Rented DVC on ebay - help :/

[garnetandblack]

We rented a week for a good deal on a 1 bedroom at Saratoga Springs Resort. The seller got the week through RCI and is not an owner (we will have to pay the $95 fee at check in).

I called Disney to ask about adding the dining plan but knew I would most likely have to go through the seller to purchase that. We are unsure about purchasing it anyway - so that's not a big deal. It's about $1,000 for the plan and we typically spend about $600 over a week including tips and a little booze (DH and I both eat off the kids menu )

My main question is about linking our tickets to the reservation for fast passes. The CM told me she wouldn't have access to our reservation until 3-6 days before check in and that I had to go through who ever made the reservation. Is this true? Our 60 day window starts soon

I have the RCI reservation information. Do I call them? I'm super confused - when I have rented through SkyAuction or ebay in the past the timeshare resorts got our information right away. This is our first time staying on Disney property.

I posted here because I thought this would be the place with the most experience with renting a week from someone that isn't an owner.

TIA!

 

[starry_solo]

Might actually want to post in the DVC boards. But you should find out from the seller what the DVC reservation # is. Then you can use that number, create an account on the WDW page, and be able to link your DVC reservation # with your tickets.

I'm actually surprised the CM told you anything without a reservation #

 

[JLitfin]

go to MyDisneyExperience and link your reservation and tickets. After you do this you should be able to make dining reservations and reserve your fast pass + times. Hope this helps. BTW you have to sign up for an account to use MyDisneyExperience. You have to have your resort reservation number in order to do this.

 

[garnetandblack]

Might actually want to post in the DVC boards. But you should find out from the seller what the DVC reservation # is. Then you can use that number, create an account on the WDW page, and be able to link your DVC reservation # with your tickets.

I'm actually surprised the CM told you anything without a reservation #

They sent me the guest certificate from RCI (and RCI also sent me one) but it doesn't have a reservation number attached to it. I will contact the seller again.

 

[crisi]

They sold you an illegal reservation. RCI does not permit their reservations to be sold for profit (gifted, yes, not sold). DVC or RCI can cancel that reservation if they discover you bought it. I would not contact the seller, I would not get the dining plan, I would not do anything at all to trigger questions on that reservation or you may be out the money.

 

[garnetandblack]

They sold you an illegal reservation. RCI does not permit their reservations to be sold for profit (gifted, yes, not sold). DVC or RCI can cancel that reservation if they discover you bought it. I would not contact the seller, I would not get the dining plan, I would not do anything at all to trigger questions on that reservation or you may be out the money.

Well, that stinks. I had no idea.

 

[SUSIEQ]

They sold you an illegal reservation. RCI does not permit their reservations to be sold for profit (gifted, yes, not sold). DVC or RCI can cancel that reservation if they discover you bought it. I would not contact the seller, I would not get the dining plan, I would not do anything at all to trigger questions on that reservation or you may be out the money.

Crisi, if she doesn't contact the seller, how will she get the Disney reservation #?
I agree with you that she should not call DVC and ask questions. Thanks.

 

[garnetandblack]

Crisi, if she doesn't contact the seller, how will she get the Disney reservation #?
I agree with you that she should not call DVC and ask questions. Thanks.

I already contacted the seller - I definitely will not be contacting DVC again and will not be buying from someone doing an RCI trade in the future. I paid through paypal and with my credit card so I won't be losing my money - if anything goes wrong we will just end up staying in a timeshare that isn't Disney.

I had no idea it was illegal to rent this way - I never would purchased if I would have known.

 

[supersnoop]

I had no idea it was illegal to rent this way - I never would purchased if I would have known.

It's a violation of RCI's terms. The person you rented from could have their RCI account terminated. But I wouldn't call it "illegal." It would be a civil matter.

 

[garnetandblack]

It's a violation of RCI's terms. The person you rented from could have their RCI account terminated. But I wouldn't call it "illegal." It would be a civil matter.

I understand that it's not criminal - but I don't like to do anything that is against the rules. I'm not worried about losing money (because of how I paid) and we will roll with it if our reservation is canceled. Thankfully we drive and there should be a lot of availability during the time we are traveling. If all else fails we will just reschedule our trip. I just don't want that to happen and I don't want to do anything unethical.

As much as I research I should have known it was against the rules. I knew when I looked up buying a timeshare just for RCI access I read that you couldn't resell the Last Call reservations but I assumed that was because they are priced so low. I thought you could sell the exchanges/trades and figured those on ebay were those sellers. I have rented many timeshare weeks on ebay just never DVC until now.

 

[seashoreCM]

You need to act fast and keep track of deadlines to be sure you are refunded.

Has the seller voluntarily and willingly refunded your payment?

Even so, many member-Paypal relationships end in a fiery fashion if Paypal is unable to recover from the seller even if the buyer has a legitimate claim for a refund.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

They sold you an illegal reservation. RCI does not permit their reservations to be sold for profit (gifted, yes, not sold). DVC or RCI can cancel that reservation if they discover you bought it. I would not contact the seller, I would not get the dining plan, I would not do anything at all to trigger questions on that reservation or you may be out the money.

As someone who regularly trades into DVC via RCI (and currently still a DVC member myself although in the process of selling), I can tell you that neither DVC nor RCI does ANYTHING when people report the tons and tons of RCI DVC rentals on Ebay, Redweek, etc. It's beyond frustrating to see the exchange you want and have an ongoing search for in RCI showing up on Ebay for rent with a $95 fee and yet RCI/DVC will do literally nothing about it. I think the OP is just fine to add the dining plan, contact the seller, etc. I'd contact the seller and get the Disney res. # so they can add it to their "my disney experience" account or whatever and make reservations.

 

[supersnoop]

I'm not worried about losing money (because of how I paid)

Last I checked, paypal's buyer protection doesn't cover timeshare rentals.

 

[crisi]

As someone who regularly trades into DVC via RCI (and currently still a DVC member myself although in the process of selling), I can tell you that neither DVC nor RCI does ANYTHING when people report the tons and tons of RCI DVC rentals on Ebay, Redweek, etc. It's beyond frustrating to see the exchange you want and have an ongoing search for in RCI showing up on Ebay for rent with a $95 fee and yet RCI/DVC will do literally nothing about it. I think the OP is just fine to add the dining plan, contact the seller, etc. I'd contact the seller and get the Disney res. # so they can add it to their "my disney experience" account or whatever and make reservations.

Oh, good. Thanks.

(And by good I mean that its frustrating for you for them to have a rule they do nothing about that makes the system less satisfying for you, but good for her that she won't need to worry)

 

[garnetandblack]

Last I checked, paypal's buyer protection doesn't cover timeshare rentals.

I always use my credit card when making a large ebay purchase for extra protection. I have my reservation number now and everything is linked. Hopefully nothing happens but if it does we will just go with it. I won't buy a DVC rental from ebay again.

 

[wed100105]

You should be fine. How long ago did you get the info from RCI with your guest confirmation? If it has been a couple of weeks, call DVC member services and ask if they have your reservation. If they do, you can have them update all the guests in your party and add the dining plan. Your full payment is required for the dining plan at that time. You will pay the $95 directly to Disney at checkin. You don't need to give then info on how you rented off eBay. In the future, yes selling a RCI trade is against Rci's policy. It is frustrating to see RCI members booking and reselling rCI trades for DVC. I am currently searching RCI for next summer, and haven't received a match.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

OP do you know if the seller aquired your stay as a trade or did he/she buy an "Extra Vacation" from RCI? We belong to RCI still but have sold our TS. We would occasionally buy Extras but DVC was always listed at a ridiculous price. Is it improper to rent out an EV reservation?

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Contact the seller and have them get the DVC reservation number. Then you will be able to add FP+ and dining reservations.

As long as the seller has good feedback I doubt you have anything to worry about. I have gifted DVC trips to both my brother (twice) and sister (once) and neither have had any problems. My brother wanted to add the dining plan both times and that was a huge pain (no one seemed to know how to do it), but we eventually got it done. I'm glad that my brother had two nice trips as there is no way he would be able to travel now due to his health.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

The $95 fee has to be paid at the time the reservation is made. Not when you check in. So something does not seem right. to do the dinning plan it has to be a 3 way call. The RCI owner has to contact Disney and then Disney sets up a 3 way call to do the transaction. I have done it this way several time before. Best to purchase Disney gift cards to buy the dinning plan because the Ebay Seller will be a part of the 3 way call and will hear the conversation and you don't want to say your credit card information during that 3 way call.


In order to add this reservation to a DME you will have to add the ebay person you bought from, to your MDE account (they are the owners of the reservation even though it is in your name) and then you will be able to add the reservation number to your MDE and be able to make your FP reservation and online check in. In the background of the Disney system it sees the person you bought the reservation from, as the main owner of the reservation even though their name is not on the reservation and they are the only one who can make changes to the reservation. Therefore to add the reservation to you DME you will have to add the seller to your DME.

 

[marsh0013]

The $95 fee has to be paid at the time the reservation is made. Not when you check in. So something does not seem right. to do the dinning plan it has to be a 3 way call. The RCI owner has to contact Disney and then Disney sets up a 3 way call to do the transaction. I have done it this way several time before

OP is correct, the $95 fee is paid at check-in. We are RCI members and trade into DVC and we pay that $95 gotcha fee when we get to the resort.