DVC Response About Ebay Commercial Sellers

[jdg345]

We have to understand that we are getting this as second hand. If its not in writing and official from Disney we really don't know whether someone talked to someone, whether they got the correct/official verbiage or whether something was lost in translation (this could be tone, etc.).

I don't know much about the poster who stated they talked to Disney Legal so I can't speak to whether they did or didn't speak to a lawyer or if they did, whether anything was lost in "translation".

I do wish though, for users who get on these threads, we could know their true intentions and their past habits of renting or not - it helps me to understand someones background to understand their intentions (whether out of kindness, obligation or manipulation).

+1

 

[disneygrandma]

I just tried to look at the talkaboutdisney website, and got a message that I was forbidden to access it. I can't believe all this! This person/persons had created a DVC empire! She had an alias, a thriving E-Bay business, her own website, and what more? I guess she wasn't as smart as she thought though, since all of this has been discovered. Great sleuthing everyone! It just makes me wonder who else out there is running their own DVC empire.

 

[jdg345]

Here's the completed auction list (past 30 days) for 'BoardwalkMagic'.

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d...alkmagic&include=0&rows=50&sort=3&completed=1

What gets me about these auctions is they're for specific dates - Columbus Day weekend, New Years Eve, etc. And since there are multiple listings for the same time period, the "...have the reservation but can't use it..." excuse doesn't fly.

Just in case the link doesn't work (or if it suddenly gets edited) here's a list:
(notice the auctions that ended early on August 21st - the same day 'smw' ended hers)

$895.00 DISNEY BEACH CLUB VILLAS timeshare rental ORLANDO
Sold Out 9/17 to 9/22 Disney price $1,700 Walk to EPCOT Private (*)
260011103949 Jul-20-06 Jul-30-06 20:08:16 PDT $795.00 DISNEY BOARDWALK VILLAS timeshare rental ORLANDO
8/27 to 9/1 Shuttle boats to EPCOT and MGM Studios!!!!! Private (*)
260015737473 Aug-01-06 Aug-03-06 11:03:19 PDT $830.00 DISNEY BOARDWALK VILLAS timeshare rental ORLANDO
12/10 to 12/15 Shuttle boats to EPCOT and MGM Studios!! Private (*)
260015731755 Aug-01-06 Aug-07-06 00:44:08 PDT $925.00 DISNEY BEACH CLUB VILLAS timeshare rental ORLANDO
Thanksgiving 11/19 to 11/24 Disney rate $1800 EPCOT!!!! Private (*)
260014952197 Jul-30-06 Aug-07-06 00:45:08 PDT $795.00 DISNEY BOARDWALK VILLAS timeshare rental ORLANDO
9/10 to 9/15 Shuttle boats to EPCOT and MGM Studios!!!! Private (*)
260014950703 Jul-30-06 Aug-09-06 15:52:30 PDT $895.00 DISNEY BEACH CLUB VILLAS timeshare rental ORLANDO
Sold Out 9/17 to 9/22 Disney price $1,700 Walk to EPCOT Private (*)
260015727424 Aug-01-06 Aug-11-06 17:09:26 PDT $795.00 DISNEY BOARDWALK VILLAS timeshare rental ORLANDO
10/1 to 10/6 Shuttle boats to EPCOT and MGM Studios!!!! Private (*)
260015734994 Aug-01-06 Aug-11-06 17:23:59 PDT $830.00 DISNEY WILDERNESS LODGE Villas Timeshare rental Orlando
October 8 to 13 Shuttle Boat to Disney's MAGIC KINGDOM Private (*)
260015745013 Aug-01-06 Aug-11-06 17:43:02 PDT $850.00 DISNEY's SARATOGA SPRINGS Timeshare Rental Orlando
SOLD OUT NEW YEARS boat to DOWNTOWN DISNEY/PLEASURE ISL Private (*)
260019732605 Aug-11-06 Aug-21-06 11:17:04 PDT $795.00 DISNEY BOARDWALK VILLAS timeshare rental ORLANDO
10/1 to 10/6 Shuttle boats to EPCOT and MGM Studios!!!! Private (*)
260019735549 Aug-11-06 Aug-21-06 17:25:15 PDT $830.00 DISNEY WILDERNESS LODGE Villas Timeshare rental Orlando
October 8 to 13 Shuttle Boat to Disney's MAGIC KINGDOM Private (*)
260019748379 Aug-11-06 Aug-21-06 18:18:15 PDT $850.00 DISNEY's SARATOGA SPRINGS Timeshare Rental Orlando
SOLD OUT NEW YEARS boat to DOWNTOWN DISNEY/PLEASURE ISL Private (*)

Amazing ... I wonder why these folks are ending their auctions early and changing the titles/descriptions/etc? If they are doing nothing wrong, as they state ... why are they running away from the publicity? Wouldn't that just be free advertising?

 

[jdg345]

I just tried to look at the talkaboutdisney website, and got a message that I was forbidden to access it. I can't believe all this! This person/persons had created a DVC empire! She had an alias, a thriving E-Bay business, her own website, and what more? I guess she wasn't as smart as she thought though, since all of this has been discovered. Great sleuthing everyone! It just makes me wonder who else out there is running their own DVC empire.

With the amount of money they're probably pulling in though ... this is probably just a bump in the road. The internet is a big place and it probably won't be too difficult for them to restart under a different name and domain ...

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

BTW, Armen Kasabian is a real person. He is a plastic surgeon in NY.

I live at the other end of the state, but the name was so familiar to me and I did not know why. I did a search and found the website for his practice. I think he was in an article in our paper about the booming plastic surgery business.

Not sure how or if he is connected to the W's, maybe they snatched the points by buying his auction.

 

[Groucho]

They must be related, if the site was shut down so quickly. But it's hard to say.

The "atimeshare.com" site has a link for "**** *****", "features DvcKinn's Daily Blog & TalkAboutDisney.com"... and they were listed as a sponsor according to the Google cache. Maybe these were where SMW did most of her buying? (It might say on the OC Comptroller site, but I'm not sure that I care enough to check!)

She doesn't have her name on the registration for the site. It's registered to "Bit By Bit Computer Consulting" in Lavelle, PA, specifically Robert Braunstein. Looks like they do web site development... though it seems strange for someone from Orlando to hire someone from PA to design their website. The "atimeshare.com" site has completely different contacts and registrars, so they're probably not much related.

She is definitely running the site, though. Look at the cached member list - the first user is "admin", then "aswdisney" (with funsavervacationhomes.com as the site), then doe405 (from Orlando), then DVCRent (hmm, sounds suspicious), then - hey, hey, it's **** *****, then bitbybit (presumably Robert Braunstein, and links to his site), then good ol' mushpurple... sorry, when you're the first non-admin user, it's a pretty safe bet that you're running the site.

Not surprisingly, the "funsavervacationhomes.com" site is down, as well. That site is also registered to Robert Braunstein. Actually, it's not 100% down, just the index site is offline. Go to www.funsavervacationhomes.com/tickets.html and you'll find that you can still navigate around most of the site. Strangely enough, the contact phone number is located in Suffolk County, NY... bizarre! The email address is "arlene" - another member of the family? They do make it clear that if you buy tickets from them, they buy them themselves then send them to you - rather than having a pile on hand. Curious.

I don't know why she'd bother taking that down. It doesn't look like there was anything shady going on there and the places look decent enough - but I sure wouldn't want to have a business deal with her, knowing what we know now!

With all these strands, is it any wonder that it's called a "web"?

On a technical note, whoever does their ebay ads doesn't know basic HTML - "if you are using Internet Explorer, hover your mouse pointer above the picture for a short description"... that's because Firefox (and others) properly hide the "alt" tag as it's SUPPOSED to be hidden, there's another tag for having text pop up over a picture. Good grief! Who uses IE any more, anyway? Yay Firefox! (And no, I have no relation to Firefox!)

 

[LisaS]

She doesn't have her name on the registration for the site. It's registered to "Bit By Bit Computer Consulting" in Lavelle, PA, specifically Robert Braunstein. Looks like they do web site development... though it seems strange for someone from Orlando to hire someone from PA to design their website.

Braunstein is Arlene's middle name, according to the Orange County records.

 

[tmt martins]

Braunstein is Arlene's middle name, according to the Orange County records.

I think it's more of a hyphenated name .Either previous marriage or maden name.So the Robert could be either EX or Family.

 

[Groucho]

Braunstein is Arlene's middle name, according to the Orange County records.

The plot thickens! Is that a father? Brother? Grandfather?

So, let's see. We have someone in Orlando... someone in PA... someone in NY... and the first deed I looked at on the OC Comptroller site was notarized in North Dakota! This really is quite the operation! Who knows, maybe smw and mushpurple really aren't the same person, they just use the same computer?

Too funny. Maybe this is actually an Illumanati venture. or related to The Skulls, or some other secret society?

I suspect that Mushpurple really regrets posting on this thread now. I also suspect that the other family members are pissed at whoever that is for derailing the gravy train! So let's see, they've got about $1.3 mill tied up in DVC that they're going to have a harder time using if Disney and eBay really do keep cracking down on these things... around $72,000 in maintainence fees every month... plus the mortgages and upkeep on four rental homes (although they only seem to ever list three)... they've got to keep their DVC rentals going to keep that kind of operation alive!

I wonder if "atimeshare.com" will start having a ton of BCV and BWV contracts available............. will the OC Comptroller site show when someone sells their property, as well?

Ahhhhh! Just found more interesting stuff. Regarding the "Wechsler Children Family Trust"... there's a quit-claim (I'll admit that I'm not sure exactly what that means) by Michelle Braunstein to Richard Braunstein, who according to this document, lives in Lindenhurst, NOT Pennsylvania. That, and he is the trustee of the Wechsler Children Family Trust! This is for 700 points, the resort is not named - and get this, it was notarized in ARIZONA!

And another one, where Carol Quarantello grants 175 points at Beach Club to Richard Braunstein, and this one was notarized in Massachusetts! (She's probably unrelated, just sold her points to them for $14,000.)

But the vast majority of the Children Family Trust transactions were done on 9/1/05. There's a waiver for DVC's RoFR, notarized in Florida... Etc, etc. It looks like Michelle Braunstein bought up a ton of contracts in 2003 and 2004 then "granted" them all to Richard, for the Children Family Trust.

These people must have criss-crossed the country to figure out ways to accumulate all those points! Just found another one from Illinois... although I suppose those could just be where the people were located that they were buying the contracts from. But why some stuff in Arizona for the Michelle-Richard grants?

What a tangled web we weave........!

 

[tmt martins]

The plot thickens! Is that a father? Brother? Grandfather?



Ahhhhh! Just found more interesting stuff. Regarding the "Wechsler Children Family Trust"... there's a quit-claim (I'll admit that I'm not sure exactly what that means) by Michelle Braunstein to Richard Braunstein, who according to this document, lives in Lindenhurst, NOT Pennsylvania. That, and he is the trustee of the Wechsler Children Family Trust! This is for 700 points, the resort is not named - and get this, it was notarized in ARIZONA!




These people must have criss-crossed the country to figure out ways to accumulate all those points! Just found another one from Illinois... although I suppose those could just be where the people were located that they were buying the contracts from. But why some stuff in Arizona for the Michelle-Richard grants?


What a tangled web we weave........!

Great Digging .

So we have
SMW Steve Welcher
Arlean B-W
Mush is in fact Michelle B as she stated in another thread so there's the link to SMW it's the Braunstein's


What a web we weave when we decieve.

 

[LisaS]

I think it's more of a hyphenated name .Either previous marriage or maden name.So the Robert could be either EX or Family.

If a woman takes her husbands surname, she sometimes uses her maiden name as her middle name. But, yes, that was my point. I believe Braunstein could be her maiden name.

 

[granmanh603]

Lindenhurst, NY is in Suffolk county Long Island, NY (where someone else posted she had an address) in case you didn't know.

 

[LIFERBABE]

You know, it really is sad that we have people like this on the Dis.

I don't like to see anyone flamed and skwered, but this was truly a web of lies. I know and have first hand experience. I feel like the posters on the coupon exchange that found out one of the exchangers was selling their items on Ebay!

Like wdwstar said, it's the principle, and obviously this person/persons had none. And that said, Im thankful to have met such great people on the DIS like wdwstar who heads up the DVC Christmas Tree every year and never Grinch's out on us and takes all our trees and decorations to never be heard from again There are always a few bad apples that can ruin things for everyone, but only if we let them.

I do rent and many do not agree with that, and that is fine, but I do not lie cheat or steal to enhance my bottom line. WYSIWYG.

To hold a conversation with yourself to get people to your site?

Just sad, truly sad!

And it is scary how much info you can dig up on a person on the NET!! No wonder Identity Theft is Rampant

 

[minnie61650]

Great Digging .

So we have
SMW Steve Welcher
Arlean B-W
Mush is in fact Michelle B as she stated in another thread so there's the link to SMW it's the Braunstein's


What a web we weave when we decieve.

Wow!
What a tangled web.

Great detective work Groucho!

 

[LIFERBABE]

BTW, Armen Kasabian is a real person. He is a plastic surgeon in NY.

I live at the other end of the state, but the name was so familiar to me and I did not know why. I did a search and found the website for his practice. I think he was in an article in our paper about the booming plastic surgery business.

Not sure how or if he is connected to the W's, maybe they snatched the points by buying his auction.

He is also on one of the "Extreme Makeover" type shows. I recall his name too. Maybe The Swan?
Maybe she is in the witness relo program?

 

[Sammie]

I just hope you are all reporting this to DVC as well . I've sent a letter snail mail just about the E-bay stuff but this all should be reported via E-mail with all the links and copy included. They can't turn a blind eye to this.

Very good point, while all of this makes for interesting reading and everyone seems really appalled, unless you write DVC nothing is going to come of it.

Also something I think everyone needs to take from this information is that you truly do not know who is telling the truth on Web forums unless you have formed a personal relationship with them over time.

So many are quick to believe most anything posted, including comments from someone that they talked to at DVC, when this incident should show everyone how easy it is to weave deceipt on the Web.

Ok, that was my public service announcement and now back to DVCgate.

 

[Joni]

Can someone tell me how transfers work. I don't understand the money part. I thought I read that no money could change hands. I understand the part of where the points go.

 

[mamatojon]

Ok, that was my public service announcement and now back to DVCgate.

good one!

 

[Groucho]

Then there's Winnie Wechsler, who was senior VP of disney.com for a while! Could she somehow be related to all of this?

I think I've done my share of sleuthing for the moment, I now know more than I ever really wanted to about them. Heck, this is nothing, anyway - you should see the notes I take when we sit down and play "Haunted Mansion Clue"!

 

[minnie61650]

If a woman takes her husbands surname, she sometimes uses her maiden name as her middle name. But, yes, that was my point. I believe Braunstein could be her maiden name.

I looked up the Braunstein name on the Orange County Comptroller's records.

http://officialrecords.occompt.com/wb_or1/or_sch_1.asp

Almost 60 DVC recordings of various amounts of points were listed under Michelle's name.

Rosalind had about 40 and Richard had another 30 some listings.

It looks like there were lots of family members to transfer points from.