DVC Point Rental Scam - Cincinnati, OH

[BaileyKin]

This exact thing happened to me! The seller was offering a room that didn't exist, had the lowest prices, was EXTREMELY pushy for me to buy and said there was no need for references or a contract....only a gentleman's agreement. I obviously did not book with them, but it leads me to wonder if there is a place to report these types of people?

 

[sonofanarchy]

Probably because PayPal is generally very unfriendly to sellers. They tend to side with the buyer on almost all disputes. The last thing that I would want to see is my points gone as well as the money, if I got a dishonest renter.

And if you have a business account, then you pay a percentage of the money you collect to PayPal. If you accept other forms of payment, you get to keep all of your money.

What could a dishonest renter do besides not pay right away? In that case, cancel the reservation.

Most sellers I deal with just charge me the PayPal seller fee. It's not that high.

 

[rwdavis2]

Hi all
so im reading this post with interest as im about to do my first DVC rental and could really use some guidance.

i found a posting in VRBO that offers the contemporary disney resort 2bed units. i made a $ proposal that was accepted and now we're going through a few clarifications. Im trying to get a sense if this is legitimate:

1- vrbo says the person is new and the posting began in 2014
2- looked up the name of the owner in Florida controler site but couldnt find it.
3- received a contract proposal, with address of owner, and checked the home address for tax assessments but couldnt find that name there.
4- the owner emailed me 2 references that i emailed and received prompt feedback. neither of the reference names/emails show up in google search of any kind. References were positive.
5- owner asks for 'I accept payments via direct Bank transfer Only... Bank USAA'.
6- the owner also mentions 'It's a deeded timeshare in my name, I own the property and have been renting out this unit for 5 years now'. i didnt know that the units were actually individually owned/could be specific about renting a specific unit.

Any perspective you can provide would be helpful.
Thanks

Run the other way as fast as you can.

 

[tass98]

Thanks for your help.
This is what i received today ;-)

"VRBO.com
Dear Traveler,
We are really sorry to have to notify you that we had to deactivate this listing 575711. Although this rarely happens, we believe the listing to be fake."

to the next one
Thks again

 

[dansdad]

Thanks for your help.
This is what i received today ;-)

"VRBO.com
Dear Traveler,
We are really sorry to have to notify you that we had to deactivate this listing 575711. Although this rarely happens, we believe the listing to be fake."

to the next one
Thks again

Thanks for letting us know!

 

[letsgoreds]

Glad you dodged that bullet. I have rented directly from owners that were vetted on this site. All 3 times I was easily able to confirm their ownership on comptroller's site, personal address, phone number and a sense of who they are/where they live to make sure it made sense.

The first reservation (2 yr ago) went really well, used a contract, very prompt, thorough and kind. Would definitely buy from again. 2BR at Kidani (dedicated), no issues whatsoever.

Second go (last year), was from a BLT owner that was selling at $11/pt, which is low. She had 200 points, which is exactly what I needed, but didn't book reservation until AFTER I sent her the money. And in between that time, the availability changed (mix of dedicated and lock off 2br), and she booked it, but then offered to cancel and return my money. I figured we would be able to wait list and then work it out in time (10 months out). Well...the owner was very busy and never able to call DVC to modify my reservation. That made me nervous, but she had all of my $, and there was nothing I could do. So...I fretted most of the 11 months, and although it worked out in the end, thanks to a superior CR/BLT manager (saved us from switching rooms), totally not worth it. I just didn't believe I would be able to get an early Dec BLT ressie any other way. Oh...and she didn't want a contract (and we didn't have one). Totally worked out, but I ignored flags.

Third try (also last year), I had the BEST experience with one of the veteran owners that owns a LOT of points. Super easy to work with, lightning fast (needed quick response for a tough reservation). I will definitely look him up again for future reservations.

So...if sticking with working directly with owners results in getting the hard-to-get ressie, I will go with it, preferably with someone I have used before. If I need an easy to get ressie, would probably go through Davids. Either way, you win : )

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't get why all sellers don't offer Paypal. It's free to set up. It's easy, and it protects all parties involved.

There are HUGE problems with paypal and there always have been. Before it was owned by ebay there were even bigger problems. (while working at amazon for some reason ebay and paypal users would write to US to have us try to fix things? people were very confused in the late 90s and early 00s, that's all I have to say. but I heard some horrid things about paypal back then)

And they do NOT protect anyone with timeshare rentals.

According to PayPal's terms of service, there's no protection for timeshare rentals.

Exactly absolutely positively.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Interesting to hear that about Paypal. Honestly, I never have had any issue with them. I had 1 seller on an item screw me over, and Paypal got me my money back. Good to know about the timeshare policy though.

Given that is the case, what would be the safest way to pay a seller for a timeshare rental?

 

[tinktinktink]

Probably because PayPal is generally very unfriendly to sellers. They tend to side with the buyer on almost all disputes. The last thing that I would want to see is my points gone as well as the money, if I got a dishonest renter.

And if you have a business account, then you pay a percentage of the money you collect to PayPal. If you accept other forms of payment, you get to keep all of your money.

I have had a seller offer paypal as a payment form, but require a 3% fee for that payment form.

 

[tinktinktink]

Glad you dodged that bullet. I have rented directly from owners that were vetted on this site. All 3 times I was easily able to confirm their ownership on comptroller's site, personal address, phone number and a sense of who they are/where they live to make sure it made sense.

The first reservation (2 yr ago) went really well, used a contract, very prompt, thorough and kind. Would definitely buy from again. 2BR at Kidani (dedicated), no issues whatsoever.

Second go (last year), was from a BLT owner that was selling at $11/pt, which is low. She had 200 points, which is exactly what I needed, but didn't book reservation until AFTER I sent her the money. And in between that time, the availability changed (mix of dedicated and lock off 2br), and she booked it, but then offered to cancel and return my money. I figured we would be able to wait list and then work it out in time (10 months out). Well...the owner was very busy and never able to call DVC to modify my reservation. That made me nervous, but she had all of my $, and there was nothing I could do. So...I fretted most of the 11 months, and although it worked out in the end, thanks to a superior CR/BLT manager (saved us from switching rooms), totally not worth it. I just didn't believe I would be able to get an early Dec BLT ressie any other way. Oh...and she didn't want a contract (and we didn't have one). Totally worked out, but I ignored flags.

Third try (also last year), I had the BEST experience with one of the veteran owners that owns a LOT of points. Super easy to work with, lightning fast (needed quick response for a tough reservation). I will definitely look him up again for future reservations.

So...if sticking with working directly with owners results in getting the hard-to-get ressie, I will go with it, preferably with someone I have used before. If I need an easy to get ressie, would probably go through Davids. Either way, you win : )

I totally agree with you that going through an owner is the best way to get hard to get ressies. Davids is for easy to get res. Not to knock David's, but I feel like I can get the points cheaper from someone on here and not have to pay 98.00 for them to check to see if what I want is available. The fee sucks in my opinion. DVC rental store is so much better about checking availability.