Should getting & giving physical addresses be mandatory?

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As a host, do you require guests booking direct with you to provide their physical address when booking?

Yes
13
76%
No
4
24%
 
Total votes: 17

Pengman
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:54 pm
Location: Portland, Dorset UK

Should getting & giving physical addresses be mandatory?

Post by Pengman »

We all enter into letting agreements every day. Usually you know who you're letting to, but do you ensure you have their physical addresses? Often you don't need them, but what if you're offering free cancellation up to (say) 5 days prior to check-in, go to collect a 100% deposit 5 days prior to check-in, the guest's card fails, he doesn't respond to email communications, texts or phone calls, and you're left holding the baby? You may be able to resell the space, particularly in the current climate, but whether you can or can't, legally the guest is now in debt to you. However, the bottom line is you've got no way of forcing the debtor to pay without his address.

Recently I was a potential guest at a holiday let, but the letting agent's Ts & Cs, although stating that the letting agreement was between me and their client, did not even name their client let alone provide his address, and when I asked for these details I was told that they could not be provided for data protection reasons. I was being expected to enter into a short term letting agreement with an unnamed person of no known address. For that and other reasons I backed out and am now going to a completely different part of the Country with a host whose name and address I do know, and he's got the same information for me.

For direct bookings of my own holiday let, I've made guests providing their name and physical address mandatory. But if relying on the OTAs I've got no chance and am forced to enter into agreements with guests whose names I know but whose addresses I don't.

My guess is that thousands of unenforceable letting agreements are being entered into between unknown parties every day. Am I right? Anybody else find this worrying?
I came, I saw, I bought it.
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Cymraes
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Location: North Wales

Post by Cymraes »

If I don't have the physical address then they don't stay.

That goes for OTA bookings too although I only use booking.com and then only occasionally
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

What does providing a full address make?
You cannot prove that they have any connection with the address provided.
Just tell them the booking has been lost because they have not paid up when your T&Cs state. If you feel the T&Cs meaning you are loosing reservations why are you still using them?
Having said that I would suggest you do not make them so strict that no one wants to book. Something like all payments up front could be a hindrance.

If you use Booking.com if the guest dose not pay when stated they will send a message to the guests and cancel the reservation upon your behalf.

All the above will also save time and effort in having to file legal papers and maybe attending any court case. Do not forget you cannot claim for minor incidental monetary losses either, you know time taken to fill out forms, fuel or public transport to and from the court, phone calls etc.
Then there is the amount of time it takes to get money back. Or maybe you have to accpt part payments etc.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
hydroland2
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2016 4:16 pm

Post by hydroland2 »

Yes, I always ensure I have the full address details of guests. Everyone staying, not just the person booking.
It seems to me that this would be very important, not just re. payment etc. but supposing there was some kind of accident and I needed to notify someone. How can I do that if I don't know full details of who the people are and where they live?

The lack of info provided by booking com for example has given me several problems in the past where I don't have guest details.
Last year booking com didn't seem to be sending messages to guests properly and as I didn't have their details it was impossible to communicate!
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

Asking for too much information means you could be not complying with the law.
https://www.visitbritain.org/business-a ... protection

Going back to the side issue of working with Booking.com, there is flexibility on what information the guest has to give when making a reservation. So there is no further need to make contact with the guests. If you want full address and details of all who wish to stay you can dictate that.

To tell Booking that the guests has failed to pay by the T&Cs you have set out. You send a message, via the control panel. Booking does the rest.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
zebedee
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Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: yorkshire dales

Post by zebedee »

I send out certain information via the post. Without the guest receiving that information, the booking can’t go ahead.

Sorry, but I am not prepared to let anyone stay who could do a lot of damage etc and have no way of contacting them.

Some years ago I was told a story of someone who had let their property to a holiday maker only to have a removal van arrive and empty the place. Needless to say, they did not have an accurate address.
leon
Posts: 91
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 4:12 pm
Location: niort

Post by leon »

"What does providing a full address make?
You cannot prove that they have any connection with the address provided
."

Absolutely.
Try googling the address: It is surprising how often you see a shop or warehouse or office (and no connexion between the name and the office).
I have even insisted that a personal address be given , without succeeding.
zebedee
Posts: 1270
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: yorkshire dales

Post by zebedee »

leon wrote:"What does providing a full address make?
You cannot prove that they have any connection with the address provided
."

Absolutely.
Try googling the address: It is surprising how often you see a shop or warehouse or office (and no connexion between the name and the office).
I have even insisted that a personal address be given , without succeeding.
Then I would decline the booking.
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Cymraes
Posts: 519
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Location: North Wales

Post by Cymraes »

CSE wrote:What does providing a full address make?
You cannot prove that they have any connection with the address provided.
For one it keeps my insurance company happy that I've made reasonable attempts to avoid guests who have no permanent residential address which causes almighty problems if they refuse to leave and invalidates my insurance as I'm only covered for guests who are there for the purposes of a holiday.

I will also google and if I can't verify it then I will ask for proof of address. If I'm handing over the keys to a hugely expensive asset I want to I know who I'm giving them to.

I ask booking,com for as much information as their systems allow and get in contact with them outside the platform immediately.
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

If guests pay by card, the address is one of the checks that are made. Most card processors show this information to you - or at least the postcode.
Sunbeam
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Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:24 pm
Location: Spain

Post by Sunbeam »

We prefer as little "data" to protect as possible. So happy with just email and phone number for communication. We've rented for many years and never had any reason to know where guests live. If someone wants to do something like turn up with a removal van to clear the house out - they will make sure to have given false details. We live on site which also makes it easier for us to be aware of anything worrying going on at the house.
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CSE
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Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:34 pm
Location: Galicia

Post by CSE »

leon wrote:"What does providing a full address make?
You cannot prove that they have any connection with the address provided
."

Absolutely.
Try googling the address: It is surprising how often you see a shop or warehouse or office (and no connexion between the name and the office).
I have even insisted that a personal address be given , without succeeding.
Leon; Try this one I live there. :lol:
33 Maple Rise, Radstock BA3.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
Joanna
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Location: Chester, North West England & Sidmouth, East Devon
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Post by Joanna »

I don't like the idea of handing over our house keys to people I have no way of contacting.

We have mostly UK guests so, if it's not short notice, I send the booking form to them by post. I explain that it's for peace of mind for both of us - we're verifying their address and, when they send the form back, they're verifying ours. People are generally OK with this.

If it's short notice we take a security deposit - although it wouldn't be enough to cover us for the entire contents! That's what our insurance is for.

On the odd occasion that we take a booking through ABB or TA I send the guests a link to our online booking form which asks for their home address & email. I let them know I don't send the directions & key arrangements until they've given us their details. I know I have no easy way of verifying them but it's the best I can do - one of the reasons we don't use OTAs very often.
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
Pengman
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Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:54 pm
Location: Portland, Dorset UK

Post by Pengman »

CSE wrote:Asking for too much information means you could be not complying with the law.
https://www.visitbritain.org/business-a ... protection
GDPR was foisted on the UK by the EU and I had hoped that one thing we would have got out of Brexit by now would have been it’s repeal or at least a serious dilution of it, but maybe keeping it was part of the final Brexit deal? Regardless of that though, the link CSE quotes says ‘[data] should not be held or used unless the data subject has given their consent, or it is necessary in performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party’ which means that as it’s necessary for the letting agreement, I can legitimately ask for a guests address and keep it for 6 years (statute of limitations) but then I must delete it.
Last edited by Pengman on Wed Aug 25, 2021 10:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I came, I saw, I bought it.
Pengman
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:54 pm
Location: Portland, Dorset UK

Post by Pengman »

I’m surprised from the above comments that so many hosts are still concluding their bookings by post. I never post a thing. My guests have to book online and therefore have to agree to my Ts and Cs and it also means I can pretty much get all the information I need (including their address) or they can’t complete the booking form. However I do accept that they could provide a false address - is anybody aware of a quick, easy cost effective way to check a person’s address? I guess I could use a service like https://celltrack.co.uk to track their mobile, but that would only tell me where their phone was, not necessarily were they lived.
I came, I saw, I bought it.
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