!!! PLEASE READ!!! Important News Regarding Swaps & Shares!!!

[KATIESMOMMY]

If you do the math, it is a moneymaker. The sticky states its $20 for a week.

Again, assuming all 5 are rented out, you have $100 times 52 weeks per year, is $5,200.00

IF I had purchased one where the seat backs were broken and the forks too, I think I'd be calling instep and demanding a replacement due to manufacturer's defect. I'm sorry, strollers are really hard to break. I've had a Maclaren that my son was way too heavy for. I gave it away to a co-worker 2 months ago. I had every intention on renting a double from Disney, until I saw they have "upgraded" them (actually looks like a downgrade to me), so my husband said to go and spend another $100+ on another Maclaren, with a higher weight limit.

I'm not against swaps either, provided they are free. BUT when someone wants me to paypal their personal account, I've got a problem, show me the money trail, I am a skeptic, no way do I believe that no one is making a profit, sorry, it's just my opinion, like it or not.

The sticky on the RC thread states

Each user will only be asked to pay $20.00 for the entire time they will be using the stroller.

The cost was $10 till about a month ago.
Yes, Parkers*momma collected to money for the swap. Someone has to handle it just like any type of volunteer type thing.
Assuming all five are swapped out is also a reach, the stroller was not always swapped, and again, sometimes the length was way more than a week.
As far as strollers not breaking like that, if you stuff too large of kids in it, let them stand on the backboard of it ( pics showed a footprint!) and ram it into curbs because you have no regard for something that you are borrowing, they do get broke. As I said prior, this was reported by the swappers, not something Parkers*momma could have made up!! As far as bank statements, no, we never were shown one but no one ever asked either. It is not rocket science to figure out from the initial posting how much was contributed to the fund and then it was reported on how much the parts were each which was easy to check.

When we were there in Dec the new strollers are WDW were just awful. We rented a single because our stroller was not delivered from the plane yet and my 27 lb 2yr old barely fit in it, the doubles were not much bigger. They honestly were just awful.

I do want to say that I understand your thoughts, but as someone who has been in the RC thread for a few months now, it seems unbelievable and I see where you can think someone is making bank till you see all the she went through to keep this going for all those people and all the money that has been spent....

 

[DVCBELLE]

If members are not telling Member services that they rented the points and therefore the renter gets member perks and violating the contract they made with Disney to tell them if it is a guest or renter.

When you rent points you do not receive DVC member perks:

from the DIS rental board:



Renter and guests of member are the same thing in Disney's eyes and they have no way of knowing and no need to know who is going to be staying "for free" and who the member decides to charge. When a reservation is made under a name that is not on the contract DVC knows it's not the member........

yes - and non-members are not supposed to get member perks....but sometimes they do...members are supposed to tell Member services when they rented the points - I don't know if guests are supposed to get perks or not - my MIL did not last time she went with us and was in a different room - although she did get a room upgrade and I didn't

here is a thread that explains it...

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2125332&highlight=member+perks+rent

I am not sure what you don't agree with me about...

the official policy is that DVC renters don't get member perks..are you disagreeing with that?

Sorry - somehow I am having a disconnect on what you are trying to say....and it isn't really what this thread is about...

 

[bumbershoot]

If members are not telling Member services that they rented the points and therefore the renter gets member perks and violating the contract they made with Disney to tell them if it is a guest or renter.

She didn't say that members and renters are treated the same, she said *guests* of owners and renters are. That MS doesn't know who is a friend of the owner or not.

Guests of DVC members and "Renters" are not treated differently since DVC has no way of knowing who knows the member and who does not.

As for the charges - again I have no clue what you are talking about. I have brought guests every single trip sincve we became members (4 different rooms this last trip in 3 different DVC resorts) and not once have they had charges against me because of something associated with a reservation I have made for my guests. Why would they even charge me? They would be charging the actual occupant of the room for any services they have used.

There has been at least one recent thread on the DVC boards about an owner having their account frozen because a guest or renter had outstanding charges that they hadn't paid. The owner was held accountable b/c there was something wrong with the CC that had been put down on the room (I think they'd had it stolen while on vacation?). The owner had to make it right and deal with the renter.

Of course that would happen with a friend of an owner too, if the friend didn't pay Disney.



I think this decision is a bummer. The wording in the photopass info says you can't sell the pictures for a profit, and has nothing against people "going in" on it together. Heck, I once basically told the photopass CM (the ones working customer service about my account, not the photographer) that I had shared with someone, and they had absolutely no problem with it.

If it hadn't been for that Share, I would never have realized the extreme value of the photopass CD. I bought a CD on my own on the next trip, and we will again (of course, it's only 59.95 plus shipping at DLR, or the same cost plus a few 5x7 prints if you don't want to edit the pix and want it in your hands to take home with you). All courtesy of the Share.

Never did a fridge or stroller swap, and doubt I would, but I certainly wasn't bothered by the idea of money changing hands or of the Budget board pages being full of swaps! I skim along until I see something interesting, open in a new tab, skim more, open another, etc etc. Uninteresting (to me) threads don't bother me, and there are plenty of them out there, swaps or not!

And being a photopass share defender, and a curious person, I can tell you that the ONLY absolute scam that I saw happen in the last 2 or 3 years was, actually, taken care of quickly by another Dis'er, was assisted by the photopass CMs who were told what happened (they reinstated pictures and sent out another CD as a copy, I believe, of the original), and that women was scamming people in various ways ALL over the internet. That's the only one I've seen a full story about (not just panicky "where's my CD" threads that never have a resolution on the boards, or turn out to be a misunderstanding). One big problem, that was resolved positively, in 3 years.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I bought a nice Double stroller back when my older two kids were 2 and 4 ... when we got there is was only 2 months old. When we left - it was the wrose thin I ever did to that stroller... 9 days of use and loading on buses, in resort rooms, shops and wear was a big factor - after that we never took our own stroller again!

If you think they are makin money at it why don't you start one and find out.
If you think they are making so MUCH money - do it.

Again, then you must have bought a junky stroller because ours has been on 8 trips to WDW including being gate checked each time. We have exceeded the weight in it more times than I care to think about. We have also traveled to many more places with it. We also used it almost daily for quite some time.
Aside from the tires being worn, the thing is fine.

I do think they are making quite a bit from them. The math is simple and you cannot convince me that a $400 stroller breaks after 8-10 uses. The "rental" cost of it would not cover the cost of the stroller! Sorry but it is fairly obvious that there is a profit there.

As for me starting a swap? Well, I'd rather swap hamburger buns. I can carry those in a fanny pack.

 

[Mom2Nick]

yes - and non-members are not supposed to get member perks....but sometimes they do...members are supposed to tell Member services when they rented the points - I don't know if guests are supposed to get perks or not - my MIL did not last time she went with us and was in a different room - although she did get a room upgrade and I didn't

here is a thread that explains it...

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2125332&highlight=member+perks+rent

I am not sure what you don't agree with me about...

the official policy is that DVC renters don't get member perks..are you disagreeing with that?

And I am not sure what you don't agree with me about.

I have not said anything about perks.

I am simply telling you that Disney doesn't have to do any extra work when it comes to renters because they are treated just like any other guest of a member. Disney has no need to know who is a renter.

 

[kadesha]

Those strollers being used on a daily basis don't last long at all!!! I know from experience. The swap I was in last year had been going on about 2 months when it was my turn to get the stroller. I couldn't believe how worn it was. It didn't last much longer after that. Common sense would tell you that--it's being pushed daily--all day! Folded up and unfolded several times a day. The weight limits are being seriously pushed because at Disney bigger kids use strollers. They really don't last long.

 

[jenseib]

Strap it to the roof... problem solved .

Come on, Get real.

 

[ftballfan7]

While I can understand why the swaps were closed...I'm sure the DIS doesn't want the liability...and even if something DIDN'T happen, my guess is the DIS saw how large these swaps have become and doesn't want to be slapped with a liability in the future.

I would think that the DIS is allowing the DVC rental points board to stay up because Disney approves the rental of points...however, using a stroller swap, fridge swap, photopass, etc...in Disney's eyes, is a way of cheating the system.

For what it's worth, if you are desperate for a swap, msmayor is right....Google can be your very best friend.

I'm not sure where you get your information in regard to disney seeing these swaps as cheating the system. I have personally spoken to the supervisor for one of the resorts luggage services about a fridge swap. Not only was he very helpful, but said what a great idea the swaps are. It's a little something called customer service, something that Disney is usually very good at. As for the photopass sharing, I haven't really explored haw they are set up. I'm unsure of the legality of them.

 

[parkers*momma]

I could and would explain all of this but why? You have already formed an opinion of me without even knowing me. Truly sad because we could have been friends. I am amazed how someone/anyone can condemn someone without knowing them or the facts. HAHAHA I guess it's the same thing that happens to ppl when a news station reports what they THINK is the truth and later say "ooops my bad". Many innocent ppl have been condemned and convicted over what they "thought" was the truth.



HEY EVERYONE!!! GUESS WHAT!! The swap is going to continue EVEN with the new rules that is how much this swap means to all the ppl in it!!!

 

[JLKennedy]

Again, then you must have bought a junky stroller because ours has been on 8 trips to WDW including being gate checked each time. We have exceeded the weight in it more times than I care to think about. We have also traveled to many more places with it. We also used it almost daily for quite some time.
Aside from the tires being worn, the thing is fine.

I do think they are making quite a bit from them. The math is simple and you cannot convince me that a $400 stroller breaks after 8-10 uses. The "rental" cost of it would not cover the cost of the stroller! Sorry but it is fairly obvious that there is a profit there.

As for me starting a swap? Well, I'd rather swap hamburger buns. I can carry those in a fanny pack.

I'm with you on that! My Maclaren I've used everyday for 2 years and it is still in great shape, so much my co-worker wanted to give me money for it, but I told her no, when I ask if you WANT something, I'm not looking for money, if I asked if you wanted to BUY, well that's different. My Mac also has been gate checked 6 times?

Those strollers being used on a daily basis don't last long at all!!! I know from experience. The swap I was in last year had been going on about 2 months when it was my turn to get the stroller. I couldn't believe how worn it was. It didn't last much longer after that. Common sense would tell you that--it's being pushed daily--all day! Folded up and unfolded several times a day. The weight limits are being seriously pushed because at Disney bigger kids use strollers. They really don't last long.

My 4 year old is pushing 4ft tall and 60 pounds, he wears a stroller down, but again, my Mac (which is not strong plastic like the jogger) has lasted me at least 730 days, 16 of which at Disney.

We will all agree to disagree I guess.

 

[princessmom29]

This is not a debate, and the arguments and insults need to stop.

For as long as I've been on the DISboards, we've had a healthy DVC forum. That is the ONLY place on the DISboards that renting/selling/financial transactions are permitted.

The swaps here began as no-charge, pass-it-along arrangements. They grew into "let's go in together and buy this stroller/fridge/whatever." The dollar amounts at first were nominal and there were not a lot of participants, and it pretty much flew under our radar.

Recently, there have been a LOT more swaps, and a lot of money seems to be changing hands. The rules for the swaps look like business contracts, and some of the swaps go bad. The merchandise goes missing or is never delivered, participants disappear and the handoffs don't happen, or the amounts of money collected look suspiciously large.

There is a lot of opportunity for fraud, and there are enough problems and complaints that we can no longer ignore what's happening here. Rules on the DISboards have always prohibiting buying/selling or otherwise doing business on our forums (with the notable exception of our DVC Rent/Trade forums). These rules will be enforced.

This decision has nothing at all to do with Disney or any policies or communications from Disney.

Again, swaps are fine. Monetary transactions are not.

No more fighting, insulting or attacks on other posters here, please.

I would still like a REAL explination as to why DVC gets to be an exception and no one else does. There is a lot more money and risk involved there than in a ten dollar stroller swap. What makes DVC so special that they get to d owhat no one else is allowed to do, and for much higher stakes. It just does not make sense to me that the only exception to the rule should be the one that has the most potental to go horribly wrong and needs to be the most closely watched and policed. If you guys are going to allow this service to DVC owners to promote their product and make money on the deal. I feel that the same courtesy should be extended to people who are only trying to help one another. I have said before and i will say agian the the right thing to do here would to be to set up a section for swaps the is policed like the DVC board. Otherwise you are giving one group special treatment, and I just don't feel that this is fair.
To be completely honest I feel like people with more money and influence (DVC owners) are being allowed to dictate policy here. I realize this is a generalization, but I feel like it is a fairly valid one. It is not fair that they get to do something the people on a buget are denyed just because they own DVC.

 

[parkers*momma]

I'm posting one last time and ignoring this thread. Let ppl think what they must about me...I don't DIS for approval or to become valid as a person. I come to DIS because I love Disney, love DISBOARDS, and the friends I have made along the way.

Have fun, it's all good if you don't read it.

Have a magical day!

 

[KATIESMOMMY]

I would still like a REAL explination as to why DVC gets to be an exception and no one else does. There is a lot more money and risk involved there than in a ten dollar stroller swap. What makes DVC so special that they get to d owhat no one else is allowed to do, and for much higher stakes. It just does not make sense to me that the only exception to the rule should be the one that has the most potental to go horribly wrong and needs to be the most closely watched and policed. If you guys are going to allow this service to DVC owners to promote their product and make money on the deal. I feel that the same courtesy should be extended to people who are only trying to help one another. I have said before and i will say agian the the right thing to do here would to be to set up a section for swaps the is policed like the DVC board. Otherwise you are giving one group special treatment, and I just don't feel that this is fair.
To be completely honest I feel like people with more money and influence (DVC owners) are being allowed to dictate policy here. I realize this is a generalization, but I feel like it is a fairly valid one. It is not fair that they get to do something the people on a buget are denyed just because they own DVC.

I totally agree, but, it is their website and they can choose to allow what they want to allow no matter how much it sucks for those of us on the non-DVC end. I love the Disboards and would be lost without it, but my opinion is the same as yours.
They are allowing the free stroller swaps to continue though, so that is one blessing.

 

[princessmorgan]

I'm posting one last time and ignoring this thread. Let ppl think what they must about me...I don't DIS for approval or to become valid as a person. I come to DIS because I love Disney, love DISBOARDS, and the friends I have made along the way.

Have fun, it's all good if you don't read it.

Have a magical day!

Don't let the bullies on here get you down! You are very appreciated by the people in your swap! We know you are not making a profit and are thankful for all your hard work! Karma will take care of the rest of the people who can't be civilized on here.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

It really is sad that there are people accusing others of making money off a stroller. Why do you care so much? You obviously don't read the swap threads, you dont know what's going on, you dont care to know, until now. so why does it matter so much to you? No one is obligated to report the money to anyone. If I pay $10.00 for a week for a stroller, i really don't care how much, if any, money the swap leader makes. I dont care so why should you when you're not even part of a swap? If so many people thought it was wrong, then they would stop paying money. If people were getting scammed, word would get out fast and it would stop, but the people that swap are passionate about it. We go into it knowing the rules, knowing things might not work out, we take our chances. That is all known up front. We ultimately are planning to get something we need much cheaper than we could otherwise. We also know that there might be a chance that it could get lost or damaged before it's our turn. No one forces anyone to join. If you feel that something is not right, then don't join. We have trust in other. It just happened with the fridge swap i was in. The fridge got lost. It happens. I planned to make do some other way. But because there are some awesome Diser's out there, someone was good enough to email me and let me know that i could be part of their swap if I wanted to.
This is a budget board, we are here to get tips and offer advice and help to each other in a rather unpleasant economic world. I dont understand why people get so upset about people wanting to help out each other. Isn't that what we all want out of this country is to help each other, not turn on each other at such trying times.
I commend the swap leaders for all their hard work. For making sure that things are fixed and/or replaced in a timely matter. I appreciate all your hard work. I couldn't do it.

Parker's Momma, You rule!!!

 

[Dancemom03]

Again, then you must have bought a junky stroller because ours has been on 8 trips to WDW including being gate checked each time. We have exceeded the weight in it more times than I care to think about. We have also traveled to many more places with it. We also used it almost daily for quite some time.
Aside from the tires being worn, the thing is fine.

I keep seeing this opinion but I don't think you're thinking it through. This is not your personal stroller which is taken care of. It's a stroller which is often used and abused by folks who could care less b/c it doesn't belong to them. Swap strollers get daily use - and it's hard use - for maybe 16 hrs a day/7 days a week. I don't think you can compare the wear and tear of being used every day by kids who are larger than your standard stroller rider, crammed onto buses, folded forcibly or improperly by those rushed at the bus stop or not familar with the way it works, used to carry two or three kids at a time b/c parents are tired and the argument of "why does she get to ride if I can't?" doesn't seem worth fighting at the end of the day, ect.

Your 8 years of wdw trips is likely equivelent to just 2 months on a stroller swap - if that. I know I took a brand-new-just-out-of-the-box mac quest to wdw one summer for three weeks and had to exchange it at BRU when we returned because the wheel had started to wobble and the rain shield's reinforced rivet-like hole came out - and I am not a careless person. I still use a mac quest and love it but there's no doubt that strollers aren't made to take the kind of use that wdw provides day after day without developing some problems.

When something is yours, you take care of it. Sadly some people don't feel the same way about things that aren't theirs, as it costs them little or nothing so is perceived as not valuable enough to treat well.

FTR - I've never participated in a stroller swap but I appreciate their availability for those who do. I've sent money to join photopass shares but in the end cancelled the trips and lost my share of the cost. It didn't bother me - would have been silly to ask for a refund, though I'm sure some might - in the end though it's not the other members fault that DH's vacation was cancelled at the last minute. I was just grateful that I hadn't paid for the entire thing by myself b/c that would have been a much greater loss.

I understand the board policy and it won't affect me greatly but I'm sad for those who will no longer have the choice to make that decision for themselves.

I also agree with PPs that it should be enforced unilaterally across all forums - not just this one.

 

[WebmasterKathy]

ENOUGH!

This is not a debate about DVC. This is not a thread to accuse any swap coordinator of wrongdoing. And this is not a thread to argue with each other.

This thread was to inform everyone that we WILL be enforcing our guidelines regarding not allowing swaps for money.

Any further rude or argumentative posts will result in personal infractions, and I know that no one wants that.

If anyone has questions about this policy, please address them to the webmasters and the owner of this site at admin@wdwinfo.com.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Looks like we're just beating a dead horse now folks. This thread was started to inform everyone of the rules and to answer any questions that you might have. Let's try to keep it to Q&A only. There's really no need to go off on tangents.

 

[ftballfan7]

Because it is written by Disney it is allowed. Show me IN WRITING by Disney that any of these swaps are allowed.

I think you are missing the point here. The stated reason for these swaps being disallowed is that money changing hands is against dis-board policy. that is the only reason given by the moderator. Whether or not disney allows it is not part of the reason given.

 

[Karenj2]

The bolding below is mine...

Oh man and I was just about to start a Refillable mug swap..

Come on - people are acting like this is the end of the world or their entire vacation is ruined. Disboards has the right to set rules and even decide when they want to enforce them or turn a blind eye - if you don't like it - go somewhere else. ....

I agree. (Love the 1st sentence!)

You're right. It is their decision to decide what they will and will not allow.
...
Personally, I don't care one way or the other. I only got involved in this discussion/argument because some of the anti swappers got so nasty and insulting and turned the thread into an attack on swappers, rather than a discussion about why swap threads should or shouldn't be allowed on the DIS.

The Anti-Swappers moniker cracks me up!

But still...the unsanswered question remains...why allow the DVC Points Rental (money changing hands...thousands) and not allow the swaps ($10-$20-$30 changing hands).
Speed

I would still like a REAL explanation as to why DVC gets to be an exception and no one else does.

Again, it doesn't matter if your unsatisfied with the reason why - the owners of this site have made a decision.

This is not a debate, and the arguments and insults need to stop.
...

No more fighting, insulting or attacks on other posters here, please.

Thank you. I debated being a webmaster for a while - decided I didn't want to deal with all the nit-picking. (And to preempt those that might get annoyed at that comment - I'm not talking about here!!)

The decision has been made - I doubt any amount of criticizing it, or complaining about the unfairness of it, or begging for sub-boards will change the webmaster's mind... If you're that adamant about having a swap, if you read through all 23+ pages you'll find that people have created Yahoo groups, or you can go to the places people mentioned that will rent strollers offsite, etc.