WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

(SEATTLE, WA) -- Exchange availability and high maintenance fees are at the top of timeshare owners' complaint lists, according to a new survey by Seattle, WA-based  RedWeek.com.

After timeshare exchange problems and rising annual maintenance fees, survey respondents said they were most concerned with honesty by marketers and developers, resale opportunities and resort improvements.

The maintenance 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," says Randy Conrads, 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 in the survey, "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.  (But) 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 (most) about timeshare?" are:

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

Survey respondents also said  they would like to see easier to understand (timesharing) information,  better resort management and shorter stays.

The typical timeshare interval is seven nights, according to Conrads.

He says 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 1.3 million registered users among 5,000 timeshare resorts worldwide. It offers resort condominium accommodations for rent, purchase, and exchange directly between users.

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

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