We are only just starting to implement this procedure and it WILL take some time. If you do not see the verification symbol against a property, it does not mean it is not real, just that we are in the process of verifying it. If you are concerned in any way, please call Linda on 01206 273762.

Self Catering in France has been offering privately owned holiday rentals successfully for 10 years, and we are pleased to say that problems of any nature have been extremely minimal; however, it is our aim to reduce this figure to zero.

Because your holiday matters to us, and we care and understand that the prospect of booking a private holiday rental, especially for the first time, can be daunting to say the least, we have taken steps to try to ensure that your holiday will be trouble free, as described, and that you can be confident that we have carried out various checks to try to ensure that it actually exists and that the person to whom you are transferring funds is genuinely the owner or acting agent.

How do you know that an owner and a property are genuine? Because we are a privately owned, family run business maintaining constant contact with our advertisers, we are already confident that they all exist, and are who they say they are. Many of our advertisers have been with us for the full 10 years, which of course means that the property very definitely exists, or we would know about it. Some owners we have even met personally.

However, fraudulent transactions are a very real concern for all of us, and we have put measures in place so that you can be as sure as possible that when you are asked to transfer funds to one of our advertisers, not only does the owner exist, but that the actual property exists. If an advertisement carries one of our symbols, it means that we have carried out some simple checks.

The owners whom we have verified can be identified by the following symbol:  

Some property owners have not yet taken up the verification option, which is why a symbol is not displayed.

You can expect the property to be clean, ready for your arrival and as described on Self Catering in France.com. We have to rely on owners to describe their property fairly and accurately, and we have every confidence that they do, but it is impossible to actually view them all. Complaints to us are extremely rare, indeed none at all for the past few years, and on the occasions that we have had them, they have often been due to unrealistic expectations. However, we are always happy to act as an intermediary to try to resolve a problem satisfactorily, in the unlikely event that things don’t go according to plan.

Again, our ultimate aim is 100% satisfaction all of the time, so we have, where possible, spoken to previous guests to ascertain whether or not they felt the property met with their expectations, and was “as described”. If this has not been possible, bearing in mind that all owners are very aware of customer confidentiality, we have directed you to reviews that are written on other web sites; you are also at liberty to ask the owner to direct you to previous renters if you are still unsure.  

Some owners have passed on to us the contact details of previous renters, and we have their comments on file. These can be identified by the following symbol:   and you are at liberty to telephone our office for details if you wish.

Some properties, of course, are new to the market this year, and this makes it impossible to check with previous renters, because there are none. This does not in any way detract from the property; in fact it is more likely to mean that everything is actually brand new for this season!

If you get a problem while you’re there it’s comforting to know that there is a somebody on hand to help you. Many properties have owners living on site or very close, others have local managers whom you can contact.
We have identified all of the properties that have some form of local management with this symbol: