Does David's tell you if the renter cancels?

[marx]

First time renter here. We rented from DVCRentalStore and we're supposed to check in April 26. I'm really scared about losing my thousands of dollars from the AKL reservation and the dining plan. I feel like if owners are getting their points back, then they should refund the renter. I'd absolutely love to reschedule, but I don't see a time that would work for us within the coming year. I'm sick to my stomach over this. If resorts are still closed by the time of check in, how likely do you think it'll be to get my money back?

As has been pointed out, if owners get their points back they might not be able to use them. So, IMO, if you rented the points they are now yours. As an owner who rented in the past, I'd certainly try as hard as I can to reschedule a trip for you with those points. But, that might not be possible. I wouldn't keep your money and use the points for myself as well.

 

[CarolMN]

My plan is to hang on until it is evident that it'll go one way or the other. I'm just not sure if I should try to cancel dining at the 30 day mark to try to get that money back since it has no effect on the member there should be an issue there, right? No owner or broker is making money off of my dining plan so they shouldn't be stingy about canceling it and getting that money back to us... right?

Refunds from cancelled dining plans go to the same form of payment as was used to purchase the plan. If the owner used your credit card to pay for the plan, the refund will go back to your credit card. If you gave the owner a gift card to use for payment, the refund will go back to that gift card. You could have a problem if you paid the owner and the owner used his/her credit card. The owner SHOULD return the money to you, but if he/she elects not to return the money after being refunded, you would have a collections/legal issue. (But I would expect most owners to be very honest regarding that). I'm told that refunds can take 4-6 weeks to actually show up.

 

[CarolynFH]

Disney also issued a memo to DVC owners.

"In the meantime, all points banking rules remain in place. While we understand the banking policy might create some frustration, please realize that this is in place to ensure that the membership as a whole avoids future inventory constraints"

What I was reading here as of yesterday is that owners were being allowed to bank current UY points even if they were beyond their banking window. Hopefully that will continue, along with “unborrowing” points. What DVC can’t do, probably for legal reasons, is allow already banked points to be banked a second time.

I do agree that however this shakes out, the DVC rental world will be quite different after all this is over.

 

[Yinn]

What I was reading here as of yesterday is that owners were being allowed to bank current UY points even if they were beyond their banking window. Hopefully that will continue, along with “unborrowing” points. What DVC can’t do, probably for legal reasons, is allow already banked points to be banked a second time.

I do agree that however this shakes out, the DVC rental world will be quite different after all this is over.

Thats what I had read as well. The email I quoted came out today, so it’s quite possible there was a policy enacted due to the volume they were seeing.

Again, I understand the concern. And certainly if itwas just a park closure and resorts stayed open; it stinks but I think it’s be reasonable to restrict banking as it’s technically still available. But if the resort is closed, then it’s unfortunate if they don’t allow banking in those cases.

 

[Sandisw]

I am a renter and also an owner of DVC points.
Is it possible to request the owner of the points to have them transferred to me after they get their points back, instead of a cash refund.

If the owner had points that were banked le borrowe, they can’t be transferred. if the owner already used up their once per UY transfer, they can’t.

 

[bababear_50]

The owner would only be responsible for you to be refunded if they cancel your reservation on you or if they can’t provide you with the room because Disney closes the hotel,

There is no negligence, action, or omission by the owner in this case on the owners part because the park closed. As long as you arrive on the 21st and the room is available, then your contract is fulfilled, Currently, Disney has said they are keeping hotels open.

Now, I am sure that some owners are going to work to try and eschedule trips for renters if the renter requests it, and they have the eligible points to do that, but they are not obligated to do that,

Hopefully, the owner whose points were used for your reservation, if you decide to not go, will be in a position to help you reschedule the trip,

Hi Sandi
Are you saying that the owner is responsible to refund in full to the renter if Disney closes the resort?
Which Disney did.
Thanks
Mel

 

[Sandisw]

Intresting, wonder how many owners are going to cry “no refunds”?
If resorts are closed that is breach and contract stating no refunds would be void.They would not be delivering what was promised to renter. Why would renters insurance pay if contract isnt being honored.
Do owners have some sort of contract with Davids? May have some fine print.

We do have a contract, but I can’t see how any owner could claim, now that the resort is actually closed, that the no refunds would apply.

Owners only received 70% at time of booking so renter should get back the 30% David’s held back immediately..well as soon as they are possibly able to,

It will be tough for any owner who doesn’t have the cash to send back, I rented reservation for August and I did use the money to pay my dues. But, I also have the funds to lay back if I was forced to,

 

[Sandisw]

I think it’s going to leave owners with a bad taste in their mouths about David’s. Owners are likely to avoid dealing with them if they feel that David’s doesn’t have their backs. The renters are being made whole at the owners’ expense. David’s is only out their administrative costs, which will be partially covered by the interest they collected on the 30% that they withheld from owners after securing the reservation. Owners get screwed.

But do you really believe if an owner can’t deliver the room to the renter, that they are being screwed, whether they rented through David’s or on their own?

Yes, they are on the losing end of this now because of this crisis but it’s not the fault of anyone but that crisis.

 

[Sandisw]

Hi Sandi
Are you saying that the owner is responsible to refund in full to the renter if Disney closes the resort?
Which Disney did.
Thanks
Mel

Yes, The contract was to provide a room at a resort for a specific date, If the owner can’t deliver that...and they can’t,,,because the resort is closed,..then the renter isn’t getting what they paid for,

I am not an attorney, of course, but common understandings from working years ago in a law firm and a general knowledge of contracts and my own life experiences,

Of course, an owner could offer a renter the option to rebook and if the renter wants that option, that could work too,

The hard part in all of this for the renter, however, is getting the owner to do it. But, I am going to assume most owners understand this and will be either rebooking or refunding.

 

[Sandisw]

What I was reading here as of yesterday is that owners were being allowed to bank current UY points even if they were beyond their banking window. Hopefully that will continue, along with “unborrowing” points. What DVC can’t do, probably for legal reasons, is allow already banked points to be banked a second time.

I do agree that however this shakes out, the DVC rental world will be quite different after all this is over.

They very well could change the policy and no longer allow people to put borrowed points back.

As things go on, I could see them doing this, It is like DCL, they changed what they offered as time went on. Granted, their deals got better, but with DVC, we are know looking at potentially way more lost room availability than the system can absorb.

 

[purplenancy27]

David’s just posted a message on FB. They are asking everyone to be patient. Hoping that a solution can be made that satisfies all parties.

 

[bababear_50]

Yes, The contract was to provide a room at a resort for a specific date, If the owner can’t deliver that...and they can’t,,,because the resort is closed,..then the renter isn’t getting what they paid for,

I am not an attorney, of course, but common understandings from working years ago in a law firm and a general knowledge of contracts and my own life experiences,

Of course, an owner could offer a renter the option to rebook and if the renter wants that option, that could work too,

The hard part in all of this for the renter, however, is getting the owner to do it. But, I am going to assume most owners understand this and will be either rebooking or refunding.

Ok thanks
It would have been nice to have a heads up,,,by renters who were to check in today,,or David's.
Then I get the email from David's this afternoon.
I too used the 70% rental funds to pay my dues.
David's said Disney cancelled their reservation.
I would assume that this means my points are going to be put back into my account,,,or do I need to call DVC???
Reservation was for March 16--March 21.
Double yuck for Canadians that have their dollar taking a dive and people losing their jobs.

Mel

 

[Sandisw]

Ok thanks
It would have been nice to have a heads up,,,by renters who were to check in today,,or David's.
Then I get the email from David's this afternoon.
I too used the 70% rental funds to pay my dues.
David's said Disney cancelled their reservation.
I would assume that this means my points are going to be put back into my account,,,or do I need to call DVC???
Reservation was for March 16--March 21.
Double yuck for Canadians that have their dollar taking a dive and people losing their jobs.

Mel

Id go online and check. But, if your renters had a reservation from March 16th, they would only be entitled to a refund for March 20th, IMO.

The resorts were open for those first few nights so I would say you could offer them a chance to reschedule.

But, what you don’t know is if they went? I’d contact David’s and just find out what is expected since 4 of the 5 nights were during the times when resort was open.

 

[Yinn]

I just received an email from dvcreservation to owners and told them to refund.

"Disney has announced that resorts will be closed as of March 20th.

Renter Refunds: If this affects your renter, you should be preparing at this time to return renter funds for affected renters, as disney can no longer honor dates you contracted and promised renters

If you have a renter in this period, please contact us asap to determine what amount is due. "

A little further down...

"As of right now this only affects March dates, however, we have very little doubt that Disney will extend this to April eventually so April DVC owners should alspoprepare as of this time."

**Edit: This was NOT from Davids. I was mistaken and read the email too fast, it was from dvcreservations. My apologies.

I wanted to bring this edit to light. My apologies for the confusion. David's has NOT asked for any money back at this point. Only contact information to assist with rescheduling. I read my email too quickly.

 

[cvjw]

I have 2 sets of renters at Disney now on rented points thru David’s. Both are leaving before the resorts close on the 20th - one on the 18th and one on the 19th. Neither of these reservations have been cancelled as far as I know - I have not heard anything from David’s or gotten any notifications or points back from dvc. I hate that things have happened this way, but the renters were able to stay at Disney for their whole stays.

 

[bababear_50]

I was told the renters reservation was cancelled by Disney in an email from David's DVC Rentals

We are reaching out to you today in regards to the ***** reservation.

"As you are aware, COVID-19 has become a pandemic and Disney has made the decision to close all resorts through the end of this month. The **** family has contacted us as their upcoming reservation has now been cancelled by Disney. While we have a no cancellation/no modification policy, we are reaching out to inquire if you would be open to helping the ***** family during this difficult time."

This is mis information from David's as Disney did not cancel their reservation,,just off the phone with DVC,,,
I ended up canceling the reservation and will refund what I can.
I will lose 25 points,,as there is no way I will use them before July/Aug 2020.

 

[Marionnette]

But do you really believe if an owner can’t deliver the room to the renter, that they are being screwed, whether they rented through David’s or on their own?

Yes, they are on the losing end of this now because of this crisis but it’s not the fault of anyone but that crisis.

What I’m saying is that there is no consideration on their part for the owners, on whom they rely for their business model. They didn’t ask owners to contact them regarding the possibility of rescheduling the renters. They demanded a full refund from the owner. dvcreservations.com suffers very little compared to what they just did to their owners. So, while their agreement states no refunds unless the owner is negligent, their response is much different.

I don’t have a reservation thru dvcreservations.com (PP had indicated the email was from David’s) that is affected by this, but if I did, those points that I rented out 11 months ago at a premium price are now worth less on the rental market, if I can rent them out at all. Some owners don’t even have the money in reserve to handle the refund. They spent it on their own vacations for which they have been offered “vouchers” for future travel rather than refunds, or they repaired the transmission on their car, or maybe they just paid their MFs. At a time when people are worried about whether there will be another paycheck, they’re being told to give back money they may not be able to afford to give up.

IMO, dvcreservations has chosen to appease the renters while throwing their owners under the bus. That’s not a good idea for a company that relies on owners offering their points for rent. Why settle for $14.50/pt from dvcreservations when they offered no protections to the owners in this case? Owners might as well rent the points out themselves at $19/pt . At least they can communicate directly with their renters, and maybe come to an agreement that satisfies both parties. I’m not saying that the owner should keep the money AND the points, but there should be some compromise that doesn’t leave the owner bearing the full weight of the problem.

 

[CarolMN]

This is now posted on David's website:

A Message to our guests and owners
We understand the severe impact that the COVID-19 virus is having.

Here is what we hope to accomplish over the next few days (maybe weeks).

If you are a guest, please wait for us to contact you. We will work with your owner to verify point status and then contact you with available options. This could be a rebooked reservation, points for a future reservation, or possibly a refund dependent on the owner’s current financial status. We may, in some circumstances, be able to re-rent points to allow for a refund situation. Each case will have its own set of variables. We promise to do everything we can to ease this unprecedented situation.

If you are an owner, please wait for us to contact you. We ask that you put your contract with the guest aside and work from your heart. Let your conscience be your guide. Depending on the status of your points, we will ask you to rebook the reservation, offer the points for a future reservation, offer a refund of the monies sent to you if you are financially able to, and let us re-rent your points. We do not intend to leave any owner "holding the bag."

Our commitment to you is as follows;

We will be in contact with each and every owner
&
We will be in contact with each and every guest

Due to this unprecedented situation, we are not equipped with the resources to do this in our usual timely fashion. It may take weeks to sift through all of the cancelled reservations. Yet, we remain committed to replying to each message we receive. We ask that you don’t send more than one email; every email sent takes resources away to sort through. Abusive language will not be tolerated.

Thank you for your support and your loyalty. We will keep you updated throughout this dynamic situation as events unfold.

 

[GoingSince1990]

The big problem is that Disney closing the resorts is just not something that was ever envisaged and that the legal agreements simply do not contemplate. And the tricky question is what should happen in this situation:

1. Renter pays (say) $2000 to rent points from an owner, chooses not to buy insurance, and agrees that the payment is non-refundable;
2. Owner makes reservation for renter using soon-to-expire banked points;
3. Disney closes the resorts;
4. Owner gets the points back but they are non-bankable and there is no possibility for him to use those points or rent them out again.

The possible responses would seem to be:

1. Owner says too bad, offers no refund, and suffers no loss, leaving the renter to suffer a loss of $2000.
2. Owner refunds the renter in full. Now the renter is made whole and suffers no loss, but the owner, who cannot use the points, now loses the full $2000.
3. (and this is the one that kind of makes the most sense to me in this situation) They split the difference, share the pain, by having the owner refund the renter $1000.

A horrible and tricky situation all around!

 

[heynowirv]

My plan is to hang on until it is evident that it'll go one way or the other. I'm just not sure if I should try to cancel dining at the 30 day mark to try to get that money back since it has no effect on the member there should be an issue there, right? No owner or broker is making money off of my dining plan so they shouldn't be stingy about canceling it and getting that money back to us... right?

You can ask them to cancel the dining plan up until the day before your reservation starts.I had renters last week who I did this for.