RE: innkeeping: disputed charges

["Kathleen Bowski" <VictorianLadyInn@classic.msn.com>]

Hi!  Regarding the issue of disputed charges:
Our cancellation policy sounds similar to the one posted this past week.  
We 
have found that if a guest must be charged for an unused room night, it 
makes 
it a little easier for the guest to handle if you offer them sort of a 
"peace 
offering" for their monetary loss.  In other words, if a guest disputes a 
charge, we tell them we will offer them a credit in the amount they were 
charged, minus a $20 bookkeeping fee. (You can even put an expiration on 
their 
credit, similar to issuing a gift certificate.)   In the past four years, 
we 
have appeased upset customers this way and only one has ever taken us up 
on 
our offer of using their credit.  We hope this keeps our inn on a bit 
more 
postive note in the customer's mind.
Kate Bowski
A Victorian Lady Inn
San Antonio, TX
www.viclady.com