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Utility charges

gmarine

gmarine

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In another thread there is a discussion of utility charges on Grand Cayman. At The Reef there will be an additional charge of $285 for exchangers in 2007.

It seems like a high amount to me. I'm curious as to other opinions.

Would you exchange into a resort that has an additional $285 fee for utilities?
 
gmarine said:
In another thread there is a discussion of utility charges on Grand Cayman. At The Reef there will be an additional charge of $285 for exchangers in 2007.

It seems like a high amount to me. I'm curious as to other opinions.

Would you exchange into a resort that has an additional $285 fee for utilities?
Click to expand...

That is highway robbery! For a week in the UK, the utilities ran around $6-8 per day! That was in both Scotland and England.
 
When I am paying the utilities at ALL of the resorts I deposit as part of my m/f, it is a bit much for ANY resort to try to charge me again by making me pay for the utilities at the resort I exchange into! A good response is to zap them with a ''1'' in a couple of key categories on the comment cards.

Even worse are the arbitrary utility fees, like this one, and the worst category of those are the excessive ones, and this takes the cake!

Some European resorts meter the electricity, which is bad enough, but certainly farer than a huge arbitrary fee like this one! I wonder if owners pay the same fee? I had a summer beach exchange in Europe last summer at a resort that metered electricity, and with the cross ventilation, didn't really need a/c, so the meter bill came out to less than $10.

gmarine said:
In another thread there is a discussion of utility charges on Grand Cayman. At The Reef there will be an additional charge of $285 for exchangers in 2007.

It seems like a high amount to me. I'm curious as to other opinions.

Would you exchange into a resort that has an additional $285 fee for utilities?
Click to expand...
 
Well I think I have at least a tie. When we went to Windjammer Landing we had to pay $180 per week for the 1BR unit. Supposedly it was for a Utility/Service Fee. Initially I thought it was charged to everyone, owners included. But after becoming friends with two different couples that were owners, we found out differently. The MF on the unit covers the utility and maid service. Owners don't pay the fee, just exchangers. What a rip-off. As Carolinian said, I am not happy about paying a fee anywhere, but can live with it if it is metered and everyone pays, owners & exchangers. But ripping off exchangers for PURE PROFIT takes the cake and I told them so and gave then a bad review, my only choice. Won't go back there again.
 
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Owners apparently pay the same fee if they occupy their unit.

This seems to me to be a way for the resort to have exchangers subsidize the maintenance fees.
 
We paid a metered utility fee while in Scotland a few years back. It only came to about $30 USD by the end of the week but, I left everything off when we weren't in the unit. At night I closed the bedroom door and didn't use the wall heating units in the unoccupied rooms.

Like others it ticked me off as I pay all my resorts utility fee's as part of my MF's. Since I've paid the utilities for exchangers into my resorts, I expect he same to be done at resorts we exchange into.

I know this can't be expeceted of every resort but I do think that the exchange companies can do a better job of letting exchangers know in advance of any such charges. Utility fee's charged to exchangers will make a difference of where/if I'll exchange into a resort. A utility fee > $100 at ANY resort would put that resort on my non-exchange list. It sucks that I'd pay the utilities at my resorts and then have to pay the utilities at someone else's resort as well.

For that matter, I also pay for the activities, pools et.. at my resorts. Exchanging into a resort that charges an arbitrary activities fee whether you attend any activities at the resort or not turns me away.
 
Exchange companies should make uniform policies on basics such as utility charges, cleaning charges, and taxes a condition of affiliation with the exchange system. Alternatively, they should at least compile all of the extra charges in their affiliated resorts and make that table availible to their members online. Other resorts should then impose reciprocal extra charges on anyone from those resorts exchanging into the other resort. That might just cure the problem.
 
Carolinian said:
Exchange companies should make uniform policies on basics such as utility charges, cleaning charges, and taxes a condition of affiliation with the exchange system. Alternatively, they should at least compile all of the extra charges in their affiliated resorts and make that table availible to their members online. Other resorts should then impose reciprocal extra charges on anyone from those resorts exchanging into the other resort. That might just cure the problem.
Click to expand...


I agree.

I have an exchange into Morritts Grand for a 2 bedroom in March of 2008. If I had known about the exhorbitantly high extra charges for utilities, I don't think I would have booked it. I have always wanted to go to GC, but there are also a lot of other places I still want to see.

After the high exchange fee and the outrageous airfare from ND, adding on another ~$200 is a killer. I wish I had known upfront. :(

And I please don't tell me if I don't like it and/or can't afford it to just not go. If I had known upfront I wouldn't have.
 
Those extra charges seem to be happening more & more as an attempt to keep MFs in check I assume. Some resorts (Marriotts?) no longer have midweek maid service provided and only offered as an optional charge. That's okay with me. I've noticed some places have started charging for activities that used to be complimentary. That's also okay with me. The $95 for Disney services is irksome, too, but so far I feel I get enough benefit with not having to rent a car. I guess the HOA is trying to keep MF reigned in with the escalating cost of utilities but I don't see $285 per week as a realistic amount. I'm crossing that one off my exchange list. The owners should be paying MF that cover the utilities, not exchangers. Then when they choose to exchange to my resort they can run the AC & not have to pay extra. I remember reading about a surprise extra charge at Manhattan Club. Did it keep folks from exchanging in? Seems like those "extra charges" are getting to be a trend.
 
Carolinian said:
Exchange companies should make uniform policies on basics such as utility charges, cleaning charges, and taxes a condition of affiliation with the exchange system. Alternatively, they should at least compile all of the extra charges in their affiliated resorts and make that table availible to their members online. Other resorts should then impose reciprocal extra charges on anyone from those resorts exchanging into the other resort. That might just cure the problem.
Click to expand...

I agree. This is a very good idea.
 
Carolinian said:
Exchange companies should make uniform policies on basics such as utility charges, cleaning charges, and taxes a condition of affiliation with the exchange system. Alternatively, they should at least compile all of the extra charges in their affiliated resorts and make that table availible to their members online. Other resorts should then impose reciprocal extra charges on anyone from those resorts exchanging into the other resort. That might just cure the problem.
Click to expand...

I agree with the sentiment expressed, but don't see it happening. The major exchange companies only interest is in obtaining their exchange fee, the actually exchangers seem to be viewed as a necessary evil rather than their priority.
Maybe we should start a 'Rogues' Gallery' here and list any resorts we discover with unacceptably high fees, particularly if those fees are charged only to exchangers. At least that way the membership here would have a source of information before booking.
 
Good Idea!

Keitht said:
Maybe we should start a 'Rogues' Gallery' here and list any resorts we discover with unacceptably high fees, particularly if those fees are charged only to exchangers. At least that way the membership here would have a source of information before booking.
Click to expand...

I second this idea, Keith. A sticky thread that can be added to as exchangers run into "extra" fees would be very usefull. TUG provides so much useful info, this seems like a natural to add. Even things like the extra charge for tax in Hawaii would be good info for those who have never exchanged there and are unaware.
Julie
 
barndweller said:
I second this idea, Keith. A sticky thread that can be added to as exchangers run into "extra" fees would be very usefull. TUG provides so much useful info, this seems like a natural to add. Even things like the extra charge for tax in Hawaii would be good info for those who have never exchanged there and are unaware.
Julie
Click to expand...

Maybe a sticky could be added to the thread reviewing each resort- so if you look at a resort's review, you can also be apprised of surcharges.
 
Maybe the solution is for all of us to contact our HOA members and ask them to change the way our own resorts do billing - break the utility fees out of the maintenance fees, and charge them to whoever uses the resort. The only problem I see with that is any weeks that end up sitting empty. Who pays those fees? I can see charging someone who simply doesn't show up for their week, but what of a unit that is deposited to RCI and ends up unused? There is no exchanger to charge, and the owner is expecting not to be charged? Do you build in a factor for unused units, where everybody pays a small increment more?

The problem is the balance of the need of owners who use their weeks vs. owners who exchange. At a resort where are "users" get charged, owners included, it could be a benefit to owners who stay at the resort if the utilities are metered, as they control their own costs. However, it costs more to meter individually, or even just to bill individually.

For those resorts where only exchangers are billed, this reduces demand and thus trade power, even if only by a small amount. Maybe not so small when we're talking about $200+ in some cases. In this case, the owners staying at the resort are being subsidized by the exchangers AND the owners who exchange out.
 
The Carribbean owners on the other thread are trying to justify this practice by saying the utilities are extreemly high. That's a cop out. :annoyed: The MF quoted for the units discussed are kept artificially lower than same type units in Hawaii where costs are also very high and utilities are paid by owners. I think I am getting a bit miffed about the whole subject of passing costs on to the exchangers. The advice on the other thread is to go somewhere else if I don't like it. I plan to do just that. An exchange of my Hawaii and Coastal California units would no longer be equal since I would be subsidizing them.
 
One would think that when you make a trade at least you'd be able to turn the lights on.

Maybe these resorts should be listed as 'lighting optional for an additional fee'.
 
Difference in Opinion

In North America, we are used to cheap gas and energy cost, so the light is on everywhere inside the house. This is not the case in Europe and Asia and probably in the islands as well. I see the energy charge reasonable and we should be more environmentally sensitive.

The only thing I would agree is there should be a "warning" before exchange confirmation. If we think the charge is too high, don't go there. Period.
 
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Oh cripes...now I'll be calling resorts before I confirm an exchange to check on this type of thing. I would be EXTREMELY unhappy to be charged for utilities (especially at that rate:eek: ) while on an exchange.

As someone else mentioned...the utilities are paid for whoever exchanges into my resort by virtue of my having paid the MF's. If the utilities are so high in a given area that owners dont want to pay the average costs for them...then they shouldnt buy there.

Anyway...enough ranting. I'd agree that it would be nice to post a list somewhere of "surprise charges" experienced at various resorts.
 
barndweller said:
The Carribbean owners on the other thread are trying to justify this practice by saying the utilities are extreemly high. That's a cop out. :annoyed: The MF quoted for the units discussed are kept artificially lower than same type units in Hawaii where costs are also very high and utilities are paid by owners. I think I am getting a bit miffed about the whole subject of passing costs on to the exchangers. The advice on the other thread is to go somewhere else if I don't like it. I plan to do just that. An exchange of my Hawaii and Coastal California units would no longer be equal since I would be subsidizing them.
Click to expand...


You are mistaken...costs are not passed in to the exchangers at the Reef and Morritts but are incurred by everyone who stays there, owners included.
 
Yes, this is passing costs on to exchangers. These resorts are setting up a system that allows their members who exchange to freeload on other resorts.
Their member who exchanges does not pay utilities, taxes, etc. at their home resort, and since the member who deposited the week they exchange into has already paid those things at that resort, they do not pay them there, either. They are getting a free ride and this is very wrong.
 
Cindi, My charge at Morritts last time was around $85. It is based on actual usage, not a flat fee like the Reef.

To All, Do not expect homeowners representatives to be responsive to anything.

Finally, is this charge for electricity really any different than trading in somewhere and being told that certain amenities are for owners only? It sure happens a lot. The real answer is if you do not like these things do not trade. And if you do not want to go to the same place every year, do not buy.
 
There are certain basic assumptions that we make for lodgings and they typically include a clean, dry, safe room with electricity, water and heat. Beyond that there is a large drop-off imo.

With respect to conservation I don't like to be told that I need to conserve. With respect to the utility charge I believe the main conservation motivator is $$$.

Lastly, from what I see RCI does NOT indicate that there will be a separate charge upfront in the directory.
 
At some point...down the road...when enough exchangers are aware of the fees and choose not to trade into the resorts that charge them...I would expect those resorts to lose trade power. No?
 
xujoe said:
Cindi, My charge at Morritts last time was around $85. It is based on actual usage, not a flat fee like the Reef.
Click to expand...

My Morritts charge was also under $100. The charge was noted when I confirmed the RCI exchange. Not that I agree that it's fair but I felt that I at least had the opportunity to decline the exchange if I didn't want to pay this additional fee.
 
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