Wiring deposit money

Sounds like you have an inexperienced owner to deal with. Explain to her that she will have to furnish precise wiring instructions or you can't send the money. Her bank can give her the details to pass on to you.

Even if it's a small bank it should have a BZL (or is it BZL? I don't know, it's the equivalent of the US ABA routing number) and account number. (that's what it's called in Germany, if you're dealing with a French speaking part of Switzerland it may be called something else, but it's basically the same thing - a routing number) WIth that correct info the wire transfer should work fine. She needs to furnish you with those two numbers and there's no reason it won't work. She should have that info, as she must use it all the time.

we've tried that... she has given us a bunch of account numbers, said she has received wires before and can't understand why we are having issues.. we have tried two different banks..the "corresponding bank" listed was Wells Fargo but our wire was returned as they no longer are affiliated with her small bank in Brienz.. the house is great and we don't want to lose it however she is not making it easy on us..

We have done that using a SWIFT code and routing number (I think that is IBAN or something like that). These are long numbers! That is what she needs to provide for your bank to set it up. Here, for example, and the Swift code and IBAN for a place in Italy we have considered: BIC Swift: RZSBIT21011
IBAN: IT 32 P 0805623100000 300006297 They put it right on their website. for Switzerland some of that would be different (maybe a CH instead of IT?)

We have her Swift and Iban number but the wire was returned because the corresponding bank (I guess this is a 3rd party bank) no longer is affiliated with this bank..guess we are going to have get up in the middle of the night and call the bank direct to see what we need to do...the wire leaves the us fine... just can't seem to be delivered to the Swiss bank...we have been trying now for over 2 weeks to get this wire out..very frustrating..

Try Western Union's website. They're the old pros of international money transfers. Go to "Send Money Online" on their website to see your various options.

I had similar problems a couple of years ago in Switzerland. We ended up paying cash on arrival. I have wired money through Western Union a few times, always with problems. Western Union locations are either too far away for convenience, or something goes awry with security questions.... I have had vacation rental owners tell me that they would prefer to have me pay deposit and cash on arrival if they know I am from North America. They even think the fees for transfers from here are ridiculous and they would not pay them! Bank transfers seem to work great within Europe, but not necessarity Europe - North America.

Well we think we have it now...had to call the actual bank in Switzerland early this am and they said..oh yes, we can not receive wires from the US but gave us a bank to wire the funds to who will forward it to them..hope this works..Western Union wanted $55 to send a $500 deposit and most likely she would not have wanted to accept that.. she (the owner) has not been the easiest..keep fingers crossed that this wire will not be returned..stay tuned..

Lola is spot on. "Don't wire money" when you're the one who initiated the business transaction with a legitimate business is really poor advice, and, frankly, it sounds like it's coming straight from one of those urban myth e-mails old folks route around when they don't have anything better to do. I just wired a hotel deposit online through Western Union. The owners sent me their BIC and IBAN numbers, I paid a $10 fee, and they sent me a message two days later, indicating they received the deposit. Not a scam. I also just used PayPal for another deposit...paid the deposit and no fee. Not a scam. I actually wire large sums a couple of times per year in person at my financial institution. Not a scam. Obviously, if someone claiming to be your wrongly-jailed grandson contacts you in an unsolicited way and asks for a wire transfer to help bail him out of a foreign jail, don't do it.

I pay all my bills in Germany with bank to bank transfers, which is really just "wiring money". It's how things are done here.

I know it is too late for this now, but for the future - don't wire money - scammers have used this method and there is no way to trace them. Instead - you can pay through paypal even if they don't have an account - all you need is their email. Then they will get an email telling them how to receive the money - you will have to pay the fee, but it is small compared to risking all the money and realizing it was a scam and you have no place to stay once you get there. Fingers crossed that it will all work out for you :)
Donna

Assuming everything is legit.....do you think she will be any easier to deal with once you are there?

It is a bit alarmist to say don't wire money. Yes, there have been a few reports of fraud, as far as I know it involves advertising an apartment that does not exist, and taking money for deposits. But there are many legitimate owners who use this method, as well as some small hotels. It seems very common and expected particularly in Switzerland and Germany. As long as you are satisfied that the rental offer is legitimate, the wire transfer is fine. This property is definitely legitimate as I have seen trip reports mentioning it ( and the people were quite happy with it).

I agree with Donna. Use Pay Pal.

We just heard back from the owner and she feels really bad for all of the trouble we have been having... said if the last attempt does not go through not to worry and we would just take care of it when we get there...the place is really amazing so I think it will have been worth all of the effort.. thanks for all of your comments

While I prefer to use PayPal or a credit card for paying rent on an apartment. sometimes it is not possible for some reason. I am currently renting an apartment in France for a year and each month I wire the rent to the owner, from my bank in the US to his. Works fine. I usually rent through VRBO and they have an insurance you can buy to protect yourself form fraud.

Wow! Lots of great info here. Donna, thanks, I did not know that you could use Paypal to send money to someone who does not have a PayPal account. I'll have to check into this. Wiring money to a vacation rental owner has become very problematic, after I recived notice from VRBO that people are hi-jacking legitimate rental Email accounts. The scammers are asking that money be wired to their accounts instead. How to protect yourself?; call the number on the rental site, or better yet, use PayPal per Donna.