Last minute cancel

[Silverspoon]

Well, we are winding down a bit so our point of view is different from most of you. For us, the deposit on a 2-night stay would be 2 nights....that is the minimum deposit we take. That allows us to keep both nights if they try to pull something like this. But no one does because we are happy to cancel them if they decide they can't come. In your situation, I would tell them that the deposit holds the reservation. They can not cancel one night without canceling the reservation. You might be surprised how quickly they will rearrange their plans so they can arrive as scheduled!

 

[Madeleine]

I know I'm the wimp of the group, but I agree with Banana. They booked two nights. It is the middle of summer, you need the two nights. Tell them, as per policy, if you can rent it, you won't charge them, but if you can't, oh well..

I know I'm the wimp of the group, but I agree with Banana. They booked two nights. It is the middle of summer, you need the two nights. Tell them, as per policy, if you can rent it, you won't charge them, but if you can't, oh well.

That's what we said. But now I am tense about the while thing tomorrow because no one has booked the room yet. Even with calls coming in.
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Absolutely positively without doubt or guilt, charge them for the second night if you do not rent it. Or if, you want do the courtesy credit for a stay Nov-May, holidays excluded at innkeeper's discretion.
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Absolutely positively without doubt or guilt, charge them for the second night if you do not rent it. Or if, you want do the courtesy credit for a stay Nov-May, holidays excluded at innkeeper's discretion.

Can you come up here tomorrow? ;-)
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oops full house, 'cept two late arrivals and Both their cards on file were declined! OY!
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oops full house, 'cept two late arrivals and Both their cards on file were declined! OY!

I hate that. It means I have to wait up.
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Phew. Both now here after fighting Beantown traffic. You should call it a night by 8 and put on your jammies.
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Phew. Both now here after fighting Beantown traffic. You should call it a night by 8 and put on your jammies.

All I've heard tonight is Beantown traffic!

 

[Madeleine]

Well, we are winding down a bit so our point of view is different from most of you. For us, the deposit on a 2-night stay would be 2 nights....that is the minimum deposit we take. That allows us to keep both nights if they try to pull something like this. But no one does because we are happy to cancel them if they decide they can't come. In your situation, I would tell them that the deposit holds the reservation. They can not cancel one night without canceling the reservation. You might be surprised how quickly they will rearrange their plans so they can arrive as scheduled!.

I thought that. It was to late at that point. All this stuff happens when I'm out of the house.
I'll probably send them their cancellation confirmation for tonight staying the room was not rebooked.
Unless that's just asking for them to grouse all the way here.

 

[Madeleine]

Why we shouldn't even care...
Why did they cancel at the last minute? Traffic. They didn't want to drive in the traffic.
After all these years you would think I could give up caring about other people's problems.
It's situations like this that make it so hard to care about the next guest who has an issue. Like the one who is at the airport wanting to check in now.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Why we shouldn't even care...
Why did they cancel at the last minute? Traffic. They didn't want to drive in the traffic.
After all these years you would think I could give up caring about other people's problems.
It's situations like this that make it so hard to care about the next guest who has an issue. Like the one who is at the airport wanting to check in now..

Unbelievable!
You're right, we shouldn't care. But that's so hard to do. But it's also why we should stick to our rules. Because of idiots like these.

 

[Momma Smurf]

Why we shouldn't even care...
Why did they cancel at the last minute? Traffic. They didn't want to drive in the traffic.
After all these years you would think I could give up caring about other people's problems.
It's situations like this that make it so hard to care about the next guest who has an issue. Like the one who is at the airport wanting to check in now..

Seriously, traffic? You only need to care about yourselves and your business, which is to provide the income you are entitled to once a contract has been made to provide folks a lovely stay. Maddie comes first from now on, cause as illustrated, many others only care about themselves. Anyone, who thinks they can even dare to ask to do a last minute cancellation falls into the SELFISH unworthy category! Reward yourself, not enable them. Beautiful weather, huh?

 

[Momma Smurf]

Why we shouldn't even care...
Why did they cancel at the last minute? Traffic. They didn't want to drive in the traffic.
After all these years you would think I could give up caring about other people's problems.
It's situations like this that make it so hard to care about the next guest who has an issue. Like the one who is at the airport wanting to check in now..

Another angle to soothe one's conscience: Would a deep-pockets airline, cruise, resort, hotel, etc allow you to change your reservation at the last minute? Airlines these days, instead of even considering a refund, charge a hefty penalty for switches. Just happened to my son who wanted to cancel one-leg of his flight.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Why we shouldn't even care...
Why did they cancel at the last minute? Traffic. They didn't want to drive in the traffic.
After all these years you would think I could give up caring about other people's problems.
It's situations like this that make it so hard to care about the next guest who has an issue. Like the one who is at the airport wanting to check in now..

Another angle to soothe one's conscience: Would a deep-pockets airline, cruise, resort, hotel, etc allow you to change your reservation at the last minute? Airlines these days, instead of even considering a refund, charge a hefty penalty for switches. Just happened to my son who wanted to cancel one-leg of his flight.
.

It's the day and age we're in. People don't want to take personal responsibility for their actions.
I recently got an e-mail to cancel a 3 night reservation. Some of you are going to think I'm heartless, but he canceled within my 10 day cancellation period. His 94 year old mother-in-law was hospitalized. Now, most of us do have a heart so we might just let him get his money back. I probably would have too, if he hadn't given me more information in his e-mail.
Now, here's the rest of the story. He originally booked us approx. 1 month before his arrival date. He lives in another state and would be flying here and renting a car. He tells me in his e-mail that 2 days after making his reservation, his MIL is diagnosed with an end of life situation. Why didn't he cancel his reservation then!!! No problem to cancel, but nooooo, he chose to shoot the dice and still wanted to take his vacation.
Any time I had a close relative that was that old and I was traveling anywhere, I took out travel insurance. Where is this guy's personal responsibility? He stated in his e-mail that he was aware of our cancellation policy. What he was doing was trying to do was to tug on my heart strings, but by giving me so much information, all he did was anger me that I should be the one out $600. I'm sure the airlines he booked didn't refund him!
I was not able to re-rent his room. I feel bad that he and his family are going through this situation, but I can't take the responsibility when this situation shouldn't have happened in the first place.

 

[Momma Smurf]

Why we shouldn't even care...
Why did they cancel at the last minute? Traffic. They didn't want to drive in the traffic.
After all these years you would think I could give up caring about other people's problems.
It's situations like this that make it so hard to care about the next guest who has an issue. Like the one who is at the airport wanting to check in now..

Another angle to soothe one's conscience: Would a deep-pockets airline, cruise, resort, hotel, etc allow you to change your reservation at the last minute? Airlines these days, instead of even considering a refund, charge a hefty penalty for switches. Just happened to my son who wanted to cancel one-leg of his flight.
.

It's the day and age we're in. People don't want to take personal responsibility for their actions.
I recently got an e-mail to cancel a 3 night reservation. Some of you are going to think I'm heartless, but he canceled within my 10 day cancellation period. His 94 year old mother-in-law was hospitalized. Now, most of us do have a heart so we might just let him get his money back. I probably would have too, if he hadn't given me more information in his e-mail.
Now, here's the rest of the story. He originally booked us approx. 1 month before his arrival date. He lives in another state and would be flying here and renting a car. He tells me in his e-mail that 2 days after making his reservation, his MIL is diagnosed with an end of life situation. Why didn't he cancel his reservation then!!! No problem to cancel, but nooooo, he chose to shoot the dice and still wanted to take his vacation.
Any time I had a close relative that was that old and I was traveling anywhere, I took out travel insurance. Where is this guy's personal responsibility? He stated in his e-mail that he was aware of our cancellation policy. What he was doing was trying to do was to tug on my heart strings, but by giving me so much information, all he did was anger me that I should be the one out $600. I'm sure the airlines he booked didn't refund him!
I was not able to re-rent his room. I feel bad that he and his family are going through this situation, but I can't take the responsibility when this situation shouldn't have happened in the first place.
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DH and I spent years and years managing literally 1000s of employees and were also once upon a time landlords and have heard endless tales of woe. We simply have no sympathy left for excusing others' problems and do not inflict ours upon others. This is not to say we are heartless, we just realize that %^&$ happens to us all.

 

[EmptyNest]

Why we shouldn't even care...
Why did they cancel at the last minute? Traffic. They didn't want to drive in the traffic.
After all these years you would think I could give up caring about other people's problems.
It's situations like this that make it so hard to care about the next guest who has an issue. Like the one who is at the airport wanting to check in now..

Another angle to soothe one's conscience: Would a deep-pockets airline, cruise, resort, hotel, etc allow you to change your reservation at the last minute? Airlines these days, instead of even considering a refund, charge a hefty penalty for switches. Just happened to my son who wanted to cancel one-leg of his flight.
.

It's the day and age we're in. People don't want to take personal responsibility for their actions.
I recently got an e-mail to cancel a 3 night reservation. Some of you are going to think I'm heartless, but he canceled within my 10 day cancellation period. His 94 year old mother-in-law was hospitalized. Now, most of us do have a heart so we might just let him get his money back. I probably would have too, if he hadn't given me more information in his e-mail.
Now, here's the rest of the story. He originally booked us approx. 1 month before his arrival date. He lives in another state and would be flying here and renting a car. He tells me in his e-mail that 2 days after making his reservation, his MIL is diagnosed with an end of life situation. Why didn't he cancel his reservation then!!! No problem to cancel, but nooooo, he chose to shoot the dice and still wanted to take his vacation.
Any time I had a close relative that was that old and I was traveling anywhere, I took out travel insurance. Where is this guy's personal responsibility? He stated in his e-mail that he was aware of our cancellation policy. What he was doing was trying to do was to tug on my heart strings, but by giving me so much information, all he did was anger me that I should be the one out $600. I'm sure the airlines he booked didn't refund him!
I was not able to re-rent his room. I feel bad that he and his family are going through this situation, but I can't take the responsibility when this situation shouldn't have happened in the first place.
.

Would keeping his money and issue a gift cert. for a stay some other time work. That way you have the money and he either has to come..with say 6 months or loses it??

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Why we shouldn't even care...
Why did they cancel at the last minute? Traffic. They didn't want to drive in the traffic.
After all these years you would think I could give up caring about other people's problems.
It's situations like this that make it so hard to care about the next guest who has an issue. Like the one who is at the airport wanting to check in now..

Another angle to soothe one's conscience: Would a deep-pockets airline, cruise, resort, hotel, etc allow you to change your reservation at the last minute? Airlines these days, instead of even considering a refund, charge a hefty penalty for switches. Just happened to my son who wanted to cancel one-leg of his flight.
.

It's the day and age we're in. People don't want to take personal responsibility for their actions.
I recently got an e-mail to cancel a 3 night reservation. Some of you are going to think I'm heartless, but he canceled within my 10 day cancellation period. His 94 year old mother-in-law was hospitalized. Now, most of us do have a heart so we might just let him get his money back. I probably would have too, if he hadn't given me more information in his e-mail.
Now, here's the rest of the story. He originally booked us approx. 1 month before his arrival date. He lives in another state and would be flying here and renting a car. He tells me in his e-mail that 2 days after making his reservation, his MIL is diagnosed with an end of life situation. Why didn't he cancel his reservation then!!! No problem to cancel, but nooooo, he chose to shoot the dice and still wanted to take his vacation.
Any time I had a close relative that was that old and I was traveling anywhere, I took out travel insurance. Where is this guy's personal responsibility? He stated in his e-mail that he was aware of our cancellation policy. What he was doing was trying to do was to tug on my heart strings, but by giving me so much information, all he did was anger me that I should be the one out $600. I'm sure the airlines he booked didn't refund him!
I was not able to re-rent his room. I feel bad that he and his family are going through this situation, but I can't take the responsibility when this situation shouldn't have happened in the first place.
.

Would keeping his money and issue a gift cert. for a stay some other time work. That way you have the money and he either has to come..with say 6 months or loses it??
.

Would keeping his money and issue a gift cert. for a stay some other time work. That way you have the money and he either has to come..with say 6 months or loses it??

But then I would be out money. The probability is great that they would choose to come during a time when that room, which is our most popular would have been rented anyway. I would be out the additional money. Still just doesn't seem fair to me. Our rooms are a perishable commodity. Once they are gone, we can never get them back.

 

[Momma Smurf]

Why we shouldn't even care...
Why did they cancel at the last minute? Traffic. They didn't want to drive in the traffic.
After all these years you would think I could give up caring about other people's problems.
It's situations like this that make it so hard to care about the next guest who has an issue. Like the one who is at the airport wanting to check in now..

Another angle to soothe one's conscience: Would a deep-pockets airline, cruise, resort, hotel, etc allow you to change your reservation at the last minute? Airlines these days, instead of even considering a refund, charge a hefty penalty for switches. Just happened to my son who wanted to cancel one-leg of his flight.
.

It's the day and age we're in. People don't want to take personal responsibility for their actions.
I recently got an e-mail to cancel a 3 night reservation. Some of you are going to think I'm heartless, but he canceled within my 10 day cancellation period. His 94 year old mother-in-law was hospitalized. Now, most of us do have a heart so we might just let him get his money back. I probably would have too, if he hadn't given me more information in his e-mail.
Now, here's the rest of the story. He originally booked us approx. 1 month before his arrival date. He lives in another state and would be flying here and renting a car. He tells me in his e-mail that 2 days after making his reservation, his MIL is diagnosed with an end of life situation. Why didn't he cancel his reservation then!!! No problem to cancel, but nooooo, he chose to shoot the dice and still wanted to take his vacation.
Any time I had a close relative that was that old and I was traveling anywhere, I took out travel insurance. Where is this guy's personal responsibility? He stated in his e-mail that he was aware of our cancellation policy. What he was doing was trying to do was to tug on my heart strings, but by giving me so much information, all he did was anger me that I should be the one out $600. I'm sure the airlines he booked didn't refund him!
I was not able to re-rent his room. I feel bad that he and his family are going through this situation, but I can't take the responsibility when this situation shouldn't have happened in the first place.
.

Would keeping his money and issue a gift cert. for a stay some other time work. That way you have the money and he either has to come..with say 6 months or loses it??
.

We do this all the time, BUT it needs to be during one's off season, such as ours: November-May or Innkeeper's Discretion. That way you are not recycling the loss of the sale during a time you would have rented the room anyway and losing said income. In 9 years, we have never given folks their money back, unless we re-rent; they are usually quite satisfied to get the off-season full-dollar value credit (which usually means a longer stay or room upgrade during the lower priced season). I'd say we've done this at least 200 times for all circumstances. A few pouty people, but since our policies are clearly stated, it works.