How can I be sure the unit I rent will be there for me?

I want to rent a week in Maui for my son for his honeymoon but I am concerned about the risk. I have previously purchased two one week units for NYC by listing an ad on redweek. A timeshare company with rentals and resales responded. Since they had a website and appeared to be legitimate I purchased these two weeks. I confirmed that they were in my name shortly after getting them but then 6 months later I decided to reconfirm before we left for NYC and found there were no longer any reservations. Apparently the reservations I purchased were guest weeks from RCI which are not to be sold. The person that sold them to the company had been warned not to continue the practice by RCI so they canceled his guest weeks (my reservation) they notified him but since he had been paid he never told the company he sold them to. RCI was able to get us two units at the same place but one was only a studio not the two one bedrooms. We were so happy that it worked out that we still had a place but I am concerned about sending two honeymooners off with a week that might not be there when they got there. Is there anyway to safeguard this from happening? I am sure most people selling are honest but how can we be protected from those that aren't?

anneb33 asks, quoted in pertinent part: >> I am sure most people selling are honest but how can we be protected from those that aren't? <<

Ask to see a copy of the current deed and/or a copy of a current maintenance fee bill. If the advertiser can't (or won't) provide this info, they probably don't even own the week in the first place. If that's the case, move on ---quickly.

Once you have the owners' name and address, you can (and you should) call the resort directly yourself to confirm that "Joe Schmoe" is indeed the owner in their records for that particular unit / week. Don't reverse the order of the above recommended steps, as a competent resort will NOT actually RELEASE or provide you with ANY owner information (in the interest of privacy protection). However, if you already have the owner information in hand yourself and are just calling the resort to CONFIRM the info which you ALREADY have, the resort will likely cooperate fully.

P.S. Never rent without executing a formal rental agreement. You can also use an escrow service as "middleman" (it will cost about $100), ensuring that the owner does not even get paid until / unless the rental is executed as agreed and advertised. However, even a completely honest owner could (justifiably and understandably) balk at not getting paid until weeks after the rental has actually been completed.

anneb33 wrote:

I want to rent a week in Maui for my son for his honeymoon but I am concerned about the risk. I have previously purchased two one week units for NYC by listing an ad on redweek. A timeshare company with rentals and resales responded. Since they had a website and appeared to be legitimate I purchased these two weeks. I confirmed that they were in my name shortly after getting them but then 6 months later I decided to reconfirm before we left for NYC and found there were no longer any reservations. Apparently the reservations I purchased were guest weeks from RCI which are not to be sold. The person that sold them to the company had been warned not to continue the practice by RCI so they canceled his guest weeks (my reservation) they notified him but since he had been paid he never told the company he sold them to. RCI was able to get us two units at the same place but one was only a studio not the two one bedrooms. We were so happy that it worked out that we still had a place but I am concerned about sending two honeymooners off with a week that might not be there when they got there. Is there anyway to safeguard this from happening? I am sure most people selling are honest but how can we be protected from those that aren't?

Thank you very much for posting this scenario concerning your NYC rental. This just goes to show what will happen if RCI catches a member RENTING AN EXCHANGE. Not only does it negatively impact that RCI member/exchanger but the renter as well since the reservation was deleted when the exchanger was caught.

Many people think they can get away with renting exchanges, but sooner or later they will get caught. I give RCI kudos for coming to your rescue, but I wonder if they terminated his/her RCI membership for renting exchanges and especially for not informing you of the situation and refunding your money.

Follow Ken's advice above by having the Maui owner show proof of ownership and definitely go with a rental agreement (you can find one here by accessing the seach feature and entering 'rental agreement').

I know liability is a big issues these days, but is there a way to name the companies engaged in these practices. I too, rented from a source advertised on Redweek. When I arrived at the resort they had no knowledge of my reservations. After a day delay they "discovered" a faxed RCI exchangeand placed me in an efficiency.I had paid the so-called agent on Redweek for a 2 bedroom. The agent promised a refund by personal check of $100 on my rental, but its been over a month and I have heard nothing. This company should be prevented from listing on Redweek, because I am now reluctant to ever rent again on this site.

toms196 wrote:

I know liability is a big issues these days, but is there a way to name the companies engaged in these practices. I too, rented from a source advertised on Redweek. When I arrived at the resort they had no knowledge of my reservations. After a day delay they "discovered" a faxed RCI exchangeand placed me in an efficiency.I had paid the so-called agent on Redweek for a 2 bedroom. The agent promised a refund by personal check of $100 on my rental, but its been over a month and I have heard nothing. This company should be prevented from listing on Redweek, because I am now reluctant to ever rent again on this site.

RCI exchanges being inappropriately rented out seems to occur at least as often (maybe even more so) with private individuals (on ANY timeshare site, not just RedWeek) as with commercial companies / agencies.

With all due respect, If you're not even willing to name the company that deceived you, you are not in any way helping others to avoid the same predicament. Your identity is not known by ANYONE in these forums. It serves no useful purpose at all to complain about a company if you're not even willing to step up and actually identify them by name. If YOU are the one who got burned, then YOU are the one who needs to openly identify the company, not someone else who was not even affected. Liability is not a legitimate issue or concern --- unless your report is false or inaccurate.

anneb33 wrote:

I want to rent a week in Maui for my son for his honeymoon but I am concerned about the risk. I have previously purchased two one week units for NYC by listing an ad on redweek. A timeshare company with rentals and resales responded. Since they had a website and appeared to be legitimate I purchased these two weeks. I confirmed that they were in my name shortly after getting them but then 6 months later I decided to reconfirm before we left for NYC and found there were no longer any reservations. Apparently the reservations I purchased were guest weeks from RCI which are not to be sold. The person that sold them to the company had been warned not to continue the practice by RCI so they canceled his guest weeks (my reservation) they notified him but since he had been paid he never told the company he sold them to. RCI was able to get us two units at the same place but one was only a studio not the two one bedrooms. We were so happy that it worked out that we still had a place but I am concerned about sending two honeymooners off with a week that might not be there when they got there. Is there anyway to safeguard this from happening? I am sure most people selling are honest but how can we be protected from those that aren't?

Please be sure to email support@redweek.com about your complaint so that we can look into it. If an escrow company was not used there may not be much, if anything, we can do to help but we can put notes on the owner's account for future reference.

Thank you, Marty

The few times I rented my unit, I first contacted my resort and gave them permission to acknowledge my ownership to the potential renter. Then I recommended the renter verify my ownership with the resort.

mike1536 wrote:

The few times I rented my unit, I first contacted my resort and gave them permission to acknowledge my ownership to the potential renter. Then I recommended the renter verify my ownership with the resort.

Mike wouldn't just sending them a copy or fax of your unit confirmation take care of all these proof problems?

I see that my confirmation for 2008,2009 and my Tower unit for Presidents week 2010 all state under confirmation notes owners week and my acct number at my resort! PHIL

phill12 wrote:

mike1536 wrote:

The few times I rented my unit, I first contacted my resort and gave them permission to acknowledge my ownership to the potential renter. Then I recommended the renter verify my ownership with the resort.

Mike wouldn't just sending them a copy or fax of your unit confirmation take care of all these proof problems?

I see that my confirmation for 2008,2009 and my Tower unit for Presidents week 2010 all state under confirmation notes owners week and my acct number at my resort! PHIL

Logistics are a bit tricky. Since I hate to book a week (especially if it is not a prime week) only to have the owner back out, so if the week requested is available, I ask for a deposit, then book the week and send a copy of the confirmation. Calling the resort prior to sending a deposit gives the renter a chance to confirm ownership, availability, unit specifics, etc.

My resort is small and has a very pleasant and accommodating staff. With all the "scamming stories" floating around the internet, I try to make the renters feel at ease as best I can. Mike

mike1536 wrote:

phill12 wrote:

mike1536 wrote:

The few times I rented my unit, I first contacted my resort and gave them permission to acknowledge my ownership to the potential renter. Then I recommended the renter verify my ownership with the resort.

Mike wouldn't just sending them a copy or fax of your unit confirmation take care of all these proof problems?

I see that my confirmation for 2008,2009 and my Tower unit for Presidents week 2010 all state under confirmation notes owners week and my acct number at my resort! PHIL

================ Probably, but since I have a floating week, I don't get a confirmation until I book the week. At best I could send them a copy of the bill for my maintenance fee.

Logistics are a bit tricky. Since I hate to book a week (especially if it is not a prime week) only to have the owner back out, so if the week requested is available, I ask for a deposit, then book the week and send a copy of the confirmation. Calling the resort prior to sending a deposit gives the renter a chance to confirm ownership, availability, unit specifics, etc.

My resort is small and has a very pleasant and accommodating staff. With all the "scamming stories" floating around the internet, I try to make the renters feel at ease as best I can. Mike

I see where your coming from and we also own floating time. The difference is we book July 4th week most years because we love going to Lake Tahoe for the fireworks show on the lake.

We already have 2008 and 2009 for this week and we have already booked FEB 13-20,2010 for our Tower unit.

If we trade one of these weeks we have great week or if we try and rent we have great week.

The bottom line for us is we always pick weeks we want to go to our resort so if renting didn't work we have our vacation.

This is why for years I have told people to buy where you love going on vacation and this way you always have something to fall back on.

Last year for the first time we tried Redweek ( Wasted time and money) and didn't get one hit and at we pulled it and used it .

I always wonder about your way of doing things if you don't book and just advertise your resort. Middle of the year and your telling people you can not get weeks they want because owners take the good weeks early.

I see some ads on here for our resort by same person all the time and his ad says he can get any week in our buildings and this isn't always true. First the good weeks probably gone and second if he did get a week it would be one of the worse units left over like floor one in the Naegles. Thats the only floor you need to walk down wooden stairs to get to your unit and carry all your things. All other floors you load onto a cart and just wheel your things into your unit.

We already know we have building 10 floor 6 non-smoking and room number.

phill12 wrote:

mike1536 wrote:

phill12 wrote:

mike1536 wrote:

The few times I rented my unit, I first contacted my resort and gave them permission to acknowledge my ownership to the potential renter. Then I recommended the renter verify my ownership with the resort.

Mike wouldn't just sending them a copy or fax of your unit confirmation take care of all these proof problems?

I see that my confirmation for 2008,2009 and my Tower unit for Presidents week 2010 all state under confirmation notes owners week and my acct number at my resort! PHIL

================ Probably, but since I have a floating week, I don't get a confirmation until I book the week. At best I could send them a copy of the bill for my maintenance fee.

Logistics are a bit tricky. Since I hate to book a week (especially if it is not a prime week) only to have the owner back out, so if the week requested is available, I ask for a deposit, then book the week and send a copy of the confirmation. Calling the resort prior to sending a deposit gives the renter a chance to confirm ownership, availability, unit specifics, etc.

My resort is small and has a very pleasant and accommodating staff. With all the "scamming stories" floating around the internet, I try to make the renters feel at ease as best I can. Mike

I see where your coming from and we also own floating time. The difference is we book July 4th week most years because we love going to Lake Tahoe for the fireworks show on the lake.

We already have 2008 and 2009 for this week and we have already booked FEB 13-20,2010 for our Tower unit.

If we trade one of these weeks we have great week or if we try and rent we have great week.

The bottom line for us is we always pick weeks we want to go to our resort so if renting didn't work we have our vacation.

This is why for years I have told people to buy where you love going on vacation and this way you always have something to fall back on.

Last year for the first time we tried Redweek ( Wasted time and money) and didn't get one hit and at we pulled it and used it .

I always wonder about your way of doing things if you don't book and just advertise your resort. Middle of the year and your telling people you can not get weeks they want because owners take the good weeks early.

I see some ads on here for our resort by same person all the time and his ad says he can get any week in our buildings and this isn't always true. First the good weeks probably gone and second if he did get a week it would be one of the worse units left over like floor one in the Naegles. Thats the only floor you need to walk down wooden stairs to get to your unit and carry all your things. All other floors you load onto a cart and just wheel your things into your unit.

We already know we have building 10 floor 6 non-smoking and room number.

Depending on how far in advance they contact me, I can usually change the week. If that week is no longer available, I'll change my ad accordingly.

My resort has its own rental program, but I'd rather take the chances on my own. If they rented my unit and the renter cancels one week prior to check-in, HE gets a refund, and I'm left with the unit.

I've had fair success with RedWeek ads. I've also rented through vacationtimesharerentals.com Mike

toms196 wrote:

I know liability is a big issues these days, but is there a way to name the companies engaged in these practices. I too, rented from a source advertised on Redweek. When I arrived at the resort they had no knowledge of my reservations. After a day delay they "discovered" a faxed RCI exchangeand placed me in an efficiency.I had paid the so-called agent on Redweek for a 2 bedroom. The agent promised a refund by personal check of $100 on my rental, but its been over a month and I have heard nothing. This company should be prevented from listing on Redweek, because I am now reluctant to ever rent again on this site.

TO: toms196, I think the vast majority of folks on redweek are abiding by the rules. I want my renters to be happy with their units and their vacation. I ALWAYS send a written confirmation from my resort and/or a signed copy of a usage/rental agreement for users to present upon check-in. I also give phone numbers so they can check with the resort themselves, if desired for details and to confirm. I dread things getting mixed up for vacationers, but things do happen. Of course, we shoot for the best, because happy renters may return. I'm not sure, but maybe some of my suggestions could help in the future. Best of luck planning your future vacations. Deb

This is my fist time renting with redweek. Can someone explain the process to me, exactly what is involved, as I will be traveling with 8 people across US into Mexico? How do I know the person with the floating week can give me their week/rental?

Thanks........

krystynab3 wrote:

This is my fist time renting with redweek. Can someone explain the process to me, exactly what is involved, as I will be traveling with 8 people across US into Mexico? How do I know the person with the floating week can give me their week/rental?

Thanks........

The owner of the floating week will have to check with the resort to see if the week you desire is available.

If it is then search for "rental contracts" here in the forums (right hand corner of this page) and make sure a contract is used.

After the owner has filled out the contract and you have both signed then have the owner of the floating week send you confirmation from the resort that the rental is in your name.

Also, you say you will be traveling with 8 people. You need to make sure that any unit you rent has a capacity for 9 people unless you are looking for more than one rental.