“In America nobody says you have to keep the circumstances
somebody else gave you.”
- Amy Tan - (The Joy Luck Club)
It all started with Jim Martin’s Diminishing
Returns and the idea that Changing Rules
have brought forth a Theory about
how we came to be in these Circumstances.
You see Jim was distraught about the exchange options being offered for his two bedroom, Gold Crown
Red Week, didn’t understand why the rules were changing and didn’t give a hoot about my theory about what
was going on. When he found Bonny and himself in this circumstance he attempted to call his contact with
the exchange firm. Alas, he got her answering machine and was forced to leave a message. This attempt to communicate
was repeated several times over the next week or so without any responce. Not being able to get direct information
from his exchange firm source, Jim called an acquaintance that also owned several timeshares and inquired
if he was having the same problems. What he received was the confirmation he suspected but did not want.
Others were in the same circumstance and the problem was growing.
My issue of TimeSharing Today (Nov/Dec) arrived yesterday and three of the featured letters were from
RCI members that seemed to independently confirm similar circumstances. I reprint exactly...
- [a] “In issue #71, a reader expressed impatience with RCI’s ever-worsening ability to locate exchanges.
The explanation given in his case - that his home resort is ‘just average and not Gold Crown’ - does not wash;
I’ve had the same problem over the last few years with a highly regarded resort and spacebanked week. Attempts
to get help from RCI in resolving such matters netted defensive double-talk. Concluding that there was no point
trying to talk to them...”
[b] “We have a red time, gold crown timeshare in Hawaii and still could never get anything like we
wanted from RCI. They would give away our week and then delay us indefinitely (although we would select multiple
place for various weeks), then never seemed to get us anything until our time nearly expired and we would have
to take what ever we could get.”
[c] “The song is a long waltz that unfortunately is affecting about 2 million members of RCI and II.
I have been an owner for over 20 years and a member of both networks. I remember when exchanges were $25 and if
Christel and Jon De Haan (RCI Founders) couldn’t get someone to use your week, you got it back to use yourself
plus your exchange. What we all bought into many years ago is not the same product or service that we now get.”
The following was taken from the Timeshare Beat week of Oct. 31…
“Here’s a novel concept for the industry, especially the larger players that deal in points. How about actually
making your current owners so happy that they generate referral business. How about having real member service
representatives that actually give members/owners service, instead of going through the motions until you find
a point of attack to make a new sale. “
It is not my intent to indicate that RCI, or for that matter Interval International, is solely
responsible for these circumstances, however between the two of them they surely dominate the exchange activities.
Little question exists that both firms have placed their trifecta bet on major brands, clubs and points with traditional
weeks becoming also-rans.
Recent research (2/2/03) indicated that 87% of all U.S. Timeshares were traditional weeks and 13% were points
based plans. These numbers interpreted to a little less than a 7 to 1 ratio. As indicated in Theory when
you boil all the numbers down and get to the ratio for a reasonable exchange the ratio becomes less than 2 to 1.
One would think that with that ratio each traditional week exchanger could expect to get the exchange they wanted.
Let's take a look at the reality...
There are three timeshare plan owners. Owner #1 has a traditional week, Owner #2 has a traditional week and
Owner #3 was in a point based plan-- thus the 2 to 1 ratio. The first owner banks his week without making a request,
the second owner makes a request, gets an exchange and gives up his week to the exchange firm and the third owner
purchases the right to use the second owner's week using only half of his points exchange currency (6,000) and
rolls the balance (6,000) forward a year. Both the traditional weeks are now committed to an inbound guest and
when the first owner finally makes his exchange request he is advised that nothing matching his request is ‘currently’
available. Why? Because the points plan owner used one of the traditional weeks and the week owner cannot access
inventory from a points based plan. Advantage points owner - disadvantage weeks owner #1, plus next year the points
owner gets his full allotment (12,000) of points again and then (with his 18,000), can take out #1 again, #2 and
if he so desires a #4.
Being Eliminated addressed comments
made by Mr. Henry J. Silverman, the President, Chairman and CEO of Cendant Corp, which as you know
is the parent company of RCI. Those comments were made in January of this year when he spoke at the American
Lodging Investment Summit. To refresh your memory Mr. Silverman stated; “The weekly-interval model
for timeshare will be eliminated within five to 10 years in favor of points-based timeshare usage.”
The grand scheme will not eliminate weeks because they are real property, it’s just to eliminate the concept
of weeks. Clearly it is in the best interest of the major exchange firms to keep those current members who own
weeks pacified and fee paying until they can be converted to points out of pure frustration. This seems a sure
bet because most weeks owners don’t want the value of their ownership just to dissipate and see no other option
except the ones expressed by several who wrote to the TimeShare Today.
- [d] “I have come to the conclusion that since I own several weeks, I will go back to the resorts
where I own, and bought because I liked the areas and I’ll be happy. We are an intelligent group; there
must be a great many owners out there who can think of some alternative action that can be taken.”
[e] “When our RCI membership ran out we did not renew and have since traded a number of times
with Platinum Interchange and have gotten excellent cooperation. My wife and I are convinced that RCI and II are
NOT the way to go. When our II membership expires we will let go of it also. The small exchange businesses just
seem like the best way to exchange.”
[f] “In trying to enjoy vacations that we have already largely paid for, we are dealing with an industry
that has a different agenda (basically, selling us more and more weeks and other packages). It’s important to
understand that we share the same problem with it and to push back (voting with our pocketbooks) if we are
to retain the benefits of interval ownership originally advertised to us.”
Final Thought
In my opinion point plans are the current darling of both the timeshare developers and the exchange firms because
both reap major benefits from this product. The power of brands and the dazzle of flexibility have blinded the
consumer to the ‘buyer beware’ and all they are seeing is the upside. One of those upsides for the developer, exchange
firm and the points owner is the one-sided exchangeability of points into weeks resorts then locking out the week
owners from points resorts. This greatly enhances the points owner's opportunity to achieve the exchange
they want and severely limits the availability of exchange options for weeks owners.
As long as the typical weeks owner continues to pay membership fees to exchange firms that fail to perform for
them, the exchange firms have no motivation to change their approach. Likewise, for so long as resorts maintain
affiliations with exchange firms that do not perform for their owners, the exchange firms have no motivation to
change their way of doing business..
The only way a typical weeks owner can be assured of an equitable exchange is to avoid giving up their week
to an exchange firm until they have been offered that exchange. If the exchange firm is able to give a banked week
to someone else prior to providing an equitable exchange to the member depositing the week, be assured that that
member will have to accept something less than they originally intended.
The Timeshare Guru. Fern Modena lists many of the firms
currently making exchange. If you would like to visit her page and take a look at alternative exchange firms do
so by clicking on her name.
Scottsdale Camelback Resort currently maintains an affiliation with Resort Condominiums International
and Interval International and has owners who maintain memberships in one or the other or both. SCR owners
have another option and that is Vacation & Travel or the Scottsdale Camelback Travel Club. Because
they are owners at SCR they do not have to pay a membership and they receive one-on-one personal service from Jan Wasmann who operates the service for us. If you
would like to take a look at that option do so by clicking on her name.
These circumstances are not of our doing. They have been thrust upon us by third parties who are operating in
what they believe is their best interest, which is their profits and/or dividends to their stockholders.
If you believe that those circumstances are not necessarily in your best interest you must seek out others in the
same circumstances and do something.
My Pop taught me to begin change by identifying the problem first. Have we done that over the last 4 weeks?
If so then maybe some enterprising individual or group will step forward and offer a solution to those millions
of us caught in this quagmire.
Part 1: Diminishing
Returns Part 2: Changing Rules
Part 3: A Theory
