Lack of response very annoying

Lance, while we have rented from Redweek listings for many years and purchased weeks 1 & 2 in Aruba last year, it is not the only place you can go to find deals. As example, after staying at different timeshares in Aruba, for us, we preferred the Divi Phoenix over all others. There were a number of studio listings we quickly found that were priced at $7,000 to $12,000. We considered that price range to high for us when compared to renting without any maintenance fees...... When we made offers in our price range of $4,000 for a studio unit to some of the owners that had listed, those that responded seemed quite offended. Rather than negotiating or considering coming down on the price, we were told we were "crazy" for making such a "low-ball offer". We were often told they paid four or five times our offer amount from the timeshare.

Needless to say, through patience and dillegently searching over time, we purchased two "distressed sales" from individual owners in the Divi Phoenix tower, both just renovated. Both were Studio units on the 8th and 13th floor with magnificent views. One was listed that we purchased for $3,000 with 22 weeks left (not on Redweek). The other was on Redweek, purchased for $4,000 with 32 weeks left. Both well worth the price we paid, even having to pay annual maintenance fees - when compared to paying annual rent and uncertainty of obtaining a unit with the view we wanted on the week we wanted.

Point is owners that don't get responses, either renting or selling, need to adjust their price down. Google all the timeshare rental and sales websites..... There are many that show the price they recently have rented or sold for a like unit at your resort on the week you are listing. This gives you a price range to work with. If selling, forget the price you paid for the unit originally from the resort. You will be lucky to get half back, even if in a prime location. Bring your price below what you see others rented at for your week number to be sure you get responses. Many people do not want to negotiate and will not even bother to respond if your unit is over priced..... either to rent or buy.

If you can take the stress of waiting for your price, taking a chance on higher airline flights etc, then you usually will find the lowest rental price 6 weeks or less, prior to the week of your trip..... (at a prime location resort). There are those that find they can't make it at the last minute..... These go very cheaply. We have rented like this for $100 above an owner's maintenance fee many times.

We would still like to add a week 3 to our other 2 weeks ownership at the Divi Phoenix. With nothing all this year listed in our price range to purchase for the week we want, we decided to rent week 3 a couple of weeks ago, as we just found a great unit, priced right and we caught it the day it was listed. I still check the listings every couple of weeks for a unit to purchase. There are often divorces and estates that want a quick sale and will price low. They are out there, but not for long, so it pays to keep looking for what you want and can afford. If your listing is attractive to a renter / buyer, it can go quickly if your location / week is an actual known week and not a "floating week". Most renters / buyers know the week they need to vacation on and won't take the uncertainty of a floating week as the resort may not have availability on the vacation week they need.

haroldb111 wrote:

I have posted units for sell and rent at Redweek, I have never received one inquiry in the past year. Maybe Redweek is not forwarding the emails.? My membership will be up in a few days and I definitely will not renew it. my email is hbdiver@hotmail.com I wonder what if any replies that will bring. I also think half the forum comments are from Redweek staff.

Hi Harold.

Did you add your postings under a different account? Because I only see one posting, a rental in Mexico, with availability dates of Dec. 7 - 14, 2013.

So at least in *that* case, I understand why you haven't received any inquiries this year ;-|

Anyway, let me know what the details are and I'll investigate.

And BTW, our policy is that anyone working for RedWeek has an indication of that by their username. It's a violation for us to post forum message posing as normal users.

Best,

Maurice

neilm66 wrote:

Lance, while we have....

Interesting, informative comments but...are you responding to my post or to Harold's?

davidp13 wrote:

Just venting, but why does someone place an ad, and then not respond for nearly a week when you make an offer (for full amount no less). There really should be a rating system for buyers and sellers so we don't all waste time.

David, sorry for not replying to this earlier, but yes, I totally agree, owners need to be responsive. Please don't hesitate to contact us at support@redweek.com if you don't hear from someone after a few days; we'll twist some arms ;)

It's true that not everyone checks their e-mail daily, but not responding for a week is unacceptable. In that case we really need them to pull their postings.

Regarding the member rating system, our concern has always been that we'd disadvantage new members. A lot of owners only use us once a year or less -- renting their unit when they're unable to use it themselves. Our worry is if we had a rating system, the folks with the best ratings would be those users who are renting all the time (often operating as a side business).

We are open to suggestions about that though. There may be other ways to motivate timely responses.

Best,

Maurice

Lance, my mistake, I was responding to Harold's post...... Sorry for any confusion.

Maurice,

Are you able to share your direct contact info with us, such as email or phone? I know there are many, including myself that get quite frustrated when an inquiry to an owner to rent / buy receives no response. It happens at least half the time to me......

neilm66 wrote:

Maurice,

Are you able to share your direct contact info with us, such as email or phone? I know there are many, including myself that get quite frustrated when an inquiry to an owner to rent / buy receives no response. It happens at least half the time to me......

We need to get to the root of that problem then, because "half the time" is way, way too often.

I usually won't have time to look into particular cases, but a message into support@redweek.com will create a ticket and someone from customer service will investigate.

We also have a support telephone number at 1-866-971-1737 but we're not staffing it 24/7 yet, so you may get voicemail (normal hours are 8-4 pm pacific time).

If you try either of those channels and aren't happy with the result, comment here and I'll follow-up. I'm subscribed to this thread.

Thanks,

Maurice

I didn't list with you again because I didn't feel it was a worthwhile investment. When I list on Craigslist I get responses right away. Maybe I should have used the multiple destinations on here, but i won't know. Thanks for the response. HB

Thanks for the info Maurice. When I indicated that half the time I have received no response, it includes those that have already rented out their unit that do respond. They state they already rented the unit..... but they do not let Redweek know to remove their listing from the website.

They have either already rented / sold their unit in a direct deal from a Redweek contact or from a listing made on another website. Problem is that someone looking to rent / buy that week, has no way to know the unit is gone and often wastes their time waiting for a reply from a lower price listing in the same week..... losing out on a slightly higher priced unit they would have taken that gets rented during the waiting delay.

We usually have rented in Aruba where lower priced units go quickly.

However, I had often seen already sold or rented units advertising a future week, still remaining on the Redweek website for many months after I was already told by the owner their unit was rented, already sold or that they changed their mind and will use their unit.

Suggest Redweek directly contact the owners when listings are over 60 days old and ask the owners for an update on the availability of their unit. Units no longer available can then be removed by Redweek directly.

In addition, prominently place a memo at the top of a page of rental or sale listings with a link, so a member who finds an unresponsive owner or unavailable unit can immediately report it to Redweek. You would really be doing us a service and this would really help clean up your listings of those that don't care if they inconvenience others by not removing their unit themselves.

haroldb111 wrote:

I didn't list with you again because I didn't feel it was a worthwhile investment. When I list on Craigslist I get responses right away. Maybe I should have used the multiple destinations on here, but i won't know. Thanks for the response. HB

Sure, understood.

We will investigate your posting and try to figure out why you didn't get more activity on it though, just to help us going forward.

Thanks for taking the time to write.

neilm66 wrote:

Suggest Redweek directly contact the owners when listings are over 60 days old and ask the owners for an update on the availability of their unit. Units no longer available can then be removed by Redweek directly.

In addition, prominently place a memo at the top of a page of rental or sale listings with a link, so a member who finds an unresponsive owner or unavailable unit can immediately report it to Redweek. You would really be doing us a service and this would really help clean up your listings of those that don't care if they inconvenience others by not removing their unit themselves.

We do send out monthly account summaries for members with active postings, and we do remind them to deactivate postings if no longer available, IIRC, but maybe it's not prominent enough.

I really like your idea of being able to flag a listing to indicate the owner is unresponsive or has said the unit is no longer available. That would trigger an alert for customer service to follow-up on.

I've found my listings of weeks for rent to be quite effective and successful. Certainly, the listing vehicle, in this case Redweek, cannot be blamed for the lack of response as the lessor controls most of the variables. No response to a listing could be due to a low demand week in terms of the quality of the property or season, the need for a price adjustment, etc.

With respect to no response from a lessor to an inquiry, why not just move on to another listing. The lessor paid to list the week and will suffer the natural consequences of any inaction.

Dennish....

When looking to rent, often (at least in Aruba and other higher demand locations) there are a number of similar available units at resorts, listed for the same week, but at various prices. When a potential renter contacts a "lessor", it is natural to email the lower priced owner first, before contacting the owners of higher priced units.

Where we like to stay, the week / unit type we rent, can range between $1,200 to $3,500. It is frustrating to try and contact the lower priced unit owners a couple of times, and get no response because it is already rented and not removed.

No one wants to spend an extra $1,000 + for an identical unit unless they have too, so time is allowed for the owner to contact you back. We have often lost out renting a slightly higher priced unit due to waiting for responses, then finding out weeks later it was rented prior to our inquiry, but never removed.

Often, I have noted that an already rented listing will still remain up until it reaches it's rental date and expires.

It does not "cost" the neglectful owner anything by not removing his listing after it is rented, but it does inconvenience and can cost those that take the time to inquire and then wait for a response on an already rented unit.

I have learned that the only real "reliable listings" are those that Redweek designated as "New" beside the listing on their website.

I recently rented a week on Hilton Head through a RedWeek ad. My original inquiry went unanswered for several days, and I started looking at other rentals. However, the owner of my first inquiry finally contacted me by phone, since I had included my phone # in my email to her. She had been out of town and had only just returned. So it ended well for both of us. Besides including your phone #, maybe you should check your Spam Folder in the event your computer has diverted responses.

I too am frustrated with the lack of response from owners not only ignoring offers/emails, but also not posting that the units are already rented. Many of the ads I inquired about this seasons how as available but are rented out. It's a waste of time !

Michelle,

Please Contact Us if you do not receive a response from an owner within 48 hours and we will follow up. We also recommend checking your spam folder regularly, as we find this is often the issue when responses aren't received.

If you encounter a posting that is already rented, we would appreciate you letting us know. We can then make sure the owner removes the posting to prevent further inquiries.

Thanks, Phyllis

We have been so disappointed with the communication this year. I'm chasing my tail requesting condos that are listed but already rented. PLEASE owners, go back in snd show that it's not available anymore!!

It’s like Redweek or “whom ever” wants to solely control the websites listings. I cant tell you how many times weve contacted the seller to get no response or have them say that “weeks date” isn’t available but they have other dates available, not as budget priced. Who owns Redweek? Is it used by the Resorts themself, Timeshare resale companies or Realtors just trying to buy and flip???

B S.: If you haven't received a response from an owner after 48 hours, you can contact Customer Service and we will follow up with the owner. Just click on the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of any page or email support@redweek.com. Please check your spam folder first, though, as we find this is often the issue when responses aren't received.

When you request a week from an owner who has posted a floating week, the owner must check for availability with the resort, and so the week you are requesting might not be available. Our posting policies state, however, that an owner should always post their highest price upfront.

RedWeek is not affiliated with any timeshare resorts, resale or reality company, although some may use the services of our website.

Please use the Contact Us link if you have any further questions.