Editing

[dkpilati]

Editing my original comments...

 

[Krandor]

The problem is David's doesn't have the money to give you. They have already paid the owner. The owner has the money... or had the money. Many owners may have already spent it and they may not have it to give you back either.

It's a bad situation for everybody.

 

[dkpilati]

I understand that, but the owners are getting their points back and can re-issue them or re-sell them. For the owners to keep someone's money while getting their points back is so unethical. They need to step up customer service and talk to people - not shut their phone lines down. No one is cancelling for arbitrary reasons - we couldn't literally can't get on property.

 

[Marionnette]

I am dealing with David's DVC rental regarding our reservation for March 31st. They have shut their phone lines down and are mandating you communicate through email. Then they are taking over 24 hours to respond to emails, and someone different responds each time with different information. DVC owners ARE getting their points back. David's DVC Rentals told me that they are asking owners "if" they will work with us and they are waving their staunch refund policy at this time. However, if the owner doesn't give the money back, then David's DVC says I am out the $5,600.

Anyone else having better luck getting their reservations resolved with them? It is beyond frustrating - they need to answer phone calls and actually talk to customers. Even if I have to wait on hold for a while like all other travel companies.

The problem is David's doesn't have the money to give you. They have already paid the owner. The owner has the money... or had the money. Many owners may have already spent it and they may not have it to give you back either.

It's a bad situation for everybody.

Correction: The owner doesn’t have everything that the renter paid. David’s earns 24% on every rental. The owner then gets 70% of the remaining amount and David’s holds the rest in escrow until check-in day for the renter. IOW, close to 47% of what the renter paid is in David’s hands right now.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

It is in the fine print of the contract.
Always felt it was too risky to rent points based on this clause, but often had been called paranoid.

 

[MomOTwins]

If you paid with a credit card, and they really aren't refunding you, you can always try disputing the charge/make a claim via your fraud protection on your card.

 

[Amymouse13]

I've called and emailed them, my reservation is in April. So far to my knowledge they have not reached out to my owners. As soon as Disney extends closures I'm disputing charges.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

I understand that, but the owners are getting their points back and can re-issue them or re-sell them. For the owners to keep someone's money while getting their points back is so unethical. They need to step up customer service and talk to people - not shut their phone lines down. No one is cancelling for arbitrary reasons - we couldn't literally can't get on property.

It’s not always the case that points can be rented out again if they are ones that have already been banked so can’t be banked again to extend shelf life or it’s pass their banking deadline to bank them into the next UY.

 

[rchristiansen]

I think they are working on reservations in the order of check in date. We were to check in on Saturday and almost done finalizing our new reservation.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

Did you buy trip insurance? If so, check with your insurance company and see what their policy is regarding this situation.

 

[Lperd]

Correction: The owner doesn’t have everything that the renter paid. David’s earns 24% on every rental. The owner then gets 70% of the remaining amount and David’s holds the rest in escrow until check-in day for the renter. IOW, close to 47% of what the renter paid is in David’s hands right now.

This is spot on. Owners only get 70% of the rental and none will be getting their remaining 30% since renters are cancelling. David’s should at least be refunding their commission of $24% and not profiting from this. If they don’t I’m sure they will lose these renters business in future.
As for the rest of the rental amount I believe that Davids are working on a case by case basis to see if owners can rebook for later dates and offer refunds.
Not all owners can do this. If a renter has been holding a reservation for a long time and the owners points are banked and expire in the next 2-3 months then the owner most likely will lose the points. It’s a tough situation for both renter and owner. I think DVC should relax the banking rules as a gesture of goodwill.
Also, keep in mind Davids isn’t Disney/DVC with thousands of call centre agents able to take your call. They have a small number of
Employees who probably have never had to deal with anything like this before.

 

[Lynne M]

Let me say up front that I completely, totally, 100% understand the stress and pain of not only having your vacation cancelled, but possibly losing the money you paid for your lodging. I don't want to minimize anyone's frustration or financial losses. I would be upset too.

I just looked at my most recent rental agreement from David's (sent to both parties before any payments are made) and it clearly states that the balance paid by the renter is non-refundable and that David's is not liable for operations changes by the resort (i.e., closures). The only condition I can see under which a refund is offered is if an action is taken by the member that results in the cancellation of the reservation and a comparable reservation can't be secured for the same dates. This would cover situations like members cancelling reservations, or DVC cancelling a member's reservations because they've defaulted on their mortgage or maintenance fees.

I think this would work against anyone trying to dispute a charge with their credit card company. If there's an agreement in place that the renter agreed to before sending funds, and that agreement has not been violated, I'm not sure what can the credit card company can do.

I'm not going to get into what I think David's should do; I don't know what they can do. That's their call. I do know that they're a reputable business with a very professional staff, and they will get back for you.

As for the wait for a response, I'll just say that every travel company on the planet is getting slammed right now. This isn't like contacting Disney or Expedia, who have hundreds or thousands of people manning the customer service line. It's a small-ish business getting contacted by every single customer with a reservation in the next few months, all at once. Give it a couple of days so they can dig through the avalanche of e-mail.

 

[Roscoe18]

I've called and emailed them, my reservation is in April. So far to my knowledge they have not reached out to my owners. As soon as Disney extends closures I'm disputing charges.

I inquired about our trip (due to start 5/2) and they responded that they're dealing with "hundreds" of March rentals right now on a case by case basis. I was trying to get ahead of the game, but I understand their situation. Have patience for now, and if (when) Disney extends closures, see if they can help you.

 

[disny_luvr]

I have no advice, but I am so sorry you are going through this. We have a DVC rental coming up in August that I booked directly with the person I’m renting from. I haven’t given it much thought at this point, but depending on how long this lasts, I may find myself in a similar situation.

I do think this could shy a lot of people away from renting in the future, me included.

Good luck!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Guess I won't be renting DVC any time soon. or ever. This just sucks.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

DVC owners ARE getting their points back.

This is not universally true. Disney is no longer putting borrowed points back in original Use Year, and banked points cannot be re-banked. A lot of owners are staring down losing a lot of points right now. To say that owners are getting points back is situational, not an absolute.

Depending on what points, and what UY, the points you rented were from... well, they may be worth nothing to the owner at this point.

DVC rental is typically a final transaction. Yes, even if.

 

[snappy]

I too am sorry you are dealing with this. I have an elderly parent that I am responsible for so I know how difficult it is to plan a vacation months in advance. Last year we did a huge and expensive trip that included major non-refundable costs. It made me very nervous even though I arranged for my brother to be in town while we were gone. I have decided to avoid any non-refundable trip arrangements in the future. It’s not worth the anxiety, and it’s definitely not worth the hassle you are experiencing. Good luck getting through to and help from David’s.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

David's DVC Rentals told me that they are asking owners "if" they will work with us and they are waving their staunch refund policy at this time. However, if the owner doesn't give the money back, then David's DVC says I am out the $5,600.

That is horrible. This has taught me never to rent from DVC owners.

$5,600 is a lot of money and not something to passively walk away from because you're told, "No, sorry." If David's won't resolve this to your satisfaction within a reasonable amount of time (weeks, not months), then you should dispute the charge via your credit card. If that doesn't work, you should get a lawyer and sue the DVC owner for contract violation. Really. A lawyer for that likely won't cost anywhere near $5,600, because the owners will probably settle as soon as they see you aren't just passively walking away. Consult with an attorney, and don't wait months to do so.

 

[Lynne M]

This is not universally true. Disney is no longer putting borrowed points back in original Use Year, and banked points cannot be re-banked. A lot of owners are staring down losing a lot of points right now. To say that owners are getting points back is situational, not an absolute.

Depending on what points, and what UY, the points you rented were from... well, they may be worth nothing to the owner at this point.

DVC rental is typically a final transaction. Yes, even if.

Yes, and that’s a large part of the reason why DVC rentals have traditionally been non-refundable. That’s not something that started with the rental agencies. Depending on factors like use year, banking status and booking availability, even returned points may be functionally unusable.

 

[Sandisw]

I understand that, but the owners are getting their points back and can re-issue them or re-sell them. For the owners to keep someone's money while getting their points back is so unethical. They need to step up customer service and talk to people - not shut their phone lines down. No one is cancelling for arbitrary reasons - we couldn't literally can't get on property.

Points used for the reservations are being returned, But it is not as simple as that. Points have a UY and may not be valid for times of future travel.

There are many DVC owners who booked reservations for March trips on points that expire March 31st. So, even though they got them back, they will be lost.

A lot of owners rent out points that can’t use themselves and they tend to be short lived points. Since we don’t know when the resorts will open, it could be the points will not actually be any good because if an owner can’t travel during the times of the points usage used for rentals, and will lose them anyway.