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Cancellation periods

We are a tiny guest house cancellation policy WAS 24hrs now changed to 7 days, we have and just had a cancellation 2 days before, I wondered what most people stipulate and do worry about it effecting business


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pibomarco 5 years ago

M Adampoulou and Katerinka. I totally understand. Ofcourse it all depends from the location, guest target, uniqnuess, competitors ect.. One policy can not be suitable for all host. In the beginning I also thought this won't be good for my business setting my policies so strict, but so far glad I've tried it. I even receive more direct bookings because of that. For me it works.

P Jarret but is CCV code necessary to make a charge? With my machine I can skip the CCV code and still be able to charge the card.

Was doing similar practice, but I also encountered in few cases, when the guest made a claim to their MASTERCARD or VISA and told them that they didn't authorized the transaction. The company then made a refund to the guest without the question, and you can't do nothing about it.

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M Adamopoulou 5 years ago

pibomarco thanks for sharing your experiences. I think you might be right about receiving more bookings with strict policies. Potential guests prefer to see strict policies. They seem more professional and trustworthy.

Have a good day...

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P Jarrett 5 years ago

Hey Pibomarco.

We don't have a card machine, so all of our bookings go through our channel manager. So I think if you are processing payments yourself, you need to capture the codes, as we don't use payments by booking.com.

What happens is the guest books via b.com, and their details come to us via our channel manager which is linked Stripe Payments. 14 days before they check we charge their card.

If we have direct bookings, we ask for long credit card number, expiry date and last three digits on the back of the card, we then process the payment. Stripe payments encrypts all the guest details so it is all safe and secure.

But of course a card machine is good, but you can only use this when a guest turns up - as they have to put their PIN number in? Perhaps there is more of a risk in losing bookings this way as if you have a no show, you dont get paid?

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Katerinka12 5 years ago

pibomarco, if I may ask... What kind of property do you have, what is is your target market and what country?

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Beach House on… 5 years ago

I haven't read through all of the postings above, but it seems that most owners have the same issue. My concern though is if the Cancellation policy on the reservation states the following: "Cancellation The guest will be charged the total price if they cancel after reservation", but now that the guest has indeed cancelled, the following message is displayed: "The cancellation policy of this reservation means you won't receive a payout for this booking." How ambiguous is that and why don't I receive feedback as to why the guest cancelled? I really don't understand that and further more, why is there no direct channel with which I can communicate with B.com?? Is it a case of becoming too big and not caring anymore about their actual income generators?? I can understand why so many owners de-list of their platform.

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pibomarco 5 years ago

Katerinka I run two properties. B&B (12 rooms and 4 apartments) and 4 cabins / bungalows. My target is more couple oriented now. Country - Slovenia.

Jarrett our POS machine supports charging cards without the pin and CVV. Card number & expiry date is good enough. :)

Beach House Perhaps the guest canceled soon enough after he made a booking? My setting is if the guest cancel in 1 hour after he made a booking he can cancel for free.
If you want to communicate with BDC contact them via extranet (messages) or call them.

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Reception 5 years ago

What is the sense of having a cancelation policy when booking .com overrides it

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Beach House on… 5 years ago

@pibomarco - this guest booked in August already. I agree with Reception....

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pibomarco 5 years ago

It shouldn't be overrided. Mine never was. Double check your settings in extranet:

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Katerinka12 5 years ago

Oh, Slovenia is wonderful country, but Shengen visas rules are making tourists choose some other countries. For example, one of these rules is that I have to buy a tour, just booking is not enough. Tours are expensive and limited, but in the first place why would I buy them if I don't need them anyway.

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Katerinka12 5 years ago

Richard, wonder who are those Genius guests?

The only requirement is that they need just one prior stay. So, on 2nd booking they receive the status of Genuis! Genuis marketing plan of Booking.

Keep smiling... What do you think this status means for those who didn't do well in school? These Genius minds think that now they are entitled to Everything possible for free. Early check in, late check out, free breakfast and superhit is personal bus with personal driver in addition that the host or someone will meet them personally in airport without knowing the flight number... I am not joking, its very popular Demand (no if, or could you please) DEMAND of Genuis people.

Because, you know, if the guest is called Genuis, then...how would you call the host? ;)

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M Adamopoulou 5 years ago

Katerinka I agree Slovenia is incredible. Have visited a couple of times. I dont understand why you have to buy a tour. I thought once you have a visa you dont need anything else. A very akward visa rule indeed.

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Katerinka12 5 years ago

Buy tour first and only then apply for visa and chances of denying are very high. So, someone already speculated on selling services that you don't need. I was always wondering how do those "travel agencies" survive when we have Booking, other OTAs and blogs and everything else to overpass the agency? How do those agencies have money to pay very expensive rate in the center of the capital? Now I know how.

So, having these awkward rules in combination with very expensive visa cost, why someone will choose not very well promoted Slovenia instead of UK let's say?

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M Adamopoulou 5 years ago

Genius Partner???

Katerinka Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration....

They are indeed very demanding characters. Since I am a newbie I have joined the Program... Will see for how long...

Cheers...

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Katerinka12 5 years ago

More or less 30% of Genuis who suffer from sickness "I am the King".

All others are Genuis not to call themselves genuis. We have people, who know how to read between the lines...

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pibomarco 5 years ago

Beach still there must be a reason. Maybe you had different policy in August? I suggest that you contact BDC via extranet and they will explain as to why the policy was overrided. I am curious too, because it never happened to me in 10 years.

Katerinka yes, sLOVEnia is a very lovely country. ;)

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Katerinka12 5 years ago

If you had 2 policies, one will override. Booking offers them as a marketing tip. The more flexible you are, the more booking you will get, they think.

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Marion Lockwood3 4 years ago

I wanted to set up different cancellation policies for different dates but was unable to do so myself and had to go through Booking.com to do it for me. Unfortunately, I cannot see what cancellation policy has been set and only noticed when I had a cancellation that booking.com has set the wrong policy for one room on specific dates.

This happens when the system does not let you do it yourself or/and cannot view it in your calendar.