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probably whether trip insurance has to be figured including cleaning fee amount. Most think that sec dep and clean fee should not be included when figuring trip insurance amount. While I can see cleaning fee going either way, sec dep should not be included in the amount to which trip insurance %age is applied.

The refundable secdeps or the cleaning fees? The refundables aren't in yet, but I'm not sure what's being asked about the cleaning fees.

Has this feature been added yet?

Hi Duane, there is no bulk/batch way to do that in the interface, but if you send an email to help@ownerreservations.com, we might be able to take care of that for you on the back side.

I am done testing my account and I want to go live with real data and start with a clean slate...how do I delete all inquiries so I can delete the guests to start fresh?

Thanks!

I think I’ve set my account similar to this but I’m not getting what I expected. We allow checks 42 days before with 20% down. If booking is less than that time they should pay 100%. But the test booking I did created a pending email that they must pay at least 20% (they should be required to pay 100%). Is this a rule setting I’m confused about or an email thing?

How about on the payment method add a checkbox as a surcharge flag with an entry field for the percent and allow a processing fee per transaction? That way if they make a payment with check it would never hit the flag and charge the additional fee. If they made a payment with paypal or other credit card method it would add the fee?

almost like we need to show 2 quotes: if paid by check it will be $x; if by credit card, it will be $Y. And let them select which one to proceed with.

Yep, and that's the thing -- to get the right balance you really have to add the discount or surcharge on each payment and not overall. If you do that, then it could be confusing to the guest to initially see one number and then see the numbers bounce around as they change payment type.

I suppose we could do a combination -- show the guest "if you pay by check you get a 3% discount" or "if you pay by card it's a 3% surcharge", but don't add the actual surcharge until each payment is made.

But then what about refunds, do they get the surcharge amount back? Partial refunds?

It gets confusing fast :-/

I have set up a select-able pay by check discount when booking is more than 35 days out. What I found is some people select the discount, pay deposit by check , and then pay balance by CC when time comes. I had to go and edit charges because they were trying to use discount and then go around the conditions set forth by the discount description. if you do not watch it they will do it. I am debating removing the select-able discount altogether as it is not worth the hassle to me as people are not being honest and there is no system check to prevent them going around it.

Why would the renter have to pay tax if they didn't actually show up for the rental? You wouldn't be getting that money anyway as it would go to the state etc??

Yep, you can't auto discount on payment method either. The basic problem is, what if they change payment methods throughout the booking? Like, start with a check then do a credit card but they've still got the discount. Or start with a credit card, but then want to finish via check and get the discount.

I suppose we could just add the surcharge/discount to the booking based on the method of the first payment and then leave it up to the owner to make any modifications necessary.

How did this work out for you?

:-( OK. I just sent you an email, sorry for asking the question twice. I didn't see the response here first. I suppose there's no way to automatically discount if using a check instead of credit card either, correct?

There is still not an automatic way to enforce it, but the optional method above still works.

Is there a way to do this now? We wanted to offer PayPal as an option but if it’s selected automatically add a surcharge.

Have you looked at the portal access section: https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/portal-access? That would let you give the cleaners access to the calendar to be able to get in and see what's going on.

Or are you looking for something more like the Stay Reports in the Reports section?

Does anyone have a way to share a cleaning schedule with the cleaners I use two on different properties.. just wondeirng if there was an easy way to do this instead of typing it out each week for my cleaners.. BUT it has to be on Check OUt NOT check in dates..

To mark a charge as not taxable, go to the Charges section of the booking, change the charges, and un-check the Taxed checkbox next to the charge:

You can also go to Settings > Surcharges & Discounts: https://app.ownerrez.com/surcharges and create a cleaning fee to be applied automatically to all new quotes and bookings, and set it not taxable there so it will apply that setting automatically:

My tax line falls below the rental rate line and therefore tax is added to the total charges. How do I keep this from happening yet still identify that a cleaning fee has been applied? Thanks in advance for any input....

so is booking.com integrated now? Experiences?

That's awesome Chris! I'll go into the templates and play with the image upload function!

Thanks!
Monica

OK, so this took a little longer than a week, mainly because we did a couple of other overhauls while we were at it :-D... search in insert fields dialog, live preview button.

Just released the new update!

To fix this, set the calendar imports to import bookings only. We actually force Airbnb imports to bookings only because of this exact issue -- their feeds don't include enough info to tell what is a block vs what is a rule.

I will try to explain my question. On AirBNB and VRBO you can set how far in advance at a minimum renter is allowed to book., I have it set at 1 day, which means that today potential renter can book for tomorrow (1 day) but not for today (same day).

I would really like to change it to 2 advance notice days on AirBNb and VRBO, because of the delayed communications there. BUT what happens is that calendar sync blocks the dates (that are technically available) on my OR calendar ( used on m own website) where I actually can take next day bookings. Is there a way around it? i guess probably no...

Thanks so much. I was able to send them a custom message with what was required now and what would be required in the future and when. I appreciate the fast response, Chris!

Go to the Transactions tab of the booking and click Request > Request Payment. That'll send them a payment link they can use to pay. It'll tell them the total and let them pay more if the want to, but the minimum payment will be the $500 deposit. Hit the preview button in that modal before you send the email and you can see what the guest will see.

Hi, I am trying to process a booking for a return guest. They asked me to send them the booking/payment info this week, as they just left the cottage on the 31st. I had blocked off the desired dates in 2019 and converted it to a booking using the same prices as last year. I'm trying to send them a request for the $500 deposit, but I don't see that as a choice. I have successfully created the booking but the only choice I have is to bill them for the full amount. The customer's last name is Elmore. Can you please help? Thanks!

Trigger would be a great idea! yes I do follow up but no response. My guess (only guess) is that since I have been advertising on Facebook, and people from those leads expect luxury cabin for $39.99 a night. When they see the total (including cleaning fee and tax) , they abandon. Also I can pretty much guarantee there will be an abandon if I see that number of people on inquiry 2-5, they won't book. They just come to the site because they saw pretty photos. My cabins are a great value for the number of people they sleep (10 and 12) but for 2-3 people it may be much more than they want to pay hence the abandon.

Yep, it's sobering how many people start and don't finish. At least you've got the contact info, though. Any luck following up with them to see why they didn't finish?

We've been thinking about adding a trigger for abandons so you can auto send a followup email the day after, "why didn't you book, anything we can help with?" etc.