What is with people who try to negotiate a timeshare rental for other people?

[rickandcindy23]

I have an ad on Redweek. This gentleman contacted me to rent it. It's a reservation I got with WorldMark points. Sent him a contract, told him the terms in email, nothing was sent back. Then he says, "Oh, put that under the names ______," And I told him that I could send my copy of the confirmation still in our names, which I did, but I won't add the name until after I receive the 50% down. He supposedly owns WorldMark and knows there are fees for adding guests after so many.

He is trying to help other people (who apparently have never been to Disneyland) with this rental.

My question is, what is in it for him? Why is he trying to negotiate a rental for other people? The guy is a flake, and it may even be fake. Not sure.

 

[DeniseM]

What is his name?

 

[rickandcindy23]

Jeff Bartlow. He doesn't seem serious at all.

 

[billymach4]

Cindy,

Ya never know? I rent once every year or so. Not in it for the money just want to cover my MF's. In the beginning I used to want to call and speak to the renter. Perhaps this is one of those situations where a conversation would come in handy to drill down and ask him the questions? Or just move on and get another renter if this guy is a WEIRDO?

 

[rickandcindy23]

I have rented my weeks through brokers who are just scouring the various rental sites for weeks people need. Timeshare Help Center is one of those that has rented from me. I was fine with it, got my price, which was just slightly above MF's to cover credit card fees. But this is a weird guy, and he actually contacted me about a March date at the same place, told him I have it, and then he didn't follow up with that.

 

[billymach4]

I have rented my weeks through brokers who are just scouring the various rental sites for weeks people need. Timeshare Help Center is one of those that has rented from me. I was fine with it, got my price, which was just slightly above MF's to cover credit card fees. But this is a weird guy, and he actually contacted me about a March date at the same place, told him I have it, and then he didn't follow up with that.

Yeah I rented my Aruba week a few years back to a broker in Salt Lake City. Forgot their name. Sent me a check overnight. Checked with DeniseM and she was able to confirm they were legit!
Preferred a check vs PayPal to cut out the fees. Would do PayPal now to cut out the wait time and chalk up the fee as a cost of business.

 

[davidvel]

And this thread is why so many people don't equate having your own reservation, either through your own week or direct with the resort, with renting from an owner, or AirBnb, or whatever.

It just ain't the same thing.

 

[bizaro86]

My question is, what is in it for him? Why is he trying to negotiate a rental for other people? The guy is a flake, and it may even be fake. Not sure.

I don't know about this guy, but I have arranged a number of TS rentals (mostly from people on Tug) for my parents. They aren't savvy enough to rent them on their own, but like the savings and the nice resorts.

 

[travelhacker]

Yeah, that's a little weird (especially that they are flakey).

I often do a lot of the vacation planning for my family and some close friends, since I have a reputation of being able to find amazing deals (many times via timeshares).

I hate it when people overpay and I get A LOT of satisfaction from being able to get loved ones to places they otherwise couldn't afford in better accomodations than they would have thought possible. So perhaps that's what he's getting out of it?

It's a bummer when people are flakey, but it sounds like you're very experienced with renting out what you own so I wouldn't let it bug you too much....just take the usual precautions.

 

[Jan M.]

Sometimes but thankfully not always flaky renters can be high maintenance/a lot of extra work from their first communication with you until the day they check out. IMO the best way to handle rentals is to make it clear that the reservation remains available to rent until it is fully paid for. No partial payments unless it is a repeat renter and the reservation is far enough out that you aren't stuck with it if they bail on you.

 

[DeniseM]

Legitimate professional rental companies identify themselves when they contact you. There are also a number of lone wolves out there that try to match up owners and renters by scouring the want Ads and then taking a cut of the rental for themselves. I'm not comfortable dealing with that type.

 

[hurnik]

I've had a few do that, but typically it's for family members where someone doesn't have a PC/Paypal account (for whatever reason).

 

[chapjim]

I'm frequently contacted by brokers or rental agencies, some of whom list and post here on TUG. Frankly, I haven't had a lot of business with them -- way more nibbles than bites. The most annoying thing I've found is they want quick responses to questions about availability or whatever, but feel no need to obligation to tell me what's going on with the rental. Sometimes I ask and the response is usually something about the client hasn't decided or has decided not to take the rental. More often than not, I don't follow up anymore.

I have a few freelancers that pop up now and then and I've had better success with them -- Cocoa Beach and Daytona mostly.

I'm not offended that someone is renting my unit at a higher price. But, it is irritating when they ask for a reduction so they can create their margin from my discount. Otherwise, if I get my price, I'm happy.