Paying by Paypal for holiday appartment -safe?

gjs1701

How safe is it to pay by Paypal for a holiday apartment.

I booked through Booking.com and a few days later got a paypal invoice. The holiday isn't till August - 5 months away. How secure is my payment? Will I have any comeback if there are problem?

Bri1

I believe there is a time limit if you have problems, not sure what it is but Ebay work on 45 days, Paypal are basically the same company so may be similar, check on the site

peachyprice

Also check their status on Paypal, whether or not they are verified meaning Paypal will have checked their identity

PolishBigSpender

Contact booking.com about this. It's not a valid way to conduct business according to booking.com , and they will be particularly unhappy about one of their accommodation providers behaving like this.

lea2012

That's not normally the procedure with booking.com so I would be very suspicious. Normally you either pay booking.com directly or you choose to pay the hotel directly on arrival. Personally I would contact booking.com to clarify and if it's not correct then send the email to paypal fraud department (the email is on the site). I must get at least 1 email a month claiming to be in regards to a payment to skype made via paypal which is fraudulent so be wary!

gjs1701

I've contacted Booking.com. I shall wait for their reply.

shaun_from_Africa

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Contact booking.com about this. It's not a valid way to conduct business according to booking.com.

I'm in the process of looking for accommodation in Holland and a fair few of the Booking.com places there have Paypal payments as an option.

http://www.booking.com/hotel/nl/hotelboatideaal.en-gb.html?aid=356980;label=gog235jc-hotel-XX-nl-hotelboatideaal-unspec-tt-com-L%3Aen-V%3A0CDYQFjAA-O%3Aunk-B%3Aunk;sid=9f6ef82e4a9335abacfcba1404473ff8;dcid=1;checkin=2014-04-01;interval=9

The fine print
A pre-payment is required through international bank-transfer or Paypal money services. The hotel will contact you within 24 hours after your reservation concerning this.

Bear in mind that there is no Paypal protection for payments for accommodation.

zagfles

lea2012 wrote: »

That's not normally the procedure with booking.com so I would be very suspicious. Normally you either pay booking.com directly or you choose to pay the hotel directly on arrival.

Really? AFAIK you never pay booking.com. I've booked with them loads of times and never paid them, it's always the hotel you pay under whatever policy the hotel has (sometimes in advance sometimes on arrival, sometimes on departure, sometimes a deposit in advance). But always to the hotel never booking.com.

zagfles

gjs1701 wrote: »

How safe is it to pay by Paypal for a holiday apartment.

I booked through Booking.com and a few days later got a paypal invoice. The holiday isn't till August - 5 months away. How secure is my payment? Will I have any comeback if there are problem?

What was the payment policy - check your booking confirmation, booking.com should have stated exactly how and when you have to pay.

I personally avoid any hotels who want pre-payment by bank transfer or by any method other than credit card. Not sure what comeback you'd have if it all went wrong eg fraud, hotel went bust etc. I don't mind paying cash on arrival but not in advance.

gjs1701

The policy says pay on the day of booking.

I have insurance - so I guess if the aparments went bust I'd be covered.

gjs1701

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

I'm in the process of looking for accommodation in Holland and a fair few of the Booking.com places there have Paypal payments as an option.

The fine print
A pre-payment is required through international bank-transfer or Paypal money services. The hotel will contact you within 24 hours after your reservation concerning this.

Thanks for that. I guess it is ok as far as Booking.com are concerned.