How to be paid

[Jill]

  Would like to know what other B&B's regard to be the safest way to be paid.

1. For deposit 'paypal, bank transfer, Euro cheque'

2. On arrival 'cash or Euro cheque'

3. If booking in advice do you collect deposit and then full amount before their arrival.

We are just starting up and were wondering if giving your bank details on your website for bank transfer would be safe.

Jill

[Cerise]

Everybody does things differently Jill and partly depends on number of rooms, how much you expect to do etc.  I don't take deposits except for big bookings (all 4 rooms for a week in August that kind of thing).  I deal wth only euros, not sterling.  Take cash, euro travellers cheque or French cheques.  Beware of taking euro cheques from other countries as the bank charge you mightily to pay them in.  I have not had any problems with not taking deposits but I know most people do take them.  Most people pay on arrival and then settle up for any extra meals at the end.  There is cash machine in the village - if you are not near one it can be tricky if you can't take cards.  I send people bank details if they want to make a direct transfer, but don't think I would put it on a website.

I'm sure now all the others will come along and tell you their very different methods.

Good luck

Maggi

 

[Jill]

Thanks Maggi for your reply.

I have been searching the past threads and found a few things but they were posted in 2005 so just throught there maybe new methods of payment.

I am registered as a farm so do have a siret number, so I assume I could take payment by card but don't wish to hire one as they are expensive.  Read a thread about taking card details when taking a booking incase of late cancellation or clients not paying on there departure if you do not ask for full payment on arrival but at the end of their stay. It was a long thread and lost track as it went off down another avenue so will have to read that one again.

Hope to hear from a few others just to get a general idea.

Jill

[Alan]

i currently accept euro cheques,cash and bank transfer, if the euro cheque is non french then i add the clearing charges to the bill. We have thought about a credit card machine but not sure that would pay us to go down that route. Sometimes have also accepted sterling but i then normally set the exchange rate to ensure i dont lose out when the money is banked.

Deposits i do tend to take them for our peak season, tend to be more relaxed when we get bookings out of our main season apart from Americans (sorry) then i do insure i have a deposit. Of course not having a machine is a problem when you get short notice bookings as its sometimes not possible to get the money transfered or to receive a cheque

I tend to bill guests at the end of their stay for the whole amount less any deposit paid, some like to pay when they arrive and then just pay for extra's at the end

[Coco]

I looked into a CC machine when we first set up and the charges are a lot lower than in the UK but they're not available without a siret number.  If you've got a siret number I'd go down that route Jill.  From bad experience I now insist on deposits for all but very low season short stays, either by bank transfer or euro or sterling cheques.  This in itself has shown up several people who when I haven't received the deposit after  7 days and email them to remind them, tell me they have since found somewhere else and I get the "oh, sorry, did I forget to let you know" comments.

I have up til now always been prepared to wait til the end of the stay to collect the balance but am often on tenterhooks if I'm not too sure about the people, as to whether they will try to do a runner.  Many, especially Europeans, want to settle on arrival and I think that this year I will start asking for this as my normal procedure, with, as Maggi says, any extra meals being settled at the end of the stay.

[Jill]

Alan

Thanks for your reply

When reading all the past threads it seemed a night mare, but now have things sorted.  I will check out how much a cc machine is and let you know.  We are only running a small Chambre d'hotel room for 6 persons so was thinking of not asking for deposits. I know some of you don't and other do. Suppose this really depends on if we have long stays so will see how the bookings go.

Interesting reading on the threads and some stories enough to put you off the whole idea but life would be too boring if you didn't have a challenge ahead of you somewhere along the line.

Jill

[Renaud]

Cerise said "Beware of taking euro cheques from other countries as the bank charge you mightily to pay them in." Too true.

I have just fallen foul of this as my French bank is charging me around 24 euros to pay in a euro cheque sent from Ireland. So much for the benefits of a single currency.

[Jill]

Renaud

Yes checking out costings with my bank for changing of travellers cheques, euro cheques etc. bank transfers seem to be the way to go for deposits from what I am reading.

thanks for the advice

jill

[Cerise]

Jill - your bank shouldn't charge yoou for paying in EURO travellers cheques - however a way round this if they do, is to cash them and then pay in the cash.  Travellers Cheques are like cash so they can't charge you for cashing them - but they sometimes try to charge for paying them in.  Strange but true!

[Coco]

We've just had a set of bank charges sent through to us from Credit Agricole.  For cashing a non-French euro cheque the charges are min 23.40 euros, up to 95 euros!  For dealing with a bank transfer it's 3.40 euros!!  I know what I'll be doing in future.

 

[Miki]

We always take deposits unless at short notice but just as importantly, we always ask clients for their telephone number.

For deposits we take them in the following ways:-

Nochex  (for any UK clients)

PayPal    (don't really like them but....)

Swift/Iban

Bankers cheque

Personal French euro bank cheque

Final payments:-

Cheque Vacances

Personal French euro bank cheque

Cash

[Chief]

[quote user="Coco"]

I looked into a CC machine when we first set up and the charges are a lot lower than in the UK but they're not available without a siret number.  If you've got a siret number I'd go down that route Jill.  From bad experience I now insist on deposits for all but very low season short stays, either by bank transfer or euro or sterling cheques.  This in itself has shown up several people who when I haven't received the deposit after  7 days and email them to remind them, tell me they have since found somewhere else and I get the "oh, sorry, did I forget to let you know" comments.

I have up til now always been prepared to wait til the end of the stay to collect the balance but am often on tenterhooks if I'm not too sure about the people, as to whether they will try to do a runner.  Many, especially Europeans, want to settle on arrival and I think that this year I will start asking for this as my normal procedure, with, as Maggi says, any extra meals being settled at the end of the stay.

[/quote]

Don't be embarrassed about asking for payment at beginning of a stay.  I have used several properties in France, and would always expect to settle up the rental cost on arrival. In fact, despite being honest and never dreaming of doing a runner, i would consider a landlord a bit naive if they waited until the last day of a stay before asking for payment.  Your in business, and rule number one is 'The customer pays for everything' and rule number two is 'always get paid'.

[Miki]

I think that certainly applies to gîtes (but not with some French companies) but it does not apply to B&B, which is what Jill originally asked about.

Very few, if any guests will pay for B&B in advance. Many French would be astonished to be asked to do so. We have fairly strict rules in the Ch D'Hôte commerce, which apply as to how we take deposits and asking in front for full payments is not allowed. For one night bookings, many will now ask for full payment but from two night stays, it is really deposit only. If anyone wishes to pay on arrival, quite rare in our place, we would naturally take their payment but personally, we would never ask for it.

I have seen on a few websites how some Brits act though. No French translation, all monies quoted in Pounds Sterling and running foul of the actual regulations in several ways. I notice on some of them, that they ask for a deposit by Sterling cheque, no worries at all about deposits in that manner but ask for cash for final payment on departure and no French cheque.............can't think why [Www]

[Russethouse]

I have seen on a few websites how some Brits act though. No French translation, all monies quoted in Pounds Sterling and running foul of the actual regulations in several ways. I notice on some of them, that they ask for a deposit by Sterling cheque, no worries at all about deposits in that manner but ask for cash for final payment on departure and no French cheque.............can't think why

Just as an aside, I recently met a French lady who has the job of checking web sites and making sure they are 'legal' - they do exist !

[Cassis]

[quote user="Miki"]

I have seen on a few websites how some Brits act though. No French translation, all monies quoted in Pounds Sterling and running foul of the actual regulations in several ways. I notice on some of them, that they ask for a deposit by Sterling cheque, no worries at all about deposits in that manner but ask for cash for final payment on departure and no French cheque.............can't think why [Www]

[/quote]

They probably have simply not round to opening a French account yet, Miki. I can't think of any other reason.

Clearly, there is more than one way to flay a feline. Our terms are:

Deposit :

Unless otherwise agreed, a cheque deposit equal to 50% of

the rental value is payable to secure a booking.

If a

deposit is requested, bookings are not guaranteed until said deposit is

received.

Sterling cheque deposits will only be cashed in case of cancellation - see final payment and cancellation terms below.

Final

Payment :

By cheque on a French account or cash (€).   No credit cards

or non-French cheques.

Cancellation:

15 days or more in

advance of due arrival date: no cancellation charge.

8 - 14 days in advance

of due arrival date: 50% of the full rental value, waived if room(s) can be

re-let.

7 days or less in advance of arrival date: 100% of the full rental

value, waived if room(s) can be re-let.

These terms are stated on the bookings pages (English and French) of the website and as a footnote to our replies to enquiries by email.

In practice, we do not ask for deposits for bookings of one room-night; bookings of more than one night or one room we treat on a case by case basis.  Clearly, this is not foolproof as it would be difficult to extract payment if someone cancelled and we did not have a deposit.  But last year we had only one no-show and a handful of cancellations, all of which we refilled.  Accordingly, we think that in our case (everyone is different) it is not worth asking for deposits (on most bookings) or taking payment by Paypal as the admin hassle and/or Paypal charges would outweigh any benefit in terms of securing payment.

Payment is on departure, not on arrival, unless someone offers to pay on arrival.  Oh, and we'll take a deposit from French visitors if they feel happier that way - some seem to think that if they have not paid anything as deposit then we might give their room away to someone else.

[Cerise]

Agree with that Cassis - the French get anxious if I don't take deposits.  I don't insist on people paying on arrival either - but in fact most want to.  Expect it is so they know what they have left to spend. Realistically, when I go on holiday I always pay in the currency/method asked for by the hotelier/owner/tour company without questioning why they haven't got another method of payment so I don't think we need worry too much about making over easy for the customers.  It isn't actually difficult to get hold of euros.

[Cassis]

[quote user="Cerise"]It isn't actually difficult to get hold of euros.[/quote]

Bung a few my way, will you, Cerise?  [:)]

[Cerise]

I'll get the old printing press out tonight o friendly sausage![6]

[Miki]

Herumpphh,

And what about the poor old peeps oop norf then ?? [;-)]

[Yvonne]

Miki,

You mention Nochex for UK clients. Is this service similar to Paypal? I've never heard of them but we need a reasonably cheap but reliable way to take money (deposits)  from UK guests without forking out ofr the VAD credit card machine offered by CA.

Do you charge them the 2.9% commission fee?

Does anyone else have experience of Nochex?

Thanks,

Abi

 

[Cassis]

I don't think customers will be happy at having to pay over the advertised price just because you want them to pay a deposit by Paypal or Nochex - you should build it into your prices if you're not happy losing a percentage.  I also doubt if Gites de France would let you get away with it if you were affiliated. 

You would need a Nochex Merchant Account to take payments from the UK in France.  Last I looked Nochex charges were a bit less than PayPal (unless you qualified for Paypal's lowest rate), at 2.9% plus 20p to receive payments compared to 3.9% and 20p through Paypal.  A Nochex Merchant account costs £50 to set up whereas Paypal is free to set up.

If we had used Paypal to take a 50% deposit just on non-French bookings (they can send a cheque) then we would have been over 200€ out of pocket even taking into account the cost of our one no-show.  If we had taken full payment up front on UK bookings we would have been over 450€ out of pocket.

[Yvonne]

hi Cassis,

Thanks for the advise. I appreciate your comments about fees however, we're not with gdf so I don't think their opinions really effect us.

Abi

[Cassis]

I don't know if you saw, I edited the post to give you an idea of what it would have cost us in practice.  We decided not to bother with deposits for our first year and review the position this year - obviously in our case it just would not be worth it, but everyone is different and it depends on the type of customer (among other things).

[Dick Smith]

Abi - do the opinions of customers affect you? I hate it when I see a surcharge for using any sort of payment - it should be part of the running costs. It always seems mean to me.

[Miki]

Nochex is far better for us than Paypal. We have talked to a few people recently who deal quite a lot with Paypal and they have shown a little concern in one way or another. Personally I have no problems with either but for all our UK clients, we offer Nochex only.

I had no idea it cost money now to be with Nochex, we certainly never paid to join up, can't think why they would want one to pay , when they benefit from every deal ?

Having looked at Nochex just now, what is wrong with a Sellers Account ? No charges for joining up and with up to a £12000 per year allowed to be taken, you can take payments in this way.

Merchant accounts do charge a set up fee of £50 but why bother with a Merchant account ? We live in France and Nochex are naturally fully aware of that. I thought the rules was, that you need a UK bank account./credit card and could accept payment from cards based in the UK. Mercahnt accounts are somewhat different in that now I believe they can take International cards.

We have ours set up with Outlook Express and send them a reply with the Nochex Icon at the bottom and all the client has to do, is click on the icon and pay the amount we have requested and bosh, the payment has been made. Both parties get confirmation of the deal almost instantly, pretty simple really.

We charge around 2.6% for anyone wanting to pay their deposit (or full payment for one night stays) by this method or if they feel that they prefer to pay by cheque, then they can send us a UK cheque and of course no charges would apply.

I have to make this clear. Most one nighters are generally one time stayers only, some do stay one night regularly (that is once a year) but most, we will see just that one time. We pass on the charges, as it makes business sense to us, we are but a small B&B and offer this mode of payment as a service to the guests. We make no profit from the charge and actually lose slightly (there is also a 20p charge per transaction). By offering the cheque alternative, I think one is being totally fair.

Phil, we have had no complains about passing on the charge whatsoever. People understand we are not a big hotel where we can take the loss on the cost of the room (as that is basically what it comes down to) and as I have said, we offer them the alternative method of paying by cheque. I think the way you have worked figures out on losses, is loaded a little (I know you mentioned Paypal in tis but ....). By taking, like we do from UK clients, full payment only on one nights stays and never full payments on longer stays, would mean a lot less loss to you and if you do what we do, pass on the charge, voila no real loss. I do not believe G de Fr have any worries, about how one takes deposits etc from Brits, cheque or card with charges passed on or not. all our charges are up front, so of course, no illegal hidden charges.