Rules form when the renter is not the guest ...

[greenfrog]

Hi,

Looking for advice... I have taken a booking from someone who has just now informed me she will not be one of the guests but is paying for the holiday for her friends.

She had already signed my T&Cs. Should I now get the actual guests to sign too or is the fact that she says she's taking responsibility for them, as she's paying, enough? I'm not quite sure how to handle this one.

Thanks!

[tree-peony]

blimey that's a bit of a tough one. I think I would ask them to nominate a "lead guest" to accept responsibility and get them to sign the paperwork. Can't really see how this could be someone who's no actually going to be there tbh.

[CSE]

If she has signed then she is legaly responcible. You have her money and that is all you need..no?

[Hells Bells]

Hmm, similar to my June guests. 4 people booked and named on booking form. Lead member stays in another apartment, friend who is not named on the booking form stays alone in my apartment. He Makes dreadful mess,doesn't wash any dishes all week, doesn't put out rubbish etc, but lead member denies all knowledge of it, and says there has been a misunderstanding of the amount of cleaning that was meant to be done at the end, as the t&c's were different in the other apartment. etc etc etc. Get the names of the people staying, and ask for one of them to be responsible too.

[Mountain Goat]

I would have thought it depends on the wording of your booking form / T&Cs.

If it no longer applies to the original person, then get it re-signed by whoever is taking the rental on.

Without doing that it would be a legal minefield if anything went wrong.

MG

[A-two]

This sounds to me like a bait and switch. The person who booked the house now can't go and rather than cancel and risk you not finding another rental, has re-sold it herself to her friend. Of course you need them to sign another agreement, or at the very least co-sign the existing one. Don't you want to know who is using your property and make them responsible for it? If they have a friend who wants to take it over, fine, have them call you to sort out the details. If they haven't signed the agreement, they haven't read it, which means they don't know what your terms and conditions are. You might as well let someone walk in off the street. We don't allow people to resell their own vacations, and I don't think you should either.

[olive]

We took a booking this year from someone who simply said that it was a gift for the couple who would be staying. All my dealings were with the woman who booked, including sending the directions.
The property was left in perfect order and it turned out that the woman employs the girl who stayed as her mother's help. They were perfect guests, possibly the best ever.
The woman who paid now wants to come with her family to our larger property next year, on the basis of the guest's recommendation.
Everybody is delighted.
I agree, though, that it might not work out - what is the reason given for a third party booking, Greenfrog? My booker was up-front about it.

[Jimbo]

You might as well let someone walk in off the street. We don't allow people to resell their own vacations ...

Absolutely. It's your decision alone whether to rent to these new people or not. It's the responsibility of the original guest to ask your permission before undertaking such an arrangement. And I would make that abundantly clear.

Jim

[greenfrog]

Thanks for all the very useful input.

I think it's a group holiday, with a couple or more apartments, with one woman organising it. I don't think she was trying to hide anything but may have simply waited until she had them all booked before deciding who went where.

I'm happy to trust her on payments - and by trust I mean it will all be paid in advance!
But I was wary of having no one from the actual apartment party sign the conditions about no smoking, early departure etc.

I too have had previous bookings made by a third party but it was always made clear it was a gift or a relative booking the honeymoon and it always seemed straightforward and I was happy to accept the booker's signature. In this case, I think it's the group situation that made me a little more wary - numbers tend to dilute the notion of responsibility. So, acting on the collective wisdow culled herein , I will send the forms (minus payment details but including cancellation forfeit warnings) for the new group leader to sign too, if only to help concentrate the mind!

Thank you all!!

[uzsree]

Probably good for the others reding this thread: just let the new guest to sign the new T&C's on arrival. They won't mind and it will be enough for you.

[tansy]

The only other way I can see round it is to make the lead guest responsible for sending the sub guests terms & conditions... that she signs that she accepts that responsibility... ever tried to typ when you have a Felix double trying to tell you he wants
\hhhhhhhhhhhh[p-= dinner??????