Been waiting for months- no exchange available

ladyydoc · Nov 17, 2015

I deposited my week, and put in requests with 7 different locations to choose from, for March of 2016. I've already been waiting for 3 months, with no confirmation that anything is available.
How long is reasonable to wait?:annoyed:

Jason245 · Nov 17, 2015

Depending on location, you might need to put ogs in 1 to 2 years in advance. .

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DeniseM · Nov 17, 2015

March is Spring break for most schools, and if you only put in your request 7 mos. in advance, you may have been too late. School holidays have the highest demand.

What week and resorts did you request?

GrayFal · Nov 18, 2015

Which exchange company?
What resort, week and unit size did you deposit?

RCI requests using are best put in 1-2 years ahead.
II request 12 - 14 months out .... And as Denise said, March is Spring Break and very popular in warm weather and sky destinations.

So more information is needed from you for us to tell you your chances.

scotlass · Nov 18, 2015

SXM

In April 2015 I put in an OGS with RCI for St. Maarten in February 2016. Still no luck. Last year there were many options shortly before the week we wanted so I am still hopeful.

bellesgirl · Nov 18, 2015

Maintenance bills typically go out this time of year. That is when a lot of people realize they are not going to use their week and decide to deposit. We have been waiting months for an exchange for February and it just came through. Where are you going? Some resorts do bulk banking 8-12 months out and when those are gone, they don't come back unless there is a cancellation.

e.bram · Nov 18, 2015

Owners of Prime desirable weeks generally use or rent. Why deposit to end up with a dog week while the exchange company(RCI I presume) rents your prime week. Peolple should buy where and when they want to go.

silentg · Nov 18, 2015

e.bram said:
Owners of Prime desirable weeks generally use or rent. Why deposit to end up with a dog week while the exchange company(RCI I presume) rents your prime week. Peolple should buy where and when they want to go.

Suggestion: try an exchange on TUG. We are in the process of our first exchange with another TUG member. It is working very well. We both are paying our own Maintenence fees and using each other's week. No guest certificate fees, exchange fees. Just a perfect fit for both of us. After it is done, I will elaborate further. Will be in June 2016!
Silentg

ladyydoc · Nov 18, 2015

It is II

I deposited a 3 bedroom unit that sleeps 8 and has a full kitchen in St. Maarten.
The week I requested is March 23-31, 2016.
Places I requested are: Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Puerto Rico, St. John, and St. Kitts

DeniseM · Nov 18, 2015

ladyydoc said:
It is II

I deposited a 3 bedroom unit that sleeps 8 and has a full kitchen in St. Maarten.
The week I requested is March 23-31, 2016.
Places I requested are: Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Puerto Rico, St. John, and St. Kitts

That's Easter week - one of the highest demand weeks of the year. You probably put your request in too late.

Also, you requested a Wed. to Wed. - a Wednesday check-in is a lot more difficult to get, because most resorts don't have Wednesday check-in.

This is probably an impossible exchange. I would change my dates to a Friday - Saturday - Sunday check-in, and add more resorts.

Do you have to go Easter week? If you can change the dates completely, it would help.

You may want to make other plans for 2016, and change your OGS to 2017.

tschwa2 · Nov 18, 2015

I think when you do an ongoing request on II, it automatically defaults to the Thursday before your first date unless you call to make it more specific.

I agree about the timing. If you are going to request high season low availability locations, you are going to need to put in your request 12-13 months in advance. I think that was the same suggestion made to you last year when you were looking for summer near one of the national parks.

ladyydoc · Nov 18, 2015

I actually requested Saturday-Saturday. On my II exchange request page, it's showing those dates, even though I didn't ask for Wed-Wed. We can only go away Easter week because my kids are in high school.

If I already deposited the week, then I have no other options for an exchange?

DeniseM · Nov 18, 2015

ladyydoc said:
I actually requested Saturday-Saturday. On my II exchange request page, it's showing those dates, even though I didn't ask for Wed-Wed. We can only go away Easter week because my kids are in high school.

If I already deposited the week, then I have no other options for an exchange?

I would change my request to 2017, and make other plans for 2016.

Easter week is always going to be a really difficult week to get - like all school holidays. Your best bet (in the future) may be to rent your week, and apply the funds to a rental from another owner.

Seaport104 · Nov 18, 2015

ladyydoc said:
It is II

I deposited a 3 bedroom unit that sleeps 8 and has a full kitchen in St. Maarten.
The week I requested is March 23-31, 2016.
Places I requested are: Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Puerto Rico, St. John, and St. Kitts

As others have mentioned Easter week is super prime time and I assume you need a 2BR which further lessens your chance. In addition, there aren't a huge amount of deposits and/or timeshares in those areas-

St. John's- pretty much zero chance, only 2 resorts with very few deposits probably none during Easter week.

St. Lucia- very few non-all inclusive required deposits

Dominican Republic- almost all of them require all inclusive fees to be paid and if you are ok with this route, don't use your week to book it just buy a getaway

classiclincoln · Nov 19, 2015

Not to belabor the point, but if you want to exchange into a high demand week, you need to go at least a year ahead of time. My wife is a teacher and we are limited to the same vacation schedule you are. I put in our request 18 months in advance and have always gotten what we wanted. Luckily for us, she's retiring at the end of the school year so things are more flexible. In fact, we already got our exchange for St. Lucia in February 2017. With exchanges, time is your friend.

ladyydoc · Nov 19, 2015

Thanks very much for all of the suggestions

Sandy · Mar 3, 2016

silentg said:
Suggestion: try an exchange on TUG. We are in the process of our first exchange with another TUG member. It is working very well. We both are paying our own Maintenence fees and using each other's week. No guest certificate fees, exchange fees. Just a perfect fit for both of us. After it is done, I will elaborate further. Will be in June 2016!
Silentg

Interested in how you avoid the guest certificate this way. Doesn't each exchange come in the other TUGGER's name? Please help/elaborate.

Edit: I figured it out - you are using your own week, thus no need for RCI or II at all, right?

Bwolf · Mar 3, 2016

Sandy said:
Interested in how you avoid the guest certificate this way. Doesn't each exchange come in the other TUGGER's name? Please help/elaborate.

Edit: I figured it out - you are using your own week, thus no need for RCI or II at all, right?

Right.

We did a Tug exchange just like Silentg. Worked just great. We called our resort and told them who was coming and the other party did the same.

DeniseM · Mar 3, 2016

Just to clarify, in most cases, you have to call your resort's reservation office and request an official confirmation for your guest, so they have documentation at check-in.

csxjohn · Mar 3, 2016

DeniseM said:
Just to clarify, in most cases, you have to call your resort's reservation office and request an official confirmation for your guest, so they have documentation at check-in.

It may take more than a phone call.

My resort in DBS requires a letter over my signature to change a ressie. It's still free for me to do but Denise's advice to call and see what needs to be done should be followed.

theo · Mar 3, 2016

ladyydoc said:
<snip> We can only go away Easter week because my kids are in high school. <snip>

And therein lies the rub. Demand far exceeds supply for a peak period. Moreover, you "deposited" only a few months ago. You are among many, many others facing the supply / demand imbalance --- and there are a whole lotta dogs lookin' for the same finite number of bones...

SkyBlueWaters · Mar 3, 2016

e.bram said:
Owners of Prime desirable weeks generally use or rent. Why deposit to end up with a dog week while the exchange company(RCI I presume) rents your prime week. Peolple should buy where and when they want to go.

So that's what they were doing...duh. Time for a revolt and set up our own fee-free exchange system. Oh yeah, that exists too. Sigh. I wish we had a more popular non-profit exchange system outside of the traditional systems.

I'm sick and tired of their continuous undermining of our exchange experience, while I see them take away our weeks and build up profit, year after year. They are not watching out for us. They are watching out for their salaries and their shareholders (if that).

scootr5 · Mar 3, 2016

SkyBlueWaters said:
So that's what they were doing...duh. Time for a revolt and set up our own fee-free exchange system. Oh yeah, that exists too. Sigh. I wish we had a more popular non-profit exchange system outside of the traditional systems.

But who's going to go to the time and effort to set up that company,staff and run it for no profit?

Private exchanges work too, I'm in the midst of a three way exchange with another tigger, and everybody's happy.

DeniseM · Mar 3, 2016

A gentle reminder: We have a direct exchange system right here on TUG, in the Marketplace.

However, regardless of the system, for holiday weeks there will always be more demand than supply, and the best practice is to get your request in EARLY.

theo · Mar 4, 2016

SkyBlueWaters said:
<snip> I'm sick and tired of their continuous undermining of our exchange experience, while I see them take away our weeks and build up profit, year after year. They are not watching out for us. They are watching out for their salaries and their shareholders (if that).

With all due respect, isn't this exactly the business model and clear intent of any exchange company --- financial profit from exchanges among its' voluntary participants, from the participants' fees?

In other words, it should come as no surprise that the company objective and priority is profit, not the enhancement of your "exchange experience". In the final analysis, that's "just business", no? :shrug:

Been waiting for months- no exchange available

ladyydoc

Jason245

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DeniseM

GrayFal

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scotlass

bellesgirl

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e.bram

silentg

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ladyydoc

DeniseM

tschwa2

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ladyydoc

DeniseM

Seaport104

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classiclincoln

ladyydoc

Sandy

Bwolf

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DeniseM

csxjohn

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theo

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SkyBlueWaters

scootr5

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DeniseM

theo

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