Beware of DVC rental scammers

CapJames

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 11, 2014
I recently entered into an agreement to rent points from an individual who I found on the Rent/Trade forum here on Disboards in Aug for a June 2018 trip. I'm not going to say the owners board name, as I'm not sure if that's allowed or not, but you could go back in my profile and see my last postings. I was in charge of booking for my family and another. Communication seemed very normal initially. The owner seemed very well informed, courteous, and knowledgeable. I paid the DVC owner half down and received an email that appeared like a normal Disney trip confirmation email, however the email did not contain a confirmation number. I inquired about the need of a confirmation number in early Sept so I could book my ADRs when my 180 hit, which is this weekend. She informed me that she would get the number asap and send it to me. That was in early Sept. I have been unable to reach the owner since then by all methods of communication that was provided to me. I am at a loss on what other recourse I would have. I am sick and embarrassed over this but understand that it was my mistake. Just be sure you have a solid DVC owner with multiple, tested communication routes available before agreeing to rent from someone. I've read accounts of this from others and never dreamed that it would occur to me.
 
I’m so sorry this has happened to you!
Was this a long standing member who posts often? Just curious.
Kerri
 
Their profile says they joined Jan 3, 2017. They last posted a message Sept 1st, but I was able to PM them up to Sept 7th.
 
Please at least report to the mods, report through paypal if you used it..even though I know due to how far out we book conflict resolution may not even be an option through paypal or our credit cards.

Maybe it's worth contacting others from the for rent thread to see if they are out of money too.
 


This is horrible. Dishonesty seriously sickens me. Definitely open a claim through PayPal. Hopefully you paid as "goods/services" and not "gift"?
 
I have filed a claim with paypal. They are trying to reach the seller at this time, but their contact information was the same as mine so I doubt they will be successful. I wasn't sure how to report to the mods regarding this.
 
I have filed a claim with paypal. They are trying to reach the seller at this time, but their contact information was the same as mine so I doubt they will be successful. I wasn't sure how to report to the mods regarding this.
Luckily if they don't respond PayPal will side with you, and even if they do PayPal conflict resolution tends to side with the buyers.

The problem is if their account was unverified, then they can only try and pull the money from their account if it has a balance or it's linked to a valid checking account I believe, if it's verified PayPal can eat your refund under their guarantee..but it's been a long time since I've dealt with anything like that.

Good Luck!
 


Thank you. I'm betting their checking account linked to paypal is no longer a valid account. I'm going to try to move forward with my planning, starting with making my ADRs one day at a time starting Sat. since I don't have a room reservation yet. We were so excited about staying at BLT too. Hopefully, I can still find something good.
 
This is horrible, sorry it happened to you. I've rented twice from the board and the owner always sent me the confirmation right away so I could put the number into MDE immediately. So that was definitely a red flag :-(
 
Luckily if they don't respond PayPal will side with you, and even if they do PayPal conflict resolution tends to side with the buyers.

The problem is if their account was unverified, then they can only try and pull the money from their account if it has a balance or it's linked to a valid checking account I believe, if it's verified PayPal can eat your refund under their guarantee..but it's been a long time since I've dealt with anything like that.

Good Luck!
Timeshare transactions aren’t covered under PayPal’s policy. I don’t think they’ll front the money.
 
Red flag for me would have been that they have only been a member since 2017. At any rate- if you have a name you could look them up on the orange county comptroller site. this might give you their home address which might be another means of contacting them - address or tracking down a home phone number. If you have trouble looking you can PM me their name, i'm pretty good at digging for information. I'm not sure how much you paid but you could look into small claims court - but that might be tricky with the fact you likely live in 2 different states. Hopefully paypal can help.

It is a risky way to make reservations, I have received a transfer of points and was so nervous until i actually had the points in my account.

If you are still interested in a DVC rental then i would look into davids dvc - they are a reputable points renter with positive feed back.
 
Red flag for me would have been that they have only been a member since 2017. At any rate- if you have a name you could look them up on the orange county comptroller site. this might give you their home address which might be another means of contacting them - address or tracking down a home phone number. If you have trouble looking you can PM me their name, i'm pretty good at digging for information. I'm not sure how much you paid but you could look into small claims court - but that might be tricky with the fact you likely live in 2 different states. Hopefully paypal can help.

It is a risky way to make reservations, I have received a transfer of points and was so nervous until i actually had the points in my account.

If you are still interested in a DVC rental then i would look into davids dvc - they are a reputable points renter with positive feed back.
A scammer may not be on the OC Site, because they may not actually own points.
 
A scammer may not be on the OC Site, because they may not actually own points.
very true. That was one thing that helped easy some of my worries when i received a transfer of points -- the member did a screen shot of his current points status so i at least knew they were there and he provided me with his info - so i was able to look him up as being a valid current member. I guess there are scammers everywhere.

Maybe the rent/trade forum should have a feed back thread so people can give feed back and reviews of their transactions. A little protection when you have a track record. I am sure there are plenty of repeat renters on that thread.
 
She provided me with her dvc deed number as well. That's what gave me additional peace of mind initially.
 
Have you googled the renter's name?

The vast majority of those renting out points are honest and don't require any payment until the person renting the points for a stay are able to verify the reservation.
 
Yes I've tried to find other contact avenues through Google and have been unsuccessful.
The prospect of a health event has crossed my mind as well, which is why I sent a postal letter to the address I was given.
 
Timeshare transactions aren’t covered under PayPal’s policy. I don’t think they’ll front the money.
That's correct but they may cover it. If not and a CC was used, one might be able to dispute it there. If it goes that route PayPal will likely close the account though.
 

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