First time renter in need of good advice - how to verify who I am renting from

What are you looking for dates? Size.

Most of these are posted on home away or flipkey etc. they have rating system. Limited on redweek a bit due to charge never go thru paypal as your excluded for protection from them as it is excluded in fine print.

I wish I read this before! did you ever get your money back?

It sure would be a good idea if Redweek had some kind of rating system for owners and renters to be rated like ebay has for buyers and sellers. Something that includes comments.

We have been using Redweek to rent out our timeshare weeks we aren't using and to rent weeks from other owners. We find it more efficient than the exchange companies. We feel we get a better deal than using one of the timeshare exchange companies and its easier to get exactly what we want when.

We do wonder if the owner we are renting from is legitimate. So far in dozens of rentals, we have never had a problem. So far we have never had a problem with a renter/tenate.

When we rent out our weeks, we have had many potential renters that are skeptical and needed some reassurance. It sure would be a lot easier if Redweek had a rating system.

A rating system would reward the better owners by giving good ratings. It would also give us owners more comfort when renting to someone we don't know.

@deniseh337 - Yes- we did receive our $$ back but it did not come with a single apology. When I called him to inquire in to the situation again and ask how this could have happened; that he had our trust, $$, and a signed contract -he hung up on me!! I hope others heed this advice to not rent from this individual.

Johnb1919-

We considered the rating option, but our management team felt that it would give the brokers who use our website an advantage over individual owners, since they would have more rentals and ratings and an individual owner, with only one week a year, would not. So we came up with a system to ensure a safe transaction by using First American Title escrow services (Escrow)

We will also provide feedback if someone is interested in a particular posting-- they can contact us with the posting number and we will let them know how long the owner has been a RedWeek member and if we have any complaints on the account.

Phyllis

@megu2 - I'm glad you got your money back. I'm hoping to get mine but he is really giving me the run around.

How do we contact you with a posting # to check on renter's standing?

What is wrong with the people who use the website the most and who pay the most often having more reviews and a higher trust rating than someone who rents their unit out for the first time? Seems like the owners who frequently rent with good results should be made known to renters. The "safe transaction" system www.redweek.com touts is outrageously priced, takes a high percentage of the rental proceeds, in reality protect renters and not owners and seriously delays payment to the owners. One has to wonder how much of the escrow fee is kicked back to www.redweek.com

Good luck. If you Google him, it seems that he's done this before to people. Poor business practices for sure. I've definitely learned a lesson with this experience. I hope it works out for you!

mccabin -

To contact RedWeek and check on an owner's status, you can email us at support@redweek.com or click on this link: Contact Us

Phyllis

johnb1919-

RedWeek does not receive any type of kick-back or commission from First American Title by recommending their services. Our partnership with First American was solidified by RedWeek founder, Randy Conrads, when he first launched RedWeek.com. Randy worked with First American to build the rental escrow program specifically for RedWeek with the sole purpose of providing our members with a safe means of transacting.

Phyllis

Phyllis,

Please respond to the rest of my post:

(1) What is wrong with the people who use the website the most and who pay the most often having more reviews and a higher trust rating than someone who rents their unit out for the first time? Seems like the owners who frequently rent with good results should be made known to renters.

(2) The "safe transaction" system www.redweek.com touts is outrageously priced and takes a high percentage of the rental proceeds.

(3) From my experience and the experience of others I have read about, (a) the escrow protect renters and not owners ; and (b) seriously delays payment to the owners.

John -

RedWeek was originally set up for individual timeshare owners to rent or sell their week. The concern was that brokers, who rent/sell timeshares as their business, would have an advantage over the individual owner if a rating system was used.

Even with a rating system, it does not ensure a safe transaction. Owners posting on various internet rental sites have had issues with scammers breaking into their email accounts and taking them over. The scammer then instructs the renter to send money directly to them.

The escrow fees of First American Title are based on the amount of the weekly rental. If a renter wants to ensure their payment is safe, then they have the option to pay the entire fee themselves if the owner does not want to contribute.

Payment is made to the owner 11 days after the rental is completed. This allows the renter to file a complaint if they find the unit is not what was advertised (i.e. they ended up with a one-bedroom instead of the two-bedroom that was advertised).

The escrow system is just an option. It is entirely up to the owner if they want to use the escrow service or not. If the owner does not want to use the escrow service, then the renter can decide if they want to engage in a private transaction or find another rental where a safe transaction would be guaranteed.

I hope that helps explain why we set up the escrow service. If you have any further questions, please feel free to Contact Us.

Thanks, Phyllis

Phyllis,

Thank you for your input and your quick replays. We'll agree to disagree.

John

I don't think the resort can give out information on names of the owners to just anyone who asks. I tried to get an owners name at the Royal Sands but they wouldn't give me the name. Said they couldn't give out that information.

Just experienced very nasty communication with this man about renting at the whaler in Maui. Thank god I didn't rent from him!

jayjay wrote:

deleted by jayjay

Hi Elyseh,

Did you end up renting from Bill Maund? I am interested in his posting and wanted to see if you had a good experience.

Thanks! Daniel

elyseh wrote:

I am trying to rent from Bill Maund. At oak and spruce resort in Berkshires. Has anyone dealt with this gentleman and if so how was your experience? Thank you for any feedback. Elyse H

Can you negotiate a price with the owner or is the price set in stone?

jamess304 wrote:

Can you negotiate a price with the owner or is the price set in stone?

I guess that would be up to the individual owner. You can try to haggle but if the owner is firm, he's firm. If he's willing to listen and dicker, then that would be good for you. It doesn't hurt to ask for a lower price.