Original Message:
Re: TIMESHARE OWNERS GETTING HOSED ON EXCHANGES! (by R P.):
phill12 wrote:It seems that every year it gets worse doing a exchange.No matter how good your resort is each year more owners exchanging into the worse units in the resorts.
With owners renting their units and the resorts renting it seems that exchangers are getting worse views, lower end units and long trips to main resort area!
This is one reason I always state buy where you want to go and trade is just a backup plan.
This was one reason we left timesharing for about ten years and just rented and this was great.
We came back to timesharing and until 2008 have not traded our unit because we have July 4th week in Lake Tahoe and great unit and will totally enjoy the week.
We hate going some where and depending what the person in charge gives you to stay in and in most cases it is not as nice as your unit you gave up!
This is why sometimes renting is way better if the owner has a assigned unit for you.
Then other side of the coin is some owners will have top unit ocean view and you pay extra and at front desk they give you the dump out by the parking lot.
Most resorts have the right to change rooms at anytime for renters and you paid high amount and get a unit that you could have rented at half the price if you would rent it at all!
I know someone will jump on here and say this doesn't happen because the owner has a assigned unit and rented with great location and made alot of money but it happens every day!
What happen to fair exchange?
We never had any problem getting exchanges we wanted from the big 2 (RCI and II). I have read of many people recently that have become disenchanted with the RCI and II exchanging process (on Tug), even people that have deposited their week with Redweek ... they expect far too much.
I believe this to be somewhat the fault of the exchanger in that they expect too much in an exchange .... this seems to be the norm these days as everyone seems to be seeking the most popular destinations and resorts including the higher end resorts when they don't have the trade power to pull those resorts.
When we were into exchanging, we always had several resorts/backup plans in mind if the one we chose did not come through ... in other words we weren't stuck on one resort or one name brand. I think flexibility is the key to getting good exchanges AND depositing your week and planning your vacation at least a year in advance is also a major factor.
The people that have recently (or in the last several years) bought a timeshare don't realize that the earlier you deposit, the better chance you have of getting what you want in an exchange with all the exchange companies including Redweek.
Many people don't care to even think about planning a vacation a year in advance, but knowledgeable and educated timesharers know to do this. Many people think they can wait until a couple of months before to plan their vacation and when very little is available for an exchange, then they are disappointed.
I do agree that one should buy where they like to go and that exchanging is a sidedish when you can't/don't choose to use your timeshare some years, and even then, one should be flexible. One should never, ever buy a timeshare just to exchange.