American lawsuit filed against RCI
It is being reported that earlier this month, George Tuhowski and Arthur Schueler both from Illinois, USA filed a lawsuit against RCI.
The allegations are that of misrepresentation and violation of the Consumer Fraud Act.
Reports suggest that the Claimants allege RCI falsely represented the membership opportunity, and that if the annual cap had been part of the original deal, the plaintiffs would not have bought the amount of points that they did.
They seek actual and treble damages, restitution, interest, attorney fees and costs of the suit.
RCI who states that they are;
“the leading global provider of innovative products and services to the worldwide travel and leisure industry”
Are accused of misrepresenting its timeshare membership programme. The Claimants in the matter are believed to have filed the lawsuit on the 1st December. 1 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against RCI LLC.
The recent report in the “Legal Newsline” has provided details;
“In January 2008, the suit states, Tuhowski and Schueler vacationed at Blue Bay, a resort in Mexico. During this time, the two attended an RCI sales pitch for a time-share membership opportunity.
The RCI agent, according to the suit, pitched a membership opportunity that would allow members to purchase one-night stays in Blue Bay in exchange of point values that could be used for customized future vacations.
Purchasing thousands of nights at Blue Bay translated to millions of points in RCI’s Points Program, as one night converted to 2,832 points.
“Tuhowski and Schueler each decided to purchase 2,066 nights for $24,500, equal to almost 6 million RCI Points each.
Someone described as a “legal representative” presented Tuhowski and Schueler with two contracts to sign. The contracts confirmed what the sales agent told the plaintiffs about unlimited use of RCI Points, according to the suit.
A few months later, however, Tuhowski and Schueler were informed that a new 60,000 annual cap had been imposed on the exchange of points for future vacations, a cap that is insufficient to obtain the type of international and domestic airfare RCI promoted to the plaintiffs, the suit claims.
The report has gone on further to provide the details of the acting attorneys and the case number;
The Claimants are believed to be represented by attorney William J. Pinilis of Pinilis Halpern in Morristown, New Jersey, and by attorney Jenelle Welling of Bramson Plutzik Mahler & Birkhaeuser in Walnut Creek, California.
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey Case number 3:15-CV-08396-PSG-LHG
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk