Complain about a product or service

RCI

RCI's Web site says the company has over 3,700 affiliated resorts located in 100 countries, with over three million subscribing members living in more than 200 countries. Its "RCI Community" is an exchange network of three million timeshare owners worldwide who participate in RCI's traditional week-for-week and points-based timeshare exchange networks.

christian of edmonton, AB October 7, 2009

rci is a time share company that phoned me this afternoon with an offer of a free vacation to cancun plus a free stay in orlando near disneyworld. how did they get my number? i must have signed up for it they said... how odd. despite my concern over whether this was a credit card scam they continued to pressure me - "this one a one chance deal, take it or leave it" type of thing. i told them i had concerns and the manager came on the line to pressure me more... at this point he tells me it will only cost me 598 dollars (U.S.). after telling him my concerns over credit card fraud (he called me on my cell phone, not very secure) he continued to tell me that after i authorized the payment if i did not receive the promised goods (six days in cancun and five days in orlando) i would be protected by my credit card company. this is a lie, if i approve a payment it is not refundable.

i made this point to him and he continued to talk... that is when i got on the internet and discovered this site. i told him i wasn't interested in his high pressure sale, he tried to explain more, i told him i wasn't interested, he kept talking, i asked him why he was still talking when i already said no, he kept talking, i told him again "why are you still talking when i already said no? that doesn't make any sense to me." he finally gave up and hurried off the phone.

what a crock these people are, i worked for a resort that dealt with them and it was crazy what they would tell people to make the deal. so many people did not get what they were expecting. they would invite them out to the resort from wherever and let them stay in the newer, nicer rooms and then when they booked they would get the thirty-five year old dirty crappy rooms.

Frances of West Des Moines , IA September 25, 2009

I guess my story really isn't any different than all the others on here. My husband and I bought RCI POINTS from Blue Bay. We were told we could use these for unlimited airline travel, car rentals, etc. Now, we are limited to using 60,000 points/year for these services, there is a booking fee of 50 (and up) AND you have to pay the difference of the cost of the ticket after 60,000 points. trying to find a resort that is an RCI POINTS resort is a JOKE. Most are through their points or weeks and then to use them, you pay a booking fee and then another 189 to use a weeks resort intead of a points resort. RCI's customer service is non-existent.Just this morning I was literally THREATENED by an RCI representative that if I didnt' stop calling about my concerns, they would reverse my renewal and i would lose my points. Long and short, we lost thousands of dollars in points it will be impossible for us to use. WE ARE VERY INTERESTED IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT!! Can anyone help??

Deborah of Maple Ridge, BC September 7, 2009

I recieved an email with last mintute promotions, upon trying to book a room at the discounted rate, I was told none were availiable, but I could cash in one of my certificates for a discounted rate of 599.00 for the week. I feel into the trap and later felt a bit unsettled.

I called to the resort and asked a few questions and was suprised to find it was much further away then I was led to believe and that I could book the exact same room for 50. per night off expedia. A savings of 400.00 to me which is considerable during a recession.

I contacted RCI to cancel my reservation and was told absolutley no refund would be given. I feel like I have been baited and switched and scammed. I am a careful consumer and spend a great deal of time researching my travels but this has never ever happened. I would like my money back.

John of Keene, NH August 26, 2009

I'm going t add my complaint to all of those already made about RCI's seeming complete inability to broker an even exchange. Last year, I traded in my Red Week at a prime Florida resort (two bedrooms; two baths; easily sleeps eight),and was given an absolute dump of a place ("Island Resort")on Block Island, RI. It had all of the looks, feel--and smell--of a 1950's motel. If a Super 8 or a Motel 6 opened across the way from it, it would go out of business.

This year, I was unable to get get anything other than a one-bedroom in Hancock, MA ("Vacation Village"). This place was listed as having a "partial kitchen." How many of you realize that this means not only no oven, but no range, as well. What it had was a two-burner portable unit. Just a wee step up from a Bunsen burner, mind you. The place had little, if any insulation, carets were just plain out dirty. No cell service, and they wanted about 7 bucks a day to hook you up to the Internet.

One guest observed, in his complaint, that he's received free Internet service in hotels that charged him something like 48 a night, and this "resort" wanted 7 a day? I think that those who claim that RCI is taking the weeks that we bank and tries to sell them--rather than making them available to other members as trades--has hit the nail on the head. There just cannot be so many people claiming that they're unable to get desirable weeks at desirable places as a "trade," but seem to have little or no problem buying these same weeks from RCI.

Tami of Dayton, OH August 11, 2009

Here is the response I received after complaining about the unavailablity of options at RCI. Also, when I bought my Farishare account, I was able to trade my points without a search charge. Now they want 164.00 just to search. I want my originally contracted benefits! I don't feel as if I have ever been given a fair deal with Fairshare. "Ms...., I understand you have been frustrated in the past by our lack of available inventory. It is important to know that because RCI is not a reservation system, and it is not unusual for there to be no availability in popular areas at the time of your initial call to RCI. When we receive a deposit for a highly-demanded resort, it typically is confirmed immediately by a member who has already submitted a request and prepaid their exchange fee. Your likelihood of confirming a vacation for such areas is best if you submit your request well in advance and allow us to continuously search for a match. Be assured RCI understands the mutual benefit of confirming your preferred exchange, and we do so whenever possible."

My daughter is considering attending either Chaminade University or Hawaii University in 2011. We need to visit these colleges, but we don't think it is fair to have to pay for hotel/motel rooms to do so during her break.

paulette of henderson, NV August 1, 2009

I have another complant about our RCI time share...its just a rip off.. We tried for months to exchange our week in Colorado ..as we had a wedding to go to...they never had nothing we could use. When we go and check at different places they do have units availabe. but not for us to exchange. We ended up with a friend of a friend...being able to use their timeshare...up in the mts. for just cost of maint. fees.. I don't get it.

Roseann of los altos hills, CA July 23, 2009

They take your money for maintance fees and they take your weeks at a luxurey resort and there is nothing on there website to exchange. All of their luxury properies are blacked out January 1st-December 31st. I asked the agent about this and she said they are participating in RCI but they have nothing available! This looks like blatent bait and switch tactics that are used to misrepresent and swindle folks out of their money. Do not ever use RCI or buy a timeshare that claims to use RCI points as a way to change your vacation location!!!

Damon of Pittsburg, CA July 22, 2009

I have paid infull a timeshare in Hawaii throught RCI and Embassy Vacations. I called in fall to bank my week and take care of maintaince due(we pay every other year) and found our count to be on hold. The account had been purchased by another time share company. We email and called and never got a response.(we have the emails. Last week after many attempt and no mail we got a hold of someone at the resort. They gave us a number in las vegas they told us our account was in forclosure due to unpaid maintaince fees. We paid upfront for that time share 10,000. They told us it hadn't been resold it had been put back into inventory and we would have to get a lawyer if we wanted to do anything about it.

Anonymous of London, ON July 21, 2009

We signed up for RCI via Resort Holiday Group / Georgian Manor) in 2002. It has been a long and disappointing road dealing with constant run-arounds by resort and RCI staff and contracts. Long, sad, continuing saga. Stay away. Save yourself the grief. Don't buy into their (very powerful) sales pitches. If you do just know that you wasted your money - and will be for many years (perhaps even after you die) - that's all.

nancy of carlsbad, CA June 6, 2009

I made a timeshare reservation for 9 nights in January 2010 using points banked with RCI. The reservation agent mistook my dates for January 2009, starting the actual date I had made the reservation. This is quite bizarre, inasmuch as I told the agent I was trying to make my reservation to immediately follow a stay I was booking for a nearby resort in 2010. I have appealed to a supervisor named Rob @ RCI with no success. Strangely, my RCI membership #901081502 was cancelled (not by me) after I complained to Rob. Noone at RCI can tell me who cancelled my membership nor why.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.

Back to the top |