western union to reserve paris apartment
 

Hello- I have two questions re. reserving an apartment in Paris.

1) the owner wants me to use Western Union, which I've never done before and feel hesitant to do so.

2) the owner requires 30% down with no refund of this deposit if we cancel (we're booking for a 6-night stay in early january). 55E/ night, so it wouldn't be a huge loss, but i don't like no refund if we have to cancel or change.

what are your thoughts on this?

thank you!

I just used Western Union on Wednesday to wire money to Dubrovnik to reserve an apartment.

It is very simple to do though I did have to call a toll-free number to finish the process and the sales rep I dealt with discouraged sending money to someone I didn't know. But it was only $75. I sent the money and I got an email from Jadranka Benussi, the owner, the next day saying he had picked it up. In fact you can go online to see if they have retrieved the money.

There is a $20 transaction fee and I read somewhere that Visa may charge something, too, though I don't know why.

I can't comment on WU, but 30% down, non-refundable is quite common to rent an apartment.

If you feel you might need to change or cancel then I would wait. From the apartment owner's standpoint if they take it off the market because they rent to you, then you change your mind later, they have no guarantee they'll be able to rerent later.

One possibility is for you to insure your trip. If you have to cancel for a covered reason, the money won't be lost. However, at those rates I'm not sure that insurance would be a value.

I also was requested to use WU when I reserved a Paris apartment last fall. I didn't have any issue with trusting the landlady and everything was fine.

However, using WU is quite expensive as they give you a lousy exchange rate and charge some type of service fee. Also I believe if you do it online with a credit card (I went to a store with cash), your card will be charged with a cash advance.

I wouldn't be in a hurry to do it again for those reasons.

Many apartments have a 50% or more non-refundable deposit. And many require full payment upon arrival or even, in some cases, several weeks before arrival. 30% would not be out of line at all. You can't really blame them - a flat is a "one off" and if you cancel they might not be able to re-rent it in time. Not like a hotel where they have many rooms and one or two cancellations isn't such a huge deal.

They charged me the current exchange rate. Can you verify the cash advance charge? I'm curious. Though, I think it's $2 with my card. And I got the room I want.

I used them last year to wire a deposit for rental in the Dordogne. My bank advised that they could only send a transfer to a Paris bank...they had no dealings with any in the Dordogne. Plus they would have charged me a 30.00 transaction fee.

There are several Western Unions in my home town of Halifax. They did advise me that I should only be sending money to a person if I know them. I think that's just precautionary advice.

It worked just fine and I was only sending 105 Euros so I figured it wasnt the end of the world if something happened with the villa owner. The cost of the transaction was minimal compared with what my bank wanted to charge...and they couldn't get the money to the final destination anyway.

I think if you want to rent an apartment you have to accept the terms which are stricter than a hotel. Some apartment owners want 50 percent deposit...some want full payment prior to arrival. They have to protect their interests against lost income since it may be the only rental unit they have. Unlike a hotel where they may have 50 or 100 rooms to fall back on.

Never used W Union, but I think those terms are a little stiff regarding cancellation. Not totally, as virtually all apts have some date where the amount is nonrefundable if you cancel (it seems like it's usually 30 days in advance). However, I think most of the ones I've seen refund at least half of it if you cancel 60 days or more in advance. If you are reserving for January, that's still a ways off and I don't think it should be totally nonrefundable at this point. However, if it is and you want that apt., that's your choice to pick a place like that or not. I agree you should get travel insurance if you think you may want to cancel, or just not book an apt. if that's a big concern to you. That's the advantage of hotels.

I imagine you are thinking you may want to cancel closer to the date than 30-60 days, though, due to some unforeseen situation, and I think almost all places won't refund the money at that point, though. 30 pct nonrefundable isn't really that bad compared to some, so maybe the 30 pct is a tradeoff with the time period. If you are renting a place that is only 55 euro a night (I can't imagine one), then that's probably why it's nonrefundable, because it's so cheap.

Hi L,

Other than charging high fees, WU is perfectly OK.

How else were you planning to pay the deposit?

>i don't like no refund if we have to cancel or change....<

Standard procedure. $110 isn't even worth bothering to buy trip insurance.

55E/night is a good rate. Mind telling us details about the apt?

((I))

Hi everyone,

I appreciate your input and responses! (Apologies for my late reply- I posted this just as we were leaving for a weekend camping trip to the Sierras- we literally just returned!)

This is the link to the apartment we're interested in: http://www.paris-rent.com. The "small studio" in the Marais. It's quite small, but it's just me and my husband and we're easy-going.

It is small but does look just fine - especially for the price. My only reservation - does it have an elevator? It is on the 4th floor which is USA 5th floor. If there is no lift - are you hale/hearty enough to climb that several time a day?

we're in great shape (hubby just climbed Mt. Whitney, highest peak in the lower 49 states), but that might be a drag day-in-and-day-out....

Did he go from Mt Whitney to Bad Water?? :) The highest point to the lowest point . . . . .

Anyway - I'd just ask the owner to verify the elevator situation. It might be a walk up, or there might be a lift part way, or all the way to the 4th floor. (though I suspect there isn't a lift - normally if there is one it is prominently mentioned in the flat's description)

Hi,
I'd like to exchange my appartment in Paris (large and confortable) against one in NY for Christmas and new year's this year. Of course it would be free and no pb of booking.
Will you be interested in ?
Christine

Hi Christine,

I appreciate your offer, but we live in LA (Los Angeles).

Best,

Lynne