Time share business also deals in misinformation

By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 01/26/03

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A Woburn company is calling local time share owners and using misleading tactics to persuade them to attend presentations on converting their vacation weeks into points.

The company calls itself Resort Consultants International, a name that is remarkably similar to Resort Condominiums International, or RCI, the world's largest time share trading company.

The company's telemarketers tell time share owners that RCI was recently purchased by Cendant Corp. and is converting to a points-based trading program. Instead of swapping their week in Florida for one in California, owners can convert the week into more flexible points, which can be exchanged for stays of varying length at resorts as well as hotels, air fares, rental cars, and cruises.

The points program is real, but it's unclear whether Resort Consultants International is selling access to it legitimately. I was unable to get much information; in fact, they hung up on me.

RCI, meanwhile, says it is trying to shut the company down. An RCI spokesman said Resort Consultants International is not an authorized RCI points broker. "We want to put these people out of business and stop this sort of thing," said John Barrows.

The telemarketers working for Resort Consultants International don't always make it clear up front who it is they represent. When they called me, their pitch made it sound as if I were dealing with someone from RCI. I asked if they could send me something in writing about the points program, but they said they needed to talk to me in person. I begged off.

When I was called again, I asked the telemarketer if the program was voluntary. He said it was, but he said RCI was phasing out its weeks program and he wanted to make sure I wasn't left behind. I agreed to a meeting time, and he said I needed to bring my spouse. I asked him if the conversion cost anything, and he said he wasn't sure. It was starting to sound like a time share pitch, so I begged off again.

Two nights later I received a call from a different telemarketer at the company with the same pitch, but she clearly identified herself as being from Resort Consultants International. Now I was really suspicious. I told her I would think about it and hung up.

The next day I called Barrows at RCI, who said the company was aware of and concerned about the activities of Resort Consultants International. He said RCI's lawyers had been preparing to send a cease-and-desist letter to the Woburn-based company.

Barrows said Resort Consultants International made a number of inaccurate statements to me. For example, he said RCI was purchased by Cendant seven years ago, not recently as the telemarketer had told me. He said RCI launched its points program in 2000 as an option for members, but that the weeks-based program was not being phased out.

"We operate two systems," he said. "We don't operate either of them at the expense of the other."

Barrows said converting a vacation week into points often costs $1,500 to $3,000 up front, with part of the money going to RCI, part going to the broker arranging the conversion, and part typically going to the home resort of the person making the conversion.

Barrows justified the cost by saying the points system opens up the value of the person's time share, giving them a lot more value for what they currently own. But Barrows acknowledged the sales process has not always gone smoothly, with RCI forced to divorce itself from several brokers who have used hard-sell tactics.

He had more questions than answers about Resort Consultants. He said it was possible the company had been hired by resort developers to offer points presentations to their members, but he said the company did not have authorization from RCI. He also said it was possible Resort Consultants was using the points presentation as a cover to sell consumers new time share weeks. He declined to provide information about who owns the company.

I called Resort Consultants International, identified myself as a reporter, and asked to speak to the person in charge. The woman who answered the phone, who declined to provide her name, said Resort Consultants International was one of 50 companies pushing points conversions in this region.

She said Resort Consultants sells time shares or converts existing time share weeks into points. She said the company is "certified" by RCI. "Many times we represent the developer as well," she said.

The woman eventually became frustrated with my skepticism and said: "Why don't you go work for the FBI or something?" She then said my line of questioning was annoying and hung up.

hdbriefRental car rates

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Elmer Miller of Atlanta was renting a car online recently and accidentally discovered that the cost was the same whether the period was five or seven days.

"I wonder how many people are renting for five days and paying for seven and don't know it?" Miller asked.

I tried it with Hertz and Avis and discovered Miller was correct.

Paula R. Stifter, manager of public affairs for Hertz Corp., said it was industry practice. "The rate structure recognizes that weekly rentals, typically taken in connection with leisure travel, offer five- to seven-day `keeps' for the same price, which is discounted from daily rates, to accommodate the flexibility needed by customers."

Bruce Mohl can be reached by

e-mail at mohl@globe.com.