Safest way to pay for holiday villa

LindaandNicole

A BAD deal - TripAdvisor HolidayLettings REQUIRE Paypal payments.

I was booking a holiday a year in advance this week. I tried to pay by credit card
(the Tripadvisor Holidaylettings website had 'you can pay by credit card' plastered all over it). On the final payment screen, despite clicking the option to pay by credit card it kept taking me to a Paypal screen. I had a LONG Webchat with them saying I wanted to pay by card; they said I could only do that 1) over the phone, and 2) that they would use Paypal to process the payment. I asked if I would still have section 75 protection, they said they did not know and that I should ask Paypal!! I asked WHICH, who said No, I wouldn't because the chain of supply would be broken. I'm fizzing about this because TripAdvisor is such a big company now selling so many holiday lets; and they are forcing people to give up that protection despite the fact that 1) their website says "you can pay be credit card" on almost every page; and 2) most of these lets will be booked many months in advance, and Paypal's (limited) protection expires 180 days after the
transaction. Boo TripAdvisor, Booooooo!!!!

LindaandNicole

I wasn't prepared to take the risk of not having the section 75 protection. I sent a message to the owner of the property explaining the problem, and LUCKILY he directed me to another website through which they market their property, which WOULD accept a credit card payment. So I've paid it happily. The owner said that he was not aware 1) that TripAdvisor holiday lettings were not taking credit card payments anymore, and that 2) the level of protection offered by Paypal is so limited in comparison to section 75 protection. Very luckily, 1) I could contact him direct, and 2) he was sympathetic.

Jlo31

LindaandNicole wrote: »

A BAD deal - TripAdvisor HolidayLettings REQUIRE Paypal payments.

I was booking a holiday a year in advance this week. I tried to pay by credit card
(the Tripadvisor Holidaylettings website had 'you can pay by credit card' plastered all over it). On the final payment screen, despite clicking the option to pay by credit card it kept taking me to a Paypal screen. I had a LONG Webchat with them saying I wanted to pay by card; they said I could only do that 1) over the phone, and 2) that they would use Paypal to process the payment. I asked if I would still have section 75 protection, they said they did not know and that I should ask Paypal!! I asked WHICH, who said No, I wouldn't because the chain of supply would be broken. I'm fizzing about this because TripAdvisor is such a big company now selling so many holiday lets; and they are forcing people to give up that protection despite the fact that 1) their website says "you can pay be credit card" on almost every page; and 2) most of these lets will be booked many months in advance, and Paypal's (limited) protection expires 180 days after the
transaction. Boo TripAdvisor, Booooooo!!!!

I had not spotted that clause in PayPal. Thanks for pointing it out.

The pay pal agreement states 'Open a Dispute

'Open a Dispute within 180 days of the date on which you made the payment for the purchase you would like to dispute. We may refuse to accept any Dispute that you open in relation to that purchase after the expiry of that period (please be aware of this if you agree a delivery time of an item or performance of a service with the Payment Recipient that falls after the expiry of that period' so yes in most ceases PayPal protection is useless for villa hire.'

The only protection via paying with PayPal should be going via charge back process win visa and MasterCard but as you said it's not law for them to do this due to section 75 not counting.

This is all good info.

Jlo31

[Deleted User]

Again it is worth repeating that any money paid to TripAdvisor/Holiday Lettings does not go to the owner until AFTER you have taken over the rental so you're not going to be in dispute with the owner before then.
If you find the premises are not what you were promised that is when you take up your dispute with the booking agency.
Speaking from an owner's point of view a bad review and a disputed claim about the property is the last thing we need so it's in our interests to provide the best possible service.

Jlo31

Thanks for all the advice. I'm now looking at properties through housetrip which seems to have quite good reviews and you always pay by credit card so get that added protection as well.

Jlo31

Mist a quick update. I've managed to find a villa in Italy via 'HouseTrip' and was able to pay with a credit card avoiding PayPal. Thanks again for your help.

Cheers

James 'jlo31'