Bait and Switch

Is it pretty safe to assume that when you make an inquiry about a rental for several different locations, they happen to all be listed by the same person, and they are all unavailable but they off you another open rental for the same week, that the original listings never were available to begin with? Then when the lister gets immediately rude with you because you are frustrated that the other rentals are not removed or marked as "rented" should you avoid dealing with that person? It has happened to me twice here and if it weren't for my one positive experience I would walk away from Redweek altogether.

Margaret -

Anytime you come across a posting that is rented, please send us the posting number and we will follow up with the owner to make sure it is removed: Contact Us

Thanks, Phyllis

Thank you Phyllis. I will do that. I believe my husband has already sent a copy of the offensive emails he sent me when I politely asked why he had 2 rentals still posted that were not available and kept sending me to another rental instead. He called me a loser. Told me to get a life. Told me I was put on his "banned user loser file", told me I was acting like a retard and that he would report me for harassment if I ever contacted him again. He also said he wouldn't "like my kind" in his unit. This was a very strong attack when I merely asked him why he kept his listings active if they weren't available. Since it as the second time I had someone with multiple unavailable listings keep trying to get me to take another rental. They had several listed but obviously were being used to bait people in because of the great price they had attached to it. It is a total waste of my time and also my money. I pay to use RedWeek and am entitled to a certain level of service. I will say that this last attack is enough to make me reconsider ever using it again.

Is there a place to give feedback on rental experiences here? I would love to give one for the person I did rent from who was awesome. She is the only reason I was looking for another rental on RedWeek to begin with.

We would love you to call that person out by name so we could all know to avoid him. I have a feeling I know who it is but I haven't dealt with that person in over a year so I could be wrong.

Tracey, I have had the same experience as Margaret. I have never had a so good experience with a (brokers-renting) and doing a bait and switch. You can see the signs from the listing, many different units all advertised at super low prices. The dates available are from today thru the end of the year. Beware. I have never had a problem renting directly from a owner.

I have been informed that the person and his listings have been removed from RedWeek and that other have complained about him also. Not sure if I need to mention a name now that it has been taken care of. I did want to mention that the name showing on the listings was a woman's name and the person replying to me was a man. I appreciate that RedWeek customer service took care of this. Thank you to them.

I am not sure if the person was a broker or not. Interestingly, the only rental I have done so far since joining here a few months ago was from a broker and it was an awesome experience. I have to figure out how to give her a rating on this site.

paulp154 wrote:

Tracey, I have had the same experience as Margaret. I have never had a so good experience with a (brokers-renting) and doing a bait and switch. You can see the signs from the listing, many different units all advertised at super low prices. The dates available are from today thru the end of the year. Beware. I have never had a problem renting directly from a owner.

I have rented multiple times for more than 10 years and never had a problem renting directly from a owner.

When I tried to rent it from a broker ... of course there was a "Bait and Switch", they wanted the money upfront. Then found out after I gave them the money ... I would not know if I really got the unit for a few weeks ... ah yea, the unit I was renting was not put in my name until just before I got there.

Good for you Margaret having a good experience with a broker, your experience should be the standard.

My advise is to check other "Timeshare Discussion Forums»Buying, Renting, and Selling Timeshares»" posting for their feedbacks to be sure or brokers and owners.

I have only seen problems from renters renting thru a broker and not directly with the owner. . . . and recently ... beware.