Lay My Hat

Hello chaletgirl. The same concerns have been crossing my mind lately about completing a sale of a rental property when there will be guests' bookings still in place. I don't know about HomeAway penalties, but if charged I think they would be a minor matter compared with achieving a good sale for yo...

We have done the same as Marks, except more generous about the final balance, payment of which we have reduced for the 2020 season from 8 weeks to just 1 week before the guests' date of arrival. This went down well. Our 25% initial deposits are strictly non-refundable, and that seems to stir disappo...

I have this with returning guests sometimes, but not often as they already have our contact details. As SPJ says, they may think that it is more "secure" or "correct" to make contact through the agency.

Here I am on the Spain page again. But I have noticed the same phenomenon, where guests seem not interested in cancelling their 2020 holiday. The trend as I see it is for the guests to wait until they receive a notification from their airline that the guests' flight will not be flying and it is at t...

… What are your thoughts? Personally for my own peace of mind Id prefer not to take any bookings (this remaining year) OR until we are given clear instructions we can do so and how. I need to consider the safety of cleaning staff,etc and I have no Idea if the laundry is open for the towels and line...

This will result in a County Court judgment being registered against you ...Overplaying hand to scare the recipient? I'll let you decide. All County Court judgments are recorded - or "registered" if you like - but not all such judgments pronounce a judgment debt . I can't comment on how S...

Seeing that, it looks bleak for the 2020 season here in Greece. The country is between a rock and a hard place. It needs the tourism (Britain is its largest provider), but it doesn't need the virus.

Thanks for that link, b_javea. This is what I read from there:- Owners who fail to refund at least 50%, give a credit, or reschedule will receive a ranking penalty equivalent to a 1-star review. Their eligibility for programs like Premier Partner may be affected, and their reviews section will state...

This is so like the situation a few years ago, when Owners Direct fell into the hands of Expedia and they changed the workings of the OD site in various ways to cause many of their owner-customers to write angry 1* reviews on TrustPilot (I was one). OD's TP rating dropped like a stone initially, but...

I am not taking my personal or a moral stance here, but just a cold legal one. I do believe that if a contract (terms and conditions) with a guest states in black and white that an initial deposit taken is non-refundable with no ifs or buts, then it is lawfully non-refundable. I also think that if o...

I thought we have been told that holiday homes and second homes should not be used unless by a key worker or someone returning from abroad whose own home is unavailable?? That's what I would think. If emergency legislation prohibits something, then breaching that prohibition equals breaking the law...

… Also, I'm aware that events may overtake us - if our area goes into lockdown, for example, then we might have to cancel because the cottage wouldn't be accessible. In that case it would be down to our insurance to pay up (or not). I don't know about an owner's insurance paying up, but if the owne...

jafa wrote:Am I glad I no longer use those shiiisters.

+1 and so am I.

There was a practical/legal point put out by someone on the BBC, although I didn't hear it at first hand myself. It indicated that if a guest takes the initiative and cancels his/her holiday because of virus related governmental restrictions in the destination country, or flight cancellations, then ...

Sam V wrote:Can guests still claim on insurance if the likes of Booking.com and HA refund them?

I doubt it, because such guests would not have suffered a loss.