Novice Renter

[dms1709]

I am booking a unit that an owner responded to on Tug (wish list). I have the ability to use Pay Pal. Is that the best way to handle this? I checked and they do not cover Real Estate, so not sure what benefit this would be. Any thoughts on how to proceed?
Thank You

Donna

 

[Jan M.]

Vacation rentals aren't real estate transactions. I always recommend paying with PayPal and a credit card, not a bank account or PayPal balance. The credit card gives an additional layer of protection.

 

[1st Class]

If you use PayPal and pay with a credit card, you may dispute the charges directly with the credit card company just like any other purchase. PayPal would not be involved in the dispute process.

 

[DeniseM]

How to verify that a rental is Legit: https://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index...ntal-is-legit-when-you-are-the-renter.109479/

I agree, use your credit card on PayPal - not your PayPal balance or a bank transfer. If you have a problem, dispute it directly with your credit card. The CC can and will recover your payment, without needing PP's approval.

The owner may ask you to send it the PP payment "Friends and Family," but that eliminates your PayPal protection. Owners want you to do this because it saves them the 3% PP fee, so if it's an issue, you may want to offer to pay the fee.

 

[dms1709]

How to verify that a rental is Legit: https://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index...ntal-is-legit-when-you-are-the-renter.109479/

I agree, use your credit card on PayPal - not your PayPal balance or a bank transfer. If you have a problem, dispute it directly with your credit card. The CC can and will recover your payment, without needing PP's approval.

The owner may ask you to send it the PP payment "Friends and Family," but that eliminates your PayPal protection. Owners want you to do this because it saves them the 3% PP fee, so if it's an issue, you may want to offer to pay the fee.

Denise, The owners sent me the confirmation from Marriott and it looks like they are renting the unit from Marriott. Is this possible? It is a 3 bedroom unit in Hawaii. Could they be using marriott points and then renting the unit to get the cash from the points?

 

[jwalk03]

A Marriott Owner could own weeks or points to book the unit they are renting to you.

Have you talked to the owner on the phone instead of only by e-mail? I ALWAYS talk to a person first before paying just to get a good feel for the person. This also provides me piece of mind. I have paid for rentals via Paypal, and also by check. Using a credit card through PayPal would provide additional protection over a check, but some owners prefer to avoid the PayPal fees.

 

[Avislo]

... The owner may ask you to send it the PP payment "Friends and Family," but that eliminates your PayPal protection. Owners want you to do this because it saves them the 3% PP fee, so if it's an issue, you may want to offer to pay the fee.

Paypal fees the person renting the unit can be a add on to the maximum rental price?

 

[DeniseM]

Paypal fees the person renting the unit can be a add on to the maximum rental price?

If you are talking about the maximum rental price on the Last Minute Rental Forum - the answer is NO. The maximum price you can charge is $100 per night - you can't add fees to use Paypal, or any other kind of payment method. You can't add confirmation fees either.

Denise, The owners sent me the confirmation from Marriott and it looks like they are renting the unit from Marriott.

I am confused by your wording. If the owner is renting from Marriott, that is a sign of a scam. This is how it works:

The scammer goes online or calls Marriott and makes a hotel type reservation (not a timeshare owner's reservations.) They hold it with a credit card, but pay nothing.

Then they save/print out the confirmation (they may also edit it) and rent it to an inexperienced renter (or maybe lots of inexperienced renters.)

At the last minute, the scammer cancels the reservation, removing their card from the reservation.

Then the unsuspecting renter(s) checks in, and finds they have no reservation.

Or you may check-in and find there is a reservation in your name, but it's just a reservation that hasn't been paid for - and you must pay the resort for it.

If you are renting a timeshare reservation from a timeshare owner, then they should send you the timeshare reservation to review.

 

[dms1709]

It was a total scam. Glad I am only out 100.00. Will dispute the 100.00 with my credit card company and PayPal.

 

[DeniseM]

How did you find out it was a scam?

You don't even need to dispute it with PayPal - dispute it with your credit card company ASAP, and they will get the money back from PayPal for you.

Please post the scammer's name, email, and any other contact info to warn other renters.

 

[SueDonJ]

Denise, The owners sent me the confirmation from Marriott and it looks like they are renting the unit from Marriott. Is this possible? It is a 3 bedroom unit in Hawaii. Could they be using marriott points and then renting the unit to get the cash from the points?

To be clear, there are two types of Marriott points - Marriott Rewards Points and Marriott Destination Club Points. MR Points are associated with the loyalty program, DC Points are associated with timeshare ownership.

Renting out intervals booked by an MR Member using MR Points is prohibited.

Renting out intervals booked by a DC Member using DC Points is allowed. (In fact coincidentally I have used Denise's company to rent out several 3BR Hawaii intervals booked using DC Points.)

I have the same questions as Denise - what does the confirmation show and how did you determine it's a scam?

[ETA] Also, if it is a scam that happened through TUG you should send TUGBrian a message with the User's Name, via the "Inbox --> Start a New Conversation" portal on the top right of any forum page. TUG is very good about weeding out scammers from legitimate users.

 

[dms1709]

I have printed out the whole email conversation and will send it to Brian. I called Marriott, and they could not confirm the reservation that was supposed to be in my name. Denise had it correct as she posted above.

The scammer goes online or calls Marriott and makes a hotel type reservation (not a timeshare owner's reservations.) They hold it with a credit card, but pay nothing.

Then they save/print out the confirmation (they may also edit it) and rent it to an inexperienced renter (or maybe lots of inexperienced renters.)

At the last minute, the scammer cancels the reservation, removing their card from the reservation.

Then the unsuspecting renter(s) checks in, and finds they have no reservation.

Or you may check-in and find there is a reservation in your name, but it's just a reservation that hasn't been paid for - and you must pay the resort for it.

If you are renting a timeshare reservation from a timeshare owner, then they should send you the timeshare reservation to review.

This was definitely a learning experience.

 

[dms1709]

Where should I post the names, I would not want this to happen to anyone else. I am glad I followed the guidelines for renting.

 

[TUGBrian]

post it here is fine.

however as we mentioned in the private message, the individual you were dealing with is not a TUG member.

Anyone can contact you thru your wish ad...including the general public. Very happy that you followed the guidelines to discover this was a scam before you paid!

 

[TUGBrian]

also if you want to post a screenshot of the "rental reservation" for folks to see a comparison differenece between that and an acual owner reservation, that would be helpful as well!

if you cant post it here, simply email it to me at TUG@tug2.net and ill post it for you.