Should I be concerned with this Redweek Rental

[chickenfoot]

I sent an email request to rent a Marriott Kauai lagoons timeshare on Redweek and the last name on the listed contact was "Disney". Received a reply from a woman with different last name agreeing to rental along with a Marriott confirmation number. With a note it may take a day or two to confirm. Then I received a PayPal request from a 3rd person, Sean Vacations LLC. I paid through pay pal then I receive a Pay Pal text message asking if the payment was suspicious. Has anybody worked with Sean Vacations. I'm concerned now because of the three different contact names

 

[DeniseM]

You should absolutely be concerned - you should never pay upfront without verifying the reservation.

And I would be concerned about the Paypal text messages as well - they are contacting you because they feel that something is not right with the transaction.

How to confirm that a rental is Legit:
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109479

***I would get on the phone to Paypal and Redweek right now, and tell them you are worried that you have been scammed. Call Paypal first - if they do not assure you that the seller is a reputable and long-term Paypal member, you should dispute the payment.

 

[MOXJO7282]

To have an ad on Redweek.com you do need to provide a credit card and personal information so it's likely OK but I guess anything is possible.

 

[DeniseM]

To have an ad on Redweek.com you do need to provide a credit card and personal information so it's likely OK but I guess anything is possible.

Redweek and TUG are both "safer" rental venues because of this, but the scammers get more brazen all the time, and you still have to do your due diligence no matter where you rent.

There are too many red flags in this rental to ignore, and if the OP waits too long, she won't be able to get her money back.

 

[TUGBrian]

credit cards are stolen every day...or opened in other peoples names.

one should always verify a rental before sending any money, "assuming" puts all of the risk on you.

 

[chickenfoot]

I'm on phone with Kauai Marriott Lagoons. I explained my situation and they asked the names of the two people I'm dealing with. They told me neither person has a reservation at the hotel for 9/17/2016

 

[chickenfoot]

I was given a reservation number and it is a legitimate number for check in on my date, just not in my name. The hotel advised it was booked through Interval International. If it's not in my name by early morning I'll call PayPal and my credit card company

 

[TUGBrian]

note that renting of II exchanges is expressly forbidden under their rules.

 

[theo]

note that renting of II exchanges is expressly forbidden under their rules.

Yup, it could well be that someone (contrary to II terms and conditions, as already noted) obtained an exchange and is now attempting to rent it out for profit.
It certainly wouldn't be the first (or last) time that someone tries to make a few bucks by inappropriately renting out a week obtained by RCI or II "exchange" --- although that act (clearly prohibited by both II and RCI) still doesn't explain just how / where "Sean Vacations LLC" enters / fits into the picture as an involved party.

The last "contact" name of the RedWeek member may well not be their actual last name, since RW members (just as here on TUG) choose their own RW user name, which (for initial privacy protection) certainly need not reflect their actual last name; I know that my own actual last name is not my user contact name on RW (by my deliberate choice). There is no need for any identity revelation / verification until matters get down to the brass tacks of "money on the table" (or at stake), IMnsHO.
Again though, it's entirely unclear (...to me, anyhow) just where or how (or why) "Sean Vacations LLC" also somehow enters / fits into this picture.

In any case, submitting full payment for a rental before verification of reservation legitimacy is both profoundly unwise and very premature --- at best. In any scenario, if the reservation was made by II, as indicated by the resort, then this is seemingly an "exchange" situation, in which case it is not appropriate for that reservation to be subsequently offered out for rent in any scenario that I can envision --- with or without the additional, unexplained involvement of "Sean Vacations LLC".

Personally, I'd run (...not just walk) away from this questionable "rental" while the money involved is presumably still retrievable. Much too shaky for my liking. YMMV.

 

[DeniseM]

I was given a reservation number and it is a legitimate number for check in on my date, just not in my name. The hotel advised it was booked through Interval International. If it's not in my name by early morning I'll call PayPal and my credit card company

chickenfoot - did you read the info. I posted above?

--->>> http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109479

The very first item says:

First step - ALWAYS ask if they are renting an exchange. RCI* and II do not allow exchanges to be rented, and if you get caught, you can lose the rental and your $$$. You can tell if it is an exchange, when they send you a copy of their confirmation, because it will be a confirmation from the exchange company, not directly from the resort.

You have to do your due diligence before you send any money.

 

[SueDonJ]

I was given a reservation number and it is a legitimate number for check in on my date, just not in my name. The hotel advised it was booked through Interval International. If it's not in my name by early morning I'll call PayPal and my credit card company

I'll add to the warnings that the II rules prohibit rentals of exchanges/Getaways. Many people have done it with absolutely no repercussions, but there have been a few reports to TUG that when II learned about rentals of their inventory they suspended the members' accounts and cancelled confirmed reservations. I'm not saying it will definitely happen with this particular reservation but your phone calls/questions may have already caused it to be flagged. This is more risk than I'd be willing to accept, that's for sure.

 

[chickenfoot]

Thank you for the valuable advice. I called Marriott this morning and the reservation was in my name but I was informed there was some type of hold on the account and the reservation clerk stated she needed to speak to her manager and would call me back.

I contacted Sean of Sean Vacations LLC and told him I was made aware by Marriott this was an exchange and it was contrary to II rules to re-sale it. He promptly refunded my money through PayPal

 

[DeniseM]

So glad that you go out of it - I know you are probably nervous about doing private rentals now, but if you check everything upfront, they are really quite safe.

How to verify that your rental is Legit:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109479

***ALSO - you should report them to Redweek. Even if this wasn't an exchange, their procedures are really quite questionable, and unprofessional.

 

[chickenfoot]

Thanks Denise. I will advise Redweek. Both Marriott and Sean confirmed it was an exchange. He said he wasn't aware of II's rules but did confirm he could not rent it to me. Thus he cancelled the PayPal transaction. Also, I think my call last night to Marriott flagged it in the system as noted by another poster.

 

[theo]

I'm glad that you were able to get the premature rental payment refunded, but I still fail to grasp how or why or when "Seans Vacations" became involved in the matter at all in the first place. Your initial contact seems to have been with the advertiser on RedWeek (a woman, if I understood your posts correctly --- who presumably is the person who obtained the week as an "exchange" from II).

 

[TUGBrian]

He said he wasn't aware of II's rules

riiiiiiight

 

[Saintsfanfl]

I'll add to the warnings that the II rules prohibit rentals of exchanges/Getaways. Many people have done it with absolutely no repercussions, but there have been a few reports to TUG that when II learned about rentals of their inventory they suspended the members' accounts and cancelled confirmed reservations. I'm not saying it will definitely happen with this particular reservation but your phone calls/questions may have already caused it to be flagged. This is more risk than I'd be willing to accept, that's for sure.

Agreed and the main problem and higher than normal risk with this situation is it is a business renting it out. II may wink at the occasional rental by a normal member but they will not ignore it if they suspect commercial activity.

Everything in this situation points to the business trying to rent other individual's reservations. This is likely why there were multiple names and why it would take a couple days to get the reservation changed. Also the business itself was operating under zero risk since it wasn't their II account.

 

[MOXJO7282]

Agreed and the main problem and higher than normal risk with this situation is it is a business renting it out. II may wink at the occasional rental by a normal member but they will not ignore it if they suspect commercial activity.

I'm not sure I agree with this. I thought the same thing but if you look at the marketplace it seems it is happening quite frequently by numerous brokers.

Is it that II can't prove someone is renting an exchange or they benefit from all the trades so they purposely turn a blinds eye to it.

For instances, what are ebay auctions like the one below? Is this a broker helping distressed owners rent their weeks? I'm assuming this GO something that was acquired by some off-season trade of some kind but maybe I'm wrong. I see alot of auctions like this on ebay and I run into these brokers. I had one that worked exclusively with Aruba and had a way to commercially rent exchanges. I asked but she wouldn't tell me how she did it.

It must be easy and that is why it happens IMHO more than we all know.

Why couldn't someone without an II account just acquire exchanges somehow and put them up on ebay.

How would II catch someone if they don't have an II account and they don't have the confirmation number? The only way is if someone like the OP questions it or the renter screws up and tip their hand.




[Direct link to eBay rental ad deleted.]

 

[dominidude]

I'm not sure I agree with this. I thought the same thing but if you look at the marketplace it seems it is happening quite frequently by numerous brokers.

Is it that II can't prove someone is renting an exchange or they benefit from all the trades so they purposely turn a blinds eye to it.

I've seen the number of weeks II offers under getaways increase, while the number of weeks II offer under regular exchange decrease.

I also know that it is relatively easy to set up a bot to check II's website every second and to put an exchange in 18 minute hold automatically, should one come up. I also know that it is relatively easy for II to stop bots from doing that, and it seems that II has no desire to do so.

Put those two together with what you are saying, and yes, it does seem that II is turning a blind eye to something they find profitable.

Getaways are more profitable to II than regular exchanges, so they turn a blind eye to someone renting them. Bots prevent regular folks from getting a decent exchange, so they are force to rent if they want something decent. It's a vicious circle, with II seeming to profit handsomely.

 

[chickenfoot]

The ad was posted by a "David Disney". A woman responded to my inquiry and when I agreed to the transaction, I received an email and request for payment via PayPal from Sean Vacations LLC. It started to feel real strange to me especially when I got a second request for payment 4 hours after the initial request or my "rental" would be given away to somebody else.