Sad Story from One Who Trusted without Checking!

[Chuck S]

I think OP is doing exactly what she should be doing at this point in time. She is venting, and working to resolve the issue. Nothing is going to be done on the weekend anyway, so we'll see what next week brings. I hope, and expect, that it will work out fine for everyone involved.

Actually, a LOT can be done today. Member Services is open this afternoon, the transfer can take place. Police could contact the Western Union office and begin a preliminary investigation with the name of the person and surveillance footage (before it is erased), the OP could check the Orange County deed site to see if the name on the caller ID actually owns points.

 

[DMKEDM]

Whether I've done right or not remains to be seen...but...the renter/poster just called me. This time she did not use a traceable phone...the call came in as "blocked" on my caller ID.

She apologized for not responding to me yesterday; said she'd had an emergency and asked what time Monday we should complete the transaction.

I told her I was quite upset by this and that I'd prefer to cancel the transaction and asked her if she would return my money.

She then told me her mother died yesterday. And then asked again if I would go forward with the transaction on Monday.

I told her I was sorry to hear about her mother but preferred to cancel the transaction. She said she would wire the money back to me on Monday.

Whether she will or not remains to be seen.

I will feel terrible if my skepticism is misplaced and she is in fact dealing with the death of her mother. But I'm just too skeptical to continue this. Or to give her my address so she can mail me the money. I'll take my chances that she'll actually wire the money back to me on Monday.

Now I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to just forget this ever happened!

Again, thanks for the support to those who offered it. Sorry if I "offended" those who think I should have brought in the police.

Happy day to all.

 

[zurgswife]

Hope you get your money back.

 

[Chuck S]

Well, if there was a death in the family, the delay is of course, understandable. She would have been in shock and making travel or funeral arrangements and spending time with family. But, even so, she really should have contacted you earlier to explain the situation. With the "trust factor" being such a large part of any rental/transfer transaction this serves as a good reminder to others to not engage in this sort of a transaction without verified contact info and a written contract.

 

[DMKEDM]

"With the "trust factor" being such a large part of any rental/transfer transaction this serves as a good reminder to others to not engage in this sort of a transaction without verified contact info and a written contract."

AMEN, Chuck S!!!!

I don't know if her mother really died or not. I don't know if she'll really return my money or not. I do know Chuck S is absolutely correct that a transaction built on trust requires either a great deal of luck or verified contact info and likely a written contract, too! I sure hope I've learned my lesson!!!

 

[JimMIA]

Police could contact the Western Union office and begin a preliminary investication with the name of the person and surveillance footage (before it is erased)

I'm not sure what the law is there, but the police would probably have to subpoena that information...if in fact they would even start an investigation based on what OP has now. I doubt they would, because as I said above, no crime has been committed.

Any tapes WU might have (and I don't know if they have any) would not be critical anyway. There are cases where surveillance videos might be helpful -- even critical -- but this is not one of those cases. If the police conducted an investigation, they'd use a photo lineup to identify the subject.

the OP could check the Orange County deed site to see if the name on the caller ID actually owns points.

As I said above, there are no mysteries about the person renting the points.

I'm glad to see that the person renting points contacted OP, and hopefully this will work out. She has been doing other things beside posting here, and I suspect the call was the result of those efforts.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Okay, so her mother died (I'm sorry if that is truly the case). She found time to get to the Western Union counter to pick up the money, but didn't have time to call you? I honestly hope you get your money back on Monday, but I think the person may just be stalling for more time before you change your mind about contacting the authorities. Have you check the Orange County Comptroller's website yet to even see if she is a contract holder?

 

[jkevinmcg]

She apologized for not responding to me yesterday; said she'd had an emergency and asked what time Monday we should complete the transaction.

I hate to be so cynical but I'll only believe it when you post here on Monday that you have gotten your money back. I'll also speculate that she has been following this thread.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I hate to be so cynical but I'll only believe it when you post here on Monday that you have gotten your money back. I'll also speculate that she has been following this thread.

ITA

Western Union operates 24 hours a day. Why does she have to wait until Monday to wire you the money back?

 

[WebmasterDoc]

I have been in contact with both parties today. DMKEDM contacted me this morning asking about posting her experience someplace on the DVC Boards. As our policies allow, I suggested posting here as a reminder of the trust issue but asked that no names be mentioned (also per board policies). She has handled her side of this issue very delicately and that has been appreciated. I know she has appreciated the concern, comments and suggestions made by others in this thread.

I have also heard from the other person, who assures me that the matter will be resolved by agreement of both parties and that is acceptable for the time being.

Since the DIS receives nothing from any Rent/Trade transaction, it is clearly the responsibility of all parties to conduct their transaction without intervention of the board. In the 7+ years I've been involved with the R/T Board I can count on one hand the number of transaction irregularities reported and each time have contacted both parties to urge resolution - this was one of those times and hopefully all will be satisfied in the near future.

Thanks to all for the positive comments and suggestions offered in this thread - all were appropriate for the situation and in the spirit of the helpful nature of the forum.

 

[msmayor]

Chuck S: The reason I'm waiting on contacting the police is twofold:

1. I've lived thru unexpected things like computer crashes and phone outages and emergencies that prevented me from doing what I promised to do at the time I promised to do it. Calling in the police and claiming fraud before I've given the renter/poster at least a bit of time to get back to me to explain what happened seems wrong to me--just in case this isn't fraud, but a problem that can be explained.

2. I've gotten a PM or two from people who think this renter/poster may get back in touch with me after all...she has a "history" (albeit a little one) of difficult-but-successful transactions before. Seems to me that calling in the police at this stage would make a bad situation worse.

Now I know that the longer I wait the less of a chance there is that the police will be able to do anything about this...but I'd feel worse if I called the police with my suspicion of fraud/scam and it turned out she'd been hit by a car, or something else awful happened and that explained why she "disappeared"...

A judgement call, for sure. But not worth $800 to me to risk accusing someone falsely of something as awful as fraud/scamming...

I think its a little too late for this...your very first post implies fraud/scamming against this person.

 

[Sammie]

I must say Doc, that your participation is a testament to your fine character, as you are on vacation.

That said, for those that would run to the police, they will not do anything except take a report and might not do that until more time has passed in case there truly is an emergency.

Also for those quick to say use PayPal, there was a special article in USAToday about fraud and they are huge part of it and highly recommended by fraud experts to avoid like the plague.

I hope for the sake of the OP, this works out. I for one would not be able to put this type of trust in any transaction with any stranger. Regardless of how many safeguards one takes this transaction is truly not fool proof in that the member has complete control of the reservation until you check in.

I have been the victim of idenity theft and I guess I will always be leary.

 

[DMKEDM]

As you might have guessed, this has been a very stressful situation for me...between beating myself up for being stupid, "mourning" having thrown away $870, and then "going thru channels" about whether to post or not, and how to post if so; and then dealing with the outpouring of support (and criticism), I'm afraid I'm not thinking as clearly as I might otherwise...

I didn't even think about the fact that Western Union isn't closed today & tomorrow...and I didn't know MS is open today til 5 (I thought they were open til noon on Saturdays, and didn't check)...

I've had a great deal of input (see JimMIA's posts) about the renter/poster and it seems she is not a scammer...whether or not she's "the right person" for me to do a transaction with is another story, but the evidence now suggests that she's not engaging in fraud...

I recognize I'm taking my chances by waiting til Monday, and I also know that it may take some hoops-jumping on my part to get the money even if she really sends it...how does one go about getting money from Western Union when one lives in a city that has multiple Western Union agents? The only information on me that the renter/poster has is my name, and the city and state in which I live (that was all that was needed when I wired her money yesterday; hopefully it'll come back to the same machine I sent it from...but I won't know til I check...and I don't know how Western Union will be able to contact me, since the person sending the money does not have my address...she does have my phone number, tho...maybe she'll give that to Western Union; I just don't know)...I do know I really really really REALLY do not want to talk to her again...

Given that another person on Disboards (JimMIA) knows of her, I'm hoping this will all work out...I don't want to hurt the poster's/renter's reputation and while her story has made me extremely skeptical, it IS possible it's all true...it's also possible that the transaction could have worked, and/or that she will return my money, even if the details of the story aren't true.

In the meantime, I promise to post Monday (or perhaps Tuesday, depending on what happens and when) to let you all know whether the money came back to me or not.

Again, my thanks for the many people who offered moral support (and "real help," too)...and most particularly to the Disboards folks ... everything from starting this thread to the PMs I've sent was done after I checked with them...

Argh!!! It's worth saying again: most of us are honest, well-meaning people who would not intentionally hurt another...I'm sure the vast majority of rental agreements go thru quite smoothly...but had I followed Chuck S's advice and gotten verifiable info and used a written contract none of this would have happened. My bad. I sure do hope I've learned my lesson!!!

 

[DMKEDM]

Now that WebmasterDoc has "revealed himself" I can say how very, very much I've appreciated his advice and support throughout this situation...most especially given that he has taken time from his vacation at OKW to do so...

He's THE BEST!!!!

Others have also been wonderful to me (and, it seems, to the original poster/renter, too)...I really appreciate all of you.

It stings a little to read the criticism, but those who posted it had the right and hopefully I will learn from some of it, too.

I'll let you know as soon as this is resolved...and again I thank you and wish pixie dust to you all...

 

[JimMIA]

I've had a great deal of input (see JimMIA's posts) about the renter/poster and it seems she is not a scammer...whether or not she's "the right person" for me to do a transaction with is another story, but the evidence now suggests that she's not engaging in fraud...

Given that another person on Disboards (JimMIA) knows of her, I'm hoping this will all work out...

Just so we're clear here...I "know of" this person in precisely the way I "know of" her in DMKEDM's case -- from another problematic rental situation.

She's definitely not "the right person" for me to do a transaction with, but I'm hopeful this works out for DMKEDM.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

 

[funhouse8]

Now that WebmasterDoc has "revealed himself" I can say how very, very much I've appreciated his advice and support throughout this situation...most especially given that he has taken time from his vacation at OKW to do so...

He's THE BEST!!!!

Others have also been wonderful to me (and, it seems, to the original poster/renter, too)...I really appreciate all of you.

It stings a little to read the criticism, but those who posted it had the right and hopefully I will learn from some of it, too.

I'll let you know as soon as this is resolved...and again I thank you and wish pixie dust to you all...

I'm so sorry you had to go though all this. I hope you get your money back and when you finally get to go on your vaction it is truly magical. Good luck on Monday!

 

[greenban]

Just so we're clear here...I "know of" this person in precisely the way I "know of" her in DMKEDM's case -- from another problematic rental situation.

She's definitely not "the right person" for me to do a transaction with, but I'm hopeful this works out for DMKEDM.

Jim you bring up another point/concern.

If this is not the first time this DISer has had problem rental transactions here, then perhaps she needs a banning (permanent or temporary) from the R/T board). I know others who have been banned from the R/T board for less.

I would think that TPTB could prevent further heartaches and hardships by intervening now.

I agree the rules of the R/T board are clear, and the DIS has no responsibilities for this service that they provide, but I would not like to see the R/T board removed because of abuse.

-Tony

P.S. Unlike Jim, I do not know the identity of this Owner, other than to say, its not me!

 

[WebmasterDoc]

Jim you bring up another point/concern.

If this is not the first time this DISer has had problem rental transactions here, then perhaps she needs a banning (permanent or temporary) from the R/T board). I know others who have been banned from the R/T board for less.

I would think that TPTB could prevent further heartaches and hardships by intervening now.

This is the ONLY time any irregularity has been reported regarding this person and they responded quickly when contacted. No board guidelines were violated and no other action is appropriate based on the information presently available.

As for others being banned for less, no one has EVER been banned from the R/T Board unless they violated site guidelines or R/T Board policies- in most cases several times after being warned. In all of those cases, the individual left the DIS no option except to remove posting privileges since they repeatedly violated board rules and policies - even after several warnings in some cases. There was a HUGE difference in this situation. My contact was merely an attempt to encourage resolution of the issue.

It's good to know of your strong feelings and support regarding banning posters for R/T Board activity.

 

[SAGE]

So sorry to hear this story. I sent you a PM.

Take care
S