Reviving an old thread here - I just had a slightly pushy caller place a reservation for next Saturday. She said she's traveling alone and that it's for government work, so she insisted on the government rate. I told her that I will need the necessary paperwork to support providing her tax exemption and the GSA rate.
So... what is the proper paperwork that we need from guests traveling for government work? It can't be as simple as photocopying an ID. Like Generic said, I think it would be necessary to have the person prove they're traveling on business..
What business is she conducting on a Saturday night?
You'll need her to show her government id. Other than that, I don't think there's much else you can ask for. You should check your state tax authority for what they require for proof to not charge lodging tax.
And, in future, say you only accept per diem rates during the work week.
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"And, in future, say you only accept per diem rates during the work week." - That was my initial response. I told her that we will provide a government rate M - F provided the guest is actually staying with us to conduct government business. She insisted that she's traveling for work this Saturday, though she did not offer an explanation as to what requires her to work on a weekend.
Oh yeah, I most definitely charged her the breakfast M&IE, too. I stated during the call, "The government per diem room rate is $130, plus there's a per diem of $12 for breakfast." I even broke this out as a separate line item when I emailed her res confirmation
Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where the guest has already given me a bad impression during our brief 10 minute conversation. Not only was she pushy about the rate, she is also trying to bully me into giving her a free late check-out. When I told her check-out is at 11 and anything later than that will cost $25 (on my website it says $50 for up to 2pm, but I was giving her a break), she said she wants to check out at noon. She muttered something about avoiding a hassle at the airport, which really doesn't make any sense because she lives 45 miles from the B&B and is driving to get here. She said, "Well, I guess we'll just see how things are on Sunday morning, how many rooms you have, and then see about me checking out at noon." I met this statement with dead silence.
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