Offer Confusion w/ Timeshare Store

[Thumper4me]

I made an offer on a small OKW contract. After phoning back later the same evening, I was informed that I had the first and highest bid on the contract but the owner had not returned their phone call.

Fast forward to the following day. The contact gets included in the mass mailing and by 1:00pm, the contract shows as "sale pending" on The Timeshare Store's website. I call them to find out that someone else put in an offer at the higher original asking price. I was told politely to keep looking for anything else that might interest me.

Is this standard operating procedure? I would have thought since I was the first to offer, I would at least have the option to match the higher bid. Am I asking too much? I understand that The Timeshare Store is trying to make thier money but the commission difference amounted to $30.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by Thumper4me

I made an offer on a small OKW contract. After phoning back later the same evening, I was informed that I had the first and highest bid on the contract but the owner had not returned their phone call.

Fast forward to the following day. The contact gets included in the mass mailing and by 1:00pm, the contract shows as "sale pending" on The Timeshare Store's website. I call them to find out that someone else put in an offer at the higher original asking price. I was told politely to keep looking for anything else that might interest me.

Is this standard operating procedure? I would have thought since I was the first to offer, I would at least have the option to match the higher bid. Am I asking too much? I understand that The Timeshare Store is trying to make thier money but the commission difference amounted to $30.

They are required to present all offers until there is an agreement. I wouldn't think you'd have the right to match an offer but they might have asked you if you wanted to offer more. I don't think you have anything to be upset with them about.

[Thumper4me]

My offer was never "presented". That is my issue.

I do understand what you are saying. I am a current owner. So, when the time comes for me to sell off some of my points, I will just wait a few days before returning any phone calls to The Timeshare Store in the hopes that more - higher - offers have come in. Good to know for future reference.

[undchefreak]

Were you told that it was not presented? It appears that they contacted the seller, but as you've mentioned, the seller didn't contact them back, so they had no way of knowing if the seller would accept your offer, so it couldn't go sale pending.

I recently bid on a small contract (different one, I promise ) and as soon as I said I would pay asking, they marked it sale pending. Apparently there's no presentation required in that case.

In this business, if someone offers full price, you take it. I don't think I would have been comfortable being asked if I want to raise my bid. I would feel "squeezed" in that case.

[Brian Noble]

My offer was never "presented".

I don't think you know that.

[bighoo93]

Originally Posted by Thumper4me

My offer was never "presented". That is my issue.

I do understand what you are saying. I am a current owner. So, when the time comes for me to sell off some of my points, I will just wait a few days before returning any phone calls to The Timeshare Store in the hopes that more - higher - offers have come in. Good to know for future reference.

I find the whole process to be a little less clean than a typical real estate deal, like if you were buying or selling a home. For example, I wouldn't consider an offer presented without some indication of intent to purchase. Otherwise, its just a fishing expedition. But in timeshare resale, this seems to be the norm. You make verbal offers with nothing to back them up, then if the other party agrees, you just hope the everyone is sincere until documents are signed and money is put up.

Similarly, if I'm making an offer, I expect that to be presented, evaluated and accepted/rejected/countered. If the seller is planning to collect all offers and make a decision about the best one at a certain time, then I would like to know that, and I will make my offer accordingly. I don't participate when a seller holds my offer and shops it. But again, that kind of thing seems to be the norm for timeshare resales.

I've even heard of the following scenario: a buyer inquires about a particular resale contract listing for $X per point, and the agent indicates that a deal to sell at $X-5 fell through when the buyer backed out. This told the buyer, for free, that the seller will accept at minimum $X-5 for the contract. That isn't information that I would have wanted my listing agent handing out. But again, this is the kind of thing that seems to happen in timeshare resale. It isn't the clean and open market like most real estate deals people are used to.

[DizBub]

Originally Posted by Dean

They are required to present all offers until there is an agreement. I wouldn't think you'd have the right to match an offer but they might have asked you if you wanted to offer more. I don't think you have anything to be upset with them about.

I can see what you are saying but if that had happened to me I would be upset too. It doesn't seem to be good business practice.

Hopefully OP will find an even better contract for her needs.

[Thumper4me]

Thanks DixBub. I was upset that I never received a call. The last thing I knew was that my offer was being presented ...the next thing I know, it is sold to someone else for the asking price.

Anyway, after having Disney exercise it's ROFR on my last offer about a month ago, I think I am done looking. The "DVC Gods" have spoken and said that I don't need anymore points.

I have decided to put this money (that is obviously burning a whole in my pocket) on my home as an additional principal payment. I will have my home paid off before I know it.

[GOOFY D]

Originally Posted by Thumper4me

Thanks DixBub. I was upset that I never received a call. The last thing I knew was that my offer was being presented ...the next thing I know, it is sold to someone else for the asking price.

Anyway, after having Disney exercise it's ROFR on my last offer about a month ago, I think I am done looking. The "DVC Gods" have spoken and said that I don't need anymore points.

I have decided to put this money (that is obviously burning a whole in my pocket) on my home as an additional principal payment. I will have my home paid off before I know it.

I understand the frustration, but if someone paid asking price, I can see why no other offers were followed up on. A courtesy call to let you know would have been nice though. I had a similar situation when I placed offer, but at least I got a call telling me someone paid asking price.

[Thumper4me]

GOOFY D,
It only bothered me because I was told I was the first to offer and had the highest offer at that point - 8pm. I would have expected the offer to be presented to the owner and get a response from the owner. My bid was placed at 9:30am.

[tjkraz]

I can understand the frustration but I think that's the risk assumed when you offer less than asking.

Look at it from the seller's perspective. They probably received multiple offers at one time (whenever they opened email, listened to voice mail, etc.) Yours was for less than asking and another apparently met the asking price.

If you were the seller, would you feel obligated to open a dialogue with the person offering less just because the time stamp on the email may be earlier? What if that dialogue goes nowhere and in the meantime, the other potential buyer withdraws the offer?

The happens with real estate all the time. If a seller gets multiple offers within a short period, they will happily accept the one which meets asking price.

I don't think you have any quarrels with TTS. As long as they presented your offer, it's in the hands of the seller. The seller has no obligation to negotiate.

If the seller had responded to your offer more promptly it may have given you the opportunity to haggle. But that didn't happen. The seller took the path of least resistance.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by Thumper4me

My offer was never "presented". That is my issue.

I do understand what you are saying. I am a current owner. So, when the time comes for me to sell off some of my points, I will just wait a few days before returning any phone calls to The Timeshare Store in the hopes that more - higher - offers have come in. Good to know for future reference.

If they had the higher offer by the time they talked to the seller, I wouldn't have expected it to be presented. It sounds like they made an effort to contact the seller and I'm assuming they had the higher offer in hand by the time they were able to connect. I'm not sure what TSS policy is when this situation arises but I'd bet they have one and that it's either to allow a bidding war between the involved parties or to simply present the highest bid and let the seller know there were other bids in a generic statement. It's also possible they told the owner that the listing hadn't gone out in the email and they elected to wait and see if they got a higher offer prior to making a decision. Maybe they'll post on this thread regarding that issue though I'm sure they won't get too specific to avoid personal references without permission. Regardless, I still see no reason to be upset with them.

[BWV Dreamin]

It seems that there is a trend here with TSS that I don't see with other brokers. I submitted an offer over the summer on a small contract through TSS. It was a low offer. They said they would submit the offer right away. A day later I still didn't hear from them. I called them and they told me a higher offer was accepted. That is fine, but what I didn't like is that I was never notified that my offer was declined. Also, how long did they sit on the offer? If it was declined right away I should have had an opportunity to counter.

So I do see the OP's concern and I know other brokers do not do business that way. FWIW, I will never buy or sell from them again.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by BWV Dreamin

It seems that there is a trend here with TSS that I don't see with other brokers. I submitted an offer over the summer on a small contract through TSS. It was a low offer. They said they would submit the offer right away. A day later I still didn't hear from them. I called them and they told me a higher offer was accepted. That is fine, but what I didn't like is that I was never notified that my offer was declined. Also, how long did they sit on the offer? If it was declined right away I should have had an opportunity to counter.

So I do see the OP's concern and I know other brokers do not do business that way. FWIW, I will never buy or sell from them again.

As I've said before, it is my opinion that the major resale companies drive prices as much (more in some cases) than does DVD and retail. Some companies are more receptive to presenting borderline or low offers than others. Not right or wrong, just the way it is.

[tjkraz]

Originally Posted by BWV Dreamin

...but what I didn't like is that I was never notified that my offer was declined.

I agree...you should have been notified that the offer was declined. If it was only a day later, perhaps the agent was busy and simply had not gotten to it yet. But some reasonable response would seem to be warranted.

Also, how long did they sit on the offer? If it was declined right away I should have had an opportunity to counter.

Well, if the seller got their asking price in short order, it's a moot point. As soon as someone comes to the table with an offer for full asking, the contract is sold as far as I'm concerned.

Whether you're selling a $300K house or a small $5K DVC points contract, the asking price exists for a reason. As a seller, I would have zero interest in dickering with someone who offered less than asking if I also received an offer for full asking. The timing of the offers is irrelevant.