Bird Flu in Turkey

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
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enid
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Post by enid »

Firstly my heartfelt sympathy - as you say things can happen beyond our control to influence clients.

I too would hold firm - give them the latest info and offer to refund deposit if you sell those weeks - this offer is included in our contract but even then we take a commission from the original deposit.

Good luck and courage as they say here.
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debk
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Post by debk »

RE: double refunds

I've only had two cancellations for sudden health problems (both had travel insurance) and both times I had to write a simple email reiterating our policy and the pertinent details (amount of deposit, etc) as defined in the Rental Agreement. I sent these to the guest, not the insurance company.

If someone was going to double-dip (receive funds from the insurer and a refund from us due to re-renting) I think we would know because we had written the aforementioned email... but I never thought about this before.

Our policy is to refund if we re-rent, less a €200 admin fee, and our agreement obligates us to do so. Perhaps we should always get contact info for the insurer and let them know about any refund which comes later? Or do we just let the guest deal with this themselves? (I'm not their mother!)

I just like to give everyone a fair deal. Thoughts?
debk
alexia s.
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Post by alexia s. »

Debk,
"Perhaps we should always get contact info for the insurer"
Which insurer? You can have more than one. Impossible to know which insurer pays out; easy to provide a leter from one insurer saying they don't cover this claim. You can't possibly police this, even if you want to.
Best,
Alexia.
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debk
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Post by debk »

Lawsy, I don't want to police this. I was just curious about how others might view such a situation. (following up on a prior comment here)

Financially, it doesn't matter to me because I'm going to refund one way or another.

I suppose the insurer should tell us directly if they want to be contacted about future refunds. In fact, that is probably the answer to my original question.

Sorry for the tangent, Hanorah!
debk
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Hanorah
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Post by Hanorah »

Thanks for the advice everyone. The good news re Turkey is that the fatality rate seems far lower than in Asia which is good news. They are not sure why this is yet but it could be that with early treatment this flu is not as dangerous as previously thought. They also have people who have tested positive for the disease that have had no symptoms at all. For the world it is a blessing in disguise that this latest outbreak is happening in a Country where they are being completely transparent about the problem. This is giving scientists an opportunitiy to investigate not only serious cases but those with little or no symptoms that have probably gone un-noticed in Asia. The experts do beleive that it is likely that it is epedemic also in neigbouring countries as they are too on migratory routes. However the feeling is that some countries might not want to acknowledge the problem or are doing sufficient testing in case it has an effect on tourism or the poultry market.
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Guest3
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Foreign Office Statement

Post by Guest3 »

Hanorah...read this in the Mail yesterday...

"..the Foreign Office has decided against changing its travel advice to Britons, telling them not to cancel their holidays but once there, take sensible precautions' such as avoiding visits to animal markets and poultry farms"....
ianandmary
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Bird Flew !!!

Post by ianandmary »

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Last edited by ianandmary on Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Leigh-Anne
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Post by Leigh-Anne »

I had my first cancellation due to Bird Flu last year - when it was first announced that it had reached Turkey and before any fatalaties.

I refused the request for a refund of deposit - however agreed than i would transfer the deposit if she wanted to travel another time next season when it has all settled (hopefully). I did feel a bit mean, as she had only paid me 10 days before - But non refundable deposits are exactly what they say they are!!

Leigh-Anne
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Hanorah
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Post by Hanorah »

Hi just to let you know that although I lost a one month booking I have had several enquiries about the same weeks. I just need to get the guests to cancel through the villa rentals site themselves as I will be penalised if I do it manually on the index. None of my other guests has even commented on bird flu even though I am corresponding with them over others aspects of their holidays. So from my original doom and gloom mood I am feeling more uplifted.
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enid
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Post by enid »

Hanorah - I'm so glad to hear that - there are always people who will panic and believe everything they hear or read - but you have time to re-book those weeks. Good luck!
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Hanorah
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Post by Hanorah »

Just for info now that Turkey seems to have beaten Bird Flu it has just appeared in Italy. Although our enquiries dropped off for a while they have picked up and we only had one cancellation.

I hope it does not affect those renting in Italy too much either.
Always Learning
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