Westin and Marriott weeks on ebay

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

So no wonder I haven't seen many Marriott/Westin weeks on II... They have been snapped up and are being sold on ebay! The Guest Certificate fee is a dead give away... grrrrrrr.... I don't mind people trying to recoup their costs if they can't use an exchange, but making a businesss out of depriving members of exchange inventory really ticks me off!!!

The first seller has rented out about a dozen Maui Marriott weeks in recent months, the second link is for dates I had searched for for MONTHS!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/WESTIN-MARRIOTT-...QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com/Maui-Marriot-Oce...QQcmdZViewItem

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

I feel your pain, Avery....does II have an active crew who investigate breaking the rules (I am assuming the rental of II inventory is akin to trying to rent RCI exchanges)?

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I feel your pain, Avery....does II have an active crew who investigate breaking the rules (I am assuming the rental of II inventory is akin to trying to rent RCI exchanges)?

I can't imagine they are very active, the violations are rampant (yes the II rules are the same as RCI). I don't usually look at the ebay rentals, but today alone found a half dozen sellers asking for GC fees. One seller has 6 Marriott listings, holidays and summer weeks, Maui and NCV !!!

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

If you can find them, II can find them. It does seem a shame that it is skimmed....but I also think when II or RCI skim the inventory and dump it into rental areas it stinks too....that is why it will get very busy at the independents.

[4dabirds Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 4dabirds]

Avery,

II does have a department that handles people using their II accounts for financial gain. When an account has been tagged for this type of abuse the reservation is cancelled, the account locked, and the fees associated with the transaction / original week are returned.

I have some issues with this...

IF someone were using their account primarily for this purpose: trading up, and then making a killing this would be bad. The question is: are the majority of people really doing this, or simply trying to recoupe their maint fee/exchange fee???

Obviously, the units you have links to are a for profit endeavor, but if they just wanted a few hundred dollars to cover their lost fees, would this be so terribly bad??? I'm not sure that I feel that it is... things happen in people's lives and we all know how much planning it takes to get a decent exchange in the first place - often 1+ years in advance... expecting people to use it or lose it just feels unfair to me.

Additionally, we all know how difficult it is to rent out one's week unless it is something pretty darn special, so I would think the majority of people attempting to do this for profit would learn pretty quickly that without a lot of luck, a lot of marketing, and the RIGHT week it's just not going to happen on a regular basis for the high dollar amount they are looking for... jmho.

Again, I'm not condoning the seller making a profit... but I see no reason to let Uncle Bob use my week without paying the associated fees.

DAE let's you cancel up to 24 hours before check-in without losing anything (as long as you opt in for the insurance) - I think this is a much more fair way of handling the situation then forcing people to use t or lose it... again, jmho.

Kim

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Avery,

II does have a department that handles people using their II accounts for financial gain. When an account has been tagged for this type of abuse the reservation is cancelled, the account locked, and the fees associated with the transaction / original week are returned.

I have some issues with this...

IF someone were using their account primarily for this purpose: trading up, and then making a killing this would be bad. The question is: are the majority of people really doing this, or simply trying to recoupe their maint fee/exchange fee???

Obviously, the units you have links to are a for profit endeavor, but if they just wanted a few hundred dollars to cover their lost fees, would this be so terribly bad??? I'm not sure that I feel that it is... things happen in people's lives and we all know how much planning it takes to get a decent exchange in the first place - often 1+ years in advance... expecting people to use it or lose it just feels unfair to me.

Additionally, we all know how difficult it is to rent out one's week unless it is something pretty darn special, so I would think the majority of people attempting to do this for profit would learn pretty quickly that without a lot of luck, a lot of marketing, and the RIGHT week it's just not going to happen on a regular basis for the high dollar amount they are looking for... jmho.

Again, I'm not condoning the seller making a profit... but I see no reason to let Uncle Bob use my week without paying the associated fees.

DAE let's you cancel up to 24 hours before check-in without losing anything (as long as you opt in for the insurance) - I think this is a much more fair way of handling the situation then forcing people to use t or lose it... again, jmho.

Kim

Kim,

I agree with everything you've said. It's the greedy ones that have me upset.
As for what the 'majority' are doing, I can't say, but if you look at some of the listings you might get an idea. I looked for the first time yesterday and was horrified.

Avery

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

So no wonder I haven't seen many Marriott/Westin weeks on II... They have been snapped up and are being sold on ebay! The Guest Certificate fee is a dead give away... grrrrrrr.... I don't mind people trying to recoup their costs if they can't use an exchange, but making a businesss out of depriving members of exchange inventory really ticks me off!!!

The first seller has rented out about a dozen Maui Marriott weeks in recent months, the second link is for dates I had searched for for MONTHS!!!

Does Interval have an abuse department that you can e-mail that one seller's auctions to?

I know RCI has that and I have reported people in the past, usually when they are blatant and I've been trying to get that exchange they are selling.

I can understand selling an exchange on an individual basis if you can't use it for some reason but to regualrly run them?

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

I understand why exchangers don't like to see timeshare exchanges rented on eBay or any other venue. I actually believe that if it were allowed, the industry would be better off. Here is a post explaining why:

Why exchange companies should allow rentals of exchanges

Note: I decided to move my post to its own thread since it will take this one way off topic.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Does Interval have an abuse department that you can e-mail that one seller's auctions to?

I know RCI has that and I have reported people in the past, usually when they are blatant and I've been trying to get that exchange they are selling.

I can understand selling an exchange on an individual basis if you can't use it for some reason but to regualrly run them?

I was told to email them to Customer Service, but they are all still active. Maybe because it's the weekend. I wish II and RCI would adopt a 'reasonableness' standard, so that individuals could get enough $ to make up their costs if necessary, but flagrant abuses for profit would be quickly stopped. Some better warnings might help, too, I get the feeling some of these sellers are just clueless.