Forum - A Bravenet.com Forum

Pepper

Sep 4, 07 - 5:55 PM

So II is even worse than RCI for exhanging and rentals?

I am just getting used to II helping a friend with their account. I am getting ready to join myself but I cannot help but feeling underwhelmed at the results or lack of results my friends get.

Isn't there a trade window for late exchanges being available to anyone? Like the RCI 45 day window?

I see the ad on the II home page for Hawaii and of course there are several rentals available for what my friends are trying to exchange for. They cannot get the exchange and are going to lose their week.

And the stupid on-going search at II keeps changing the dates on the search. I go back and fix it and they change it again.

So far not impressed at all with II.

Weller

Sep 4th, 2007 - 5:56 PM

Re: So II is even worse than RCI for exhanging and rentals?

To get the check-in date set in stone you have to call & have a VC actually make it for a specific date. Otherwise the system will automatically default to a Thur. through Sat. check-in.

You can also tell the VC that you want only specific resorts & not to call with alternatives. I did that with a request for a DVC resort. They called at least every 4 or 5 days offering one of the zillions of other resorts available. Asking the VC to make a note that I would only accept DVC stopped the phone calls.

Tim

Sep 4th, 2007 - 5:58 PM

Re: So II is even worse than RCI for exhanging and rentals?

Put on your safety hat as the II defenders will most likely pounce on this very soon but II as an organization and as an exchange company is simply awful. They produce slick promos and posters, a nice wish book and talk a great game. They produce zero. They make all sorts of backroom deals to get the big names to sign with them. If you happen to own with one of those big names AND use the preference they invariably get over mere, paying individual owners you can do OK, still not great, with II. But if you plan to take a week, pay your annual II fees and attempt to get anything even close to the same value in return you will be disappointed. They will move the earth to get you to take a studio or 1 bedroom even if you gave them a 3 bedroom. They will have a few of those top resorts they love to tout after the good stuff has been decimated by every group that holds one of the many priorities but it will be tiny units mostly in off season times.

Like you I went into membership at II with high hopes but, with over 7 years of trying with multiple resorts and times and looking for many different resorts and areas - using deposits that worked great in other systems, I realized II simply didn't deliver the trades and were some of the most frustrating people to deal with I've ever run into.

So now I use my free II points system through Sunterra. It works well, I get the Marriotts and DVC and others that were only pictures in the book before. I would never go back to being a paying, individual weeks member of II again. The system is not set up for those mere paying members but is a rigged system for the big, high profile developer mini-systems they have enticed in over the years. Now that I too can play in that world of corporate priority II is OK, not as good as some others, but at least an option for my points.

Lailane

Sep 4th, 2007 - 6:00 PM

Re: So II is even worse than RCI for exhanging and rentals?

I am not going to defend II because what you wrote here may well be 100% true. From the little bit of experience I have had with II, I know that it is true that they try to have you take anything in the area you are interested in and in a smaller unit too. They call you right through dinner time when you have your mouth full when you answer the phone. We told them not to call again and waited our time out and finally got exactly what we had asked for but how many people know this, when they are new with II. They did this with our Marriott unit so they do it with all resorts and not only with the smaller individual ones.

The problem is that the resorts need these exchange companies to sell their timeshares because they sell the promise that you can exchange to anywhere in the world in the season you bought. If they could not offer this, they wouldn't sell so well. The developers are married to the exchange companies so the exchange companies have it for the saying what they want from the developer or visa versa and they make deals with each other and the timeshare buyer ends up being the victim because we all know how hard it is to make an exchange and may be even more so if you own at a little independent resort because they do not get any preferential treatment.

If all developers would be more honest and tell us to buy where we want to go most of the time and emphasize how difficult it is to make an exchange because the condo has to be deposited by another member first, then people would be more satisfied with timesharing in general.

I hope that RedWeek will be a good alternative with a better system and is not dependent of the developers in any way so they will be loyal to their paying members instead. I hope they will pull it off so that we get more choice to go with independent companies which will keep the prices stable. Nobody is happy with the price increases we are getting from RCI lately. I read of another one yesterday

Judy

Sep 4th, 2007 - 6:02 PM

Re: So II is even worse than RCI for exhanging and rentals?

I'm happy with II, and I don't belong to one of the "mini-system" chains. Hawaii, however, seems to be in very short supply in II; I hardly ever see Hawaii weeks except last-minute. If you own a non-Marriott/non-Starwood high quality week, your chances of getting Hawaii are even worse because the quality filter will remove most of the lower quality Hawaii weeks, and many of the high-quality Hawaii weeks are Marriotts or Starwood, with internal trade priority. When the II resort I owned got downgraded in quality, I suddenly could see more Hawaii weeks, since the quality filter was no longer such a problem.

As far as I know, II doesn't "skim off" weeks for rental the way RCI does. However, II's inventory tends to be concentrated in certain areas, and their trading system is very sensitive to quality level.

What is your friend using to trade?

Author	Comment
Pepper Sep 4, 07 - 5:55 PM	So II is even worse than RCI for exhanging and rentals? I am just getting used to II helping a friend with their account. I am getting ready to join myself but I cannot help but feeling underwhelmed at the results or lack of results my friends get. Isn't there a trade window for late exchanges being available to anyone? Like the RCI 45 day window? I see the ad on the II home page for Hawaii and of course there are several rentals available for what my friends are trying to exchange for. They cannot get the exchange and are going to lose their week. And the stupid on-going search at II keeps changing the dates on the search. I go back and fix it and they change it again. So far not impressed at all with II.
Weller Sep 4th, 2007 - 5:56 PM	Re: So II is even worse than RCI for exhanging and rentals? To get the check-in date set in stone you have to call & have a VC actually make it for a specific date. Otherwise the system will automatically default to a Thur. through Sat. check-in. You can also tell the VC that you want only specific resorts & not to call with alternatives. I did that with a request for a DVC resort. They called at least every 4 or 5 days offering one of the zillions of other resorts available. Asking the VC to make a note that I would only accept DVC stopped the phone calls.
Tim Sep 4th, 2007 - 5:58 PM	Re: So II is even worse than RCI for exhanging and rentals? Put on your safety hat as the II defenders will most likely pounce on this very soon but II as an organization and as an exchange company is simply awful. They produce slick promos and posters, a nice wish book and talk a great game. They produce zero. They make all sorts of backroom deals to get the big names to sign with them. If you happen to own with one of those big names AND use the preference they invariably get over mere, paying individual owners you can do OK, still not great, with II. But if you plan to take a week, pay your annual II fees and attempt to get anything even close to the same value in return you will be disappointed. They will move the earth to get you to take a studio or 1 bedroom even if you gave them a 3 bedroom. They will have a few of those top resorts they love to tout after the good stuff has been decimated by every group that holds one of the many priorities but it will be tiny units mostly in off season times. Like you I went into membership at II with high hopes but, with over 7 years of trying with multiple resorts and times and looking for many different resorts and areas - using deposits that worked great in other systems, I realized II simply didn't deliver the trades and were some of the most frustrating people to deal with I've ever run into. So now I use my free II points system through Sunterra. It works well, I get the Marriotts and DVC and others that were only pictures in the book before. I would never go back to being a paying, individual weeks member of II again. The system is not set up for those mere paying members but is a rigged system for the big, high profile developer mini-systems they have enticed in over the years. Now that I too can play in that world of corporate priority II is OK, not as good as some others, but at least an option for my points.
Lailane Sep 4th, 2007 - 6:00 PM	Re: So II is even worse than RCI for exhanging and rentals? I am not going to defend II because what you wrote here may well be 100% true. From the little bit of experience I have had with II, I know that it is true that they try to have you take anything in the area you are interested in and in a smaller unit too. They call you right through dinner time when you have your mouth full when you answer the phone. We told them not to call again and waited our time out and finally got exactly what we had asked for but how many people know this, when they are new with II. They did this with our Marriott unit so they do it with all resorts and not only with the smaller individual ones. The problem is that the resorts need these exchange companies to sell their timeshares because they sell the promise that you can exchange to anywhere in the world in the season you bought. If they could not offer this, they wouldn't sell so well. The developers are married to the exchange companies so the exchange companies have it for the saying what they want from the developer or visa versa and they make deals with each other and the timeshare buyer ends up being the victim because we all know how hard it is to make an exchange and may be even more so if you own at a little independent resort because they do not get any preferential treatment. If all developers would be more honest and tell us to buy where we want to go most of the time and emphasize how difficult it is to make an exchange because the condo has to be deposited by another member first, then people would be more satisfied with timesharing in general. I hope that RedWeek will be a good alternative with a better system and is not dependent of the developers in any way so they will be loyal to their paying members instead. I hope they will pull it off so that we get more choice to go with independent companies which will keep the prices stable. Nobody is happy with the price increases we are getting from RCI lately. I read of another one yesterday
Judy Sep 4th, 2007 - 6:02 PM	Re: So II is even worse than RCI for exhanging and rentals? I'm happy with II, and I don't belong to one of the "mini-system" chains. Hawaii, however, seems to be in very short supply in II; I hardly ever see Hawaii weeks except last-minute. If you own a non-Marriott/non-Starwood high quality week, your chances of getting Hawaii are even worse because the quality filter will remove most of the lower quality Hawaii weeks, and many of the high-quality Hawaii weeks are Marriotts or Starwood, with internal trade priority. When the II resort I owned got downgraded in quality, I suddenly could see more Hawaii weeks, since the quality filter was no longer such a problem. As far as I know, II doesn't "skim off" weeks for rental the way RCI does. However, II's inventory tends to be concentrated in certain areas, and their trading system is very sensitive to quality level. What is your friend using to trade?