Cheeky or what?

[Blanche]

I think you are a hard-hearted lot. If I broke a leg en route I'd be hopping mad to have to pay in full for a week's holiday I didn't take.

[Normandy Cow]

I broke a leg en route I'd be hopping mad

I presume you are joking!

If not, I don't consider that we are a hard-hearted lot! If you booked a package holiday you wouldn't get your money back! (that's what insurance is for...)

[Blanche]

I wasn't entirely joking. We are not some faceless organisation.

It must be the air from Taizé but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I pocketed some family's holiday money and didn't have to pay out for the gas and electricity or wash five lots of bedding.

[Normandy Cow]

No, we are not some faceless organisation either. We are a hard-working family with a massive mortgage and who cannot afford to lose over €600 if someone doesn't turn up for their August booking.

If they had to cancel due to such unfortunate circumstances I would pull out all the stops in an effort to re-book their week. If I couldn't well I'm sorry. I would still pay my cleaner (after all, she is counting on her wages), so maybe I'd give them a small refund to cover the electricity etc (not that they would use much in August).

Yes, people have a right to be treated with compassion from the people who are letting their house out to them, but with that right comes the responsibility to take out adequate insurance.

[declanja]

I would be with NC on this one. I have it in my contract that guests should have adequate travel insurance. Good to know that cancellations are rare. I might ease up on my payment terms for suitable bookings!

[paolo]

Their insurance will cover them for the deposit they lose, but not the owners for the balance they lose. In some, if not most, rental contracts the renter would in fact still be liable for the balance if they cancel last-minute.

[Normandy Cow]

Their insurance will cover them for the deposit they lose, but not the owners for the balance they lose.

All the more reason to take full payment 2 months in advance!

[Richard51]

Their insurance will cover them for the deposit they lose, but not the owners for the balance they lose. In some, if not most, rental contracts the renter would in fact still be liable for the balance if they cancel last-minute.

Which is the one very good reason not to have renters pay the balance on arrival. Also, I don't see the point of asking for a security deposit cheque if you don't bank it. As an aside I thought it was a common requirement (in the T&C's) for French holiday makers staying in French rented property to have appropriate insurance cover as most French insurers won't pay up for damage caused by a guest. I believe that damage to a holiday home caused by a guest should be covered by the guest's own home insurance via a section called "villégiature" so many gite owners will ask for the renters policy number etc in lieu of a damage deposit.

I think we're in a slightly different position to a lot on people on this forum, in that we're not trying to make a business of renting - it's purely a short expediency for us. We only started advertising at the end of Feb (and only with a-gites.com) and most of our peak weeks are now booked (those that aren't we plan to use ourselves). We have generated the income we wanted so repeat business is not a big issue for us. All our renters are french and none, bar the one above, have insisted on paying the balance on arrival.

[Nightowl]

I think you are a hard-hearted lot. If I broke a leg en route I'd be hopping mad to have to pay in full for a week's holiday I didn't take.

But you think it's Ok that the owner pays for it then? When they have held your dates for several months perhaps, turned away other bookings etc? And then are left with an empty week and no income if they refund your money?

Most of us run our lets as a business. We have to be business-like about it. Why do so many people think they can off load their responsibilities on the hapless owner? that's what insurance is for. You break your leg a week before a holiday that you have paid for, you contact your insurance company, they refund your money.

You might not like the idea of paying up because you broke your leg and couldn't take a holiday but why should we do so instead?

[Hells Bells]

I may be annoyed at having to pay for a holiday I couldn't take, but that is what holiday insurance is for. When my hubby broke his neck , things that we had already paid for were refunded by the insurer, not by the ski hire shop, ferry operator or lift pass company (accommodation was our own apartment).
If someone cancelled last minute, I would still have to pay my apartment manager, and my cleaner.

[paolo]

I don't see the point of asking for a security deposit cheque if you don't bank it

You're not allowed to bank it in France [edit: this is incorrect, see next page], so it said on an official website the last time I looked, although that did refer to agencies, so it is possible but unlikely that there is a different law for individuals. Apparently you cannot cancel a cheque in France as easily as in the UK, so you hold on to the cheque till the end of the rental secure that it will still be valid if you need to bank it. I don't know if that is true, but that is what people say, here on LMH amongst others. (They also say you are not allowed to be overdrawn in France under pain of death, but my wife is overdrawn about half the time and isn't in prison yet.)

[Hells Bells]

We've also had two lots of guests with family bereavements this winter, one family from marseille and one from New Zealand. Neither cancelled, one of the NZ guests went back for funeral and returned to join the rest of her family, the Marseille guests arrived late.
I've only had one French booking who has not accepted the payment terms. My management team do not deal with payments, as they always need to be banked, although they will deal with the damage deposit if it is a French cheque.

[klompje]

In five years we have had three cacellations within the 8 weeks, we refunded the total amount to all of these people because they were not insured (we did ask). Only one has ever come here after that, so we are becoming hard-hearted about it and now we do not refund. We could not resell any of those weeks which had been off the market for months and which we should have been able to sell, so the loss was entirely ours. Stupid or what?

We have had one cancellation outside the 8 weeks and we refunded that when the week was rebooked.

We stopped accepting bookings with no deposit VERY quickly, when you have a couple of no shows, you soon learn. It is a lot of work and a lot of waiting around only to be disapointed. Last minutes are the worst offenders.

[Nightowl]

We could not resell any of those weeks which had been off the market for months and which we should have been able to sell, so the loss was entirely ours. Stupid or what?

Last minutes are the worst offenders.

That's been our experience too, along with a few of the 'pay on arrivals' that I've taken against my better judgement. I think if people think they have nothing to lose, they often take the P**s more. Not with my money they don't!

Like you I've now got harder about it.

[Paul Carmel]

I don't see the point of asking for a security deposit cheque if you don't bank it

You're not allowed to bank it in France, so it said on an official website the last time I looked, although

This is true, and the reason why we take cash only!