what would you do?

[barbersdrove]

I had an e mail enquiry from my website requesting 4 nights for 3 adults in the first week in Dec. All seemed OK so I did the usual and replied to say the dates had been pencilled in and requested payment in full either by cheque or bank transfer to secure the booking. The next day a man rang asking for 2 and half weeks from Nov 30th. I explained I had just taken a booking for part of the first week and was just waiting for the funds to come into our posession. I had another enquiry the following day and said the same again. I felt I had to honour the original booking as it was only made the day before so the cheque was probably in the post.

After a few days with no cheque or on line transfer I rang the second person who by then had sorted his accommodation out. I e-mailed the customer to say I required confirmation of his booking as I had had other enquiries for the period he had asked for. No reply, then more then a week later, he replied to my e-mail saying a 'better offer had come along and he hadn't replied as he's been away at a wine show.

All well and good for him but I feel I've lost around £700 from the missed bookings. How do other people deal with securing bookings and do you give a deadline to get funds to you? I usually have one in my mind but it's not a formal one.

I really want to write an angry e-mail back but obviously i've refrained from doing so!

[Comical 1]

It is a difficult one really. You have accepted the booking and are awaiting a cheque. We normally give them 3 working days. We also state that we will call them on this day if it has not arrived. If they are unobtainable then you are within your rights to cancel the booking and give them written confirmation of this action. What this doesn't do is give you the ability to recoup your losses. If you take one of the other bookings and strike the original one out then you will get a bad reputation and negative comments. We also try to get a credit card number for a deposit and "steer" the customer to use this facility becasue at the very least you will have a non-returnable deposit to cover the loss. Taking a deposit does normally ensure they go through with the booking. The only other alternative is to state that the booking is not gauranteed until the funds are secured for the rooms. This way it gives you the option to go for the other bookings when they phone. In this scenario though, who has secured the booking, the first person or one of the other two enquiries you had?

[Martin]

Firstly. as someone who also currently doesn't take card payments I feel for you.

I have to say that it sounds a little bit woolly as to what the status of the first enquiry/booking was in the eyes of the law.

For that reason, if I were you I would take this opportunity to think through this situation and decide how long you will hold 'provisional' bookings for before you consider them 'expired'. It probably needs to be 2 or 3 days as a minimum to allow a cheque to arrive, but I would make it clear to them that the onus is on them to get the payment to you to secure the booking.

But looking on the brighter side, until the time period passes and you've not managed to replace the bookings, you've not lost anything.

Good luck.

Martin.

[Elaine Stubbs]

I used to find this a real problem until I started using online booking. I now make it clear to anyone who does not want to book online that the cottage will not be reserved for them until I have received their chq, but that there is the possibility that it coud be booked online, by someone else, in the meantime. 9 times out of 10 they book onlne !

[barbersdrove]

thanks for your replies. I do have on line booking facility so i think this is the route i will take, the problem is not everyone has access to the internet so i suppose i'll still have to have another regime in place. I do let them, have our bank details to transfer funds on line but I am not set up for credit cards. Does anyone use the paypal e-mail facility?

[ALEXA-HOUSE]

If your thinking of accepting paypal why not accept Credit Cards.
Not that many people use paypal

[greenbarncottages]

Paypal seems to be used widely for self catering; there are no setup costs or other ongoing fees with the exception, obviously, of each transaction fee. This fee is generally higher than with a credit card, so it's a balance based on how many bookings you take using automated payments. Beware, however, of some potential drawbacks with using Paypal, such as their occasional withholding of funds, and their dispute system which is biassed towards the purchaser and can result in funds being charged back from your account months later.

I believe there are new issues with credit card payments, particularly in absentia, but that's something I know nothing about. Definitely worth some serious investigation if you want to make a habit of accepting either Paypal or credit card payments

[Libra]

"I had an e mail enquiry from my website requesting 4 nights for 3 adults in the first week in Dec. All seemed OK so I did the usual and replied to say the dates had been pencilled in and requested payment in full either by cheque or bank transfer to secure the booking. The next day a man rang asking for 2 and half weeks from Nov 30th. I explained I had just taken a booking for part of the first week and was just waiting for the funds to come into our posession. I had another enquiry the following day and said the same again. I felt I had to honour the original booking as it was only made the day before so the cheque was probably in the post."

My response to your query this is what I do:

I do not accept cheques

First to pay gets the dates

Have a Paypal account where I pay £20 per month and take payment over the phone by credit card

Have an online fully automated booking system and have had a few who make a provisional booking. I email them tell them it will only be held for 4 hours. Most of them are time wasters anyway.

Now seem able to spot scam emails

Unfortunately there are too many people out there today trying to get something for nothing so deterrent measures have to be put in place.

[joyful]

You can't go wrong with on line booking and credit cards. You don't get a peep out of customers with this system. Also, more people are likely to book as these days I don't think many people want to be bothered with cheques and stamps and envelopes.