Taking payment - At check in or check out?

We all have to do what we feel comfortable with.  We have guests who come out from Multnomah Oregon to see their son and his family here in VA.  He was the Sheriff there, now retired. 

They bought some land and considered opening a B&B.  He confided in me that instead of a B&B they bought a quilt shop in the small town near the land as he just knew he would frisk more guests than not! 

He knew he could never be a normal innkeeper where trust is a huge factor having strangers in your home.

The same applies to family homes - if this were my family home (which is insinuated quite often like it was just handed to us and voila rake in all the dough) then I would have a different outlook.  Having people scratch up and dent walls and floors with their 150 lb rolling luggage would not make me a happy innkeeper.  I would convert to one of those who have rules and reg's - check in schpeal's of what to do and what not to do.  Little notes everywhere.  I would obsess over it, which of course would make it ten times worse.

Tell someone not to do something and they will do it, guaranteed. 

If someone told me something as stupid or had a note to tell me to put the shower curtain in the tub before showering I would be ticked off.  And yet...and yet how many guests do this? Leave the shower curtain outside the tub?  Plenty.

But we can't be guardians of these B&B's...we need to just let guests be.  Writing down their license plate and/or driver's license is wacked.  Sorry to all who do this...you probably have surveillance cameras on the property as well. 

I have never looked at a driver's license (even with personal checks as payment), never looked at a car other than to admire the Boxter or Jaguar etc. I have never had anything stolen, anything broken was by accident, and do not have anything out in the B & B that would "crush" me to have broken or walk.

My guests are guests in my home because I have invited them into my home. They just happen to pay me for the priviledge of visiting my home. The only thing I am adament about is that the hall lights stay on so no one falls on the stairs.

Life is too short to get into a snit over anything other than chocolate pudding!

signs I'd have no problem.....

All the rest.......guess I'd have some adjusting to do........and a couple slaps upside the head.

I know this is slightly off topic but I have to ask a dumb question.

We have a tiny little 3"x3" sign in each restroom next to all the makeup removal products we offer. It says "Makeup Removal Products" on it.

I suppose I could eliminate it seeing how I verbally point the items out as I show guests their bathroom. We don't have nearly as big of a problem anymore with the nicer facecloths and towels being used for makeup removal since putting the signs in.

But I wonder if I should really care if a guest who both ignores the verbal que and the little sign then ruins the nice stuff is put off or not by seeing a sign they should have heeded?

The same goes for the verbal information and little sign on the wall above the toilet about us being on a septic system and that care must be taken to not flush anything but human waste and toilet paper down the chute.

With several big roto rooter bills to deal with over the first five years to deal with because of the multiple days worth of feminine products that were flushed, I guess that one could fall under the "shiite happens" category but if it was only "shiite" they were dumb enough to flush after all that information was afforded, we'd not have the roto rooter bills to contend with.

On the most current theme being spoken about, we feel very comfortable with the amount of personal and financial information we "have" on any guest walking through our door. If they purposely bust or steal something and I can determine it was them with a high degree of certainty, I have a CC number that just worked a few minutes prior to check out to extract compensation from if need be.

I don't see how how rushing out to jot down a license plate or demand a driver's license does anything but amp up the perception that we're as Joe frequently and most aptly puts it "helo-hovering" and revealing a distrust of our guests on our part that would be offputting to the overwhelming majority of people.

Guests at lower priced hotel/motels expect to be treated like suspects, but our average guests should be free from that discomfort.

We've had a few things purposely broken and stolen we could count on one hand and have been compensated without argument after each one. Out of the thousands of guests we've hosted, we'll take those odds that our philosphy of starting our relationship with a guest with trust and respect is the best way to get it coming back our way in the long run.

Yup.....

Yeah.....

Just tossing this out there.....

What if you have 3 parties check in........all cary their own luggage inside.

You don't get to see what car is with who......and as stated....one of the car alarm goes off.

Please, please all understand........I am from NY, close enough to the City that our County Exect has a couple times mentioned our county becoming the Cities sixth borough...............and yet there's talk time to time making our Island from the city limits ----> East, our own state.

Obviously my perspective is based on my location and experiences. I'm not in a high crime area....though I do lock my car and trucks at night. We do lock our doors at night. Do have an alarm and motion spot lights all around the house ( the lights are great for entertaining purposes as well )

I do think being cautious and taking precautions is important

 "Stuff happens"

We have people in and out of our homes every day - it is what it is.  Wear and tear, not-so-bright guests doing silly things, we get them all.  We are open to the public.  If we are paranoid of destructive guests then we should close the place down or take stuff out of the rooms, or child proof the BnB.  

I guess I have a different view to those who have the US vs THEM mentality when it comes to innkeeping.  It is a very ugly viewpoint.  Should guests ever find this forum - G_d help us all! They would never stay at a BnB again.

As far as the driver / auto info......it's nothing new....it's standard check in at most all lodging establishments......it may not be standard where it concerns a B&B.....fine

 Big lodging establsments ask for license plate info primarilly because they have a large lot and if someone's car alarm  is going off they want to be able to contact the owner asap and get it turned off.  In a smaller B&B it is not always necessary because you know who belongs to which car.... a bigger B&B may have a harder timekeeping track.

I think in some locations they do it because it is a legal requirement for hotels/motels.  It is not so the owner can have an APB put out over a broken vase or stolen pillow.

When my mom and dad took vacations.....they were always coming back with logo'd ashtrays, hand or bath towels......I won't even mention the soap collection my dad had......I didn't see a regualr size soap in there bathroom for many years..... dad did alot of business travel as well.

I've gone on Golf trips with friends.....always one in the crowd that wanted to or did take towels.....one instance a friend wanted to take all the towels from the 2 rooms...When I got through with him..he quickly gave that up

Speak for yourself Joe. We haven't lost any pillows, had any broken furniture, rugs stolen or any of the myriad of other problems that have been discussed on here in the past. Sometimes putting the fear of God in them when they check in saves a lot of problems down the road. It also depends upon the level of crime in your area if you are dealing with locals.

Joe

I'm not implying anything....

I know what this forum is about.....I belong to an industry forum just like this. Have for some years.....We call them "War Stories"....We do the same thing.....work together to providing solutions to a posters problem/s

Personaly......I am not put off by some the less than peachy stories. I have them to....The good folks far out number the bad.

I have no misconception dealing with the public.....I prefer to work the angles and be prepared.....Damage and theft is nothing new, certainly something I am concerned with. I know how to deal with it in my business....as a B&B...I have no clue other than the obvious.....or what is obvious to me.....and I would be wrong....what I did find out in this thread is that there is recourse and much more finesse than I would have expected.

To me it's all cut and dry. Black and white.....no gray area.........someone broke/damaged something, they are responsible.....Something missing/stolen, they are responsible......and accountable.

As far as the driver / auto info......it's nothing new....it's standard check in at most all lodging establishments......it may not be standard where it concerns a B&B.....fine.

As mentioned above.......having a photo copy of the driver license....if that is going to deter theft....that's a win, win situation......if that would also parlay towards the issue of damages.....good.

Any business has an investment and then the ongoing operation. The idea with any business is profits.....

Now......from an outsider prespective regarding check in and check out....I'd prefer that most of what is needed to be done during the check in......so that upon departure day......hand over the room keys, thank the establishment for their hospitality, say good bye and be on my way

This is the deal - make your life difficult just for one bad apple?  Put little signs up and treat every guest like an ignoramous because of one idiot?  We do what we have to do, but we really have to think of the majority of guests.

The other effect of little signs is the "wet paint - don't touch" theory, you are asking for it by even bringing the suggestion to their view.

I am speaking generally of all that we do, taking a driver's license and car plate # is patooey.  The majority of BnB guests are super, no issues ever. We speak of the bad ones here as it is something to share, something to get advice on.  Really, we don't have terrible guests all the time.

This morning I was left a beautiful note in the room by a little 85 year old widow who told me this was her first time in a BnB and she loved every detail.  The table was full and she was served first, she just lapped it all up.  We don't often share the really special guest stories - whether it is due to their intimacy or just don't want to sound like bragging, but we really do get some special guests.

I take full payment with registration.  Sometimes I take a reservation from someone in Europe or Africa who don't have credit cards so I take the chance and make full payment when they arrive. So far no problems with this.

I always take a copy of their drivers license with the explanation that it cuts down on theft. No one has refused and we have no theft.

any of you take driver license info or photo copy.....info for the car they are driving

a while back this was becoming more the norm.

I take a one night deposit at the time of checkin, balance to be paid at checkout.  Most often, during the goodbyes, the guest just says to "leave the balance on the card"!

I take payment in full via visa, MC, credit card over the phone.  Most people I have been renting to prefer to pay the entire amount in full.  Few have paid one half at time of reservation over the phone and the other half when they arrive.  This is working well!

We always took full payment up front.  That way is was done and over with and we didn't have to worry at check out. No one complained ever.  I know others do it differently...it is whatever works best for you in your situation. 
Of course there was the occasional exception...check ins at midnight...or repeat guests who we knew would be paying when they left or we could just charge them.

We also do a pre auth when the reservation is made. We have discovered that a pre- auth is only good for up to 30 days max. This requires us to run re-auths every 30 days to keep them valid. This is generally not a problem with credit cards (unless they are close to maxed out) because it approves against the customers available credit line. Debit cards are a problem since there is no credit line associated with them. They only have what the customer has in their bank account. Pre-auths on Debit cards have been problematic for us as they hold the $ to make it inaccessible to the customer. Many find this extremely inconvenient. I prefer to not take debit cards for reservations for this reason. They can use them for payment, however.

 We collect at check out. But again, only have two rooms right now. We are with Tom. We don't swipe the card at check in though. I'm wondering if our system would charge less if we did that??

I'll have to check.

Riki

I love this question, it brings up so much conversation every time! 

We are always wanting to do things the best way we can from the innkeepers standpoint and the guest, and this is one topic that is so evenly divided and the reasonings make total sense. 

If it is a walk in or call from the road we charge at check in (which is rare), if it is a reservation in advance always at check out when they are fat and happy.  This way I am assured they don't walk off with our keys, and it is one of the more personal parts of staying here, the "wish them well" segment of their stay.  We interact quite a bit with the guests.

I don't take deposits. I charge at check out. I don't use a lodging cc program. I sometimes charge for a cancellation inside my 7 day time period depending on their reason/excuse and my frame of mind at the time. I have never had a chargeback or dispute over a charge.

Someone in the credit card industry told me that if I had a signed confirmation I would never loose in a dispute, so for our busiest time of year - two weeks or so in October during our Balloon Fiesta, I require my guests to sign and return their confirmation to complete the booking. 9 years - so far - so good.

Using the lodging functionality as we do - swiping the card to authorize it a check-in, charging the card at check-out - does NOT preclude adding a gift shop item at checkout if the guest wishes.  They say I'd like to buy a mug before I leave, I say that's fine, would you like to pay cash or add that to your room charge, and off we go.  You have an opportunity at check-out to change the total and then have the receipt signed for the new amount.  If you want to do the hard sell, there is the chance when taking the key at checkout to ask if the guest would like to add any items from the gift shop before you put the charge through.

Moving to a lodging program rather than a POS purchase program saved us a lot of processing fees with our old processor - switching to Tom's company, Payment Transaction Solutions, saved us even more.

I guess everyone gets different information, but one way to look at it is this - if it didn't matter whether you were setup on the right industry code, then why would they have bothered to create a lodging gateway in the first place? 

I'd ask for any advice like this to be put in writing - as a lot of what I'm reading hear is contrary to what we've heard directly from Visa, Intuit, Tom W, and numerous other processors.  Ultimately, it makes a lot of sense to follow whatever the rules might be for your specific industry - getting blindsided by a credit card issue is the last thing we want for our customers.

I run it at checkout because I always hope for cash or a check (spelled no cc fees). There have been several times the guest has asked if they could use a card different from the one they gave with the rez. I tell them I do not care as long as it is VS or MC and valid. If it is a debit card I encourage a check instead.

I swipe the card do all the room number, days etc and get the pre-auth and then I do a checkout. So far no problems. Also there is the gift shop sniffing the last morning - I hope for a lot of interest in it.... Sometimes there is!

We take one night deposit at time of reservation and the balance upon checkout.  Often people just cruise and say to use the same card.....six years and never a problem.  I use Cellcharge.   Cheap and easy...can process by phone or online with no equipment or associated costs....never a chargeback.