UPDATE: RCI CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT - must read for all RCI members

[Goofyhobbie]

Jennie said: The 5 options noted in the post above are for current members.

Former members (between January 1, 2001 and August 31, 2009) have only one option. If you scroll down to Section 5 C of the link I sent to you, you will see:

"If you are not currently a Member, but were a member of the RCI Weeks Exchange Program between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2009, you may select one of the following two benefits:

(1) a $15 payment from RCI; or
(2) a $15 credit toward a new RCI Weeks Exchange Program membership.

http://www.weeksprogramsettlement.com/pdf's/ClaimForm4.pdf

Because of one date mistake the above post may prove confusing.

The correct wording here should be:

Former members (between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2009) have only one option. If you scroll down to Section 5 C of the link I sent to you, you will see:

To Tia,

If you are a FORMER RCI MEMBER, did you leave RCI because of a lack of Exchange Opportunities?

If so YOU should be objecting to the Settlement.

A former Member of RCI can claim the $15.00 and also OBJECT to the Settlement.

Please consider filing an Objection. It is really very simple. You don't have to give reasons for your objection. JUST OBJECT!

Go here to print out an objection form and mail it to the Court with a copy to the two gentlemen mentioned at the bottom of the form.

http://rciclassactionlawsuit.com/TUG_member_information_and_instructions_for_RCI_cl ass_action_settlement.html

Thank you in advance for OBJECTING!

[Carolinian]

Originally Posted by Jennie

I remember reading that post but haven't been able to find it. Do you happen to know the Forum and post # for it.

We are collecting examples of situations like this to include in the objection summary to present to the Court.

If anyone else has some proof that a desirable deposited week was rented to the public, please let me know either here on this forum, or by PM.

It was on the Exchanging board and the resort was Hatteras High

[Carolinian]

I have noticed that the Florida AG has been very active of late on timeshare issues. If blocking the sellout / settlement on the class action in the Fairness Hearing fails, then maybe he would be an AG who would be receptive to bringing a state Consumer Protection lawsuit against RCI on the rental issue.

[bass]

I have a question about the class action lawsuit. Earlier in the year I was sent a claim form by RCI that had to be returned by April 6, 2009. At that time I (stupidly or naively) chose the option 2 - a 2 month extension of my RCI membership. I chose this option because my subscription to RCI ends 12/2010 and I hope not to renew (I still have 1 timeshare week that I hope I won't have by the end of next year - but that's another story). The card that I received from RCI stated - If you have previously submitted a claim form, you do not have to submit a new claim form. Are they referring to the claim forms sent earlier in the year? The options were different at that time. (the 2 year extention is not included nowhere to be found in the class action lawsuit). They sure know how to confuse us. Thanks.

Nancy

[exyeh]

Hi, I have a question: I quit RCI last April (2009). My resort is Worldmark membertship. Can I do the objection as the week's owner? (I am trying to put worldmark as resort ID). And if it doesn't work, I have sheraton mountain vista week which in 2008 belongs to RCI (now is with II) Could I put that week? Does anyone know the resort ID at that time?
Thank you very much!
emily

[zgreg9]

Originally Posted by Jennie

I remember reading that post but haven't been able to find it. Do you happen to know the Forum and post # for it.

We are collecting examples of situations like this to include in the objection summary to present to the Court.

If anyone else has some proof that a desirable deposited week was rented to the public, please let me know either here on this forum, or by PM.

Jennie:

A search of TUG BBS should provide many examples such this one below from 2004 that I came upon by browsing tonight.

Greg


http://www.tug1.net/tugbbs1/Forum23/HTML/001789.html

suskey

TUG Member
Posts: 671
From: Middletown, NJ Owner - Vistana, Orlando, Vistana Beach Club, DIK, Casa Del Mar,Aruba Casitas Del Monte
Registered: Dec 2000 posted 12-20-2004 03:58

Count me as another long time RCI member(since 1985) who is ready to jump ship due to RCI's questionable rental program.
A few days ago I needed to cancel an internal exchange at a small resort I own in Palm Springs. Just to satisy my own curiosity, I checked both the availability for an exchange and the bonus week/rental section online right before I called and released the unit. Before...my unit did not appear in either a search or rental..after I released it..VOILA!!!- there was the week as a rental..within minutes!!! My question is this...I am currently looking for a week in Las Vegas. There are MANY rental weeks, but no exchanges available. Does RCI ever switch from the rental section to an exchange as the date gets closer and no rental occurs and a member has an online search going on for the resort that appears as a rental? RCI seems to have no problem taking members weeks and making them rentals, so does it work the other way???
Oh. by the way...after seeing the above for myself...that will be the last week I ever deposit a week in the RCI system. Add me to the long list of dissatisfied customers who feel RCI is engaging in dishonorable business practices.
------------------
Susan
IP: Logged

Madge

TUG Member
Posts: 3568
From: Carmel, IN
Registered: Jan 2003 posted 12-29-2004 10:17

Susan,
Rental units that are not confirmed are indeed rolled into the exchange program as travel dates get closer - usually less than 7 days before travel.
I've addressed the issue of rentals on TUG many times and expect it will continue to be a topic of interested discussion. It is difficult for me to comment on a specific scenario I did not witness and cannot verify for myself. However, it is possible for what you described to happen.
When members exchange their weeks for cruises or use Points Partners transactions, RCI rents space to cover the costs of those services. Since those members deposited inventory with RCI Weeks or RCI Points, but aren't taking a corresponding vacation back out, RCI has rental "credits" based on what the members deposited. These credits may or may not be redeemed in the form of the same units that were deposited.
For example, a member who took a cruise exchange may have deposited his week a year prior and it would already have been assigned to someone for exchange. In that case, we would use something comparable to his unit for the rental credit. Comparability is based on the same guidelines as Trading Power. Or, we might use something that would provide similar rental value, but would be less scarce in the exchange program. That way, the unit in higher demand for exchanges would be kept in the exchange system.
From a reconciliation standpoint, RCI actually has a surplus of rental credits at the moment. So, to date, the exchange system has actually benefited from the fact that more members have exchanged into non-exchange inventory than we have taken back for rental.
------------------
~ Madge

[Goofyhobbie]

Nancy asked the following question above: I have a question about the class action lawsuit. Earlier in the year I was sent a claim form by RCI that had to be returned by April 6, 2009. At that time I (stupidly or naively) chose the option 2 - a 2 month extension of my RCI membership. I chose this option because my subscription to RCI ends 12/2010 and I hope not to renew (I still have 1 timeshare week that I hope I won't have by the end of next year - but that's another story). The card that I received from RCI stated - If you have previously submitted a claim form, you do not have to submit a new claim form. Are they referring to the claim forms sent earlier in the year? The options were different at that time. (the 2 year extention is not included nowhere to be found in the class action lawsuit). They sure know how to confuse us. Thanks.

Nancy

A member of the class in the RCI "Weeks" Class Action Lawsuit has the opportunity to OBJECT to the proposed settlement up until November 20, 2009.

The fact that the class member has submitted a claim form for one of the benefits offered by RCI does NOT prevent the class member from later sending in an Objection to the settlement.

The right to file a claim and the right to object are separate rights provided to every member of the class.

TO ANYONE READING THIS POST:

If you are a member of the class, you can object to the settlement if you don’t like any part of it.

You do NOT have to give a reason for your objection. You can simply say:

I object to the settlement in In re: Resort Condominiums International, LLC, Civil Action No. 06-cv-1222 (PGS)

NOTE: If you do want to give reasons why you think the Court should not approve the proposed settlement please do so. The Court will consider your views.

But, if all you want to do is object and insure that the Court takes notice of your objection you can simply print out the Form Letter provided at rciclassactionlawsuit.com. To get direct access to the form letter use the link provided below. Once at the Instruction page go to Informational Instruction # 6. The site was set-up to help you and any other member of the class whose goal is to object.

http://rciclassactionlawsuit.com/TUG_member_information_and_instructions_for_RCI_cl ass_action_settlement.html

Fill in the information required, send the original SIGNED Form to the Clerk of Court and mail a copy to each of the two gentlemen whose addresses are at the bottom of the form.

Thank you for in advance for sending in your OBJECTION.

[Goofyhobbie]

Emily said: Hi, I have a question: I quit RCI last April (2009). My resort is Worldmark membertship. Can I do the objection as the week's owner? (I am trying to put worldmark as resort ID). And if it doesn't work, I have sheraton mountain vista week which in 2008 belongs to RCI (now is with II) Could I put that week? Does anyone know the resort ID at that time?
Thank you very much!
emily

Emily, the fact that you owned a week at Sheraton Mountain Vista when it was an RCI affiliated resort is sufficient for purposes of an objection to the proposed settlement.

You were a member of the class between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2009.

Hopefully, you know the RCI account number that you had prior to quitting RCI. If not you can probably get the number by simply calling RCI and asking them what your number was between 2000 and 2009.

The Sheraton Mountain Vista resort in Avon, CO was listed in the RCI directory as RESORT # 6060.

For purposes of objecting to the settlement, I recommend that you identify RESORT # 6060 when you fill out the Form Letter which you can access at Instruction # 6 at the following Link:

http://rciclassactionlawsuit.com/TUG_member_information_and_instructions_for_RCI_cl ass_action_settlement.html

[Goofyhobbie]

On October 23rd at Post # 635 a Eurpoean that goes by the USERNAME: crazyhorse asked the following question:

All this court action is taking place in the USA. I have been following the progress off and on for some years, but as a European member do I have any options?

I have received a definitive answer to the following question:

..., can a citizen of Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan or any place else in the world who owns an RCI affiliated Week participate as a "Member of the Class" in the Class Action Suit before the U. S. District Court for the District of New Jersey?

The response was as follows:

The definition of a class member does not depend on country of origin. If a person qualifies as a class member, he or she may participate in the settlement regardless of his or her country of residence or location of interval.

If you were an RCI Member between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2000 and you owned a week of Vacation Time at any RCI affiliated Resort you can participate in the settlement which of course means you can also object to the proposed class action settlement or any part of the proposed settlement.

To get access to a simple Objection Form Letter go to:

http://rciclassactionlawsuit.com/TUG_member_information_and_instructions_for_RCI_cl ass_action_settlement.html

If you decide to object to the settlement get your objection postmarked and mailed on or before November 20, 2009. The earlier the better.

Also, please share this infomation with others that you may know who are RCI Members or former RCI Members residing outside of the States.

[Carolinian]

This raises a serious notice issue. Did they notify overseas members?

Originally Posted by Goofyhobbie

On October 23rd at Post # 635 a Eurpoean that goes by the USERNAME: crazyhorse asked the following question:



I have received a definitive answer to the following question:



The response was as follows:



If you were an RCI Member between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2000 and you owned a week of Vacation Time at any RCI affiliated Resort you can participate in the settlement which of course means you can also object to the proposed class action settlement or any part of the proposed settlement.

To get access to a simple Objection Form Letter go to:

http://rciclassactionlawsuit.com/TUG_member_information_and_instructions_for_RCI_cl ass_action_settlement.html

If you decide to object to the settlement get your objection postmarked and mailed on or before November 20, 2009. The earlier the better.

Also, please share this infomation with others that you may know who are RCI Members or former RCI Members residing outside of the States.

[Jennie]

Originally Posted by Carolinian

This raises a serious notice issue. Did they notify overseas members?

Hi Steve, I tried to contact you via TUG PM but received a message that your mailbox is full.

Are you able to clarify for us if there is a difference between RCI Europe and the U.S. division which presumbly covers the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. And even the latter information has been received "second hand" and may not be accurate.

Is RCI one large company with "branches" in other countries?

[crazyhorse]

Originally Posted by Goofyhobbie

On October 23rd at Post # 635 a Eurpoean that goes by the USERNAME: crazyhorse asked the following question:



I have received a definitive answer to the following question:



The response was as follows:



If you were an RCI Member between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2000 and you owned a week of Vacation Time at any RCI affiliated Resort you can participate in the settlement which of course means you can also object to the proposed class action settlement or any part of the proposed settlement.

To get access to a simple Objection Form Letter go to:

http://rciclassactionlawsuit.com/TUG_member_information_and_instructions_for_RCI_cl ass_action_settlement.html

If you decide to object to the settlement get your objection postmarked and mailed on or before November 20, 2009. The earlier the better.

Also, please share this infomation with others that you may know who are RCI Members or former RCI Members residing outside of the States.

Thanks for your research, Dave.

As to Carolinian`s question regarding RCI notifying me regarding the situation,
I was well aware of the court case from the posts that have appeared here over the past two or three years. I was also aware of the "settlement" via this board, and had seen the posting both by RCI on their website and in one of the magazines that had been sent out. However I have not received either a personally addressed mail from them, either through the post or via email.
I can only assume that this is the case with other European members.

As side issue on this, I don`t know how many European members have knowledge of this case nor the issues involved.

I know that many resorts will have their own websites, but how many are featuring the situation? The clubs must know about what is going on, but are they are keeping quiet about it? Can we honestly expect any support there?

[Goofyhobbie]

Earlier this afternoon, I sent an E-Mail to one of the counsel for the Plaintiffs in the RCI "Weeks" Class Action Lawsuit.

The pertinent part of my E-Mail made the following statement:

The 2009 Directory of Affiliated Resorts (RCI publication DWK09) which was received by me in early October on page M5 says:

"RCI is the world's largest vacation exchange network, affiliated with more than 4,000 resorts in more than 100 countries. More than 3 million member families who live in 200 countries belong to RCI. A global network of more than 3,000 highly trained Vacation Guides assist members with planning their vacations. RCI.com offers 24 hour service." (Emphasis added.)

Then I asked the following question:

Please confirm whether or not the "Court-Ordered Legal Notice" from the SETTLEMENT ADMINISTRATOR was in fact mailed to each and every one of those "WEEKS" Members that are OR were "Weeks" Members between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2009.

The following was the response:

The Court ordered notice program provided for publication notice to non US residents, in addition to the notice on RCI's website.

[Goofyhobbie]

If you were an RCI “Weeks” Member between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2009 and you reside outside of the United States we need to hear from you.

Please record here whether or not you received a written notice from the SETTLEMENT ADMINISTRATOR between late September and today.

The POST CARD should have said on the FRONT:

You May be a Member of a Class Action Lawsuit About RCI Weeks® Timeshare Exchange Program

On the opposite side of the PC you should have seen the following statement followed by other verbiage in exceptionally small print.

You May be a Member of a Class Action Settlement Regarding RCI Weeks® Timeshare Program and Entitled to Benefits

If all you did was glance at the Post Card you may have gotten the impression that the overall purpose of the card was to tell you that you may be entitled to Benefits.

There was only one full sentence about objection that sentence said:

You may also object to or comment on the Settlement

.

That sentence was followed by this statement:

Objections…must be filed with the Clerk of the Court by November 20, 2009 and mailed to Class Counsel and counsel for Defendant.

Even though you may NOT be a U. S. Citizen, you may be a Member of the Class and eligible to file a Claim for a Benefit and if you are a Member of the Class YOU DEFINITELY CAN SEND IN AN OBJECTION.

Even though the Post Card said that you must file with the Clerk of the Court by November 20, 2009 please NOTE: YOUR OBJECTION MUST BE POSTMARKED by November 20, 2009.

Again, please post here if you reside outside of the United States and did or did not get the above referenced notice.

[Jennie]

If the response was:

"The Court ordered notice program provided for publication notice to non US residents, in addition to the notice on RCI's website" that would mean that RCI was allowed to publish the information in some publication instead of sending a postcard and Email notice to the members who reside outside the United States.

That's what they did the first go round with U.S. members. They published the first notice on page 94 of the March issue of Endless Vacations Magazine (that thing I toss into the reclycling bin without reading). RCI's attorneys also said in Court that they had published it in USA Today newspaper in February. That was sure to get the attention of millions of RCI members, right?

At the "Fairness Hearing" in June, Shep Altshuler, Publisher of Timesharing Today Magazine, and Susan Collins, an attorney who is representing several Objectors, made a strong argument that the the members had received inadequate notice. The Judge agreed and ordered RCI to send a second notice by postcard and Email.

If the members residing outside the U.S. did not receive at least an Email notice, I would think that that issue needs to be brought to the Court's attention.

[crazyhorse]

How many of us have noticed that this 31 days in the Terms of the Settlement is the maximum period that a "desirable week" would be available in the Exchange Pool?

When a member deposits his own week say a year or more out, he will have on average only 15 days to grab that "desirable" week. The reason is, that "desirable" week may have been sitting in the Pool for between zero days and 31 days, i.e. average of 15 days. The period may even be less than that, for there may be variations in time between how quickly RCI can verify deposits.

He is of course able to choose from one of the many other weeks in the Pool, some more desirable than others.

[crazyhorse]

Originally Posted by crazyhorse

How many of us have noticed that this 31 days in the Terms of the Settlement is the maximum period that a "desirable week" would be available in the Exchange Pool?

When a member deposits his own week say a year or more out, he will have on average only 15 days to grab that "desirable" week. The reason is, that "desirable" week may have been sitting in the Pool for between zero days and 31 days, i.e. average of 15 days. The period may even be less than that, for there may be variations in time between how quickly RCI can verify deposits.

He is of course able to choose from one of the many other weeks in the Pool, some more desirable than others.

I should say that this 15 days only applies to weeks that are in the Pool at the time (or just before) the member deposits his own week!!
Once he has deposited, he can still wait until a new suitable week appears, provided that new one is deposited at least a year before its start date.

[regatta333]

I have been reading the terms of the proposed settlement and as I understand it, RCI must make a deposit available to an ongoing search that has sufficient trading power even if it is within a year of check-in.

I have had an ongoing search request tied to a generic deposit for just over a year. I had the VC place specific resort IDs in the search request. Yesterday, I noticed that rental units had become available for one of the resorts for many dates in 2010, including dates that I was requesting. When I called RCI, the guide told me that this resort ID was not in my search request. Maybe this was simple error on the part of the VC who placed the original search request; I know it was not an error on my part as I keep records of all my requests with dates and resort IDs. In any event, I had the resort added back to my search. I'm probably getting paranoid about a simple error, but the resort has not been offered to me for exchange and now I guess I am out of luck.

[Carolinian]

Originally Posted by Jennie

Hi Steve, I tried to contact you via TUG PM but received a message that your mailbox is full.

Are you able to clarify for us if there is a difference between RCI Europe and the U.S. division which presumbly covers the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. And even the latter information has been received "second hand" and may not be accurate.

Is RCI one large company with "branches" in other countries?

I am not sure if RCI North America covers the Caribbean or not. I know there are some different policies that apply in the Caribbean as least as far as resorts are concerned. A manager at one of the resorts there told me that they have to pay RCI an annual fee to be an affiliate, something US resorts do not have to do. There are a number of differences that impact members between US and Europe. Europe is a seperate division.

At one time at least two of RCI's overseas divisions were franchises, and that included South Africa. However, I think that now they have been bought out and are all company owned.

BTW, you can PM me now if you wish. I deleted some messages.

[Kathleen]

Dear Folks,

Is there a tutorial for what I'm supposed to do?

I do not log on often enough to keep up. My eyes roll back in my head every time I try to sort through these posts.

Help!

Thank you.

Kathleen

[DeniseM]

Here is a FAQ and a link to the form:

http://rciclassactionlawsuit.com/TUG...ettlement.html

[Kathleen]

Dear Goofyhobbie,

Thanks for your speedy help.

Kathleen

[Elli]

Originally Posted by Goofyhobbie

If you were an RCI “Weeks” Member between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2009 and you reside outside of the United States we need to hear from you.

Please record here whether or not you received a written notice from the SETTLEMENT ADMINISTRATOR between late September and today.

The POST CARD should have said on the FRONT:


On the opposite side of the PC you should have seen the following statement followed by other verbiage in exceptionally small print.


If all you did was glance at the Post Card you may have gotten the impression that the overall purpose of the card was to tell you that you may be entitled to Benefits.

There was only one full sentence about objection that sentence said:

.

That sentence was followed by this statement:


Even though you may NOT be a U. S. Citizen, you may be a Member of the Class and eligible to file a Claim for a Benefit and if you are a Member of the Class YOU DEFINITELY CAN SEND IN AN OBJECTION.

Even though the Post Card said that you must file with the Clerk of the Court by November 20, 2009 please NOTE: YOUR OBJECTION MUST BE POSTMARKED by November 20, 2009.

Again, please post here if you reside outside of the United States and did or did not get the above referenced notice.

Dave, I live in Canada and did not receive anything from RCI but, as mentioned in an earlier post, I did send my 3 letters.

[Jennie]

Originally Posted by Kathleen

Dear Folks,Is there a tutorial for what I'm supposed to do? I do not log on often enough to keep up. My eyes roll back in my head every time I try to sort through these posts.
Help! Thank you. Kathleen

If you wish to file an objection, which most of us have decided to do, it's very simple. You can hand-write it or type it--whatever. There is no official form. Here's the procedure in a nutshell: (IT MUST BE POSTMARKED BY NOVEMBER 20TH)


Send an objection letter, with an original signature, to the Court
( If there are 2 or more owners listed on the RCI account, only one person's name and signature is required)
AND a copy to the attorney for the Plaintiffs
AND a copy to the attorney for the Defendant (RCI is the defendant).

The original goes to:
Clerk of Court
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
402 East State Street
Trenton, N.J. 08608

In the letter include

RE: In re: Resort Condominiums International, LLC
Civil Action No. 06-cv-1222 (PGS)

I _____(your name)____________________________________object to the proposed settlement. (You can state one or more reasons for your objection, but it is not necessary to do so).

Include your address
Telephone number
RCI account number
RCI Resort name and I.D number of one resort you own.
If there are 2 or more owners listed on the RCI account, only one person's name and signature is required

At the bottom of your letter, indicate that you will be sending a copy to:

cc: David C. Berman
A Professional Corporation
P.O. Box 111
Morristown, N.J. 07963-0111

cc: David S. Sager, Esq.
DAY PITNEY LLP
P.O. Box 1945
Morristown, N.J 07962

If you also wish to claim one of the specified one time benefits, you can do so online at: http://www.weeksprogramsettlement.com/pdf's/ClaimForm4.pdf

[Tia]

I objected and mailed them. I emailed a few friends who own timeshares with explainations given here re the RCI suit with links, and 2 replied saying thanks as they had not truely understood exactly what it all meant from the tiny postcard they had gotten.