what would your response be?

[MooseTrax]

a person who cancelled at the last minute 2 months ago emailed today to chew me out. she will never set foot in another b&b again, she is going back to hotels. we had no right to charge her for her last minute cancellation, we should have done this and we should have done that and we weren't even full and no one wanted that room anyway so we should have done the right thing.
we have no idea what she is talking about. yes, she cancelled at the last mintue, morning of arrival. we didn't charge her. how would you respond? we're dumbfounded and don't know what to say.

 

[wendydk]

Tell her you didn't charge her! Did you take a deposit that was not refunded?

 

[MooseTrax]

Tell her you didn't charge her! Did you take a deposit that was not refunded?.

no deposits.

 

[wendydk]

Tell her she was never charged and ask her to fax, mail or email you something showing the charges so you can look into resolving the problem for her.

 

[gillumhouse]

Dear Madam,
I am terribly sorry if you cancelled at a B & B that followed their policies on a cancellation in the cancellation period of their policies and charged you for your reservation.
I am happy to inform you that the inn that has offended you was NOT XYZ Inn since although you did cancel the morning of expected arrival, we contradicted our policy and did not charge you.
We hope you enjoy your travels in the future at whichever hotels you choose to patronize.
(I started to say - however, we would be happy to charge you for the cancellation if you wish to be correct regarding the inn that charged for cancelling - but decided that was just a mental conversation.)

 

[wendydk]

Dear Madam,
I am terribly sorry if you cancelled at a B & B that followed their policies on a cancellation in the cancellation period of their policies and charged you for your reservation.
I am happy to inform you that the inn that has offended you was NOT XYZ Inn since although you did cancel the morning of expected arrival, we contradicted our policy and did not charge you.
We hope you enjoy your travels in the future at whichever hotels you choose to patronize.
(I started to say - however, we would be happy to charge you for the cancellation if you wish to be correct regarding the inn that charged for cancelling - but decided that was just a mental conversation.).

I dunno K...that sounds like antagonistic pretending to be cordial. I think Moose would get farther by being friendly and helfpul in helping this guest get to the bottom of things. The guest will feel like enough of a heel when the truth is revealed.

 

[gillumhouse]

Dear Madam,
I am terribly sorry if you cancelled at a B & B that followed their policies on a cancellation in the cancellation period of their policies and charged you for your reservation.
I am happy to inform you that the inn that has offended you was NOT XYZ Inn since although you did cancel the morning of expected arrival, we contradicted our policy and did not charge you.
We hope you enjoy your travels in the future at whichever hotels you choose to patronize.
(I started to say - however, we would be happy to charge you for the cancellation if you wish to be correct regarding the inn that charged for cancelling - but decided that was just a mental conversation.).

I dunno K...that sounds like antagonistic pretending to be cordial. I think Moose would get farther by being friendly and helfpul in helping this guest get to the bottom of things. The guest will feel like enough of a heel when the truth is revealed.
.

Trax is not going to win this one no matter what. This will at least set the woman straight it was NOT Trax who charged her BEFORE Trax hs to go into damage control mode. If she cannot even get the correct inn with her ranting, what is she going to do with word of mouth and reviews etc. It is setting the record straight. But as in everything, just one opinion and we were asked how WE would handle it. I think this is what I would do - keeping the sentence in ( ) as a mental response and no more.

 

[MooseTrax]

Dear Madam,
I am terribly sorry if you cancelled at a B & B that followed their policies on a cancellation in the cancellation period of their policies and charged you for your reservation.
I am happy to inform you that the inn that has offended you was NOT XYZ Inn since although you did cancel the morning of expected arrival, we contradicted our policy and did not charge you.
We hope you enjoy your travels in the future at whichever hotels you choose to patronize.
(I started to say - however, we would be happy to charge you for the cancellation if you wish to be correct regarding the inn that charged for cancelling - but decided that was just a mental conversation.).

I dunno K...that sounds like antagonistic pretending to be cordial. I think Moose would get farther by being friendly and helfpul in helping this guest get to the bottom of things. The guest will feel like enough of a heel when the truth is revealed.
.

Trax is not going to win this one no matter what. This will at least set the woman straight it was NOT Trax who charged her BEFORE Trax hs to go into damage control mode. If she cannot even get the correct inn with her ranting, what is she going to do with word of mouth and reviews etc. It is setting the record straight. But as in everything, just one opinion and we were asked how WE would handle it. I think this is what I would do - keeping the sentence in ( ) as a mental response and no more.
.

given how upset i was at being accused of doing something i didn't i think iwas fairly calm in responding. i requested a follow on email with the results of her investigations in to the probelm.

 

[The Farmers Daughter]

This is probably not at all helpful, but if she cancelled on me within 24 hours of arrival, I most certainly would have charged her. I'm tired of people thinking that this is a hobby. This is a business. This is my livelyhood.
I depend on peoples commitment to their reservations.
To take another view to this, is that customers who think they can cancel at the last minute without repercussions, seem to think this is OK in the B & B world. In turn, that doesn't fair well for any of us.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[wendydk]

This is probably not at all helpful, but if she cancelled on me within 24 hours of arrival, I most certainly would have charged her. I'm tired of people thinking that this is a hobby. This is a business. This is my livelyhood.
I depend on peoples commitment to their reservations.
To take another view to this, is that customers who think they can cancel at the last minute without repercussions, seem to think this is OK in the B & B world. In turn, that doesn't fair well for any of us.
Just my 2 cents..

Maybe it's geography, but we don't seem to have that problem up this way. We get very few cancellations, and never at the last minute...not even during a chargeable time period.

 

[Morticia]

I guess I'd ask her what she was talking about and if there is some proof that you have done something other than what you told them. Did you tell them they wouldn't be charged? Maybe they booked 2 places and the other place charged.

 

[seashanty]

devil's advocate --- are you absolutely sure you didn't charge them? have you reviewed your charges for the time period?
by the way, you were entirely in the right if you had charged them.
in any case, you've already sent your reply? i'd be interested to know if they respond and what they say.

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

Dear Madam,
I am terribly sorry if you cancelled at a B & B that followed their policies on a cancellation in the cancellation period of their policies and charged you for your reservation.
I am happy to inform you that the inn that has offended you was NOT XYZ Inn since although you did cancel the morning of expected arrival, we contradicted our policy and did not charge you.
We hope you enjoy your travels in the future at whichever hotels you choose to patronize.
(I started to say - however, we would be happy to charge you for the cancellation if you wish to be correct regarding the inn that charged for cancelling - but decided that was just a mental conversation.).

I dunno K...that sounds like antagonistic pretending to be cordial. I think Moose would get farther by being friendly and helfpul in helping this guest get to the bottom of things. The guest will feel like enough of a heel when the truth is revealed.
.

"I think Moose would get farther by being friendly and helfpul in helping this guest get to the bottom of things."
I agree!

"The guest will feel like enough of a heel when the truth is revealed."
Call me crazy, but somehow I doubt that will be the response. Sounds like a bit of a crank to me.

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

This is probably not at all helpful, but if she cancelled on me within 24 hours of arrival, I most certainly would have charged her. I'm tired of people thinking that this is a hobby. This is a business. This is my livelyhood.
I depend on peoples commitment to their reservations.
To take another view to this, is that customers who think they can cancel at the last minute without repercussions, seem to think this is OK in the B & B world. In turn, that doesn't fair well for any of us.
Just my 2 cents..

This is probably not at all helpful, but if she cancelled on me within 24 hours of arrival, I most certainly would have charged her. I'm tired of people thinking that this is a hobby. This is a business. This is my livelyhood.
I depend on peoples commitment to their reservations.
To take another view to this, is that customers who think they can cancel at the last minute without repercussions, seem to think this is OK in the B & B world. In turn, that doesn't fair well for any of us.
Just my 2 cents.

We have a responsibility to our fellow innkeepers wherever they may be to be consistent and firm with our STATED policies in order to help prevent our respected colleagues from this type of behavior happening to them.
Does everyone know why a plumber, electrician, auto mechanic, etc. charge an hourly rate that is similar regardless of where in the country they are located? They grasped the above stated concept many, many years ago.
A same day cancellation here is considered a "no show" even if they call.
The guest can accept our "deposit voucher" for a future stay if they'd like, and most that do never use it anyway, so we don't sweat offering it. Those that do use it later are usually the ones with legititimate reasons for cancelling on such short notice in the first place.
There probably aren't even many flea bag hotels out there that have a no fee whatsoever, same day cancellation policy.

 

[MooseTrax]

devil's advocate --- are you absolutely sure you didn't charge them? have you reviewed your charges for the time period?
by the way, you were entirely in the right if you had charged them.
in any case, you've already sent your reply? i'd be interested to know if they respond and what they say..

devil's advocate --- are you absolutely sure you didn't charge them? have you reviewed your charges for the time period?
by the way, you were entirely in the right if you had charged them.
in any case, you've already sent your reply? i'd be interested to know if they respond and what they say.

went through all of the receipts for that date and before and after- no charges to their card. they would have been the only checkin that day so we took the day off and went out for dinner. there are no transactions in my credtcard procssing account either. and we even gave them a discount. wish i knew why!

 

[Mr.Design]

Scam, perhaps?

 

[EmptyNest]

I would ask her what's up? State that you were not the one to charge them...maybe it was one of their other stays. If you have your records, you can prove it to her is she is interested..if not, her tough luck.

 

[MooseTrax]

Doing the followup here for the wife. No response back yet but we are certainly waiting to see what the upshot of this is. I'm intrigued by the idea of a scam. They would need proof of being charged but who is to say that a harried innkeeper would not just refund rather than deal with it. We keep meticulous records so a scam will not be going down on my watch.