I wanted to post this because I was very impressed with the unprompted actions by Gites de France, and I thought I would give them a plug.
We had reserved 2 gites for the last 2 weeks in April. The standard GDF cancellation policy has a tiered refund depending on when you cancel. For an early cancellation (w/in 30 days), you lose the 25% deposit. So I cancelled, and didn't even make a comment about the deposits, because I expected to lose them. That was fine, because it was only a couple of hundred euros, and may be the only money I'll lose in connection with this cancelled trip. So today I got an email from the GDF regional office for one of the gites, acknowledging the cancellation, and adding that they were giving me a full credit for the deposit towards the same gite anytime in the next 18 months. I had also gotten something along those lines in connection with the other gite, although from my translation it wasn't clear.
We've been using GDF for about 35 years, and have always been very satisfied with them. This just adds to my belief that they're a great organization.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12315 posts
Along the same line. We received a full refund from the owner of an Airbnb for a week's rental in July - except Airbnb refused to refund their roughly $90 fee.
Posted by
OP
Portland, Maine
2916 posts
Brad, I received a full refund on 3 Air BnBs for this month, including the AirBnB service fee. But in each case the regular cancellation policy for the places provided for a full refund based on my cancellation timing.