Getting paid with a prepaid credit card.

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Proud Texan

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I've been Googling all afternoon trying to find an answer to this one. For those of you who take credit cards (online or in person), do you know if there is anyway to discern if a credit card is a regular card or a "prepaid" card?
We require at least one-night's full payment as a deposit when a guest makes a reservation. Whether the reservation is taken online or over the phone, they are required to provide a valid credit card number with all the associated security information and have the card charged for the deposit before they are given a reservation confirmation. At this point in the transaction there is no authorization for the full amount.
I went round and round with a recent guest who insisted on paying in cash. The only problem with that is that we have no recourse if they're a no show or if any damages are incurred during their stay. He finally provided me with his mother's credit card number. Everything went O.K. (except a champagne flute is missing from our romance package stuff). He indicated that when (and if) they come back, he will use a prepaid credit card.
O.K., is it me or does this defeat the purpose of having a credit card number on file in the first place. If their prepaid card is only good for the initial balance, there is no fudge room for additional charges. This is the same as being paid in cash.
I would like to be able to identify and deny prepaid cards, but I can't see away around this one.
 
How is a prepaid card different from a debit card MC/Visa?
You could try going through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Issuer_Identification_Numbers and looking for the prepaid cards. But if you ask me, it's fruitless. MC/Visa debit cards are no different from a prepaid card, they only work if money is available.
Maybe this is why Visa/MC debit isn't legal here?.
Eric Arthur Blair said:
How is a prepaid card different from a debit card MC/Visa?
You could try going through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Issuer_Identification_Numbers and looking for the prepaid cards. But if you ask me, it's fruitless. MC/Visa debit cards are no different from a prepaid card, they only work if money is available.
Maybe this is why Visa/MC debit isn't legal here?
Good point. Maybe we should stop taking Debit Cards too. Actually, I think if a merchant adds charges to a debit card, and there are insufficient funds to cover the charge, that the charge is held until money has been deposited to cover it. I may be wrong.
 
I'm not sure, but I think you can tell your merchant services that you won't take pre-paid cards. Each year I have relatives give me a pre-paid card and there are a lot of merchants online that will reject my payment on these cards. There must be a way to flag these numbers to deny payment.
If someone did want to use a pre-payed card and you knew about it, I would make the entire reservation paid in advance and also hold a deposit of $50-$100 for damage deposit.
 
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages.
 
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages..
Madeleine said:
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages.
If that's true, then all of us are screwed. How does one collect for damages then?
I've never heard of anyone taking a damage deposit on top of the room deposit. I would certainly look elsewhere if the were the case.
 
Well PT as you know you are only allowed to use the card/charge the card for room rentals, anyway. So it is doesn't matter if they have more than enough in an account to cover damages, you can't charge it anyway.
You cannot descriminate against debit cards, as they say they are accepted as visa/mc.
 
How is a prepaid card different from a debit card MC/Visa?
You could try going through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Issuer_Identification_Numbers and looking for the prepaid cards. But if you ask me, it's fruitless. MC/Visa debit cards are no different from a prepaid card, they only work if money is available.
Maybe this is why Visa/MC debit isn't legal here?.
Eric Arthur Blair said:
How is a prepaid card different from a debit card MC/Visa?
You could try going through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Issuer_Identification_Numbers and looking for the prepaid cards. But if you ask me, it's fruitless. MC/Visa debit cards are no different from a prepaid card, they only work if money is available.
Maybe this is why Visa/MC debit isn't legal here?
Good point. Maybe we should stop taking Debit Cards too. Actually, I think if a merchant adds charges to a debit card, and there are insufficient funds to cover the charge, that the charge is held until money has been deposited to cover it. I may be wrong.
.
Proud Texan said:
Eric Arthur Blair said:
How is a prepaid card different from a debit card MC/Visa?
You could try going through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Issuer_Identification_Numbers and looking for the prepaid cards. But if you ask me, it's fruitless. MC/Visa debit cards are no different from a prepaid card, they only work if money is available.
Maybe this is why Visa/MC debit isn't legal here?
Good point. Maybe we should stop taking Debit Cards too. Actually, I think if a merchant adds charges to a debit card, and there are insufficient funds to cover the charge, that the charge is held until money has been deposited to cover it. I may be wrong.
I believe you are wrong on this one. You will get a 'denied' on the screen if there are not enough funds to cover the charge. That is unless the customer has overdraft protection, then the card would go through and you would have no knowledge of the overdraft.
As others have said, you can't charge their card for damages, you have to deal with that through sending them a statement and request payment. No payement, small claims court.
 
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages..
Madeleine said:
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages.
If that's true, then all of us are screwed. How does one collect for damages then?
I've never heard of anyone taking a damage deposit on top of the room deposit. I would certainly look elsewhere if the were the case.
.
Proud Texan said:
Madeleine said:
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages.
If that's true, then all of us are screwed. How does one collect for damages then?
I've never heard of anyone taking a damage deposit on top of the room deposit. I would certainly look elsewhere if the were the case.
We have collected for damages by telling the guest the item was damaged, this is the replacement cost, how will you be paying for that?
Other than a few broken glasses, some damaged quilts and a broken window blind we haven't had much in the way of damage. Well, there were the TWO nights a couple of weeks ago when TWO guests in a row damaged the dresser with some sort of soda cans. (That took me 30 minutes to repair.)
The only thing we've ever asked the guest to pay for was a mattress. It was beyond negligence on the part of the guest and other members of the family backed us up.
Even the woman who spilled grape soda all over the room wasn't charged for new carpet. I really wanted to charge her, tho, let me tell you. Her whole attitide was one of 'so what, it's just carpet, hire someone to clean it.' Ah, yes, the old 'hire someone' attitude. Save me.
 
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages..
Madeleine said:
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages.
If that's true, then all of us are screwed. How does one collect for damages then?
I've never heard of anyone taking a damage deposit on top of the room deposit. I would certainly look elsewhere if the were the case.
.
Proud Texan said:
If that's true, then all of us are screwed.
It's true, and all of us are screwed. Big hotels are in the same boat we are. We've discussed it here fairly recently in detail. You were probably, heaven forbid, WORKING when we went through it.
For damages, your options are:
  1. Charge their card and hope they don't question it, because if they do the CC company will side with the guest and tell you to take it to small claims court.
  2. Send them a bill and hope they're honest enough to pay it.
  3. Take them to court.
Yes, screwed. Lucky the problem doesn't come up often. Most people pay when asked.
 
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages..
Madeleine said:
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages.
If that's true, then all of us are screwed. How does one collect for damages then?
I've never heard of anyone taking a damage deposit on top of the room deposit. I would certainly look elsewhere if the were the case.
.
You can take a "hold" but be aware that a hold on debit cards actually claims the money until you pass the transaction. And they can't use the money at all. It can take up to 10 days to clear from what I have been told.
Transactions that are not card-in-hand are going to get more and more difficult. That is where all the crime is, now that most of us have EMV (chip and pin) cards. I've seen B&Bs in France demand to be paid in advance via PayPal with an extra fee to cover their side of the Paypal fees as well. To be honest, we have had three "fraud" transactions, all with card not in hand. That's why I hate transactions where I don't have the physical card.
And here, all MC/Visa transactions are considered CC transactions. MC/Visa are not allowed in the debit card business around here.
 
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages..
Madeleine said:
Some guests tell us what kind of card they are using. Of course, that doesn't help if they book online.
Maybe you should charge the full amount in advance. That at least covers the no shows. Damages, as you know, cannot be collected just by running the card after the fact. The issuer will give the money back to the guest without even contacting you if the guest disputes the charges. You have to have the guest's sig for the actual charges and not just their sig on another form saying they understand they have to pay for damages.
If that's true, then all of us are screwed. How does one collect for damages then?
I've never heard of anyone taking a damage deposit on top of the room deposit. I would certainly look elsewhere if the were the case.
.
Proud Texan said:
If that's true, then all of us are screwed.
It's true, and all of us are screwed. Big hotels are in the same boat we are. We've discussed it here fairly recently in detail. You were probably, heaven forbid, WORKING when we went through it.
For damages, your options are:
  1. Charge their card and hope they don't question it, because if they do the CC company will side with the guest and tell you to take it to small claims court.
  2. Send them a bill and hope they're honest enough to pay it.
  3. Take them to court.
Yes, screwed. Lucky the problem doesn't come up often. Most people pay when asked.
.
Remember to start the letter to them with "Without Prejudice" and even if you win, collecting is something else. Luckily around here, if you can collect, they pay every single penny, from the cost of the registered letter to the cost of the bailiff that shows up to their house to collect a cheque, everything! If you can show a receipt for the paper and envelope, you get that paid as well. Even the cost of public transport to show up to the courthouse.
 
We use Authorize.net in conjunction with Reservation Key. Their customer support is closed on Sunday, but I did find some information. Apparently, on pre-paid cards there is no address associated with the card, so if they try to run a reservation, they will get an AVS mismatch because there is no zipcode present and the card will be declined. I can apparently opt out of this feature, but why would I.
I'm going to call them tomorrow and verify that this is the case. If so, I'm good to go.
 
We use Authorize.net in conjunction with Reservation Key. Their customer support is closed on Sunday, but I did find some information. Apparently, on pre-paid cards there is no address associated with the card, so if they try to run a reservation, they will get an AVS mismatch because there is no zipcode present and the card will be declined. I can apparently opt out of this feature, but why would I.
I'm going to call them tomorrow and verify that this is the case. If so, I'm good to go..
Proud Texan said:
We use Authorize.net in conjunction with Reservation Key. Their customer support is closed on Sunday, but I did find some information. Apparently, on pre-paid cards there is no address associated with the card, so if they try to run a reservation, they will get an AVS mismatch because there is no zipcode present and the card will be declined. I can apparently opt out of this feature, but why would I.
I'm going to call them tomorrow and verify that this is the case. If so, I'm good to go.
Ah ha!
 
We use Authorize.net in conjunction with Reservation Key. Their customer support is closed on Sunday, but I did find some information. Apparently, on pre-paid cards there is no address associated with the card, so if they try to run a reservation, they will get an AVS mismatch because there is no zipcode present and the card will be declined. I can apparently opt out of this feature, but why would I.
I'm going to call them tomorrow and verify that this is the case. If so, I'm good to go..
Proud Texan said:
I'm going to call them tomorrow and verify that this is the case. If so, I'm good to go.
Please report here what you find out.
 
We use Authorize.net in conjunction with Reservation Key. Their customer support is closed on Sunday, but I did find some information. Apparently, on pre-paid cards there is no address associated with the card, so if they try to run a reservation, they will get an AVS mismatch because there is no zipcode present and the card will be declined. I can apparently opt out of this feature, but why would I.
I'm going to call them tomorrow and verify that this is the case. If so, I'm good to go..
I'm not sure that is true with all cards, at least here. All the reloadable cards around here now give you a temporary card, require you to register, send you a personalized card and would therefore have an address associated with it.
I have one, from France. I get mail from the company. My address must be associated with the card. And my own bank sells them for travel. You have to register with your personal data to get the card issued.
What may not have the address associated is the cards that you buy at the drug store, like Green Dot. I just don't know if they can or can't be registered. And I'm not paying the $6.95 to find out :)
 
We use Authorize.net in conjunction with Reservation Key. Their customer support is closed on Sunday, but I did find some information. Apparently, on pre-paid cards there is no address associated with the card, so if they try to run a reservation, they will get an AVS mismatch because there is no zipcode present and the card will be declined. I can apparently opt out of this feature, but why would I.
I'm going to call them tomorrow and verify that this is the case. If so, I'm good to go..
I'm not sure that is true with all cards, at least here. All the reloadable cards around here now give you a temporary card, require you to register, send you a personalized card and would therefore have an address associated with it.
I have one, from France. I get mail from the company. My address must be associated with the card. And my own bank sells them for travel. You have to register with your personal data to get the card issued.
What may not have the address associated is the cards that you buy at the drug store, like Green Dot. I just don't know if they can or can't be registered. And I'm not paying the $6.95 to find out :)
.
We did a package one year where I bought those cards for the guests to use. (Note to self- don't ever do this again!) As far as I could see there were no requirements for registering the card. I could have used it in the store I bought it in right after paying for it.
 
We use Authorize.net in conjunction with Reservation Key. Their customer support is closed on Sunday, but I did find some information. Apparently, on pre-paid cards there is no address associated with the card, so if they try to run a reservation, they will get an AVS mismatch because there is no zipcode present and the card will be declined. I can apparently opt out of this feature, but why would I.
I'm going to call them tomorrow and verify that this is the case. If so, I'm good to go..
I'm not sure that is true with all cards, at least here. All the reloadable cards around here now give you a temporary card, require you to register, send you a personalized card and would therefore have an address associated with it.
I have one, from France. I get mail from the company. My address must be associated with the card. And my own bank sells them for travel. You have to register with your personal data to get the card issued.
What may not have the address associated is the cards that you buy at the drug store, like Green Dot. I just don't know if they can or can't be registered. And I'm not paying the $6.95 to find out :)
.
Our daughter sends us these VS cards - the ones she sends in various amounts are called Vanilla Cards. I do not know if I entered something incorrectly, but tried to use one on Am az on once and it would not take it. Have not tried since. It has been taken at any retail store or restaurant we gave it to. After the purchase, we get a receipt telling us how much is left on the card.
She must be paying the register fee for it because when we get them they are ready to go. She sent one for our anniversary for us to go to Jo e's Cr ab Sh ack with the instruction I was to order a drink and a dessert! She expected it to take the whole amount based on what it costs when she & her boyfriend go. We had that meal plus 2 visits to Olive Garden!
 
We use Authorize.net in conjunction with Reservation Key. Their customer support is closed on Sunday, but I did find some information. Apparently, on pre-paid cards there is no address associated with the card, so if they try to run a reservation, they will get an AVS mismatch because there is no zipcode present and the card will be declined. I can apparently opt out of this feature, but why would I.
I'm going to call them tomorrow and verify that this is the case. If so, I'm good to go..
Proud Texan said:
We use Authorize.net in conjunction with Reservation Key. Their customer support is closed on Sunday, but I did find some information. Apparently, on pre-paid cards there is no address associated with the card, so if they try to run a reservation, they will get an AVS mismatch because there is no zipcode present and the card will be declined. I can apparently opt out of this feature, but why would I.
I'm going to call them tomorrow and verify that this is the case. If so, I'm good to go.
I can only speak for Authorize.net, but a valid transaction requires a zip code to be associated with the card in order for the card to process. If there is none, then there will be an AVS mismatch and the card will be declined. Even if the customer provides their address with a zip code to you, that zip code will not be associated with the card. So, if you take an over-the-phone reservation, the card will be declined up front if you are using the Authorize.net virtual terminal.
 
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