Villa renters lose their money as company goes under

The recent story in the Timesonline details the difficulties customers face when booking private villas direct from owners or through websites that operate via referring custom only. This business model is flawed because the website effectively offers no protection whatsoever to the consumer and when you then get a scam like the collapse of morairaway.com they all disappear behind their PC monitors. Holiday-lettings and holiday-rentals customers have both been affected. Consumers should only book direct with an owner if they can take credit card payments. Even ‘paypal’ only offer limited protection. Sites that take credit card payments for owners are the best option to pay through. You have the benefit of a registered company and credit card protection to get your money back if there is a problem. COnsumers, please, if yo are paying for a villa do it through a registered UK company and use your credit card!!