Renter here..need your experience........again.

[VogelFamily]

In November, I rented points from a poster and never received the confirmation. After nearly a month of trying to get ahold of her, she finally called me back and stated that it had been sent to wrong address but that she had and would mail out immediately. Guess what, never received it. I didn't call back because I thought I was over-reacting and received many helpful replies to a post where I was worried that I couldn't reach her. In the end, I had reservation number and verified with member services, so I quit worrying about it. Well, this week I received a confirmation letter where my reservation is made in another members name. I have no idea who this individual is and no information was sent with it. The original owner has never contacted me to update me of any changes. The last name and address of the current reservation do not match in any way. I found a phone number thru a phone directory that matches the name and address but no one answers. The owner that I rented from no longer has a working email address and her cell phone number has been disconnected. I left a message on a generic voice mail that I believe is her home phone but I really don't know. I called the number that I got thru the directory and no answer or voice mail. I am so freaking out again. Is it common to transfer reservations to a third party and not notify the renter? I am waiting for a call back and will try all numbers again in the morning. Do you think my concerns are valid? My reservation is at BCV in Oct 06 for a 1 bedroom. I paid deposit (50%) via Paypal the same day I rented in Nov 05. The balance is due 30 days prior to reservation. Would you continue to go thru with reservation. Should I cut my losses at the 50% and try to cancel reservation. I would fully expect never to get a refund even though our agreement said full refund if cancelled more than 31 days notice. HELP...........Heather

 

[JimMIA]

I'm having as much difficulty following your account of the situation as you are having with the ressie, so I'll cut to the chase.

The confirmation you just received -- have you re-contacted MS and verified that you do in fact have your original ressie in your name?

Or is this a ressie for your intended dates in another renter's name?

Or is this your ressie, with a new renting owner's name?

In short, what is your status...do you have a ressie, or not?

 

[Cruelladeville]

It sounds to me as though you may not have a reservation. Once you contact member services to verify the reservation, and find out that you don't have one, contact PayPal immediately, and let them know that you believe you have been a victim of fraud. If you over-react, fine--you will, at the very least, get the owner's attention with PayPal's help. If you have a choice, GET YOUR DEPOSIT BACK! Did you find this person on the Dis board? You may want to post on the Rent/Trade board that you had difficulty with renting from Screen Name, without making accusations. Possible future renters will at least be alert that a problem could exist.

In the future, it is wise to rent only from those with a high number of posts, and a track record on these Boards.

 

[nliedel]

I agree contact Paypal NOW!

 

[VogelFamily]

Sorry for the confusion. Thank you for your quick replies. I am the renter. The confirmation shows the reservation in my name with the correct dates. However, the name and address of the "owner" is someone I have never heard of. It is not the name of the person that I rented from. There was no information sent with the confirmation. No explanation as to who this individual is. There is a note that the reservation was modified on 02/10/06. I have not talked to the person I rented from since 12/31/05 when she told me she would send the confirmation. I never received it. I have not been able to contact her. Thanks again. I appreciate the support and insight. I was under the impression that if I needed to have the Paypal payment looked into, that I had to file an inquiry within 45 days. Anyone know?
Jim, thank you for your help. I am confusing myself.

 

[Doctor P]

There may not be any problem here. The person from whom you rented may have been just asking as an agent for someone else or be an associate member on someone else's account, or may be rerenting a reservation. Since you never got the original reservation, the only change that may have been made was putting your name on the reservation. Or, it is even possible that the person couldn't fulfill your request directly and rented a reservation from someone else for you. All I am saying is that it is possible that everything is OK. Though it does sound a bit strange I must admit.

 

[DisneyBill]

I'd say you have cause for concern. Assumming you have the address of the person you gave the deposit to, I'd send a certified mail, return receipt requested, letter to her/him and ask them to contact you via phone by X date. Then make your determination based on what the outcome of any response you receive. If you're lucky enough to hear from your original party, make certain to GET the contact information of the owner that is on your reservation and make contact with that person.

If that doesn't work in a short period of time, I don't think it would hurt to ask member services to contact the member on your reservation and have that person contact you.

I guess if your owner was a disboard member, you've tried contacting them by PM and email here?.?

Best of luck, please keep us posted.

It sounds as though the member is at least trying to arrange for your trip, even if somewhat unusually via another member. Maybe it is as simple as a parent or other relation.

 

[JimMIA]

You may want to post on the Rent/Trade board that you had difficulty with renting from Screen Name, without making accusations. Possible future renters will at least be alert that a problem could exist.

Naw. Can't do that -- it's against the R/T Board rules, for a whole bunch of reasons.

 

[JimMIA]

You don't want to OVERreact, but you certainly have cause to be concerned. I think you've already got some good options suggested, depending on the exact circumstances you find yourself in.

If it's no big deal, and your only problem is establishing reliable contact with the owner, you have several good suggestions for that.

If it's a worst-case scenario, then by all means do as Cruella suggested. Although you may not technically have a fraud yet, you certainly have taken a number of reasonable steps to locate the owner, and you have every reason to be concerned. I would think PayPal would take appropriate steps to at least determine whether their transaction was legit -- and if not, to protect you.

Good luck.

 

[Chuck S]

Interesting that the ressie IS in your name. Is it the same reservation number? If so, I would bet that there was more than one DVC owner in this family, and the contact person you rented from used another family members points for the reservation,acting either as an agent for them or swapping some of their points/ressies between themselves for home resort priority. Odd that it shows a modification, but there may be some reasons for that, too.

I would be a little concerned, at least until you contacted MS to verify the ressie that you have the print-out for. I hope everything goes OK for you, it actually sounds pretty legit, though.

 

[VogelFamily]

DisneyBill, great suggestion. I will come up with something to mail on Monday if I still have not received a call from either party. I agree that it may be a simple transfer of reservation and I hate to over react. When I rented from this member she never identified herself as representing another party. When I had trouble contacting her as the original confirmation never arrived, she stated that it had gone to her old address and she would mail right away. That was December. Still nothing. And now that phone number is disconnected. Because I did verify the reservation thru member services and I know the actual paper confirmation means nothing, I didn't worry too much. I just find it odd that I get it now and in someone elses name. I suppose just because I would never make such changes without notifying all parties involved that others can do it differently. For the record, I did try to contact owner thru PM and emails (both the address that she gave me and the new one on her PayPal account). I rented from her based on a post on the rent/trade board and no she did not have any additional posts but she explained that with a recent move she had forgotten her previous password. And yes, this is all new to me. I have never rented before and have very little experience with PayPal. I have noone to blame but myself. On the plus side, I am learning lots of valuable information, just maybe a little late....thanks, Heather

 

[Kick Save]

In the future, it is wise to rent only from those with a high number of posts, and a track record on these Boards.

Hey now, there are some very trustworthy people with only 37 or so posts here.

 

[Beca]

Heather,

It could be that the "modification" listed on the confirmation was just having the confirmation re-sent to her. MS is VERY SLOW on getting address and phone number changes into their system. I am experiencing this first-hand. We moved last September, and it took MS until last month to get all our changes in the system.

As far as the name on the ressie....please don't stress too much. MS makes members jump thru all kinds of hoops to verify that it is them before allowing any ressies to be made or modified. I seriously doubt your "owner" could make the ressie if it was not her account.

It sounds to me like someone's move (maybe unexpected move) has totally messed things up. I know I would not have liked to manage someone's reservation when I was moving last year (although, I think I would've been extra careful to make sure the renter felt secure during my move...but, it was so chaotic sometimes).

However, I would be concerned that if you cannot reach them, that you cannot get the money to them in the future, and your ressie would be cancelled then. You need to re-establish contact with them....this should NOT be your problem, but unfortunately...it is.

When you call MS tomorrow, make sure the ressie is, in fact still in your name, and ask MS what the modification was for. They should be able to tell you that.

I am really sorry this is happening to you!!



Beca

 

[castleri]

Maybe she had a lovely wedding and now has a new name and address. She could be someone who rents low and then sells that ressie at a higher rate. Lots of possibilities.

 

[VogelFamily]

I could certainly understand a change in her last name but her first and middle name are also now different. Do people really do that when they marry? I really want to understand this. Tell me how it works to rent to me and then "sell" my reservation to someone else at a higher price. I really want to believe that this is all legit, I mean, this new individual didn't have to send me anything. The fact that they forwarded the new modified confirmation to me tells me that they are trying to let me know a change was made. Unfortunately, there is no contact info and the majority of ways I reached my original owner are no longer working. I will continue to try and reach both parties thru the weekend and go from there. Thanks again everybody....Heather

 

[Canadian Tom]

Here's a suggestion to insure a place to stay for your vacation. Book another ressie through CRO for your vacation dates. You don't need to send the remainder(50%) until 31 days out from arrival. If you don't here anything before then from the owner and it looks like a scam, don't send the rest of the money and stay at the ressies you made through CRO. If it is all cleared up, cancel the ressie throught CRO and enjoy your vacation and reduce your stress from now until you go. Alteast you wouldn't need to worry about not having a place to stay. Good Luck

 

[greenban]

I'm as paranoid as they come. You have all the 'worry' signs present.

Prior poor communications with the Owner
Now no communications with the Owner
Incorrect info on the Disney Confirmation that could be due to MS or the Owner.
A relative newbie on the DIS.

These items would make me run like heck, and contact PayPal and your Credit Card if that is how you paid PayPal.

BUT....

In my gut, I believe you're safe. Probably the address and name are the 'real' owner of the membership (an elderly parent or relative), and the 'Owner' you are dealing with is an assoicate member. If MS confirms the ressie still exisit under your name, then it is there, check 9AM Monday, if not immediately contact PayPal and your CC.

Also, you may be getting a re-rent, when the original renter cancelled due to the Owner's lack of response.

Was this a bargain deal or did you pay the going rate? If it was a Bargain, my 'worry' would go up a notch!

Good luck, and please let us know how it all works out, I predict (opening the envelope), that all is fine, and you'll have a great Vacation!

-Tony

 

[VogelFamily]

Tony,
I can't thank you enough for your kind words. I see all of the "red flags" as well and they have me a little nervous. I, too, believe that they are all legitimate changes but can't believe that I wouldn't be notified or given new contact information. As this is my first transaction, I really don't understand how all of the transfers work or how you can have family members on the same account. When my owner made the original reservation, she was kind enough to place me on a 3-way call and they verified her name and address, which I understood to be the owner that I rented my points from. Somewhere along the way, my reservation has been put under another account and no one notified me. This all may be completely normal transactions but is certainly "foreign" to me. Combine that with the fact that I have no contact information and I'm feeling quite uneasy. DisneyBill made a great suggestion and I will try to contact owner via certified, return receipt mail on Monday if I have no success over the weekend. I am still a few steps away from panic. Worst case scenerio, I have been scammed and lost my deposit. In the end, I would just have to book a moderate in place of the BCV that I was dreaming of. Not so bad! You guys have been great. Thanks again............Heather

 

[greenban]

Heather:

I'm still hoping for a happy resolution, but I like your plan. If I can help (or you wish to discuss this in more detail privately) please PM me!





-Tony

Tony,
I can't thank you enough for your kind words. I see all of the "red flags" as well and they have me a little nervous. I, too, believe that they are all legitimate changes but can't believe that I wouldn't be notified or given new contact information. As this is my first transaction, I really don't understand how all of the transfers work or how you can have family members on the same account. When my owner made the original reservation, she was kind enough to place me on a 3-way call and they verified her name and address, which I understood to be the owner that I rented my points from. Somewhere along the way, my reservation has been put under another account and no one notified me. This all may be completely normal transactions but is certainly "foreign" to me. Combine that with the fact that I have no contact information and I'm feeling quite uneasy. DisneyBill made a great suggestion and I will try to contact owner via certified, return receipt mail on Monday if I have no success over the weekend. I am still a few steps away from panic. Worst case scenerio, I have been scammed and lost my deposit. In the end, I would just have to book a moderate in place of the BCV that I was dreaming of. Not so bad! You guys have been great. Thanks again............Heather

 

[dvcmember]

Is there an update? Barb