Reservation Key, Credit Cards and Deposits

[Generic]

Update:
Credit Card Machine: Does chip cards, I guess that's good, but asks too many questions and wastes paper, must use 4 times the paper the old machine did to do the same job. Got machine for first of July.
Reservtion Key: Used internal only for June, will take Maxine a while yet to warm up to the idea of a computer on the desk.
Online Booking: With valuable help from a certain forum member we went live in the last couple of days and have received our first few online bookings. I sure like the idea, but hope my feeble brain is up to the task of keeping it all straight..

Is it configured to ask for tip? Ours doesn't use more paper.
.

Is it configured to ask for tip? Ours doesn't use more paper.

It might be because the new machines don't have the carbon copy like the old paper. We have to print twice to give a receipt.
.

Oh, ours never had carbon paper.

 

[JBloggs]

Update:
Credit Card Machine: Does chip cards, I guess that's good, but asks too many questions and wastes paper, must use 4 times the paper the old machine did to do the same job. Got machine for first of July.
Reservtion Key: Used internal only for June, will take Maxine a while yet to warm up to the idea of a computer on the desk.
Online Booking: With valuable help from a certain forum member we went live in the last couple of days and have received our first few online bookings. I sure like the idea, but hope my feeble brain is up to the task of keeping it all straight..

Is it configured to ask for tip? Ours doesn't use more paper.
.

Is it configured to ask for tip? Ours doesn't use more paper.

It might be because the new machines don't have the carbon copy like the old paper. We have to print twice to give a receipt.
.

Is it configured to ask for tip? Ours doesn't use more paper.

It might be because the new machines don't have the carbon copy like the old paper. We have to print twice to give a receipt.

We have never had a carbon copy here.

 

[JimBoone]

Update:
Credit Card Machine: Does chip cards, I guess that's good, but asks too many questions and wastes paper, must use 4 times the paper the old machine did to do the same job. Got machine for first of July.
Reservtion Key: Used internal only for June, will take Maxine a while yet to warm up to the idea of a computer on the desk.
Online Booking: With valuable help from a certain forum member we went live in the last couple of days and have received our first few online bookings. I sure like the idea, but hope my feeble brain is up to the task of keeping it all straight..

What sorts of new questions does your machine ask?
.

Old machine was easy (or me lazy): hit sale, swipe card add amount and done.
New machine requires, amount, clerk, numbers of days they are staying, credit or debit, check in time, check in day, check out time, check out day, and some cards also ask for rate and tax listed separate. Fortunately my terminal guy was able to program check in/check out such that all I have to do is hit enter and the machine adds the info. I'm just grumbling to friends, it is just something that I'll have to adjust to the change. I'm told the reason is that there is a better interchange rate for lodging when it is handled in that manner.

 

[gillumhouse]

Update:
Credit Card Machine: Does chip cards, I guess that's good, but asks too many questions and wastes paper, must use 4 times the paper the old machine did to do the same job. Got machine for first of July.
Reservtion Key: Used internal only for June, will take Maxine a while yet to warm up to the idea of a computer on the desk.
Online Booking: With valuable help from a certain forum member we went live in the last couple of days and have received our first few online bookings. I sure like the idea, but hope my feeble brain is up to the task of keeping it all straight..

What sorts of new questions does your machine ask?
.

Old machine was easy (or me lazy): hit sale, swipe card add amount and done.
New machine requires, amount, clerk, numbers of days they are staying, credit or debit, check in time, check in day, check out time, check out day, and some cards also ask for rate and tax listed separate. Fortunately my terminal guy was able to program check in/check out such that all I have to do is hit enter and the machine adds the info. I'm just grumbling to friends, it is just something that I'll have to adjust to the change. I'm told the reason is that there is a better interchange rate for lodging when it is handled in that manner.
.

When I had a cc machine I used the carbonless paper rolls - printed the second copy for the guest as it printed the original to be signed.

 

[Morticia]

Update:
Credit Card Machine: Does chip cards, I guess that's good, but asks too many questions and wastes paper, must use 4 times the paper the old machine did to do the same job. Got machine for first of July.
Reservtion Key: Used internal only for June, will take Maxine a while yet to warm up to the idea of a computer on the desk.
Online Booking: With valuable help from a certain forum member we went live in the last couple of days and have received our first few online bookings. I sure like the idea, but hope my feeble brain is up to the task of keeping it all straight..

What sorts of new questions does your machine ask?
.

Old machine was easy (or me lazy): hit sale, swipe card add amount and done.
New machine requires, amount, clerk, numbers of days they are staying, credit or debit, check in time, check in day, check out time, check out day, and some cards also ask for rate and tax listed separate. Fortunately my terminal guy was able to program check in/check out such that all I have to do is hit enter and the machine adds the info. I'm just grumbling to friends, it is just something that I'll have to adjust to the change. I'm told the reason is that there is a better interchange rate for lodging when it is handled in that manner.
.

That's how it should work. For Pete's sake you don't need to enter all that stuff. The standard check in check out should be fine.
Mine no longer does that. The new machine is all programmed to only need to enter the amount and pop the card in.

 

[Audrey Forrest]

Try Stripe for the lowest fees and prompt payments.
I charge them as soon as they make a reservation. Many of them provide cards that are a) Declined, and b) Fraudulent. I don't want to wait until just before they come. If they're
a deadbeat, I want to know asap so I can take someone else!

 

[Audrey Forrest]

I like Stripe because it is very simple to set up and process all payments online avoiding the nuisance of machines, and paper. They deposit directly into your bank account.
I used to use Square but it was expensive. I think Stripe is between 1%-2% depending on volume.
Try it. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Audrey Forrest]

We do an one night deposit to hold the room. The rest is due on their arrival along with taxes..

My question is: If you only charge one night deposit, and they turn up and their card is declined, what do you do? You are out the money for the other nights and if they stay the one night, could be thieves or undesirables. I had one whose credit card was declined THREE times. She finally paid thru Paypal BUT was a complete nuisance.
I think she thought she was Princess Diana, and her daughter was definitely like the Queen, and they thought they should be waited on hand and foot. Unfortunately for them they picked the wrong place. Just thought I'd share this. I think Innkeepers who
only charge for lst night leave themselves very vulnerable to not only losing money on the booking (if guest can't pay), but also if there are damages it is unlikely you will recover anything. I can't afford to carry them. I'm not the Bank.
How do you all feel about this?
I know it's the Hospitality Business but that doesn't mean one has to extend credit to
someone we don't even know.

 

[Audrey Forrest]

Jim, we take a deposit of 25% of the rent (not including taxes or any other fees, e.g. pet fee) at the time of reservation to confirm the res. In the event of cancellation (at any time), it is in non-refundable unless we succeed in renting the space to someone else -- fortunately cancellations are very rare, for us. We are using ResKey with PayPal for online reservations, but by far most of our reservations are made by e-mail inquiry, with the deposit sent by check or through Square invoicing online. Most of our reservations are made well in advance, so plenty of time for the check to arrive and clear. We do get a few phone calls, which we always follow up by e-mail to complete the transaction.
Guests still ask if the calendars on our website are up-to-date, and we tell them, yes that is what we look at to see what is available!
Lately we seem to be doing a lot of business through Air. These reservations tend to be much less far in advance than our usual fare. Air handles the payment, but we collect the taxes and any other fees not handled by Air (e.g. pet fees) upon arrival. We are driving the availability calendar on Air (and other sites) from ResKey using the ical links..

I really can't complain about our present paper booking system and maybe I'm just stirring up problems with Maxine to want to change, but in the long term I think it may help position us for our daughter to assume a larger part in the operation. Hopefully having availability online would cut down on some calls during folks planning stages as well.
The larger part of our guests range from one to several nights, and I suppose most are either families or older folks like us that enjoy a smaller quiet place or Maxine's large garden. Many don't reserve all that far ahead of their desired dates, but some book far ahead to hold a date "in case" and that's where having to put a little "skin in the game" might cut down on some churn in the reservations.
.

Recently the booking window has been only 11 days to arrival. It could be the San Diego location. However, Comic-Con Convention is July 20 so everyone is booked solid and I don't think there are any rooms to be had at any price in this area during that period. For those who don't know, Comic-Con is where people dress up in costume in
Star Wars and other Comic characters, and hundred of thousands of these folks swarm into SD from all over the world. Their hair is all colors of the rainbow (wigs), and it
gets a lot of publicity on T.V. I heard scalpers were getting $300. a ticket!

 

[Morticia]

We do an one night deposit to hold the room. The rest is due on their arrival along with taxes..

My question is: If you only charge one night deposit, and they turn up and their card is declined, what do you do? You are out the money for the other nights and if they stay the one night, could be thieves or undesirables. I had one whose credit card was declined THREE times. She finally paid thru Paypal BUT was a complete nuisance.
I think she thought she was Princess Diana, and her daughter was definitely like the Queen, and they thought they should be waited on hand and foot. Unfortunately for them they picked the wrong place. Just thought I'd share this. I think Innkeepers who
only charge for lst night leave themselves very vulnerable to not only losing money on the booking (if guest can't pay), but also if there are damages it is unlikely you will recover anything. I can't afford to carry them. I'm not the Bank.
How do you all feel about this?
I know it's the Hospitality Business but that doesn't mean one has to extend credit to
someone we don't even know.
.

Most people I know don't even charge a deposit. I will say in 12 years I have had one guest who could not pay the balance. She left when the money she had given me ran out. No problem rebooking her room.
I don't think we've had more than 1-2 cards in 12 years declined at the door.
99.9% of our guests do no damage at all. So, I'm not gonna worry about that .1%.
We go into each transaction with every guest assuming the best possible outcome. We've been disappointed only a handful of times.

 

[JimBoone]

We do an one night deposit to hold the room. The rest is due on their arrival along with taxes..

My question is: If you only charge one night deposit, and they turn up and their card is declined, what do you do? You are out the money for the other nights and if they stay the one night, could be thieves or undesirables. I had one whose credit card was declined THREE times. She finally paid thru Paypal BUT was a complete nuisance.
I think she thought she was Princess Diana, and her daughter was definitely like the Queen, and they thought they should be waited on hand and foot. Unfortunately for them they picked the wrong place. Just thought I'd share this. I think Innkeepers who
only charge for lst night leave themselves very vulnerable to not only losing money on the booking (if guest can't pay), but also if there are damages it is unlikely you will recover anything. I can't afford to carry them. I'm not the Bank.
How do you all feel about this?
I know it's the Hospitality Business but that doesn't mean one has to extend credit to
someone we don't even know.
.

In 25 years we have never charged deposits, just take a credit card number when the reservation was made, oh a few have been no shows and even fewer didn't have a valid card, but if you look at folks I really hope don't return over the 25 years I wouldn't need all my fingers to count them. Just now that we are starting to accept reservations online am I asking for a minor deposit, mostly since I don't get to talk to the folks. As others have said if I get folk I am not comfortable having as guests I need to raise the price. I want to enjoy the business, have to make enough to keep the doors open, but when it is not enjoyable it is time to move on.

 

[JimBoone]

I like Stripe because it is very simple to set up and process all payments online avoiding the nuisance of machines, and paper. They deposit directly into your bank account.
I used to use Square but it was expensive. I think Stripe is between 1%-2% depending on volume.
Try it. You won't be disappointed..

I'm afraid I'm old fashioned (okay slow) and the other half doesn't like computers, so I'm more comfortable working face to face with my guy at the bank who will come sit with me to get things started.

 

[Lee2014]

We do an one night deposit to hold the room. The rest is due on their arrival along with taxes..

My question is: If you only charge one night deposit, and they turn up and their card is declined, what do you do? You are out the money for the other nights and if they stay the one night, could be thieves or undesirables. I had one whose credit card was declined THREE times. She finally paid thru Paypal BUT was a complete nuisance.
I think she thought she was Princess Diana, and her daughter was definitely like the Queen, and they thought they should be waited on hand and foot. Unfortunately for them they picked the wrong place. Just thought I'd share this. I think Innkeepers who
only charge for lst night leave themselves very vulnerable to not only losing money on the booking (if guest can't pay), but also if there are damages it is unlikely you will recover anything. I can't afford to carry them. I'm not the Bank.
How do you all feel about this?
I know it's the Hospitality Business but that doesn't mean one has to extend credit to
someone we don't even know.
.

My question is: If you only charge one night deposit, and they turn up and their card is declined, what do you do?

We have not had a card declined in the three years we have been running cards. We punch in the numbers and push charge. The circle spins and a check mark comes up. We are paid. They present the card at check in and we scan it, circle spins, and a check mark comes up. We are paid.

 

[Morticia]

We do an one night deposit to hold the room. The rest is due on their arrival along with taxes..

My question is: If you only charge one night deposit, and they turn up and their card is declined, what do you do? You are out the money for the other nights and if they stay the one night, could be thieves or undesirables. I had one whose credit card was declined THREE times. She finally paid thru Paypal BUT was a complete nuisance.
I think she thought she was Princess Diana, and her daughter was definitely like the Queen, and they thought they should be waited on hand and foot. Unfortunately for them they picked the wrong place. Just thought I'd share this. I think Innkeepers who
only charge for lst night leave themselves very vulnerable to not only losing money on the booking (if guest can't pay), but also if there are damages it is unlikely you will recover anything. I can't afford to carry them. I'm not the Bank.
How do you all feel about this?
I know it's the Hospitality Business but that doesn't mean one has to extend credit to
someone we don't even know.
.

In 25 years we have never charged deposits, just take a credit card number when the reservation was made, oh a few have been no shows and even fewer didn't have a valid card, but if you look at folks I really hope don't return over the 25 years I wouldn't need all my fingers to count them. Just now that we are starting to accept reservations online am I asking for a minor deposit, mostly since I don't get to talk to the folks. As others have said if I get folk I am not comfortable having as guests I need to raise the price. I want to enjoy the business, have to make enough to keep the doors open, but when it is not enjoyable it is time to move on.
.

but when it is not enjoyable it is time to move on.

Amen!

 

[Innkeep]

Audrey
I haven't chimed in on any of your threads before and I doubt that you want any advice because you seem to be happy with your business model. But it really sounds to me like you are rationalizing a fair amount of crap that comes into your life.
In my case I'm sure that I could fill all my rooms all the time if my rates were as low as yours are, but I would be dealing with all the problem guests you have and have lots of declined credit cards, damages, cancellations, confrontations, etc. etc. etc. You're even advocating that we are missing out because we're not taking advantage of your booking agent
Maybe having a good fight every day is what makes your day. If so, then continue to do it your way. If you're not happy I respectfully suggest that you try some of the suggestions these folks are making. Raise your rates enough so you can eliminate the no tell motel crowd. Try online booking on your own web site. I use plain vanilla Webervations which is very cheap but will capture the credit card information so you can still take as much of a deposit as you want. You can still use your booking agent if you want but you'll still have some of the guests not understanding problems, and you would have to add on software to be sure both calendars talk to each other.
I found this forum 10 years ago before I opened and I have found the advice given freely here to be invaluable. I think you're losing out by not taking advantage of what these people are trying to tell you.
We're all different but I think I can speak for the group. We don't have your problems with credit cards being declined because we don't do business the way you do. Those who use OTA's don't do so exclusively because OTA's bring in bookings at the expense of dealing with more problems. But fewer problems when the rates eliminate the kind of guests you seem to attract.

 

[Copperhead]

Audrey
I haven't chimed in on any of your threads before and I doubt that you want any advice because you seem to be happy with your business model. But it really sounds to me like you are rationalizing a fair amount of crap that comes into your life.
In my case I'm sure that I could fill all my rooms all the time if my rates were as low as yours are, but I would be dealing with all the problem guests you have and have lots of declined credit cards, damages, cancellations, confrontations, etc. etc. etc. You're even advocating that we are missing out because we're not taking advantage of your booking agent
Maybe having a good fight every day is what makes your day. If so, then continue to do it your way. If you're not happy I respectfully suggest that you try some of the suggestions these folks are making. Raise your rates enough so you can eliminate the no tell motel crowd. Try online booking on your own web site. I use plain vanilla Webervations which is very cheap but will capture the credit card information so you can still take as much of a deposit as you want. You can still use your booking agent if you want but you'll still have some of the guests not understanding problems, and you would have to add on software to be sure both calendars talk to each other.
I found this forum 10 years ago before I opened and I have found the advice given freely here to be invaluable. I think you're losing out by not taking advantage of what these people are trying to tell you.
We're all different but I think I can speak for the group. We don't have your problems with credit cards being declined because we don't do business the way you do. Those who use OTA's don't do so exclusively because OTA's bring in bookings at the expense of dealing with more problems. But fewer problems when the rates eliminate the kind of guests you seem to attract..

Nailed it.

 

[Lee2014]

Audrey
I haven't chimed in on any of your threads before and I doubt that you want any advice because you seem to be happy with your business model. But it really sounds to me like you are rationalizing a fair amount of crap that comes into your life.
In my case I'm sure that I could fill all my rooms all the time if my rates were as low as yours are, but I would be dealing with all the problem guests you have and have lots of declined credit cards, damages, cancellations, confrontations, etc. etc. etc. You're even advocating that we are missing out because we're not taking advantage of your booking agent
Maybe having a good fight every day is what makes your day. If so, then continue to do it your way. If you're not happy I respectfully suggest that you try some of the suggestions these folks are making. Raise your rates enough so you can eliminate the no tell motel crowd. Try online booking on your own web site. I use plain vanilla Webervations which is very cheap but will capture the credit card information so you can still take as much of a deposit as you want. You can still use your booking agent if you want but you'll still have some of the guests not understanding problems, and you would have to add on software to be sure both calendars talk to each other.
I found this forum 10 years ago before I opened and I have found the advice given freely here to be invaluable. I think you're losing out by not taking advantage of what these people are trying to tell you.
We're all different but I think I can speak for the group. We don't have your problems with credit cards being declined because we don't do business the way you do. Those who use OTA's don't do so exclusively because OTA's bring in bookings at the expense of dealing with more problems. But fewer problems when the rates eliminate the kind of guests you seem to attract..

Agreed. Amen.

 

[JimBoone]

Update:
Credit Card Machine: Does chip cards, I guess that's good, but asks too many questions and wastes paper, must use 4 times the paper the old machine did to do the same job. Got machine for first of July.
Reservtion Key: Used internal only for June, will take Maxine a while yet to warm up to the idea of a computer on the desk.
Online Booking: With valuable help from a certain forum member we went live in the last couple of days and have received our first few online bookings. I sure like the idea, but hope my feeble brain is up to the task of keeping it all straight..

What sorts of new questions does your machine ask?
.

Old machine was easy (or me lazy): hit sale, swipe card add amount and done.
New machine requires, amount, clerk, numbers of days they are staying, credit or debit, check in time, check in day, check out time, check out day, and some cards also ask for rate and tax listed separate. Fortunately my terminal guy was able to program check in/check out such that all I have to do is hit enter and the machine adds the info. I'm just grumbling to friends, it is just something that I'll have to adjust to the change. I'm told the reason is that there is a better interchange rate for lodging when it is handled in that manner.
.

That's how it should work. For Pete's sake you don't need to enter all that stuff. The standard check in check out should be fine.
Mine no longer does that. The new machine is all programmed to only need to enter the amount and pop the card in.
.

It's one of those "your name is motel" so you need all this stuff as if you had a 100 rooms, maybe the only advantage is that I'm told that the rate for using the machine is lower if those items are entered. Being tiny we never seem to quite fit when folks think hotel/motel, I'm so glad I found a place on this forum. We don't serve food so still a little out of step, but I've been made to feel at home, thanks.