RCI or ATC Accomodations

blurlamb

New Member
Hi,
does any RCI or ATC members have any resorts or hotels to recommend? Am thinking of using that for honeymoon. Don't have any place in mind yet, but was wondering if there's any nice RCI/ATC resort/hotel somewhere that has got nice scenery and things to see without having to rent a car.
 


@

@@@

Guest
Hi,
I'm a trial member of RCI and I havent utilise the every yr one wk free accomdations yet.I have a total of 3 wks.Thought of using it for my honeymoon too.But unsure of how to go abt doing it.
Anyone out there also bought their trail membership?
 

anne

New Member
hi blurlamb..I'm ATC/RCI member too..been using their breakaway special to Bengkok and Phuket.
Our Bangkok trip was actually a promotion accomdation fr RCI travel. The hotel that we stayed call Windsor Suite. Quite a recommended one
happy.gif
Nice and comfortable room with strategic location near Emporium shopping centre.
For Phuket trip, we stayed at Thara Patong Beach resort..normally for RCI they will only give member the old wing..if u r ATC member, make use of it..u will be able to enjoy the new wing which u can just slip to the pool
happy.gif
 

blurlamb

New Member
Hi @@@ & Anne,
so nice to know that u are ATC/RCI members too
happy.gif
Bought mine from Interval Resort Network. Did you buy from them too?

Anne, how did u get to know about these getaway specials? How much did u pay for it har? Is it worth it? So these RCI promotions are open to ATC members as well? Coz I actually bought the ATC membership and paid an annual fee to RCI so that can exchange the 1 week for RCI accomodations.

@@@, we too unsure of how to go about using it. For the 1 week accomodation, do u know if we can spilt that into 2 so that we spend first half of the week at one place and later half at another place? One full week at one place seems a bit too long leh , unless there's lots to see and do at that place.
 

anne

New Member
hi blurlamb, for the breakaway special..u can browse thru the quarterly mag that RCI sent to our home. I went to BKK stay at Windsor Suites with both way transfer with merz-ben limo and complimentary flower bath for 3D2N at $109. I don't think the promo still valid coz I travelled last Aug.
For exchange, U have to place your week to RCI as early as possible to get a better deal on exchange.
 
L

linda teo

Guest
Hi, I have just join ATC. Was a bit worried as no one I know knows about this club. Can anybody here advise what is the web-site address to do the booking or sreach for accomadation?
 

blurlamb

New Member
Hi Linda,
the website is http://www.asian-travel-club.com/
did u join RCI too?

There's another thread "Honeymoon And Travel/7-Day Accomodation Free????" on this timesharing issue too. I'm blurmehh over there.. blur blur type wrongly the first time i participated in that thread.. so i am now both blurmehh and blurlamb :p See how blur i am lah..
 
L

linda teo

Guest
Hi blurlamb! I have just join last week. Didn't even get my membership yet...but was curious so thought of going into their web and see. I think I am ever more blur then you!
 

anne

New Member
Hi blurlamb..
Sorry was busy with work and did not login in SB.
For me I do have RCI membership as well.
For week deposit, u only deposit your ATC week if u want to exchange your ATC week with RCI resort. Otherwise, u can also enjoy your ATC week with ATC resorts.
BTW, do u mind to share your package with me?
my e-mail is [email protected]
 

blurlamb

New Member
Hi Anne,
My odd year type one bedroom package cost me 11k and is for 30 years. After that need to pay about US$60 I think to renew for another 30 years. Is yours similar?

Oh, if want to use ATC resorts no need to deposit week har? But then the lady at the reception was telling us to deposit our week if not the week will expire after a year. Confused. If I dont wan to use my week this year, but wan to use for ATC resort next year then how? If I deposit to RCI, then I must exchange my week for RCI resorts next time is it?
 

melody

New Member
Hi anyone out there know about the closing down of RCI travel? I saw that in the strait times home page dated 1/8/03, it was declared close on the 1 June 03. Does it means our membership is of no value now?

I have just finished my last payment last month and have not try their service before, was feeling kind of regret for signing up since the first month cos I heard alot of negative feed back on the TV the last round on such travel membership, been think that they are out to cheap our money. Anyone feeling the same?
 

jenjen

Active Member
i think rci travel is just a tour agent by itself.. if u have a timeshare with rci, it should still be valid..
 
G

gt

Guest
Hi anybody out interested to buy my membership as I think do not have the chance to use it due to a lot of committments. Mine is a studio apartment for a couple. Price is negotiable.
 

nyny

New Member
Hi
same as gt, I think do not have the chance to use it due to a lot of committments. Mine is a studio apartment for a couple. Price is negotiable
 
F

fyi

Guest
Doubt anyone will want to buy it from you in the first place, since it's a scam anyway.
 
F

fyi

Guest
see the message above. Think there's another thread which talks about how members deal with it.
 

sashamama

New Member
Dear Gals:

Just to share my experience of being CONNED, and for your benefit¡­

1) You are approached by a teenager along Orchard Road and are asked to do a survey. You¡¯d be approached especially if you look like foreigners. In the survey, if you indicate that you and your partner are above 25, have combined salary of $5000, and own credit card/s, you¡¯d be entitled to a scratch-and-win lucky draw.

2) For the lucky draw, the top prize is a free 7N accomodation, and other prizes are dining/shopping vouchers from $10-$60 thereabouts. The teenager would jump in joy saying how lucky you are, as he¡¯d be able to get commission of up to $150 if you go and collect your prize.

3) He brings you to his manager, who congratulates you, then asks that you go to a travel exhibition-fair-talk-thingy down Orchard Rd (Faber House near OG, or anywhere else). If you stay for at least 60-80mins, you¡¯d get your gifts and the teenager would get his commission.

4) So off you go, out of pity for the boy and curiosity to check out the fair, esp when you know you¡¯d have travel plans in the coming years, and of course, to get your prizes. You¡¯re escorted to the office and wait at the recep.

5) You¡¯d be asked to show ur ICs to verify ur ages, ur details would be taken down. Interestingly, there¡¯s a lucky draw. There¡¯d be a few sets of 4 digits at the counter, and if your credit card¡¯s last 4 digits match, you¡¯d win shopping vouchers. This is when you¡¯d take out all your credit cards, and they can take the chance to verify that you do have credit cards.

6) Then, another attractive consultant would take over from the teenager and bring you into another room. Before you step in, you¡¯d be asked to switch off your hps, not even to silent modes. You enter quite a big room with many small round tables and chairs. You sit at one with your consultant, who sits you through a survey to see ur travel preferences and spending power so they¡¯d take note and offer you a package you¡¯d find affordable and attractive.

7) They¡¯d show you some cut-out pictures and floor plans of suites you¡¯d be getting if you purchase their membership package. There won¡¯t be concrete black & white info on the profile of their company. There¡¯d be a manager who¡¯d drop by every now and then especially when the consultant has difficulty convincing you. As the consultant and manager talk, they¡¯d write the info down on paper, explaining to you the supposed savings if you sign up their travel packages.

8) Their packages are at least $10k. They also offer trial membership at $3k or so, with a Phuket trip or other freebies. They would sell the system to you and talk for hours. When you feel that the deal is good and you sign, a bell will ring and everyone there would clap and welcome you into the club. You are then asked to pay. They¡¯d even offer great discounts and 0% interest free instalments. You even get a free welcome gift like a dvd player.

9) (a) You leave thinking you got a good deal, then try to book your holidays. Only to realise that you can¡¯t get your holidays booked even if you¡¯re 6-8months early. Or your accomodation is only 3 star, not 4/5 star. You want to cancel your membership as you don¡¯t really have a chance to use it and do not have that much leave to clear, but they do not allow as you¡¯re bound by the contract. They threaten to sue you if you breach the contract. You¡¯re trapped and go on paying the membership, as well as yearly maintenance fees of a few hundred sing dollars at least. Though they promise to be able to buy the package over from you and sell it, they¡¯d be unable to as there¡¯re too many conned people who wanna sell, but no one who wanna buy.

(b) You leave having doubts, and surf the net for more information. And realise you¡¯re conned by a timeshare company. Luckily, if you terminate within 3 working days, as stipulated by Singapore laws, you will be refunded. Get ready to be firm as they try to talk you out of a cancellation. Or they try to drag past the 3 days.

***

I have been conned to this stage and after surfing the net for more information, realised that I¡¯ve fallen for a scam by timeshare companies. I¡¯m lucky that I find out about this within 3 days of signing, so I can get a full refund. I¡¯d be going down tomorrow and expect a showdown. Heard that they¡¯d sit you through hours, trying to find excuses like the person in charge is not around, or offer other packages, to make you stay in the programme. Mi & fiance will remain firm tomorrow and create a big hoo-ha if necessary.

I am really very upset to go through this. But I¡¯m concerned that we, Singaporeans, be united and warn one another against this. Let¡¯s put an end to this and protect our fellowmen and tourists. I intend to go up to those taking surveys on Orchard road, to warn them on the spot. Touting is illegal in Singapore anyway! We need to boost our tourism too! How can we allow these people with ill-intentions spoil our clean and lawful image? Tourists who are conned can get a refund from Singapore Tourism Board (STB) though.

I hope that more people would be forewarned against these scams. This message is prepared to bring more awareness to as many people as poss. With such an awareness, you would not be curious to find out more about their travel talks, neither would you and your loved ones go through losing thousands and tens of thousands paying for nothing but heartache and constant disturbing calls. (They¡¯d keep calling to ask you to upgrade your package, etc.)

Have attached related websites for those who¡¯d like to find out more, and are looking for avenues for the possibility to get a refund or take legal action. Please refer if you have a few minutes.
i) http://www.geocities.com/hcspore03/
ii) http://www.voy.com/161450/
iii) http://www.petitiononline.com/hcspore3/

May we enjoy affordable holidays within our own means, without headaches and heartaches.
DO NOT be conned anymore.
Let¡¯s boycott these surveyors and cold-callers and some who got your numbers through asking their current members.

All the best!
Sashamama

(P/S: Feel free to copy my message and forward as emails to your friends! Argh! We gotta unite and put a stop to this!)
 

blurunicorn

New Member
Hi ppl,

Juz wana to share my experience with Oriental Travel ..
I was walking with my boyfren (now hubby) outside Isetan Scotts, somewhere ard mid 2003 ..
We were stopped by an innocent looking gal who claimed that she had stood for 4 hrs and cannot find a couple to help her ..
So we took pity on her and 'helped' her ..
I managed to get a $20 Isetan voucher while my bf got a digital camera ..
As usual, we were only allowed to claim our prizes after the 75mins talk ..
In the end, we were there for 3 hrs !!!!!!
During the whole talk, the sales lady assigned to us was unable to convince us to buy so her manager came over for a few times ..

Here are some of the 'best' scenarios:
1) First he asked us whether we liked to travel or not ...
Of coz, we liked .. I mean, who dun like ??
So he tried to sell us the package - SGD 25K ..
I flatly turned him down coz we needed to buy a hse ..
Then he said that humans needed to unwind in order to work for money ..
I replied: "A house is much more important than travel. You will die without a place to stay but you won't die without travelling. I bet you owned a BIG house now, right"
So he excused himself and left ..

2) We were shown alot alot of photos by the sales lady and eventually I got sianz and took out my magazine to read ..
My bf still continued to entertain them ..
Of coz, the manager came over to ask why and my reply was: "The photos are nicely taken but not my cup of tea."
As usual, he walked off once more ..

3) The sales lady suggested to us that we can buy cheap tours from them and re-sell to our frens and relatives to make a profit like some of their members ..
I'm more verbal so my bf let me do all the talking ..
I told her straight in the face that no one will do that to ppl we called frens and relatives ..
And it was unethical of her to teach ppl to be so unscrupulous to their own frens and relatives ..

4) The manager came back after 30mins ..
Saying that he was willing to compromise on the package price, from SGD25K to SGD12.5K ..
He was prepared to give us 50% discount ..
But we rejected his offer and told him that we'd to catch a show ..
So he counter-offered us SGD9K ..
Guess what ?? Me and my bf laughed at him at the same time ...
My response was: "If your value of your so-called package is worth SGD25K and you are willing to sell to us at SGD9K, then your package is not even worth SGD25K in the first place. We won't buy even if it is SGD2K."

We left the table and claimed our prizes.

Our advice, DON'T GO AND ATTEND ..
It is still better to get from airlines and book direct with hotels ..
Hope our experience still helps ...
 

hermes76

Member
Hi Sashamama, I went thru the same as u, only that i did not go beyond point 7 mentioned by you. I got a 8D/7N free accomodation vouchor from the lucky draw card, dunno if there's any catch for that.
 

hxl

New Member
Hey pple,
I also received a 8D/7N free accomodation from interval resorts network from my fren for our honeymoon and was excited abt it, but when I logged on to the internet, there was so much negative comments about how Interval resorts network has conned many pple. Is this voucher a scam too? Should we still use it?
 

ribenaberry

New Member
My friend is willing to try The Voyager Accommodation Voucher at no cost. Mind passing the voucher to him if you are hesitant/doubtful to use it(better to leave it to waste and expire).

Pls pm me. Thanks.
 

mercur05

New Member
Hi Gals..
I've also won the 8D/7N free accomodation from interval resorts network ,but the sales staff keeps psychoing us to sign up for the trial package at $3K and will waive off $500 if we 'sacrifice' our prize.
Although me and my bf signed up the trial,I went home and rethink about this.The more I think, the more I feel uneasy abt this and thanks to many feedback from you ppl out there,we were lucky to cancel the program within the 3 days under the consumer law.
We signed up the trial on a sunday, and this company so "coincidentally" are closed on mondays,meaning they made use of the 3days period and we are only left with 2 days to cancel it.
ON Tuesday,I went to cancel it and as usual,the manager will try to talk u out of it and insisted to know the reason for cancelling.I've told them i'm just uncomfortable but they will keep pressing u for other reasons which I still insisted its due to personal discomfort.They will even get the Sales staff who talked to u before to get u to continue.

Later after much talk, the manager took out the cancellation form for me to sign and asked me to hand over the agreement together with my original invoice receipt. As a consumer,I have my own fears and doubts abt the firm, I firmly told him that I want to have my receipt and he said he needs it to verify and make a copy as that's the procedure. I told him he also has a copy too during that time when I signed for the purchase and I even offered to photocopy my receipt for him if he can show me the copier. That's when he lost his cool and his attitude changed terribly! I was told off to get out of the room and find the copier myself. I remained calm but firm and after copying,handed it to him and I can hear him complaining to my bf as well as the other staffs that that's the 1st time he has ever met such an unreasonable customer like me! When I was back in the room, he angrily stared at me and said among the managers there, he was complimented to have the best customer service and it's so unfortunate to have met such a cust like me! I wanted to tell him off but I think if it continues,I'd prolong my stay there..yuckz...
This is such a bad experience for me and I just want to share my experience with u ppl out there not to be CONNED by these time-sharing companies!!!
I am lucky to have cancelled it as we're still protected under the singapore consumer laws within 3 days from signing. So please beware...don't be fooled by those excited faces of teenagers who say they'd get commission if u can help them to listen to the talk.

Another word of caution: If you really like the package and decided to sign, please insist on reading the T&Cs first before signing because my experience is that the manager will insists us on signing first before letting us read the T&C. No matter what, keep original copies of the docs that you've signed or paid.
 

jessi_18

New Member
Hi!

I had the same experience too on Saturday!
I signed up for 10k and paid 2k in advanced, the remaining I would have to pay in a span of 4 years.

I got home, felt really uncomfortable...i began to wonder why they dont allow us to silent our phones, instead of asking to turn them off completely. After i did some googling, omg...i didnt know its just a trick and i'm not the 1st one to fell for it! Gosh...i felt so foolish now!
sad.gif


I am aware that I can cancel my contract in 3 days. Since Monday is their off day, I'm gonna have to head over on Tuesday, I hope I'm still able to cancel it. I read from somewhere it says that it excludes Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays. So I'm hoping I'm still not too late to do it on Tuesday. I actually made a call to them earlier, and they said i could cancel it on tuesday noon between 2pm-6pm. I dont know if i should oblige to go around that time or should i head down in the morning?

I'm gonna have to make photocopies of my contract, receipts etc before i head down to their office. Just wondering, what can i expect from them? Apart from them trying their very best to persuade me to stay. Will the cancellation be done swiftly? or at least on that day? or would they drag me for a few more days and hoping that it would pass my 3 day cooling period? then im stuck for good
sad.gif


Would appreciate any immediate feedback. Thanks a dozen!!!
 

tpyy

New Member
Dear all, I got a voucher from a friend regarding the free 7 day accomodation. Neither me nor my friend who went were members nor paid anything.

My question is > Is it safe to go ahead with this free accomdation thing? Its my honeymoon and it would really be ruined if it is a scam!!

Appreciate if anyone can let me know if they have gone thru this or any advice!!

Thanks!
 

Top