Against RCI/II Rules to Rent out Exchanges

jeffw129 wrote:

joanp60 wrote:

http://www.rciclassaction.com/ says: "A class action lawsuit has been filed against RCI on behalf of all members of RCI’s Weeks Program.

The lawsuit alleges that RCI improperly skims a large percentage of the timeshares from the RCI exchange bank system, including many prime timeshares, and rents those timeshares out to the general public for profit and also uses them for promotional purposes and as fringe benefits for its employees. The lawsuit further alleges that as a result of these practices, the actual experience of many RCI Weeks Program members is that they simply cannot find any comparable exchanges.

If you believe that you may be a member of the class action and would like more information, or if you have information that can help the investigation, please contact us."

Do you think there is a downside of joining this class action suit?

I just tried to get a summer beach location in DE, MD, NJ and could not find any. All I can find is winter. And this is with me checking 2 years in advance! The only thing RCI said is I can put in a 'search'. I wouldn't mind doing that if I didn't have to put something upfront first but I don't want to pay or to take my week out of the spacebank when I am not guaranteed that they will find anything with their search. Joan

first of all if you want bank you week till you get a vacation and if Joe blow won't bank his week till he gets a vacation, then how the heck do expect RCI to give anyone a vacation??? If no one banks, no one gets anything. Everyone cries they can't get anything!! Where ever you own i'm sure someone is waiting to get your unit, but your not banking. So quit crying and bank your week as soon as possible so others will do the same.have you ever banked 2 years in advance?? Any of you?? well there's a good chance others didn't either!! If what you want is not available, then search till someone banks. And no there is no guarantee you'll get it, cause RCI also doesn't have a guarantee that you will bank your home week every year for the rest of YOUR life either!!!

======= I agree with Jeff, but do realize it would be much harder for someone to bank early if they only own one week. The more timeshare properties one owns, the easier it is to relinquish an extra bird in hand for a desired bird in the bush. Adahi

adahiscout wrote:

Marty, the above copied question refers to the Confirmation at the time of making the actual exchange, so I might well know who the guest will be. Are you are speaking of confirming the DEPOSIT I am making, not the week I am actually getting by way of the exchange? Well ,in any case, if there is no charge it makes no great difference. Just thought we might kill two birds with one stone rather than telling the resort one name and then another. Thanks. MD

I understand what you are asking. If you want to go ahead and make the reservation on RedWeek directly in the name of the person who will be using the unit, that is not a problem.

Just talked to RCI to make an exchange and decided to ask this question again.

I was assured that you CAN accept reimbursement for the Exchange Fee and the Guest Confirmation.

I asked about recovering maintenance fees, since they would be a "cost" not a "profit". She at first though this might be OK, but wisely put me on hold while she checked with her supervisor. Sorry. The answer is still NO to recovery of maintenance fees from a guest. Only Exchange and Guest fee compensation is allowed. MD

Much as it seems unfair for RCI and II to prohibit rentals, when they themselves do it, I can see their point. You are taking a risk in terms of liability, whether it is against their policy or not.

Someone previously mentioned the example of poor behavior by a rental guest. Not all renters are bad, in fact most are pretty decent people, but there are always some bad apples.

What happens when a renter does damage to your property? Well, the resort took a credit card imprint when they checked in (or a security deposit of some sort). Presumably when your guest does serious damage to your unit, the resort will charge that credit card, and try to collect from your renter. Not only are they going to want to recover the cost of any repairs, but also for any "lost business." If your unit couldn't be used for 4 weeks during repair, they had to house somebody elsewhere. Their insurance will cover it, hopefully, but the insurance company will then try to recover their money from whoever was at fault.

When the resort can't recover the money from your renter, you are next in line. When it's an RCI rental, RCI is next in line. Who has bigger pockets? Who can more afford the liability? When you rent an exchange, you are liable BEFORE RCI.

If you become liable to your home resort, they can keep you from using and future weeks until you pay what you own - they can even forclose on your week.

If you become liable to someone else's resort, what can they do to you? Not much! There is no contract between you and the resort, only between you and RCI. RCI knows you will be more careful about who you give a gift to, vs who you might rent to. Yo're also more likely to care about someone damaging your own property, as opposed to something owned by someone else.

From a moral standpoint, maybe rentals shold be allowed. From a legal standpoint, not allowing them makes sense.

We used to have RCI and we got off it because we had the same experience, with the other company we always got an option, but RCI will leave you waiting always. We would like to join again if RCI works.

A few years ago, I had far too many weeks banked at RCI. I tried to exchange for some good weeks and then put those out for rentals, with a gift certificate to the rentor.

RCI discovered this very quickly, notified me of the rules and cancelled the exchanges. I don't know if they have someone who looks at the places for rentals, if someone who rented called to ask about the gift certificate or if they look at the number of exchanges and gift certificates.

They were very nice about it, but this is not something you want to do if you want to remain in RCI.

forshey wrote:

A few years ago, I had far too many weeks banked at RCI. I tried to exchange for some good weeks and then put those out for rentals, with a gift certificate to the rentor.

RCI discovered this very quickly, notified me of the rules and cancelled the exchanges. I don't know if they have someone who looks at the places for rentals, if someone who rented called to ask about the gift certificate or if they look at the number of exchanges and gift certificates.

They were very nice about it, but this is not something you want to do if you want to remain in RCI.

Good advice -- and you are kind (and honest) to share your own direct, personal experience on the matter.

It might very well have been that a renter made inquiry directly of the resort in an effort to confirm that the person from whom they were potentially renting a week was, in fact, the actual owner of that week. To do so is generally a wise and prudent precaution by ANY would-be renter, since no one wants to show up at a resort to check-in for a week of vacation, only to be promptly turned away, whether because of an exchange rule violation or because of having been outright scammed.

It's good of you to weigh-in and share this experience; direct, personal experience is always far more compelling and convincing than mere speculation and conjecture. Thank you.

I think RCI & II have spies. I know they have people checking the time share bbs tug and forums.

Also, make sure you also realize where you are posting....some sites ( Like tripadvisor) are in partner corporations with Interval International.

If Marty sees this, maybe they know...But I think they can trace owners via most IP numbers....i know the T/S BBS are able to trace this. So, if you have a membership to II or RCI, and they have access to message boards, they might be able to match those IP numbers....I just don't know if the numbers are from the provider or the specific computer or a combo.

Another Marty on tug did lose her weeks and membership for renting weeks....

forshey wrote:

A few years ago, I had far too many weeks banked at RCI. I tried to exchange for some good weeks and then put those out for rentals, with a gift certificate to the rentor.

RCI discovered this very quickly, notified me of the rules and cancelled the exchanges. I don't know if they have someone who looks at the places for rentals, if someone who rented called to ask about the gift certificate or if they look at the number of exchanges and gift certificates.

They were very nice about it, but this is not something you want to do if you want to remain in RCI.

kekouri wrote:

I think RCI & II have spies. I know they have people checking the time share bbs tug and forums.

Also, make sure you also realize where you are posting....some sites ( Like tripadvisor) are in partner corporations with Interval International.

If Marty sees this, maybe they know...But I think they can trace owners via most IP numbers....i know the T/S BBS are able to trace this. So, if you have a membership to II or RCI, and they have access to message boards, they might be able to match those IP numbers....I just don't know if the numbers are from the provider or the specific computer or a combo.

Another Marty on tug did lose her weeks and membership for renting weeks....

forshey wrote:

A few years ago, I had far too many weeks banked at RCI. I tried to exchange for some good weeks and then put those out for rentals, with a gift certificate to the rentor.

RCI discovered this very quickly, notified me of the rules and cancelled the exchanges. I don't know if they have someone who looks at the places for rentals, if someone who rented called to ask about the gift certificate or if they look at the number of exchanges and gift certificates.

They were very nice about it, but this is not something you want to do if you want to remain in RCI.

Hi Ken,

I honestly don't know whether the other exchange companies can trace the messages here. They probably do have someone checking out the posts just to figure out what RedWeek is doing but not sure if they go any further than that.

Thanks, Marty

Since even the name of this topic tells one and all that RCI and II exchanges may NOT be rented out, one hopes the word is getting around to all concerned. Breaking this rule jeopardizes both the person renting out the exchange and the person planning to use it. Trying to fly under the radar is risky business and doubly unfair to the renter who pays in good faith but may get dumped into the street far far from home. MD

marty8084 wrote:

kekouri wrote:

I think RCI & II have spies. I know they have people checking the time share bbs tug and forums.

Also, make sure you also realize where you are posting....some sites ( Like tripadvisor) are in partner corporations with Interval International.

If Marty sees this, maybe they know...But I think they can trace owners via most IP numbers....i know the T/S BBS are able to trace this. So, if you have a membership to II or RCI, and they have access to message boards, they might be able to match those IP numbers....I just don't know if the numbers are from the provider or the specific computer or a combo.

Another Marty on tug did lose her weeks and membership for renting weeks....

forshey wrote:

A few years ago, I had far too many weeks banked at RCI. I tried to exchange for some good weeks and then put those out for rentals, with a gift certificate to the rentor.

RCI discovered this very quickly, notified me of the rules and cancelled the exchanges. I don't know if they have someone who looks at the places for rentals, if someone who rented called to ask about the gift certificate or if they look at the number of exchanges and gift certificates.

They were very nice about it, but this is not something you want to do if you want to remain in RCI.

=======================================

Hi Ken,

I honestly don't know whether the other exchange companies can trace the messages here. They probably do have someone checking out the posts just to figure out what RedWeek is doing but not sure if they go any further than that.

Thanks, Marty

Hi Marty:

Ken here. Although you addressed your reply to me, the "spy" post was actually posted by "kekouri". I did not post or contribute at all in the subsequent thread.

Personally, I don't much care whether ANY exchange company "spies" upon BB's or forums, or whether they can or do "trace" messages. I adhere to the terms and conditions of my memberships at all times, so as far as I'm concerned, they can "spy away" to their hearts' content . That said, I'd much rather see them direct their energy and efforts toward "cleaning up their own act" in regard to their renting out prime member deposits to non-members (by which reference I specifically mean RCI).

Ken 1193:

I'm also Ken :) I post on the other sites as Ken, but didn't think to use that name here. We once had a VP from II give info on tug. He stated reasons why they didn't want exchanges to be rented out. I forgot some of them.

But they seemed to make sense....but they & RCI can do it.

kekouri wrote:

Ken 1193:

I'm also Ken :) I post on the other sites as Ken, but didn't think to use that name here. We once had a VP from II give info on tug. He stated reasons why they didn't want exchanges to be rented out. I forgot some of them.

But they seemed to make sense....but they & RCI can do it.

One of the main reasons that RCI, II and the independent exchange companies disallows rentals of exchanges is that some people were actually making a profitable business out of it.

You used to see spacebanked weeks and rentals of exchanges on Ebay all the time and the exchange companies had no choice but to crack down. Those renting exchanges would snap up the most desirable weeks and rent/sell them on Ebay for a huge profit.

jayjay wrote:

kekouri wrote:

Ken 1193:

I'm also Ken :) I post on the other sites as Ken, but didn't think to use that name here. We once had a VP from II give info on tug. He stated reasons why they didn't want exchanges to be rented out. I forgot some of them.

But they seemed to make sense....but they & RCI can do it.

One of the main reasons that RCI, II and the independent exchange companies disallows rentals of exchanges is that some people were actually making a profitable business out of it.

You used to see spacebanked weeks and rentals of exchanges on Ebay all the time and the exchange companies had no choice but to crack down. Those renting exchanges would snap up the most desirable weeks and rent/sell them on Ebay for a huge profit.

Ask yourself how these folks who rented out their exchanges could have gotten "the most desirable weeks". ( If their own was that good, why not rent it?) Early deposits would seem to be the logical explanation. Then you actually can pull more for your exchange and start ongoing searches for the good stuff. MD

adahiscout wrote:

Ask yourself how these folks who rented out their exchanges could have gotten "the most desirable weeks". ( If their own was that good, why not rent it?) Early deposits would seem to be the logical explanation. Then you actually can pull more for your exchange and start ongoing searches for the good stuff. MD

This was back a few years ago when one could actually get a good exchange with a mediocre trader and before points entered the picture. You're probably right that the depositor deposited very early to snag those good exchanges. It was evidently part of their business plan.

I was wondering if anybody knows if you can DONATE your exchanged week to a charity silent auction. How it would use my deposited RCI week and pick a resort that I think someone would like to bid on. I would pay all fees, not only the maintenance but the exchange fees and guest certificate. I would get no money but the charity would get money, whatever the highest bid was in the auction.

Is this a problem?

jayjay wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

Ask yourself how these folks who rented out their exchanges could have gotten "the most desirable weeks". ( If their own was that good, why not rent it?) Early deposits would seem to be the logical explanation. Then you actually can pull more for your exchange and start ongoing searches for the good stuff. MD

This was back a few years ago when one could actually get a good exchange with a mediocre trader and before points entered the picture. You're probably right that the depositor deposited very early to snag those good exchanges. It was evidently part of their business plan.

Except for the rules, it would be very easy to make a nice return on guest certificate rentals if you use points for last minute weeks rentals looking on the day that the weeks switched from normal weeks to last minute weeks. I have recently seen a seller on ebay listing many rentals 6 weeks out in Atlantic City that are probably obtained in this manner. I am not recommending that anyone do this, but you need to look at all the trading possibilities and not only weeks for weeks with an early deposit.

joanp60 wrote:

To clarify:

If I pay all fees and donate my exchanged week to a non-profit org. for their fund-raising auction, and the auction winner pays the non-profit org. the amount they bid is there a problem? The guest cert would be put in the winner's name.

A very interesting and thought provoking question. Personally, I wouldn't risk accepting half-informed "Internet opinions" as a definitive (or even necessarily correct) answer on this situation.

Instead, I'd recommend inquiring directly of RCI. Of course, the potential problem with phone inquiry is that you could very well get three different answers from three different VG's -- and NONE of them may actually be correct. RCI phone reps (some, anyhow) are notorious for offering answers and viewpoints completely unencumbered by actual knowledge. It might be much better to pose your question in writing directly to RCI, asking for a clear answer in writing:

RCI 9998 North Michigan Road Carmel, IN 46032

In a world where sometimes "no good deed goes unpunished", you certainly don't want to risk the termination of your membership and/or the actual exchange itself while attempting to accomplish such a generous and selfless act. For that reason, I recommend that you DON'T take opinions and speculation offered here or elsewhere on the Internet as representing the correct or final "word" on the matter.

....Just my personal view on the safest and most definitive way to get clarification in this situation.

forshey wrote:

jayjay wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

Ask yourself how these folks who rented out their exchanges could have gotten "the most desirable weeks". ( If their own was that good, why not rent it?) Early deposits would seem to be the logical explanation. Then you actually can pull more for your exchange and start ongoing searches for the good stuff. MD

This was back a few years ago when one could actually get a good exchange with a mediocre trader and before points entered the picture. You're probably right that the depositor deposited very early to snag those good exchanges. It was evidently part of their business plan.

Except for the rules, it would be very easy to make a nice return on guest certificate rentals if you use points for last minute weeks rentals looking on the day that the weeks switched from normal weeks to last minute weeks. I have recently seen a seller on ebay listing many rentals 6 weeks out in Atlantic City that are probably obtained in this manner. I am not recommending that anyone do this, but you need to look at all the trading possibilities and not only weeks for weeks with an early deposit.

Actually, it's puzzling to see how the renter of an RCI exchange can compete with someone who is renting his owned week directly with no cost for exchange fees and, perhaps, no guest Confirmation fee to cover. That instantly boosts costs by about $200. Of course some rare weeks are without competition. And some owners want a big markup.

You mention the "good old days" when one could get a good exchange for a mediocre resort. I seem to remember seeing recommendation that folks new to timeshares run out and buy cheap resales that they don't want to use themselves and dump them on RCI. Maybe they did. MD

adahiscout wrote:

You mention the "good old days" when one could get a good exchange for a mediocre resort. I seem to remember seeing recommendation that folks new to timeshares run out and buy cheap resales that they don't want to use themselves and dump them on RCI. Maybe they did. MD

Exactly, the mantra back then was to buy a cheap resale with low maintenance fees and deposit it with RCI for much better trades. The days of buying a dog and getting a jewel in a trade are evidently over.