I respectfully disagree, this is a cost of doing business and exactly the reason I don't process advance deposits, if you do, and the guest wants to pay cash, then we should respectfully "eat" the cc charge which we incurred
Just my personal opinion..
It would be helpful if they mentioned that up front when making the rez. Then I could just do a pre auth on the card to be sure it was ok. This was a case of 'check policy box, don't read policy'. As I would have had the cc expense anyway, it doesn't seem to me like I lost anything. There is no charge to refund money. And I saved a little on the subsequent nights' processing charges.
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I disagree here...why jump through hoops on a case by case basis? Have your policy be what YOU want it to be and stick to it. If they want to book, they pay a deposit, period. We were the first in our area to both charge a deposit and a cancellation fee. Did it cost us bookings? No way to tell. But fast forward one year and everyone in the neighborhood is doing EXACTLY what we do. So it's certainly not costing us anything right now.
This issue again might depend on Inn size...if we were doing this kind of thing (which we were originally) it literally ends up costing hundreds of dollars a year. Less rooms and doing this less frequently I agree, what's a few cents. But it all adds up. And for us it is just much more straight forward to have the policy be very clear and uniform.
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Don Draper said:
I disagree here...why jump through hoops on a case by case basis? Have your policy be what YOU want it to be and stick to it.
OK. Totally understand this. I'm ok with refunding the card to accept cash. It's not a big deal to me. Right now we're just trying to figure out how to do this whole deposit thing so it works for US, not the guest. It's a LOT more work than not taking deposits ever was. I have to make reminders to take the deposit a week before arrival (I get a lot of cancellations so I'd just as soon not take deposits now for July and then refund them in June. Plus, I know me. If I have the money NOW I will spend it NOW and I won't have it in July when I need it for food, etc!); run the deposit; print out the registration form; attach the deposit to it; note that the deposit was taken; resend the confirmation with the info that the deposit was taken and showing the new balance; file the reg forms for next week AND explain it all to the other half.
Because the cc machine is in the inn and the computer is not, I lug the laptop out to the desk to run all the deposits so I don't have to write it all on bits of paper that then have to be shredded.
Not complaining. It's a learning process. It's taking some time to get it right. I keep forgetting to run the deposits at night before the batch job goes out. It will all work out by summer. This is practice right now. There are quite a few reservations outstanding right now that never got the policy change so each day I have to figure out which forms have been printed and which still need to be printed. Who has paid the deposit and who owes the full amount.
Again, not complaining, just mulling over what I've gotten myself into!
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Seems like you're learning how to streamline your process. I'm glad you told us how you are doing it. I can see how it's more work for you.
The way we've set it up is different than what you're doing because we charge the deposit immediately when it comes in. No reminder notice at the cancellation period, no additional work. I can see why you've chosen to do it the way you have, because you're very practical in knowing that if the money is in the bank, you'll spend it. Every one is different, so you'll figure out a streamlined method for yourself.
Lugging the laptop into the inn when you have to post seems like a big pain! Are there funds to get a cheap computer to leave in the inn? We got a $300 e-machine we use in the inn for ourselves. Are you using PMS?
With all the cancellations you get, you could make some money (enough to buy a new cheap computer) if you charged a cancel fee...you would also cut down on your cancellations. I know, I know....one thing at a time
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