Concern Over Rented Points

[erikalk]

I have rented some points from a DVC and I am getting a little concerned over our reservation.

I do have a signed contract with the owner. The only contact information I was given was an email address & mailing address. I had asked for references, but the owner said they needed to get permission from previous renter's before passing along contact info. That was fine, but the information was never passed along.

I mailed the deposit several months ago after receiving the contract and confirmation paper from DVC. That check still has not been cashed. I thought maybe the owner was just going to hold the check until the balance due check was sent because it had been so long. I have mailed the balance due check. But I am getting concerned because the emails that I have sent are not being returned. I have been able to contact MS to verify the reservation.

Am I being paranoid? Is there anyway I can prevent the owner from cancelling the reservation?

Any reassurance would be helpful as this vacation is for DD's birthday and a huge family gathering.

Thanks!

 

[CarolMN]

The member retains complete control over the reservation - there isn't any way you can prevent him/her from cancelling it at any time. Renting does require some trust on your part. (I hope he/she is worthy of it).

Here's what I would do:

Assuming you have allowed a reasonable amount of time for your emails to be answered - perhaps the member is on vacation or having trouble with his/her computer or email system.

See if you can find a telephone number to go with the name and address you had to mail the check. There are several online directories that you could try.

Failing that, I'd probably stop payment on the check and just try again with someone else. I'm sure you could find someone else to rent from that would make you feel more comfortable with the transaction.

Good luck - and please let us know how everything works out for you.

Best wishes -

 

[wdwstar]

dont worry, im sure the dvc member is busy or maybe on vacation.
you did call ms and everything was fine and you have a contract.
did you mail all your money before the dead lines according to the contract?
im sure some dvc members, once the deal is done they sorta relax and feel no need for a consent communication.

when are you going? keep us posted.

i think people should watch the trade/rent board to watch whos been renting out and watch the transactions(posts back and forth on renting the points)and get the feel if the members is a communicator or not before they decide to rent points, this way it will give them reassurance on their own renting points .

 

[dianeschlicht]

You don't say when your trip is. I assume it is coming up soon. If you have confirmed your reservation with MS and you have the confirmation sheet in hand, I don't think you would have too much to worry about. Still, I too would want to have some communication from the owner. Carol had some very good advice about trying to call them.

 

[erikalk]

Originally posted by wdwstar
dont worry, im sure the dvc member is busy or maybe on vacation.
you did call ms and everything was fine and you have a contract.
did you mail all your money before the dead lines according to the contract?
im sure some dvc members, once the deal is done they sorta relax and feel no need for a consent communication.

when are you going? keep us posted.

i think people should watch the trade/rent board to watch whos been renting out and watch the transactions(posts back and forth on renting the points)and get the feel if the members is a communicator or not before they decide to rent points, this way it will give them reassurance on their own renting points .

I sent an email after mailing the deposit to ask the owner to send me a quick note stating they got the payment. I received the return receipt in the mail, but the signature wasn't from the owner or other family member. I waited several weeks, before sending another email. I got concerned because the check hadn't been cashed yet. It has been several weeks since the 2nd email. I just sent the remaining balance. According the the tracking of the letter, the letter was attempted to be delivered yesterday.

I checked out other postings by the owner to verify that they had rented out points before and they looked ok on the boards.

I was able to do a reverse lookup and get a phone number, so if I have not heard anything and the checks are not cashed in the next few weeks, I will be contacting the owner via phone.

I am not going until early October, but after reading some other posts about fraud and renting points and the issue of no communication from the owner, has got me worried.

 

[wdwstar]

i wouldnt stop payment on the checks, im sure its a reliable transaction between you and the member, just a little trouble with the communication.

try the address "look up " for the phone number and call like the the other poster suggested.

but if other dvc members find out that you always back out of the transactions because you dont feel secure about the transation until you check in, dvc members will avoid renting points to you.

and look into your contract if it states you will lose your deposit if you cancel, then that is what the dvc member will do , cancel the ressies and keep only the deposit, so you are still without a ressies.

how long before your trip?

so we can give advise to reassure you

did you get a conf. letter with the ressies conf. #

 

[erikalk]

Originally posted by wdwstar
i wouldnt stop payment on the checks, im sure its a reliable transaction between you and the member, just a little trouble with the communication.

but if other dvc members find out that you always back out of the transactions because you dont feel secure about the transation until you check in, dvc members will avoid renting points to you.

and look into your contract if it states you will lose your deposit if you cancel, then that is what the dvc member will do , cancel the ressies and keep only the deposit, so you are still without a ressies.

how long before your trip?

so we can give advise to reassure you

did you get a conf. letter with the ressies conf. #

I did get the confirmation letter, so I feel a little better about that. I will be traveling in October. I don't have the contract on me at work, but I will look at it tonight.

I do not plan on cancelling the checks. As of now, there is absolutely no reason to cancel those checks. The only reason I would cancel the checks is if the reservation is cancelled by the owner and the owner had not cashed them yet. I do not want to leave the impression with any other potential owners that I would do that.

This is my first rental, so I guess I am being overly paranoid and cautious.

Thanks for all the support and reassurance!

 

[wdwstar]

why wait, you have the phone # call the member today and just tell they you were concern if he received your deposit check because someone else signed for it and it has not been cashed yet, and you have just sent the second check, tell them you have emailed with your concerns and no responce so that is why you are calling.


as far as fraud, there has only been one post recent that the transaction went bad, but without who she rented from, and have not heard the members side of the story we cannot call it fraud.

99.99% you can trust these dvc members on the rent/trade board
but i do have to say with new people buying dvc and renting their points out before they know how things work is another problem.

 

[Geezer]

As long as you have the confirmation letter, I think it should be all right. We rented points once and felt very comfortable with the situation.

 

[KellyDVC]

I have rented several times and actually ask that the renter and I speak on the phone before moving forward.

Pick up the phone and dial the telephone number. You are obviously concerned enough to post here. Let's face facts - you have spent much more time typing than it would take to call.

If you can't get through, or otherwise unsuccessful in reaching the member, what are the cancellation provisions in your contract? This should be stress-free.

Just my $.02.

Thanks.

Brian

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by wdwstar
why wait, you have the phone # call the member today

My thoughts exactly!!!

You are obviously concerned about the situation or you wouldn't be posting. Don't lose any more sleep over it--call and make sure everything is OK.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Hang on to that confirmation letter but I caution others that are considering renting points to search the past posts of the person you are renting from to get to know him/her and how much they know about DVC. I would rather rent from someone who has a history on these boards than someone who doesn't.

HBC

 

[Dean]

Call DVC or the resort to make sure the reservationis till active and do so a couple of more times as you near the trip. About a month before, a week before and the day before seems prudent to me.

 

[mikesmom]

Maybe they don't want to cash your check until you actually use the reservation. I know I have rented to people once who gave me a credit card. I didn't actually "hit" the card for the charge until the day before they checked in. In that case, though, there weren't as many months as you have before the ressie.

That being said, I would call them. I often manage seminars for my husband and you would be shocked at how often people change emails - sometimes as much as once or twice a year - the ISP went under or got bought out, they got a better rate, etc. Anyway, often people do not keep the same email address over time.