GRRRRR...Another Webervations Aggrevation

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Breakfast Diva

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There is such a thing as too much security!! While on vacation, we received an online webervations order for a gift certificate. I was able to get to our e-mails daily, so I responded to the buyer that we were away from the inn and would process her GC as soon as we returned. We communicated with each other and there was no problem. Knowing I needed to take care of business, last night (the day of our return) I logged in to our webervations account to retreive all the info and it would not give me the credit card information. Even though I was able to get to the final screen, the numbers were still xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-1234. I sent them an e-mail last night to support requesting help stating that I needed to process this right away.
This morning there was no response to my e-mail, so I just called them and was told that their system automatically removes the credit card number after 7 days even if we haven't recovered this information yet! Come on now....they have spent all this time and money to be a secure site and they can't even give me the numbers? This is definitely too far to the extreme. Now I have to call the customer with apologies.
By the way, his response when I asked him why I hadn't received a response to my e-mail was they try to answer within 24 hours and they can be reached by phone. Yeah, well that doesn't help me much when I've got a 3 hour time difference and things always seem to happen in the afternoon here.
Our new site will be using Reservation Key, but Reservation Key doesn't do gift certificates. I may have to keep Webervations just to continue to offer online gift certificates. GRRRRRRR! I am so OVER Webervations!
 
For the time being, because it's probably in the works for Reservation Key to do GC now that it's been mentioned, you could do what I do and make up a file on any word processor and print out your own GC in any format you want. I keep track of the outstanding GC's with a 3x5 card. When the guest arrives, I attach the 3x5 with the credit card slip to the reservation form (after it comes back to the office) and that's it. It gets recorded in QB like a regular reservation and the prepaid monies are then accounted for.
Almost all GC's here are called in. It is rare that anyone hits the 'Buy a Gift Certificate' button on my site. And I haven't had anyone call and say they would have done it online except they didn't see a button anywhere.
What I wouldn't do is pay for 2 systems just to keep one small portion of one of them unless it was something I couldn't live without.
 
For the time being, because it's probably in the works for Reservation Key to do GC now that it's been mentioned, you could do what I do and make up a file on any word processor and print out your own GC in any format you want. I keep track of the outstanding GC's with a 3x5 card. When the guest arrives, I attach the 3x5 with the credit card slip to the reservation form (after it comes back to the office) and that's it. It gets recorded in QB like a regular reservation and the prepaid monies are then accounted for.
Almost all GC's here are called in. It is rare that anyone hits the 'Buy a Gift Certificate' button on my site. And I haven't had anyone call and say they would have done it online except they didn't see a button anywhere.
What I wouldn't do is pay for 2 systems just to keep one small portion of one of them unless it was something I couldn't live without..
I've had over $1,000 of online gc in the last couple of weeks alone. I get far more online GC sales than over the phone. I'm hoping that Res Key will add this feature...when I talked to John, he thought it wouldn't be a difficult task.
 
For the time being, because it's probably in the works for Reservation Key to do GC now that it's been mentioned, you could do what I do and make up a file on any word processor and print out your own GC in any format you want. I keep track of the outstanding GC's with a 3x5 card. When the guest arrives, I attach the 3x5 with the credit card slip to the reservation form (after it comes back to the office) and that's it. It gets recorded in QB like a regular reservation and the prepaid monies are then accounted for.
Almost all GC's here are called in. It is rare that anyone hits the 'Buy a Gift Certificate' button on my site. And I haven't had anyone call and say they would have done it online except they didn't see a button anywhere.
What I wouldn't do is pay for 2 systems just to keep one small portion of one of them unless it was something I couldn't live without..
I've had over $1,000 of online gc in the last couple of weeks alone. I get far more online GC sales than over the phone. I'm hoping that Res Key will add this feature...when I talked to John, he thought it wouldn't be a difficult task.
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Me too, and this was the reason I had to drop Reservation Key. John was nice about it, but Res Key is NOT his full time job and he just doesn't have the time to devote to it right now. I was asking for GC's and flex packages back in August and he was not able to do it at that time.
I cannot afford to give away that much gc income, especially when Webervations is about half the price per month of Res Key. Bummer.
 
For the time being, because it's probably in the works for Reservation Key to do GC now that it's been mentioned, you could do what I do and make up a file on any word processor and print out your own GC in any format you want. I keep track of the outstanding GC's with a 3x5 card. When the guest arrives, I attach the 3x5 with the credit card slip to the reservation form (after it comes back to the office) and that's it. It gets recorded in QB like a regular reservation and the prepaid monies are then accounted for.
Almost all GC's here are called in. It is rare that anyone hits the 'Buy a Gift Certificate' button on my site. And I haven't had anyone call and say they would have done it online except they didn't see a button anywhere.
What I wouldn't do is pay for 2 systems just to keep one small portion of one of them unless it was something I couldn't live without..
I've had over $1,000 of online gc in the last couple of weeks alone. I get far more online GC sales than over the phone. I'm hoping that Res Key will add this feature...when I talked to John, he thought it wouldn't be a difficult task.
.
Breakfast Diva said:
I've had over $1,000 of online gc in the last couple of weeks alone. I get far more online GC sales than over the phone. I'm hoping that Res Key will add this feature...when I talked to John, he thought it wouldn't be a difficult task.
Do you 'advertise' GC's anywhere? On your own website, newsletters? I wouldn't mind a little end of the year bump like that!
 
For the time being, because it's probably in the works for Reservation Key to do GC now that it's been mentioned, you could do what I do and make up a file on any word processor and print out your own GC in any format you want. I keep track of the outstanding GC's with a 3x5 card. When the guest arrives, I attach the 3x5 with the credit card slip to the reservation form (after it comes back to the office) and that's it. It gets recorded in QB like a regular reservation and the prepaid monies are then accounted for.
Almost all GC's here are called in. It is rare that anyone hits the 'Buy a Gift Certificate' button on my site. And I haven't had anyone call and say they would have done it online except they didn't see a button anywhere.
What I wouldn't do is pay for 2 systems just to keep one small portion of one of them unless it was something I couldn't live without..
I've had over $1,000 of online gc in the last couple of weeks alone. I get far more online GC sales than over the phone. I'm hoping that Res Key will add this feature...when I talked to John, he thought it wouldn't be a difficult task.
.
Breakfast Diva said:
I've had over $1,000 of online gc in the last couple of weeks alone. I get far more online GC sales than over the phone. I'm hoping that Res Key will add this feature...when I talked to John, he thought it wouldn't be a difficult task.
Do you 'advertise' GC's anywhere? On your own website, newsletters? I wouldn't mind a little end of the year bump like that!
.
On the website, the GC picture is in a prominant place on EVERY page, in the same location. Recently, I did a blog post which automatically feeds into the B&B Facebook page. If I do a newsletter, I'll usually add a little blurb about how we offer gift certificates, but I definitely don't push.
Mostly, it's just having it in a location on the website that people will notice. Most of the online GC orders come from people who have never stayed with us and they're from another state, buying it for a family member who lives in the major metro areas within 2 hours of us.
 
For the time being, because it's probably in the works for Reservation Key to do GC now that it's been mentioned, you could do what I do and make up a file on any word processor and print out your own GC in any format you want. I keep track of the outstanding GC's with a 3x5 card. When the guest arrives, I attach the 3x5 with the credit card slip to the reservation form (after it comes back to the office) and that's it. It gets recorded in QB like a regular reservation and the prepaid monies are then accounted for.
Almost all GC's here are called in. It is rare that anyone hits the 'Buy a Gift Certificate' button on my site. And I haven't had anyone call and say they would have done it online except they didn't see a button anywhere.
What I wouldn't do is pay for 2 systems just to keep one small portion of one of them unless it was something I couldn't live without..
I've had over $1,000 of online gc in the last couple of weeks alone. I get far more online GC sales than over the phone. I'm hoping that Res Key will add this feature...when I talked to John, he thought it wouldn't be a difficult task.
.
Breakfast Diva said:
I've had over $1,000 of online gc in the last couple of weeks alone. I get far more online GC sales than over the phone. I'm hoping that Res Key will add this feature...when I talked to John, he thought it wouldn't be a difficult task.
Do you 'advertise' GC's anywhere? On your own website, newsletters? I wouldn't mind a little end of the year bump like that!
.
On the website, the GC picture is in a prominant place on EVERY page, in the same location. Recently, I did a blog post which automatically feeds into the B&B Facebook page. If I do a newsletter, I'll usually add a little blurb about how we offer gift certificates, but I definitely don't push.
Mostly, it's just having it in a location on the website that people will notice. Most of the online GC orders come from people who have never stayed with us and they're from another state, buying it for a family member who lives in the major metro areas within 2 hours of us.
.
Thanks. I'll work on a better display of the GC purchase button.
I will throw this in there FWIW- when we first opened we got a letter in the mail with a check for $500 that simply stated, "Please send GC's for (list of 3 names) in these amounts (all different)." However, other than the check there was no other info as to address, etc. We had no idea how to write them out: TO: John & Mary Jones FROM: Mary & John Smith or something less formal like 'Love, Mom & Dad'.
No idea at all how these people were related to each other! I had to call the number on the check to make inquiries and then they were all upset that we were new owners who knew nothing about them.
Fast forward 10 years, after these folks all came, used their GC's and never darkened our doorstep again, the phone calls started up again for GC's for the different members of the family. It's odd, especially as they all pretty much told us on their last stay 4 or so years ago they'd never be back again! We didn't say anything on the phone, but all of the cover letters that went along with the GC's stated we were looking forward to seeing them again.
 
I'm happy to say that we have just released our gift certificates module. We would be very happy to get your feedback on what we have so far. We are certainly open to suggestions about how the system can be improved and further developed, but we think this is a good start and will enable users to start selling and using gift certificates in a way that is totally automated and integrated into our existing system.
You can view a tour of the new gift certificates section here:
http://www.reservationkey.com/tour-v2-gift-certificates.asp
And the FAQ is here:
http://www.reservationkey.com/help-v2/website-gift-certificates.asp
 
I'm happy to say that we have just released our gift certificates module. We would be very happy to get your feedback on what we have so far. We are certainly open to suggestions about how the system can be improved and further developed, but we think this is a good start and will enable users to start selling and using gift certificates in a way that is totally automated and integrated into our existing system.
You can view a tour of the new gift certificates section here:
http://www.reservationkey.com/tour-v2-gift-certificates.asp
And the FAQ is here:
http://www.reservationkey.com/help-v2/website-gift-certificates.asp.
Great news! My question would be what if the b&b doesn't use authorize.net or paypal? We do our own charging once the reservation comes through. Would a customer be able to order the GC anyway? Could we process the order privately then have them be able to print up the certificate at a later time?
 
I'm happy to say that we have just released our gift certificates module. We would be very happy to get your feedback on what we have so far. We are certainly open to suggestions about how the system can be improved and further developed, but we think this is a good start and will enable users to start selling and using gift certificates in a way that is totally automated and integrated into our existing system.
You can view a tour of the new gift certificates section here:
http://www.reservationkey.com/tour-v2-gift-certificates.asp
And the FAQ is here:
http://www.reservationkey.com/help-v2/website-gift-certificates.asp.
Great news! My question would be what if the b&b doesn't use authorize.net or paypal? We do our own charging once the reservation comes through. Would a customer be able to order the GC anyway? Could we process the order privately then have them be able to print up the certificate at a later time?
.
In order to keep the process fully automated we are requiring that one of the online payment forms be used. If there is enough demand from users for the ability to process the gift certificate orders manually we will likely add that as a payment option. We can't really see a good reason not go to with at least PayPal for gift certificate purchases. By using an online payment method the certificate becomes valid as soon as payment is received, plus the whole purchasing process is much simpler.
Extra steps needed to process gift certificates manually: 1. email notification to innkeeper of new purchase, 2. area in system to review certificates not yet paid for, 3. interface to retrieve buyer's credit card number, 4. interface to set GC as paid(once processing the card (or check?) has been done offline), 5. email template for message that goes back to buyer after payment has been processed.
This will be doable, but we thought we would wait and see what people thought first.
 
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