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Why Exchange Company Rankings mean Nada

timeos2

Tug Review Crew: Rookie
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2005
Messages
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Location
Rochester, NY
I have long ago given up on II rankings / ratings of resorts as they didn't begin to show any consistency or relation to true quality. (Wastegate & DVC = to the best Marriott's? PLEASE!!) However for quite a while it seemed the RCI rankings seemed to be far more reliable as at least general hints of the overall quality of resorts they gave awards to.

But over the past 5-6 years that too seemed to be changing. Orange Lake with it's extremely variably experience keeps a Gold Crown based solely on the shear number of responses so the bad ones get negated? Desert Club LV get "awarded" a GC on a promise even though the newly remodeled resort doesn't have many of the features/ amenities as promised? Magic Tree in Orlando - one of the worst, converted motels I've ever been in as a timeshare is somehow rated Gold Crown? Something has gone WAY off track.

So our resort gets a very negative comment card. Ok. It happens. But then we read it. It is apparent from the comments that the gust had the wrong resort! It references unit items we don't have. So we ask RCI to reassign it to the proper resort OR at least delete it from our scores. It takes a few months but the answer is "After careful consideration (???) our review "committee" has decided to let it stand. Really?

The complaint that resulted in the low ratings? It seems the guest(s) were trapped in the elevator and weren't happy with the resort response. They were treated poorly in their opinion and feel not enough was done to compensate them for the problem. So they downgraded the resort in virtually every category. I suppose I might be upset too if I felt the safety of my family was compromised & the resort didn't seem to care. I get it. Caught in an elevator between the 3rd & 4th floors & no one to rescue them. Then no apology. Not good. Go ahead & give the resort bad marks. I agree.

But get the resort right. We don't HAVE elevators or any 4 or 5 story buildings! How can RCI let what is obviously a mistake stand "after careful review"? It makes the ratings a joke and meaningless. It goes along with the one a couple years back that downgraded us because they requested, but for some reason didn't get, an ocean view room. We are in Orlando! We didn't even bother to challenge that one. As until recently our name and another resort were very close (as are the resorts) for years we've had obvious score cards from the other resort that we've tried to get corrected but to no avail. Hopefully a recent name change will eventually fix that (if RCI ever updates their records to reflect the change).

Don't trust resort ratings by the exchange companies. It's nothing but politics and rewards to their favored developers. It should be what the legitimate guests say - but it's not. Another reason to avoid exchange.
 

momeason

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2007
Messages
1,655
Reaction score
21
Location
Emerald Isle, NC
I have long ago given up on II rankings / ratings of resorts as they didn't begin to show any consistency or relation to true quality. (Wastegate & DVC = to the best Marriott's? PLEASE!!) However for quite a while it seemed the RCI rankings seemed to be far more reliable as at least general hints of the overall quality of resorts they gave awards to.

But over the past 5-6 years that too seemed to be changing. Orange Lake with it's extremely variably experience keeps a Gold Crown based solely on the shear number of responses so the bad ones get negated? Desert Club LV get "awarded" a GC on a promise even though the newly remodeled resort doesn't have many of the features/ amenities as promised? Magic Tree in Orlando - one of the worst, converted motels I've ever been in as a timeshare is somehow rated Gold Crown? Something has gone WAY off track.

So our resort gets a very negative comment card. Ok. It happens. But then we read it. It is apparent from the comments that the gust had the wrong resort! It references unit items we don't have. So we ask RCI to reassign it to the proper resort OR at least delete it from our scores. It takes a few months but the answer is "After careful consideration (???) our review "committee" has decided to let it stand. Really?

The complaint that resulted in the low ratings? It seems the guest(s) were trapped in the elevator and weren't happy with the resort response. They were treated poorly in their opinion and feel not enough was done to compensate them for the problem. So they downgraded the resort in virtually every category. I suppose I might be upset too if I felt the safety of my family was compromised & the resort didn't seem to care. I get it. Caught in an elevator between the 3rd & 4th floors & no one to rescue them. Then no apology. Not good. Go ahead & give the resort bad marks. I agree.

But get the resort right. We don't HAVE elevators or any 4 or 5 story buildings! How can RCI let what is obviously a mistake stand "after careful review"? It makes the ratings a joke and meaningless. It goes along with the one a couple years back that downgraded us because they requested, but for some reason didn't get, an ocean view room. We are in Orlando! We didn't even bother to challenge that one. As until recently our name and another resort were very close (as are the resorts) for years we've had obvious score cards from the other resort that we've tried to get corrected but to no avail. Hopefully a recent name change will eventually fix that (if RCI ever updates their records to reflect the change).

Don't trust resort ratings by the exchange companies. It's nothing but politics and rewards to their favored developers. It should be what the legitimate guests say - but it's not. Another reason to avoid exchange.

I love exchanging and have some great trades. I always check TUG reviews and trip advisor or yelp for unbiased reviews. Never had a bad trade since 2007.
 

rickandcindy23

TUG Review Crew: Elite
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
34,309
Reaction score
10,679
Location
The Centennial State
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Founder; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge and Shadow Ridge,Grand Chateau; Val Chatelle; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few; Grand Palms(selling); WKORV-OF ,Westin Desert Willow.
I used to be on the board at Twin Rivers, Fraser, CO, Grand County. We were able to see "some" of the resort report cards. Mostly the private management companies don't share those with us, and we have to practically threaten the management to get them. Okay, so that is because they worry we will fire them when we see the report cards. But I knew the truth of things, so I never really blamed the management. People are generally picky and have unrealistic expectations.

I was completely annoyed with several reviews and the blame was completely on RCI, who apparently apologized to these exchangers and gave them weeks at Twin Rivers after overbooking errors. Where had they traded? They traded into Breckenridge, including Valdoro for a few of them, over Christmas and New Year's weeks. Why RCI felt Twin Rivers, on the other side of the mountains, was going to appease, I have no idea. Why these people went ahead and took the exchanges, I also have no idea. Maybe they already bought airfare. The resorts and the resort areas are night and day different:

1. Luxury compared to average
2. Summit County vs. Grand County
3. Winter Park ski compared to Breckenridge Ski
4. Downtown Breck vs. Downtown Winter Park
5. Resort with full amenities vs. Twin Rivers with almost none
6. Beautiful furnishings vs. Twin Rivers' shabby stuff

There was no comparison. Yet people slammed Twin Rivers and blamed TR for RCI's error. They nagged and hounded the resort staff night and day, and then they hit us with the report card ratings. RCI's fault!
 

Weimaraner

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
1,475
Reaction score
23
Location
Michigan
I wouldn't stress too much about it. I always take the ratings with a grain of salt and I think a lot of others do. Just take a look at the reviews for the Frenchman's Cove on TripAdvisor and you will see people write reviews for the wrong resort all the time. Frenchman's Cove is fairly new and people will go on and on about how dated it is. Seriously you can't figure out you stayed the week at the Frenchman's Reef and not the Cove!?!? Also time after time I read reviews from people staying in a timeshare and they are outraged that no one is cleaning their room daily or refreshing towels. Happens all the time.
 

theo

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2007
Messages
9,116
Reaction score
2,405
Location
New England Coast
I agree...

I have long ago given up on II rankings / ratings of resorts...<snip> Don't trust resort ratings by the exchange companies. <snip>

I'm not an "exchanger" in the first place, but one of my favorite resorts (at which I own and use a few weeks in different seasons) is Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine. It's a truly spectacular oceanfront complex with full health club, 18 hole championship golf course, salt water pool, on site restaurant, great guest services.

I'm told (but frankly don't care one bit) that II does not "rank" Samoset very well, apparently because of the absence of a full oven beneath the four burner stove top in the units there! :eek: Seriously???

TUG reviews consistently love Samoset, but if being able to bake cookies is more important than a truly spectacular facility w/ oceanfront sunrise views from all units, then by all means follow II ranking instead. :rolleyes:
 
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sfwilshire

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
4,158
Reaction score
252
Location
Clinton TN
Resorts Owned
Tristram's Landing, Tree Tops Gatlinburg, Mystic Dunes, Sheraton Vistana Spas & Fountains
I am on travel this week and sharing a car with a lady who owns Trendwest points. She mentioned right off the bat that she only books Gold Crown resorts and was surprised when I told her that some of my favorite resorts have NOT been Gold Crown. I ignore that rating altogether and go with the TUG reviews as mentioned by others.

Sheila
 

BevL

TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2004
Messages
5,170
Reaction score
7
Location
BC Canada
. . . I ignore that rating altogether and go with the TUG reviews as mentioned by others.

Sheila

Me too. I never really look at either the rating or the RCI reviews. Might look at Tripadvisor although I take their reviews for timeshares with a grain of salt. TUG are the go to resource if it's an area or resort I'm not familiar with.
 

sandkastle4966

Tug Review Crew: Rookie
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2005
Messages
765
Reaction score
82
Location
NoVa
I wouldn't want them to go away.......I also take them with a grain of salt, complaints about what also matters to me is helpful, but the majority of the time they are things I dont care about. I recently took a resort that marginal reviews - called ahead and learned what had been upgraded and what had not. Still was a marginal but I knew what I was getting for my 9 points, last minute ski week ! Like the tug reviews....but those middle rankings are hard - per the ranking rules I have to give a 7 ish because doesn't have the bells and wistles features, but the bus stop to the mountain every 20 minutes far outweighed a club house for me!
 

MichaelColey

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2010
Messages
4,930
Reaction score
122
Location
Mansfield, TX
Resorts Owned
Palace View Branson (4 Lockouts), Grandview (Points), CMV (UDI), DVC (SSR 25)
I find a lot of correlation between TUG ratings, RCI ratings, RCI Gold Crown, etc. When a resort ranks highly in ALL of them, I book with confidence. When it ranks lowly in ALL of them, I avoid it when possible. When it ranks in some places but not others, I look much deeper at the reviews.
 

dougp26364

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
14,753
Reaction score
3,570
Location
Kansas
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grand Chateau
Marriott Shadow Ridge
Marriott Ocean Pointe
Marriott Destination Club Points
Hilton Grand Vacation Club Las Vegas Blvd
Grand Colorado on Peak 8
Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
I have long ago given up on II rankings / ratings of resorts as they didn't begin to show any consistency or relation to true quality. (Wastegate & DVC = to the best Marriott's? PLEASE!!) However for quite a while it seemed the RCI rankings seemed to be far more reliable as at least general hints of the overall quality of resorts they gave awards to.

But over the past 5-6 years that too seemed to be changing. Orange Lake with it's extremely variably experience keeps a Gold Crown based solely on the shear number of responses so the bad ones get negated? Desert Club LV get "awarded" a GC on a promise even though the newly remodeled resort doesn't have many of the features/ amenities as promised? Magic Tree in Orlando - one of the worst, converted motels I've ever been in as a timeshare is somehow rated Gold Crown? Something has gone WAY off track.

So our resort gets a very negative comment card. Ok. It happens. But then we read it. It is apparent from the comments that the gust had the wrong resort! It references unit items we don't have. So we ask RCI to reassign it to the proper resort OR at least delete it from our scores. It takes a few months but the answer is "After careful consideration (???) our review "committee" has decided to let it stand. Really?

The complaint that resulted in the low ratings? It seems the guest(s) were trapped in the elevator and weren't happy with the resort response. They were treated poorly in their opinion and feel not enough was done to compensate them for the problem. So they downgraded the resort in virtually every category. I suppose I might be upset too if I felt the safety of my family was compromised & the resort didn't seem to care. I get it. Caught in an elevator between the 3rd & 4th floors & no one to rescue them. Then no apology. Not good. Go ahead & give the resort bad marks. I agree.

But get the resort right. We don't HAVE elevators or any 4 or 5 story buildings! How can RCI let what is obviously a mistake stand "after careful review"? It makes the ratings a joke and meaningless. It goes along with the one a couple years back that downgraded us because they requested, but for some reason didn't get, an ocean view room. We are in Orlando! We didn't even bother to challenge that one. As until recently our name and another resort were very close (as are the resorts) for years we've had obvious score cards from the other resort that we've tried to get corrected but to no avail. Hopefully a recent name change will eventually fix that (if RCI ever updates their records to reflect the change).

Don't trust resort ratings by the exchange companies. It's nothing but politics and rewards to their favored developers. It should be what the legitimate guests say - but it's not. Another reason to avoid exchange.

I'm amazed it's taken you this long to figure out that RCI was going down hill fast. I gave up on them a couple of years ago to the point I cancelled our membership.

TUG reviews are considerably more reliable.
 

PamMo

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2006
Messages
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Reaction score
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Location
NV
I also check several sources for reviews (adding TripAdvisor to the others mentioned) before I make an exchange, but I can understand the frustration in trying to get erroneous reviews corrected - or deleted if they are for the wrong resort! The quality designations awarded by the exchange companies are a determining factor in your trade value when you own there.
 

prickler

TUG Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Messages
131
Reaction score
0
Location
California Bay Area
I prefer tripadvisor because they usually have the most number of reviews and the ratings get distributed more evenly across the board. Plus they generally have more up to date photos.
 

dougp26364

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
14,753
Reaction score
3,570
Location
Kansas
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grand Chateau
Marriott Shadow Ridge
Marriott Ocean Pointe
Marriott Destination Club Points
Hilton Grand Vacation Club Las Vegas Blvd
Grand Colorado on Peak 8
Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
The problem I have with Tripadvisor for timeshares is that you get a good number of renters who were expecting hotel services at a timeshare resort. You get negative reviews that are often irrelivent to those who own timeshares and understand that a 5 star timeshare resort is nothing like a 5 star hotel.
 

MichaelColey

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2010
Messages
4,930
Reaction score
122
Location
Mansfield, TX
Resorts Owned
Palace View Branson (4 Lockouts), Grandview (Points), CMV (UDI), DVC (SSR 25)
That's why I prefer TUG reviews and ratings. The reviewers have a mindset more similar to mine than the reviewers on TripAdvisor (primarily hotel travelers) and RCI (less experienced timesharers).
 

MichaelColey

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2010
Messages
4,930
Reaction score
122
Location
Mansfield, TX
Resorts Owned
Palace View Branson (4 Lockouts), Grandview (Points), CMV (UDI), DVC (SSR 25)
FWIW, I just stumbled across one (admittedly rare) example where TUG appears to have the least reliable rating. I was looking at the Branson resorts to see if any II choices might be better than the RCI exchanges I usually make. I was shocked to see that the #2 ranked Branson resort here on TUG was Escapes at Branson's Yacht Club with a 9.0 ranking (from just a single review). RCI rates it as 4/5. TripAdvisor rates it as 3.5/5 (#89/152 hotels).

With the disparity in ratings, as I mentioned earlier, I would look closer to see if the negatives matter to me. In this case, several of the reviews mention that the units (and particularly the kitchens) are very small, which matters to me a whole lot. I actually had them in my spreadsheet of Branson resorts as having fairly large units, so that's something I would want to research more if I ever considered staying there.
 

pranas

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Messages
550
Reaction score
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Location
florida
I read the RCi and TUG reviews but place more importance on the TUG reviews. Unfortunatley, many of the resorts I go to are smaller older resorts off the more beaten track. These resorts often have dated TUG reviews.
 

PamMo

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2006
Messages
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Location
NV
The problem I have with Tripadvisor for timeshares is that you get a good number of renters who were expecting hotel services at a timeshare resort. You get negative reviews that are often irrelivent to those who own timeshares and understand that a 5 star timeshare resort is nothing like a 5 star hotel.

I can easily weed out those reviews regarding lack of housekeeping, turn down service, etc, but I LOVE the comments from "hotel" people who are WOW(!!!)ed by the extra space, kitchen, and laundry in timeshare units. I am most interested in the location, condition of the resort and units, and the available amenities. The more information I have, the better chance I have of finding a good fit for my family.
 
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