HELP! Thinking of cancelling contract!!!

[klafollette]

My husband and I signed up for 270 points at SSR on Sunday after years of debating whether we should or shouldn't. We were looking forward to using the points at other locations, but when we got home and looked at the World Passport collection, there are few places that we would bother staying at.

So I started researching the Concierge collection. All of the places are phenominal and are just what we would want to stay in. But when I did a cost comparison between how many points we would spend in monetary form (Total Points times $10 per pt), and what the list price is to stay at the same hotel based on the hotel's website, we would be spending on average about $1,000 more for each vacation than if we booked it ourselves without points.

We have a price chart for the Conciere collection from 2001 and it looks like on average the points used per night increase by 1 each year. At this rate, 270 points isn't going to last very long over the years.

I live about an hour away from Disney and stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge or go on the DCL just about every year. I usually get a great FL Resident rate....so it isn't like I was looking to make Disney my main vacation every year, although I'm sure we would stay as a secondary vacation every year.

I guess my question is....Is this worth the cost??? I know some people sell/rent their points to pay for non-Disney or DCL vacations. Is this difficult to do? Has anyone had problems with renters cancelling out and points or money lost?

PLEASE HELP!!!!! I still have my 15 day grace period to back out.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Ummm...I think if you go through this forum you will find people repeatedly saying only buy DVC if you plan to stay there.

So if you planned to stay at Vero Beach or actually planned to start staying in a DVC on site, all well and good. But to use it regularly for non-DVC (notice I didn't say non-Disney) stays is not cost effective.

My choice for your situation would have been to buy another timeshare in a location that wasn't Florida or the Carribbean. A ski resort in high season, California, Hawaii in February...that sort of thing. Even the II resort in Atlantic City. It's a popular destination for II trades because there are so many timeshare owners in the New York/Philadelphia metro area. And the other piece of the puzzle is BUY RESALE!!!! Especially if your purpose is to trade don't pay the developer prices.

 

[Beca]

Wow...your concerns definitely sound like big ones, and seem to be well founded. 270 pts. is a lot to NOT spend at Disney. I haven't looked into trading them outside the DVC system, but what others say seems to echo your sentiments. I hate to give anyone advice (I have a hard enough time figuring out what works for me!), but I think this might not be the "package" for you...but, that is just my opinion.

Good luck in whatever you decide...I hope whatever you do brings you many happy vacations in the years to come!!

Beca

 

[jaysue]

With your ability to get FL resident rates and your desire to not always use DVC points at DVC resorts at WDW.....I would say that it appears that DVC is not the correct purchase for your circumstances

The only caveat I would place is if the FL resident rates become less attractive in the future

thanks
jaysue

 

[MrShiny]

Well, it is probably best if Disney is your primary destination. That being said, you may find that renting those points oiut might be much easier than other timeshares.

 

[JudyS]

Generally, using your DVC points for non-DVC properties isn't a good deal. If you are mostly looking to stay elsewhere, you would be better off buying a less expensive timeshare to use for trading. (That would be for other timeshares, though, rather than hotels.) Dean, who posts here a lot, knows quite a bit about trading timeshares. You can also get *tons* of information about timeshare trading at www.tug2.net The folks there tend to be anti-DVC, though! (They resent the fact that Disney charges an extra fee when people trade into DVC units.)


However, when it comes to renting DVC points, it's a bit of a hassle, but many people do it. There even seem to be a few folks who do have bought DVC units primarily to rent out, although that is a violation of DVC rules. It's very rare for people to get ripped off when using the rent/trade board here.

A compromise might be to buy a smaller number of SSR points. But, don't feel you have to rush into things. Even though the DVC is raising prices, SSR will eventually be available resale, at a somewhat discounted price.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

If you are looking to buy 270 pts. @ SSR just for the purpose of staying at non-Disney resorts, don't do it. Also, if the AKL works for you, then it would be in your best interest to continue staying there. If, however, you think you would enjoy the luxury of larger accomodations and the convenience of kitchen and laundry facilites, then take a look at how many points you would need to purchase at the resort you would prefer to stay at and buy only that amount of points. If it's SSR, great. If not, find a good resale. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Pa@okw95]

You were not a good candidate for a DVC purchase. You only buy into DVC to stay at WDW. To use your points anywhere else on a regular bases is not smart. I used my points to stay at a resort in N.Y. called the Sagamore, nice place, but it was about 2.5 times the cost in points of a one bedroom at WDW. I don't want to throw salt into your wound, but you obviously did not think this purchase through when you made it. You should never buy in DVC with the main thought of using your points eleswhere. I have made 18 vacations on my DVC points, 17 at my home resort OKW and one at the Sagamore in NY. BACK OUT NOW.

 

[WDWLVR]

My personal opinion is that DVC isn't for you. DVC makes the most sense when you want to stay with DVC most of the time. We love WDW and try to go every year. My in-laws love Vero Beach and go to Florida every year (so us treating them to Vero every so often is welcomed by them).

We've also used points to cruise and may in the future trade out for something.

Everyone uses their points differently but if you really don't think you'd want to stay at a DVC resort and don't want to come to WDW every other year or so then you might be better off with something other than DVC.

DVC isn't for everyone and I'd much rather see a happy DVC'er than one questioning themselves down the road.

 

[Granny]

I would imagine that your FL resident Annual Pass also gets you the usual AP discounts that the non-Florida AP holders get? If so, I don't think plopping down $21,000 for DVC plus another $1,000+ each year is going to make much economic sense if you don't want to use most of your points to vacation in a DVC resort.

While those on this board overwhelmingly are happy with our DVC purchases, we are in no way eager to see someone purchase where it just doesn't seem a good fit.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[Disney4ever4569]

The only way it would be worth it is if you rented out the points that you are not going to use at Disney. Then you could stay where ever you want and better prices. On the other hand, the above posts are correct. If you are buying a DVC membership it is most worthwhile if you are primarily using it for Disney. It sounds like you should just buy 150 points that you would probably use at Disney every year.

 

[klafollette]

Thank you to all who replied. I love everything Disney...so that is why it is so hard to make this decision. Last year we went on the week long DCL Eastern along with visiting AKL later in the year. Although we were planning to visit Disney every year, we also wanted the ability to go other places during the year. So we could have two vacations (One Disney, one non-Disney).

I think we rushed into the purchase because we knew the prices were going up, plus they gave us a credit of $10 per point...so it was like we were only paying $79 pp...instead of what it is going to....$95 pp.

My husband and I still keep flip flopping. I keep thinking that we should just keep it, then if in a year or two we realize that it isn't working for us, we could always sell it.

Any thoughts......

 

[sgtpet]

If I were you I would cancel the purchase.

 

[crisi]

Why not buy less points?

If you are going to go to Disney every year (WDW, not the cruise which is can be a gamble on "value" if you buy in points), DVC can still be for you. Your hurdle is that you've discovered the selling point of "hey look, you can stay at Doral!" isn't a good value.

We take lots of other vacations - but we pay for them in cold hard cash - not with DVC points or tradeouts in other timeshares. We use our DVC points for WDW vacations - and only WDW vacations. And if WE aren't going to use them for Disney, we will rent them out to someone who will (probably friends or family).

 

[Granny]

If you're traveling to WDW every year, then a contract might be worth it. Figure out what room size you would need, and what time of year you are likely to go, and that will help determine your number of points.

Please realize that the only way DVC provides much of a financial break even is if you stay in studios vs the resort rooms at moderate or deluxe. Staying in a 1BR might work out over time, but if your trips are "secondary" vacations, as you've described them, then maybe a studio will work very well. If so, you might find that 150 points would be a good amount.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Reading both your replies I'm inclined to say cancel your contract.

The DVC point structure is designed for the exact reverse of the way you plan to use it. First and foremost its for Disney and then if you have anything leftover or you just want to do something different for once then occasionally use the points for a cruise or a hotel or whatever.

An alternative might be to cancel your 270 points and reduce it to just enough points to cover weekday stays and use your FL discount to stay on the weekends. That way you get the best of both worlds and you don't have to worry about renting.

Just out of curiousiy...why did you get 270 points?

 

[goofy4dvc]

Originally posted by Pa@okw95
You were not a good candidate for a DVC purchase. You only buy into DVC to stay at WDW. To use your points anywhere else on a regular bases is not smart. I used my points to stay at a resort in N.Y. called the Sagamore, nice place, but it was about 2.5 times the cost in points of a one bedroom at WDW. I don't want to throw salt into your wound, but you obviously did not think this purchase through when you made it. You should never buy in DVC with the main thought of using your points eleswhere. I have made 18 vacations on my DVC points, 17 at my home resort OKW and one at the Sagamore in NY. BACK OUT NOW.

Maybe this poster had the same sales guide as I did when we purchased. We were told about the wonderful opportunities to stay at over 300 places in the U.S. and elsewhere. That helped sell us on DVC. Then we get the points chart and find out how many points those places take. I was really disappointed. For us, most of our trips will be to stay in DVC resorts, with an occasional stay in one of the others, so we never considered cancelling our contract. However, we did feel we were sort of "mis-led" by our guide in that he failed to mention the high points usage to stay elsewhere.

We are extremely happy with our DVC purchase. We have yet to stay at a non-DVC resort, but we hope to some time in the near future.

 

[klafollette]

UPDATE:

We called to tell our guide that we wanted to cancel our contract, and he is giving us greif now. He said that we are not allowed to downgrade our points, and if we cancelled this contract, and signed up for a new one, we won't get any incentives anymore.

He said that we are misinformed about the cost of staying elsewhere. Am I wrong to assume that if staying at the Arizona Biltmore between May and September for a week (a total of 154 points) has a monetary value of $1540 (154 x $10 pp)? If so, I looked on the Biltmore's website and they are selling the same room at the same time for $1365.

Am I figuring the per point cost correctly? Is $10 what you guys figure that the points cost?

double trouble vb: the reason we got so many points was because our sales person told us about the possiblities to trade out to all of these other locations and we wanted to make sure that we had enough points to stay at disney and stay somewhere else every year. Like goofy4dvc said, I think that we were misled into thinking that we could do this.

I kept asking on the tour for a brochure with the World Passport location descriptions and all they kept telling me was that they only had a map and that to view them I would have to sign in and go to their website once I got home.

 

[jaysue]

I don't want to throw salt into your wound, but you obviously did not think this purchase through when you made it.

Pa@okw95, I think you threw the salt quite deeply.....

Sounds like this potential buyer was a touch misled by the DVC rep especially with the exchange opportunities

*****

Points cost about $1.90 per year for depreciation (if done by straight line method) and lets say for now appx $4.00 in dues for a rough estimate of $5.90/point/year

Points are "worth" anywhere from cost of $5.90 per point per year to $15 pp - depends on comparison to WDW resort rates etc. The $10 figure being cited is the going rate on the rent trade board for DVC points on the dis

As for the sales incentive, call back and ask to speak to a Manager and see what can be done IF you are still interested in purchasing a DVC timeshare

thanks
jaysue

 

[disneyberry]

<font face="times" size="+0">klafollette, your DIS account doesn't accept PMs (private message)... can you please send me a PM, or you can email me (i'd like to ask you about your sales guide in a private channel.)

as for your situation, i would definitely do either of the following:

1) cancel your contract entirely. buy in to DVC via resale, where you can get a cheaper per point cost than $79/pt. the drawback to this is you will only get 38 year contracts with the older resorts.

2) reduce your contract to 150 points. speak to a manager to get the incentive applied. if necessary, change to a better guide.

3) forget about buying DVC at all. i'm not sure if you really fit the DVC profile... even if you do go to WDW yearly. what size room would you need? and how long are your yearly WDW trips normally? since you live locally, do you tend to go for long weekends? or do you go for a whole week?

also, Pa@okw95, i personally don't think it's a matter of klafollette not thinking through this purchase carefully... this completely sounds like a case of the DVC sales guide being misleading. i'm very disappointed to hear stories of DVC guides being this way. i heard through the grapevine of another family who recently bought into DVC. they have been bragging that they can use DVC to stay anywhere in the world, and they also bought 270 points because their guide suggested that number. i'm wondering if it's the same guy, and i'm worried that family was also misled.</font>