Paid deposit by transfer, how can I be sure?

qwfp

Hello, I booked a holiday in Croatia from a company I saw on TripAdvisor; they are called BozHolidays. They have fantastic reviews, no problems there, and they offer TripAdvisor payment protection. When I went to pay the deposit, I was offered a choice of bank transfer or PayPal – not tripadvisor – so I chose credit card through PayPal. I've since discovered that that doesn't give me the credit card protection I thought it did!

I assume that they didn't want me paying through tripadvisor simply because it takes a cut of their money, rather than because they're dodgy. Every interaction has been perfect, I can't find any negative reviews, but then I read articles saying 'never pay by bacs', and 'check for abta protection', and suddenly worry I might be being very stupid! Could someone help me work out whether this is legitimate?

Thanks for any help

richardw

Boz? do they know Baz n Daz?

PeacefulWaters

Doesn't PayPal offer limited protection that makes it a superior option to bank transfers?

It might not be S75 but it's the best option of the two.

qwfp

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Doesn't PayPal offer limited protection that makes it a superior option to bank transfers?

It might not be S75 but it's the best option of the two.

I think you're right, yes. If I pay by paypal as sending money to a friend, as they wanted, there is no protection on that. I suppose my question is more: if I'm dealing with a company that wants bank transfers (which some websites say to avoid like the plague), how can I know they're trustworthy? Is there any external way of checking them?

Voyager2002

qwfp wrote: »

I think you're right, yes. If I pay by paypal as sending money to a friend, as they wanted, there is no protection on that. I suppose my question is more: if I'm dealing with a company that wants bank transfers (which some websites say to avoid like the plague), how can I know they're trustworthy? Is there any external way of checking them?

They are clearly unwilling to meet many of the usual costs of doing business, which could mean that they are strapped for cash. No matter what checks you carry out, there is no reliable way to know whether they will still be trading in a few months time. So you can either gamble on perhaps losing the deposit; or tell them that you will pay in cash when you start the tour; or invite them to start accepting one of the usual forms of payment.

qwfp

Voyager2002 wrote: »

They are clearly unwilling to meet many of the usual costs of doing business, which could mean that they are strapped for cash. No matter what checks you carry out, there is no reliable way to know whether they will still be trading in a few months time. So you can either gamble on perhaps losing the deposit; or tell them that you will pay in cash when you start the tour; or invite them to start accepting one of the usual forms of payment.

Thanks, that's helpful! I'll try and push for credit card.