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I just want to make sure I am doing this right and don’t feel like talkling to a customer service rep.
A guest wanted to book (came through VRBO) the last week in July. Rate is $1670 plus $105 cleaning fee. I said payment was to be made by check or she could book through Air or Flopkey. I told her if she booked through Air I would edit the rate. Right now rate is $250 for 7 nights = $1750. And I don’t have a weekly rate set on Air for her specific nights. But my weekly rate is $1670.
So do I just go into the resolution center and take off $80? How do I even get to the resolution center? Anything else I need to know?
I did! And I had no idea how easy and intuitive it was. I suppose these days I just expect glitches and work arounds between all the sites. She confirmed…so that is good! and she should be happy I stuck to my word. Now…to find out what she paid for a booking fee instead of writing a check
I just handed over $53 to Air in transaction fees. It would have cost just a wee bit less through PayPal invoicing.
The only reason I even offered the Airbnb and Flopkey sites was to add credibililty (which I already had with my 20 reviews on VRBO) and because I never thought anyone would actually willingly pay that much more. I would guess her booking fees were at least $150???
I cannot believe I did this. My policy outside of the Air system is check through VRBO (if reservation is made more than 30 days out…and usually if it is high season).
I used to be able to see what the guest paid in booking fees. If I had even thought for a second this person would be willing to pay the Air fees I could have waived the check policy myself, and just charged her for the credit card fees. It would have saved her and I both lots of money. Maybe that is what I will do moving forward during high season.
I need to think this through. I am not really crying that much because anyone could have booked the place on Air. But, I just feel stupid now for handing Air $53 when the booking did not come through them!
Hmm…I matched the check price for an $80 discount and really should have only given her a $17 discount to cover my credit card fees.
EDIT: Actually I am crying because anyone who would have booked directly on Air would have paid the $80 extra for that week.
Airbnb are doing all the payment stuff, they are sending itineraries to the guest, giving you the message system as a platform to record your conversations with the guest, plus giving you and the guest the opportunity to use the resolution centre if necessary (hmm.)
You’ll also probably get another great review and your guest will tell friends about her wonderful stay with you so you’ll get more business.
If only the guests would leave reviews. I am going to allow my partner to go back to asking for guest reviews during his tour. Tacky? yes. But it somehow worked and I didn’t even know this till recently. Guests still say they loved the place but no longer leave reviews.
My biggest concern is the extenuating circumstances policy and overall cancellation policy. If this guest were to claim a death in the familiy and I was out all that money for the week, it would be a hardship for my parnter to pay his mortgage. We’re still getting there and I am helping him get rid of past debt. And today he received a check from AT&T for an old class action lawsuit over $750. Thankfully he won’t stress over his mortage this month now. But it feels soooo good to have a check in hand!
Oh…and I always take messaging off platform so that guests get used to my email address and I tell them to book direct later. And I invoice with PayPal very easily and they charge 2.9%. It’s a wash because I pay 2.9% on the taxes, where Air only charges 3% for overall. But it’s so easy for me. I really hate parting with money if I can help it at all
Are you in U.S.? I have heard a few good things about Stripe. Is there a difference if you charge without credit card present versus non- present credit card, and what about international charges?
Do you have to have high volume sales in order to qualify for the 1.7% rate? I haven’t heard of one that low yet from other Stripe users.
What about a refund? Let’s say you have a booking.com guest and charge in full 65 days out. Will Strip refund you the processing fees on the damage deposit amount if you refund after 60 days?
Do you pay a monthly rate or any other fees to use them? I am looking now at the U.S. site and first thing I see is 2.9% plus .30 transaction (same as PayPal) and no monthly fees. I am still looking though.
