[NokeyNose]

Ok, so here is the story/series of events, please bare with me!!!

A friend of mine has RCI, she wanted to stay on Disney Property and was unable to, I wanted to go somehwere else so we decide to trade time shares for 2009. I booked her reservation for October.

The economy got bad, so DH and I decided we were going to take the year to bank up some cash and go in 2010. She was fine with that, no big deal, we were going to go to St. Martin in feb 2010!!!

RCI and DVC partner!

She and I talk this AM and she is able to book a 2 BDRM at AK for the exact time she wants to go. Why would we bother trading. It ends up being a wash. She books the 2 bdrm, I call DVC to cancel her reservation and we are back to managing our own timeshares!

I decide to ask about reserving an RCI resort. (next time, I should stop there!)

(When DH and I bought into DVC we were excited because they had access to The Atlantis, Paradise Island. This is where we honeymooned and we would have loved to go back. We researched it and they actually have a top rated "Kids Club", so we figured, why not book there instead for Feb 2010! It would be perfect! )

WELL... RCI does not have The Atlantis as a resort, and we as DVC members no longer have Interval International resorts to choose from either!!!

I am angry!!!! I really have noone to blame but myself, since we were not about to travel this year and were actually planning on going to St. Martin with our friends time share, we didn't really read that much about the partnering! I misunderstood, I thought we were adding RCI to our list of partnering Timeshares, NOT REPLACING them with RCI! Little angry!!!

And to top it off... If I book with RCI, and I have to cancel, I do not get my points back to use at Disney, I MUST USE THEM WITH RCI!!!! Ok, fine, must be the same way for RCI members!

I call my friend, and she contacts RCI, asks about her points, they say no penalty to her, she gets her points back to use at RCI even if she uses them to book a DVC vacation and has to cancel! Does this seem like it is fair? Shouldn't she have to use them to book a DVC vacation? What was DVC thinking?

Ok, now that I blurted all of my anger out at all of you, is anyone out there willing to educate me as to why I shouldn't be angry! I welcome the help in calming me down! Thanks for the forum to vent!!!

[ddoll]

Wow Shannon, that stinks. I hope there's something good about this that you just haven't learned yet.

[Dana]

Originally Posted by ddoll

Wow Shannon, that stinks. I hope there's something good about this that you just haven't learned yet.

My thoughts too....I hope you get a happy ending here.

[Boss Mouse]

Dear Shannon,
When I did the wash, one of my socks went missing. So if ice cream has no bones, you shouldn't be upset. Right?

[NokeyNose]

maybe once someone opns my eyes and shuts my mouth! Thanks DDoll!

[NokeyNose]

Oh yeah, one more thing... I was ok with this before the partnering, because after all, we are DVC members, and we are the only ones who have Disney Porperty as a timeshare, but now that RCI has Disney Property it has all changed!!!

RCI members have their timeshares for life!!! They can will them to their children, and they will never expire!!! Ours expire!!! Man oh Man, getting more angry! (again, I was fine with this before, but I don't like that I come out with less and they come out with more!) Sorry call it greedy and competative I guess!

Oh yeah, and let me clarify, I am not angry with my friend or RCI, my friend is the greatest, and RCI did what was best for their clients! I am just not so sure DVC did!

[NokeyNose]

Originally Posted by Boss Mouse

Dear Shannon,
When I did the wash, one of my socks went missing. So if ice cream has no bones, you shouldn't be upset. Right?

Huh? No not feelin' ya! Sorry Boss! Have you been to the Atlantis before?

[Boss Mouse]

Originally Posted by NokeyNose

Huh? No not feelin' ya! Sorry Boss! Have you been to the Atlantis before?

No, I was just trying to get a smile.

[NokeyNose]

You definately did! A big one! your humor is appreciated! THANKS!

[rlcarmichael]

Originally Posted by NokeyNose

RCI members have their timeshares for life!!! They can will them to their children, and they will never expire!!! Ours expire!!! Man oh Man, getting more angry! (again, I was fine with this before, but I don't like that I come out with less and they come out with more!) Sorry call it greedy and competative I guess!

If you really want to trade why not buy an RCI resort. I have bought them for $1.00. Yep, One buck.

Trades aren't always as easy as they appear. I ended up loosing weeks because we couldn't use or trade. When that happens it's REALLY no bargin then.

And don't sweat DVC being over run with RCI members. Remember, unless a DVC member trades out, there are no (almost anyway) weeks for DVC to trade to RCI members.

And when you consider the cost in points - a 2 bedroom is 207-270 points for a week. Figure just your annual dues on the points then add the $95 reservation fee and you are paying WAY more than the maint fees on most RCI 2 bedroom units. My highest maint fee was only about $800 for a 2 br gold crown in Orlando.

I'll rent my points and pay cash thank you very much.

[NokeyNose]

Originally Posted by rlcarmichael

If you really want to trade why not buy an RCI resort. I have bought them for $1.00. Yep, One buck.

Trades aren't always as easy as they appear. I ended up loosing weeks because we couldn't use or trade. When that happens it's REALLY no bargin then.

And don't sweat DVC being over run with RCI members. Remember, unless a DVC member trades out, there are no (almost anyway) weeks for DVC to trade to RCI members.

And when you consider the cost in points - a 2 bedroom is 207-270 points for a week. Figure just your annual dues on the points then add the $95 reservation fee and you are paying WAY more than the maint fees on most RCI 2 bedroom units. My highest maint fee was only about $800 for a 2 br gold crown in Orlando.

I'll rent my points and pay cash thank you very much.

I should apologize, maybe I used incorrect language. My friend and I were not actually "trading" timeshares, we were just booking vacations for one another. There were no "legalities" involved. My family was not going to Disney in 2009, and her family wanted to go to Disney so we were just going to use the points each had in their respective timeshares to book the vaction of the other family. She was going to Disney, I was going to go to an island, She books my vacation, I book hers, we go on our separate vacation and noone loses out!

I am not interested in purchasing RCI, nor do I have the cash lying around to pay fees and the such, even if I did purchase for a $1.00. I am just angry that DVC partnered with a timeshare and the DVC members have stricter penalties than the RCI members for cancelling, and that I lost a popular resort in the process.

It sounds like you are fond of the RCI timeshare, I am sure it is terrific, I have a lot of friends and family that have it, and they love it, BUT I like being a DVC member, I felt "special" now, I don't! Wah, wah, I know! Are you saying it is cheaper to have RCI? (Bythe way, she is a points and weekely RCI member.)

My friend had absolutely NO trouble booking at Animal Kingdom for Mid October. I couldn't do that for her. I booked her at Saratoga and have it on my calendar to switch her 7 months out! (Another RCI perk for them). She got a 2 bedroom and it cost her $139 to book through her timeshare. Yes, my booking fee is only $95 through RCI, but if for any reason I have to cancel, I have to keep my points with RCI, meaning travel some place other than Disney. If she has to cancel, she gets a credit on her $139 towards another booking and is given all of her points back to do whatever she pleases.

It really isn't about $, it's about the Atlantis!!!!

[Dopey]

Originally Posted by NokeyNose

I should apologize, maybe I used incorrect language. My friend and I were not actually "trading" timeshares, we were just booking vacations for one another. There were no "legalities" involved. My family was not going to Disney in 2009, and her family wanted to go to Disney so we were just going to use the points each had in their respective timeshares to book the vaction of the other family. She was going to Disney, I was going to go to an island, She books my vacation, I book hers, we go on our separate vacation and noone loses out!

I am not interested in purchasing RCI, nor do I have the cash lying around to pay fees and the such, even if I did purchase for a $1.00. I am just angry that DVC partnered with a timeshare and the DVC members have stricter penalties than the RCI members for cancelling, and that I lost a popular resort in the process.

It sounds like you are fond of the RCI timeshare, I am sure it is terrific, I have a lot of friends and family that have it, and they love it, BUT I like being a DVC member, I felt "special" now, I don't! Wah, wah, I know! Are you saying it is cheaper to have RCI? (Bythe way, she is a points and weekely RCI member.)

My friend had absolutely NO trouble booking at Animal Kingdom for Mid October. I couldn't do that for her. I booked her at Saratoga and have it on my calendar to switch her 7 months out! (Another RCI perk for them). She got a 2 bedroom and it cost her $139 to book through her timeshare. Yes, my booking fee is only $95 through RCI, but if for any reason I have to cancel, I have to keep my points with RCI, meaning travel some place other than Disney. If she has to cancel, she gets a credit on her $139 towards another booking and is given all of her points back to do whatever she pleases.

It really isn't about $, it's about the Atlantis!!!!

That would make me very upset as well. There seems to be very little reason to own DVC now and especially with the deals for us non owners going on right now.

[WishUponAStar]

I don't get this whole thing at all. I am totally confused. If she was able to book AKV through RCI "no problem at all" then why would you guys 'trade' timeshares or make a reservation for her? I don't know anything about RCI or Interval International at all but every person that I've met, especially at work, who's owned at either has ALWAYS complained about never getting to go where they want, when they want. They are always envious when they find DVC members at work. ACTUALLY one of the social workers was asking me for a referral to a DVC Guide b/c she was dying to get rid of her timeshare & buy DVC instead.

[WishUponAStar]

Originally Posted by NokeyNose

Ok, so here is the story/series of events, please bare with me!!!

A friend of mine has RCI, she wanted to stay on Disney Property and was unable to, I wanted to go somehwere else so we decide to trade time shares for 2009. I booked her reservation for October.

And, if you wanted to go somewhere else besides Disney why didn't you just book a trip using your DVC points to somewhere else? One of my good friends is using her DVC points to go to Tennessee this summer.

Sorry, I am not trying to be mean I just don't get the whole situation. Sorry.

[WishUponAStar]

OK, I'm sorry.. I had to re-read that a few times to understand what the problem was. So, you are angry because:

-When DVC was partnered with II Atlantis was an option. Now that RCI is the new trade out we lost the Atlantis resort as an option

- You think it's unfair that RCI members have NO penalty for cancelling their trade-out reservation in Disney but if DVC members cancel an RCI reservation we don't get points back to use at Disney.

- RCI members can attempt to make a Disney 'trade' reservation at 11 months out at ANY DVC resort but we only get an 11 month booking window at our home resort.

- And you're upset because their membership doesn't expire & can be willed to their children while DVC has an "expiration date."

Did I get that all right?