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owner-innkeeping@borg.netconcepts.com wrote: > > Frances wrote: > Sender: owner-innkeeping@innsite.com > Precedence: bulk > Reply-To: innkeeping@innsite.com > > At 04:05 PM 6/23/96 -0500, you wrote: > >We've only been in business since last Oct. so this was a new experience > >for me. A couple made reservations for this weekend last Feb. There is an > >event about 25 miles from us that attracts approximately 100,000 people to > >a town of 12,000. Our town is 27,000. Obviously everything within 75 miles > >is full and has been for months. Over a month ago the woman called and > >said > >they would only be staying for Fri. night, not Fri. & Sat. I reminded her > >that I had a two night minumum during the event, but that if I was able to > >rent the room for Sat. I would not charge her for 2 nights. I thought it > >was very likely that I would be able to do so. Then about 2 weeks ago she > >called again and said that they WOULD stay both days. I cautioned her > >about > >changing her mind and reminded her that I would charge her credit card for > >two nights. She said she understood. Well, you guessed it - I waited up > >until 11 last night and I still haven't seen them and she hasn't called > >again. It's unlikely now that I will rent the room for tonight. > > > >Do I have any obligation at all to hold it for her, if I do have the > >chance? > > > >Do I charge her for both nights? > >If I rent it? > >If I don't rent it? > >Do I send her any kind of notification that I am doing whatever I decide > >to do? > >What happens if I rent the room to someone else and then they show up > >tonight? > >Do other people drive themselves crazy with these "what if" games? > >Advice from older heads would be appreciated. > > > >Frances > >sassybb@siu.edu > > > > > ***Lindsay Copeland responded: > You need to see what you are allowed to do within the rules of your = > credit > card processor. I suspect that you can only charge for the first = > night, > even though she committed for two. > > We have an advance deposit agreement with our credit card processor, = > and we > charge the guests' credit card when they make their reservation. For > weekend reservations, we require full payment in advance. We failed = > to do > so for a reservation this weekend and only charged for one night. = > Sure > enough, the guest called and said she was only staying for one night = > and > refused to pay for the other night when she arrived. It's = > unfortunate that > a few people playing games like this force us to have such restrictive > deposit and cancellation policies. > > Ask PAII about Global as a card processor. They understand our = > business > better than most. > Lindsay Copeland > Innkeeper > Maine Stay Inn & Cottages > 34 Maine St > P.O. Box 500 A > Kennebunkport, ME 04046 > (800) 950-2117 > (207) 967-8757 Fax > (207) 967-2117 > Web site: http://www.bbonline.com/me/mainestay > > ***Bill responded: > My opinion, for what it's worth is as follows: Charge her for both = > nights. > If you can sell the room , the 2d night, refund her one nights rent. = > Don't > drive yourself crazy with what ifs. > > It is the responsibility of the person making the reservation to live = > up to > their end of what is actually a contract. > > However, should you find that this person had a major experience = > (accident, > death in the family, their house burned down. etc) you should feel = > free to > send them a gift certificate for the number of nights paid for, to be = > used > at a later date.. > > There's bucks and there's making friends and an impression that can be > passed on. . The best thing, in my opinion, is to leave the guest > (prospective guest) with a positive feeling. It's good for them, = > good for > you and good for all other innkeepers. > > Bill > ctnwdctq@open.org > > ***The Hildebrands responded=8A > Sassy > Just last night the folks across the street from us had this = > situation. > This was my advice to them. > 1. Charge her for both nights as a no show. > 2. Do not attempt to rent the room, you have guaranteed them the room = > if > they show up. > 3. Mail her a copy of the charge receipt with a letter and a copy of = > her > confirmation and cancellation policy statement. > 4. If American Express, Visa, MC, Discover etc. call and ask why you > charged her card you then have the documentation and should not have = > a > problem. > 5. If you accepted her guaranteed CC and then rented the room to = > someone > else where are you going to put her if she shows up. You have agreed = > to > have a room available for her when or if she shows up. I believe the > risk is too high to charge her and then rent the room to someone = > else. > Your credit card agreement has some committments on making sure the = > room > is available. > Hope this helps. It works for us. We have not ever had an inquiry = > or a > charge reversed by following this policy. We have charged about ten > cards in the last 14 months. > -- > Jim & Susan Hildebrand > Innkeepers, Anderson House Inn > 201 E. Main Street, Heber Springs, Arkansas 72543 > (501) 362-5266 (800) 264-5279 FAX (501) 362-2326 > Web Site at: http://www.bbonline.com/ar/anderson > > ***Debbie Vickery responded: > I've been in the B&B business for 6 years now and although it doesn't = > happen > often, I've been in the same situation. I'm also an officer in the = > North > Carolina B&B Association and this is a hot topic for all new = > innkeepers. > > Everyone deals with the situation differently. The common thread = > among all > innkeepers, however, is to make sure that your guests know your = > policy and > that it is imperative that they get this information in writing, in = > advance. > > Inns in tourist areas seem to have far more stringent policies than = > others. > We are in a university town and get a lot of return guests (families = > of > students and business people). We are competing with a lot of hotels = > in the > area, so we tend to be more lenient; our policy is more in line with = > the > major hotel chains around here (OMNI, Sheraton, Marriott--who don't = > require > credit card confirmation unless guests will be arriving after 6 pm). = > They > also have a 24-hour cancellation policy. > > We do require a credit card number at time of reservation or a check = > within 4 > days. Our cancellation policy is 48 hours for weekdays; 7 days for = > weekends > and holidays. We stick to this policy, making sure that the guests = > know > about it in a written confirmation and verbally when they make their > reservation. > > We have about 1 no-show a year and we have dealt with each of them on = > a case > by case basis. Some guests we let off the hook immediately--since = > they are > regular repeat customers and the situation is usually a result of an > emergency for which they had no control (we make sure we call them to = > find > out the reason). Others (first time guests or guests that we are = > unable to > contact by telephone), we charge their credit card (only for those = > nights > that we can't rebook) and issue them a gift certificate for a free = > night any > time within the next year. > > There are several weekends a year when the whole town and every = > lodging > facility within a 25 mile radius is also booked around here = > (graduation, > homecoming, etc). We always require full payment in advance for these > weekends (as do all hotels in the area), that way people tend to be = > very > serious about their reservations and we don't have to worry about any > misunderstandings. For a May graduation (with a 2-night minimum), we = > require > 1 night's paid deposit at the time of booking and full payment after = > the > first of the year. We write the guests a letter in January, = > requesting the > full payment and reminding them of our policy. > > We also require a one-night paid deposit for families who book the = > entire Inn > and write to them for the remaining charges one month in advance of = > their > reservation. In these cases we give them a 2 week cancellation = > opportunity > for full refund. > > There are many B&Bs in North Carolina's heavy tourist areas (coastal = > and > mountain regions) that run the credit cards or ask for a check for = > full > payment at the time of the reservation. This seems to work for them = > during > their peak seasons. > > There are three B&Bs in my area and we tend to be more guest = > friendly, given > that there are 5200 hotel rooms (some of them very luxurious) that we = > are > competing with. If you are marketing the business traveler and those = > repeat > guests, we believe that flexible policies help fill our weekday = > evenings and > bring co-travelers to our door. All hotels around here offer = > corporate rates > and frequent stay bonuses that we are also competing with. Word of = > mouth > recommendations are an important marketing tool in the business = > community > around here, and a single complaint can have a significant impact on = > our > business dealings with any corporation. > > I didn't mean to go on so long. Good luck and remember no-shows are = > usually > not a big part of this business, and in the end you've only lost one = > or two > nights. Flexibility may be one of your most effective marketing = > tools for > future room nights. > > Debbie Vickery > Old North Durham Inn > > ***jo ann from paii responded: > This won't be a popular response, I'm sure, for most of you but = > please let's remember that "cancelling with kindness" is still not of = > reason here, or in most other situations. > We can stick to all the rules and perhaps "win" - but you won't = > win much in good pr. > > Not more than two or three days ago, this mailing list took another = > innkeeper to task for not being guest-friendly and service-responsive = > in providing early breakfast...Okay, this is somewhat different, in = > fact, but in rationale, not so different. > > Regarding whether or not to rerent: I believe that you should make an = > all-out honorable effort to re-rent the room. And, of course, if = > rented, money would go back to her. > > I believe we are fast moving into an era of service, service, = > service. And the property who won't budge, at some point won't get = > either...We can also look forward to credit card companies, at some = > near future point, becoming far more strict on "non-swiped" = > transactions. Right now, a "guaranteed reservations" relationship = > will solve some of the problem - but not for all nights booked. Much = > of this will continue to depend upon how much your bank or processor = > will "fight for you," particularly with MC and V. > jo ann Jo Ann I appreciate your comments on acting with kindness. I agree with your comments and Bill's comments. It clearly makes a difference if this is a regular client or a first timer. It makes a difference if there is some good reason. I tried to reply to what I thought the question was, :"A NO SHOW". I don't have much sympathy for someone who doesn't cancel or even call to say something happened. We have given gift certificates for a valid reason. We treat our business clients a little different; as they expect to be treated like they were at the Marriott or Holiday Inn. Late cancellation just cost us money when we say "OK, see you next time". When we give a gift certificate for this it is good for six months and for full value, i.e., if I billed them $75 then they get $75 worth of gift certificate value. Service really is the key and all rules can be broken for good reason! Treat the guest as you would like to be treated and you won't lose very often. I also tried to point out that since the situation I discussed was guaranteed on an American Express card, I cannot just re-rent the room to someone else and tell the guests (when they show up) that they do not have a room with me. If I know I can get them a room I would then try to re-rent this room. Otherwise, charge them and keep the room for them per agreement with AX. This situation seems to be far worse with people who normally go to motels (read inexpensive or cheap) where, if they don't show up they don't get billed. In high tourist or vacation areas there are far more people than rooms and re-renting them is relatively easy. Someone made the comment about making sure your guests know the cancellation policy - That is critical. Your CC providers will ask that question when a customer complains to them and if you didn't tell them about the policy you won't get much support from the provider. It would be nice if this forum could come up with some good guidelines for new Innkeepers on excellent cancellation policies, how/when to bill credit cards, check acceptance for deposits, refund or gift certificate suggestions. Again, not rules but some working suggestions that we could use a examples. -- Jim & Susan Hildebrand Innkeepers, Anderson House Inn 201 E. Main Street, Heber Springs, Arkansas 72543 (501) 362-5266 (800) 264-5279 FAX (501) 362-2326 Web Site at: http://www.bbonline.com/ar/anderson
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