Plenty of owners do not scam...but, a place like FB that has little controls in place to vet people, unlike the DIS boards that does, makes it more likely that is where a scammer will go. But, again, not very much a renter can do if the owner they find is one and it is sad that there are owners out there doing it.
Yes, but the comment was made to make it appear that renting from Facebook was wrong from the start. I wanted to point out that not everyone is a scammer on FB and that, with the proper precautions, FB can be a valid and safe place to rent reservations.
I think I asked this earlier in the thread but I dont' think anyone knew the answer/responded. Does anyone know if there is any way to tell the difference between a cash res and a points res in MDE? I thought if you click on the "details" of a cash res it will show you how much was paid, but maybe that's only if you did it in your own name?
Out of curiosity, why? Can't you get a better price using disboards?
I’ve rented out existing reservations on FB that I was planning to use and then changed my mind and stayed home due to Covid. I am allowed to rent reservations on the DIS but only one reservation within 30 days of the reservation date for free. I wanted to rent out the reservation as soon as I decided I wasn’t going to go and I did not want to wait until 30 days beforehand to rent it on the DIS. Also if I‘m not able to sell the reservation and I have to cancel, the points would do into holding which makes them much harder to use. I could purchase a Platinum or Premium rental plan which would allow me to rent reservations outside the 30 day window, but it would cost me an additional $125/$250. It would certainly be worth it if I were a high volume renter, but I’m not. I’m a 0-2 time a year renter who goes a long time not renting at all.
I just want to say that I am so sorry that happened to you and anyone else. It’s awful how people can do something so deceitful.I was scammed, along with about 20 other families, by a man on Facebook renting DVC Vacation Points. So far there's about 3000 points that have been 'rented' out and none of us have valid reservations or stays. Many are upcoming and he's refusing to refund now that the jig is up.
I don't know if I can name and shame here but I want to know if there's anything I can do? Also if DVC has anyone that I can report him to? Maybe they won't care but I'd like to hope they would.
He's refusing refunds and of course demanded payment over Apple Pay/PayPal so we are fighting with our banks in hopes they take up the case.
Of course the sucky part is that we're all now left without reservationsI'm hopeful I can make something happen for our group but I'm just so sad.
Anyway, any helpful ideas would be very welcome on what to do now. THANK YOU!
Did he actually have the audacity to contact you--I ask because you reference "is NOT happy" or was he ambushed by your local news station? I have been following along with your saga and hope that you get some restitution! Ignore those roasting you--you did nothing wrong!
That is awesome it is being picked up to put more pressure on him. And you said YOU are getting roasted? That is pitiful. He ripped you off, not the other way around.
For those who know what they are doing, yes. But for those like the person in the story (who sounds a lot like the OP) who are new to renting DVC points, it can be confusing. They did the due diligence of checking references and still got ripped off. Heck, even if the scammer made the reservation and linked it to the renters MDE the scam could have still happened. The scammer could have cancelled the reservation after receiving payment. The biggest risk or renting points is trust, because at the end of the day the owner controls the reservation and can cancel it after payment. There is really no way to eliminate that risk.
I have an upcoming points reservation & it shows the following in MDE:
I just saw this exact story on our local CLE news as well. Such a terrible situation for all of those family this guy stole from!
I hope some good comes out if this for the families who were robbed.
I hope he gets some kind of punishment for this! I know DVC & the parks are supposed to be separate and don’t typically become embroiled in these instances but, it would be great to see everyone get their $ back and see him get banned from the parks.
The thriving DVC rental market reduces demand for Disney’s cash inventory, a big reason people opt to pay more to Disney is for the security a cash booking provides v. a private rental from a stranger. Thus any publicity that highlights the risks of private rentals is actually good for Disney because it educates potential renters that a private DVC rental has nothing to do w/ Disney & if you want a secure/safe reservation opt to pay a few dollars more & make a cash reservation with Disney.
One of the other victims told him about it to see what his reaction would be and he was very angry and claims the police and lawyers are after me.
