
(ii) the increased use of the Internet as a tool for facilitating vacation rental transactions;
(iii) the emergence of attractive, low-cost destinations, such as Eastern
Europe; and
(iv) increasing awareness of vacation rental options among Americans.

The demand per year for vacation rentals in Europe and the United States is approximately 48 million vacation weeks, 28 million of which are rented by leisure travelers from Europe. Demand for vacation rental properties is often regional in that leisure travelers who rent properties often live relatively close to such properties. Some leisure travelers, however, travel relatively long distances from their homes to vacation properties in domestic or international destinations. We believe that current economic conditions will result in slower growth in the near term, but believe that the longer term trends will support a return to stronger growth.
The destinations where leisure travelers from Europe, the United States, South Africa and Australia generally rent properties vary by country of origin of the leisure travelers. Leisure travelers from Europe generally rent
properties in European destinations, including Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Portugal. Demand from European leisure travelers has recently been shifting beyond traditional Western Europe, based on political stability across Europe, increased accessibility of Eastern Europe and the expansion of the European Union. Demand by leisure travelers from the United States is focused on rentals in seaside destinations, such as Hawaii, Florida and the Carolinas, in ski destinations such as the Rocky Mountains, and in urban centers such as Las Vegas, Nevada; San Francisco, California; and New York City. Demand is also growing for destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean by leisure travelers from the United States.][If your exchange falls within this demand RCI probably will take your exchange for one of their rental inventories]We believe that the overall supply of vacation rental properties has grown primarily because of the increasing desire by existing owners of second homes to gain an earnings stream evidenced by homes not previously rented appearing on the market.

from page 14 (16 of 133) VACATION RENTALS Take note that Wyndham worldwide/Group RCI states that “In addition……we market inventory from our vacation exchange business…”; but does not explain which, why, how or under what terms and conditions they market exchange inventory for rental.

Vacation Rentals

The rental properties we market are principally privately-owned villas, cottages, bungalows and apartments that generally belong to property owners unaffiliated with us. In addition to these properties, we market inventory from our vacation exchange business and from other sources. We market rental properties under proprietary brand names, such as Endless Vacation Rentals by Wyndham Worldwide, Landal GreenParks, Cottages4You, Novasol, Cuendet by Wyndham and Canvas Holidays, and through select private-label arrangements. Most of the rental activity under our brands takes place in Europe, the United States and Mexico, although we have the ability to source and rent inventory in approximately 100 countries. Our vacation rentals business currently has relationships with nearly 45,000 independent property owners in 26 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Greece, Austria, Croatia, andcertain countries in Eastern Europe, the Pacific Rim and Latin America. We currently make more than 1.3 million vacation rental bookings a year. Our vacation rentals business also has the opportunity to provide inventory to our 3.8 million vacation exchange members. Property owners typically enter into one year or multi-year contracts with our vacation rentals subsidiaries to market the rental of their properties within our rental portfolio. Our vacation rentals business also has an ownership interest in, or capital leases for, approximately 10% of the properties in our rental portfolio under the Landal GreenParks brand.

END OF PART 1

Greg

 

[zgreg9]

Wyndham Worldwide 2008 Annual Report Highlights- PART 2

Wyndham Worldwide 2008 Annual Report Highlights- PART 2
PART 2 (cont'd)

2009 Annual Meeting — Held May 12, 2009

Wyndham Worldwide 2008 Annual Report

http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/docs...-Form-10-K.pdf

from page 16 (18 of 133) NET REVENUES by quarters in 2008 – generally higher in first and third quarter. Please go to above link to page F-44 (121of 133) to see table 24 Selected Quarterly Financial Data—(unaudited)


Please note that 50% of vacation rental customers book reservations within 11 weeks (77 days) of departure date and 70% book reservations within 20 weeks (140 days) of departure date. I hope our people (Jennie and Susan2) involved in negotiations with RCI if not already aware of this statistical information from Group RCI take this into account. Based on this information I see no reason for RCI taking deposited weeks presently between 12-24 months from expiration for their rental inventory. It would be okay with me if RCI takes only those weeks that will expire within 60 or even 90 days (exact extend to be negotiated) and make them available simultaneously for exchange without any restrictions within the last 45 days and also for their EXTRA VACATIONS and LAST CALL vacations rental inventory. Group RCI sophisticated booking rental reservation system is capable of handling this now. Once this week is exchanged or rented it is removed from the other inventory.

"Seasonality

Vacation exchange and rentals revenues are generally higher in the first and third quarters than in the second or fourth quarters. Vacation exchange transaction revenues are normally highest in the first quarter, which is generally when members of RCI plan and book their vacations for the year. Rental transaction revenues earned from booking vacation rentals to rental customers are usually highest in the third quarter, when vacation rentals are highest. More than half of our vacation rental customers book their reservations within 11 weeks of departure dates and more than 70% of our rental customers book their reservations within 20 weeks of departure dates. In 2008, these trends
changed and booking windows shortened, however, we cannot predict whether this booking trend will continue in the future."


from page 16 (18 of 133) COMPETITION for EXCHANGE & RENTAL BUSINESSES – in U.S. - HomeAway, ResortQuest

'Competition

The vacation exchange and rentals business faces competition throughout the world. Our vacation exchange business competes with Interval Leisure Group, Inc. which is a third-party international exchange company, with
regional and local vacation exchange companies and with Internet-only limited service exchanges. In addition, certain developers offer exchanges through internal networks of properties, which can be operated by us or by the developer, that offer owners of intervals access to exchanges other than those offered by our vacation exchange business. Our vacation rentals business faces competition from a broad variety of professional vacation rental managers and rent-by-owner channels that collectively use brokerage services, direct marketing and the Internet to market and rent vacation properties. For rentals in Europe these include Center Parcs, HomeAway, Interhome, Inter Chalet and Pierre et Vacances. In the U.S., these companies include HomeAway and ResortQuest."

page 28 (30 of 133) WHERE TO FIND MORE INFORMATION
We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our SEC filings are available to the public over the Internet at the SEC’s website at
http://www.sec.gov. Our SEC filings are also available on our website at http://www.WyndhamWorldwide.com as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the SEC. You may also read and copy any
filed document at the SEC’s public reference room in Washington, D.C. at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information about public reference rooms.
We maintain an Internet site at http://www.WyndhamWorldwide.com. Our website and the information contained on or connected to that site are not incorporated into this annual report.


page 35 (37 of 133) ACKNOWLEGEMENT of LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Wyndham Worldwide Litigation
We are involved in claims and legal actions arising in the ordinary course of our business including but not limited to: ......... for our vacation exchange and rentals business—breach of contract claims by both affiliates and members in connection with their respective agreements,
bad faith, and consumer protection, fraud and other statutory claims asserted by members and negligence claims by
guests for alleged injuries sustained at resorts;


Go to page 38&39 (40 & 41of 133) ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA table, towards the bottom of table under OPERATING STATISTICS see VACATION EXCHANGE and RENTALS revenues for 2008 (comparison available for 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004 also) Read appropriate footnotes for more information.

REVENUE from EXCHANGE DUES & TRANSACTION FEES = 3.67mil members x $128.37/member = approx. 463.1 mil

REVENUE from RENTALS = 1.347mil rental transactions x $463.10/transaction = approx. 623.8 mil. (approx. $160.7 mil more than from Exchanges)

page 42 (44 of 133) VACATION EXCHANGE and RENTALS Take note of this sentence in the middle of the paragraph “Our vacation rentals business primarily derives its revenues from fees, which generally average between 20% and 45% of the gross booking fees for non-proprietary inventory, as compared to properties that we own or operate under long-term capital leases where we receive 100% of the revenue.”

"Vacation Exchange and Rentals

As a provider of vacation exchange services, we enter into affiliation agreements with developers of vacation ownership properties to allow owners of intervals to trade their intervals for certain other intervals within our
vacation exchange business and, for some members, for other leisure-related products and services. Additionally, as a marketer of vacation rental properties, generally we enter into contracts for exclusive periods of time with property owners to market the rental of such properties to rental customers. Our vacation exchange business derives a majority of its revenues from annual membership dues and exchange fees from members trading their intervals. Annual dues revenue represents the annual membership fees from members who participate in our vacation exchange business and, for additional fees, have the right to exchange their intervals for certain other intervals within our vacation exchange business and, for certain members, for other leisure-related products and services. We
record revenue from annual membership dues as deferred income on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and recognize it on a straight-line basis over the membership period during which delivery of publications, if applicable, and other services are provided to the members. Exchange fees are generated when members exchange their intervals for equivalent values of rights and services, which may include intervals at other properties within our vacation
exchange business or other leisure-related products and services. Exchange fees are recognized as revenue, net of expected cancellations, when the exchange requests have been confirmed to the member. Our vacation rentals business primarily derives its revenues from fees, which generally average between 20% and 45% of the gross booking fees for non-proprietary inventory, as compared to properties that we own or operate under long-term
capital leases where we receive 100% of the revenue. The majority of the time, we act on behalf of the owners of the rental properties to generate our fees. We provide reservation services to the independent property owners and receive the agreed-upon fee for the service provided. We remit the gross rental fee received from the renter to the independent property owner, net of our agreed-upon fee. Revenue from such fees is recognized in the period that the rental reservation is made, net of expected cancellations. Upon confirmation of the rental reservation, the rental customer and property owner generally have a direct relationship for additional services to be performed.
Cancellations for 2008, 2007 and 2006 each totaled less than 5% of rental transactions booked. Our revenue is earned when evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred or the services have been rendered, the seller’s price to the buyer is fixed or determinable, and collectibility is reasonably assured. We also earn rental fees in connection with properties we own or operate under long-term capital leases and such fees are recognized when the rental customer’s stay occurs, as this is the point at which the service is rendered.

Within our Vacation Exchange and Rentals segment, we measure operating performance using the following key operating statistics:
(i) average number of vacation exchange members, which represents members in our vacation exchange programs who pay annual membership dues and are entitled, for additional fees, to exchange their
intervals for intervals at other properties affiliated within our vacation exchange business and, for certain members, for other leisure-related products and services,
(ii) annual membership dues and exchange revenue per member,
which represents the total annual dues and exchange fees generated for the year divided by the average number of vacation exchange members during the year,
(iii) vacation rental transactions, which represents the number of
transactions that are generated in connection with customers booking their vacation rental stays through us and
(iv) average net price per vacation rental, which represents the net rental price generated from renting vacation properties to customers divided by the number of rental transactions."

page 67 (69 of 133) OTHER GUARANTEES/INDEMNIFICATIONS; ANOTHER SOURCE FOR ACQUIREING RENTALS for GROUP RCI (now renamed WYNDHAM EXCHANGE and RENTALS) and RCI

"Other Guarantees/Indemnifications.
In the ordinary course of business, our vacation ownership business provides guarantees to certain owners’ associations for funds required to operate and maintain vacation ownership properties in excess of assessments collected from owners of the VOIs.(Vacation Ownership Interests) We may be required to fund such excess as a result of unsold Company-owned VOIs or failure by owners to pay such assessments. These guarantees extend for the duration of the underlying subsidy agreements (which generally approximate one year and are renewable on an annual basis) or until a stipulated percentage (typically 80% or higher) of related VOIs are sold. The maximum potential future payments that we could be required to make under these guarantees was approximately $350 million as of December 31, 2008. We would only be required to pay this maximum amount if none of the owners assessed paid their assessments. Any assessments collected from the owners of the VOIs would reduce the maximum potential amount of future payments to be made by us. Additionally, should we be required to fund the deficit through the payment of any owners’ assessments under these guarantees, we would be permitted access to the property for its own use and may use that property to engage in revenue-producing activities, such as rentals. During 2008, 2007 and 2006, we made payments related to these guarantees of $7 million, $5 million and $6 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2008 and 2007, we maintained a liability in connection with these guarantees of $37 million and $30 million, respectively, on our Consolidated Balance Sheets."

END OF PART 2

FYI

Greg

 

[Carolinian]

This is all very interesting. From my knowledge of resorts on the OBX, I have never heard of an HOA-run resort having any such arrangement with RCI. This must be a developer thing.

RCI's claim that 78% of timesharers are members of exchange companies is also something I question. On the OBX among weeks-based HOA-run resorts, the figure as to members who deposit is 30% or under, and while some members waste their money on dues to something they do not use, I do not believe the number is that great. In resorts I have recently traded into in Germany and France, according to the managers, it is considerably less than even that at their resorts.

Wyndham Worldwide 2008 Annual Report Highlights- PART 2
PART 2 (cont'd)

2009 Annual Meeting — Held May 12, 2009

Wyndham Worldwide 2008 Annual Report


"Other Guarantees/Indemnifications.
In the ordinary course of business, our vacation ownership business provides guarantees to certain owners’ associations for funds required to operate and maintain vacation ownership properties in excess of assessments collected from owners of the VOIs.(Vacation Ownership Interests) We may be required to fund such excess as a result of unsold Company-owned VOIs or failure by owners to pay such assessments. These guarantees extend for the duration of the underlying subsidy agreements (which generally approximate one year and are renewable on an annual basis) or until a stipulated percentage (typically 80% or higher) of related VOIs are sold. The maximum potential future payments that we could be required to make under these guarantees was approximately $350 million as of December 31, 2008. We would only be required to pay this maximum amount if none of the owners assessed paid their assessments. Any assessments collected from the owners of the VOIs would reduce the maximum potential amount of future payments to be made by us. Additionally, should we be required to fund the deficit through the payment of any owners’ assessments under these guarantees, we would be permitted access to the property for its own use and may use that property to engage in revenue-producing activities, such as rentals. During 2008, 2007 and 2006, we made payments related to these guarantees of $7 million, $5 million and $6 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2008 and 2007, we maintained a liability in connection with these guarantees of $37 million and $30 million, respectively, on our Consolidated Balance Sheets."

END OF PART 2

FYI

Greg

 

[Happytravels]

letters?

Don't worry at all about what to say. It's fine to just send in the form without any comments. The Judge has already been made totally aware of RCI's despicable practices. He legally he needs a large outpouring of objectors in order to justify declaring the proposed settlement unfair.

If that happens, RCI may decide to "get real" and agree to significant changes to the settlement. Otherwise RCI is facing a trial, either before an intelligent judge who cares about justice being done, or a jury of our "peers". If ordinary people serving as jurors hear the facts I'll bet that a kinder gentler RCI will be reborn.

If you decide to put a statement in your "letter" you might want to say something like this: I object to the proposed settlement because it does not stop, or severely limit, RCI from removing deposited weeks from the spacebank and renting them to the public.

But please, just send in the letter, even without any comment. It will help immensely.

By the way, if you own more than one week, you just list the name and resort I.D. # of ONE week.

If you don't know your RCI number, call and ask for it at 800-338-7777

To look up your Resort I.D. go to www.rci.com and click on "Resort Directory" at the top of the home page. You do not have to log in to view it.

I have my letter/s all ready to go. Do I need to send them to all three addresses?

 

[Susan2]

Attorney Disclaimer Ordered by the United States District Court:

I am an attorney who was admitted to represent some of the objectors in a class action pending in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Any statements by an attorney, including myself, should be considered to be the personal opinion of the attorney and are not approved by the Court. As such, my statements contained herein are not approved by the Court. More information is available at www.weeksprogramsettlement.com, the Court-approved website.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PART 1

2009 Annual Meeting — Held May 12, 2009

. . .

Vacation Rentals

. . . We market rental properties under proprietary brand names, such as . . . Cottages4You, Novasol, Cuendet by Wyndham and Canvas Holidays, and through select private-label arrangements. Most of the rental activity under our brands takes place in Europe, the United States and Mexico, . . .

Greg

Has anyone heard of these companies? Does anyone know which properties they rent, or what their websites are?

 

[Jennie]

I have my letter/s all ready to go. Do I need to send them to all three addresses?

Yes, it is necessary to send your objection letter, with an original signature, to the Court
AND a copy to the attorney for the complainant
AND a copy to the attorney for the Defendant (RCI).

The original goes to:
Clerk of Court
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
402 East State Street
Trenton, N.J. 08608

In the letter include

RE: In re: Resort Condominiums International, LLC
Civil Action No. 06-cv-1222 (PGS)

I _____(your name)____________________________________object to the proposed settlement. (Optional--you can state reasons, but it is not necessary).

Include your address, telephone number, RCI number and the name and RCI Resort I.D number of one resort where you own.

At the bottom, indicate that you will be sending a copy of the letter to:

cc: David C. Berman
A Professional Corporation
P.O. Box 111
Morristown, N.J. 07963-0111

cc: David S. Sager, Esq.
DAY PITNEY LLP
P.O. Box 1945
Morristown, N.J 07962

 

[Egret1986]

Thank you, Jennie, for putting everything needed out there one more time!

Yes, it is necessary to send your objection letter, with an original signature, to the Court
AND a copy to the attorney for the complainant
AND a copy to the attorney for the Defendant (RCI).

The original goes to:
Clerk of Court
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
402 East State Street
Trenton, N.J. 08608

In the letter include

RE: In re: Resort Condominiums International, LLC
Civil Action No. 06-cv-1222 (PGS)

I _____(your name)____________________________________object to the proposed settlement. (Optional--you can state reasons, but it is not necessary).

Include your address, telephone number, RCI number and the name and RCI Resort I.D number of one resort where you own.

At the bottom, indicate that you will be sending a copy of the letter to:

cc: David C. Berman
A Professional Corporation
P.O. Box 111
Morristown, N.J. 07963-0111

cc: David S. Sager, Esq.
DAY PITNEY LLP
P.O. Box 1945
Morristown, N.J 07962

My 3 letters are ready to go out in tomorrow's mail.

 

[crazyhorse]

Landal Parks

Has anyone heard of these companies? Does anyone know which properties they rent, or what their websites are?

Hello,

Landal Parks website is at:
http://www.landal.com/

 

[crazyhorse]

Landal Again

Hello,

Landal Parks website is at:
http://www.landal.com/

The website shows under "about Landal" that there are about 11000 holiday homes, (mainly in Netherland camps) and about 70% of the homes are privately owned. Some people rent out these homes, and they are rented out by Wyndham.(i.e. RCI). Stated:Landal GreenParks is part of the division called Wyndham Exchange and Rentals.

There is no mention of timeshare that I can see, but as I have mentioned elsewhere, the properties do appear in the RCI exchange Pool and Members have definitely exchanged into them.

Clearly RCI just swap one of these for a deposited week which has better monetary rewards for them.

 

[bonniedwan]

Jennie,

Thank you for all of your help. My 3 letters are going in the mail today!! Here's to hoping for a better tomorrow!!!

Bonnie L. Johnston

 

[Stricky]

I really doubt the upper management of Wyndham have a clear understanding of the lawsuit or the issues at hand. The company is huge (take a look at the bottom of this page)

That said, if you would also like to share your displeasure with this whole situation you may communicate with the board of directors by writing to:
Wyndham Worldwide Corporation
c/o Corporate Secretary
Seven Sylvan Way
Parsippany, New Jersey 07054

 

[Egret1986]

Huh????? What question? It was a "Thank You" for putting the info out there for all

Ironically, your question whether we must mail three redundant copies of our objections will hopefully be decided this Wednesday at a court hearing and Judge Sheridan is suppose to be reviewing these posts possibly this morning.

I am simply going by the info provided through email by the Settlement Administrator, which many received. Jennie is reiterating what is required.

From the document sent by the Settlement Administrator:

"Mail the objection to these places postmarked no later than November 20, 2009." Then the three addresses were listed.

Redundant? Definitely. But that is what is stated needs to be done to object:

15. How do I tell the Court that I don't like the settlement?

".....Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, your signature, and the reasons you object to the settlement."


THANK YOU AGAIN, JENNIE, FOR PUTTING THE INFO OUT THERE FOR EVERYONE!

Folks, if you object to what RCI is doing, then take the time and the three postage stamps and get those letters in the mail. Don't put it off. Today is November 2, 2009.

PS. Be sure to include the required info and signature.

 

[Jennie]

I really doubt the upper management of Wyndham have a clear understanding of the lawsuit or the issues at hand. The company is huge (take a look at the bottom of this page)

That said, if you would also like to share your displeasure with this whole situation you may communicate with the board of directors by writing to:
Wyndham Worldwide Corporation
c/o Corporate Secretary
Seven Sylvan Way
Parsippany, New Jersey 07054

That's an excellent idea!

 

[FreddieJames]

ATT gets a big discount

I learned this summer that AT&T has a new benefit, cheap RCI weeks! Yes, as an employee, you can log in to rci.com just like a timeshare owner and rent weeks for an average of $350 per week. As an employee I am elated, as a timeshare owner and depositor who has had a very hard time getting a decent exchange, I feel robbed. When I called RCI about this, they assured me the weeks they rent to AT&T are not RCI member deposited weeks. Just where else does RCI get weeks?

 

[BigElm]

I learned this summer that AT&T has a new benefit, cheap RCI weeks! Yes, as an employee, you can log in to rci.com just like a timeshare owner and rent weeks for an average of $350 per week. As an employee I am elated, as a timeshare owner and depositor who has had a very hard time getting a decent exchange, I feel robbed. When I called RCI about this, they assured me the weeks they rent to AT&T are not RCI member deposited weeks. Just where else does RCI get weeks?

Did you really expect RCI to tell you the truth? Heck, that's the reason we're in this thread. Fighting for our rights!

 

[Goofyhobbie]

Folks,

If you have not already sent in your Objection PLEASE do so ASAP!

Don't wait for other TUGGERS to do what you yourself should be doing.

OBJECT!!!​

It really is a very simple process. TUG BRIAN has set-up a website where you can just follow the simple instructions, print out an Objection Form and OBJECT.

Check It Out: http://rciclassactionlawsuit.com/TUG_member_information_and_instructions_for_RCI_class_action_settlement.html

 

[Carolinian]

RCI is lying to you. Yes, there are some developer weeks deposited by developers who are still in sales. But a lot of the rental weeks come from sold out Weeks-only resorts, and except for a handful associated with a cruise or PFD are member exchange deposits. Having been on an HOA board, I have looked through the RCI rentals our sold out Weeks-only resort had come in, and they were all member exchange deposits. Our members are pretty well educated that cruise exchanges are a rip-off and few are in Points elsewhere. One Tugger at a nearby resort found her own exchange deposit of a prime summer week being offered by RCI as a rental.

I learned this summer that AT&T has a new benefit, cheap RCI weeks! Yes, as an employee, you can log in to rci.com just like a timeshare owner and rent weeks for an average of $350 per week. As an employee I am elated, as a timeshare owner and depositor who has had a very hard time getting a decent exchange, I feel robbed. When I called RCI about this, they assured me the weeks they rent to AT&T are not RCI member deposited weeks. Just where else does RCI get weeks?

 

[Elli]

Sent my 3 letters yesterday. Elli

 

[Jennie]

Sent my 3 letters yesterday. Elli

 

[Jennie]

I learned this summer that AT&T has a new benefit, cheap RCI weeks! Yes, as an employee, you can log in to rci.com just like a timeshare owner and rent weeks for an average of $350 per week. As an employee I am elated, as a timeshare owner and depositor who has had a very hard time getting a decent exchange, I feel robbed. When I called RCI about this, they assured me the weeks they rent to AT&T are not RCI member deposited weeks. Just where else does RCI get weeks?

Why don't you ask them to put that in writing!

Where RCI gets the weeks they rent to the public is their biggest secret and, we believe, for good reason.

I have established a liaison with Managers of some of the smaller, "independent" resorts. They are tracking the source of weeks being used via reservations from non-owners. When an owner wants to deposit a week with RCI by phone or on-line, RCI contacts the resort to verify that the person still owns the week and is up-to-date on payment of maintenance fees and any other assessments. The Manager therefore knows the date a particular week is deposited.

When someone subsequently arrives to check-in to that unit, the Manager examines the reservation form and determines if it is a true exchange, or if it has come through a rental program. By all accounts, people who rent these deposited weeks from a variety of websites have been showing up with reservation papers that look exactly like an RCI exchange--with RCI logo and all. But there are ways to determine if it is a rental by closely examining some coded information on the form. Or by just asking the "inbound" (resort speak for arriving guest) the source of their reservation. The date the reservation is made also appears on the form.

By looking for, and keeping records of the above, if it is found that a rented week has been reserved within the 31 day "exclusivity period", then it can be brought back to the Federal Court as a violation of the terms of the settlement, and there are severe penalties available.

The major problem is that if the grossly inadequate proposed settlement is ratified as is, RCI would only be required to keep "hands off" deposits made more than one year before the check-in date, and then only for 31 days. Virtually no "floating week" member can get their week deposited in time to meet this restriction. Remember that even if you do not own a floating week, you may still be adversely affected by this rule because float weeks (which are converted into a specific week by the owner or resort at the time of depositing it) may well be weeks you would be happy to receive as an exchange.

And almost all RCI members would have to pay maintenance fees well in advance of their actual due date in order to be able to deposit the week more than one year in advance. This is an additional burden to many in these difficult economic times. Let's say you own a fixed deeded week Week 50 (mid December) and you want to deposit your 2010 and 2011 weeks now. You would have to pay the 2010 and 2011 maintenance fees now, even though the 2011 fees would ordinarily not have to be paid until December 2010.

There really needs to be a much more robust "exclusivity period" for ALL deposits, if the settlement won't prohibit all rental of space-banked weeks.

 

[Jennie]

. One Tugger at a nearby resort found her own exchange deposit of a prime summer week being offered by RCI as a rental.

I remember reading that post but haven't been able to find it. Do you happen to know the Forum and post # for it.

We are collecting examples of situations like this to include in the objection summary to present to the Court.

If anyone else has some proof that a desirable deposited week was rented to the public, please let me know either here on this forum, or by PM.

 

[Tia]

I am a former RCI member and don't see where the cash $15 option is in the options below, or did I click something wrong on the online claims form somewhere?

If you are a Settlement Class Member who is currently a Member in good standing, you may select one of the following five options:

Option 1:

Choose to have the opportunity to search Inventory and make an Exchange Request before actually making a deposit on your Vacation Time, and continue to the process of searching Inventory and making Exchange Requests until the date on which you effectuate an Exchange or two years after the Effective Date, whichever is sooner.

You will not have to pay an Exchange Fee in connection with the use of Request First unless and until an Exchange Confirmation is made. If the Request First search identifies a desired Exchange, you must Deposit the Vacation Time at the Time of the Exchange to confirm the Exchange.
If you have a previous, unexpired Deposit, you may not use it in connection with this Request First benefit, which applies only to new Deposits. You will be provided with more information about how to use this benefit, but when you are ready to use it, you will have to provide the following information to RCI: (i) the starting and ending dates, (ii) resort I.D., and (iii) the bedroom size and kitchen size of your Vacation Time to be deposited. The starting date of your Vacation Time must be at least nine months after you initiate such a search and Exchange Request in connection with this Request First benefit.

OPTION 2: Membership Renewal Credit. Choose one of the following Membership Renewal Credit options, depending upon when your current membership expires.

(a) My RCI Weeks Exchange Program membership expires within two years of the Effective Date, and I would like a two-month extension of my RCI Weeks Exchange Program membership; OR

(b) My RCI Weeks Exchange Program membership expires more than two years after the Effective Date, and I would like (please select one of the following):
1. a two-month extension of my RCI Weeks Exchange Program membership; or
2. a $20 credit toward a RCI Weeks Exchange Program membership renewal, which will be added to my current subscription term; or
3. a $20 credit toward my next Exchange.

Option 3

Prorated Refund of Subscription Fees. If you want to immediately terminate your membership in the RCI Weeks Exchange Program, and to receive a prorated refund of your Subscription Fee and a full refund of fees paid for pending Exchange Requests

Option 4:
Free Rental Night. If you want one free night stay at any RCI Rental offered as single night stays. This benefit must be used toward the same room of any paid Rental of at least one night. The Rental must be reserved within one year of the Effective Date. The Rental itself may occur at any time subject to availability.

Option 5:
Cruise Certificate. If you want a $100 discount certificate per cabin to be applied toward the purchase of any Cruise offered by RCI, with the option of receiving additional $100 discount certificates (one per cabin) toward your purchase of up to three additional cabins for the same Cruise. You will be required to book any and all such Cruises within one year from the date this option is selected. The Cruises themselves may occur at any time subject to availability.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have chosen Option 1 even though I deposit almost none of the weeks we own except our one "doggie week" (mistake made when I was young and dumb).

The other 18 weeks we own we generally use ourselves, or rent on Redweek or TUG and then use the money to rent what we want directly from another owner, keeping greedy RCI totally out of the loop.

We know many other owners who do the same. That's why Redweek's membership has risen to 1.3 million in the few years it has been in business. Many are RCI defectors--the ones who own the desirable (rentable) weeks that are no longer coming into the RCI spacebank.

 

[Jennie]

The 5 options noted in the post above are for current members.

Former members (between January 1, 2001 and August 31, 2009) have only one option. If you scroll down to Section 5 C of the link I sent to you, you will see:

"If you are not currently a Member, but were a member of the RCI Weeks Exchange Program between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2009, you may select
one of the following two benefits:
(1) a $15 payment from RCI; or
(2) a $15 credit toward a new RCI Weeks Exchange Program membership.

http://www.weeksprogramsettlement.com/pdf's/ClaimForm4.pdf