What assurances?

[karl2000]

Hi Guy's

We are now looking about for our second visit in 2013 and I was wondering if we book a villa direct with a vendor, what assurances do we have? For example (and god forbid it ever happens) if a villa is repossessed? It's just we had the same situation with our last holiday company where the owner had lost their villa as they hadn't kept up with their payments so the holiday company found us another villa.

Thanks as always. [msnwink]

[Snapper]

Hi Karl - My best suggestion on this would be to discuss it with the owner of the villa that you fancy renting. No villa owner that I know would baulk at this kind of conversation; in fact the ones I know personally would be more than happy to chat this through with you.

If you want to get in touch personally I'll happily give you my own take on the whole thing. The reason for not posting it here is that it likely would just set off an arguement with a crowd of folks who, sadly, don't know what they are talking about but like to give the impression that they do. [msnwink]

Pick a few villas that you like the look of, get in touch via the villa links in the signatures and see how you go. I promise you'll end up a lot wiser.

[kitch50]

Karl

I have had that exact conversation with Caroline who we rent the villa from .... because we book our villa holidays a long way in advance, I actually rang her about 6 months before we went last time and we had a long conversation about this very subject and she was more than happy to put my mind at rest and wasn't at all offended (I hope) by me asking questions. I think any villa owner worth their salt would be happy to answer any questions or concerns that you have, given the current financial climate we live in.

[steph_goodrum]

Karl,
As homeowners, we never take offence at people asking questions about any aspect of their holiday and obviously financial ones are a major worry to many Guests, given the current climate.
whether it is an individual homeowner, or a Travel company there can be circumstances which are beyond their control which lead to financial difficulties. Reassurance from the owner that they do not (at that time) intend to sell etc. will hopefully give some reassurance but it very much has to be done on a trust basis and this is where working with an individual can help to build the rapport and trust needed to give you the confidence to go ahead and book.

We too have the dilemma with Guests who may be booked up to 2 years in advance, who leave it until their balance is due 8/10 eeks before they are supposed to go to say they are cancelling, for whatever reason, leaving a very short time to fill the gap, so if it makes you feel any better we're in the same boat with trust.

[karl2000]

Thanks guy's I appreciate the advice. We will defo have a look at what's on offer and contact the owners if we see something we like. I think the other dilemma we have is whether it's more cost effective to book as a package or book flights, villa etc seperately. I know when we went last time it was cheaper all in. [msnsmile2]

[christhear]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by karl2000
Thanks guy's I appreciate the advice. We will defo have a look at what's on offer and contact the owners if we see something we like. I think the other dilemma we have is whether it's more cost effective to book as a package or book flights, villa etc seperately. I know when we went last time it was cheaper all in. [msnsmile2]
[/quote]

The thing to bear in mind when you book all in is that you prably wont get to choose you villa. Sometimes you can be lucky, but there are also a lot of disappointed renters whos villas don't live up to their expectations.

If you choose your villa you will know exactly what you're going to get. You're also not stuck waiting for travels reps if there are any small problems as you have direct contact with the owner and MC.

[caroline]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by kitch50
Karl

I have had that exact conversation with Caroline who we rent the villa from .... because we book our villa holidays a long way in advance, I actually rang her about 6 months before we went last time and we had a long conversation about this very subject and she was more than happy to put my mind at rest and wasn't at all offended (I hope) by me asking questions. I think any villa owner worth their salt would be happy to answer any questions or concerns that you have, given the current financial climate we live in.
[/quote]

Wendy I wasn't at all offended, I would much rather a guest contacted me and asked a million questions than sat at home worrying about something.

Karl, as others have said choose a villa or 2 that you really like then email or call the owners up and ask all the questions you can think of - we really don't mind [msnsmile2]

[sammibabe]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by karl2000
Thanks guy's I appreciate the advice. We will defo have a look at what's on offer and contact the owners if we see something we like. I think the other dilemma we have is whether it's more cost effective to book as a package or book flights, villa etc seperately. I know when we went last time it was cheaper all in. [msnsmile2]
[/quote]
I know friends who have booked all in have paid more than we do booking seperates, think partly cos you tend to pay per person rather than the villa as a whole. We have found this to be more expensive in our experience.

[Katys Grandad]

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.

[steph_goodrum]

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.