What can REALLY go wrong when renting DVC points?

[COscrapper]

So we are considering renting DVC points for our first (and probably only) family trip to WDW. I want to really be sure I understand all the risks before we do this, though. Trip will be end of October for DH and me, plus our 2 boys - looking at renting points for a studio at AKL. I have been looking at some trip insurance plans, but not sure if they will cover every scenario...

Most people seem to have great experiences renting points, and I already know about the differences in room services, etc. when staying DVC...but what would be a worst case scenario if we do this? Could we show up and suddenly our reservation has disappeared? The owner cancels it and we're screwed? Would we have ANY options in that case, or would we have to find a hotel off property for the trip? Does trip insurance even matter in such a case?

If we do this, we would go through a broker, but I'm not sure that makes much of a difference either...would love to hear from others who have experience with this.

 

[Donna M]

Yup, the owner can cancel or not have their dues paid, and you no longer have a room and DVC won't speak to you. I'm too chicken to rent either way because of the what ifs. Lots of people have great experiences though. Good luck.

 

[loves to dive]

Yes, the owner can back out, even if you go through a broker. If you rent points, 99% of the time they are non-refundable. Most trip insurance will only cover a % and it is on a sliding scale as to how much they will give you.

 

[erionm]

If you rent through David's, he withholds 30% of the funds due to the owner until after the renter has checked in. This is to hopefully prevent the owner from cancelling the reservation.

 

[Minniesgal]

Yes the owner could cancel at the last moment but personally I have never heard of it happening. There is always a west case scenario you can imagine for anything.

If the owner cancelled the reservation you would know straight away as it would disappear off your MDE. There would be no benefit to the owner cancelling at the last minute as they wouldn't get their points back.

When you shop from Ebay there is a risk the owner won't send the goods but people still regularly and successfully shop there.

You have a contract with the owner, you can go through a broker but don't go through life always expecting the worst.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If you rent through David's, he withholds 30% of the funds due to the owner until after the renter has checked in. This is to hopefully prevent the owner from cancelling the reservation.

David's does 50/50. Another broker does 70/30.

But he did have a couple of rooms cancelled just in this past year and no great recourse. It will always be a possibility. Odds are in your favor though OP and although someone gets to be on the negative end unless it's going to be 100% it really is very very rare.

 

[Minniesgal]

Yes, the owner can back out, even if you go through a broker. If you rent points, 99% of the time they are non-refundable. Most trip insurance will only cover a % and it is on a sliding scale as to how much they will give you.

If you go through a broker and the owner cancels you get a refund in full from the broker.

 

[erionm]

David's does 50/50.

From David's website:

• 70% of the funds due to you are immediately transferred to you via PayPal at the time of the reservation (once I receive the funds from the guest). If you don't already have a PayPal account, you can open one here. There is NO FEE to you to receive your money through PayPal. We absorb all fees. I take guest payments by credit card or PayPal so there are no additional charges to you. In a few instances, the PayPal payment may be made by e-check. In these rare cases, it may take 3 to 4 business days for the e-check to clear, at which time you will receive your money.
• The balance of funds owing to you are paid on the day of guest check in. Reservations are NON REFUNDABLE so you get your money regardless. I hold back 30% to ensure that my guests have a room on arrival. You are committed to keeping your dues and mortgages current so as not to harm any reservations.

http://www.dvcrequest.com/dvc-members.asp

 

[Minniesgal]

From David's website:

http://www.dvcrequest.com/dvc-members.asp

That is new it was 50/50 last year.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

From David's website:

http://www.dvcrequest.com/dvc-members.asp

That's very new. Can't remember exactly when I looked but definitely within the past month and I think it might have been just a week or so ago.

 

[COscrapper]

If you rent through David's, he withholds 30% of the funds due to the owner until after the renter has checked in. This is to hopefully prevent the owner from cancelling the reservation.

THIS is what I wanted to know - if there was any benefit for an owner to cancel a reservation. In reality, it is to THE OWNER'S BENEFIT to KEEP the reservation, so that they receive all funds, correct? - that is great to know. Would there be any reason at all, then, for an owner to cancel someone's reservation? The only reason would be to ruin someone else's vacation (plus they would lose some $ to do so)? Am I right? Any other bad scenario that could happen?

I try not to "go through life expecting the worst", by the way. I just want to make sure I understand everything that could happen, seeing as I'm the one making or breaking my family's vacation...you know, do my homework. Has anyone actually HEARD of this happening to someone or experienced it themselves when renting points?

 

[COscrapper]

minniesgal: are you sure about the refund if the owner cancels? I don't think I've read that anywhere...is that with a specific broker?

 

[supersnoop]

minniesgal: are you sure about the refund if the owner cancels? I don't think I've read that anywhere...is that with a specific broker?

If you go through a broker then you have a contract with the broker. If the other side falls through, the broker is on the hook to "make it right." That's where you'd either get re-booked or a full refund. But don't expect to get anything more than the value you paid.

 

[Miffy]

We thought about renting points for our most recent stay but decided against it. As it turns out, it's a good thing we instead booked our trip directly through Disney, because we ended up with so many changes in our reservation that I have no idea what would've happened if we'd rented points, even if we'd had trip insurance.

Very briefly: Our original dates ended up coinciding with the big East Coast blizzard, which forced us to reschedule our trip THREE times. This wasn't our choice--Amtrak canceled three times. The blizzard didn't just affect the travel--it affected the room reservation, which we also had to reschedule three times. I'm guessing if we'd rented DVC points and had purchased trip insurance, we just would've canceled the entire trip, but we were able to move our room reservation easily through WDW reservations, which was a relief. To top it all off, we ended up coming home two days earlier than our rescheduled reservation. Because our room was booked through Disney, we merely checked out before 11 on our departure day and were refunded the full amount of the two days we weren't there.

I have no clue what would've happened if we'd rented points.

Of course this kind of thing is unusual. In many many years of going to WDW in the winter, this the first time I've had to reschedule a trip and it's also the first time I've come home early. But those two things both happened, and it was a relief that rescheduling the room res and also checking out early were so easy to do.

Just something to consider.

 

[jodifla]

I actually think the worst case scenario is you having to cancel. Especially if you go through a broker, a person renting points is unlikely to cancel. They'd have to deal with the broker about failure to keep their end of the bargain.

 

[LisaS]

There have been a few cases over the years of scammers renting out reservations and then cancelling them but it's very rare. The more likely problem scenario is that someone is renting out their points because they are strapped for cash and cannot keep their dues up to date. If the rental money isn't sufficient to pay their back dues (or they use the money for something else) at some point DVC will no longer honor their reservations due to the unpaid dues. There were a couple of people in the past year or two who reported having their reservations cancelled and I believe it was a dues issue that caused the cancellation or perhaps the contracts were financed and the owner was behind on the payments.

If you go through a reputable broker and end up with no reservation, the broker will refund your money. Some may try to get you another reservation instead of giving you a refund but there may be no availability at that point so you could end up with no place to stay on short notice. Again it's rare but not impossible.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

And in a couple other scenarios I believe I've read of a couple of rentals that easily could have had issues - one where they lost contract with the owner and discovered they were very ill, but the reservation was still there and completed. And another one or two where the owner had passed away - but again, the rentals were there and used.

 

[Miffy]

OP: I just reread your original post. You say this is probably your only family trip to WDW. Please check out mousesavers.com for information about historical room-rate discounts at Disney. You have many more options than renting DVC points--options that will give you far more flexibility.

 

[crisi]

THIS is what I wanted to know - if there was any benefit for an owner to cancel a reservation. In reality, it is to THE OWNER'S BENEFIT to KEEP the reservation, so that they receive all funds, correct? - that is great to know. Would there be any reason at all, then, for an owner to cancel someone's reservation? The only reason would be to ruin someone else's vacation (plus they would lose some $ to do so)? Am I right? Any other bad scenario that could happen?

I try not to "go through life expecting the worst", by the way. I just want to make sure I understand everything that could happen, seeing as I'm the one making or breaking my family's vacation...you know, do my homework. Has anyone actually HEARD of this happening to someone or experienced it themselves when renting points?

Nah, if the owner is interested in scamming, its in the owners interest to pocket the initial 70%, cancel the reservation, and then re-rent those points again through another broker - you could do this three or four times with the same points. You do need trust in this situation. If its going to cause you a lot of stress, just go direct through Disney.

Last year there were two people (maybe three) who rented through Davids and the reservations were cancelled - I think we think it was non-payment of dues. They got their money refunded, but the rooms that had been cancelled were no longer available for them to book. The most likely scenario is everything will go fine. If it doesn't, its unlikely someone intentionally scams, and more likely that someone is underwater, trying to hang onto their DVC, needs to pay their dues, but needs to pay their mortgage, and instead of using rental money for dues - decided to hang onto their house.

 

[crisi]

I actually think the worst case scenario is you having to cancel. Especially if you go through a broker, a person renting points is unlikely to cancel. They'd have to deal with the broker about failure to keep their end of the bargain.

I agree with this. Last year we had someone who was very angry they wouldn't refund her money when she got pregnant. There are no refunds going through a broker, not for pregnancy or illness or a death. As someone who has had vacations change on me for everything from tsunami to pregnancy to cancer - its a real risk.

DVC reservations are not easy to move or cancel if you are the owner. Which is one of the reasons brokers don't even bother with the option.