Credit card payments/deposits

[crossy67]

I have read back through a lot of pages in this section and read some worrying reports of people stealing and/or damaging things, people running off without paying and even a gent leaving something unsavoury behind (I would chase him down and give it him back, dirty bu**er).

I was thinking, if you took a deposit over the net or phone with a credit card could you not make it a condition that any unreasonable damage would be charged to the guests credit card?  Does any one do this or is there some kind of reason why not?  Hire cars do it when you rent a car.

[crossy67]

No one have any opinions on this?

[Quillan]

Probably because nobody does it.

I believe I am right in saying you can only ask for a damage deposit which is returned afterwards (if there is no damage). You should also insure yourself for people damaging your property. This goes for Gites and CDH. It costs us about 30 Euros extra per year to insure us against guests damaging our property so in the case of Gites your damage deposit is normally the value of the excess charge on the insurance which is about 200 Euros (in theory you can charge what you like I think). People like Gite de France and Clévacances have special deals with insurance companies for this sort of thing which are cheaper than doing it direct but then you need to be a member of either to take advantage.

[crossy67]

Thanks Q.  Would make things a bit easier if you could hold card details for B&B owners I would have thought.  Never mind, just a thought.

[water rat]

I think many B&B owners ,like ourselves , do not take credit cards and I believe it's illegal to take details if one doesn't accept them. Usually we ask for a deposit with the GdF booking form ,but this year it's been so last minute there hasn't been time. Touch wood no probs so far!

[Quillan]

[quote user="water rat"]I think many B&B owners ,like ourselves , do not take credit cards and I believe it's illegal to take details if one doesn't accept them. Usually we ask for a deposit with the GdF booking form ,but this year it's been so last minute there hasn't been time. Touch wood no probs so far![/quote]

No we don't, we use PayPal for deposits only as the guest does not require a PayPal account to do this. We don't mind loosing the 3% because the amount is normally under 100 Euros. I am under the impression, and I think there was a thread about this some time back, that's it's actually illegal to hold a persons credit card details (unless your a retailer like Amazon for instance and then only if you introduce certain safeguards as described under the French Data Protection act) even if you do have a machine and they have already made a payment. Personally I like PayPal not only because its quick and easy but I never get to see the card holders details and number so if there is any illegal use of the card by a third party I can sleep soundly knowing its not me.

[Babbles]

I'll second that for Paypal we take the deposit in that method and before they stay I send an email saying we don't take cards on site and if they want to pay by that method I'll send another invoice or they can bring cash or french cheque. We've had very few problems which are normally user error apart from we had a phase of Russians staying and they can't use paypal and I'm not comfortable taking a booking without a deposit.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Babbles"]........  apart from we had a phase of Russians staying and they can't use paypal...........[/quote]

Actually they can but they need to deposit money with PayPal before they can send it. Basically they 'charge' their account with money and then they can spend it. There is another country that does the same thing but I can't remember its name nor where it is.

[emma]

We are considering using PayPal but I am worried as I've heard they keep hold of the money for 45 days before forwarding it to you. That's not good! From your experience is this right? Emms

[Quillan]

I've never experienced this and I have been with them for years. Once your account is setup and verified to your Bank account, they take (or was it the other way round, it' so long ago I may not remember properly) about 10 cents from your bank account and it shows on your bank statement with a number, you type the number in to your PayPal account then they know it's you and you. After this whenever you transfer money from your PayPal account be it within seconds or weeks of it arriving it will take three working days to reach your bank account. At 3.9% charge it's cheaper than Credit Agricol who charge between 15 and 40 Euros per  month for the machine and 4% or more per transaction depending on how much money you put through the account. The less you put through the more you pay.

[emma]

Thank you, this is very helpful.

[Dordogne Landlady]

We have been using Paypal now for about 4 years and no regrets or problems. Occasionally someone makes it difficult for themselves because they do not understand how to pay, but most users are fine. Excellent for the Australians and Americans to pay, the fee is very small and much cheaper for them to pay this way and for us. Previously we were charged 16 euros just to bank a Spanish euro cheque.

Most guests pay as soon as you send them the "payment request" so deposits arrive quick and nobody seems to mind us passing on the small charge. After all it makes it cheaper for them to pay this way.

Transfer to your bank is normally within 3 working days. Guests do not need to have an account with Paypal, but worth mentioning this to them as some people think you do. Give it a go.

[amos]

Reading this thread with interest as I am considering the paypal route as a means of receiving rental payments. My query is what kind of a fee do paypal charge you for receiving/converting a foreign currency (sterling) to Euros?

Looking at the site it says ''Payments requiring a currency conversion include a 2.5% foreign currency margin'' . Does this mean they charge 3.4% for the initial transaction and a further 2.5% on top?

[Dordogne Landlady]

The charge varies slightly depending on where the guest is resident, i.e. Europe or Australia, America etc. Also if the guest does have a Paypal account it is cheaper for them. The usual charge is around 3.5%. Far cheaper for the long distant guests to pay this way and nobody has yet refused to pay because we pass on the charge. We do stress this at the time of the request and just ensure it is added to the total amount of the deposit. Also no frightening bank charges for you from your French Bank if they do a transfer outside the Euro zone to your French account.

[Nimportequoi]

I use Payboxmail to take on line credit card payments in conjunction with my bank CA (a business account is necessary). Annual charge of 225€, but I only pay 0,45% in commission, which works out a lot cheaper than Paypal would. But if I had only French clients it wouldn't be worth it as they generally hate paying by CB online and most still want to pay by cheque.

[Quillan]

I believe it depends how you use PayPal. We only accept deposits and we make no charge because your not really loosing that much. Basically we want the first nights money plus the cost of the meal on the first night if ordered so we are not out of pocket if they don't turn up. French people tend to send cheques, Belgians use PayPal as they don't have cheques just like the Dutch. For the balance we only accept French cheques or cash. I don't know if others have a business account with PayPal or not but you get a better rate I believe.