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Original Message:
Re: Be VERY WARY of who you are renting from! (by Jack M.):
marty8084 wrote:Hi Marty, Thank you again for all your follow up on this. First of all he claimed it was not his fault as soon as we contacted him while trying to check in. The Marriott people including the manager told us it was indeed his fault and they were the ones that initially contacted him via cellphone. Mr. Tu and I had several phone contacts. After Mr. Tu contacted Marriott reservations he contacted me to apologize. In each of these conversations he again claimed that it was not his fault but nevertheless he promised to refund 1/2 our rental fee of $2400. Not once did he say he would renege on his promise. In fact while I was at the Marriott he called once to specifically assure me that he would "honor" his commitment no matter whose fault it was( this is not an allegation, I have a voicemail that documents it). Unfortunately he obviously was lying. As to his claim that he "resolved this very quickly" I couldn"t disagree more. He still hasn't resolved it!! My family and I wanted a quiet vacation and asked for a top floor ocean view room. He assured us that this would be no problem. Instead we arrived to chaos at check in and being told that he had rented the same unit to two different families for the same week. After an hour and a half of check in and having to move from the room we were supposed to be in to another and then the next day moving again to another room room we spent the vacation in a first floor room right next to the TOT LOT (can you say screaming kids from dawn to dusk). I realize that Redweek can't compel Theodore Tu to pay me the money he promised. I realize now I was lied to. However, I went into this transaction not knowing anything about him. I believe that sunlight is the best disinfectant. I f I can alert even one person and save them being victimized and lied to as I was then this will be a worthwhile endeavor. I also feel the sight needs to be more transparent so that feedback on people is accessible such as is done on E-bay. People can then decide if they would feel comfortable doing business with someone who "resolves" problems like Jim 1432, aka Steve, aka Theodore Tu does.jackm129 wrote:marty8084 wrote:Hi Marty, Thanks for all your hard work. What does the term "inactive" mean? Does that mean that Jim 1432, aka Steve, aka Theodore Tu has already rented this week? Or that he listed it and then stopped listing it? Also for his previous listings did he use the same listing #(R304159) or did he have separate listing numbers? The reason I am asking this is that his actions confused you by apparently making the posting that he used to rent to me, in effect, disappear. Thanks, Jackjackm129 wrote:marty8084 wrote:Marty, I have no idea why you are finding the dates to be Sep 1 - Sep 8. The reservation was made through Redweek for July 8-15 2007. The Redweek listing was R304159. I have numerous emails from Jim 1432,aka Steve, aka Theodore Tu confirming these dates(which I would be happy to forward to you). In addition the Marriot Newport Coast Villas reservation #88514909 also confirms these dates (again I would be happy to forward these to you). Finally, I work as a cardiologist. I take very little time off partly due to the fact that I need to get other cardiologists to cover my practice while I am gone. The idea that I along with my family somehow may have gotten confused and showed up 2 months early for our vacation seems more than a little unlikey.jackm129 wrote:Timeshare transactions especially over the internet require a high level of trust. I recently rented a week at Marriot Newport Coast that I found on Redweek. I paid $2400 in advance to Theodore Tu. When I arrived at the resort, I was told at check-in that my family would be sharing our condo with another family that was already checked in... they had also been rented the the very SAME condo that week by Mr. Tu. After much confusion, we ended up having to move into 2 separate rooms for portions of the week-- ultimately staying in poor rooms which were not in use for a VERY GOOD reason-- namely, they were very poorly located (the nearest room next to the "Tot-Lot"). Mr. Tu said he would refund 50% of the rental price to make up for the poor accomodations and for the fact that he had assured us of a very different room (upper floor/ocean view). When I returned home, I contacted him and he basically blew me off regarding the refund. This is my first timeshare rental experience. My advice is: 1) Get it in writing. 2) Be extremely cautious of whom you are renting from. Jack Madowitz, M.D. San Diego, CA.Hi Jack,
After checking into this a little more, please help me to understand why the posting you contacted this owner for is available for the dates of: Sep 1, 2007 - Sep 8, 2007. This is the only posting this owner has for Marriott's Newport Coast Villas. Did you go earlier then you were suppose to? Am I missing something here? When did you use this rental?
Thanks, Marty
Hi Jack,
I apologize, Jack. I think that once this week was rented that possibly the owner changed the dates to September which he has the ability to do. The dates on this posting is as follows:
Marriott's Newport Coast Villas Rental Posting (R304159) Marriott's Newport Coast Villas, Newport Coast, California, United States, North America This posting is not active. Price: $2,000 ($286 per night) Length of Stay: 7 nights Available: Sep 1, 2007 - Sep 8, 2007 Owner: steve . (jim1432)
I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a mix up of some kind.
Thank you, Marty
Hi Jack,
Perhaps this owner had another week in September at the same resort so after he rented the week to you he could edit the date to a future rental if he still had time available on his posting which he did. Owners of postings can edit everything except the name of the resort and they can't change it from rental to sale, etc. The posting number would remain the same - (R304159). The posting has expired so that's why it's now inactive. He could renew the posting for another 6 months and keep the same number as longer as it was still a rental posting at the same resort.
We have heard back from this owner and he says it was a system error at the Marriott, and he resolved it very quickly.
There isn't a lot more that we can do, Jack. Again, we apologize.
Marty