Dvc Rental Store, do they give out contact info?

[babydoll65]

Not sure how it works though I rented from the DVC Rental Store a few times but thought it was odd that I was directly contacted by the owner of the points of my trip that I'm going on next month wanting to know if I was thinking about renting again in 2025. Is it common that they give your phone number to the person your renting from? I thought everything went through the Dvc Rental Store as far as changes, cancellation and such. I know I wasn't given the owners phone number not sure why he has mine. Is this normal?

 

[GoingSince1990]

Not sure how it works though I rented from the DVC Rental Store a few times but thought it was odd that I was directly contacted by the owner of the points of my trip that I'm going on next month wanting to know if I was thinking about renting again in 2025. Is it common that they give your phone number to the person your renting from? I thought everything went through the Dvc Rental Store as far as changes, cancellation and such. I know I wasn't given the owners phone number not sure why he has mine. Is this normal?

Owners are given all the renters’ information to make the reservation: names, address, email, phone numbers. But owners are specifically instructed to NEVER contact the renters directly.

 

[babydoll65]

Owners are given all the renters’ information to make the reservation: names, address, email, phone numbers. But owners are specifically instructed to NEVER contact the renters directly.

Thank you. I guess I will need to contact them tomorrow. Im hoping he can't do anything to my existing reservation? He wouldn't let up about renting for 2025 which seems odd since the earliest you can book is 11months out. Plus what he was asking for seven days at the Polynesian was way more than what I paid originally.

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you. I guess I will need to contact them tomorrow. Im hoping he can't do anything to my existing reservation? He wouldn't let up about renting for 2025 which seems odd since the earliest you can book is 11months out. Plus what he was asking for seven days at the Polynesian was way more than what I paid originally.

Definitely let the rental store know since this is expressly prohibited.

ETA: Poor choice of words but what I was remembering was my interaction with David's and not DVC Rental Store...should have double checked my things.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Thank you. I guess I will need to contact them tomorrow. Im hoping he can't do anything to my existing reservation? He wouldn't let up about renting for 2025 which seems odd since the earliest you can book is 11months out. Plus what he was asking for seven days at the Polynesian was way more than what I paid originally.

As the owner, he has full control of your reservation, and in theory could cancel it if he wanted to. However, this is very unlikely as DVC Rental Store would then not pay him the final 25% he is due, and would undoubtedly ban him from their service. He is behaving extremely badly, in blatant violation of DVC Rental Store policy, and you should definitely report his behavior.

 

[Best Aunt]

But owners are specifically instructed to NEVER contact the renters directly.

Definitely let the rental store know since this is expressly prohibited.

I am an Owner who has rented out points through DVC Rental Store.

I do not recall ever being specifically instructed not to contact the renter directly.

I don't think doing so is expressly prohibited.

I don't think it's a blatant violation of DVC Rental Store policy. (Sorry, forgot to add that to my multi-quote.)

I wouldn't do it, and I think it's inappropriate. But I don't think there is any language in any of the DVC Rental Store documents saying that an Owner can't contact a renter directly, or shouldn't contact a renter directly (even to rent out other points). If somebody can point me to that type of language in DVC Rental Store documents, please feel free to prove me wrong.

 

[Sandisw]

I am an Owner who has rented out points through DVC Rental Store.

I do not recall ever being specifically instructed not to contact the renter directly.

I don't think doing so is expressly prohibited.

I don't think it's a blatant violation of DVC Rental Store policy. (Sorry, forgot to add that to my multi-quote.)

I wouldn't do it, and I think it's inappropriate. But I don't think there is any language in any of the DVC Rental Store documents saying that an Owner can't contact a renter directly, or shouldn't contact a renter directly (even to rent out other points). If somebody can point me to that type of language in DVC Rental Store documents, please feel free to prove me wrong.

I guess it was a poor choice of words but the notion was owners should not be contacting the renter.

 

[Best Aunt]

I guess it was a poor choice of words but the notion was owners should not be contacting the renter.

I completely agree that owners should not be contacting the renter. Perhaps the DVC Rental Store should add that to their documents (unless, as I said, it's there and I just missed it).

 

[DonMacGregor]

I wouldn't do it, and I think it's inappropriate. But I don't think there is any language in any of the DVC Rental Store documents saying that an Owner can't contact a renter directly, or shouldn't contact a renter directly (even to rent out other points). If somebody can point me to that type of language in DVC Rental Store documents, please feel free to prove me wrong.

Pretty sure you're right. I went back through two of my rentals and can't find any language to that effect in the rental contract, or on the site.

 

[Disdreaming479]

My guess is that the owner would like to cut out the middle man if possible to receive more of the rental income.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Owners are given all the renters’ information to make the reservation: names, address, email, phone numbers. But owners are specifically instructed to NEVER contact the renters directly.

I don't see that anywhere in the contract or on the website.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Thank you. I guess I will need to contact them tomorrow. Im hoping he can't do anything to my existing reservation? He wouldn't let up about renting for 2025 which seems odd since the earliest you can book is 11months out. Plus what he was asking for seven days at the Polynesian was way more than what I paid originally.

I would not be worried about them changing the reservation .....
It sounds like the owner wanted to cut out the middle man and rent directly with you next year...
Save both of you some money and hassle....

 

[pianomanzano]

Pretty sure you're right. I went back through two of my rentals and can't find any language to that effect in the rental contract, or on the site.

I recall a post here a couple months back where an owner was told by the company not to contact the guest/renter (don't remember the specifics of the post but I think it had to do with e-mail addresses?), but yea I didn't see anything in their contract about it either.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I recall a post here a couple months back where an owner was told by the company not to contact the guest/renter (don't remember the specifics of the post but I think it had to do with e-mail addresses?), but yea I didn't see anything in their contract about it either.

Yeah, I went back through and read every email I received, and there's no language that explicitly prohibits speaking to the renter (although I wouldn't do it). It may be somewhere (and I'm not saying it isn't), but it's definitely not explicit or easily found.

 

[babydoll65]

I would not be worried about them changing the reservation .....
It sounds like the owner wanted to cut out the middle man and rent directly with you next year...
Save both of you some money and hassle....

LOL the problem is that he was asking for more money than I originally paid for the reservation to begin with.

 

[babydoll65]

Yeah, I went back through and read every email I received, and there's no language that explicitly prohibits speaking to the renter (although I wouldn't do it). It may be somewhere (and I'm not saying it isn't), but it's definitely not explicit or easily found.

Who knows, maybe there is no policy but honestly, there really should be. There is really absolutely no reason for the owner to come to me for anything. If I wanted to rent privately I could do it right here,I know its available. I've been renting points for quite a while I choose to rent through DVC rental store because i like the cancellation policy, the ability to do payments and I just feel a little bit more comfortable with it.

 

[babydoll65]

By the way, I did end up contacting member services through the Dvc rental store and they seemed a little shocked that the renter even contacted me. Was told that if it should happen again I was to let them know right away. Though there may not be any policy, she's sure acting like there is one.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Who knows, maybe there is no policy but honestly, there really should be. There is really absolutely no reason for the owner to come to me for anything. If I wanted to rent privately I could do it right here,I know its available. I've been renting points for quite a while I choose to rent through DVC rental store because i like the cancellation policy, the ability to do payments and I just feel a little bit more comfortable with it.

Oh, I absolutely agree. There's no reason for the owner to contact you. The rules regarding renters DO explicity state that the renter must direct all change, requests, etc. through DVC Rental Store, and that there is a charge for said changes. As an owner, I'd definitely not want to deal with a renter, and enjoy the separation afforded by the third party intermediary.

And, I agree with the assumption that it was an explicit effort to cut out the middle man once the rental relationship had been established.

I was just responding to the posts about the contact being "explicitly prohibited".

 

[DonMacGregor]

By the way, I did end up contacting member services through the Dvc rental store and they seemed a little shocked that the renter even contacted me. Was told that if it should happen again I was to let them know right away. Though there may not be any policy, she's sure acting like there is one.

That part I find a bit hard to swallow. They send the owner the names, physical address, email address, and cell phone number of every person to be included on the reservation, and they do that for every one of hundreds and hundreds of rentals. There's zero chance that this hasn't happened before.

You can see how easily an owner could try to do what your owner did and cut out the middle man. I could also see an owner, actually just trying to help a renter, directly contacting that renter to figure out reservation changes, adding or removing guests, adding the dining plan, etc. instead of having to go through the third party multiple times. Especially in light of the $50 per change charge that DVCRS will tack on.

Again, I totally agree with you that it shouldn't have happened, but the pearl clutching by DVCRS might be a bit much. I'm curious why she didn't straight out lead with "we have a strict policy against that".

 

[Tpptch72]

Yikes,
that is a no-no and I would defiantly contact David’s and let them know.
It states in the reservation information email from David’s “We kindly ask that you do not waitlist any reservation or contact the guest directly”
I took a screen shot of it from my email but not sure how to post since I am earning my ears