Update on Lawsuit against RCI

Isn't the settlement date tomorrow 11/20/2009?

jayjay wrote:

Isn't the settlement date tomorrow 11/20/2009?

No. 11/20 was merely the deadline date for member submission of objections to the PROPOSAL which is currently on the table.

There is no "settlement" (...yet). At this juncture, there is only a PROPOSAL, which could be summarily rejected by Judge Sheridan after compilation and review of the filed objections.

In my personal opinion, the proposed "settlement" is a complete joke and a laughable farce, one which the good Judge should toss directly into the nearest trash can. We shall see...

Well, the sellout (a.k.a. the "settlement") in Murillo vs. RCI is now nearly official; it seems highly unlikely that there will be any appeal filed.

The insignificant (and very temporary) changes to RCI practices are not worth detailing. After 36 months (a change from the 24 month time period reflected in the original proposal) --- and forever thereafter --- it will be right straight back to opportunistic "business as usual" for RCI.

In essence, the quality and quantity of available RCI "exchanges" will continue to deteriorate, just as it has in recent years. RCI seems to be firmly committed to (far more profitable) RENTALS as its' top priority, and that is where ALL of the best deposits will go --- into RCI RENTAL (i.e., not available for "exchange") inventory. The old, obsolete notion of "quality exchanges" now seems to be a fading memory from the RCI practices of yesteryear. That past history is very clearly NOT going to be indicative of (or reflected in) any future RCI practices and priorities.

Fortunately, there are other alternative exchange companies. In my personal opinion, "exchangers" would be wise to seek out and use those alternatives instead of RCI. Good quality deposits into RCI will essentially be "donations" into the RCI rental pool. The RCI "weeks" exchange inventory will evidently and primarily consist of far less desirable weeks (i.e., excess, unsold developer weeks, and other relatively low quality deposits made by wishful thinking RCI members, futilely seeking to "trade" rusty iron pipe weeks for gold bar weeks). As time passes, that will become less and less likely to ever happen.

I'm not the least bit surprised ... the only winners here are the attornyes involved as I had predicted when this lawsuit was first mentioned.

jayjay wrote:

...the only winners here are the attornyes involved...

No, actually --- the biggest winner of all here is clearly RCI itself. RCI's practice of renting out the best deposits is minimally impacted for 36 months, and is then impacted NOT AT ALL forever thereafter.

FYI, the dollar amount awarded to plaintiff attorneys was far less than they had sought (although, in my opinion, they don't deserve a single penny after so shamelessly and completely selling out their clients).

Once more with feeling: All of the exchange companies I am familiar with --RCI, II, SFX ,Holiday, etc-- do rentals in addition to exchanges. TImeshare resorts themselves frequently do. The sources of these rentals are much more diverse and legal than we timeshare owners generally realize. I have listed many of these several times before. MD

adahiscout wrote:

All of the exchange companies I am familiar with --RCI, II, SFX ,Holiday, etc-- do rentals in addition to exchanges. TImeshare resorts themselves frequently do. The sources of these rentals are much more diverse and legal than we timeshare owners generally realize.

I don't dispute the accuracy of your statement. However, I also seriously doubt that it is the standard, routine practice of those other non-RCI entities you mention to consistently "hold back" most or all of the BEST QUALITY deposits in order to just rent them out themselves for much greater profit. To me (although I personally don't and won't use RCI anyhow) the issue here is not a matter of quantity, it's an issue of QUALITY. Just for one example, when was the last time an RCI member got an exchange (...ANY exchange, ANY facility, ANY size unit) in coastal SW Florida in February or March? YEARS, according to an endless number of folks I meet at facilities in that area at other times of the year. Being able to "exchange" into there only in the searing heat and humidity of summer or in hurricane season is hardly a "plus".

In any case, what's done is done --- the fat lady has now officially sung.

Ken is correct that SW Florida is hard to get into. I am under the impression that these do not tend to be large resorts. I know this is true of the several Bluegreen related resorts to which I, supposedly, have access through BG ownership. However, I have been told that our chances of getting into one in the months Ken mentioned are slim because either the associate resorts themselves hold out for rent at that time or pre-point system fixed week owners are not about to give them up! I don't really see the RCI connection here. MD

adahiscout wrote:

Ken is correct that SW Florida is hard to get into. I am under the impression that these do not tend to be large resorts. I know this is true of the several Bluegreen related resorts to which I, supposedly, have access through BG ownership. However, I have been told that our chances of getting into one in the months Ken mentioned are slim because either the associate resorts themselves hold out for rent at that time or pre-point system fixed week owners are not about to give them up! I don't really see the RCI connection here. MD

Also, I would imagine that the overwhelming majority of owners during snowbird season in that highly sought after location (SW Florida) use or rent their timeshares and don't deposit them with any exchange company.

jayjay wrote:

I would imagine that the overwhelming majority of owners during snowbird season in that highly sought after location (SW Florida) use or rent their timeshares and don't deposit them with any exchange company.

This is certainly true for the most part, yet RCI somehow often (magically?) seems to have units available FOR RENT at top dollar (but NONE for exchange) in this particular geographic area during this particular time period. Since these desirable weeks are ALL at completely "sold out" resorts, then these weeks obviously cannot possibly be "developer owned" weeks, but weeks which, or so it seems to me, MUST instead have been deposited with RCI by their actual owners. Where else could they possibly have come from?

In any event, my intended point is simply that RCI is obviously very good at doing the math in making their "inventory pool" decisions. When comparing a $169 exchange fee with a $1700 rental fee, it's easy to see which option is better by far for RCI's bottom line...

I've been told by Island one that I can't make a reservation because club navigo has not renewed the membership.

sandrah295 wrote:

I've been told by Island one that I can't make a reservation because club navigo has not renewed the membership.

Are you up to date on your maintenance fees? If not, they can refuse to make a reservation due to that fact.

I have tried to get acceptance of a proposal on other sites without even an answer from anyone. 1. start a website "boycottrci.com" or ". whatever" we want 2. get all rci members to stop providing units to them. no units no rentals for RCI 3. get a couple of lawyers who have timeshares in canada and the usa to volunteer to incorporate non profit companies which we will all be shareholders of for a minimum fee to provide funds to set up exchange offices. As a Canadian CA I will offer to provide accounting advice violuntarily and be a board member. 4. establish volunteer boards to operate the companies. 5. hire our own people to operate a non profit exchange company. 6. IF THE MILLIONS PLUS OWNERS WOULD GET ON BOARD WE COULD OPERATe OUR OWN EXCHANGE COMPANIES.

How does the differ from what RedWeek is doing? Well, I suppose they hope to make a profit, but at this point that may be a dream for the future. It takes a long time and a lot of work to develop a major exchange company. And if they branch out into broader travel services, the members cry "foul"! MD

By the way, RCI HAS stated that they sometimes do swap excess weeks received from members with other exchange companies to diversify inventory. Not everybody is looking for the week of July 4th, but that is very popular as a deposit! MD

I tried to exchange a unit that I had deposited in RCI. Well, same old story that I've been reading on line. I did not have 'enough points'. I was told that I needed to deposit 2 years in advance to get the area that I applied for. What a joke!! I paid maintenance fees two years in advance only to find that my timeshare does not allow me to 'choose' my week two years in advance!! (but that's another story). I called RCI back to find out that the one unit that I was able to book still didn't give me enough points to get the unit of interest. I was also told that I would need to deposit 2 weeks in order to qualify!! BLAH BLAH BLAH!!! I paid WELL in advance for my RCI membership a couple of years ago (what a sucker!!). They have my money and now they could care less if I exchange my timeshare. Well, the bottom line is, to @#$%@#% with RCI!! I will go to my grave going to my home timeshare every year. I will NEVER deposit my week with them again!!! I didn't belong to RCI for the first 10 years of owning my timeshare. I'm just as happy going to my home timeshare every year. If enough people pull out of RCI, maybe they will stop scamming everyone and if not they will go under!!!! Another fine example of CORPORATE GREED!!! Don't think for one minute that class action lawsuits work!! All it does is make some lawyers rich!! By the way, whatever happened to RED week/BlUE week. WHAT A RACKETT!!!!

DON'T DEPOST YOUR WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best advice is to boycott RCI. I had two timeshares that I got rid of this year because of exactly what is going on with the exchange program. I used to get most exchanges that I asked for over the years until RCI changed hands a became greedy. Now you bank your week and get very little in exchange. I can now go to this site or another and rent someone elses week for less than I would spend on maitenance fees and exchange fees. There are also other exchange companies out there that require no membership fee and you are not required to bank your week until you get your exchange. If enough people boycott RCI they will have little choice other than to change their policies.

Well, if large numbers boycott RCI, that should absolutely guarantee that those who need its services will find nothing for which they can exchange. How helpful is that? MD

It's very simple. Just use another exchange comapny until RCI comes around or goes out of business. There will be another comapny waiting to take them over and do it the right way. RCI is just another example of corporate greed that needs to be brought down.