methods of payment

Hello everyone :)) I'm puzzled, and curious, maybe someone can point something out to me, which will change my perception of things. I do not own any timeshares, I only rent them. For the past three years we have been trying to understand the mentality of the owners who expect a full payment in advance without any guarantees to the renter. We have been fruitlessly trying to convince some of the owners we dealt with that neither of the two parties involved have a single reason to trust the other. We have been trying to explain that demanding a payment by cheque without opening your mind to other more secure means of payment is not conducive to business and is disrespectful to the buyer. We were lucky twice (that's how we ended up going to Harborside Atlantis), when the owners acted without emotional outbursts and accusations that we do not trust them. I mean, isn't that obvious? Business is business, and when we are conducting a three grand transaction, trust is the last thing that comes to mind when you deal with a stranger. We witnessed the consequences of rental fraud twice in Harborside. Both times renters were standing lost at the front desk after learning that their reservation was canceled at the last moment by the owner. At present, we are trying to reserve a unit for our friends - same story. PayPal is listed as the only option. We suggested Escrow, because PayPal only guarantees investigation within 45 days of a transaction (and we are looking for mid-August), but the owners are still uncomfortable. We are puzzled. It seems almost unnatural for a person in our days to expect a stranger to trust them with large sums of money without more or less solid guarantees. Wouldn't the chances of renting out drastically increase if the owners understood the reasons behind people's reluctance to pay upfront? We aren't expecting them to trust us either, but when we suggest Escrow as a mutually safe way they feel uncomfortable. Is there something perhaps that we are not aware of? Is there a method of payment that we haven't considered? Does anyone have any suggestions?

In the case above concerning trust .... a renter or owner can use an escrow service to hold all funds until the vacation is completed .... one such escrow service is American Title recommended by Redweek ... it costs a little extra (I think around $150) but provides peace of mind.

Many timeshare owners require the full rental fee upfront, because if a renter cancels at the last minute the owner has very little time to re-rent their units.

I'm not sure why the owners would be reluctant to use escrow as it's the safest way to rent for both parties, especially if the renter pays for the service .... you might explain this to the owner.

My experience as both a renter and an owner is if the unit is what's needed and the price is right, the unit gets rented. I contact a lot of owners who only accept checks and they get their units rented just fine without me renting from them. 98% of everyone who inquires to rent from me is willing to pay by credit card either over the phone or via Paypal. 1% wants to use escrow but to date none of those people want to incur the cost of the escrow and thus they don't rent from me. It has oddly been my experience the people who want to use escrow are also more difficult to work with and I'm actually relieved they don't book thru me. I don't mean any insult to you Polinac, there are always exceptions to the rule. 1% fit into an exception such as the customer is another vendor, I know them personally, the reservation is so far in the future (6-12 months) and I have a good vibe that I agree to accept a check.

Just as there are many renters who do not think they should bear the cost of half or any of the escrow, there are owners who will not agree to a payment method which costs them money. There are also a lot of owners who only accept checks because they are only familiar with checks. I suspect some owners will not use escrow because they believe the escrow companies are like up front fee sales companies - scams.

Personally I feel it comes to this: Owners are the sales agent. As such they are the ones to choose the payment method they will accept. If you can't convince them to accept an alternate option that is your problem, not theirs. When an owner or seller has terms I don't like, I choose to not do any business with them. I recommend you take this option. Maybe if enough customers refuse payment methods owners require, owners will accept a wider option of payment methods.

That's too bad about the people who didn't have any reservations because the owners cancelled them. You have valid reasons to be careful or a low percentage of unscrupulous owners just as owners must be careful of questionable renters. If an owner won't change their payment terms though, are you willing to pay more for your vacation to book with an owner who will? If you think about it, making this decision is a form on insurance. If you want to be safer, insurance costs money. So far few of my customers have been willing to pay for that "insurance".

I understand most of the concerns that the owners have. We always inform them that all Escrow costs are going to be covered entirely by us. We drafted a rental agreement for those owners that don't have one, and terms and conditions include coverage of the Escrow cost by the renter. I do agree that the owner chooses which method of payment he/she wants to accept. Just like in any business, seller sets the price and it is up to the buyer to attempt to bargain. In our case I do not bargain on the price, but I do bargain on security. We are conducting a large transaction, and nobody wants to get scammed. What I offer when I suggest to use an Escrow has nothing to do with my positive vibes or trust. We are dealing with total strangers, and as nice as they might turn out in the end, I must have a reliable third party to secure the funds. You are right in one thing though - no agreement, no business. I don't argue indefinitely, I'm never insulting or even remotely aggressive. I simply try to reason and explain. Once I've exhausted my options and arguments, and once all of them got turned down, I retreat. I know two owners with whom I dealt in the past, and whom I managed to convince (one wouldn't bend at first, but later ended up calling me and agreeing on my terms, because the unit didn't get rented). They both found it very relieving to know that there are more than one payment option that you can use safely. So, I guess, I'll continue trying my luck whenever I rent from someone. Thank you for your input. Best regards. Polina

What spefically are you looking for? Let me know and if I can provide it I'll let you know I created an ad for it, then you can go to the ad side of RW to look for it and contact me thru the ad to rent.