Has anyone heard of Supervisor weeks?

Hi,

Well, what a stressful week. I was supposed to leave for Mexico with my husband and 2 children this coming sunday but the swine flu ended that vacation for us. I cancelled my two weeks earlier this week. When I did this I was told that RCI was offering no concessions for mexico cancellations and that I would be forfitting my exchange fees for the two weeks and would lose trade power (and that I did). Today I called back and spoke to a supervisor who informed me that she just received an e-mail on the mexico situation and she read it outloud as we spoke. The e-mail said that they will be refunding exchange fees for those who want to cancel and will restore full trading power. I had cancelled my vacation 2 days prior to this e-mail and there was no way to restore my trading power so the supervisor agreed to remove my 2 banked weeks (which were trading very poorly now) and replace them with 2 "supervisor weeks". I can't trade or search online with these weeks; I have to call an agent to search. Has anyone heard of these supervisor weeks? I wonder what the trading power will be like.In any case, I'm quite impressed that RCI stepped up to plate on this issue.
t.

Don't be too "impressed" --- it's a legal decision...

tlt said:

....they will be refunding exchange fees for those who want to cancel and will restore full trading power. ......
I'm quite impressed that RCI stepped up to plate on this issue.

Click to expand...

With Mexico about to temporarily "close its' doors", RCI legal counsel knows that RCI would promptly have (...even more) legal problems on their hands if they kept the exchange fees and deposits for imminent Mexico exchanges when the entire country is essentailly about to become "closed".

It's hardly an act of "willful benevolence" on the part of RCI....

It's a good thing. Supervisor weeks will pull anything...you just have to call to book it.

tlt said:

Hi,

Well, what a stressful week. I was supposed to leave for Mexico with my husband and 2 children this coming sunday but the swine flu ended that vacation for us. I cancelled my two weeks earlier this week. When I did this I was told that RCI was offering no concessions for mexico cancellations and that I would be forfitting my exchange fees for the two weeks and would lose trade power (and that I did). Today I called back and spoke to a supervisor who informed me that she just received an e-mail on the mexico situation and she read it outloud as we spoke. The e-mail said that they will be refunding exchange fees for those who want to cancel and will restore full trading power. I had cancelled my vacation 2 days prior to this e-mail and there was no way to restore my trading power so the supervisor agreed to remove my 2 banked weeks (which were trading very poorly now) and replace them with 2 "supervisor weeks". I can't trade or search online with these weeks; I have to call an agent to search. Has anyone heard of these supervisor weeks? I wonder what the trading power will be like.In any case, I'm quite impressed that RCI stepped up to plate on this issue.
t.

Click to expand...

I think with the ever-evlovling situation, people who are planning on cancelling a Mexico exchange people shoud wait until the last minute to do so. My reasoning is that most of us book non-refundable airfare and the airines and exchange companies are most likely looking at their policies on a daily basis. Most cancellations on our part will have to follow the rules then in place; if exchange companies and airlines are changing their policies it makes sense to wait until a change is made that benefits us. Worst case scenario someone cancels their exchange/flight a day or two before they are set to leave and the policy is not favofable....in this instance one is no worse off then if they waited.

Of course if you are looking to cancel an exchange in an effort to find something else, somewhere else during the same week then this advice wouldn't really be for you.

good advise.

djs said:

I think with the ever-evlovling situation, people who are planning on cancelling a Mexico exchange people shoud wait until the last minute to do so. My reasoning is that most of us book non-refundable airfare and the airines and exchange companies are most likely looking at their policies on a daily basis. Most cancellations on our part will have to follow the rules then in place; if exchange companies and airlines are changing their policies it makes sense to wait until a change is made that benefits us. Worst case scenario someone cancels their exchange/flight a day or two before they are set to leave and the policy is not favofable....in this instance one is no worse off then if they waited.

Of course if you are looking to cancel an exchange in an effort to find something else, somewhere else during the same week then this advice wouldn't really be for you.

Click to expand...

I had nonrefundable airfare to New Orleans on Delta 3 weeks after Katrina hit. The airport in NO was closed. Delta did not officially cancel my flight until a few days prior. They were allowing changes but I just wanted a refund. I waited until they cancelled the flight and then asked for a refund. They tried to get me to leave it as a voucher but I insisted on a refund. If the cannot get you to your destination in a reasonable time from your original reservations they owe you your money back. Even if they do not cancel, they may allow changes or your cancallation voucher has a few more days on it to use.

Short

I rebooked my flight to Maui.
Unfortunately, I will be paying for my accomodations but I did get a last minute sweet deal on a two bedroom oceanfront condo. Alaska Air didn't charge me a change fee and airfare difference was minimal. I like Hawaii better than Mexico anyways... so it's all good

Aloha!

t.

theo said:

With Mexico about to temporarily "close its' doors", RCI legal counsel knows that RCI would promptly have (...even more) legal problems on their hands if they kept the exchange fees and deposits for imminent Mexico exchanges when the entire country is essentailly about to become "closed".

It's hardly an act of "willful benevolence" on the part of RCI....

Click to expand...

Actually, if you read your contract with RCI, there is very little they have to do - just as when you exchange into a timeshare in an area with hurricane damage. They are an exchange company, and their job is to facilitate an exchange of your week for another. If you owned that week in Mexico, do you think your resort would be obligated to provide you another vacation? If you did a direct exchange with someone in Mexico, it would be nice of them to help you make other arrangements, but the reality is that you "own" that vacation.

Obviously, if you have a hotel reservation and the hotel is closed, you won't pay for your stay, but if you prepaid for your reservation through Priceline, and the hotel doesn't close, you are not automatically entitled to a refund.

I would consider this to be no different than the situations with the Hurricanes - it's and "act of god" where RCI and the resorts have no control. I doubt there is much they have to do legally, but they do allow last minute changes in many of these cases. Remember, they are in the business to make money, and while I won't say they are being benevolent, their decision is strictly a business decision. If they do this for you, you look upon their company favorably, and will continue to do business with them. If they don't help salvage your vacation, you will look upon them less favorably, and blame them for ruining your vacation. Whether they are at fault of not is irrelevant, if you perceive it as their fault.

Agree with Mel-well stated!

I completely agree with Mel's statement. RCI (or II) are an exchange company, not a vacation insurance company. (OK, you can pay extra in RCI for "vacation exchange insurance", or you can purchase additional (separate party) insurance in case of swine flu, avian flu, SARS, personal health issues, whatever...)

There is a risk to both owning and exchanging a TS.....you could always just rent.

Good points...

Mel said:

... if you read your contract with RCI, there is very little they have to do...

Click to expand...

I don't deal with RCI at all, personally, and hence have no contract to read, but your points and your reasoning are both sound and well taken.