Friends not paying for villa

[jutishjwee]

We booked a villa holiday to Fiji with some friends. We paid for the villa on our credit card and told friends they could pay us when the payment was due. They said sure.

Payment date has gone so paid out of savings. Sent a reminder saying please can you pay me the £1,000 for the villa as I’ve paid it out of my account. Friends said sure sorry been so busy with work.

Still no sign of money and now I could have been earning interest etc on that money. I think friends are a bit tight on dosh as they didn’t book flights for ages because wanted to wait til pay day to pay for flights.

That is true - it will be very expensive then!

Just send a message, or make a phonecall every few days.
Be nice about it, dont let it sour friendships.
Forget about any interest on £1000.
Its peanuts.

Have had more luck with having them set up standing orders for regular amounts, that way you know much earlier on if they're going to be difficult about paying.

Friend messaged to say they’ve had a mad busy week but would transfer over the weekend / I just said yes please, my bank account is not looking happy with me.

Wonder if the message was them hoping I’d say oh no rush

Don't say you have someone else in mind for the villa for goodness' sake - it might be the excuse to get out of things they were looking for!

Just say please can they pay you as things are tight until they do.

Never ever pay with cash. I often book holidays for groups but I only ever use an interest free credit card. Fortunately my friends are reliable and always pay up but I'm never out of pocket or worried about missing interest. Just call them and say you need the money.

It doesn’t take long to transfer money, and I say that as the least technologically savvy person ever. Hope you get the money soon @jutishjwee x

They're complete cheeky fuckers. It takes moments to transfer money.

Don’t book like this with them again, they sound unreliable.

In the time it took to send a message they could have made the payment...

This. Or this will be their get out clause. You need to make them accountable

Absolutely no one is too busy to do a quick bank transfer they’re making excuses to postpone paying for whatever reason.

I'd have no time for this.
A transfer takes two minutes

What do they expect, a free vacation? They expect you to sub them?? Wtf

Yes.Can you imagine, if the friends said, ok, ask your other friends! OP would be giving them a get out, but then would be lumbered, with the whole of the cost of the villa!

^^ This. It's an excuse.

Message Sunday afternoon to "remind" them.

Yeah exactly what I was thinking.

They were looking for a "Oh there's no rush, I was just worried you had forgotten!" message back which would buy them another few days.....

Sounds like they have over committed financially, so I wouldnt hold out much hope of a happy holiday as they are likely to be penny pinching the whole time. Dont expect many meals out.

I came on to say exactly this. They are taking the piss op and I'd be concerned you won't actually get that money back, they are stalling for a reason.

@jutishjwee it takes just as long to message you saying they will transfer it, as it does to transfer the money these days. I hope you get it and it doesn’t sour the holiday.

I think they’ll pay once they get their next pay check…

You and your companion (partner?) need to have a talk about how to manage this on the holiday. This pair isn't going to have sufficient spending money and it could get really awkward. Decide now how you're going to deal with it and then make sure your friends understand how things are going to work, e.g. buying food for the villa. What happens when you want to go on a trip or to a nice restaurant and they say they can't afford it and give you sad eyes? What happens if they want to buy cheap food for share meals and you want something nicer?

You can use the excuse of setting up some kind of money splitting app to start the discussion with them.

I think they're gonna pull out.

Where do you all live? UK?

Fiji, I assume, can be an expensive holiday destination, depending on where you live.
Can your friends afford this holiday?

I hope this will all work out for you!

They probably will but it’s really annoying as they don’t know what your financial situation is. I’ve stopped booking things for friends because of this. Apart from one friend who we always make sure to pay each other straight away.

This isn’t acceptable. You don’t let people do you a favour by paying large sums of money on your behalf and then neglect to repay that in a timely manner. I would message them again, this time firmly. ‘I need the £1000 paying today, please. You’re taking longer to repay it than I agreed to and it’s now causing me problems. I hope there’s no issue re the holiday or you paying for it that I need to be aware of?’

Argh no, this isn’t great. I’d be so frustrated if I were you!

I also certainly wouldn’t be following the advice of people who have suggested saying something like “tell them you have other friends to take their place” etc as this could be the get out they’re looking for, and then you’re left lumbered with the whole bill and no one to go with 🫠

Ive seen your most recent update saying you think they’re waiting for their next pay day. If I were you I really wouldn’t be accepting this! I’d be likely to say something like “hey, I know you said you’ve been mad busy and you’ll send the money some point over the weekend, but I really could do with it asap! It’s a lot of money to have come out of my acc and I really can’t afford this. Could you get it sent over as soon as you see this message? Can’t wait for the trip!”