RCI Increases Exchange Fees Again [merged]

$194 call center
$179 online
Beginning 1/1/10

:annoyed:

boooooo....hissssssss :deadhorse:

The exact result predicted - none of it good

SOMEONE has to pay for the ever so valuable lawsuit costs! You didn't think it would be the stockholders, did you? Now the full consequences of that ill-fated exercise in making a few shysters rich have come to pass exactly as predicted when it began. Why won't people learn it doesn't work?

Pricing themselves out of some business

It's getting more difficult for a one-time a year exchanger to justify using RCI with the membership fee + the exchange fee. Several competitors, although admittedly much smaller operations, offer lower exchange fees with no yearly membership fees. Direct exchange and facilitator business models (i.e. no inventory) should grow and those costs can be quite low. How much, if any, of RCI's price increases are signs of the increased risk of their business model?

timeos2 said:

SOMEONE has to pay for the ever so valuable lawsuit costs! You didn't think it would be the stockholders, did you? Now the full consequences of that ill-fated exercise in making a few shysters rich have come to pass exactly as predicted when it began. Why won't people learn it doesn't work?

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If only RCI would provide the exchange service they promise rather than renting condo's instead. the class action lawsuit would never have happened in the first place.

gravityrules said:

It's getting more difficult for a one-time a year exchanger to justify using RCI with the membership fee + the exchange fee. Several competitors, although admittedly much smaller operations, offer lower exchange fees with no yearly membership fees. Direct exchange and facilitator business models (i.e. no inventory) should grow and those costs can be quite low. How much, if any, of RCI's price increases are signs of the increased risk of their business model?

Click to expand...

Myabe RCI will finally price themselves out of the buisness. Get prices high enough that owners stop paying membership and exchange fee's, then stop giving RCI inventory to rent. Then maybe RCI will get back to providing a decent exchange service.

The thing is, by the time the realize people are leaving them, the horse will have left the barn and other exchange companies like SFX will be getting the benefits. If the independents provide a reasonable alternative at a lower cost with better results, it will be hard for RCI to win back the buisness they lose.

We currently have 3 deposits with RCI. Our membership with them is thru 2013. I will NOT be depositing any more weeks with them and do NOT intend to extend my membership past 2013. This latest increase to the exchange fee was the last straw.

krj9999 said:

$194 call center
$179 online
Beginning 1/1/10

:annoyed:

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Do you have a link? I do not see that info anywhere.

The value is already less than the cost

dougp26364 said:

Myabe RCI will finally price themselves out of the buisness. Get prices high enough that owners stop paying membership and exchange fee's, then stop giving RCI inventory to rent. Then maybe RCI will get back to providing a decent exchange service.

The thing is, by the time the realize people are leaving them, the horse will have left the barn and other exchange companies like SFX will be getting the benefits. If the independents provide a reasonable alternative at a lower cost with better results, it will be hard for RCI to win back the buisness they lose.

Click to expand...

I think they already have (as has II). When you add up the cost to be a member of either or both groups plus the exchange fee you have easily reached $250+. Our original week in 1993 had an annual fee of $290! Even with a very low cost exchange ($500) unit the average nightly rate has exceeded $100, which is a magic number to most owners. It isn't worth it to me the pay that type of cost for what usually is a compromised exchange.

I believe they are trying to move the majority of owners toward points based trades, a move I happen to agree with. It is far easier to get a good value out using points with the bonuses of known values and the ability to fine tune the request to maximize annual return on your ownership. It also differentiates RCI from II as, so far except for links to other outside points systems, II lacks a points based exchange. Not having to commit 100% of a deposit for a single exchange is a major plus for RCI Points vs the all or nothing of weeks systems.

It has been over 8 years since I have been a paid member of either weeks based system from the big two (I do have access thanks to prepaid accounts from Wyndham - RCI and Diamond - II) and I haven't missed them one bit. In looking back well over 80% of my use has been purely within one of the points systems during those years and the remainder that were weeks based were all cheapo, last minute type stuff that represented throw away time. Often I book 7 days to actually use 4-5 and its still cheaper than a cramped hotel room. The fact that inventory like that is so readily available shows that strict week for week trades don't have good value to owners who want more control over how and where the use their time than those systems offer. Paying for a substandard exchange process is the height of folly to me. So the current prices have effectively made membership no option for our use. We would never go back.

What they are trying to move timesharers to is a rental-based system. For educated timesharers, what they are doing is moving us to independent exchange companies. They are sticking it to the points people on fee increases, too. I was talking to a timeshare manager in Europe who was commenting that the handful of members who had joined points at their resort were extremely uphappy with increases in points fees and wish they had never gotten hung up in points.

I just log into my weeks account and it is displayed on the main page.

Stricky said:

Do you have a link? I do not see that info anywhere.

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It would not surprise me to see more Interval based developers going to internal points based exchange systems that use points as a method for exchanges through Interval (ala DRI). This would be different from RCI's system in that RCI developed one system for all instead of allowing developers to develope, market and manage their own points based system for internal exchanges, then convert the points in those developers systems into a value for exchanges with RCI.

Intersting. There is nothing on the points side. I do see it on the weeks site.

Currently there is a $25 price difference between online and phone exchanges and now they are increasing phone by $5 and online by $15 making the price difference only $15.

I would expect prices to increase 3%-5% a year but isn't that the second increase in just a few months? Maybe with the extra money they can fix all the online glitches.

dougp26364 said:

The thing is, by the time the realize people are leaving them, the horse will have left the barn and other exchange companies like SFX will be getting the benefits. If the independents provide a reasonable alternative at a lower cost with better results, it will be hard for RCI to win back the buisness they lose.

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Which will serve them right. I hope that day comes soon.

Stricky said:

Intersting. There is nothing on the points side. I do see it on the weeks site.

Currently there is a $25 price difference between online and phone exchanges and now they are increasing phone by $5 and online by $15 making the price difference only $15.

I would expect prices to increase 3%-5% a year but isn't that the second increase in just a few months? Maybe with the extra money they can fix all the online glitches.

Click to expand...

I thought they increased every January. The difference between online vs phone may have come about this year.

oh, and keep dreaming on having a workable website.

RCI Is An Option We Can Do Without If They Price Themselves Out Of The Market.

timeos2 said:

When you add up the cost to be a member of either or both groups plus the exchange fee you have easily reached $250+.

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We pretty much quit doing straight-weeks exchanges after we took the points plunge.

After that, we did a straight-points exchange exactly once.

Just about all our resort vacations in other people's timeshares are now done via RCI Instant Exchange & Last Call.

If RCI manages to price those beyond our comfort zone, we can go back to staying in our own outstanding timeshares using our own paid-for time -- which was the original concept anyhow when we 1st got into timesharing.

RCI is a fun extra add-on only for so long as it's advantageous & economical.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

RCI is heaping on the evidence that it just doesn't pay to use them. Compounded against increasing maintenance fees at Wyndham resorts, these increases in RCI's fees only further shows me why I've chosen to end my relationship with them. I have one week on deposit with them, and it's the last they'll be getting from me. I plan to either stay at my resorts, or use an alternative company in the future.

And has anyone really dissected the fact that Wyndham owns RCI? If mf fees are going up, and exchange fees are also going up, at what point does it become too expensive to own a timeshare? (I still think the Wyndham-RCI relationship is fraudulent and predatory. But that's just me...)

Regarding the points-based systems some of you say works so well for you: How do you deal with the rising fees there, as well as the devaluation of what your points will get you? I'm a weeks guy, and at last count, seven nights was still seven nights. I'd hate to convert my weeks to points, then end up with something less than seven nights worth.

Dave

Those of you unhappy with RCI should strongly consider posting what you can trade here at TUG with free direct exchange and also consider Redweek which assigns a point value to your deposit.

I think that both are excellent alternative methods to achieve a positive exchange.

AwayWeGo:
Good then you be able tell us all about South Africa.

It's Pretty Much All Been Told -- Right Here On TUG-BBS.

e.bram said:

Good then you be able tell us all about South Africa.

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Everything I know about South African timeshares is already on TUG-BBS, from how we caught on to the idea via TUG in 2002 to how we sprang for an outstanding 2BR standard-grade South African timeshare unit for about $750 (US), with several years of RCI membership thrown in at no extra cost.

Since then, we've used our South African timeshare for several advantageous week-for-week exchanges into other people's nice USA timeshares, & we have done Points For Deposit with it the years we didn't swap it week-for-week.

Right now, we have our 2010 & 2011 South African timeshare weeks banked with RCI, for possible straight-weeks exchanges, or in the alternative for Points For Deposit.

All that is 100% factual & experience-based -- our experience, that is, with nothing made up & no guesswork. How well that matches other people's experience I have no way of telling.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

AwayWeGo said:

Everything I know about South African timeshares is already on TUG-BBS, from how we caught on to the idea via TUG in 2002 to how we sprang for an outstanding 2BR standard-grade South African timeshare unit for about $750 (US), with several years of RCI membership thrown in at no extra cost.

Since then, we've used our South African timeshare for several advantageous week-for-week exchanges into other people's nice USA timeshares, & we have done Points For Deposit with it the years we didn't swap it week-for-week.

Right now, we have our 2010 & 2011 South African timeshare weeks banked with RCI, for possible straight-weeks exchanges, or in the alternative for Points For Deposit.

All that is 100% factual & experience-based -- our experience, that is, with nothing made up & no guesswork. How well that matches other people's experience I have no way of telling.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

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And heck, when things don't go well, you can just walk away.

timeos2 said:

SOMEONE has to pay for the ever so valuable lawsuit costs! You didn't think it would be the stockholders, did you? Now the full consequences of that ill-fated exercise in making a few shysters rich have come to pass exactly as predicted when it began. Why won't people learn it doesn't work?

Click to expand...

That's a little harsh. While I don't think that RCI can really justify its price structure, it does have some expenses. The computers and call centers are expensive operations (I work in a 24/7 call center). My problem with RCI is that it really doesn't own the inventory that it rents or exchanges. I do believe that exchange organizations enhance exchange capabilities and hence commerce, but RCI is not purely an exchange organization (rentals as an example). Imagine if Wal-mart or any other store operated like this. It would have the overhead for the building and staff but the inventory is owned and paid for by somebody else (with some exchanges between owners but this still would profit the organization) with the store then having no cost of inventory. Sad but true, it is cheaper to rent than to own when all costs are included. That is not the way it should be.

We've been with RCI since 1999. If I remember right, there is not any year RCI did not increase the exchange fee by $10.

Boda-Bing! I've been searching for this exchange daily for the last 4 months!

I got a last minute 7500 pt exchange this past year into this oceanfront resort into a one bedroom. My Mom and her best friend used it for 4 nights and my husband and I used it for the last 3 nights during the yearly end-of-summer festival that my family loves to attend each year. Hotels for that weekend have crazy rates and most are booked months in advance. My Mom loved this timeshare so much that she begged for me to get it for her next year. I explained that it was a last minute and there would be no guarantees. Well, next year during that weekend festival, she will be celebrating her 70th B-day. I got a free 2009 week spacebanked with RCI when I purchased a timeshare a few months back.

I've been searching every day. Well, tonight (hours before the new fees start), a 2BR for the week I needed popped up at this resort. It is now mine and just cost me an exchange fee and at the current exchange fee rate. I'm thrilled to be able to give her this great present for her 70th B-day!

I have had good luck extracting good value from RCI exchanges thus far, but it does concern me that so many are finding the available trades diminishing at the same time that the exchange rates are going up. In terms of cost, it seems to me that the timeshare cost structure is poised at a point where if there is much more increase anywhere, the whole system becomes uneconomic. I will certainly be leaving RCI soon, unless I feel I am continuing to get good value exchanges.

Also, contrary to a previous post, I am not sure that it is fair to pin this increase on the lawsuit. My guess is that RCI would have increased rates even if there had been no lawsuit. My suspicion is that the increase has less to do with recovering legitimate costs, and more to do with increasing profit margins by extorting a captive market. I have no data to back up this suspicion, but that is because RCI is not a particualarly transparant operation.