Does David's tell you if the renter cancels?

[Amymouse13]

So we are supposed to take our 2 and 3.5 year old for their first Disney trip April 18 for 8 nights. I contacted David's multiple times this week to find out options but keep getting some form email about trying to with owners and dealing with March bookings. Obviously I know the names on the contracts, but I have zero idea if they have contacted the owners and what their situation is. We are open to rebooking, preferably 180+ out. We already have tickets fast passes, character meals and princess dresses. My 3 year old wanted to read the your magical vacation starts right now x family. I couldn't read it. I understand they are likely inundated with phone calls but days have gone by... What gives David? Should we hope and pray Disney reopens April 18? Honestly I don't see it. We can't get refund on park tickets, we have dining plan, and 8 nights contemporary/akl. From what I've read, seems Disney has auto deposited points back to folks for reservations in March. So if you took money and got the points back, what did you sell? If one could presume the intended rental contract included visiting the parks, did the terms of contract change? Honestly it's a huge mess. I'd like to think we can rebook and go. Btw lots of trip insurance says no pandemic clause.

 

[purplenancy27]

It is not assumed that a resort stay automatically = parks. There are lots of people who do resort vacations.

 

[starry_solo]

So we are supposed to take our 2 and 3.5 year old for their first Disney trip April 18 for 8 nights. I contacted David's multiple times this week to find out options but keep getting some form email about trying to with owners and dealing with March bookings. Obviously I know the names on the contracts, but I have zero idea if they have contacted the owners and what their situation is. We are open to rebooking, preferably 180+ out. We already have tickets fast passes, character meals and princess dresses. My 3 year old wanted to read the your magical vacation starts right now x family. I couldn't read it. I understand they are likely inundated with phone calls but days have gone by... What gives David? Should we hope and pray Disney reopens April 18? Honestly I don't see it. We can't get refund on park tickets, we have dining plan, and 8 nights contemporary/akl. From what I've read, seems Disney has auto deposited points back to folks for reservations in March. So if you took money and got the points back, what did you sell? If one could presume the intended rental contract included visiting the parks, did the terms of contract change? Honestly it's a huge mess. I'd like to think we can rebook and go. Btw lots of trip insurance says no pandemic clause.

so there may be some issue...

what points the owner used to make your reservation- current use year or points that were banked from prior use year
when do those points expire?

Disney is only making exceptions to returning points to current Use year and allowing people to bank points past the deadline.

so if the points used were banked from last year and expire soon, there might not be help for you from the owner.

obviously David’s is trying to help all their customers but unless the owners who rented their points are willing or able to help is a different question.

also, prior poster is correct that some people do resort only reservations.

 

[Sandisw]

I think this entire situation with renters really is bringing out how different a DVC reservation is from a cash reservation.

I cant imagine how difficult it has been for brokers, dealing with upset renters and owners who may not be able to help

 

[Amymouse13]

My point is more, I'm frustrated by not knowing anything... I don't even know if David's has contacted the owners and if I have any options. I still think they resorts will close. The entire point of social distancing. Virginia just banned gatherings over 100 people. Dod banned domestic travel. I'm not asking the owner to lose money, but what are my options? Wonder what Disney will do for dvc folks if they close lodging.

 

[Sandisw]

My point is more, I'm frustrated by not knowing anything... I don't even know if David's has contacted the owners and if I have any options. I still think they resorts will close. The entire point of social distancing. Virginia just banned gatherings over 100 people. Dod banned domestic travel. I'm not asking the owner to lose money, but what are my options? Wonder what Disney will do for dvc folks if they close lodging.

I understand your frustration but I am sure they are trying to work with owners who booked reservations for renters in March.

In terms of DVC resorts, it’s not a Disney that is responsible, it’s the owners of those resorts that are responsible for what would happen

For example, if there is hurricane damage and a DVC resort closes and there are extra costs, dues for owners at those resorts go up in a special assessment to cover it.

If the DVC resorts close, DVC owners reservations will be canceled and points returned To the account, but thst doesn’t mean those points will be usable again.

If owners used banked points, those would expire at the end of the members UY, which for some is March 31st. That means the owners lose out completely.

It is really much more complicated than just getting the points back and all of a sudden the owner can just rebook those points whenever they want,

 

[Disneykate605]

We rented out points thru David's. Our renters are due to check in tomorrow. I reached out to David's yesterday to ask if there was anything I could do. They said they had not been contacted by the renter but would reach out to them and get back to me but I did not hear from them today. I called again today but unfortunately it was right after they closed.
The points I used are borrowed 2020 points. We have an April UY so they will expire on March 31st. If they wanted to cancel I would have called Disney to see if anything could have been done. If they wanted to cancel and Disney wouldn't do anything we were willing to refund them back 1/2 the money and would have kept the other 1/2 to cover membership fees.
I'm hoping they are still going since I haven't heard from them. I would hate for them to lose money!
Hopefully this mess clears up soon!!

 

[wuzzles]

The points I used are borrowed 2020 points. We have an April UY so they will expire on March 31st. If they wanted to cancel I would have called Disney to see if anything could have been done.

From my conversations with Disney earlier today I believe if the points were borrowed they would put them back into your 2020 UY.
They couldn't do anything with my points because I used banked points.

Hopefully you will hear back from them tomorrow early enough to do something. I found the wait time to be only a few minutes when calling into David's.

 

[meryll83]

We’re due to travel from the UK next month and have asked David’s about reaching out to our owner if we’d like to try and rearrange.

They’re recommending we cancel and claim on our insurance as “We usually recommend insurance claims first if you have insurance as the re-rental process will include a restocking fee so you would not receive a full refund.”

Not quite sure what this means, or how much we’re talking - anyone have any experience of this yet?

 

[Sandisw]

We’re due to travel from the UK next month and have asked David’s about reaching out to our owner if we’d like to try and rearrange.

They’re recommending we cancel and claim on our insurance as “We usually recommend insurance claims first if you have insurance as the re-rental process will include a restocking fee so you would not receive a full refund.”

Not quite sure what this means, or how much we’re talking - anyone have any experience of this yet?

In your case, it may be because you have a valid claim for not going...the travel ban. So insurance might be your best option.

 

[Sandisw]

We rented out points thru David's. Our renters are due to check in tomorrow. I reached out to David's yesterday to ask if there was anything I could do. They said they had not been contacted by the renter but would reach out to them and get back to me but I did not hear from them today. I called again today but unfortunately it was right after they closed.
The points I used are borrowed 2020 points. We have an April UY so they will expire on March 31st. If they wanted to cancel I would have called Disney to see if anything could have been done. If they wanted to cancel and Disney wouldn't do anything we were willing to refund them back 1/2 the money and would have kept the other 1/2 to cover membership fees.
I'm hoping they are still going since I haven't heard from them. I would hate for them to lose money!
Hopefully this mess clears up soon!!

Keep us posted as to what happens. I am curious if the renters don’t show up today if they return your points like they are doing on the cash side

 

[dclpluto]

I think this entire situation with renters really is bringing out how different a DVC reservation is from a cash reservation.

I cant imagine how difficult it has been for brokers, dealing with upset renters and owners who may not be able to help

I’m thinking David’s and lots other places like his is going to be hit hard. Probably have to lay off some workers. If I was a renter there is no way now that I would rent. Even if this gets better in a few months who knows if it will come back strong again someday. David’s recently now is charging more. Not more money for him but the owners. How much are you saving at 19 dollars a point than you better get insurance. I know you save money but will it be worth it, in the future? To some yes but lots no. You will be worried now as a renter even in years to come. Pay more and no worries or rent and have worries.

 

[dclpluto]

I have think it’s 8 contracts with David’s. Haven’t heard anything from David about this. One of the contracts is later this month. About 7k the renters spent with my cut and David’s. Just for the one later this month. Hopefully I hear from David s so I can move the booking . Not allowed to contact the renters directly and vice versa.
If your a renter call David and keep calling. Email whatever it takes. Most owners want to do what is right if they can.
I’m sure David wants to do what is right also.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Now, every time there is a comment or article recommending renting points, there is going to be someone commenting back because they feel they got burned because of this.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

Now, every time there is a comment or article recommending renting points, there is going to be someone commenting back because they feel they got burned because of this.

I kind of wondered about this. I think the negative reviews of renting have been few and far between over the years. But there is most definitely going to be a spike in reviews that say " I rented during CoronaVirus and couldn't go on the trip and got zero refund". Honestly, I don't blame the people who rented, who get zero refund, for being angry. But I also can't blame owners whose refunded points would be lost or expire in the short term. Many cases are tough and no one really wins.

I know that the contracts are a concrete NO REFUNDS....but I applaud all the owners who are attempting to work with affected renters to salvage their vacations in the future.

 

[McCrae]

The lesson for everyone is to take out insurance for all vacations. You never know what can happen. A critical illness, death of a loved, freak weather or a once in a generation pandemic can all occur. If you don’t be prepared to lose everything. Not insuring is a gamble.

 

[dclpluto]

The lesson for everyone is to take out insurance for all vacations. You never know what can happen. A critical illness, death of a loved, freak weather or a once in a generation pandemic can all occur. If you don’t be prepared to lose everything. Not insuring is a gamble.

I don’t know but I’m guessing most insurance people get won’t handle this pandemic.They do have a cancel for any reason insurance. That is about 40 percent higher that I heard from a you tuber that is a travel agent. I’m guessing that 40 percent higher is going to go way up because of this.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

We are insured and are hoping that will cover our rental. We are Canadian and travel outside Canada has been recommended against, as well as Canadians who are currently outside the country are being told to come home. Our insurance does cover pandemics (thank goodness), so I am hoping that all we are out in this entire mess is the actual trip, but not money. We have contacted David's but have not heard back since they asked if I would like them to contact our owner.

It would have to be extraordinary circumstances for us to rent points again. A ridiculously good deal that wouldn't hurt to lose or something. We did everything right, but it is still a very complicated situation and I would love to just be able to press the "cancel" button like those with direct through Disney reservations. Unlike Disney in general where the online "complainers" are a small portion of the actual clientele, I would imagine DVC rentals skew much heavier towards having some sort of online presence in the Disney community. If not handled well, this could hit the DVC rental market hard, both on the demand and supply end.

Obviously as a renter I feel for those of us in this situation, but I feel for the owners as well, and the rental companies. I think it's safe to say nobody expected THIS kind of scenario when renting points or renting out their points.

 

[Sandisw]

We are insured and are hoping that will cover our rental. We are Canadian and travel outside Canada has been recommended against, as well as Canadians who are currently outside the country are being told to come home. Our insurance does cover pandemics (thank goodness), so I am hoping that all we are out in this entire mess is the actual trip, but not money. We have contacted David's but have not heard back since they asked if I would like them to contact our owner.

It would have to be extraordinary circumstances for us to rent points again. A ridiculously good deal that wouldn't hurt to lose or something. We did everything right, but it is still a very complicated situation and I would love to just be able to press the "cancel" button like those with direct through Disney reservations. Unlike Disney in general where the online "complainers" are a small portion of the actual clientele, I would imagine DVC rentals skew much heavier towards having some sort of online presence in the Disney community. If not handled well, this could hit the DVC rental market hard, both on the demand and supply end.

Obviously as a renter I feel for those of us in this situation, but I feel for the owners as well, and the rental companies. I think it's safe to say nobody expected THIS kind of scenario when renting points or renting out their points.

Glad to hear that you have insurance that will cover this! That has to be a big relief, along with frustration and disappointment.

 

[tjkraz]

Now, every time there is a comment or article recommending renting points, there is going to be someone commenting back because they feel they got burned because of this.

And I think that's fair. The entire DVC rental marketplace is going to be reevaluated based on what happens in the coming weeks. Owners have a right to say "we told you no cancellations and this is no different." But prospective renters--whether they were harmed or not--have also have a right to spend the next decade pointing out that "if something like Coronavirus comes up again, you could lose everything with no help from the owner."

For years point renting has been viewed as having some modest amount of risk, but stories of actual harm to renters were few and far between. Maybe this will encourage people to look more closely at insurance (though I'm not sure how much insurance would have helped here.)

This is a potential game changer, and will live in the minds of everyone for years to come. Not sure what the long term fallout will be.