The spanish approach!

[katiebythesea]

I don't know if I am being too general but I find the spanish to be very laid back in their approach to holiday rentals and at times this can be frustrating!
I have a group booking a weekend in one of the villas for next weekend, emailed them two weeks ago, gave them lots of info, answered all their questions....
They then decided last saturday evening was the time to sort it all out, I was out so not available on the phone or to answer emails ( I can't be available all the time!)
I talk to them on Sunday they decide to book they then take three days to sort the bank transfer and have now told me it may take a week and a half for the payment to arrive in our account.
So I might not have the payment before they are due to arrive!!

I have told them this might be aproblem and they can't have access until we have received the payment even though they sent a copy of the transfer request from their bank.
Could this be a scam? Is my other thought - anyone had this happen to them?

Sometimes it is the bookings that earn you little money that take the most work.

[Fil]

A week and a half for a bank transfer within the EU is just not possible. It takes 2 - 3 days at the most.

[CSE]

Living in Spain and taking bank transfers from all over the EU you may find this is true. Spanish Caixas (which are not real banks) take the longest amount of time to transfer money. It maybe your bank too. Add the two together and bobs your uncle!

If you have a copy of the transfer you should be ok.

[Tizfata]

Hi Kathie! How are you?!?!?!?
I agree with Fil. We only had 2 Spanish guests this year. One paid by credit card and I can't find the file of the other... But On the 15th he wrote me "I paid" and on the 21st I wrote him saying I received the money but only after he wrote me asking if everything was OK with the transfer (so I suspect I might have not been bery quick in telling him I had the money...
In Italy we have a code called CRO (Codice Riferimento Operazione) for payments within the country, not sure about transfers from abroad...
From Wikipedia:

The Code Reference Operation (CRO) is an eleven-digit numeric code, with which each bank uniquely identifies each transaction banking, and that allows (depending on the banks) to verify the movement of money between banks.
It is often used to track transfers. The last two digits, which form the control code to use to verify their accuracy, are the rest of the division for 13 of the first 9 digits.

[katiebythesea]

Hello Titziana I am ok thanks, just trying to get motivated to think about getting next seasons lettings started

It is a Caixa transfer so guess it may take a while, will see if I can track it somehow with my bank, thanks for that info about the referance number.
Can't see how I can let them into the house if we don't receive the money in time.....its not like I am on site which makes it harder too.

[CSE]

Katie like I said if you have or will see a copy of the transfer, with a date of when they said they will transfer t money, plus all the correct bank details (i.e. yours) then there should be no problem. The guests cannot stop the transfer once it has been requested.
It would not be a good situation if they turn up and you tell them to their face they cannot enter. With a transfer you have in-effect got their money.

[Bellywobble]

I may be wrong but my understanding is that in Spain, you have up to two weeks in which you can claim a transfer back through the bank.

[CSE]

BW....No that is when money is taken from your account without authorisation. Say every year you paid a yearly bill. You change company for this service so you write to the original company to stop payments. However they did not stop taking the money as you requested. Then you can dispute the payment.

As aside note; We are presently in dispute with our bank about payments made to an insurance company. In the past you had 15 days to ask for the return of the payment. We have been advised that this has been extended to several months (but only for insurances so it seems).

[fincafern]

Yes, I am sure Casa is correct about Insurance payment cancellations - I was able to stop one quite easily.
Katie, my bank takes ages to do transfers.
I always tell my guests to allow 5 working days so if a weekend pops up in between, it can seem like forever.

[Bridg1t]

I haven't found this to be a general Spanish thing; but I have one former guest, who is by chance Spanish.

He took ages to pay the second installment, which he did by bank transfer. I asked him twice before the stay to supply me with the same for refund of security deposit, once when I met him, and have subsequently emailed 3 times to ask for BIC & IBAN....to no avail!

I therefore am the unwilling holder of £200 of his money! Don't feel that I can keep nagging, but don't feel entirely comfortable with this situation.

[katiebythesea]

The money came through today so much quicker than thought it might be!
So can relax and arrange for their arrival. The only weekend/short stay bookings we get are from the spanish, every little helps

[Nemo]

Hi Katie! Glad it got sorted quite quickly for you. This becomes the problem for me from now on at this time of year - last minute bookings and getting the payments in quickly enough - but my guests aren't spanish!