Lay My Hat

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

Sorry Lorca if you thought I was replying to you; I was responding to the topic question really.

Essar wrote: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?

1. I'm on site so would know who and who wasn't accounted for as I know the total number, can't account for visitors though. Names shouldn't come in to it unless it is fatal....which it wouldn't be.
2. If an insurance claim was made then surely an owner would have been approached first? Or at least be made aware by the guests that something was amiss otherwise how would they know who to claim from?

Mouse (being stubborn and still not feeling that the booking form is the be all and end all)
x

greenbarn wrote:Even setting aside any legal requirements for having the information, I can't get my head around the idea of letting to someone without having their full contact/address details.

So what would you do if it all goes paear-shaped? Holding the address details is a legal requirement in the UK.

Jonathan

Mine is part of our t&c's and I wouldn't be without it

Sandra

Essar wrote:
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?

I have to admit that sending booking forms has never been my strongpoint. I do agree that it should be done but I have been lax. However the new rules here in Catalunya force us to send passport details of all guests to the police. It's a pain in the butt but I like it because there is a documented list of who is where.

But I have a related question. Does anybody use Hellosign or Agree'nsign or one of the other form-sign sites. They look good and cost about 10$ a month to send unlimited forms, get them signed online, and sent back.
I'm interested in comments from anybody who uses one.

Got round to sorting one a few weeks ago

https://onespringlake.wufoo.com/forms/o ... t-details/

Curious for feedback etc. We make guests complete after booking via the lettings sites and / or when they come direct. IANAL but think we'd probably be on rocky ground having two sets of booking conditions... the ones the booking sites provide and then these going over the top... curious for thoughts.

Should a booking form have a signature to be fully legal or is it enough to have a tick box? Are we all now really 'e-trading' since we take payments online?

FelicityA wrote:Should a booking form have a signature to be fully legal or is it enough to have a tick box?

There is nothing new about this. I have bought and sold millions of dollars worth of goods and services using just a tick box in USA, UK and all over Europe as well as AsiaPac. Its been checked with lawyers in UK and USA. As long as its clear what you are ticking, then its legal.

Thanks, e-richard. I think I might change from sending out an agreement requiring a signature to a booking form linked to t and c's and then I don't have to do the filling in of all the details, they do!

But I am wondering at the same time if this may slow up the booking process as instead of being handed something they have to just read and sign, they have to set aside time to fill in a form (and you know how we all love filling in forms...), albeit little more than filling in address details?

Do people with a form method find that there tends to be more of a delay on returning it? I frequently get agreements signed and returned within 24 hours, any delay usually being related to lack of access to a scanner. Am I likely to be waiting longer for confirmations?

FelicityA wrote:Thanks, e-richard.
Do people with a form method find that there tends to be more of a delay on returning it? I frequently get agreements signed and returned within 24 hours, any delay usually being related to lack of access to a scanner. Am I likely to be waiting longer for confirmations?

Hi Felicity A
I moved from the paper based form to using the online form with PIMS and find the forms are returned a lot quicker. If I do need to prompt a guest I can use the text facility within PIMS to remind them. I just can't imagine how I managed with paper based forms for all those years, we only have 2 properties but process approx 45 bookings a year.

I use a customised PIMS form; it collects all the essential information - name, address, dates, property etc and has tick boxes for eligibility to make the booking (over 18, agree to terms, lead guest) end of. If the boxes aren't ticked the form isn't submitted - thanks be to PIMS.
The whole lot is automatically entered into PIMS, any mistakes that I don't happen to spot are down to the guest; arrival and departure dates are the most likely to cause grief if they're wrong, and the dates the guest enters on the form are automatically inserted into all template responses from then on.

Compared with completing information online, which is something I must do at least once every day, I'd be far more likely to put off the faff of signing hard copy, remembering how to work the scanner, and emailing the copy back.

Thanks both. I signed up for the free Wufoo forms a while ago and really must get down to this as I spend ages filling in names addresses dates etc. on letting agreements and would rather let the guests, as you say, Greenbarn, make the mistakes! I just have to convert the wording of my letting agreement into a terms and conditions document now ( and trying hard not to make it too wordy) and get them both online.

Costabravarent - I did also sign up for a (Germany based) electronic signature thing but I decided it would be too complicated for some of my less technical guests to manage so I never used it in the end. Ticking a box will be easier!