Contracts between Exchange Partners

One of my earlier posts talked about animals. I neglected to mention then that some exchanges will come with "animals"-like it or not! In August 2009 this was our "pet" salamander living (mostly on the ceiling) in the house my daughter and I exchanged in St. Raphael, France. When I asked exchanger Elisabeth about him, she wanted to be sure I didn't kill him, not that I even thought about it. We were just not used to having a salamander overhead! 

Before I talk about contracts-since this is about Vacation Home Exchanges AND other travel issues after all, l wanted to fill you in on a future Vacation Home Exchanges I am trying to arrange. Next September I am planning to go to France, as I especially want to visit friends in Metz and Toulouse. And I do want to revisit Paris! The other night I sent out seven inquiries inviting people to come to Boston. I went into the Vacation Home Exchange website I joined four years ago, and I can sort by many categories. In this case I looked parties of two who would like to exchange in September. 

Michael responded that they might be able to exchange their home in Brittany near the coast with me. http://www.homeforexchange.com/ID=7302  He is an American who also owns homes in California and Canada. It would have to be a non-simultaneous swap, which would work for me.

I will call him on his Skye number after the holidays to discuss this more. I’ve never talked with a potential exchanger before, but this makes sense to me, especially since he speaks English. I know approximately where his house is in Brittany, and I also need to see what there is to see and do around there. They are located about 135 miles from the nearest airport, so I need to explore the logistics of getting there.

The process of arranging an exchange takes time, and this was just the first step!

Every Vacation Home Exchange website provides a “contract”. Each website suggests that the participants sign it. Everything I have read and heard about Vacation Home Exchanges contracts makes it sound like it is highly unlikely that a contract would ever hold up! So I do not find bother with the “contract”.  Once again, successful Vacation Home Exchanges ARE BASED ON TRUST!  Both parties are committed to a positive exchange experience. They will take care of your house, as you take care of theirs. Accidents happen; things do break. You need to work out the details in the case of any type of accident on a "case by case" basis. You do want to be sure that your “treasures” are put away, so they won’t break!

When I did an exchange with Angela last August in Rome, she asked me to let her know if something got broken-NOT to rush out and replace it, as there might be another solution!

The only time I tried to complete a contract with my exchange partner, we never actually completed it. I had a feeling, which was accurate, that there were issues there. There was a problem, but the contract would have been useless to help solve the problem.  

Some people who do include cars in the exchanges give each other $500(or any amount agreed upon prior to the exchange)  in the event of any trouble with the car. I'm not sure how this works in practice, but I have been told that it does work! When the ground rules are determined beforehand, both parties have agreed how they will handle problems with cars in an informal or more formal agreement or "contract". 

Thanks again for checking in here. My next blog will focus on computer usage while doing a Vacation Home Exchanges. And please, send me any comments or questions!