DVC Rental Cancellation/Insurance - Need Help!

[GOLDENGNOME]

Hi All!

I purchased DVC rental points through David's Vacation Rentals for a week this October in WDW and DID NOT purchase travel insurance.

Well...I just found out today (coincidentally my birthday) that my wife is pregnant with our first and due the week we booked. By Zeus's beard!!!

A few questions:

• What should/can I do?
  • I'd be willing reschedule although I know they don't allow any type of reservation changes.
  • At minimum, I need to get some of my money returned even if it's not the full amount--it's a considerable amount for me.
• Can I purchase travel insurance still, and would it even cover me for this event/circumstance?
• If I can purchase travel insurance, any recommendations for providers? Travelguard is the main one I've read about on forums/sites.

Bummed to have to cancel, but thrilled to finally be a dad! However, a little stressed that I am going to lose thousands of dollars if I can't find a solution.

Any advice, help, recommendations, or shared experiences are warmly welcomed and immensely appreciated. Thank you so much!

 

[Chuck S]

Hi,

You will need to contact David's and tell him your situation, and see if they will work with you at all. That would be the best thing. Since you are 7 months out, maybe they will work with you.
You can not re-rent the reservation on our boards, even if David's is willing to change the name on the reservation, as we only allow posts by the DVC Owner. If David's and the owner would be willing to change the name on the reservation, I would see if you have family or friends who are able to use the reservation. Only the DVC Owner can make the change on the reservation.

Best of luck, and congratulations on becoming a Dad!

 

[JETSDAD]

I'd contact David's first to see if there's anything they can do. This is one of the risks of renting points. An October reservation may be easy for them to get rented out as a confirmed reservation but I wouldn't expect them to do it at no cost.

 

[supersnoop]

Travel insurance won’t cover pre-existing conditions. That’s a non-starter.

 

[motherof5]

Good luck. Let us know how you make out. I have never rented points so very curious. Congratulations on becoming a dad

 

[NS8VN]

The thing about insurance is that the second you need it is also the second you can no longer get it. You get it before something comes up, now that you know you are going to cancel travel insurance is no longer an option. Getting it now and trying to file a claim could be considered insurance fraud.

As far as getting any kind of refund, as others have said contact David's and explain the situation. They might try to help but their cancellation policy is pretty clear:

Due to the complexity of the point system and the fact that Owners may have to bank or borrow points in order to secure your reservation, cancellations, upgrades and date modifications are not permitted. The lead guest name must also remain the same due to a rental agreement between the guest and the owner, however, you are permitted to add or delete the additional guests listed in the room with you.

 

[crisi]

The thing about insurance is that the second you need it is also the second you can no longer get it. You get it before something comes up, now that you know you are going to cancel travel insurance is no longer an option. Getting it now and trying to file a claim could be considered insurance fraud.

As far as getting any kind of refund, as others have said contact David's and explain the situation. They might try to help but their cancellation policy is pretty clear:

And to translate that cancellation policy, if the lead name on the reservation is Golden Gnome, then Golden Gnome must remain on the reservation. And the number on the reservation cannot exceed the occupants. BUT, anyone listed on the room can check in. So if Golden Gnome talks to several of his friends, and Happy Hobbit says "I'd love to go to Disney, I'll rent your vacation from you" you could call Disney and add Happy Hobbit and his wife and probably TWO but not three little hobbits to your reservation because - depending on which studio you rented - six would exceed occupancy, even though you'll never be in the room.

However, that entire transaction is between you and Mr. Hobbit. The only thing David will do is remove your wife from the reservation and add the Hobbit family. That is the only think his contract with the owner will let him do. And he has stood firm on the pregnancy issue in the past.

Congrats. With kids, always get travel insurance - you'll face sudden illness and broken bones.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

How did you pay for the rental? I've never rented from David, but a quick look at his site and it looks like Visa/MasterCard is accepted. Depending on which card/bank issuer you have you might have travel insurance through them. I book all my travel/flights with my Citi Prestige card....has great travel protection built in. Hopefully that might be something you can utilize.

 

[LisaS]

OP, to add to crisi's post, if David does allow you to add the Hobbit family to your reservation, as the lead name on the reservation, you are on the hook with David if the Hobbits damage the room or leave an unpaid bill behind. Keep that in mind if you decide to "sublet" your reservation to a friend.

If I remember correctly, there was one case where David did offer to find a new renter for a fee of $3 or so per point. I suspect that fee was shared with the owner to reimburse them for their time. DVC owners cannot modify a reservation online. Depending on the time of year, calling Member Services can involve long hold times. Also, DVC owners get less money when they rent through David vs working with renters directly. They are willing to accept less money because going through David is easier, especially given his "no changes" policy -- the DVC owner makes the reservation and their work is done, but they pass up at least $3/point for this convenience.

Regarding rescheduling, depending on the points the owner used for the reservation, that may not be possible. Points are valid for a range of dates. If the owner used banked or borrowed points, those points would be restricted to a 12-month window. They could be expiring on Nov 30 of this year, for example, meaning that the reservation could not be rescheduled past November. Or, they might not be valid for reservations prior to Oct 1, 2018. In any case, availability is always an issue with DVC reservations.

Best of luck.

 

[crisi]

Oh, I reread my post this morning, it says you could call Disney - you would email David, David would email the owner, the owner would need to change the reservation.

 

[sndral]

• • At minimum, I need to get some of my money returned even if it's not the full amount--it's a considerable amount for me...!

• • Think of airline tickets, you can pay less and get non refundable tickets or you can pay more and get fully refundable tickets. If you chose the cheaper non refundable tickets the airline is not going to refund your money if for some reason you can’t fly.
  • It’s worth a call to David’s, but whether they can help you really depends on a lot of things - inventory for the fall/holidays is already pretty booked so a cancel and rebook for another renter isn’t guaranteed plus the owner may have expiring points and no flexibility w/ the timing of a rebooking.

 

[Dean]

Hi All!

I purchased DVC rental points through David's Vacation Rentals for a week this October in WDW and DID NOT purchase travel insurance.

Well...I just found out today (coincidentally my birthday) that my wife is pregnant with our first and due the week we booked. By Zeus's beard!!!

A few questions:

• What should/can I do?
  • I'd be willing reschedule although I know they don't allow any type of reservation changes.
  • At minimum, I need to get some of my money returned even if it's not the full amount--it's a considerable amount for me.
• Can I purchase travel insurance still, and would it even cover me for this event/circumstance?
• If I can purchase travel insurance, any recommendations for providers? Travelguard is the main one I've read about on forums/sites.

Bummed to have to cancel, but thrilled to finally be a dad! However, a little stressed that I am going to lose thousands of dollars if I can't find a solution.

Any advice, help, recommendations, or shared experiences are warmly welcomed and immensely appreciated. Thank you so much!

Congratulations. I don't think David allows changes but let us know how it works out.

 

[crisi]

• • It’s worth a call to David’s, but whether they can help you really depends on a lot of things - inventory for the fall/holidays is already pretty booked so a cancel and rebook for another renter isn’t guaranteed plus the owner may have expiring points and no flexibility w/ the timing of a rebooking.

The real problem with David is that his contract with the owner has no provision for this. So it doesn't make any difference when the points expire or if there is availability, the owner has no obligation to look, and David has no obligation to ask. Those are the terms of the contract. And from someone who rents through David's point of view, the reason I take less for my points and rent through David is so that these sorts of issues are not my problem.

Not that I don't feel for Golden Gnome, but there is a reason that owners work through brokers.

 

[Jelly563]

Happened to me last year GoldenGnome, I tried to lowball it out but was unable to. I lost the trip & the cash.... But don't worry, it will just get you used to the role of Daddy... where you will waste more money on things you don't need or even use. It is a right of passage. Thats where you earn your grey hair.... Congratulations !

 

[crisi]

Happened to me last year GoldenGnome, I tried to lowball it out but was unable to. I lost the trip & the cash.... But don't worry, it will just get you used to the role of Daddy... where you will waste more money on things you don't need or even use. It is a right of passage. Thats where you earn your grey hair.... Congratulations !

Just wait until you waste a year of college tuition on "I'm not really ready to be a grown up." (What do you mean, you failed EVERY ONE of your classes!)

 

[Chuck S]

Just wait until you waste a year of college tuition on "I'm not really ready to be a grown up." (What do you mean, you failed EVERY ONE of your classes!)

Sounds like my college attempt, thank goodness at that time (back in the Dark Ages) it was a Community College and was free except books and student insurance.

 

[crisi]

Sounds like my college attempt, thank goodness at that time (back in the Dark Ages) is was a Community College and was free except books and student insurance.

This was tech school and not a very expensive experiment in "not quite ready." But more expensive than a dvc rental. And plenty of other people find their kids not making it past a semester or two at an expensive private four year school.

 

[LVSWL]

This happened with one of my guest's reservations with David's. The renter happened to know someone who wanted to take the reservation so as the Member I was just asked to change the name on the reservation. I received $1 per point for doing so from David's. Not sure what the original renter was charged or if any of his original payment was returned to him.

 

[Kourtneylyn]

This happened with one of my guest's reservations with David's. The renter happened to know someone who wanted to take the reservation so as the Member I was just asked to change the name on the reservation. I received $1 per point for doing so from David's. Not sure what the original renter was charged or if any of his original payment was returned to him.

Who did you contact ? Renter or David’s ? Did you speak to a manager or just anyone from Customer service?

 

[LVSWL]

Who did you contact ? Renter or David’s ? Did you speak to a manager or just anyone from Customer service?

Actually, the customer service rep contacted me and let me know that my guest had to change their plans but that they (the guest) had a friend who could take the reservation so they wanted me to contact MS and change the name on the reservation. They paid me $1 per point to make that call. As the owner I never speak with the guests renting the points. They work through David's to me. Let me know if you have any other questions.