Paying for Self Catering Accommodation

[bad company]

We’ve been looking at staying at a place listed on www.Sawdays.co.uk. All looks good and our dates are available but I’m a bit nervous that they want payment by BACS with no credit card option.

That doesn’t sound safe to me?

[mikeiow]

bad company said:

We’ve been looking at staying at a place listed on www.Sawdays.co.uk. All looks good and our dates are available but I’m a bit nervous that they want payment by BACS with no credit card option.

That doesn’t sound safe to me?

Well, no, it doesn’t.
Not used Sawdays, but we did do that payment for a large Malta (taking relatives for a family wedding there) a few years back.
It was a bit nerve-racking....did some research on reviews that looked genuine. Can’t recall who we used (maybe HomeAway), but bit the bullet in the end (with little other choice). Worked out absolutely fine!

We have a holiday cottage on the IOW: we are happy to be paid direct as you describe....we also allow PayPal but charge the extra 3% fees for those who prefer that: family & friends trust us and pay direct (& a cheeky extra discount, of course!). Still some summer weeks available: message me if anyone is interested!

Could you ask them to take PayPal for 3% extra? If they refused, that might be a bit off sounding?

Oh yes, the other thing to do: search hard for the property on other platforms.
We have our own website, but also use TripAdvisor. They take 15%, so we bump the costs there up 15%. Had a couple of people enquire on TA, then hours later, message us from our website.....we both let the TA ‘offer’ expire, and they save 15% ! (or 12% if they use PayPal )
For that reason, I have stopped instantly responding on TA, but we do still get some bookings with them.

Edited by mikeiow on Tuesday 23 March 08:30

[bad company]

mikeiow said:

bad company said:

We’ve been looking at staying at a place listed on www.Sawdays.co.uk. All looks good and our dates are available but I’m a bit nervous that they want payment by BACS with no credit card option.

That doesn’t sound safe to me?

Well, no, it doesn’t.
Not used Sawdays, but we did do that payment for a large Malta (taking relatives for a family wedding there) a few years back.
It was a bit nerve-racking....did some research on reviews that looked genuine. Can’t recall who we used (maybe HomeAway), but bit the bullet in the end (with little other choice). Worked out absolutely fine!

We have a holiday cottage on the IOW: we are happy to be paid direct as you describe....we also allow PayPal but charge the extra 3% fees for those who prefer that: family & friends trust us and pay direct (& a cheeky extra discount, of course!). Still some summer weeks available: message me if anyone is interested!

Could you ask them to take PayPal for 3% extra? If they refused, that might be a bit off sounding?

Oh yes, the other thing to do: search hard for the property on other platforms.
We have our own website, but also use TripAdvisor. They take 15%, so we bump the costs there up 15%. Had a couple of people enquire on TA, then hours later, message us from our website.....we both let the TA ‘offer’ expire, and they save 15% ! (or 12% if they use PayPal )
For that reason, I have stopped instantly responding on TA, but we do still get some bookings with them.

Edited by mikeiow on Tuesday 23 March 08:30

Very helpful, thank you.

[LeoSayer]

If you haven't already, check if the place is offered on another site that does offer CC payments eg. Airbnb.

[bad company]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks for all the help. We booked different accommodation and paid the deposit with a credit card.

[Road2Ruin]

mikeiow said:

We have a holiday cottage on the IOW: we are happy to be paid direct as you describe....we also allow PayPal but charge the extra 3% fees for those who prefer that.

Could you ask them to take PayPal for 3% extra? If they refused, that might be a bit off sounding?

Edited by mikeiow on Tuesday 23 March 08:30

Isn't that illegal?

[mikeiow]

Road2Ruin said:

mikeiow said:

We have a holiday cottage on the IOW: we are happy to be paid direct as you describe....we also allow PayPal but charge the extra 3% fees for those who prefer that.

Could you ask them to take PayPal for 3% extra? If they refused, that might be a bit off sounding?

Edited by mikeiow on Tuesday 23 March 08:30

Isn't that illegal?

Isn't what illegal?
Charging an extra %, to cover the extra % taken by the different charging mechanism?
Not to my knowledge. It's not like we hide it, & we have seen it done elsewhere.

EDIT - you may well be right: buggerit!

We may have to either have a "handling fee" (which is what everyone else does, it would appear), or just raise our prices a touch.
Mea culpa.
Seems a shame, & I guess people perhaps get annoyed to get charged different amounts if they pay different ways - our goal was to offer people the lowest price where possible, but I can see we ought to correct that....hey ho.....
Thanks for pointing this out (& making me research it more!)

Edited by mikeiow on Wednesday 24th March 10:30

[Road2Ruin]

mikeiow said:

Isn't what illegal?
Charging an extra %, to cover the extra % taken by the different charging mechanism?
Not to my knowledge. It's not like we hide it, & we have seen it done elsewhere.

EDIT - you may well be right: buggerit!

We may have to either have a "handling fee" (which is what everyone else does, it would appear), or just raise our prices a touch.
Mea culpa.
Seems a shame, & I guess people perhaps get annoyed to get charged different amounts if they pay different ways - our goal was to offer people the lowest price where possible, but I can see we ought to correct that....hey ho.....
Thanks for pointing this out (& making me research it more!)

Edited by mikeiow on Wednesday 24th March 10:30

Sorry, wasn't meant to be a dig. Also sorry if it causes a problem. Read about a woman who kicked off over it and then the company got in trouble.

[mikeiow]

Road2Ruin said:

Sorry, wasn't meant to be a dig. Also sorry if it causes a problem. Read about a woman who kicked off over it and then the company got in trouble.

No probs - I didn't take it as a dig!
We are rather new to managing our place, having used agents for over 15 years - it's all a learning experience for us, I appreciate 'getting it right' - thanks for the pointer, would rather you pointed it out than a grumpy customer!

Now need to hack back into the Wix pages to remove the paypal reference.....& make sure we refund that excess to the few who already (happily!) paid the extra when their final payment is due.....

Every day is a school day!