No Show Due to Medical Emergency

[DerrickM]

Hi,

I rented a DVC vacation through a 3rd party. We were supposed to leave today for Hawaii. We will not be able to go due to my wife's mother having bypass surgery last week. She is still in the ICU.

The 3rd party broker was resistant when I asked they contact the owner to cancel the reservation, saying they would not get their points back anyways. We bought travel insurance for this trip.

If we are a no-show, will I get an email confirming the reservation was cancelled?

 

[HookdonWDW]

It depends on whether the reservation is actually cancelled, or you are deemed a "no show". What does your contract say about cancellations? Sorry to hear about your MIL, and obviously, family comes first, but unfortunately, the only one with an answer to this question is the person who rented the points to you, regardless of any opinions you receive here.

 

[Frederic Civish]

Call your insurance today. Ask them what you need to do. They should work with you.

Most Travel insurances will replace the exact amount of money you lose to “non refundable expenses” IF you fail to travel for COVERED REASONS. Most of the time, Covered Resons includes a medical emergency in a close relative of one of the members of the travel party (usually including medical emergency of a parent, sibling or child).

So, you are probably covered, BUT some insurances require you to contact them right away, at the start of the trip, if you can’t make it. They will tell you what to do. You will, EVENTUALLY need a letter from your mother in laws doctor, explaining who she is, her relationship with your wife, and that she was in the hospital for a significant medical emergency.

You will eventually need to go online, to their website, to file a claim, explain what happened, and then arrange to send them documentation of your PAID flight reservations, your paid DVC reservations, and other non refundable expenses. so start gathering these papers or print outs of your reservation confirmations and keep them in a folder. You will need to send them in, later. The 3rd Party vendor you went through might be able to help you with some of this. Ask the insurance, but I don’t think you need for the DVC people to necessarily cancel. They will probably just need to verify, in one way or another, that you didn’t come. The insurance will advise you.

Should work out. Just keep plugging away at it until you get you refund. In one case for us it took over 6 months, but that was okay.

I have written 3 travel books and I always recommend that people seriously consider Travel Insurance, but especially for the longer, more expensive and more difficult trips. Travel Insurance saves you money in emergencies and reduces stress. Most insurance companies don’t even bat an eye if you submit a claim. It is part of their doing business, and they should have people to help you. But the process can be long and a bit complex, and talking with them sooner, rather than later, can help a bit.

 

[starry_solo]

I would think it wouldn't matter if you were a no-show or if you got an email saying it was cancelled for travel insurance purposes. A no-show is, in effect, a cancellation.

The DVC broker is correct, on the day of check-in, if it was cancelled, no points are returned. It has to be cancelled the day prior. Did you contact the DVC broker when it became evident that you wouldn't be going? If so, the owner would get their points placed into holding, which means they can only make reservations 60-days out. It would also be dependent as to whether the points were previously banked, transferred, borrowed, etc.

 

[DerrickM]

I notified the broker yesterday morning - their reply was the owner's points were lost anyways. I don't believe that is the case.

I already filed the insurance, they want EVIDENCE of the cancellation - that's why I was asking if I would get an email. I did confirm by calling DVC services that the reservation was cancelled yesterday, but I would not get an email notification.

 

[HookdonWDW]

Do you have a contract with the owner? What does it state about cancellations? I can see this from both sides. The insurance company wants an assurance that you haven't been reimbursed/rescheduled by the owner; the owner doesn't want to lost out on the value of the points if there's no time to rent them again, and you don't want to lose out on both the vacation and the funds. Hope this gets resolved satisfactorily.

 

[larissawbb]

We had a similar situation in January of 2016. I had rented points through a third party rental company. It was not Davids! I was hospitalized right before we were supposed to go. My insurance company required a faxed cancellation and statement that I would receive no compensation or credit for future stays with them. The representative from the broker ignored the insurance persons phone calls and faxes. It would have taken her just a couple of minutes to respond. She only emailed me directly that I should have used their point protection plan. I didn’t need it because I had travel insurance! Eventually, I had to call the broker and let them know that their employee wouldn’t respond to my insurance. I had seen she even managed to rent out my canceled reservation. I told them I would go to the better business bureau if they didn’t fax back the rep. They did that day and I had my 5,300 check from the insurance ten days later.

 

[jerseygal]

Very sorry about your MIL, hope that she recovers quickly! Hope that your travel insurance will reimburse you for this covered reason, yes, having travel insurance for trips that are so expensive is essential, imo. You mentioned DVC..it was my understanding that since you are renting points and are not a member, that DVC only will communicates with members. Perhaps you can call Aulani directly and they can be of assistance?

 

[jerseygal]

We had a similar situation in January of 2016. I had rented points through a third party rental company. It was not Davids! I was hospitalized right before we were supposed to go. My insurance company required a faxed cancellation and statement that I would receive no compensation or credit for future stays with them. The representative from the broker ignored the insurance persons phone calls and faxes. It would have taken her just a couple of minutes to respond. She only emailed me directly that I should have used their point protection plan. I didn’t need it because I had travel insurance! Eventually, I had to call the broker and let them know that their employee wouldn’t respond to my insurance. I had seen she even managed to rent out my canceled reservation. I told them I would go to the better business bureau if they didn’t fax back the rep. They did that day and I had my 5,300 check from the insurance ten days later.

Shame that sometimes we have to defer to the Better Business Bureau for people to do their job properly. Not professional!

 

[starry_solo]

I notified the broker yesterday morning - their reply was the owner's points were lost anyways. I don't believe that is the case.

I already filed the insurance, they want EVIDENCE of the cancellation - that's why I was asking if I would get an email. I did confirm by calling DVC services that the reservation was cancelled yesterday, but I would not get an email notification.

You wouldn't get an email notification from DVC. See if the broker will give you a statement.

 

[starry_solo]

Shame that sometimes we have to defer to the Better Business Bureau for people to do their job properly. Not professional!

Of course it's a shame but what did the contract between the parties say...probably nothing about helping them with anything other than getting the reservation.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

If the owner had an October UY, their points could very well be gone, even if they cancelled the reservation. A December UY would also be basically no value to the points.

So I wouldn't assume the broker was wrong about the points being gone either way.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I notified the broker yesterday morning - their reply was the owner's points were lost anyways. I don't believe that is the case.

I already filed the insurance, they want EVIDENCE of the cancellation - that's why I was asking if I would get an email. I did confirm by calling DVC services that the reservation was cancelled yesterday, but I would not get an email notification.

The broker was very wrong if I’m understanding correctly that you let them know a day ahead of your arrival. The points would have been in holding status but the owner would have been refunded all of them.

A cancellation day of arrival technically means all points forfeited but exceptions do get made and would have been worth trying. The one thing I can think of where the broker wouldn’t want to do this is that sometimes things get a little crazy and maybe someone cancels a reservation when others are still expecting it to be valid. So I can’t say It isn’t in their best interest to not cancel, but that is not the reason they gave you.

 

[bumbershoot]

I notified the broker yesterday morning - their reply was the owner's points were lost anyways. I don't believe that is the case.

You're supposed to leave today? Those points are either totally gone if checkin was today, or they have gone into Holding, which means they can only be used for a reservation booked for under 60 days away. I'd consider them gone, since you don't know their UY or situation.

But...it doesn't actually matter for you. It's not your issue.

I already filed the insurance, they want EVIDENCE of the cancellation - that's why I was asking if I would get an email.

Have the broker write the email.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The broker was very wrong if I’m understanding correctly that you let them know a day ahead of your arrival. The points would have been in holding status but the owner would have been refunded all of them.

A cancellation day of arrival technically means all points forfeited but exceptions do get made and would have been worth trying. The one thing I can think of where the broker wouldn’t want to do this is that sometimes things get a little crazy and maybe someone cancels a reservation when others are still expecting it to be valid. So I can’t say It isn’t in their best interest to not cancel, but that is not the reason they gave you.

Depended on when the owner was notified by the broker and if they could cancel the reservation. If the owner wasn't right near a computer or they had one of those reservations that need MS to do anything to it, they might not have been able to cancel before arrival day.

 

[Marionnette]

The broker was very wrong if I’m understanding correctly that you let them know a day ahead of your arrival. The points would have been in holding status but the owner would have been refunded all of them.

A cancellation day of arrival technically means all points forfeited but exceptions do get made and would have been worth trying. The one thing I can think of where the broker wouldn’t want to do this is that sometimes things get a little crazy and maybe someone cancels a reservation when others are still expecting it to be valid. So I can’t say It isn’t in their best interest to not cancel, but that is not the reason they gave you.

All of this is moot because the OP is a renter thru a 3rd party. Pretty much every broker has a "no refunds, no changes" policy. So it really doesn't matter whether the owner stood to lose their points or have them go into holding. They are going to be paid by the broker regardless of the renter's situation. I completely sympathize with the OP. They did everything right to cover their bases. The only issue will be in obtaining proof from the broker that the OP suffered a loss as a result of having to cancel. I suggest reaching out to the broker thru their Facebook page. It's amazing how responsive businesses can be when they are contacted via social media.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

All of this is moot because the OP is a renter thru a 3rd party. Pretty much every broker has a "no refunds, no changes" policy. So it really doesn't matter whether the owner stood to lose their points or have them go into holding. They are going to be paid by the broker regardless of the renter's situation. I completely sympathize with the OP. They did everything right to cover their bases. The only issue will be in obtaining proof from the broker that the OP suffered a loss as a result of having to cancel. I suggest reaching out to the broker thru their Facebook page. It's amazing how responsive businesses can be when they are contacted via social media.

No real reason for the points to just go to waste though. You have to feel it's ok for the owner to have the possibility to rent them again. No, they weren't going to be out anything except a lost opportunity that had now occurred because of that potential due to the cancellation of the trip. And, actually the broker may have lost an opportunity too - to re-rent the points.

OP just needs to get proof for insurance coverage and they are set too.

 

[bumbershoot]

All of this is moot because the OP is a renter thru a 3rd party. Pretty much every broker has a "no refunds, no changes" policy. So it really doesn't matter whether the owner stood to lose their points or have them go into holding.

Yeah...I think the OP was trying to help the owner by cancelling a day before the points went to totally non refundable-to-the-owner.

But, as has happened with me sometimes in different ways, a weird answer caused their mind to focus on that. Kind of derails you for a little bit.


Shouldn’t be any issue for the broker to write an email about the cancellation. Hope not, at least.

 

[Marionnette]

Yeah...I think the OP was trying to help the owner by cancelling a day before the points went to totally non refundable-to-the-owner.

But, as has happened with me sometimes in different ways, a weird answer caused their mind to focus on that. Kind of derails you for a little bit.


Shouldn’t be any issue for the broker to write an email about the cancellation. Hope not, at least.

I look at it more as the broker sticking to their "no cancellations" agreement. The moment that they contact the owner to cancel a reservation, they have breached the contract and the renter would have an argument for getting a refund of their money. I agree that the broker's representative may have been wrong that the owner would lose their points but we don't know what kind of status those points had. The answer should have been simply "we cannot cancel a reservation under any circumstances". And now that the check in day has passed, the broker should be able to send an email to the OP which confirms that they were no-shows and will not be compensated.

 

[DSLRuser]

you are basically a no show for the renter. You paid him, so he has his money...but canceling so close to the vacation doesn't give them enough time to do anything. So...the renter in not required to give you your money back.

Insurance, should be paying you directly to cover for the fact the renter will not be paying you back.

Now, if you did contact the renter.....and he can find a buyer for those points in short notice, or if he can bank them in any way...it actually allows the renter to rent those points twice and get paid twice.