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

[krj9999]

I deposited an August 2010 DE beach week several weeks ago; it never showed up as available for a trade when I searched using another deposit and it never showed up as available for rental (within RCI or at Wyndham Endless Vacations). I assume it must have matched an ongoing request.

Right now, I have no qualms about depositing my weeks with RCI Weeks - though will admit I have pretty strong trading power with my units and I wish the exchange fees were lower.

That is very interesting to me. I have had an ongoing search with my decent traders for months and months, and I still haven't had either of the searches filled. I assumed it was lack of trading power, because I can no longer see all of the good stuff, though I see most of it. It could be something as simple as nothing being available.

I should also experiment with this. Brian, could you post this specific search test on TUG as well?

 

[Goofyhobbie]

I deposited an August 2010 DE beach week several weeks ago; it never showed up as available for a trade when I searched using another deposit and it never showed up as available for rental (within RCI or at Wyndham Endless Vacations). I assume it must have matched an ongoing request.

Right now, I have no qualms about depositing my weeks with RCI Weeks - though will admit I have pretty strong trading power with my units and I wish the exchange fees were lower.

krj,

You may be right on target when you assumed that your specific deposited week went immediately to another exchanger; but if an exchanger did not have a request in for your vacation time it is very likely that RCI simply grabbed the week for one or more of their affiliates to rent.

There are many such affiliates that you would not routinely know about. RCI skims the good weeks as soon as they are deposited and gives them to the affiliate or in the alternative RCI simply sells the Vacation Time to a company like Sky Auction for whatever they can obtain over $328.00 and the other company auctions off the property or rents it for whatever they can get over an above what they paid RCI.

Where did I get the number $328.00? Well think about it. RCI by being the broker in the exchange process currently gets $164 from you the depositer and $164 form the exchanger. That comes to $328.00. All they have to do is sell your Vacation Time for an amount above $328.00 to make a profit.

RCI could care less about whether or not you get to fullfill your exchnage request after your deposit. (RCI already has your $164.) RCI could also care less about the potential exchanger who wants your Vacation Time. That exchanger will have deposited his week and paid his $164 and the pipeline continues to get stuffed with similiar transactions.

Meanwhile, RCI takes the high demand deposits gets whatever it can for those weeks and returns "mud weeks," developer left overs, HOA extras, and Hotel rooms to fullfill their end of the bargain.

Bottom line your WEEKS and the WEEKS of others are not necessarily going to show up as a visible RCI Rental or at Wyndham Endless Vacations.

 

[krj9999]

Dave, I can see an August 2011 week at my DE beach resort, which is a small older resort that is not very highly rated in reviews and neither gold or silver crown, in the exchange pool. So I still suspect my 2010 week filled an ongoing request.

And to clarify, they don't have $164 from me upon deposit, but rather access to my week. But the week I deposited had enough trading power to see a HGVC Grand Waikikian 1BR that I paid the $164 exchange fee for.

krj,

You may be right on target when you assumed that your specific deposited week went immediately to another exchanger; but if an exchanger did not have a request in for your vacation time it is very likely that RCI simply grabbed the week for one or more of their affiliates to rent.

There are many such affiliates that you would not routinely know about. RCI skims the good weeks as soon as they are deposited and gives them to the affiliate or in the alternative RCI simply sells the Vacation Time to a company like Sky Auction for whatever they can obtain over $328.00 and the other company auctions off the property or rents it for whatever they can get over an above what they paid RCI.

Where did I get the number $328.00? Well think about it. RCI by being the broker in the exchange process currently gets $164 from you the depositer and $164 form the exchanger. That comes to $328.00. All they have to do is sell your Vacation Time for an amount above $328.00 to make a profit.

RCI could care less about whether or not you get to fullfill your exchnage request after your deposit. (RCI already has your $164.) RCI could also care less about the potential exchanger who wants your Vacation Time. That exchanger will have deposited his week and paid his $164 and the pipeline continues to get stuffed with similiar transactions.

Meanwhile, RCI takes the high demand deposits gets whatever it can for those weeks and returns "mud weeks," developer left overs, HOA extras, and Hotel rooms to fullfill their end of the bargain.

Bottom line your WEEKS and the WEEKS of others are not necessarily going to show up as a visible RCI Rental or at Wyndham Endless Vacations.

 

[taffy19]

Obviously RCI seems to be happy with their rental program. Although having a large percentage of members leave RCI is a nice idea, there are not enough educated members that will do so. My thought is the only way they will change is if whole resorts leave. It is up to resort managements to force a change.

Thanks to those that tried. I do wish the outcome had been better.

There are so many savvy TUGgers here who own independent resorts so why don't you write your BODs and ask them to leave RCI or affiliate with other independent exchange companies too so you have a choice?

Let them know how unhappy you are with RCI when you own a week instead of points. They should be able to do this when their contract runs out with RCI and the resort wants to renew again. They should have in the contract that they are free to associate with other independent exchange companies too.

Both our independent resorts did this so they listened to their owners. One of them recently added II so we can choose who we want to use and I am very pleased but we were always able to exchange with a few other independent resorts already but not with II. It is our right, as a deeded timeshare owner, to choose who we want to exchange with if the exchange company will accept the resort.

After that, vote with your pocket book and leave RCI unless you have a corporate account and cannot do this. :annoyed: It's really unfair to have to have a Corporate account with an exchange company through the developer like with Starwood, Hyatt, Hilton or Wyndham. Wyndham would do it because they own RCI but why would the other developers require this too? Is it so they have more control over the exchanges and can change the rules in their favor whenever they feel like it?

People need to get more involved with their timeshare resorts and have their voices heard. JMHO.

 

[jerseygirl]

So, to summarize:

Deposits made greater than 10 months in advance will be held exclusively for exchange for 30 days, then if pulled for rental, "equal" substitutions will be made hysterical

Deposit made more than 90 days in advance but less than 10 months in advance will not be pulled for rental if there are pending requests with sufficient trading power to qualify for the exchange. Again, if pulled for rental, "equal" substitutions will be made hysterical

Deposits made less than 90 days in advance -- they apparently are the sole property of RCI. If they pull them for rentals, they do not have to make substitutions.

I spoke to someone who also attended the hearing and want to make important corrections to the above information:

Deposits made greater than 10 months in advance will be held exclusively for exchange for 31 days, then if pulled for rental, or any other purpose, "equal" substitutions will be made.

Note: As most people know, RCI also pulls deposits for marketing purposes, to give to affiliates, etc. The equal substitution clause applies to anything pulled from the exchange pool. I believe we have Susan to thank for this change.​

Deposit made more than 60 days in advance but less than 10 months in advance will not be pulled for rental if there are pending requests with sufficient trading power to qualify for the exchange. Again, if pulled for rental, or any other purpose, "equal" substitutions will be made.

Deposits made less than 60 days in advance -- they apparently are the sole property of RCI. If they pull them for rentals, they do not have to make substitutions.

Note: That's a positive change from 90 days to 60 days.​

This was in the original settlement terms, but I think it's a positive worth mentioning: When RCI pulls something for rental, it will remain available for exchange AND rental. Some have said that RCI has been offering the exchange option on at least some of the rentals already, but once the settlement terms go into effect, all member deposits pulled for rental will also remain available for exchange -- better than the alternative!

 

[BigElm]

Well, I'm in the minority that chose NOT to take one of the trinkets and object. So I got nothing, except a good fight from the participation of those already mentioned (again, a big THANK YOU!!!). I don't care to have any of the trinkets, so it doesn't matter at this point.

But, goes to show that in the eyes of the court, you're either all in or all out. No matter how ethical, it doesn't seem they like the "Yes, I'm going to object, but I'll take a Scooby snack just because...."

OTOH.... question is.... What do we do from here? I'm willing to end my relationship with RCI once my membership expires or do we ride on the wave of the outcome of this settlement and see what happens? BTW, when does the outcome go into effect?

 

[jerseygirl]

... BTW, when does the outcome go into effect?

Some changes will go into effect within 3 mos. of the effective date, some within 6 months, and some within one year. If you have the patience, you can go to the website and compare the 2nd Stipulation Order (which defines timeframes) to the original settlement and figure out which changes match up to which timeframes. I get a headache just looking at it ...

 

[timeos2]

Once in they cannot drop out

There are so many savvy TUGgers here who own independent resorts so why don't you write your BODs and ask them to leave RCI or affiliate with other independent exchange companies too so you have a choice?

While there is nothing wrong with adding affiliations with additional exchange companies a resort that has affiliated with RCI (or II or others) cannot become completely "unaffiliated" later. That is why Wastegate and some Marriotts among others that were RCI prior to the unfortunate move to II "exclusivity" are still in RCI. The owners that chose to have a right to stay with the company they chose and the fact that new sales or Developer preference was swayed (or bought with promises) to another doesn't force them to change too. They own their use time and can use it as they please.

The exception to this would be a pure RTU such as Disney were you actually have no ownership and thus no control. They can (and have) changed the required exchange company. As they hold all control - you are only committed to pay the fees but have no say in operations - they can force the buyers to use only the exchange company they choose to support. But that is a relatively rare situation and in most cases whatever exchange company your resort has ever been affiliated with will always be available to you as an owner.

 

[bnoble]

What do we do from here?

I think the right thing to do is to decide whether or not RCI returns value to you. If they do---and if they serve your needs better than the other available options---then it would be rational to continue to do business with them. If they do not---or if other options provide superior value---then it would be smart to quit doing business with them.

For example, if another exchange company could get you satisfactory trades at a lower cost, then it would be smart to switch. Likewise, you could decide that just using what you own is the best way to get value from your ownerships. Or, you could decide that RCI still provides the best option for your circumstances---and while some would argue that you should leave them anyway to send a message, I'm not sure I agree. At the end of the day, I'm invovled in timesharing for my family's vacations, nothing more.

 

[Carolinian]

The big picture is how this impacts the ongoing viability of our resorts. The higher the proportion of owners who exchange the greater the bailout danger and this is particularly true for a high percentage of off season owners who exchange. We need to be proactive and make certain our resorts know what is going on. Most big management companies probably do. Some local management companies or hired managers probably have no clue. Many HOA leaders are drawn from the own-to-use universe and may not have paid attention to this issue at all. One of the things that can be done proactively, so that they understand the issues and some of the remedies is to email a link to this thread to your resort managers and HOA board members.

I recently exchanged to a European resort and attended the welcome meeting (sold out resort so NOT sales) something I often do not do because I would rather be out touring, and got involved in an interesting conversation after the formal ''things to do'' talk. Only one owner at the meeting was not a member of an exchange company. Only two of us had exchanged in, the rest being owners at the resort. None of the owners there at the meeting deposited with RCI anymore although most had in the past. There was a general awareness that exchange availiblity at RCI had gone seriously downhill in the last few years and that deposits there were no longer worthwhile. Two or three were using DAE and happy with it. Others were just using their weeks at the resort. Talking later with management, I was told that they often heard from members dissatisfied with the current situation at RCI and they were seeing more use of DAE and also even more so, use of the resort's own rental program so they could rent out their weeks and then use the money for trips elsewhere. I was the only American, and there was lots of interest in the class action lawsuit, which the others were unaware. Two or three were still giving weeks they owned in the Canary Islands to RCI, but not their UK weeks. The RCI members who had traded in had done so off of a Canary Islands deposit. One had bought RCI Points thinking it may help get better exchanges, but said it had been a waste of money.

 

[Carolinian]

Unless there is an ironclad definition of what is ''equal'' the provision of replacement with ''equal'' weeks is just blue smoke and mirrors.

One place we need to go from here is an ethics complaint against the backstabbing weasel who MISrepresented the class as their official attorney.

I spoke to someone who also attended the hearing and want to make important corrections to the above information:

Deposits made greater than 10 months in advance will be held exclusively for exchange for 31 days, then if pulled for rental, or any other purpose, "equal" substitutions will be made.

Note: As most people know, RCI also pulls deposits for marketing purposes, to give to affiliates, etc. The equal substitution clause applies to anything pulled from the exchange pool. I believe we have Susan to thank for this change.​

Deposit made more than 60 days in advance but less than 10 months in advance will not be pulled for rental if there are pending requests with sufficient trading power to qualify for the exchange. Again, if pulled for rental, or any other purpose, "equal" substitutions will be made.

Deposits made less than 60 days in advance -- they apparently are the sole property of RCI. If they pull them for rentals, they do not have to make substitutions.

Note: That's a positive change from 90 days to 60 days.​

This was in the original settlement terms, but I think it's a positive worth mentioning: When RCI pulls something for rental, it will remain available for exchange AND rental. Some have said that RCI has been offering the exchange option on at least some of the rentals already, but once the settlement terms go into effect, all member deposits pulled for rental will also remain available for exchange -- better than the alternative!

 

[taffy19]

While there is nothing wrong with adding affiliations with additional exchange companies a resort that has affiliated with RCI (or II or others) cannot become completely "unaffiliated" later. That is why Wastegate and some Marriotts among others that were RCI prior to the unfortunate move to II "exclusivity" are still in RCI. The owners that chose to have a right to stay with the company they chose and the fact that new sales or Developer preference was swayed (or bought with promises) to another doesn't force them to change too. They own their use time and can use it as they please.

The exception to this would be a pure RTU such as Disney were you actually have no ownership and thus no control. They can (and have) changed the required exchange company. As they hold all control - you are only committed to pay the fees but have no say in operations - they can force the buyers to use only the exchange company they choose to support. But that is a relatively rare situation and in most cases whatever exchange company your resort has ever been affiliated with will always be available to you as an owner.

You are right that a developer cannot completely "unaffiliate" later, John. I didn't think about that but the timeshare owner has a choice to no longer stay a member after the first year.

We owned a Marriott timeshare once that was affiliated with RCI first and then later with II. They signed us up with II but we could have dropped that membership a year later and stay with RCI so we had a choice. We stayed with II because we had other resorts that belong to II too and we are not planning to renew RCI if they keep renting the best condos out.

What I don't like is that some people have to belong to an exchange company because the developers makes them. What if you never exchange but are obligated to pay the yearly exchange fees anyway? So far, the Marriott hasn't done this yet and I hope they never will.

I feel that the attorneys here didn't understand the system or didn't care. They did a disfavor to all of us here because the costs of this lawsuit will be passed on to us who want or need to stay with RCI! I also feel disappointed that the Judge didn't change her position and I wonder too if she understood what is at stake for the owners who own timeshare weeks only and have a difficult time making exchanges.

My thanks go to the members here who have kept us up to date about the lawsuit and gave their free time and knowledge of the law and even went to the Fairness Hearing too.

 

[theo]

"She" is a "he"...

...disappointed that the Judge didn't change her position and I wonder too if she understood what is at stake...

An unimportant point of clarification perhaps, but Judge Peter Sheridan is male.

I'm so glad that I prepared and submitted four typewritten pages of detailed objections. Maybe I should have saved the time, paper and postage, but I simply couldn't resist the opportunity to enumerate the many and varied faults, foibles and contrived "smoke and mirrors" deceits of RCI "deposit / exchange" practices.

I "voted with my feet" away from RCI years ago --- and permanently, but my last membership date fell within the range of class eligibility, enabling the submission of objections to the sellout --- er --- settlement.

What's done is done. The RCI writing (...or is it just insulting graffiti?) is now very clearly on the wall.
Enjoy your memberships in Rents Condos Instead, one and all....

 

[taffy19]

The big picture is how this impacts the ongoing viability of our resorts. The higher the proportion of owners who exchange the greater the bailout danger and this is particularly true for a high percentage of off season owners who exchange. We need to be proactive and make certain our resorts know what is going on. Most big management companies probably do. Some local management companies or hired managers probably have no clue. Many HOA leaders are drawn from the own-to-use universe and may not have paid attention to this issue at all. One of the things that can be done proactively, so that they understand the issues and some of the remedies is to email a link to this thread to your resort managers and HOA board members.

I recently exchanged to a European resort and attended the welcome meeting (sold out resort so NOT sales) something I often do not do because I would rather be out touring, and got involved in an interesting conversation after the formal ''things to do'' talk. Only one owner at the meeting was not a member of an exchange company. Only two of us had exchanged in, the rest being owners at the resort. None of the owners there deposited with RCI anymore although most had in the past. There was a general awareness that exchange availiblity at RCI had gone seriously downhill in the last few years and that deposits there were no longer worthwhile. Two or three were using DAE and happy with it. Others were just using their weeks at the resort. Talking later with management, I was told that they often heard from members dissatisfied with the current situation at RCI and they were seeing more use of DAE and also even more so, use of the resort's own rental program so they could rent out their weeks and then use the money for trips elsewhere. I was the only American, and there was lots of interest in the class action lawsuit, which the others were unaware. Two or three were still giving weeks they owned in the Canary Islands to RCI, but not their UK weeks. The RCI members who had traded in had done so off of a Canary Islands deposit. One had bought RCI Points thinking it may help get better exchanges, but said it had been a waste of money.

It is so simple to send your resort the TUG threads about any subject you are concerned about. I do it all the time and get response. If I don't, I call them in person and let them know how I feel.

I recently did it about the high taxes in Maui and they followed up as I read about it in the newsletter. Most BODs will listen to you unless the developer is more concerned about their bottom line mainly and goodwill doesn't mean much to them. This is so shortsighted and will haunt them eventually.

In that case, you have to get more people involved and this forum is the ideal channel for that. I read the various hotel chain timeshare threads so see that this is happening already but we are only a small percentage of the owners so you need to get the word out when you are at your resort.

 

[Jennie]

I was waiting for Susan to post a summary of the final settlement but I guess she is very busy catching up on her "real life work" (her local family and matrimonial practice). Eventually we should have a comprehensive summary of all of the terms of the settlement to post as a "sticky" or perhaps as a "headline" with a link on the TUG home page. I'm sure Brian and Denise M and Makai guy and all the behind the scenes heroes will know the best way to make this important information available in one place for present and future TUG members and guests to know.

I thank "jersey girl" and "goofie hobby" for stepping up to the plate and posting such excellent interim information. If the world had more caring and altruistic people like these two, it would be a far more wonderful planet!

Susan or I will post more details in the near future. Subsequent to the court hearing on November 30th, I have been in Email communication with one of the Lead Attroneys for the Plaintiffs. I want to obtain an official explanation of the details of some of the "fine points" of the changes to come. The attorney promises a comprehensive discussion on or about December 14th (when the critical phase of an unrelated case passes).

In the meantime, here is some information that the Plaintiffs' attorney provided a few days ago: (I am paraphrasing some of it).

"There seems to be a misunderstanding about what happens now with priority for weeks member exchanges.

Deposits made more than 10 months in advance are governed by an "exclusivity" provision that requires that the week be available only for member exchanges for 31 days.

A deposit made 9 months or earlier in advance of the check-in date, even if there is no pending on-going exchange request, still must be made available for exchange, even if it is also available for rent. RCI cannot take inventory out for rental and just replace it. All inventory, no matter when deposited, must at least be simultaneously available for exchange up until 60 days before the start date.

Nothing about the 45 day drop of trading power is impacted by the settlement. Whatever someone could do last year at 45 days out, he/she can do next year at 45 days out.

Up until now, RCI had the right (and did) remove inventory when it was 90 days before the start date. They have been doing it for years. Now, RCI has to wait until 60 days. Nothing about that changes the opportunities for members to exchange within 45 days of the start date, with trade power considerations eliminated .

(By the way, RCI typically only removed 10% or so of unused inventory within 90 days of the start date.) There is absolutely no detrimental impact to the 45 day trading power drop aspect of the Weeks Program.

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


Okay "guys", let me know your thoughts and questions about this so I can put them on my list of questions to ask on or about December 14th

 

[regatta333]

A deposit made 9 months or earlier in advance of the check-in date, even if there is no pending on-going exchange request, still must be made available for exchange, even if it is also available for rent. RCI cannot take inventory out for rental and just replace it. All inventory, no matter when deposited, must at least be simultaneously available for exchange up until 60 days before the start date.

I guess we should expect further "trading power revisions" from RCI in the future.

 

[DanM]

Deposits made more than 10 months in advance are governed by an "exclusivity" provision that requires that the week be available only for member exchanges for 31 days.

A deposit made 9 months or earlier in advance of the check-in date, even if there is no pending on-going exchange request, still must be made available for exchange, even if it is also available for rent. RCI cannot take inventory out for rental and just replace it. All inventory, no matter when deposited, must at least be simultaneously available for exchange up until 60 days before the start date.

OK, does this mean that all deposits, whether over or under 10 months and whether simultaneously offered for rental or not, will be available for exchange until at least 60 days out?

 

[Jennie]

OK, does this mean that all deposits, whether over or under 10 months and whether simultaneously offered for rental or not, will be available for exchange until at least 60 days out?

That's what the attorney says.

I have to clarify when the various changes will be made. It won't be all at once. Some will occur earlier than others.

 

[PerryM]

...
Deposits made more than 10 months in advance are governed by an "exclusivity" provision that requires that the week be available only for member exchanges for 31 days.
...

I would caution folks who might think that depositing weeks 10 or more months before check in means that high trading power (TP) is the result consider this, RCI controls TP and you have no idea what your week is worth nor a week you'd like to exchange into.

All RCI has to do is screw around with TP, and for very good reasons, and that week will languish for 32 days before it can be rented.

What are those very good reasons? They are a secret of course, just like TP is. All you RCI members agree that you are to remain ignorant as to the calculation of TP and RCI can, and probably does, mess around with them as they see fit.

There is no way to outfox RCI - no government, court, or country can outfox them. My guess is that they will simply tinker with things that are secret and the result will remain where it has always been - in RCI's favor.

Don't like that - there are plenty of alternatives available to all who decide to exit RCI.

I can't cite RCI in the following example but II: Some of the easiest weeks to exchange into are hot holiday weeks. I have, for the past 3 years, exchanged a Gold Marriott Summit Watch that cost me $5k into the Marriott Maui Ocean Club, that costs 10 times as much, for President's week and 4th of July week. The same Gold week exchanged into Christmas week at Marriott's Summit Watch in Park City.

Why is this possible? Simple - TP. When Marriott owners lock in a hot week they immediately deposit that week into II and the first guy to do so got tremendous TP - 1 minute later another weeks is deposited and gets less TP and that happens in the first hour after reservations open for Marriott.

My Gold week, which has low TP, snaps up the latest weeks which have low TP because the II computers detected a glut of hot holiday weeks with no open searches to snap up the new weeks; high supply and low demand causes TP to fall.

This is but 1 example how the secrets that protect the exchange company screw unwary owners.

You all agree to this lopsided arrangement every time you use RCI or II.

 

[jerseygirl]

Perry --

As part of the settlement, RCI has agreed to furnish members with their trading power. Have you read the agreement?

Now, if I understand correctly (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), they don't have to tell members what it takes to trade into another resort (so they'll only have half the equation), but if enough people start communicating their own trading power via internet channels, the secrets will be unveiled. It would be great if someone created an internet database for people to post their numbers -- this would create less revenue for RCI as members will know not to waste their "float" on ongoing requests that will never be matched.

The settlement was not as good as it should have been, but I don't believe it is fair to state that there are no benefits to timeshare owners as a result of the lawsuit. Everyone just needs to figure out whether to walk permanently (my vote) or how to exploit the changes and turn the cards around. And, if anyone can figure out how to exploit the changes, it's Tuggers.

-- Jerseygirl

 

[PerryM]

Perry --

As part of the settlement, RCI has agreed to furnish members with their trading power. Have you read the agreement?

Now, if I understand correctly (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), they don't have to tell members what it takes to trade into another resort (so they'll only have half the equation), but if enough people start communicating their own trading power via internet channels, the secrets will be unveiled. It would be great if someone created an internet database for people to post their numbers -- this would create less revenue for RCI as members will know not to waste their "float" on ongoing requests that will never be matched.

The settlement was not as good as it should have been, but I don't believe it is fair to state that there are no benefits to timeshare owners as a result of the lawsuit. Everyone just needs to figure out whether to walk permanently (my vote) or how to exploit the changes and turn the cards around. And, if anyone can figure out how to exploit the changes, it's Tuggers.

-- Jerseygirl

I missed the trading power disclosure.

So where will it be displayed and how will it be used? This is a great number to have but what if RCI decides to just create a new one - the "Super Secret Trading Power"?

Just like wage and price controls are next to worthless, I'm guessing that RCI will simply decide to use something brand new for exchanges - they have every right to do so.

Also, this agreement is for just 3 years as I understand it - what then? TP disappears?

You guys just watch - the "gains" you thing you got will simply be superseded by a fast thinking, profit motivated, company. Our government and courts are not profit motivated.

But who knows - maybe the courts did outfox ol' RCI.

 

[Jennie]

This is what I think the class action settlement mandates RCI to do. As noted previously, I plan to work with the Plaintiffs' attorneys later this month to obtain precise information about the coming changes. They will be implemented in phases, not all at once. I think there are exact target dates, and that everything will be in place within a year.

I think one of the provisions of the RCI class action settlement is that a member will be able to determine exactly what weeks his/her week will be able to "pull" before making a deposit. I guess this would be similar to II's "search first" feature. The results will be valid only at the precise time the inquiry is made. If the member decides not to deposit at that moment, new inquiries will have to be made subsequently. I'm not sure if this can be done online or if it will require a call to Customer Service.

Another provision is that RCI must disclose how many weeks have been exchanged during the prior year for a particular month at a particular location, presumably to give the member information that will help him/her decide how likely it may be to obtain a particular exchange they have in mind. Ms. Collins requested that the holiday weeks be listed separately but I'm not sure if this was agreed to.

I'm sure you all know that the Objectors are not happy with the overall results of the settlement. We fought hard but obtained only a few improvements. It is what it is and we cannot change that. So the next best thing to do is to gain knowledge of the rules and figure out the best way to use them to our advantage. Or vote with our feet and take our business elsewhere. I did that a long time ago. I own where we want to stay almost every year--8 weeks in southeast Florida (Jan. to March), 3 weeks on Cape Cod in August, and other weeks that we rent easily through TUG and Redweek ads.

For years I have warned people to not buy timeshare weeks for trading. It worked well until the late 1990's when greed-driven conglomerates took over the industry. Now more than ever, people should buy where they would like to stay. For a change of pace, they can rent our their week and use the money to rent what they want from another owner.

 

[PerryM]

...
For years I have warned people to not buy timeshare weeks for trading. It worked well until the late 1990's when greed-driven conglomerates took over the industry. Now more than ever, people should buy where they would like to stay. For a change of pace, they can rent our their week and use the money to rent what they want from another owner.

This is sage advice.

However, timeshares have morphed with technology. When the first timeshares appeared and exchange companies appeared the computer in your iPhone would take up a 50 story building and cost a trillion dollars.

Now folks want exchanging #1 and the year-after-year usage of a timeshare in last place; technology allows for unbelievable exchange systems to evolve.

RCI and II are stuck back in the early 1990's and you guys want them to change their business model through the courts - it will never happen.

There are plenty of alternatives to RCI - the members either use it as it stands or move on to alternatives. Using the courts to micro-manage RCI will not work - RCI will adapt and leave the courts in the dust.

I quit RCI and I don't miss them a bit - give it a try...

 

[Carolinian]

I gather that all of this is still time limited, to three years rather than two. After that, RCI will not have anything binding it from the court. It seems to me, that may be an opportune time to pop them back into court, this time through a state AG consumer protection lawsuit. The result of the class action might help encourage a state AG to get involved. Otherwise maybe the core group here can find a class action firm that will sign a contract that clearly specifices ''no trinkets asked for or accepted, only permanent injunctive relief'' for any settlement. It would seem to be a whole new ball game once this time period runs out.

This is what I think the class action settlement mandates RCI to do. As noted previously, I plan to work with the Plaintiffs' attorneys later this month to obtain precise information about the coming changes. They will be implemented in phases, not all at once. I think there are exact target dates, and that everything will be in place within a year.

I think one of the provisions of the RCI class action settlement is that a member will be able to determine exactly what weeks his/her week will be able to "pull" before making a deposit. I guess this would be similar to II's "search first" feature. The results will be valid only at the precise time the inquiry is made. If the member decides not to deposit at that moment, new inquiries will have to be made subsequently. I'm not sure if this can be done online or if it will require a call to Customer Service.

Another provision is that RCI must disclose how many weeks have been exchanged during the prior year for a particular month at a particular location, presumably to give the member information that will help him/her decide how likely it may be to obtain a particular exchange they have in mind. Ms. Collins requested that the holiday weeks be listed separately but I'm not sure if this was agreed to.

I'm sure you all know that the Objectors are not happy with the overall results of the settlement. We fought hard but obtained only a few improvements. It is what it is and we cannot change that. So the next best thing to do is to gain knowledge of the rules and figure out the best way to use them to our advantage. Or vote with our feet and take our business elsewhere. I did that a long time ago. I own where we want to stay almost every year--8 weeks in southeast Florida (Jan. to March), 3 weeks on Cape Cod in August, and other weeks that we rent easily through TUG and Redweek ads.

For years I have warned people to not buy timeshare weeks for trading. It worked well until the late 1990's when greed-driven conglomerates took over the industry. Now more than ever, people should buy where they would like to stay. For a change of pace, they can rent our their week and use the money to rent what they want from another owner.

 

[crazyhorse]

Jennie:

quote

"Nothing about the 45 day drop of trading power is impacted by the settlement. Whatever someone could do last year at 45 days out, he/she can do next year at 45 days out."

Does the option of 45 day "Late Exchange" still exist?