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Re: How do most of you conduct your rentals (by Beck):

Many renters say they want to verify their name is on the reservation before they pay. This is understandable, but many of those renters never pay after their name is on the reservation! Maybe they found another unit, maybe they weren't properly honest about why they were asking to be placed on the reservation. A number of companies (I'm not certain about Four Seasons Aviara) charge the owner a fee $35-$135 to add a guest. Often, owners don't want to get involved if they don't have a sure thing. Asking to be on the reservation before payment is not a guarantee you will book, and is inconvenient to owners faced with renters calling to ask for alternate dates when only a specific date is offered, being placed on the reservation but never paying, detail questions about the resort/unit but then not booking thru the owner, etc.

When a renter asks me to place them on the reservation I require a $100 to 50% payment to do so, especially when the resort charges to add a guest name or the reservation has a cancellation penalty to the owner. If you are a renter, please consider the following: - I know you want to be safe and have proof the owner reservation is valid. This is understandable. But you are also asking for the owner to have faith you will pay. Renters are often fickle, resulting in owners unwilling to have faith the renter will pay. - A lot of owners don't want to do any more work than necessary and you're asking for them to do something they have no guarantee will result in a booking. - If you use an escrow service or pay with a credit card, you have used the safest payment methods to protect you. Thus there is no need to see your name on the reservation before payment. And if you pay directly by check it doesn't matter if they added your name before payment because if anything at all happens to your reservation (on purpose or accident) you will probably never be able to get your money back. Even if you successfully sue to get your money back it is unlikely you will recover all your expenses IMHO.

So far everyone who wants me to add their name has agreed to pay an initial deposit. This is mutually beneficial since I know the renter is properly motivated to make the final payment and the renter makes the final payment knowing they have the reservation in their name! I feel this is extra work, but I'm willing to do it in order to get a booking! I feel this has separated real customers from looki-lo customers (a customer asking me to provide validation but never pays for the rental their name is on).