DVC rental issues (contract language and availability)

[Andynnj]

I'm digging through every possible bit of DVC-related information I can find on the boards as I research purchasing my own membership, but I will probably need to do a rental for a family event in 2015 or 16 and have a few questions for fellow disboards members:
1) Am I reading the contracts from the DVC rental brokers correctly: if you get to WDW and you have no villa, you get your money back and are stuck with no room? Not sure how much faith I can put in a broker(s) who would say "Oh well, too bad for you" when 1/3 of a group of 15 are told they have no villa because of the member/owner or broker's mistake.
Has anyone experienced anything like this with **************, David's vacation club rentals, or DVCrental? Are there other reputable companies that rent? I couldn't find a rental section on The Timeshare Store.
2) Would it be totally unrealistic to request (and expect to get) 3 two-bedroom villas at a single resort? Prefer VWL, BLT, or AK. Need something kids will like, plus good transportation and/or close proximity, as it is the first visit to WDW for most of my family.
As always, any advice or information is appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[crisi]

1. Yes, it has to be that way. Only the owner controls the rental. If the owner cancels, that reservation will likely get snapped up by someone else. You'll arrive at a full resort with no reservation - and even Tinkerbell doesn't make hotel rooms out of pixie dust. It has happened, I don't know if its ever happened through a broker.

2. BLT might be hard to get 3 2 bedrooms - especially if you own a different resort. Same with VWL - depending on the time of year. As long as you book at seven months, you should have no issues getting 3 2 bedrooms at AKL - PROVIDED you aren't looking at those value rooms in which case, it would be near impossible to get 3 value 2 bedrooms even at eleven months for most of the year.

 

[abner1776]

When you rent points from a DVC member, there are two parts to the transaction...your cash and the members points. THe broker can provide a certain level of security with respect to your cash but if the member gets cold feet or pulls out for some other reason, there is not too much the broker can do...the broker does not own the points.

I am not aware of issues as you outline with Davids, but that does not mean they have not happened.

The important thing to remember is to check your reservations with the broker as soon as you are within the 30 day window. If a member is going to cancel the reservation, they will do it before they hit the 30 day window so the points do not go into a holding account.

Also keep in mind that renting DVC points is not the same as renting a timeshare in Ft. lauderdale. DVC members are not buying a timeshare, we are buying into ....DISNEY. We want YOU to enjoy WDW as much as we do and while there are bad apples in any barrel, our barrel has far fewer.

 

[jockotaco]

I've rented from David's and have never had an issue. As another poster pointed out you can check the reservation within the 30 day window. In my case I called the hotel directly and asked to confirm a reservation under my name.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The other issue is trust. If you are wary of making a mistake, make all your reservations directly with Disney. You'll pay more, but you won't lose money or miss out on a place to stay.

 

[Lynne M]

1) Am I reading the contracts from the DVC rental brokers correctly: if you get to WDW and you have no villa, you get your money back and are stuck with no room? Not sure how much faith I can put in a broker(s) who would say "Oh well, too bad for you" when 1/3 of a group of 15 are told they have no villa because of the member/owner or broker's mistake.
Has anyone experienced anything like this with DVC rental store, David's vacation club rentals, or DVC rental? Are there other reputable companies that rent? I couldn't find a rental section on The Timeshare Store.

This is a very remote possibility no matter what company you use, or whether you rent from an individual member. It's not a matter of their saying "too bad for you", it's the nature of the transaction.

DVC, like other timeshares, are designed to run at high occupancy. By the time your arrive at the resort, there may well be no other rooms available.

Brokers have no points of their own. They can't make you a new reservation. They way they work is that they match you up with an owner who has the points you need at the resort you want, and the owner makes a reservation for you. The reality is, if you arrive and find no reservation, there's not a whole lot they can do for you but refund what you've paid.

The owner has little incentive to cancel on you at the last minute, it just means they're going to forfeit half of their payment, and possibly may lose the points, depending on their use year and how close the cancellation would be to the end of it.

The savings on renting from a member or broker comes with a small amount of risk. That's the trade-off, and for some people the risk is not worth the savings. There's nothing wrong with that, it's part of the "is it worth it" calculation we all make in one way or another when planning our vacations. You should make the vacation plans that you're comfortable with.

 

[Minniesgal]

You will get a reservation number from the owner which you can use on MDE to view your reservation so you can see it is real and if it were cancelled it would disappear so you would know something was up.

 

[crisi]

You will get a reservation number from the owner which you can use on MDE to view your reservation so you can see it is real and if it were cancelled it would disappear so you would know something was up.

Although you probably couldn't do anything about it at that time - except get your money back. The room that was let go would have been snapped up by someone else - and getting your money back from a broker would be pretty easy - that's why people use brokers - getting your money back from an individual might be a lot of work.

 

[Andynnj]

Thanks everyone!