Renting a DAE exchange

[cloud3]

Are there any restrictions on my renting a week I got from a DAE exchange? There is a possibility I won't be able to use it now and I'd like to recover some of my money. I had heard that RCI won't allow (or doesn't like) you doing that. Might the resort have a problem with it? If I do rent it, what should I do? - inform the resort? - inform DAE? Thanks for the help.

 

[JudyS]

I don't think DAE allows exchangers to rent their exchange, although I'm not sure.

That said, the one time I got a week from DAE, they gave me a week that was clearly obtained as an exchange from RCI. This made me nervous, but by the time I found out that the week was from the RCI exchange pool, I already had my flights booked, so I went. Luckily, I didn't have a problem. I wasn't too happy about being given an RCI week, though.

 

[cloud3]

This a staright exchange through Dial-an-exchange. I don't understand why there should be restrictions on renting. What about a direct exchange? I know some folks who are interested in that. But I would rather go myself or if unable to do so, rent it to a friend. Seems reasonable to me.

DAE - what's the problem with renting an exchange I can't use ??

 

[Ask DAE]

Howdy folks. I've been for a couple of days.

We do not allow a re-rental of exchanged weeks. Why?

While there are a couple of different reasons, the main two come down to the confirmation process and responsibility of unit condition.

When we confirm an exchange with a member, we confirm that member's information with the resort. When the third party renter shows up (a different person from who is on the confirmation) we get a check in problem. The resort will look to us to rectify, not the orginal exchanger. We will have no record that the confirmation was ever changed. This sets off a series of problems that need to be addressed all while a consumer is waiting for his accomodations.

A second example; we have a set of terms and conditions under which a DAE member books an exchange. One of those terms is responsibility for the unit. When our member books a week, we make sure he/she understands that they are repsonsible for the condition of the unit upon check-out. Should that unit get rented out, the original exchanger is still responsible for the room regardless of how many times it has been rented away. Should the renter damage the room, the original exchanger is responsible. Again, the resort contacts DAE and we contact the member not the subsequent renter.

So what happens when a member can't use their week? There are two options, one is to purchase our Cancellation Protection option for only $20 per booking. This will protect the member against any cancellation by keeping their exchange credit in effect. The other is by using a guest certificate, for which we charge 0.00. In this case, the orignal exchanger is still responsible for the unit...

I hope this clears things up a bit.

 

[BocaBum99]

DAE and Redweek are working together with some joint inventory. I believe that Redweek allows re-rentals of exchanged weeks. What I would do is check the Redweek exchange site to see if the same exchange can be made there and then rent it. Of course, if they've changed that policy, then my info is wrong.

 

[cloud3]

DAE - Thanks for the explanation but it seems to me it your policy is unreasonable and not customer friendly. Let me elaborate by dealing with the two reasons you give.

First, the third party check in problem. This is very easily dealt with by having the exchanger notify DAE and the resort of the renter taking the place of the exchanger. The renter can present the confirmation along with a letter of introduction which has been copied to DAE. Simple enough, wouldn't you say?

Second, responsibility for the unit. Just as the original owner passes that responsibility on to the exchanger via DAE, the exchanger can pass the responsibility on to the renter via a rental agreement. DAE can keep a copy of that rental agreement if they wish (along with the resort notification). Again, is that not a simple solution to your concern?

I am familiar with the RCI Guest Certificate, (which they charge for). Could you please explain how yours works and what conditions are associated with it. Do you have the capability of keeping a guest damage agreement associated with the exchange should the guest cause a problem?

I sometimes rent a timeshare I own and use my exchanges myself. Since my exchanges are usually far ahead, circumstances may occur where I can't use my exchange and didn't opt for CPO. It just doesn't seem reasonable for any exchange company to improse a no-rental policy when there are simple remedies for the reasons you don't allow renting.

Have I convinced you? I await your reply.

 

[Ask DAE]

Hello,

I appreciate and thank you for your feedback.

While there is no doubt that the issues I shared can be overcome, it comes down to efficiency, serviceability and what we can manage in scale.

Simply put, we would be depending on several variables that we cannot control to keep good tabs on the third party transaction. We would be dependent on the renting party for notification of the rental and the re-issue of the confirmation paperwork (By the way, we do not have a systematic way to get that new confirmation to the third party). We would also be dependant on the renting party for their agreement to the renter, assuming the rental agreement is written correctly.

These processes simply don't scale well and unfortunately leave us in the middle of the rental transaction without having driven it.

Remember, we do not charge for upgrading units (deposit a one bedroom, get a two bedroom). We are also very straight forward about the fact that we do not offer our inventory for rent to the general marketplace (non-timeshare owners). With that, we have tried to stay consistent in policy by not supporting a transaction that has us taking a low value week in deposit (say a one bedroom in low season), for a week of more value (without paying an upgrade fee) and renting it out to the general public for an upgraded charge.

The way our guest certificates work, we issue a guest certificate upon request from the exchanging member at no charge, but the member is still the responsible party for the unit condition at the end of the stay.

We love the feedback, keep it coming. Good, new ideas and debate are what keeps us on our toes and flexible to the needs of the marketplace! It's why we're here on TUG.

Thanks again

 

[cloud3]

Thank you, DAE, for the response.

I accept your argument that the additional proceedures I suggested would impact neagtively upon your efficient operations as I would not want to have you jeopardize your excellent service. I am also appreciative of your "no membership fee, no upgrade fee and no guest fee" policy. I quit RCI several years ago because I didn't agree with their business practices which were not aligned with the objectives of their timeshare membership.

I've enjoyed this debate which hopefully might result in DAE considering how it might support exchange rentals at some point in the future as they are not going away.

Thank you for your willingness to participate in this forum and your open and honest approach to issues.

 

[Laurie]

Just for the record:

I'm opposed to RCI's no-rental policy, because a) their trade power exchange basis should mean any week into spacebank = equalivant supply-and-demand week taken, so it should all balance ... and b) their insurance is too expensive. Oh - and c) they rent them too.

However, I support DAE's no-rental policy, because of the 2 reasons given here by DAE - specifically any week in gets you any week out, and their cancellation insurance is so inexpensive. DAE, you have my vote to keep your policy as is.

Once I posted a great DAE sighting on TUG, and soon thereafter saw it listed for rent - I didn't feel good about that at all.

 

[jtridle]

Hello,

The way our guest certificates work, we issue a guest certificate upon request from the exchanging member at no charge, but the member is still the responsible party for the unit condition at the end of the stay.

So that sounds to me like DAE does allow rentals, don't you? all you would have to do is get your rental a free guest certificate, knowing that you as the renter are still responsible for the unit condition.

What am I missing here?

 

[cloud3]

I was at your web site recently and noticed that you do rent weeks to DAE members. But I could not find anywhere on the web site for me to give you a week to rent. Is this something that is only done over the phone. Also do you assist the owner to determine the rent to ask?

 

[JoeMid]

I was at your web site recently and noticed that you do rent weeks to DAE members. But I could not find anywhere on the web site for me to give you a week to rent. Is this something that is only done over the phone. Also do you assist the owner to determine the rent to ask?

My understanding was that they were doing away with the owner rental program that they had had. You could give them a week to rent and they took some sort of 20% commission and if at some stage it hadn't rented it became an exchange deposit, no way to 'pull' your rental.

 

[geekette]

So that sounds to me like DAE does allow rentals, don't you? all you would have to do is get your rental a free guest certificate, knowing that you as the renter are still responsible for the unit condition.

What am I missing here?

Ethics. It's against the rules.

My take on renting exchanges is this: if it were encouraged, then some owners would seek out the very best stuff on exchange to rent to others, having maybe deposited a lesser-value week. That would be unfair to the other owners seeking those weeks inside the exchange scenario. Why should any one owner be able to handsomely profit in a "one week in, one week out" setup??? If that's what you want, start your own exchange company and be upfront about 'renting out the good stuff'.

Hang tough, DAE!

 

[cloud3]

As the one who started this thread, I have to agree with Geekette. As long as DAE follows its "one week in, one week out" policy, there is the opportunity for people to scoop up good exchanges and rent them for a profit. To those people I would say: don't deposit your week and look for an exchange to rent; instead rent your original week. It's less expensive, less hassle and a lot more ethical!

 

[Picker57]

Procedure for Points owners?

Hello - I'm a Shell Points owner and I'm wondering what the procedure is for utilizing DAE's inventory and services. Would like to go outside the Shell/Bluegreen inventory, and I detest RCI. Thanks for any suggestions & observations.

Zach Kaplan

 

[Ask DAE]

Hello,

With Shell, you would simply make a week's reservation at one of their locations. Once your reservation is made, we can take that week in exchange for any week in our system.

We clear your deposit with Shell, as long as they clear it to us, we can execute the transaction for you.

Give us a try, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

I had made a reservation 9 months ago for my son at Tahoe December 8; turned out he had to be in NY for something else at the same time. Because I had purchased the CPO, I got my week back no problem. I was very impressed and wouldn't hesitate to spend that again. It is much less than travel insurance through the bigger exchange companies and that has all kinds of restrictions on getting your week back. Thanks, DAE!
Liz

 

[Ask DAE]

Excellent! Thanks for your business!