Larry M
TUG Member
DAE seems great to use. It's very simple to deposit a fixed week you can't use. When I gave my Wyndham unit is Arkansas back to the association, the effective date was after my paid-for week, so I deposited the week. All it took was a phone call or two and maybe an email.
But when I wanted to find a week in exchange, things were not so easy. Suppose, like us, you wanted a resort that offered a specialty like one of these:
You would have to search all 50 states, all the Canadian provinces, and all the Central America and South American countries, then go to the website for each available property to see if golf was an amenity. And then you would have to repeat the searches for each successive week.
If your desired specialty is one of the less popular ones, like horseback or clothing-optional, you could spend days finding a suitable exchange--or any exchange at all--that has the amenity.
This is just wrong. There are surely some people who exchange based on location. But there are surely more who exchange based on amenities. How hard can it be to set up the computer system so the depositor fills out a simple checklist of amenities at the deposited site? And to provide the prospective guest a search function based on a checklist of amenities, optionally filtered by location and date.
If it's a less common amenity like horseback or clothing-optional, the user doesn't want to do a bunch of null searches because of enforced filters. There's no value in frustrating him. What's the harm in showing the user too many results? If DAE doesn't want to disclose its full inventory, then limit the results to the first 50 or 100 hits when a popular amenity is searched.
We're retired--we don't care when we travel. And we have quite a few airline miles--we don't mind going across the country or internationally. But we like some things that aren't offered widely, and DAE is not accommodating us well.
The depositor should also have the option to add amenities (e.g., scuba diving or whale watching) to the checklist and these would automatically be added to the search list presented to every subsequent user seeking to find a unit. Once constructed, the system could be managed with minimal moderation.
I've mentioned this to three or four of the agents in Arizona, but they all blew me off. It seems like no one at DAE is really interested in improving the service they provide. And sadly,
it looks like I will just let the week I deposited with DAE expire.
But when I wanted to find a week in exchange, things were not so easy. Suppose, like us, you wanted a resort that offered a specialty like one of these:
- Golf
- Tennis
- Horseback riding
- Kiddie pool
- Bicycles and paths
- Hot-tub/spa
- Lawn bowling
- Playground
- Miniature golf (putt-putt)
- Snorkeling
- Clothing-Optional
- Oceanfront
You would have to search all 50 states, all the Canadian provinces, and all the Central America and South American countries, then go to the website for each available property to see if golf was an amenity. And then you would have to repeat the searches for each successive week.
If your desired specialty is one of the less popular ones, like horseback or clothing-optional, you could spend days finding a suitable exchange--or any exchange at all--that has the amenity.
This is just wrong. There are surely some people who exchange based on location. But there are surely more who exchange based on amenities. How hard can it be to set up the computer system so the depositor fills out a simple checklist of amenities at the deposited site? And to provide the prospective guest a search function based on a checklist of amenities, optionally filtered by location and date.
If it's a less common amenity like horseback or clothing-optional, the user doesn't want to do a bunch of null searches because of enforced filters. There's no value in frustrating him. What's the harm in showing the user too many results? If DAE doesn't want to disclose its full inventory, then limit the results to the first 50 or 100 hits when a popular amenity is searched.
We're retired--we don't care when we travel. And we have quite a few airline miles--we don't mind going across the country or internationally. But we like some things that aren't offered widely, and DAE is not accommodating us well.
The depositor should also have the option to add amenities (e.g., scuba diving or whale watching) to the checklist and these would automatically be added to the search list presented to every subsequent user seeking to find a unit. Once constructed, the system could be managed with minimal moderation.
I've mentioned this to three or four of the agents in Arizona, but they all blew me off. It seems like no one at DAE is really interested in improving the service they provide. And sadly,
it looks like I will just let the week I deposited with DAE expire. 
