posted 02-02-2005 13:44               

Due to internal error, the system is unavailable.

Currently, the RCI Weeks site is experiencing heavy traffic. We value your business and apologize for the inconvenience. Please try again later. If you need immediate assistance, please contact an RCI Guide. [M2]

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Dunk

posted 02-02-2005 14:42            

The banner ads do not draw from RCI's servers. I am checking to find out if the speed of the ad servers can affect RCI's site speed. I will follow up on that issue in the original thread here.

posted 02-03-2005 10:40               

More problems AGAIN. First it wouldn't actually link to the search, now I can't even log on.

Someone commented there were no sighting listed for RCI. Why because RCI is NOT operational long enough to actually find anything.

This is very poor poor online service. So I call.

Guide claims online is killing his job. His attitude mixed with my already annoyed demeaner is not pretty. Of course can't pull what I just saw two minutes ago. Of course he can't type the resort code correctly and it takes three attempts. Sorry nothing we can do. And Guides wonder why we don't want to have to call.

Message Reads....
While trying to retrieve the URL: http://www.rci.com/RCIW_index

The following error was encountered:

We can not connect to the server you have requested.

This means that:

The server might be busy at this time.
The server is not reachable.

Please try later to see if you can go through.

posted 02-03-2005 10:47               

Checked the speed on my cable connection and its 3904 Kbps. All other sites pages that I go to are instant just not the RCI site.

posted 02-03-2005 13:56               

First, I really want to say that I do appreciate all that you do for us. You have been very helpful to me and I appreciate that help.

But---------------------the RCI website situation has become downright pitiful. There are times when it is accessable and operates well. Most of the time in the last 6 weeks at least it is a disgusting source of frustration. I was here in the days when RCI first went online and we needed to have a book handy to read while the page loaded. We seem to have gone full circle. It was really great for a few years, but it is difficult to be patient when we wait seemingly endlessly for RCI to get the system working and keep it that way. You mentioned that the adds should not slow it down. It seems to me that the system worked pretty well until all of the adds started. When we pay a membership fee and exchange fee, why does Cendent need to make a profit from adds? I for one, seldom even look at them. I thought the idea was for RCI to save money when we make exchanges online. Now that is being made nearly impossible. Wouldn't it make more sense to dump the adds, not need as many reps, hire some decent programmers and stop having to read unhappy babble like mine?

posted 02-03-2005 15:01            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dottie:
Madge

When we pay a membership fee and exchange fee, why does Cendent need to make a profit from adds? I for one, seldom even look at them. I thought the idea was for RCI to save money when we make exchanges online.

---

I discussed the banner ads initially [url=http://www.tug1.net/tugbbs1/Forum23/HTML/001329.html]here[/i]. The types of ads will likely change over time, to become more closely connected to the vacation industry.

The implementation of RCI's website was originally pursued in an effort to increase service levels to our members, especially during times of year when our phone volumes make calling inconvenient. However, we know that our members have grown to value the ability to access their accounts online.

I am sorry to hear of the continuing problems you're having. They are related to the high number of call-ups to our database system. In order to keep it functioning, we must cap the number of call-ups that can be processe at any given time. When that number is exceeded, online users will get an error message. However, our technical staff is working with that number to allow the greatest possible access, while still protecting the mainframe system.

We have also trimmed the inactivity timeout session to 20 minutes instead of 30, and we may reduce it further upon review of the results.

posted 02-04-2005 11:12               

Madge, I don't care what the ads are for I will never, ever click on one. Cedent is taking advantage of a captive (paying) audience and I feel used and abused by the practice of putting ads and now popups on their website.....and please don't try to tell me that the ads don't use bandwidth....no matter whose server they come from.

posted 02-04-2005 12:12               

I agree with you. I won't click on an add and I have a pop up blocker in place so I don't see those.

Madge

I do appreciate your explanation and I know you are caught in the middle but we are really frustrated clients and many are jumping the ship. I, too, will probably deposit my best week in II this year just to check out the results. I have had a membership in II for years but really started using RCI exclusively when RCI was light years ahead at online exchange. Now, maybe, the worm has turned, tho points will also keep me at RCI. It seems that many of the disenchanted are members with multiple weeks who do multiple trades per year. Yes, we do busy the online system with our constant searching, but that often leads to a trade we never had planned which eqals money in RCI and cendent pockets. Yes, the system has been overloaded in years past at this time of year, but don't you think that should have told them that they are behind in capacity and should react prior to a crisis?

posted 02-06-2005 19:38            

We do know that the first quarter of the year sees greater traffic. However, there is little more we can do allow more call ups to our mainframe database than we already do. With all RCI staff, as well as members online, sending call-ups, we simply have to keep the flow manageable.

posted 02-07-2005 19:50               

Thanks for your response. I know you are just the messanger. Sorry that you are in that position.

posted 02-08-2005 09:54               

I am confused by the following:

"We do know that the first quarter of the year sees greater traffic. However, there is little more we can do allow more call ups to our mainframe database than we already do. With all RCI staff, as well as members online, sending call-ups, we simply have to keep the flow manageable"

It sounds like the system is going to continue to deteriorate if RCI increases their membership and members choose to shop online. Knowing that,wouldn't it be prudent for RCI to increase their capacity? I am not computer wise enough to know if that means installing a new and larger mainframe to allow more "call-ups" or exactly what is needed to correct the situation. This may be expensive, but in order for a business to grow and succeed, it is usually necessary to meet customer demand or they lose customers. As I mentioned, many are getting frustrated and seeking trading elsewhere.

Does RCI care? I think they do or they would not allow you to spend so much of your valuable expertise helping us. How can we convince them to update?

Dottie

posted 02-08-2005 12:27            

You're correct in your assumption that RCI cares when members have trouble with online access. This drives more calls to our already inundated Guides and costs us business.

RCI knows that its future growth will require advancing technology. However, our mainframe database system is an amazing tool - it does so much work that we have not found a system to replace it yet, much less expand upon it.

Aside from performing transactions for the website, it does all of RCI Weeks reporting, generating of acknowledgments, and tracking inventory and comment card scores from over 3,700 resorts and 3 million members. No other exchange company handles the volume of inventory and the number of transactions that RCI handles.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, we have taken steps to try and alleviate the error message problems, including raising the threshold for the number of call ups that may be delivered to our system, and lowering the timeout period to 20 minutes. We will continue to take whatever steps we can to improve our members' web access, now and for the future.

posted 02-08-2005 13:17               

Dottie

posted 02-15-2005 15:34            

Points transactions call up to a separate system, so you won't encounter the same problems as with Weeks transactions. However, when you do a Weeks search using the Points site, you will be calling up the Weeks mainframe database system, and that is the system bearing the heaviest load right now.

Let me know if you notice this improving - we have been taking steps, and I'd like to hear if they're affecting your online experiences.

posted 02-16-2005 02:40               

My online experience this morning is that neither Points nor Weeks seems to be working very well. I can log in part of the time, but if I try to do a Last Call or Extra Vacations search in either system, I get a message regarding heavy usage. Hard to imagine all those users being up at 4:30A, but possible, I guess. Other times the login to Weeks fails altogether.

Weeks searches in Points all come back with no availability, even when searching so broadly that there is surely something there. I guess that goes along with the info you provide above.

Very frustrating, indeed. Thanks for keeping us posted on work in progress on this problem. Otherwise, we'd probably just all be ready to give up.

posted 02-16-2005 07:46               

Searching using points account in weeks: Sub area Caribbean without DR & Isl Margarita. Nothing comes up at all. When I changed to using Bermuda, Bahamas, & Caribbean, I got the same 12-14 places I have been seeing for weeks. My normal daily search from Sept 25, 2006 - Dec 1. 2006. Change seemed to happen after the Saturday night update. was OK prior to that time.

When I went inot my weeks account and did the same search, it seemed to be working properly.

But at least I have been able to search more often Doesn't seem to be screwing up quite as much.

Patty

posted 02-16-2005 11:42            

I'll report this one in case our staff is doing anything to modify the regions. Thanks for the good description.

posted 02-16-2005 11:52            

In testing this myself, I got 13 resorts for the first search and 19 resorts for the second. Are you still having a problem with the first sub area?

posted 02-17-2005 06:07               

OK, I played with it a bit more this morning and narrowed it down better. I have been doing this same search for months and usually get anywhere from 10-15 choices.

Caribbean, Bahamas, & Bermuda
Sub area : Bermuda & Bahamas
AND
Caribbean, Bahamas, & Bermuda
Sub area: Caribbean except DR & Isle Marg

Sept 25, 2006 – Dec 1, 2006
1 BR

Since Saturday, when I do this all that shows up is Bahamas. I switched the order this morning and found out that if Sub area: Caribbean except DR & Isle Marg is listed as the first request and Sub area : Bermuda & Bahamas is listed second, I get the Caribbean locations and nothing from Bahamas. So it appears that the second search location box is not working. I was thinking it was the sub area location, but it appears to be the second location selected, not the actual location.

To further test it, I put Caribbean, Bahamas, & Bermuda with Sub area: Caribbean except DR & Isle Marg in the first box and Florida Sub area Florida in then second box and only got Caribbean places.

Try that and see what happens for you.

Patty

posted 02-17-2005 06:39               

I used my Points account to search for a Weeks reservation for 3/16/06 - 3/24/06 hotel room.

The first search I listed Florida, subarea Florida on the top and Southeast USA, subarea N Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head on the bottom. The result was 16 resorts available, all in Florida.

For the second search, I used all the same parameters except I put the Southeast USA as the top search and the Florida on the bottom. 12 resorts available, all in South Carolina.

Doggone it! I'm off to my Weeks account to make the same test and see if I get the same result.

At least they SHOULD be able to fix this now that Patty has figured it out for them. Wish I had been smart enough to recognize this instead of just blindly thinking nothing was available. Kicking myself here (but saving a few for your computer guys/gals).

Sheila

P.S. I'm back and happy to report that this doesn't seem to be a problem in my Weeks account.

posted 02-17-2005 19:02               

Thanks for the pat on the back, but I probably would not have known it was a problem except I had been doing the same search every day that I could get on the system. When it suddenly went from 14 resorts to 4 choices in one day, I knew something was wrong. Then I noticed I only had Bahamas and no Caribbean.

At that point, my Biology and Chemistry degrees and lab testing background cut in and decided to research to find out what was happening. Just simple trial and error to pin it down.

Patty

posted 02-18-2005 14:55            

I was indeed able to duplicate your results. I'll report this right away. We either need to get that second area search working or remove it. So sorry to hear that this is happening.

Thanks again, Patty, for putting your scientific mind to work on this!