Important Information Regarding Your Deposit
We understand that your deposit is a significant aspect of your rental agreement, and we want to ensure that you are fully informed about the process. Here are the key points you need to know:
We aim to ensure all of our homes are in the best condition possible. This property may have some minor wear and tear, including small marks, loose handles, cracks or scratches on the walls/paintwork or anywhere in the property, and occasionally some elements of the blinds may be slightly bent or there may be a few scratches in some places. We try to repaint every 3 months; however, wear and tear and marks on the walls are not a cause for a refund. Everything works properly, and the property is in overall good condition. We offer a wide variety of homes, ranging from 3-star hotel-like accommodations to 4-star and 5-star top-quality homes.
Please note any cleaning issues must be raised within 2 hours of your actual check-in time, and we must be sent videos/pictures that are time and date-stamped so we can investigate and compare to our cleaning report. In the first instance of a cleaning issue being found, a housekeeper will be sent out in a timely manner, and no refund will be given as the cleaning issue will be resolved quickly.
The deposit process:
- The payment is instead placed on a charge/hold through our secure payment processor (Stripe), and it does not get transferred to our bank account.
- Our payment processor:
- The method we use for deposits is pre-authorisation – in simple terms a hold is put over your account for the amount.
- Upon check-out, we return the payment from our Stripe Control Panel, where we just cancel the pre-authorisation.
- Please note that we are NOT responsible for any taxes or charges you may be charged by your bank during the deposit process.
- When we receive a deposit from you, we do charge your card directly and withdraw the funds. There is no hold placed on your card, and the payment is processed immediately through our secure payment processor (Stripe).
- Our Payment Processor:
- The deposit is charged in full when you enter your card details via the payment link sent through the platform you used to book your stay.
- Please note: We are NOT responsible for any taxes or charges that may be imposed by your bank during the deposit process.
FOR STAYS LONGER THAN 2 NIGHTS:
– Therefore, for bookings which are 2 days or longer, on day 2, the payment system will cancel the original pre-authorisation, and attempt to re-authorise a new charge.
– This does not mean we have taken 2 deposits.
– The original deposit has been cancelled when the new charge begins. Please allow a couple of days for this to reflect on your account.
When will I get my refund?
- It can take 5-10 days to appear on your statement, if it takes longer please contact your bank for assistance.
- Your bank should be able to confirm this for you. Depending on your banking card issuer, the original charge should have disappeared after 5 – 10 days.
What if I don’t receive my refund?
- If we have not communicated with you about charging your deposit, then the deposit has been refunded and is on its way back to you.
- The charge should have disappeared within 5-10 days. If we have not contacted you regarding charging the deposit, then please contact your bank for assistance.
- If the case arises that we need to charge your deposit, we will always discuss this with you to make sure you are aware.
- The requirement for a deposit is always communicated on the booking advert before booking, and at the time of booking.
- This is mandatory for every stay.
- Here are just some of the reasons why we have security deposits in place:- Smashed Walls
– Broken Sofas
– Stains on Sofas
– Broken TV
– Stolen Items
– Stains all over walls
– Burns from Smoking/Shisha
– Iron burns on carpets
– Additional cleaning
– Linen damages –> we are seeing more towels being damaged, coming back burnt, stained with hair dye & food. These sorts of stains do not come out no matter how much detergent is used.
– Smoking in the properties – this creates a very difficult to remove smell which is hugely unpleasant for future guests thus means there are additional costs of cleaning, freshening, and airing the Apartment. - We also have the deposit system in place in case of any breach of house rules – for example parties. This sort of breach incurs many additional fees such as additional deep cleaning, damages, and so forth. We do not allow parties or similar events in any of our properties for this reason (For more information on this and similar please refer to the rental agreement).
PLEASE NOTE
The above only applies to a small minority of guests – for the most part, we are very lucky to host guests who treat our home respectfully. We also understand that accidents do sometimes happen. Therefore, we do have a threshold of certain high usage items (drinking glasses, crockery, kitchen utensils) whereby if the damage is of a small value we do not charge.
Our main priority is being able to refund you in full the deposit at the end of your stay, and to receive our home back in the same condition it was before your stay. The deposit is fully returned upon checkout as long there is no damage to the apartment when you leave.
