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Thread: What assurances?

  1. #11
    Gold 5 Star Member Andrena's Avatar
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    I too am very happy to have guests call me and ask as many questions as they feel they need answers to. I say in my reply to a request that if they let me have their telephone number I would be very happy to call them. By the way in reply to Katy's
    Grandad, it is perfectly possible to pay with a credit card if you wish to pay via PayPal and therefore have the protection of your credit card issuer.

    As others have said we as homeowners are also vulnerable to late cancellations, but most of our guests are great people and I have made many friends of my guests after 20 years of renting our home. We need trust on all sides and I always warn people that if it seems too good to be true (as far as a cheap rental is concerned) then it probably is. The cheapest is not always the best - it costs a great deal of money to keep a rental home in pristine condition and if an owner charges a ridiculously low price then they are not usually able to do this. The guest then may have a poor quality holiday, so if you want excellent accommodation be prepared to pay a reasonable price. Most of us don't overcharge, but we do need to pay for all the services that guests expect to have on their holiday and that costs.

    Andrena


  2. #12
    Florida Junior Skobe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mo Green View Post
    Trust has to work both ways and villa owners have no protection if a guest books two years in advance and then decides to cancel a week before the final balance is due.
    I agree with Mo here, it`s all about trust.
    We owners have the most to loose if we double book and let the guests in trouble, so if you are worried about this, think twice and get in touch with the owners of the villas you choose to deal with. About the cost, I would say it depends of the standard you want, and if it is important to you to choose the villa. Good luck.
    Bente


  3. #13
    Moderator luckylady's Avatar
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    I have guests that book two years in advance. I am more than happy to to answer any questions or concerns.from guesta. I too believe trust is the key factor . When you speak to the owners and they reply to your questions. Should put your mind at ease and you will feel much better.[msnwink]
    Good luck
    Barbara


  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Katys Grandad View Post
    Legally you have much less protection if this situation arises with a private individual than you do with a 'trader' like a bonded travel operator who will be bound by consumer law and the terms of their professional association bond. You would also have some protection paying with a credit card which I suspect not all private home owners offer.

    Think of it like buying a car from a private individual or a trader. You have to take care and be aware of the risks of buying privately and have an idea who you're buying from but, if you do that, things will probably be OK. Buy at a motorway service station via a mobile phone number from somebody you've never met or will never see again and you'll probably get stung.

    I've been renting from a private individual for many years with whom I've built a trusting business relationship. I know the risk but have assessed it and am happy to continue. Would I pay up front now for 2013 with them? - probably not.
    Most villa owners would not be expecting full payment up front so for 2013 it would be a deposit. Unlike an airline , if I want to book direct with them up to 12 months in advance I would have to pay full payment and hope they didnt have issues when I was travelling so bigger isnt necessarily safer.

    Another thing I would also add to the OP is that Tour operators don't necessarily give the consumer the whole truth for non availability , we've had cases in the past where the home owner has made the home unavailable to the tour operator because of non payment of rentals (which are usually paid 30 days after guest has left even if the guest has had to pay upfront by 12 weeks. The tour operator has then told the guest the home available has been foreclosed rather than admit their own failings, as it's an easy option and doesnt affect their business (in fact can make it look better when they go to extra lengths to secure another accommodation). The same scenario can arise when the owner finds the amount of rental due is ridiculously low, even thought the guests may have paid more than they would by booking direct and refuse to accept the booking. By the time the Tour operator and booking agent have taken their cut there is often not enough for the homeowner to maintain their property caused by the extra wear and utilities and are best off leaving it empty.
    Babblin Boo


  5. #15
    Florida Chatterbox Appledore's Avatar
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    Karl,
    On this site the villa owners have to verify ownership every 6 months. I understand booking 2 years in advance won't help against villas being repossesed but as other owners have said keep us regular contact and ask as many questions as you wish and i'm sure you will be fine.
    Elaine


  6. #16
    Florida Junior
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    Just to give another side to things, my daughter booked a villa on the gulf coast (not from this site), on arrival the villa was not fit to live in (another story), they ended up booking a villa they had previously stayed in that was luckily free at the time. Twelve difficult months on she has finally received her money back but had to go through the small claims court to do so, she won her case easily and was awarded full money back plus costs, however it was a difficult process. This has made us all very wary of booking direct with owner in the future. I know the villas on this site are verified but maybe it would be a good idea to have recent reviews available for people to look at.

    Sue


  7. #17
    Florida Expert Tonish's Avatar
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    There is a greater degree of risk involved in a direct booking, but there is a much better upside to booking direct. You know clearly which villa you are getting and you have direct contact with the owner and the management company. It's just one factor in many. It's a little surprising you have found a package to be cheaper, certainly every time we have checked it, the extras added on top of the basic price have made a package more expensive (the biggest extra is usually the car insurance).

    From our perspective, we look at booking in the following order

    1. Flights - dates/price/carrier
    2. Villa - size, location, extras (pool heating, spa etc).
    3. Car - all in package with no nasty surprises at the rental desk.

    Items 2 and 3 we sort out on this site and have done for maybe 6 years or more. I have not found its equal anywhere else and working out what you will actually pay is really simple - the villa price is clear, the car price is all in. When we've tried to work out package deals, we've been frankly shocked at times at the extras which quickly mount up, and the uncertainty over which villa you will have (with some companies, not all) just makes it a non starter for us.

    We've been renting villas privately since the early 80's or earlier and not once had a problem such as you have concerns over. Past performance is no guide to the future, however, and you just need to accept that there is a risk. You can possibly mitigate it by paying with a credit card, as suggested by some, or go with the "safer" route through a package, but in my opinion, the small additional risk is worth it. I've always taken the view that if we arrived and found the villa reposessed, we would check into a hotel for a day and book another immediately using this site - there are plenty to choose from. A year or two ago we were evacuated from a villa due to an approaching hurricane and thanks to the good people on this site, we had an alternative villa arranged, with immediate occupancy, within a couple of hours. It was pretty much stress free in what could have been a very awkward situation. I doubt if any package operator could have done it as quickly or as smoothly, and I would have had to deal with those holiday reps, or worse, a call centre!
    Tonish


  8. #18
    Gold 5 Star Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Suzy View Post
    Just to give another side to things, my daughter booked a villa on the gulf coast (not from this site), on arrival the villa was not fit to live in (another story), they ended up booking a villa they had previously stayed in that was luckily free at the time. Twelve difficult months on she has finally received her money back but had to go through the small claims court to do so, she won her case easily and was awarded full money back plus costs, however it was a difficult process. This has made us all very wary of booking direct with owner in the future. I know the villas on this site are verified but maybe it would be a good idea to have recent reviews available for people to look at.

    Sue
    Hi Sue,

    I do hope that while your experiences have made you wary of booking direct with an owner they haven't completely turned you away. If you stick to a reputable site such as this one you do have a first line of protection with the villa verification system. You also have the benefit that Tonish has mentioned, which is that the owners here tend to work together; so if something does go wrong we can usually put it right pretty quickly to make sure you have the best holiday possible.

    The owners of the Orlando Villas group of sites require a certain level of professionalism from the villa owners who advertise with them and if they were to hear about an experience like you had with one of the villas advertised with them they would be very quick to act. The onus is on us to provide the great quality of both villas and service, and on you to have a great holiday and hopefully book via them again in the future.

    Recent reviews is a great idea, but very difficult to implement such that it's guaranteed that whoever posts the review has actually stayed in the villa being reviewed. Heaps of the bad reviews you see online are actually posted by competitors rather than the travellers themselves. It sort of devalues the whole review approach IMHO. A better way with privately rented villas is to ask the owner of the villa you are planning to rent to put you in touch with a couple of people who recently stayed there. That way you know you are getting a genuine opinion. There are many things you can do. Per my first post on this thread, I'd be more than happy to chat through them with you come the time you are looking for another villa.
    Steve



  9. #19
    Moderator christhear's Avatar
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    You can book with a tour operator and get rubbish accommodation. Yes there is someone to moan at about it but it doesn't mean they will do anything about it. We travelled with Thomas Cook and paid for 3 adults but only had 2 beds between us. They were 4ft beds but not big enough for anyone to comfortably share. Thomas Cook couldn't give a damn.

    Keep in contact with your villa owner and there will be no surprises - well not unwelcome ones anyway.
    Christine



  10. #20
    Gold 5 Star Member
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    On a forum like this I am pretty certain it would quickly become apparent if there were some 'dodgy' properties being rented. There are some fairly forthright posters here, yet I can't recall a single bad report over several years about an OV property.

    Those not familiar with Florida should draw up a list of questions and ask the owner or post questions here. e.g. realistic timings from the location to, say, Disney, or from a 'Gulf coast' villa to a beach.


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