Villarenters.com/Rentalsystems.com

[Liane Goodlife France]

Hi, I have been with these guys for over a year now, this year I have had one 'booking/enquiry'. Before I accept the booking, anyone else used them? They take the booking and take 2%. Before I hand over my bank details for them to pay me when they get paid etc., want to make sure.

[Holiday Almeria]

Don't they take 10% if the booking is their referral? I thought the 2% charge was for proceesing the credit cards if it was your own booking.

Mark

[LaVilleauTady]

And the rest!

We took a booking through them earlier this year for a £426 rental.

They charged us 10% commission, plus £11.50 to 'process' the deposit refund!

Total charges = £49.01 commission plus £11.50 processing charge = £60.51. That's 14% of the booking value.

If that wasn't enough, they even charged the renter a fee to process their security deposit. I know because they emailed them to complain and they sent the complaint to us (these were business people who know how credit card payments work and say the credit card company don't charge fees on a refund).

It looks like they are pricing themselves out of the market to me. Their fees have to be weighed against the likelihood of obtaining a bookking from another source.

[LPC]

We have been using Villarenters/Rental Systems for over a year and a half. Of course it costs to use them, but they do everything for you. They take the deposit, send reminders about balance due, take the balance, take security deposit (or arrange waiver cover), return security deposit, and finally (at the end of the let, NB!) you can get a bank transfer for the sum due to you. They also send out directions/arrival instructions before the let and ask/collect reviews after the let.

Costs are in our view reasonable: only 2% if it is your own booking (less than Paypal) and 10% if they have found your client for you. The 2%/10% includes the card processing fee and transfer to your bank. Regarding security deposit, Rental Systems have become greedier recently, requiring a charge to the owner for taking/returning the deposit. We don't like this, but have avoided it by going for the "damage waiver" option. That way we don't pay the £10 fee normally charged. The customer has to pay a £25 non-returnable damage waiver fee (it used to be a lot less but RS have increased the amount TWICE!), but does not have to worry about paying a large security deposit or having unspecified amounts deducted for possibly disputed damages/losses. In the event of a claim for damages - we have never claimed yet! - RS will pay direct in the case of damages waiver, without any argument with the renter. Yes, the situation about security deposit/damage waiver was better a year ago and in general RS are getting greedier; e.g. they even charge a £50 fee to register new owners. Luckily we joined when it was free! Nonetheless, we find it convenient to have all the booking/admin/finances dealt with by them and as the majority of the bookings are our own we only pay 2% - hard to beat that for processing card payments! We're staying with them for processing until we find a better deal - which we haven't!

[LPC]

PS to the above. The fee for security deposit should be £10, not £11.50. However, I guess LaVilleauTady was charged VAT on the fee as s/he lives in the UK. Owners outside the UK should not be charged VAT - if you have been charged, complain!

[Mountain Goat]

2% sounds good.

How long do they take to pay the owner?

MG

[LPC]

As I said above, you must wait until the letting has ended (i.e. departure day) before you can request a direct bank transfer. It is possible to ask for early payment, but RS make an extra charge for that, so we have never tried! Once you have requested the bank transfer (online) it comes through within 5 days. This should become quicker with the change from CHAPS transfer to the new fast transfers being implemented by the banks. So if you are willing to wait for your money until the end of the let, it is a good deal. If not, then RS may not be for you. We just like everything being automated (even instant confirmation and automatic updating of calendar). So in principle all we do is point people from our website, if they go to the "price and availability" page, to the RS booking system. Thereafter, all finances and admin is dealt with by their computer automatically. All we do is concentrate on preparing for the punters and keeping them happy! This in turn we hope will bring in yet more positive independent reviews (RS awards stars from one to five).

The one thing of which we disapprove is that RS have introduced a £50 joining fee. Thank goodness we joined for free before they started that! In our book, that seems a bit excessive, as they make money otherwise in charges to owners and punters. Still, as I said, it suits us....But that doesn't mean it would suit everyone, of course.

[Mountain Goat]

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

I can see the attraction of having it 'automated' but somehow it wouldn't suit us, or our guests. I feel it depersonalises the whole thing.

Plus handling options for paying in 3 currencies, and all their different requests just wouldn't work for us.

Having said that, I really can see the advantages.

MG

[Holiday Almeria]

Forgot to mention earlier, they also charge the guest a booking fee of about £8.25.

Mark

[Mountain Goat]

Mmm, can't see that working for our punters unless we refunded them.

MG

[Hells Bells]

By the time all these extras (to both owner and guest) are added up, is it really cheaper than Paypal? I don't have sufficient cashflow to wait forever to get the money either.

[la vache!]

Nonetheless, we find it convenient to have all the booking/admin/finances dealt with by them and as the majority of the bookings are our own we only pay 2% - hard to beat that for processing card payments! We're staying with them for processing until we find a better deal - which we haven't!

Hmmm, I pay 0,5% for all my credit card payments (which constitute 99% of my bookings), it takes seconds to send out the email link for secure payment so not sure how they are earning their 2%.

[Hells Bells]

I do wish I could get my bank to do that LV.

[Mountain Goat]

I'd kill to know the answer about the 0.5%, LV, as it doesn't bear any relationship to any deal that I know of with the c/card providers. From their point of view I can't see it's worth the hassle of the paperwork admin.

Is it only for businesses in France? Is there a heavy monthly fee?

MG

[la vache!]

I'd kill to know the answer about the 0.5%, LV, as it doesn't bear any relationship to any deal that I know of with the c/card providers. From their point of view I can't see it's worth the hassle of the paperwork admin.

Is it only for businesses in France? Is there a heavy monthly fee?

MG

There is an annual fee, 185€, but it is still a lot cheaper than paying 2% on every transaction for me.
I've banged on about the company before in several other threads in the past and yes, it can only be used by people with French business banks accounts.