Amalfi Travel Forum

Hi,
Dont know if Im being paranoid, but...Ive been in contact with a company called L'Altra Costiera ( www.altracostiera.com) and have found a villa. They are asking for a 40% deposit by electronic draft bank and the reminder of the amount in cash on arrival...now hmmmm this isnt really normal is it????
Help!

A deposit with Balance on arrival is, in my experience not at all unusual.

A 40% deposit is higher than usual but on the other hand many owners/agencies require the balance to be paid 6-8 weeks before arrival.

I have just booked a house in France but have agreed a reduced late booking, reduced rental to be paid in full, on arrival.

The main problem with electronic transfers to an overseas account is that the charges can add £20 to your bill.

The deposit by electronic transfer is not abnormal, and in Europe is very easy, I don't know where you are as you didn't put it in your profile or mention it in your question. If you are in Europe (does not have to be in the euro zone or even the EU) and have a euro account you would use the European Bank Transfer system, as long as the company has given you its BIC (essentially, bank code and account number) and IBAN: IBAN is an international bank identifier, and is also the one used for the international bank transfer system, SWIFT. If you don't have a euro account, you can only use the SWIFT system, which costs more. Again, however, European banks are well-used to this system, I don't know about where you are.
As for the rest of the payment, are you sure they mean in cash? This is actually not that unusual for Italy although it probably indicates that they don't intend to declare all of it to the taxman. However, I don't see why the second payment should not also be made by bankers' draft, given that the company can pay it into a bank immediately and it should have cleared by the time you leave.
It is very normal where I live (Belgium) to pay house and apartment rentals upfront, a month in advance, and I have also been asked for cash payments (e.g. for the deposit) in the past because owners had been fleeced by previous tenants skipping off after not paying the rent or paying with bad cheques etc. Unfortunately they then apply measures that cause difficulties for us honest people.
But if you don't think it's normal, and you can find what you want without such costs, don't book this villa with this company.
There's a mention of them here although you might not think it amounts to a review: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187780-i567-k1434232-Honeymoon_Amalfi_Coast_and_Sicily_or_Amalfi_Coast_and-Amalfi_Amalfi_Coast_Campania.html

Try WWW.summerinitaly.com or WWW.amalfiaccommodation.com