Renter's "etiquette" - please advise! (long)

[JimMIA]

As a further note, I'd recommend going back and reading crisi's post. As usual, she is right on target with practical, concise information.

The only amplification I would offer is: if you have a REAL "medical necessity," say those words.

For example, I know crisi does, and my daughter does, have a real medical necessity for a non-smoking room. I can take it or leave it, but DD3goingon23 can't breathe.

Don't abuse it, but if that is your situation -- or, if you need handicapped access -- for goodness sake say so. There is no guarantee, but they DO try much harder to accommodate legitimate medical necessities than simple preference requests.

"Pobody's Nerfect," so it won't always happen, but if you have a real need, as opposed to a preference (even STRONG preference), let someone know.

 

[JimMIA]

Did I miss anything?

Nope. Good job, JoJo!

 

[JimMIA]

Or as another poster said, call the resort directly?

DON'T call the resort. They will tell you they don't have your ressie info until 3-4 days before your arrival. That may or may not be true, but they will not help you. When you arrive at your resort and see how busy the front desk people are, you will understand.

 

[molly2004]

You can get trip insurance for DVC stays. If you do, be sure your agreement with the owner states clearly that the monies are non-refundable past a certain point.

QUOTE]

JimMIA, would you mind elaborating on this? I don't understand. First, I didn't know you could get trip insurance as a renter. Would I ask the member for this? Second, what does trip insurance have to do with the monies being non-refundable past a certain point? Inquiring minds want to know...at least just this one.

 

[inky dinky doo]

1)All these responses make perfect sense to me. I, honestly, have a difficulty with one thing: not being allowed to call member services to confirm the ressie. {Excuse me while I get the flame retardant suit on} Yes, I agree that there needs to be significant trust between parties in a transaction like this. But honestly, I have a difficult time handing over money without some sort of confirmation from Disney themselves that the ressie was made. Would they send me any paperwork to confirm this (even if sent through the member)? That's why I'd feel better about at least a phone confirmation. Can I at least ask the member for their permission to call? Or as another poster said, call the resort directly? I promise I'll be quick!

Molly, DVC members receive a written confirmation from Member Services about 10 days after making the reservation. The member you rent from should send you a copy of that confirmation letter. I rented points a few times, myself, before becoming a DVC member, and in every case, that's what happened. I always received a written confirmation with my name on the reservation.

Good luck! But, be careful. Once you experience DVC, it's awfully hard to go back to something else.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

1) As one poster said, have all my ducks in a row when I first communicate with the owner. That way, he/she can make the requests all at once. I get what I want, the owner needs to make only one call, everyone's happy!

2) It is NOT okay to sublet. Cancellation terms should be spelled out in the contract. If an extraordinary circumstance arises and it becomes imperative to cancel, funds returned (if any) would be in accordance to the terms of the contract. The ultimate decision belongs to the owner.

3) ...so a contract is a good thing, if only to clarify all terms before renting.

4) Tipping DVC mousekeepers is a good thing!

Did I miss anything?

All these responses make perfect sense to me. I, honestly, have a difficulty with one thing: not being allowed to call member services to confirm the ressie. {Excuse me while I get the flame retardant suit on} Yes, I agree that there needs to be significant trust between parties in a transaction like this. But honestly, I have a difficult time handing over money without some sort of confirmation from Disney themselves that the ressie was made. Would they send me any paperwork to confirm this (even if sent through the member)? That's why I'd feel better about at least a phone confirmation. Can I at least ask the member for their permission to call? I promise I'll be quick!

Thank you to everyone for educating me on the process. I feel much better entering this venture understanding how it should properly be done.

Also, thanks to those who tried to keep me from being flamed. I had a sense that I'd get burned at least a little with my original post, but i thought it'd be worth it if I could get some informative responses. Flaming seems to be happening a lot on these boards lately. Thanks for your efforts though.

And off I go to do some more planning! Woohoo!

If it would make you feel better, you can ask the DVC owner if they would be willing to include a clause in the contract that if for some unforseen reason you had to cancel your trip, you would be responsible for finding someone to "sublet" the reservation and the owner would agree to change the names on the reservation. As an owner (if I ever rented) I would be happy to include that clause because it assures me that you understand the difficulties of cancelations and re-renting and that you will be willing to handle it instead of dumping the problem back to me.

You can also request that the DVC owner send you a copy of the confirmation and/or do a 3-way call with MS to reassure you that everything is on the up and up.

As long as you make all these requests and ask the owner if they are willing to comply with your needs before the 2 of you come to an agreement I'm sure that the owner will think that you re a blessing in disguise!

A well informed renter makes everything much smoother and you certainly sound like you are making sure that your future rental will be smooth. No matter how many needs, requests, or complicated a rental can get, if it is spelled out in advance and the owner is willing to tackle it, it is much easier for the owner than a renter that calls every 3 days to add or change minor things to the reservation, KWIM.

Happy vacation planning!

 

[molly2004]

DON'T call the resort. They will tell you they don't have your ressie info until 3-4 days before your arrival. That may or may not be true, but they will not help you. When you arrive at your resort and see how busy the front desk people are, you will understand.

Okey dokey!

 

[JimMIA]

You can get trip insurance for DVC stays. If you do, be sure your agreement with the owner states clearly that the monies are non-refundable past a certain point.

QUOTE]

JimMIA, would you mind elaborating on this? I don't understand. First, I didn't know you could get trip insurance as a renter. Would I ask the member for this? Second, what does trip insurance have to do with the monies being non-refundable past a certain point? Inquiring minds want to know...at least just this one.

As a RENTER, you can get trip insurance from several large trip insurance companies. We owners are interested in protecting our points, and regular insurance companies will not insure points, but they will insure dollars you have shelled out.

Trip insurance is strictly between you and the insurance company -- it has NOTHING to do with the owner you are renting from. It protects YOU, and by reference, protects the owner.

Make sure the insurance company understands what you are doing, and that your expenditures are, in fact, covered by their insurance. Also, you normally have to insure your trip within about 2 weeks of making the first reservation. Sometimes, that's hard to plan on, because people make DVC ressies far in advance and wait for super airfares later on. You have to understand what your insurance will, and will not cover.

When there is a definite drop-dead date after which all monies paid are absolutely non-refundable, that makes everything much easier for the insurance company. It's just like insuring a ski vacation where everything has to be fully paid six months in advance and there is NO refund for any reason. Easy, simple...BOOM, you're covered.

That doesn't mean the owner can't (or won't) try to work with you to help salvage things. It just means ifthey can't, you have somebody covering your back.

 

[Doctor P]

Very well put, Jim, and good advice. Hope you have a great trip, Molly, and thanks for asking very good questions up front and before any problem occurred.

 

[Dean]

Just to weigh in on a couple of areas. First, some members tip mousekeeping, others do not. Disney considers mousekeeping a NON TIPPED position. I only tip if they do more than their job. As to calling, I'd think that a quick call to MS or the resort to confirm, once you get the reservation number from the member, and with the members permission, is ok. Beyond that, one should work through the member. II members that trade in pay Disney $95 per week for this benefit.

 

[Linzybrooke]

Molly2004, thank you for asking questions that have been on my mind that I didn't know how to phrase!

 

[Sammie]

When I call MS, I always have to give my Membership number and my social and address, phone number etc.

So how would a renter be able to contact MS anyway without all this info on the member, then what do they do pretend to be the member?

I don't rent so not sure how this would work?

I agree that the member should be the one doing the contacting but I did not see how the renter could even get any info anyway.

 

[jim and meesie]

1)
I, honestly, have a difficulty with one thing: not being allowed to call member services to confirm the ressie. {Excuse me while I get the flame retardant suit on} Yes, I agree that there needs to be significant trust between parties in a transaction like this. But honestly, I have a difficult time handing over money without some sort of confirmation from Disney themselves that the ressie was made. Would they send me any paperwork to confirm this (even if sent through the member)? That's why I'd feel better about at least a phone confirmation. Can I at least ask the member for their permission to call? Or as another poster said, call the resort directly? I promise I'll be quick!

I'm in the process of renting for the first time. The DVC member forwarded all the information to me and told me to contact DVC member services just to confirm that the reservation was in place before I sent money to the member. It was reassuring and no one (neither the DVC member nor member services) gave me any indication that it was wrong or unusual to do. Again today I contacted member services to schedule my Magical Express transportation. When member services asked for my member number I told them that I wasn't one but that I had a confirmation number for my reservation. She confirmed my details and then booked the Magical Express transportation. Again no problems.

 

[JimMIA]

then what do they do pretend to be the member?

They don't pretend to be anything. They call MS, they say they rented a ressie and give their name and dates, and MS helps them.

They are very limited in what they can accomplish with MS, but they can get limited help.

 

[Sammie]

They don't pretend to be anything. They call MS, they say they rented a ressie and give their name and dates, and MS helps them.

They are very limited in what they can accomplish with MS, but they can get limited help.

Thanks, just wondered, as everytime I have called I have to go through the complete spill, membership number, social, etc. Even after I have booked a reservation and want to make a request.

 

[JimMIA]

Thanks, just wondered, as everytime I have called I have to go through the complete spill, membership number, social, etc. Even after I have booked a reservation and want to make a request.

Right. But that's because we are members. That means we can bank and borrow points, make and cancel ressies, etc, and otherwise mess up our accounts.

So MS requires a MUCH higher level of security for us than they do for a renter. That difference is also why some owners who rent points either don't send copies of the confirmations or block out their member numbers.

 

[diznyfanatic]

I'm in the process of renting for the first time. The DVC member forwarded all the information to me and told me to contact DVC member services just to confirm that the reservation was in place before I sent money to the member. It was reassuring and no one (neither the DVC member nor member services) gave me any indication that it was wrong or unusual to do. Again today I contacted member services to schedule my Magical Express transportation. When member services asked for my member number I told them that I wasn't one but that I had a confirmation number for my reservation. She confirmed my details and then booked the Magical Express transportation. Again no problems.

That is exactly what happened to me as well during my first experience renting points recently. The DVC member provided me with my reservation number and encouraged me to call and I was extremely grateful for that. MS was very helpful and friendly and suggested that I call MS back if I wanted to add the Dining Plan or needed assistance making ADR's.

To me, having the ability to contact MS directly is important to someone renting and turning over hundreds or thousands of dollars to someone they've never met. Having an honest, supportive and understanding member to work with my first time renting, has given me the peace of mind I needed and left me with a very favorable impression of the rental experience.

Although I am paying for my stay at DVC, I apologize to those who feel that as just a renter, I should not have had access to MS. However, with trust and success comes respect. I would think that respectful renters make respectful guests in your Disney home. So, in the end, doesn't that benefit ALL DVC members?

 

[JollyHoliday]

I was a serious renter until I was totally turned off by a seller.He got so MAD that I asked for a standard studio 11 months out.If I treated my clients like this I would have no business.I was looking on a thread right now on the DVC vacation forum and a post referred to us renters as bottom feeders. I was willing to pay asking price. Renters just want Trust! So I booked my vacation thru Disney.

 

[TCPluto]

I have been told the last two times I made reservations for renters, by the member services cast member (almost verbatim), "when they call and confirm their reservation, we'll set them up for ME and the DDP if they want them".

It seems whether I call or the renter calls, MS still has to field a phone call, so why does it matter who makes that call? MS is servicing a points reservation, correct? Which has had the dues paid for these services, no?

For the limited purpose of confirming a reservation and setting up ME and DDP, a renter should be able to confirm that the reservation does indeed exist in their names.

Or not, what do I know.....

 

[BlondeAlligator]

Members have a hard enough time trying to get in to Member Services without non-members calling in to see if they still have a reservation. And can they request Magical Express. And how about balloons for little Billy since his birthday is only 25 days away. Yada, yada, yada.

It's not called Renter's Services. It's called Member Services. If you need something, contact the member and they should be the one calling MS, not you.

A phone call made to MS made by a renter takes the same amount of time as a phone call made by a DVC member. It doesn't matter who dials the phone; if there is a question about a reservation, someone will be on the line. I am certain that the person I am renting from would rather not be my own personal travel agent. He has a life. And I think that your tone was very rude...