The 'DO YOU REALLY EXIST' Booking

[Big Sis..]

Hi All. ..

A Lady emailed and then phoned yesterday.....

She wanted a week the end of April which luckily was free.......She asked some questions.....[its her 40th and Hubbys just said theyll go somewhere...just the 2 of them] so thats nice....
Said she wanted pickups, Asked about The Keys etc...

As it is quite short notice and as Meiska had helpfully suggested if its pickups.......
Why not let Alan who does the pickups give the keys out on arrival[him and his wife Paula look after the houses]...
So this year I decided I would[saves sending them recorded and getting them back] If theyre hiring cars of course I will send them....

She got back to me and said What about paying the money...
Well normally I said you send a deposit and then the balance 8 weeks before but as this is short notice I need it all...
[Id knocked a bit off]
Ahmm.......

The thing is my Hubby says we dont know you really exist ....I Laughed...
Oh Yes she said we Know YOU exist but not the houses....We will send the money ...and wont even have any keys....... nothing....
If youd like I can send the keys I said[OH YES]
she said...but you have to send another hundred on top for the key/damage deposit before I send them out....OH...she said.....

I just kept laughing...I really do understand I said ...havent you booked a holiday like this before...
No she said we usually have Packages.....

Look on the website youve booked on and it will say Ive been advertising with them for 3yrs or whatever...
Trust me if my houses didnt exist they would soon have taken me off there after a few complaints.

Oh I dont care Im going to send you the money....

So Ive emailed her details..

I will let you know...

We had sort of discussed this on another post...but i couldnt remember where ....
Its true though we are wary some of the people wanting to rent the houses at times
so in this day & age i spose its the same the other way round

[Ciapolin]

It's interesting isn't it? I'm trying to sort out taking payments over the inernet using a credit card, and so at least for UK guests, this will give them the comfort of having some sort of protection.

[Big Sis..]

Hi Carole Anne...

It will in one way I suppose but then theyd have to trust me enough to give me CC details ....

Thats Ok...you dont trust me enough to believe the house are actually built...but just give me your credit card details.....

I dont really mean this of course and I know that paypal etc is widely used and trusted...
But I still have friends who wont buy anything over the internet or do online banking cos they dont think its safe
but its something to think about..

My end of the market is more likely to be the Package Holiday people wo are used to it all being done for them.... and it is a leap of faith I suppose..

To get it into context though...This is the first time in 3-4yrs of renting that Ive had this....

It would be interesting to here other peoples experiences...

[LaLuz]

I've never had a guest say they are worried but I remember being a little nervous the first time I booked everything over the web and I was used to booking private villas through the owners!

I also remember that my husband has prosecuted people who have advertised holiday properties to rent on the net, taken deposits (and in some cases full payment) before it has been discovered that the properties are not theirs to rent out!

So Guests are right to be cautious as frauds do happen. Pointing out how long you've advertised is a good tip Ros although not very reassuring if this is your first year.

This is my first year of advertising with OD and most of my enquiries are coming through them at the moment!

Oh dear I'm even beginning to wonder if I exists now

[Ju]

It's interesting isn't it? I'm trying to sort out taking payments over the inernet using a credit card, and so at least for UK guests, this will give them the comfort of having some sort of protection.

As far as I understand taking payments through paypal does not protect the customer. The credit card companies will guarantee against a contract, but the contract is with the person/company they pay - ie paypal. As long as Paypal do their job properly (ie take their cut and pass the rest on) then the credit card company will not pay out.

The only way to give the customers protection is to have a creidt card machine yourself (as we do) this way the contract is direct with the service provider and the credit card companies will guarantee the payment.

Ju

[mon269]

We’ve only had a case like this. A group of students placed a booking. They were happy to pay the 50% deposit but didn’t want to pay the rest until they saw the house. We only accepted because we happened to be there during that week.

When we started taking bookings I anticipated this and personally, I would not like to pay out any money without some sort of guaranty. It’s because of this that we always send a contract out and insist on having it signed by both parties before they pay anything. I think this gives customers some security.

The contract also gives us peace of mind because we hear all too often about people renting a place and not wanting to leave. With a contract in hand, the police will kick them out.

[pabbers]

I had to give a wry smile at this topic. I do try to sound reassuring to peeps on the phone and have even said I like to speak to potential clients on the phone so we each know the other exists - that usually seems to break the ice too.

However, this year we have booked a villa ourselves through the site that we rent on. We got a discount for booking 2 weeks (not that we asked for a discount you understand) provided we paid the full amount up front (booking is for August). I was delighted and the lady was lovely on the phone. Came off the phone - other half had been listening in - and he said "do you think we can trust them, it's a lot of money (£800)". I ask you.......we've had clients who've had to hand over more than that but he doesn't seem to think they should worry.........but when it's us....ooooh that's a different story !!

[Big Sis..]

Hi Pabbers..

Welcome to the forum.......

We got a discount for booking 2 weeks (not that we asked for a discount you understand) provided we paid the full amount up front (booking is for August)

Well theres a thought......especially if theres a bit of a cash flow problem...early season

[Lesblancs]

I had to give a wry smile at this topic. I do try to sound reassuring to peeps on the phone

Yeah, me too.

CG welcoming a new member who has been here since 2005 - and secondly 'peeps' always makes me think of Creeps or Perverts.

I know, I must get out more.

Bonsoir - Wobert

[gpck]

We've had a few Americans who have been wary about us as we are in the UK, and they have never sent money abroad or even spoke to a Brit before. Others have queried whether our condo actually exists - we usually point them in the direction of our MC who will speak to them and try to reassure them that we, and our home do exist and all is legitate & above board...
If all else fails, we can direct them to the local tax office website which shows all our persoanl details! - when we bought the property, how much we paid for it, and if we've paid our taxes or not...! Nothing is private in the USA...

[Big Sis..]

I know, I must get out more.

Agreed Wobert ......
Partys having a...well a Party in the Chatterbox Club...youre very welcome[bring a fwend ]

[pabbers]

CG welcoming a new member who has been here since 2005

Taken in the spirit in which it was intended, Ros - so thank you from one who has certainly not posted much in the time I've been a member.

'peeps' always makes me think of Creeps or Perverts.

I know, I must get out more.

Yes you must, Wobert! Peeps is so much easier to type ~(lazy ol' me!)

[Big Sis..]

CG welcoming a new member who has been here since 2005

Hi Pabbers

Taken in the spirit in which it was intended, Ros - so thank you from one who has certainly not posted much in the time I've been a member.

If you mean the above quote..I think youll find its was Wobert wot did it...

If not Im confused... [not for the first time]

[The Penguin]

Hi Everyone, just thought I would add my experience to this - for the first time I must admit I did experience a similar situation. We had a Norwegian couple who were actually weary of paying up front for the apartment. They said that they had been let down before (badly), and would only pay once they arrived and saw the place for themselves! It's difficult isn't it - not only did I have a sort of language barrier but the dilemma of who is trusting who!

I have to admit booking any apartment over the internet is 'a leap of faith'. We try and make our website as informative as possible. I can see that after looking around this forum lots of you do the same. All the links I have visited have shown me similar informative website, with apartments owed by like minded people.

I do not want anyone going to our place and saying it is different from what they expected! We have put lots of pictures on there, from almost every angle, plus we have added some of the things we have done as a family! What should I do, send the keys and hope they pay (the cleaner) once they are in? That I felt was a little too trusting? After all, we have some very expensive stuff in there - how did I know they were how they said they were?

In the end, we settled on a compromise, they sent half the money up front, I posted the keys, recorded delivery, so I could check they had been signed for (by going to the Post office website, even shows you a copy of their signature), then once that was done, they sent the remaining money through! In the meantime I did try and keep up a fair amount of correspondence to try and show her the sort of people we are!

All was well that ended well, I have to say, as they loved it so much, they booked again for this year! It just goes to show though, those poor people must of had a terrible experience to make them so wary, and I just hope we have restored their faith in booking a private apartment over the internet!
www.royalpalm-tenerife.co.uk

[ashtondav]

I was over at our place the other day in Spain and went to the local tourist information office.

There i found a rather distraught couple with 2 kids under 3.

They had arrived late the night before, followed all the directions from the owner's ad on the lettings website and found...

...NOTHING!

Both Police and tourist office confirmed there was no villa of the name or description given to them.

They were £800 down and faced with spending similar for another 10 days 'holiday'. Their emails to the owner (previously answered very efficiently) went unanswered and phonecalls (previously promptly answered) just went through to voice mail.

For the rest of my holiday i wondered how this could happen - how the scam worked, given they had all those details.

Maybe they found that villa in the end...