Is anyone familar with a tugger named Barry Skolky who advertises rentals in the Tug classified.
He says "rent anyweek for XXX amounts for one and two bedrooms."
I emailed him and he says he can get what I want but he wants 50% down PRIOR to confirmation, payable by Paypal and then the balance by check 3 months before check in.
He is a TUG member.
Has anyone dealt with him personally ?
The OP still has not provided enough information for us to know if the renter is legit. He did not answer whether or not he was given a "guest certificate" from I.I. or RCI.
And It is not standard operating procedure to require a
Paypal payment of 50% of the rental fee PRIOR to obtaining a confirmation, unless he at least provided proof that a reservation has been made in the potential renter's name. In most situations, the reservation can be cancelled with little or no fee if the renter does not follow through on paying the 50% deposit. So there is no down-side to the owner obtaining one to prove he has the right to rent the week in question before requiring a 50% deposit.
It is also fool-hardy for the renter to be renting a week without having the renter sign a comprehensive rental agreement. It protects both parties, but even more so the "landlord". (Anyone who is a paid TUG member has access to the search feature of prior BBS threads. Use it to see the many discussions there have been through the years on the topic of the need for a written rental agreement, including a few "horror stories" of what has happened when a formal rental agreement was not used).
In February, while vacationing in Florida, I met a couple who had "rented" two timeshare weeks from a "company." When they showed up to check-in, the Manager informed them that two other couples had already shown up to check-in to the same unit, and the police were on their way to sort it all out. Only one of the three had a written rental agreement. The person who actually owned the unit was senile and in a nursing home. Someone had obtained enough information to impersonate the owner and rent the unit to three different couples. The police and the resort decided to let the couple with the written agreement occupy the unit.
The police eventually figured out who the crook was but could not locate him, so a warrant was issued for his arrest. P.S. Apparently the crook did not know the owner personally. He was a timeshare saleperson who came by the info through other channels. (Hard to believe a ts salesperson would do anything unethical, right?).
Long story short, the people without written agreements (just phony reservation slips) were told that their insurance companies and credit card companies would not cover any part of the loss. And they had to pay a small fortune to rent replacement accommodations on the spot during this very busy and expensive time of the year.
Many of us who post answers on these TUG Forums have been TUG members for up to 14 years. We have seen a lot and try our best to warn people of possible pitfalls.
