Timeshare Survey Shows Exchange Availability and High Maintenance Fees at Top of Owners' Complaint List

SEATTLE,, WA, Feb.  26, 2010 --(PR.com)-- A timeshare survey released by RedWeek.com the largest online timeshare marketplace, identified the top five timeshare improvements.

Topping the list were exchange availability and the high maintenance fees charged by the resorts. The remaining three categories rounding out the top five list are: honesty, resale opportunities, and resort improvements.

The number one item on the list - exchange availability - refers to a timeshare owner's desire to trade their interval week at one resort for a week at another resort.

High maintenance fees, the second survey item, indicated respondents concerns over the rising annual fee charged by the resort and paid by the owners. These fees vary from resort to resort and also by size and type of the timeshare unit owned.

"RedWeek.com visitors are telling us that it's not easy to make their desired exchange," said Randy Conrads, (top right photo)  RedWeek.com CEO. "It is also clear that flexibility and reasonable fees are vital to timeshare."

Timeshare owner and RedWeek.com member Caroline Lindholm commented, "We love our timeshares but are concerned about rising maintenance fees.

"My family owns several weeks and we have made approximately 100 exchanges since 1995. In recent years,  there has been a sharp decrease in the availability of desired exchange weeks."

The breakdown of over 650 responses received to the question, "What would you like to improve about timeshare?" are:

*Exchange availability, 34%
*High maintenance fees, 28%
*Honesty and less pressure, 14%
*Resale opportunities, 12%
*Resort improvements, 7%

Survey response categories not included in the top five are: easier to understand (timesharing), poor management (of resorts), and shorter stays - the typical timeshare interval is seven nights.

RedWeek.com is the largest online marketplace for timeshare rentals, timeshare resale and timeshare exchange. It is a member-supported marketplace connecting travelers and the timeshare community.

The site was launched in November of 2002 and now has over 1,300,000 registered users and includes 5,000 timeshare resorts worldwide. It offers resort condominium accommodations for rent, purchase, and exchange directly between users.

The company was co-founded by Randy Conrads, who also founded the popular Classmates.com Web site, which was acquired in 2004 by United Online, Inc.

Contact: John Locher,  425-458-4440, ext. 1, john@redweek.com, http://www.redweek.com/