Charging for the extra person

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JBloggs

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I have been so nice over the years and only have one room which has a sofa bed for a teen or addtl person. I have not charged for that extra person, trying to be the "nice innkeeper" and have never even been thanked for doing so.
I just took this booking for that room and after they already got $10 discount...for the one night stay they asked:
"Our daughter, Sara, who is 16, does not eat meat. Our daughter, Susie, is a student at FAC College if you give discounts to FAC College parents. We also have an AAA membership if you accept that. #4578423821207"
Innkeepers, we need to stick to our guns, we need to hold to our policies. The more we let people walk over us the worse it gets...after all we only do this for FUN.
 
Give 'em an inch and they take a mile! We always charged $25 extra if someone used the sofa bed in the room. No we only give one discount at a time..you got your $10 bucks off that is it!!!
 
I charge $15 per extra person (in the one room that allows one). Have never NOT charged for an extra person, or for a pet for that matter.
 
I hear you... I have been WAY to nice to people and then they seem to walk all over you without any appreciation (or tip)!
I guess we all need to be a little more thick skinned about certain issues!
I do also charge an additional $10 in the room/suite that will sleep an additional person. People have also abused my AAA discount, so I have cut that back as well. No longer available on the weekends or one night stays. I just lost too much money. It's not as easy for a 5 room b&b to offer discounts as it is for a 100 room hotel. The money comes right out of our pockets.
 
I charge $30 per person. If they are bring an infant or toddler, then I let it slide because they can only be in our cottage and I am not giving them breakfast. Otherwise I always charge.
If I don't charge when appropriate, I don't like how I feel afterwards...I kick myself and resent them (but of course don't show it). It's not worth it. Just charge them.
 
I charge $15 per extra person (in the one room that allows one). Have never NOT charged for an extra person, or for a pet for that matter..
Little Blue said:
I charge $15 per extra person (in the one room that allows one). Have never NOT charged for an extra person, or for a pet for that matter.
The reason I have never charged is in the email she sent. Her daughter is starting our 4 year college...so in my feeble mind I think I will get them back here for events, games, parents weekends, graduations. When in reality I never see them again, the kid has a car and goes home from here on out.
On ocassion I will have a parent here for a big game if their child is the star quarterback. When graduation tiems comes they book a chunck of rooms at the no-tell-motel so all the rel's are together. Or they book our rooms and shaft us. Which btw, I am really going to be good and require payment in full for booking 3 or more rooms this year (in May!) remind me!!!
 
We do not give AAA discounts, or any discounts.
We only give discounts to military that are currently active at a hardship post. Not military working out of Washington DC. They have more money than we do. We give the soldier who has a little leave from Afghanistan or Iraq a discount to enjoy on his time off. We also give a discount for those leaving for those posts, or coming home from serving at those posts.
RIki
 
Joe Bloggs said:
I have been so nice over the years and only have one room which has a sofa bed for a teen or addtl person. I have not charged for that extra person, trying to be the "nice innkeeper" and have never even been thanked for doing so.
I just took this booking for that room and after they already got $10 discount...for the one night stay they asked:
"Our daughter, Sara, who is 16, does not eat meat. Our daughter, Susie, is a student at FAC College if you give discounts to FAC College parents. We also have an AAA membership if you accept that. #4578423821207"
Innkeepers, we need to stick to our guns, we need to hold to our policies. The more we let people walk over us the worse it gets...after all we only do this for FUN.
I charge $35 for anyone over the age of 12. Under 12 its $25. You are still feeding them, and have sheets and towels to wash. If you are doing that for free, then you are being waaaaaay too nice.
 
I charge $15 per extra person (in the one room that allows one). Have never NOT charged for an extra person, or for a pet for that matter..
Little Blue said:
Have never NOT charged for an extra person, or for a pet for that matter.
Ditto. Have to be especially careful with the pet. Nothing like having someones dogs lift their leg on your sofa. Buggers!!!! I charge $35 per dog/per day and take a pet security deposit too.
 
Joe Bloggs said:
I have been so nice over the years and only have one room which has a sofa bed for a teen or addtl person. I have not charged for that extra person, trying to be the "nice innkeeper" and have never even been thanked for doing so.
I just took this booking for that room and after they already got $10 discount...for the one night stay they asked:
"Our daughter, Sara, who is 16, does not eat meat. Our daughter, Susie, is a student at FAC College if you give discounts to FAC College parents. We also have an AAA membership if you accept that. #4578423821207"
Innkeepers, we need to stick to our guns, we need to hold to our policies. The more we let people walk over us the worse it gets...after all we only do this for FUN.
I charge $35 for anyone over the age of 12. Under 12 its $25. You are still feeding them, and have sheets and towels to wash. If you are doing that for free, then you are being waaaaaay too nice..
The Farmers Daughter said:
I charge $35 for anyone over the age of 12. Under 12 its $25. You are still feeding them, and have sheets and towels to wash. If you are doing that for free, then you are being waaaaaay too nice.
Ours is real close to yours.
The average traveler adding that extra person seems to undervalue not only the accomodations side of things but also the value of the quality of breakfast most of us serve.
We only have one room able to accept extras, so its not a regular issue for us. That second add-on bedroom we offer to our suite is as big as two of our other rooms, so its a huge bargain for folks needing it.
Most can do the math and are very appreciative of the value.
 
We do not give AAA discounts, or any discounts.
We only give discounts to military that are currently active at a hardship post. Not military working out of Washington DC. They have more money than we do. We give the soldier who has a little leave from Afghanistan or Iraq a discount to enjoy on his time off. We also give a discount for those leaving for those posts, or coming home from serving at those posts.
RIki.
egoodell said:
We do not give AAA discounts, or any discounts.
are you a AAA establishment?
 
Well guys they called and said the daughter is not coming. I already ran the card with extra person charge. Would you take it off now or let is stand as the booking shows?
 
Well guys they called and said the daughter is not coming. I already ran the card with extra person charge. Would you take it off now or let is stand as the booking shows?.
I would wait until checkout to do anything. Just your luck, you remove the extra charges now, and at the last minute, they'll all show up together.
 
It's $25 and it is the world's greatest bargain. They gett here own bed and breakfast. We make absolutely no money on the extra person and if we didn't charge we would be losing money. From a business standpoint, you just have to charge for the extra person somewhere. Some may be able to do that in there initial rates, which is great since you get that extra even if it is two, but most IMHO have to add it on.
We have discovered that the folks who think that is negotiable are not our ideal customers. Honestly, very few people ask us to discount this cost. OTOH, if we have guests that have booked three or four suites with an extra in one of them and we're looking for a chip to say thank you, this can be an easy way to give them a small discount on the total package.
 
Well guys they called and said the daughter is not coming. I already ran the card with extra person charge. Would you take it off now or let is stand as the booking shows?.
I would let it stand until they show up. You never know, they could end up bringing the daughter after all. OR, they could show up and beat you up into letting the one who is at the college come over for breakfast with them. You can always give them the $25 back if it suits you.
I have been too nice also. I have upgraded people once they arrived and they haven't seemed to really appreciate the extras that they are getting. So, now they'll get the room that they booked unless they want to upgrade & pay more. There's significantly more work to cleaning some of the rooms than others.
We all learn that although we want to be super accommodating to folks, that sometimes we should just stick to the plan. The year of simple innkeeping...
 
Well guys they called and said the daughter is not coming. I already ran the card with extra person charge. Would you take it off now or let is stand as the booking shows?.
If indeed the daughter isn't there, then remove the additional fee charge. I just had to do that a few days ago.
If you just ran the charge today, can you just void charge and start over? That way it never hits the bank.
 
Well guys they called and said the daughter is not coming. I already ran the card with extra person charge. Would you take it off now or let is stand as the booking shows?.
If indeed the daughter isn't there, then remove the additional fee charge. I just had to do that a few days ago.
If you just ran the charge today, can you just void charge and start over? That way it never hits the bank.
.
Breakfast Diva said:
If indeed the daughter isn't there, then remove the additional fee charge. I just had to do that a few days ago.
If you just ran the charge today, can you just void charge and start over? That way it never hits the bank.
I WILL NEVER VOID A CHARGE EVER AGAIN. Yes I am yelling...don't let me get into that nightmare - the debit card. I voided it 1 minute after I ran it, I had not settled for the day or anything.
I will only ever refund the difference now, I did THAT to save the guests $10, and it put the full amount (and it was a package!) twice on HOLD in their bank account and they couldn't even pay their bills!! What a terrible mess that was.
7 to 10 days to clear a hold on funds on a debit card, fyi. I got through to the bank as the merchant and was able to finally do it, took forever, on hold, dealing with their bank.
They says debit card with symbol is same as visa or mc, it isn't! This booking was taken on webervations, it doesn't say if it is a debit card or not. Maybe that is something they need to add! But at the same time, poeple might not want that info 'out there' when they book online.
 
Well guys they called and said the daughter is not coming. I already ran the card with extra person charge. Would you take it off now or let is stand as the booking shows?.
If indeed the daughter isn't there, then remove the additional fee charge. I just had to do that a few days ago.
If you just ran the charge today, can you just void charge and start over? That way it never hits the bank.
.
Breakfast Diva said:
If indeed the daughter isn't there, then remove the additional fee charge. I just had to do that a few days ago.
If you just ran the charge today, can you just void charge and start over? That way it never hits the bank.
I WILL NEVER VOID A CHARGE EVER AGAIN. Yes I am yelling...don't let me get into that nightmare - the debit card. I voided it 1 minute after I ran it, I had not settled for the day or anything.
I will only ever refund the difference now, I did THAT to save the guests $10, and it put the full amount (and it was a package!) twice on HOLD in their bank account and they couldn't even pay their bills!! What a terrible mess that was.
7 to 10 days to clear a hold on funds on a debit card, fyi. I got through to the bank as the merchant and was able to finally do it, took forever, on hold, dealing with their bank.
They says debit card with symbol is same as visa or mc, it isn't! This booking was taken on webervations, it doesn't say if it is a debit card or not. Maybe that is something they need to add! But at the same time, poeple might not want that info 'out there' when they book online.
.
Joe Bloggs said:
Breakfast Diva said:
If indeed the daughter isn't there, then remove the additional fee charge. I just had to do that a few days ago.
If you just ran the charge today, can you just void charge and start over? That way it never hits the bank.
I WILL NEVER VOID A CHARGE EVER AGAIN. Yes I am yelling...don't let me get into that nightmare - the debit card. I voided it 1 minute after I ran it, I had not settled for the day or anything.
I will only ever refund the difference now, I did THAT to save the guests $10, and it put the full amount (and it was a package!) twice on HOLD in their bank account and they couldn't even pay their bills!! What a terrible mess that was.
7 to 10 days to clear a hold on funds on a debit card, fyi. I got through to the bank as the merchant and was able to finally do it, took forever, on hold, dealing with their bank.
They says debit card with symbol is same as visa or mc, it isn't! This booking was taken on webervations, it doesn't say if it is a debit card or not. Maybe that is something they need to add! But at the same time, poeple might not want that info 'out there' when they book online.
This is how I refund a debit card and it can be done within 24 hours.
Have the cardholder contact their bank and ask for the procedure to reverse an approval on a debit card. Some banks have a department that handles this. You will need a contact persons name and fax #.
Then all you need to do is take a piece of your letterhead and state the card holders name and CC#, the date of the approval, the approval code, the dollar amount and request the funds be released back to the card holders account. You must state a reason for the release.
You must include your name, your position with the company and a contact phone number. Sign your name and fax it to the contact person at the bank.
I just did this with Chase yesterday. Some banks now have a toll free # for merchants just for this process. Its really pretty easy.
 
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