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Anyone use the DVC Rental Store?
- Thread starter Plowboy
- Start date
I'll be staying at AKL Jambo in a couple of weeks for 2 weeks. While I'm not there yet, my experience with Paul has been nothing but POSITIVE! I was def a little hesitant about the whole rental process but so far I'm more upset that I have never done it before! I saved ALMOST $4,000 YES....FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS by renting points for a Deluxe Studio Villa with a standard view. Paul was very very quick with responses to any questions I had and made the process so easy. Like I said, I'm not there yet but I do have a confirmation number, magical express tickets, and I have called Disney many times already to make dining reservations and they ask for your resort confirmation number to confirm you info and EVERYTHING has worked out PERFECT so far. Hope this helps you make your decision!
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We used DVC for the first time. I have to say I'm super bummed. Our daughter is severely immunocompromised and her MD doesn't want us to travel right now. I contacted DVC after contacting Disney.... Disney said, "all we need, is the member who's points you purchased to call us and they can change the date for you." When I reached out to DVC it was a hard "NO" because we didn't purchase the protection plan. The person I was working with actually started talking about the media and "coronavirus" in quotes! As a mother with a small child who is severely immunocompromised, any time something like this happens we reach out to her medical time to get sound advice from professionals. I offered a note from her MD. In the end, we'll lose 4,000$. I contacted our credit card company to see if we have travel insurance and they want me to dispute the charge based on customer service. Our wrist bands and all princess dinner reservations were fully refunded by Disney. So I recommend booking through Disney. It's more expensive but WAY better customer service.
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Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, and that you've had to push back your trip. Unfortunately, the "all sales are final," no-refund-for-cancellations policy is a standard term for all of the DVC rental agencies: they state it repeatedly on their websites and in their written contracts, and they mean it. It's too bad they wouldn't try and work with your situation as a courtesy, though. Hopefully you'll be able to recoup something through your credit card's travel insurance: disputing a credit card charge because of "customer service" in the absence of fraud or error is not a viable grounds to avoid payment, legally-speaking.
My recommendation if you decide to try again in the future would be to purchase travel insurance that covers cancellations for medical reasons, or else rent through an agency or a well-vetted DVC member who can offer you a written contract that includes the right to reschedule if you need it. (Our last rental was directly from a member, and our points rental contract gave us a one-time, penalty-free right to reschedule for any reason, subject of course to any changes in the points/price for the new dates. We didn't exercise it, but it was great to know we had it if we needed it.)
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If you are happy with the service you used, we would LOVE a contact! Especially with the penalty free right to reschedule. Hopefully we won’t need it but it would be nice.
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Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
It wasn't a service, but a particular owner on the MouseOwner's site. I will PM you.
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Ted Daggett
Active Member
I have rented DVC points from David's Vacation Club Rentals five times (BLT,BLT,BLT,OKW,SSR). All five times the process was very easy, and everything went smoothly. We received magic bands and Magical express tickets with no hassle, and once we were on property there was no way of knowing that we were any different than any other WDW guest. One additional perk is that we got to park at the resort for free, since DVC members (and renters from DVC members) are not charged parking.
The one drawback is that "all sales are final", which has been discussed previously. David's has a link to a company that can offer travel insurance, but I never purchased the insurance. I read somewhere that travel insurance does not always apply to a "pandemic". I think the theory is that you are not actually sick, you are just deciding not to go somewhere to avoid getting sick. Therefore if you do get the insurance, you need to make you understand what it is covering.
The one drawback is that "all sales are final", which has been discussed previously. David's has a link to a company that can offer travel insurance, but I never purchased the insurance. I read somewhere that travel insurance does not always apply to a "pandemic". I think the theory is that you are not actually sick, you are just deciding not to go somewhere to avoid getting sick. Therefore if you do get the insurance, you need to make you understand what it is covering.
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Ok, that’s good to know. Do you think DVC rentals will allow me to add someone to the reservation? My sister in law and her husband and their child will be at Disney the same dates but they rented a place about 45 minutes from Disney because it was much less expensive. maybe since I’ve already paid for it in full I can add them to the reservation?
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Ted Daggett
Active Member
On one of the trips for which I rented points, my daughter wanted to bring a friend after we had already secured the rented DVC room. I informed David's, and they had the DVC member who rented the points to me add my daughter's friend to our room. It was a very easy process, HOWEVER, I only added one person, and I was the "main" guest, and I didn't change. You could probably ask the rental company to change the name of the guests, or add additional people (up to the maximum occupancy of the room). Then have your sister in law and family go in your place.
The DVC members that are renting the points need to be guaranteed that the sales are final, or else they would never agree to rent the points. Since often the DVC members points will expire if not sold.
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nickys
Premium Member
The lead name on the reservation can’t be changed. But the other names could be changed or people added up to the capacity of the room. It depends how close the trip is and if the owner Is able to do so.
Technically it doesn’t actually matter if the lead named person never checks in. Just be aware though that everything will be sent to the lead name - magic bands, emails etc. And they will still be the person with the contract.
As @Ted Daggett alluded to, DVC points have a limited “shelf life”. They expire in a year, and although they can be banked once, this has to be done at least 4 months prior to expiration. And if we cancel a reservation within a month of the check-in date the points can only be used for booking in the next two months. And DVC runs at 95% capacity year round, often there are just single days here and there available that close.
The brokers could not feasibly allow changes, because the owner in question may not be able to rebook. They would then not only have to find a new owner but still pay the original owner who already has a contract with the broker.
With a personal rental agreement, the owner knows the status of their points and can allow changes that don’t risk points expiring.
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Hello Wheather_lady Is there a point calculator you can suggest. If I have the dates, room type, and resort I'd like to stay at, I should be able to calculate points. Then I can post on the mouseowners.com page correct?
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Would you recommend using mouseowners.com to rent? That takes out the broker correct?
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David's seems a bit more expensive than mouseowners.com, and because of my daughter autoimmune disorder I think we need to rent from someone that will at least let us reschedule for free one time (in the case she can't travel). Ever use mouseowners.com ?
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nickys
Premium Member
David’s broker site has a calculator. You can use it to display the number of points or the cost at their rate; you can also use it to display the occupancy, which is useful if you need to check if a 1-bed or studio sleeps 4 or 5 and so on.
DVC Cost & Points Calculator | David's Vacation Club Rentals
Easily calculate the dollar amount required for your stay at any one of Disney's deluxe resorts.
dvcrequest.com
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nickys
Premium Member
It does take out the broker. They have a separate Rent Trade Board. Make sure you eat and understand the rules about posting, replying etc. And also the advice about vetting owners. I would try and rent from someone who has a high post count; usefully the post count shown by a user’s name only includes posts on the Main board, which means you can see who’s actually active on the board and who is there just to rent out points.
Be aware everyone will have their own terms for renting. Whether or not they offer you the chance to change will depend on several factors, so check the terms before you accept.
The thing is last minute cancelations result in points being lost, whether that is because they expire or nothing available to book in the remaining time before they expire. No owner will refund your money if they cannot rent those points out again.
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Kiwiduck
Well-Known Member
I contacted the DVC Rental Store about my points rental in May and asked if they would postpone the date of the 2nd payment which is due on April 10th for a few weeks until it was clearer whether or not the parks would be closed for my trip dates or not. They said no, and instead asked whether I would like to add the dining plan to my potentially worthless reservation. The measure of a company is how they deal with their customers in times of crisis and this one has proven themselves to be awful group of people. I will never deal with the DVC Rental Store agin and I wouldn't suggest anyone else does either.
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nickys
Premium Member
They have an owner who has already booked the reservation and needs to be paid for the points. If it’s cancelled now they can only book using those points 60 days ahead until they expire. DVC Rental Store have a contract to pay the owner.
I appreciate it sucks but that is the reality of renting DVC points. And it’s why they recommend taking out insurance when you book. That would also apply if you rented direct from an owner.
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Kiwiduck
Well-Known Member
As I am coming from overseas and needed to take out travel insurance anyway so that I am covered for medical issues while here, I thought that would be sufficient. I didn't think I needed two insurance policies, but it seems I did. Unfortunately my insurance will not cover any cancellations or charges related to the corona virus, although they will cover me if get the coronavirus while I am travelling. If I knew the parks would be open I would just take the risk and come, but things are so uncertain I'm just not sure what I'll do. I just feel so stupid for getting myself in this position and thinking I could get to stay at the Poly. If I'd stayed in my Pop Century lane then things would be fine.
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nickys
Premium Member
I hope this may help some people at least.
David’s Vacation Rentals have issued this on their website:
DVC have been waiving holding and returning borrowed points to their original use year for cancellations.
And David’s are working with renters who wish to cancel. It will take some time, but they are contacting the owners and trying to find a solution agreeable to both parties. With DVC being flexible, it looks hopeful for many renters.
@BeAL, @Kiwiduck, I don’t know what other brokers will do, but you should definitely contact them again. I hope it works out for both of you.
David’s Vacation Rentals have issued this on their website:
DVC have been waiving holding and returning borrowed points to their original use year for cancellations.
And David’s are working with renters who wish to cancel. It will take some time, but they are contacting the owners and trying to find a solution agreeable to both parties. With DVC being flexible, it looks hopeful for many renters.
@BeAL, @Kiwiduck, I don’t know what other brokers will do, but you should definitely contact them again. I hope it works out for both of you.
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