Lay My Hat

kevsboredagain wrote:

pambon wrote:When an enquirer confirms then I send booking form and t&c's for filling in and signing. They either scan it back or sometimes send it snail mail.

Was wondering about electronic signatures to ease the returning of forms; does anyone use this method and is it complicated to set up?

I'm pretty sure that checking a box to say you accept some t&cs is legally acceptable. It's the standard way of accepting contract terms online apart from businesses like banks where they have special regulations to adhere to.

From what I've been able to find e signatures are considered legal in the EU, however I wanted to know if this would be easy to
set up and also if this method can be used to fill in more information rather than just a signature which seems to be the norm.

For example on my booking form I request dates, phone numbers, flight details if known etc. but no mention is made of being able to fill in multiple other details electronically. Just limiting it to a signature would not be the case for me.

Mouse wrote:I never get a signature, or have anything signed and posted or scanned signed and emailed back....life is too short.

Mousie
x

Nor us. When the enquirer confirms they wish to book, we ask them for the name, address and contact details of the enquirer, plus the names of each member of the party, gender if not obvious, and the age of children (if applicable). This info all goes into the booking contract/T&Cs which is emailed to them. It clearly specifies when, where and how much to pay. It also clearly specifies that payment of the booking deposit indicates acceptance of the T&Cs.

Yes I do that PW.

Kev....we have never had to supply client details for tax purposes, so I'm intrigued to read you say it is a legal requirement in Spain (not disputing, just saying no one I know has everbeen asked)

GB....what does an address give you? Assuming it's correct, or do you check it out somehow?

Mousie
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Mouse wrote: GB....what does an address give you? Assuming it's correct, or do you check it out somehow?

Mousie
x

A means to contact if necessary, and a universally accepted means of identification (even if it's not necessarily reliable!) Something in the back of my mind says it might still be a legal requirement to have that information in the UK (or I may have dreamt that - I have weird dreams); either way, if there was ever any form of legal dispute I'd be dead in the water if I couldn't supply that basic piece of information.

As another point re forms, I think it's very important that the guest enters the information themselves, or at the very least supplies it in an email so there's hard copy evidence of what the guest actually requested, rather than what they thought...... "No, you're definitely supposed to be leaving today - here it is on the form you supplied" thus avoiding that doubt that just maybe you made an error entering the information when the booking arrived shortly after your planned bedtime....

As others have said, I use my form to collect other information such as whether they want twin or double beds, and ask the guest for a 4 digit code which I use to program the door lock (the theory being that if it's a number they've chosen, they're more likely to remember it. It's only a theory.....) All that information ends up on one screen courtesy of PIMS.

Mouse wrote:
Kev....we have never had to supply client details for tax purposes, so I'm intrigued to read you say it is a legal requirement in Spain (not disputing, just saying no one I know has everbeen asked)
x

It's on form mod210 although I just provide the info to my accountant who then does the form.

Like Greenbarn, I too use a booking form because I want to have a signature and an address, just in case something goes seriously wrong and I need to follow up, because I'm entrusting my house to them. I then post the arrival info, directions, map and how to pick up the keys to that address when I've received payment. My thinking is that hopefully, even if its an address where they don't live, they have some connection to it if they collect stuff from it, which might be traceable, if push comes to shove.
I have had one case where a wrong address was given . I had my suspicions about the booking from the start for many reasons I won't go into. She only communicated by (mobile) phone, although she did give me an email addy to send the booking form to. It came to light when the guest rang to say she didn't have the arrival info and I told her I'd posted it weeks ago to the address she gave me and she then gave me another completely different address to post to (which did check out on the internet records (electoral roll etc) against her name).
Did the stay go well? not great (that's a whole other story), but could have been worse!

Like Dotty & GB we use a booking form to get the address of the guest for extra peace of mind. In fact, with UK & EU guests we send the form by post so if they don't give us a valid address then they won't get the form and can't book. It works for us because we don't do last minute bookings - we're off site and our cleaners need a week or more notice of new bookings.

For non EU bookings we email the form and I try checking the postal address online. If we can't verify it then we ask for a damage deposit.

It also works for the guests - if they post back the form and we confirm then they know that they've got our real address too.

Speaking from the guest viewpoint, a while ago a friend of mine booked a house for a weekend for a large group of us. The owner managed the whole thing terribly and in the end cancelled on us with a couple of weeks to go and kept our deposit (long story). We spoke to Citizens Advice and the main problem we had was that we had no postal address for the owner - just a couple of email addresses and a mobile phone number that was registered in the U.S. even though the house was in the UK. Since then I won't book anywhere without a verifiable postal address for either the owner or the managing agent. The best way I can think of to verify an address is to post something to it and get a reply.

Insist on booking form being completed & returned - no form , no stay.

Definite yes for me. No booking form - no reservation. Also a (rather lax) licensing requirement to record name, address & passport number in property ledger.
We use a simple enough PDF form by email that can be completed any number of ways & returned although it seems many people have a markup tool these days so can just fill, sign & email return. Some still print, copy scan which is easy enough & a few still even come in the post, sometimes accompanied by a cheque (remember those?) Horses for courses & all that.

We email an invoice which doubles as a booking form and which has T&C attached and states that their deposit signifies that they agree to our T&C...we also ask for their address...
At check-in we should be requesting their signature on the printed copy of the booking form but often forget....their signature also certifies that they do not hold us responsible if they fall etc.

kevsboredagain wrote:

Mouse wrote:
Kev....we have never had to supply client details for tax purposes, so I'm intrigued to read you say it is a legal requirement in Spain (not disputing, just saying no one I know has everbeen asked)
x

It's on form mod210 although I just provide the info to my accountant who then does the form.

I think it's a requirement for non-residents and autonimos

Ah thanks Lorca. That would explain it...as my mum has to declare regularly that she does rent hers out.

We only declare annually and provide the necessary info then. I assume our accountant knows what he's doing.

Mouse
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Mouse wrote:Ah thanks Lorca. That would explain it...as my mum has to declare regularly that she does rent hers out.

We only declare annually and provide the necessary info then. I assume our accountant knows what he's doing.

Mouse
x

Us too - as residents with only holiday rentals as opposed to BandBs (as we talked about in the Spain section) we only declare annually, and also avoid the dreaded IVA

And when your property burns to the ground and the Fire Officer asks you for the names of all your guests, so that they can be accounted for. How are you going to answer?

And when your third party liability insurance provider wants the guest details confirmed when they receive a compo claim from some unknown. How are you going to answer?

Fair point Essar - I was mainly referring to them having to be provided in Spain for tax purposes