Rental Cancellation Question/Comments

[Kelly1]

Has anyone rented their points and had the renter cancel their reservation after it was booked and a partial payment was made?

Did you refund any portion of the payment?

I was thinking it would be fair to refund the money if the points were re-rented?

Thoughts?

Thansk for the advise.

 

[disneynutz]

It all depends on the terms of your rental contract.

 

[OhioDVC]

In my rental contract I refunded the money IF the points are rented out again or if I use them myself.

In about 15 rentals over 10 years no one has canceled yet.

 

[JimMIA]

It all depends on the terms of your rental contract.

This is the real key. A rental is a private transaction between the owner and the renter, and the terms are whatever the two agree on.

I don't rent my points, but from some of the threads I've seen, when there is a problem it is usually a problem of either vagueness or misunderstanding. Cancellation policies, in particular, should be crystal clear and very well understood by both parties.

To me, an owner who says, "Don't worry, I'll work with you if something comes up..." is really setting both parties up for difficulty. The truth is, there are so many variables in the owner's transaction that they may very well have zero options to "work with you" if a problem arises. Sometimes owners are too anxious (or desperate) to rent their points to really evaluate the full picture, and they paint themselves into corners.

The other thing that nobody thinks about at the time is whether the owner will really be able to make a refund. What do you think the owner is going to do with your money...put it in the bank for safekeeping until you complete your vacation? Naw -- they're going to spend it! That's why they often have to re-rent the reservation you paid in full in order to make a refund. We've seen several threads here (including one where renters did NOT ever get their refunds) where the owner was unable to fulfill their promises when cancellations occurred.

My personal opinion is that both parties are best protected by a no-refunds policy. That obviously protects the owner, and the renter can get trip insurance to cover their risks. If a renter thinks there is a possibility of a cancellation, they'd be much better off going through CRO and making a regular reservation.

Since trip insurance only covers non-refundable expenses, a clear-cut "no refunds" policy actually works to the renter's benefit as well. I've had to collect on trip insurance twice -- once on a ski trip and another time on a trip to Cancun. Both times, I was asked for a copy of the cancellation policies of the airlines, hotel, etc and was immediately reimbursed when I provided documents which said no refunds would be made. A contract that has workout provisions will probably lead the insurance company to evaluate the adequacy of the attempts to work things out, and that's not what you buy trip insurance for.

 

[crisi]

Has anyone rented their points and had the renter cancel their reservation after it was booked and a partial payment was made?

Did you refund any portion of the payment?

I was thinking it would be fair to refund the money if the points were re-rented?

Thoughts?

Thansk for the advise.

What point in the process are you and which party are you?

 

[jel0511]

I've only rented my points once, and I had a no refund policy. The points were the renters to use as they saw fit, within DVC's policies. Once rented, they no longer "belonged" to me, but my renter. IF they had canceled, it would have been their responsibility to re-rent if they wanted to recover their money. It's much cleaner that way, for both parties.

 

[JimMIA]

The points were the renters to use as they saw fit, within DVC's policies. IF they had canceled, it would have been their responsibility to re-rent if they wanted to recover their money.

The only problem with this concept, of course, is that the renter has ZERO ability to do anything with the points. The renter can't even speak to MS, much less make or change any arrangements. They can't even make their own DME or DDP arrangements. They could find someone to take over their reservation, but you would have to call MS and change the names on the reservation -- something you might find very difficult to do if MS catches on that you're renting.

Once rented, they (the rented points) no longer "belonged" to me, but my renter.

This is simply not correct. The points do still belong to you, and you are 100% responsible for anything the renter does while staying on your points. If they leave an unpaid bill, or damage the villa, YOU are responsible.

 

[jel0511]

The only problem with this concept, of course, is that the renter has ZERO ability to do anything with the points. The renter can't even speak to MS, much less make or change any arrangements. They can't even make their own DME or DDP arrangements. They could find someone to take over their reservation, but you would have to call MS and change the names on the reservation -- something you might find very difficult to do if MS catches on that you're renting.This is simply not true. The points do still belong to you, and you are 100% responsible for anything the renter does while staying on your points. If they leave an unpaid bill, or damage the villa, YOU are responsible.

I know all of that, and would work with my renter as necessary of course. I've only rented once and there wasn't a problem with cancellation, but if I rent again, I'd do the same thing. If they rented 250 points, they're theirs to use within my use year guidelines, as they see fit. I know the points are still technically mine, that's why I put belong in quotes.

 

[JimMIA]

I know all of that.

I figured you did...just didn't want some newbie renter reading your post and thinking they had any ability to do anything with their "rented points."

The truth is, nobody rents points -- what is rented is the reservation, and the renter has zero ability to do anything with the reservation or points.

 

[Brian Noble]

Agreed---it all depends on the terms.

When I rent timeshare weeks, I generally take full payment on booking, and the rental is completely non-refundable nor may the renter sub-lease it. They use it or lose it, period.

This is a little more strict than many others' policies, but this is simple. I tend to price a little lower for very-advance bookings, to acknowlege the incresed risk to the renter, and the decreased risk to me.

 

[Dean]

When I rent I make it clear it's non refundable. In this case it sounds like there were no terms either way. I'd take that to mean non refunable but would refund a portion if you could re-rent at the same price or higher. You could also give the renter the ability to subrent if they met the other terms of the contract and paid it full on time.

I'm assuming they're asking for a refund. Be careful what you promise or even mention as it could be misconstrued. If there is a disagreement as to what is appropriate, I would not actually cancel the reservation until you're past the final payment deadline.

 

[LisaS]

Has anyone rented their points and had the renter cancel their reservation after it was booked and a partial payment was made?

Did you refund any portion of the payment?

I was thinking it would be fair to refund the money if the points were re-rented?

Thoughts?

Thansk for the advise.

Did the owner provide a contract or even an email spelling out the refund policy?

It's not always easy for the owner of the points to re-rent them. If the points are due to expire within the next four months, the owner cannot bank them and may not even be able to re-rent them due to limited room availability between now and the expiration date. Even if there is availability, the owner might be forced to rent them at a lower price due to the short time frame, ending up with less money than what they would have received from you. And even if the owner is able to re-rent them for the same price, there is additional work involved in doing so and the owner may want some compensation for their time and effort.

 

[wdw1972]

Has anyone rented their points and had the renter cancel their reservation after it was booked and a partial payment was made?

Did you refund any portion of the payment?

I always require 100% payment up front, and the transaction is final - so no, no refund. I made an exception one time because it was someone I know - and it was way ahead of any banking/canceling window & didn't impact my use of the points.

But for dealing with a stranger - they're saving a significant sum renting my points, and I'm not interested in refunding their money or trying to re-rent the points.

 

[robinb]

I have a cancellation policy which allows for refunds (minus a $100 fee) if I can re-rent the points. If my renter cancels prior to 60 days before the check-in date, I will give up to a 100% refund. If they cancel within the 60 days I will give up to a 50% refund. Mostly because the points become harder to rent, esp if they are at the end of my use year. If I can't rent the points, my renter gets no refund. Of course, if they cancel within the 31-day window it's harder yet.

ETA: Ah! I see that you rented points from an owner. I'm sorry, but you should have made sure you understood the rental agreement before you sent the money. We can talk about what's "fair" or not until we are blue in the face, but it really comes down to what you and the DVC owner agreed to. As you can see, some of us allow cancellations and some do not. I am sorry that your plans have changed . I hope that you can work something out with the owner. If worse comes to worse, maybe you can get him to agree to re-rent the entire reservation as a whole if you do all the legwork. The amount of work to change names, etc on an existing reservation is less than starting over trying to find someone to rent points. But ... it still is work which is why I charge a cancellation fee.

 

[DisneyWalker44]

I've never rented points. If I did, I would write the contract to be non-refundable. However, if someone cancelled and I rerented, I would feel the right thing to do would be returning the money anyway (perhaps less a few bucks for the cost/hassle/etc.)