Secure Payment service FAQ

The service is paid for by the owner, giving him or her a number of benefits (easy booking, payment security, etc.).

For security reasons, the sums due to you will be kept in a specific rental holding account until the beginning of the stay.

This guarantees you get a refund in the event of a problem or cancellation in accordance with the rental conditions and the terms & conditions of use of the service.

Once you have received an email from the Secure Payment service sent from pay@mediahols.com, it just takes a few clicks to book on the secure website https://pay.mediahols.com and pay by bank card. Once the property has been booked, the dates are no longer available on the calendar and the owner cannot rent it to anyone else. You receive a contract in PDG format signed by both parties that formalises the contractual agreement with the owner.

The 'Booking only' payment method means you pay 25% of the rent by bank card on booking and the balance (75%) on arrival in accordance with the method previously agreed with the owner.

This bookings payment method combines speed with bank card payment security and real flexibility for payment of the balance that can be paid by traveller's cheques, cheque, bank transfer or cash.

With this method, payment of the balance is not managed by the Secure Payment service. It is the sole responsibility of the owner and the renter.

The Secure Payment service clearly describes the rental conditons: rent, extra costs, options, cancellation conditions. The information is translated into your language (EN, FR, IT, SP, PG, DU, GE).

The Secure Payment service is an optional service. The owner chooses whether or not to use it. Ads featuring this service are clearly marked «Secure Payment».

You can pay in one of two ways:

'Standard' payment

• 25% of the rental amount by bank card when you book
• The remaining 75% will be deducted from your bank card 30 days before the stay begins

or if the booking is made less than 30 days before the stay begins

• 100% of the rent due by bank card

'Booking only' payment

• 25% of the full rental amount to be paid by bank card on booking
• The remaining 75% is paid directly to the owner on arrival using the means of payment agreed beforehand (cheque, cash, traveller's cheques).

Please note: In the case of 'Booking only' payment, the balance (75%) is paid directly by the renter to the owner. This payment is not managed by the Secure Payment service, is not verified and carries no guarantee.

Only credit cards from the following countries are accepted: France, Italy, Spain, UK, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Canada, United-States.

NB: Make sure your bank card is valid until the beginning of the stay and that its ceiling is sufficient to meet the terms of payment.

For a 'Standard' payment, the balance of the rent (75%) will be debited from the bank card.

NB: Make sure your bank card is valid until the beginning of the stay and that its ceiling is sufficient to meet the terms of payment.

We invite you to get in touch with us via the 'contact' link in the emails sent by the Secure Payment Service. If possible, we will then try to find an alternative solution (a different bank card, bank transfer).

Please note: Make sure that the balance can be debited from your bank card. If it is impossible to debit the balance following the intervention of the Secure Payment service and the suggestion of alternative solutions, the booking will be considered as cancelled by the renter.

We wait for the beginning of the stay before transferring the money to the owner so as to be able to reimburse you in the event of cancellation or a problem with the rental.

In the meantime the money is kept in a specific rental holding account.

The purpose of keeping the funds in a holding account until the beginning of the stay is simply to ensure the security of the transaction and to give a refund in the case of cancellation or a problem with the rental. We get no financial return on such sums that do not belong to us.

1. Select an ad that offers the Secure Payment service

This is mentioned in different places on the ad.

2. Inform the owner that you wish to use the 'Secure Payment' service

To contact them via MediaHols.com, just tick the box 'I want to use the Secure Payment service' and select your payment method ('Standard' or 'Booking only'). Make sure you enter a valid email address.

NB: The choice of payment method is indicative only. It must first be agreed with the owner.

3. Check your email inbox

Once the booking form has been created by the owner, the Secure Payment service will send you an email with a booking offer.

NB: Check that the sender's address is correct pay@mediahols.com

The link contained in this email gives you access to your booking on the secure website https://pay.mediahols.com

If you do not receive the email with the booking offer, check in your spam, and if necessary, contact the owner to check that the booking form has been correctly filled in.

4. Confirm your booking on https://pay.mediahols.com

You just have to click on the link in the email that will take you to the booking page on https://pay.mediahols.com, and then follow the instructions given on the site to pay the amount due for the booking.

NB: Check in your web browser address window that you are on the https://pay.mediahols.com website with the padlock indicating a secure SSL connection together with the word 'AKENA TECHNOLOGIES'.

5. What you need to make the booking

Make sure your bank card is valid until the date of the start of the stay. Check that you have not gone over the ceiling and that it can be used for payments abroad.

For rental amounts over 2,500 euros, a digital copy of some form of identity (tiff, jpeg, pdf formats accepted) will also be required.

Please note: Providing a form of identity is compulsory under European law. You have up to 30 days before the beginning of the stay to provide it. Failure to provide proof of identity within the deadline will lead to cancellation of the rental at your expense.

6. Payment of the balance

The balance will be debited from your bank card one month before the stay begins.

This payment method gives you the the rapidity and security offered by a bank card when booking and greater flexibility for payment of the balance.

To benefit from it:

• Ask the owner for the 'Booking only' payment method and come to an agreement on how the balance is to be paid (date and payment method)
• Use the email you received and pay 25% of the rent by bank card on the website https://pay.mediahols.com
• Pay the balance (75%) to the owner on arrival using the payment method agreed beforehand.

Please note: Payment of the balance is arranged directly between the renter and the owner and is not managed by the service.

NB: Make sure you can pay the balance as the owner can refuse to give you the keys otherwise.

No, because the cost of processing the bank transaction means we would have to take a commission from the security deposit, even if it is not used.

Yes, but in some cases part of the amount paid is retained depending on the date that you cancel your booking and the cancellation conditions agreed on when you booked. The cancellation conditions are defined by the owner. They are clearly indicated on your booking form and are accessible in the emails you received from the Secure Payment service.

Please note: Cancellations must be registered on https://pay.mediahols.com website's booking management page. Any cancellations made directly with the owner or our help services will not be taken into account.

• View your booking form by clicking on the ‘Details’ link that you can find in the emails sent by the Secure Payment service.
• Click on the link 'Cancel this rental' in 'My rental', and follow the instructions.
• You will receive a text message with a verification code on the phone number that you gave when you booked.
• You will be refunded as quickly as possible.

The owner may retain part of the sum paid depending on the rental conditions that were agreed when you booked. To view these conditions, check your booking form by clicking on the ‘Details’ link in the emails received from the Secure Payment service.

In addition, the Secure Payment service deducts 2% in cancellation fees from the refunded sum to cover the bank transfer fees and handling costs.

The booking acts as a mutually agreed contractual link between the owner and the renter. This contract may be amended with the agreement of both parties.

If you want to change some aspects of the contract (the dates for example), you must discuss it with the owner first.

If the owner agrees, they can send a new booking offer by email that you must accept on a special page on the https://pay.mediahols.com website. If the change involves an increase in the rent, you must pay the extra cost.

In the absence of:

• a new booking offer from the owner,
• your acceptance of the new booking offer,

the former rental conditions will prevail and will be legally binding.

The owner can change them as long as the property has not been rented, in other words, as long as you have not yet paid the booking sum due.

Once the property has been booked, the owner can no longer change the conditions previously proposed without your contractual agreement. However, the owner can propose a change to the conditions.

In such a case, you will be sent an email informing you of the booking offer with a link to accept or refuse the new conditions proposed on the https://pay.mediahols.com Secure Payment website.

NB: If you do not formally agree to the new conditions on the https://pay.mediahols.com website, or if you reject them, the former conditions will continue to apply.

According to the General Terms & Conditions of Use, the owner can only cancel a booking in cases of force majeure (e.g. flooding on the premises).

In such cases, the owner must pay the renter compensation identical to the amount the latter would have had to pay if they had cancelled the booking.

e.g.: A renter has paid the full rental sum of 1000 euros. The rental conditions state that if the renter cancels the booking 20 days before the start of the holiday, they lose 50% of the amount paid, in other words, 500 euros. If the owner cancels, the latter shall: 1) refund the sum paid by the renter in full, namely 1000 euros, 2) pay compensation amounting to 50% of the rent, in other words, 500 euros.

Yes, because the amount paid on booking is retained in a holding account and is only paid to the owner at the beginning of the stay. This means that if there is a scam, the swindler will not be paid.

However, you must check that you are using the official service and make sure that you are booking on https://pay.mediahols.com with the padlock that indicates a connection secured by SSL and the word 'AKENA TECHNOLOGIES'.

It's likely that this is a scam. Do not answer and send us an email including the owner's reference.

It's likely that this is a scam. Send us an email including the owner's reference.

After booking, any changes will require the consent of both parties. If you have already booked, you cannot force the owner to accept different conditions.

The owner has the right to change the rental booking conditions as long as you have not already booked the property.

The booking offer sent by the owner has a limited validity. If it has expired, you can get in touch with the owner to request a new offer.

Like the renters, the owners may have periods when they are unavailable. However, if you have no news within at least 3 days and have tried to contact the owner by text message and by phone without success, please contact us at claim@mediahols.com, indicating the booking number beginning with a #.

It is limited exclusively to a problem discovered on arrival from the following list:

A. The rental has suffered serious damage (fire, flooding, damage), or is the object of inconveniences presenting all of the following characteristics:




B. The rental is not the one that was noted in the rental terms & conditions

C. The rental is still not available or is still occupied 3 hours after the time agreed in the rental conditions

D. The owner will not hand over the keys

You must send a text message to the emergency number +33 6 44 63 19 45:

• within 24 hours after the start of the rental period
• that must include the booking number beginning with # (e.g. #56543)
• indicating the nature of the serious problem and how we can get in touch with you (email address, phone number, etc.)

NB: This number is just for text messages and does not receive phone calls.

You must gather all the material elements related to the serious problem (photos, emails, records of phone calls, recordings, etc.). Do not delete the text message sent to the number above.

We will deal with your claim manually and will get in touch with you as soon as possible when our offices are open.