renter question about references

[blewits]

I am looking at possibly renting points for my vacation. I am not a DVC member (yet ) and am wondering how do I get references or something like it on the seller. It seems with the confirmation through Disney Travel that I can access it would be pretty secure. I have to convince my husband that it is "safe". Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks alot.

Wendy

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

blewits

I would suggest that one of the best ways to find out what a person is like who is renting points is to do a search of all of their posts. You will quickly get a feel for the person. You will also see if he/she has rented in the past and if they had any issues when renting.

HBC

 

[Puffy2]

I also rented points from a DCV member.
It is not 100% safe - you will be taking a risk (which is really hard for me to do, so I understand your hesitancy).

What COULD happen? Here are the worst possibilities: the DCV "member" (they could say they are one and not be) could take your money and not make a reservation, could take your money - make a reservation but then cancel it at any time, could take your money - not pay their annual dues and then your reservation would be subject to being cancelled.

What I did was a Search (like Cat said) of the person offering to sell points - the person I bought from had a history here on the DIS with over 200 posts - I read many of these to get a feeling for who that person is, then I offered to "make a deal".

The person I delt with wanted a bank check - I sent it before I had the reservation number. Although everything has worked out fine (received the confirmation,they wrote me a "receipt", etc...) - in retrospect, I would have felt more comfortable if we had a written agreement between us before the transaction was made (like "I agree to pay, you agree to make and keep reservation, etc... - signed by both parties, etc..) I would think something in writing would make everyone feel better. I know that some people DO offer an "agreement paper" but most do not. You can PM me and I'll give you the name of someone else who offered an agreement (they didn't have points at the resort I wanted so I didn't end up working with them).

Sorry this is so long, just do a SEARCH and see what you can come up with. It is a great way to save money on a reservation - and I've never read any "deals gone bad" posts here on the DIS - you can be sure though that if it does happen, we'll all hear about it. Good luck.

 

[Beth]

I normally rent points to friends/family - but I have rented points here, once.

I have a "rental agreement," shared with me by another DISer, here - if you'd PM me with your email address - I'll send you a copy of it. I have no idea how "binding" it is, but I think it makes both parties feel better.

This is how "we" did it.
(1) I made the reservation.
(2) I sent her two signed copies of the agreement, along with the confirmation letter from MS.
(3) She signed and returned one of the agreements, along with her payment.

The whole thing was quite painless. And, had she defaulted - I would have only needed to cancel the reservation - I was outside of 30 days.

The suggestion about checking the person's posts is a good one. As a renter, I prefer to "respond to 'wanted' ads," rather than posting "I have points to rent." That way, I can be more "selective" in who I rent to. No offense, but when you post "points to rent," you'll often see 1st-time posters responding - and you have no opportunity to view other posts... Just my 2 cents...

 

[blewits]

Thank all of you so much for your help. I would not be able to do this without all of your help and this board.

Thanks again!

wendy

 

[WDWguru]

Just throwing in that the renter is also taking quite a risk as well. If the rentee were to cancel the reservation less than 30 days out there are some serious consequences for those points and they could be lost altogether. If those points were borrowed and the reservation is close to their use year end, there is a very real risk of them losing those points completely even if the cancellation is made more than 30 days out. There are other scenarios, but those are two that come immediately to mind.

Just want to point out that risk is assumed on both sides. That said, I've read numerous times that there has never been a problem or complaint resulting from the rent/trade board on this site. ::knock wood::

 

[LisaR]

Kim,
The renter shouldn't be at any risk, really. Before we became members, we rented points many times. We had to cancel the night before one time and the renter was not at all affected. We had paid him in full long before so he was not out anything. We had trip insurance so we were not out any money. If you made reservations through Disney and tried to cancel within 30 days, you would not get any money back either. It shouldn'y be any different with the person that is renting points. I think the person who stands to lose the most is the person that is renting points from another member. Thankfully, we never had any problems. We rented from quite a few people and all were wonderful!

Lisa

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Although I believe the people here to be of good character, that may not be the case on every advertisement board on the net. Has any renter ever asked for any kind of security deposit in case of damage?