A few months ago I got an online reservation for a 1 night rez in our most expensive room. Why is it that those with the least amount of money always rent the most expensive rooms???
We charge their card their deposit when they make the reservation. The credit card was declined when I tried to put the deposit through. I contacted the guest and she said, oh, there's no money in there! After I was very firm about our deposit policy, she went to WallyMart and purchased one of those reload cards. I was able to charge her deposit and add-ons, so she was paid in full.
So, the day of her reservation came and I waited and waited for her to show...by 9:00, I called her and she was very confused because she said her reservation wasn't for 2 months! Well, to make a very long story shorter, I treated it like a no show, had absolute proof that she had put through the reservation for that date. I refunded back the special add-ons she had ordered since I could use it again and kept the $ for the room. The next day, her boyfriend called and threatened to write awful things all over the internet about us if we didn't give the money back. I didn't cave.
2 months later, I received a phone call from the processing service for the card saying that they had been notified by the card holder says the charge was unauthorized! I explained to them exactly what happened and when they learned that I could produce the proof that the woman had checked on our system that she read and agreed to our policy, that was all that the card processor needed to know. I didn't have to do any forms or formal process. Whew!
My advice is that if you know it's one of these cards, go ahead and accept it, but definitely charge it for the deposit whether it's your policy or not. Make sure you have the money. If they want to pay the balance in cash when they get there, no problem, but never take one to just hold the room.