Have you been contacted about renting by PM or email?

[RobDoc]

We have been receiving compaints about posters being contacted by PM or email from other posters who do not have an active rental thread on our DVC Rent/Trade Board.

If you have received such solicitation, please contact any of the DVC and/or Rent/Trade Moderators. We would certainly advise extreme caution with such contact outside of the Rent/Trade Board.

In some cases, the contact comes after users post requests in legitimate rental threads posted on the Rent/Trade Board, but other times they are just in response to an innocent casual comment like "we are thinking about trying to rent at BCV in the future" posted on DVC Resorts, DVC Member Services or Mousecellaneous. Either way, such contact violates DIS policy.

Please let a mod know it you have been approached in this fashion.

If there are any questions about this, feel free to ask in this thread.

Thanks!

 

[OKW Lover]

This hasn't happend to me, but did leave me wondering what is the best way to contact a Mod if this happens?

 

[RobDoc]

You can send a PM to any of the DVC mods. You can also send a PM or email (Doc@wdwnfo.com ) to me or all of the WMs at admin@wdwinfo.com .

 

[CarolMN]

This hasn't happened to me, but did leave me wondering what is the best way to contact a Mod if this happens?

Just send one of us a PM. The mods for a forum are listed at the bottom of the first page of each forum.

For those who may not know, CASKBILL is still listed as a DVC mod even though he is no longer with us. No one had the heart to remove his name from the list.

 

[luckyman_apd]

I have inquired about points being available to rent in the future from a poster. I initiated the contact through PM. I was not trying to rent out points, and neither was the person I contacted. If this is not allowed I apologize. But I think after rereading you are talking about people actively looking to rent out points and circumventing the rental board, correct?

 

[RobDoc]

I have inquired about points being available to rent in the future from a poster. I initiated the contact through PM. I was not trying to rent out points, and neither was the person I contacted. If this is not allowed I apologize. But I think after rereading you are talking about people actively looking to rent out points and circumventing the rental board, correct?

It is fine to contact someone with an active post on the Rent/Trade Board to make a reservation request and it is fine to ask questions on DVC Member Services about renting in general.

In the situation mentioned some posters have been soliciting renters for their points without having an active rental thread on the Rent/Trade Board - in some cases even contacting posters who are not looking for a rental.

 

[CarolMN]

Bump.

 

[riatees]

I haven't been contacted by email or pm, but in the past few months I have received several phone calls asking if we were interested in renting our points. The person starts out asking if we want to sell our DVC and when I say no, they than ask if we would be interested in renting. I just say not at this time and hang up. I wouldn't think any thing of it if it only happened once or twice, but when I say several I mean it. At least 10 calls that I have answered in the past 3 months. Don't know why this is happening, but I have asked them to stop calling. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Chuck S]

I haven't been contacted by email or pm, but in the past few months I have received several phone calls asking if we were interested in renting our points. The person starts out asking if we want to sell our DVC and when I say no, they than ask if we would be interested in renting. I just say not at this time and hang up. I wouldn't think any thing of it if it only happened once or twice, but when I say several I mean it. At least 10 calls that I have answered in the past 3 months. Don't know why this is happening, but I have asked them to stop calling. Anyone else have this problem?

These calls are not related to the email/PM situation that this thread discusses. The calls are either "cold calls" from a timeshare sales outfit OR they have gleaned your name and state from the recorded deed, as it is public info. Either way, I would not do business that call me out of the blue. I would be the person that initiates the call to a company with whom I chose to do business.

 

[CarolMN]

bump

 

[RobDoc]

Thanks to all who have been reporting these contacts.

Some of those abusing the DIS program have been new posters with few or no posts and others have been registered for a reasonable period of time. None of those reported have enough recent posts to be able to use the DVC Rent/Trade Board to offer their points without purchasing one of the rental plans now offered.

Please, if anyone receives contact offering rental points, transfers or existing reservations who does not have an active thread on the Rent/Trade Board that you have responded to, send me or one of the Rent/Trade moderators a PM or email or report that contact to admin@wdwinfo.com .

Thanks again!

 

[Tamar]

First off, let me say this is not me, I have not done this. I'm really not sure where the line is, though. I'm an active member of the DIS, and I post fairly frequently, though not quite enough to post a thread when I have extra points (which is only once a year, if that, when we figure out our next year's plans).

If someone else posts a thread offering something similar to what I have, and I see that they get 4-5 responses of which they could only fulfill one, what's legal for me? Can I PM the original poster and tell them they can send people my way? Is everyone in that thread off limits to me? I don't want to anger anyone, that's for sure!

 

[RobDoc]

First off, let me say this is not me, I have not done this. I'm really not sure where the line is, though. I'm an active member of the DIS, and I post fairly frequently, though not quite enough to post a thread when I have extra points (which is only once a year, if that, when we figure out our next year's plans).

If someone else posts a thread offering something similar to what I have, and I see that they get 4-5 responses of which they could only fulfill one, what's legal for me? Can I PM the original poster and tell them they can send people my way? Is everyone in that thread off limits to me? I don't want to anger anyone, that's for sure!

The ONLY option to rent your points is to submit a thread to the DVC Rent/Trade Board where it will be approved according to the policies in place. If you do not have an active rental thread on the Rent/Trade Board, please do not try to contact anyone about renting/transferring your points.

As noted in this thread, we have had multiple reports about posters trying to bypass the Rent/Trade policy and they are being dealt with under the DIS infraction system.

Potential renters have been warned about dealing with anyone who does not have an active thread on the Rent/Trade board. I'd sure suggest honoring the DIS policy.

The policy asks for an average of 2 posts per week over the last 6 months. We do realize that "real life" sometimes gets in the way so the policy looks for 50 posts with a minimum of 8 posts in at least 4 of the last 6 months. For those unable to post that often, the rental plans are another option.

The Rent/Trade Board has always been the only place on the DIS where rental activity is allowed. Soliciting by PM or email thru the DIS is NOT and has never been allowed. This is not a new policy and has been in place as long as I've been on the DIS (almost 14 years).

 

[Tamar]

Oaky, thanks so much for the clarification.

 

[Chuck S]

To repeat the warning, there is a recent incident where a poster was contacted via PM by a person that was NOT eligible to post on our Rent/Trade board and it has ended badly. The reservation was cancelled after payment was made and there has been no refund so far and they did use PayPal.

PLEASE do not send money or do business with anyone if you did not make the initial contact. It is easy to scam via the anonymity of the internet.

 

[Chuck S]

bump