Reviews on Resorts

I own at a few resorts and am generally happy with my ownerships, but do like to try new areas as often as possible. I will typically rely on RCI to do my exchanges but have purchased off the web on occasion. The thing that gets me is the Varied reviews you can read on the resorts. Red Week .com tends to have limited reviews mostly of which I would think are put in by the owners, who of course will make the resort sound great. Trip Advisor. Com tends to have many more reviews on each resort and they can Vary Wildly, from The greatest place on earth ,to this this is a dump all within the same week. I sometimes wonder if other Resorts send in some of these reviews to try and Poison there compitition. For the most part I think you have to try and take an avg. on all the reviews and hope your gut feeling is right.

I have submitted many reviews of resorts where I do not own ... including the good, the fantastic, the bad and the ugly of that resort.

The main thing to remember about reviews is what's heaven to one is hell to another :o) ... different people expect different things at resorts. You have to take all reviews with a grain of salt and go by what the majority of the reviewers post. I have been to resorts where there would be many negative reviews and many positive reviews to find that the resort is absolutely fantastic, and I have been to resorts where the reviews were mostly positive, but not in my opinion, as it turned out.

Some people want to be waited on hand and foot at a resort and when they're not they will give a bad review. You have to take it all in perspective.

I would like to see more recent reviews, instead of reviews from 3-4 years ago. Alot can change in 3 years. I've read where there might be equipment broken, and received a bad review, but hopefully in 3 years it was fixed. More up to date reviews. Maybe the reviews should not be more then 6 months to a year old.

swamper53 wrote:

I would like to see more recent reviews, instead of reviews from 3-4 years ago. Alot can change in 3 years. I've read where there might be equipment broken, and received a bad review, but hopefully in 3 years it was fixed. More up to date reviews. Maybe the reviews should not be more then 6 months to a year old.

To get more up to date reviews it takes people like you and I and other travelers to take the time to write it!

I have written reviews on all resorts and hotels we stayed in the last ten years and most are good.

One of the biggest problems is that most people write a review to complain about something and don't bother with listing the good things.

I try and write the truth from how my family felt about the resort and remember other families will read this and it could sway their decision on their vacation.

I wrote a review on Tug few months ago and was just e-mailed that I will get free membership fee or week at a RCI resort,my choice. This was very nice of Tug.Com and I was thanked because my review should help others and isn't that why we spend time on these sites in the first place!

UPDATE 3/30/2008

I JUST WANTED TO UPDATE THIS AFTER BASICLY BEING CALLED A LIAR BY OUR SELF APPOINTED SPOKES WOMEN ON HERE JAYJAY!

I NOW HAVE MY FREE DUES PAID BY TUG.

ALSO A MODERATOR (SWIFT) JUST RELISTED THIS SUBJECT ON TUG WESTERN FORUM TODAY AND THIS WAS WHAT I WAS OFFERED BY TUG LAST YEAR AND THEY FOLLOWED THROUGH WITH MY CHOICE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

PHILL12

Phil, just curious, how can Tug give you a free week thru RCI? As far as I know there is no affiliation between Tug and RCI.

jayjay wrote:

Phil, just curious, how can Tug give you a free week thru RCI? As far as I know there is no affiliation between Tug and RCI.

I have no clue! I never said Rci was giving me a week if I chose it! I stated that Tug would renew me free or I could have a free week at a Rci resort. I have no idea how that would happen or care because I would except the free Tug fee next year.

I will take next years fee to Tug!

UPDATE 3/30/2008

I NOW HAVE MY FREE DUES PAID BY TUG!

THANK YOU TUG!

PHILL12

I'm aware of Madge who answers questions regarding RCI on Tug, but there's no way RCI is giving weeks to Tug for review rewards no matter what you may have been told. There is no affiliation between RCI and Tug except the Ask RCI forum.

Quote:

I have no clue! What is funny is I hate Rci as I have stated in many post on the subject of Rci. We haven't dealt with them in 15 years now and I still read about the same problems.

I will take next years fee to Tug! As far as your question I know they have Rci reps that Tug members can ask questions to so I would think there is a connection there! I think the Rci rep is named Madge!

There is a section listed to ask Rci your questions also!

Jayjay, maybe you should ask Tug if this is that important to you!

Maybe Tug moderator owns weeks and doing this but I never said Rci was doing it. Maybe Tug is full of BS on this, I have no idea but just stating what I was e-mailed from Tugg office.

UPDATE 3/30/2008

I did get my free dues paid for by Tug and thank you to Tug.com

PHILL12

It's not important ... I just wanted to clarify that RCI is not giving weeks to Tug for any reason.

If RCI was giving weeks to Tug for resort review rewards then all other (millions) RCI members would be up in arms for RCI showing favoritism to a small internet group (Tug is a miniscule proportion of RCI members much like a drop of sand on a thousand mile beach and also many Tug members are not affiliated with RCI at all).

Again, there is no affiliation between Tug and RCI except the Ask RCI forum.

On that same note, I can't believe that RCI is still representing itself on Tug via Madge with all the negative bashing there concerning RCI. II has no such representation on Tug's small internet site.

It would be much more beneficial for the millions of RCI members to have an Ask RCI forum on a moderated RCI owned website for ALL (millions) members, not just the a few Tug members.

Can you relate to us what the actual review reward states?

Q=phill12] Jayjay, maybe you should ask Tug if this is that important to you!

Jayjay, I didn't keep the e-mail! It was from one of the Moderator's I have dealt with on Tug and had some help changing my password!

I just thought it was nice of them for my review!

I was told I didn't need to make my choice now and they would let me know when I would be ready to renew. Said I could have free renewed membership or a week at a Rci resort. Nothing about unit being given to me from Rci.

Jayjay,Gingin only you would come on here and call someone a liar because they had nice offer from Tug which we all understand you hate because they ban you from their site.

Tug is the best forum for timeshares and you can't stand not being a part of it so you want to knock everything about it and it's members but this is ridiculous.

As far as Rci being bad mouth on Tug I think you better look around. Tug member's and guest are not the only ones bad mouthing Rci and their actions with members. They are getting many owners ticked off last few years. We left them 15-18 years ago and know of three families that have left Rci in last couple of years for bad service.

I keep forgetting you own NO TIMESHARES so you can not understand what many Rci members are going through you can only tell them they should be happy!

Jayjay, I never understood why you always slam Tug and its members and any post on there about Redweek or anything else that bothers you on Tug. Now after some Tug/Redweek members letting me know about you being banned from Tug.com and couple other sites I do understand your dislike of Tug and its members.

You don't seem to understand that many of the Tuggers are also Redweek members. Guess that doesn't matter to you!

Redweek is no different and I have read post about Rci on here too! I have read about Rci on every forum about timesharing but you as always only mention its a Tug member! What a shame! Never hear you state its a TripAdvisor member saying something.

UPDATE: 3/30/2008

I DID GET MY FREE 2008 MEMBERSHIP PAID BY TUG! THANK YOU TUG.COM

ALSO A MODERATOR FOR TUG JUST REPOSTED THIS INFORMATION ON WESTERN FORUM SO GO READ IT!

I'm aware of those that are disgruntled with RCI, but in my opinion RCI bashing isn't going to help matters. Positive suggestions would be much more beneficial to the RCI and it's members. The constant RCI bashing on Tug, in particular, is negative energy not benefitting anyone. RCI is a huge conglomerate with millions of members and not all members or customers of any company will always be satisfied. As the old saying goes, "you can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time".

I once belonged to both RCI and II and except for their fee increases I was satisfied with both exchange companies. If I had a gripe I would call and speak to a supervisor, I wouldn't hash it out on a small internet site with a miniscule membership.

I still don't understand why RCI is represented on such a small internet site. It mystifies me when RCI has millions of members who've never even heard of Tug.

phill12 wrote:

As far as Rci being bad mouth on Tug I think you better look around. They are getting many owners ticked off last few years. We left them 15-18 years ago and know of three families that have left Rci in last couple of years for bad service.

Jayjay it is a two way street and you know that Rci understands unhappy members. I'm sure as they lose more and more members they know there is a problem!

It seems to me that Rci really hasn't changed there way of treating members in years and that is why we sold our condo 18 years ago and bought a five star and went with II.

We would still own our condo if back then you had more choices to work with.

We stayed at a resort with friends that owned in Maui years ago and we would have bought if they dealt with someone else but Rci.

I would have to say its time for Rci to start making changes if they really want to change the direction.

Most companies would have gone under treating the high percentage of members the way they do!

I'm not saying other timeshare trading companies don't have problems but it seems Rci is the worst at this time.

Your right to a point about dealing with your problem with Rci and maybe get your problem solved. It seems to be way larger than that at this point and now it takes members sticking together to get Rci to change its ways!

I read these post all the time and I am just glad I do not have anything to do with them any longer. When I see a resort ad I might have interest in first thing I check is RCI or II. If its Rci I just keep moving!

phil, I doubt RCI will ever change it's business model. The few RCI disgruntled members on Tug will NEVER be heard by the vast majority of the millions of RCI members. Tug actually has no control or persuaviseness whatsoever regarding anything RCI does even after all the ranting, raving and RCI bashing on the Tug site.

I remember when the RCI points program was introduced a few years ago. There were many Tug members who bashed RCI for implementing that program, however points are the best option for flexibility in the marketplace today and points are the only true evaluation of trading power criteria. If we ever get back into timesharing it will definitely be points.

As far as many Tug members alleging that RCI rents member deposits to the public, there has never been any proof of any such allegations. Madge has repeated time and time again that RCI rental inventory is excess inventory from several sources (including developer weeks) in order to fill a void of unused units at resorts, but many Tug members will not accept that explanation and will argue the point with Madge adnauseum.

And even IF RCI did rent member deposits, the deposits are theirs to do with as they wish. This is stated in RCI's Terms and Conditions. Once you deposit your week with RCI, it is no longer yours.

The best thing one can do is buy where they like to go every year bypassing the use of any exchange company or performing personal exchanges with other owners such as Redweek has implemented recently if owners don't like the exchange companies terms and conditions.

On another note concerning reviews, my favorite site other than Redweek is:

www.tripadvisor.com

There are thousands of reviews there for timeshares and hotels.

jayjay wrote:

On another note concerning reviews, my favorite site other than Redweek is:

www.tripadvisor.com

There are thousands of reviews there for timeshares and hotels.

I totally agree with you about the best site is still tripadvisor. I was on that site before I ever heard of Tug or Redweek. In fact I was directed to Tug from member on tripadvisor.

I disagree with you on making Tug the site always complaining about Rci because I have read about problems with them from members on so many sites.

I have also met people at resorts that deal with both II and Rci and Rci members seem to always ask II owners about II services because their unhappy with Rci service.

I don't believe that this is a Tug problem . I do believe it is a Rci problem and they need to work on it.

How many times have you read post from Rci members asking about other choices. Its not just a few members that are mad and making changes!

Its not just a few members that have problems with Rci, its many!

and they have taken legal action as well www.rciclassaction.com

Quote:

Its not just a few members that have problems with Rci, its many!

The only people that'll be getting rich from this socalled 'class action lawsuit' will be the lawyers involved. The cost of defending RCI will ultimately be passed on to it's members in more rising fees.

RCI has it's own team of very astute lawyers who have crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's concerning RCI's terms, conditions and regulations.

I actually don't get what the lawsuit is all about or why anyone believes they have a solid case against RCI. Anybody can file a lawsuit about anything as is evidenced in our society today. Filing a lawsuit means nothing.

eric572 wrote:

and they have taken legal action as well www.rciclassaction.com

Has anyone ever been to "Clover Ridge" resort in Panora Iowa? We have never been there and would like to sell it but would like to know a first hand "users" comment to pass on.

I like Trip Advisor. com. They are up-to-date and have a large number of reviews so there is a better chance of overall honesty.

jayjay wrote:

The only people that'll be getting rich from this socalled 'class action lawsuit' will be the lawyers involved. The cost of defending RCI will ultimately be passed on to it's members in more rising fees.

RCI has it's own team of very astute lawyers who have crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's concerning RCI's terms, conditions and regulations.

I actually don't get what the lawsuit is all about or why anyone believes they have a solid case against RCI. Anybody can file a lawsuit about anything as is evidenced in our society today. Filing a lawsuit means nothing.

eric572 wrote:

and they have taken legal action as well www.rciclassaction.com

jayjay,

Do you have any personal communication with the attys at RCI? Do you know the quality of their work or reputation? Do you even know any attorneys that do class action suits, or defend class action lawsuits? Your blind faith is admirable.

The attorneys that represent RCI, both in litigation and in contractual matters have only one alliegiance, to their client, who is the Cendant Corporation that owns RCI, and every decision they make is solely for the benefit for their client. If the RCI executive management tells the firm to craft a contract that is unfair to the members, they will do exactly that. Also, the lawyers for RCI do not necessarily monitor the activities or abuses carried on by the corporation, so to believe that because they have a quality law firm on board, is enough to believe that the management is not making legal blunders, is naive. The lawyers are not there to monitor the corporation as you want to believe.

Personally I do not like plaintiff class actions, but on the flip side of the attorneys getting rich to stop an abuse, it is RCI that is getting rich at the expense of the members if left unchecked. For a class action, it is usually something where each individual class member is harmed, but not harmed enough to mount a lawsuit on their own. There are several factors that qualify a suit as a class action, and to qualify they have to first be certified by the court, not just get away with filing any lame lawsuit.

You are correct in that filing a lawsuit means nothing, it is being able to maintain the lawsuit that indicates that there may be something wrong. There are numerous legal mechanisms that will get rid of friolous lawsuits, and if indeed frivolous, the person that filed the suit will be on the hook for the costs. If the lawsuits were devoid of any legal substance, they would not be allowed to exist in the court system.

.

bryan, what confuses me is that the lawsuit (from the little I've read) is mainly concerning RCI renting out surplus weeks. Weeks that RCI rents that are considered surplus are weeks that are deposited for cruises, airline tickets (and other non-timeshare transactions) and perhaps points deposits.

Many of the weeks RCI rents are from developers and resorts themselves. Madge has explained this time and time again on Tug, but many people just don't get it.

RCI would be cutting off their nose to spite their face to rent member deposits. RCI attorneys have crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's. That's what they get paid big bucks for. That's why I honestly believe the lawsuit is frivilous and with no proof withstanding whatsoever.

And, no, I have no relation to RCI whatsoever except being a long time member. I just believe the cost of this whole frivilous lawsuit will be passed on to us members. That's my gripe.

bryanw21 wrote:

The only people that'll be getting rich from this socalled 'class action lawsuit' will be the lawyers involved. The cost of defending RCI will ultimately be passed on to it's members in more rising fees.

RCI has it's own team of very astute lawyers who have crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's concerning RCI's terms, conditions and regulations.

I actually don't get what the lawsuit is all about or why anyone believes they have a solid case against RCI. Anybody can file a lawsuit about anything as is evidenced in our society today. Filing a lawsuit means nothing.

eric572 wrote:

and they have taken legal action as well www.rciclassaction.com

jayjay,

Do you have any personal communication with the attys at RCI? Do you know the quality of their work or reputation? Do you even know any attorneys that do class action suits, or defend class action lawsuits? Your blind faith is admirable.

The attorneys that represent RCI, both in litigation and in contractual matters have only one alliegiance, to their client, who is the Cendant Corporation that owns RCI, and every decision they make is solely for the benefit for their client. If the RCI executive management tells the firm to craft a contract that is unfair to the members, they will do exactly that. Also, the lawyers for RCI do not necessarily monitor the activities or abuses carried on by the corporation, so to believe that because they have a quality law firm on board, is enough to believe that the management is not making legal blunders, is naive. The lawyers are not there to monitor the corporation as you want to believe.

Personally I do not like plaintiff class actions, but on the flip side of the attorneys getting rich to stop an abuse, it is RCI that is getting rich at the expense of the members if left unchecked. For a class action, it is usually something where each individual class member is harmed, but not harmed enough to mount a lawsuit on their own. There are several factors that qualify a suit as a class action, and to qualify they have to first be certified by the court, not just get away with filing any lame lawsuit.

You are correct in that filing a lawsuit means nothing, it is being able to maintain the lawsuit that indicates that there may be something wrong. There are numerous legal mechanisms that will get rid of friolous lawsuits, and if indeed frivolous, the person that filed the suit will be on the hook for the costs. If the lawsuits were devoid of any legal substance, they would not be allowed to exist in the court system.

.