Renting points from a DVC member - what are the advantages or disadvantages?

[Spoisal]

I have the opportunity to possibly rent points from a DVC member (at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge). What are the advantages & disadvantages of doing this - as opposed to renting through CRO? For example, I believe there are some "housekeeping" differences, but I am not sure...

 

[vernon]

Through a points rental you don't get daily housekeeping.

If you don't know the owner personally ( even in some cases if you do LOL) you should try to use an escrow account to pay the money, as otherwise it is possible for you to pay them the money, they cancel your booking and keep your money. Unless you know you can contact them and get the money back you run the risk of being let down.

The advantages of renting points is it saves you money ( IF it all goes smoothly) Personally I wouldn't rent to or from someone I didn't know and trust.

 

[dbkelly]

I understand what Vernon is telling you, but in most cases an escrow account is not set up. It is somewhat understood that a frequent visitor on this board is someone you can trust. If someone got screwed, I am sure it would have been posted immediately on the board and nobody would rent from that person. I have rented points and the renters just send me checks. I would ask the person if they have rented to someone else before and if you could email that person for a reference.

 

[PamOKW]

On a stay of less than 8 days you will get the trash emptied on the 4th day and fresh towels. On a stay of 8 days or more, you get a full cleaning on the 4th day and the towel & trash on the 8th day....this repeats in 4 day cycles for the length of your stay. This tends to not be a problem and, in fact, some people prefer it to housekeeping coming in the unit daily. You can pay for additional cleanings or for additional fresh towels.

With the deep discounts Disney is offering this year, it may or may not be cheaper to rent points.

Sometimes you can get a room sooner through point rental. CRO has restrictions on when they can release rooms. A member has more access to reservations.

You need to work out in advance with the person you are renting from what the cancellation policy will be. Members have restrictions on cancelling and what will happen with their points. It's not just call 5 days ahead.

I know that we are all terrific people on these boards, but when it comes to exchanging large sums of cash I'd want additional reassurance beyond knowing each other from the DIS. There are no safeguards in place to check out who is or is not really a DVC member posting here. Vernon's suggestion is one way to handle it. Others can give suggestions on how they've protected both parties as well.

 

[TrudyZ]

I have to second dbkelly that it is not always necesary to set up an escrow account. I rented twice before I recently bought DVC and never used an escrow account; and I just recently rented out (to five separate renters) the banked points on a contract I just purchased. Again, no escrow used.

Yes, it is not fool-proof. But there are some ways that you can feel more comfortable with it. Email and/or call the renter and speak to them directly--you would be amazed at what your instincts will tell you. When making the reservation, make a 3-way call with Member Services so that the person renting can actually know that the reservation has been made. Members Services has also taken a call from my renter to verify the reservation was in place. Also, I have faxed the confirmation sheet (with the original followed up by mail). I have even overnighted the confirmation sheet (after receiving the payment overnighted also) when the reservation was only a few weeks away.

Again, there are no guarantees, but most of us renting are not professional renters, nor are we running a scam; we just happen to have a some extra points for one reason or another (in my case, the contract I purchased had a boatload of banked points and I had already rented for a fall 2001 trip--so I couldn't use them)and are looking to recoup some of our costs.

You do not recieve regular housekeeping as PamOKW described; but the rental rate can be signifigantly less than reserving thru CRO. It does, however, pay to check with CRO to see what the going rate is so you know just how much of a deal you are getting.

Trudy