Cancellations, refunds and disputes

Before a booking is confirmed

Sending a request does not confirm a booking. If the host declines, or the request expires before payment, there is no confirmed stay.

A normal request asks for no card details and creates no payment or card hold. After approval, a booking is confirmed only when the guest completes the immediate payment within the limited payment window.

After confirmation

Your booking agreement contains the cancellation policy and house rules you accepted. The policy explains any cancellation deadlines and whether a full, partial or no refund applies, subject to your rights under applicable law.

Free cancellation is not included with every stay. Check your particular policy before paying. Changes a host makes to their listing later do not replace the terms saved with your booking.

Getting help with a refund

An approved refund is processed against your original payment through the host’s or agency’s Stripe account. It is recorded with your booking. Any adjustment to ChezFrance’s commission is handled separately with the provider.

Use the private booking area for the booking record and contact hello@chezfrance.com if a recorded payment outcome appears incorrect. Do not send card details by email or private message.

Your accommodation contract is with the host

Your accommodation booking is a contract with the host or agency identified as the accommodation provider in your booking agreement, not with ChezFrance or Gites.co.uk Ltd. That provider is the merchant of record: guest payments are processed for it through its connected Stripe account. Stripe processes the payment; it does not provide the accommodation.

The provider is responsible for the property, the accuracy of its description, access, cleanliness, safety, facilities, delivery of the stay and any accommodation refund or remedy due under the booking agreement and applicable law. ChezFrance operates the marketplace and provides booking, communication and payment-support tools.

If something is wrong before or during your stay

Contact the host promptly through your private booking messages, or use the stay contact details supplied after confirmation. Explain what is wrong, when it happened and the solution you are requesting. Give the host a reasonable opportunity to put matters right where it is safe and practical to do so.

Keep the booking reference, the accepted agreement, relevant messages, dated photographs and receipts for reasonable expenses. Do not include card details, passwords or private access codes in a complaint. Report urgent safety concerns to local emergency services first; do not remain somewhere unsafe while waiting for a reply.

If the property is unavailable, you cannot gain access, the host cancels or the accommodation materially differs from the booking, ask the host for a written remedy. A host cancellation is not automatically treated as your voluntary cancellation. Contact ChezFrance if the host cannot be reached or you need help keeping a record.

Escalating an unresolved complaint

If the host has not resolved the problem, send a written complaint setting out the facts, supporting evidence and the remedy sought. Ask for a written response within a reasonable time taking account of the urgency; a problem preventing tonight’s stay needs more urgent attention than a later accounting query.

You can also email hello@chezfrance.com with your booking reference and a summary of the steps already taken. ChezFrance may review relevant booking and message records, contact the provider, request evidence and help the parties communicate. Our support is not an independent adjudication or a promise that the provider will agree to a refund.

For a complaint about ChezFrance’s own website, booking records, communications or handling of a payment, contact hello@chezfrance.com directly. We remain responsible for our own services and any duties or liabilities imposed on us by applicable law.

Refunds, disputed charges and damage deposits

The accepted booking terms and applicable law determine whether a refund, price reduction or other remedy is due. A cancellation policy does not remove mandatory rights relating to non-performance or a defective stay. A complaint alone does not automatically cancel a booking or pause scheduled payments: ask for written confirmation of any cancellation, payment change or agreed settlement.

Where a refund is authorised or legally required, it is processed through the provider’s payment account using the supported payment workflow, normally against the original payment. Bank processing times vary. ChezFrance can help investigate a missing or incorrectly recorded payment, but does not promise an immediate credit or advance its own money to cover a host’s obligation.

For a disputed damage deduction, ask the host for the reasons, itemised amount and supporting evidence, and provide your response. Ordinary wear does not automatically justify a charge. Report an unrecognised or suspected fraudulent payment promptly to your card issuer as well as ChezFrance.

What ChezFrance booking support does and does not cover

ChezFrance offers booking support only. It does not offer insurance, a compensation fund, a property-fraud reimbursement guarantee or a promise to pay for replacement accommodation, transport or consequential costs. Any refund or compensation owed for the accommodation remains the provider’s responsibility, except where applicable law makes ChezFrance responsible for its own conduct or otherwise imposes liability.

We may investigate misuse and restrict or remove a listing or account where appropriate. That action does not itself settle a guest’s claim or cancel the provider’s obligations. We do not promise a 24-hour support service or a fixed dispute-resolution time.

If the dispute remains unresolved

You retain any rights available under applicable law to contact your card issuer, insurer, consumer-advice service or a competent court. Card disputes and insurance claims have their own eligibility rules and deadlines; seeking our help does not extend those deadlines or guarantee a successful claim. Tell the parties about any refund already received so the same loss is not reimbursed twice.

Where the host is a professional subject to French consumer-mediation requirements, ask for the designated consumer mediator’s details. Eligibility and the prior-complaint requirements of that scheme apply. Consumer protections may differ for a private host. Mediation is not a compulsory condition of access to court.

This procedure does not replace the terms accepted for your booking, shorten statutory time limits or exclude rights or liabilities that cannot lawfully be excluded. There is no additional short reporting deadline in this policy that automatically removes a valid claim.

Bookings completed on Gîtes.co.uk or another site

If a ChezFrance listing sent you to Gîtes.co.uk or another website to enquire or book, use the booking agreement, payment record and support route for the service where the booking was actually made. This ChezFrance payment procedure does not imply that ChezFrance processed that booking.