Bacs payment

[_grockles]

This morning a nursing home organisation said the only way they could pay for a holiday for one of their clients and two carers was by BACS transfer. They are organising this payment today, and will send confirmation. When the reservation was made by the care home manager he asked for an invoice which he could forward to his Head Office (hence the call re BACS). We explained that we only reserve on receipt of a deposit, which can be paid by card, cheque or cash. We also need a fully completed booking form giving details of all guests, and more importantly, the signature of the person wo is legally responsible for the party and any damage claim we might make after they have departed. Using the telephone reservation and BACS payment they have forced on us a system that doesn't function quite as efficiently. We shall have to follow up the receipt of the BACS payment with a request for a completed booking form and signature, retain two sets of details on the booking (Head Office and Nursing Home staff). Anyone else accepting BACS payments from holiday booking guests? Shall we have to adjust our system to include this method of payment? Are we just stubborn? I accept very much that there is a place for BACS payment, particularly with large purchases, but not sure that its right for a holiday - particularly when we take card payments anyway? Just unhappy that they wouldn't do it 'our way'. Could, I suppose, have walked away from the booking completely, which also feels unreasonable. Look forward to comments!

[Sue: White Horse Walking Holidays]

I think it's worth being flexible, even if it causes some extra work.

I recently had a request for a man and his family to stay here for 2 @ 5 night periods while he was on business. His company made the request(although he did call round to meet me before the visit started). Usually I ask for a deposit but they couldn't do that immediately so I had to send an invoice and wait. In fact it worked out to my advantage as he brought the cheque with him, for the full amount.

[Andrew Clay]

I am happy to accept BACS - the cost to me is far less than a credit card payment would be and saves me having to go to the bank to pay in a cheque and wait in the long queue. However, I'm very happy for you not to...

[mshelenlarcombe]

We too are happy to accept BACS paymnets --they are easy to monitor ,safe and at no charge. We find our overseas visitors often use this system, but more and more UK customers will use this as we dont accept card payment yet.

[The_Sanctuary]

We've all heard of (maybe even received) emails that promise to give you money if you give them your bank details (Nigerian scams, etc). So, just be careful who you give the BACS details to, make sure they are genuine first, and DONT make them public for all to see e.g. on your website!

[Andrew Clay]

You give your account number and sort code to anyone you write a cheque to - the builder, the plumber, the local shop, the self-catering cottage you book... - any one of whom could pass these details onto others if they so wished.
Almost all companies nowadays provide these details to their customers because they want to pay by BACS; they cannot vet their customers. Just search on the internet for your own bank sort code and you'll get lots of hits.

[Simon]

I have a separate parallel account with my bank for accepting BACS payments. I never leave any money in it (transferring receipts to my current account as soon as they are received). It ensures that there is no risk of losing money by giving out BACS details to anyone.

In theory it is safe, but Jeremy Clarkson tested that system and lost £500.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7174760.stm

[_monet208]

We have a long term guest who it is a pleasure to have stay but her company are not that good at paying the BACS payment
We agreed with them payment - at the end of each month !!!! - was to be in our bank account within 7 days of them receiving the invoice. If it is a small invoice we get it in 7 days- if not WE WAIT UP TO 3 weeks ! Not good for a small place to whom credit cards are not viable since our large number of internet bookings are at a 15% commission !
But BACS is reliable and a regular g'teed income- well we grin and put up with it