I reiterate that I am not a lawyer and i'm not providing legal advice.
This is correct. Each "investigator" is simply someone processing a form...checking the boxes...the "logic" of who wins is determined by an algorithm, and it's mostly done by computers. Simply because of the sheer volume. They certainly don't have time to read the contract, they don't have the legal skills/training to make an actual determination of who should win in light of that contract. In the case of a chargeback from a "product/service not delivered complaint" it simply comes down to "can the merchant provide evidence that the product was delivered?" If yes, the merchant wins. If no, then the purchaser wins. Again...it's HIGHLY bureaucratic.
If it requires any more actual investigation/argument/contracts etc. then they will simply say that they've made their decision and if you disagree, take the other guy to court.
So, for the renters who file a chargeback against David's, my opinion on how things will play out is: the credit card companies will take their money back and they will see it on their credit card statement. David's can contest the chargeback saying "no refunds policy", but since it's an "item/service not delivered" complaint, I believe that the only thing that will enable David's to win the chargeback would be some kind of evidence that the product was delivered...this might be a statement from
DVC saying the reservation was valid and wasn't checked in...etc. Obviously he won't be able to produce that since it doesn't exist and I believe that he would lose the charge back.
At that point, David's only recourse to "keep" the money from the renter would be to then file a lawsuit against them and win it. I've read the two contracts on David's website and I don't believe he would be able to actually be successful here either. In my opinion, the contract between the renter and David's becomes void once the reservation can no longer be delivered. It may also be a bad idea for David's to open that can of worms...I'm not an expert on consumer law in Canada...and again, i'm not a lawyer...this is not legal advice...this is only my personal opinion...etc...but he might open himself up to a counter suit...the renter might be able to claim that because the contract was cancelled through no fault of their own David's owes them for related losses/expenses...non refundable flights, lost vacation time, costs of alternative accommodations, etc.
The other issue on David's being able to actually file a lawsuit against anyone is that i'm guessing most of David's customers and the DVC owners he works with are in the USA. He's operating a business in Canada. His contract states that everything is to be litigated in Canada. He can file a suit, but would likely have a hard time winning a judgement. But even if he did get a judgement, if the person he is suing is in the USA with no assets/job in Canada, he would have no way to enforce the judgement and collect any money, without then trying to get the judgement in Canada recognized by a United States Court that has jurisdiction over the person they are trying to sue. This is an exceptionally expensive process with not a good chance of actually recovering any money. I don't think it's really done unless there is a dispute that involves more than tens of thousands of dollars with a good chance that you can actually recover something.
