General Help and Questions

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Just signed up a new account and LOVING the software, great job! Cannot seem to locate the ability to grant access to a manager, please advise.

Thanks!

Other vendors hold the payments because you aren't really using your own merchant account. You're using THEIR merchant account and they're assuming the risk on your behalf. We made the conscious decision to NOT go that route and instead require each user to bring their own merchant account or set up one with our bank partner. We want each user to be responsible for their own merchant account and the underwriting associated with it.

-Michelle

Thanks. That is what I thought, I just wanted to confirm. I think some places hold it until the end of the month.

Claudia

Hi Claudia,

When a guest pays you by credit card, the payment goes directly from their bank to yours, via your merchant account. That's what a merchant account is - a virtual account that links interchange (Visa/MC/Discover) with your checking account.

We (OwnerRez) do not touch, hold or handle your money in any way. Interchange takes about 2 business days for Visa, MC and Discover payments to settle. Amex takes 3-5 business days.

-Michelle

What is the best way to switch existing customers onto your system?

I have 8 upcoming reservations, 4 of which have paid in full, but have not paid the Security Deposit yet. The other 4 have paid the deposit only. According to my rental agreement and when they booked, they didn't have the money taking out of their accounts, automatically. I would send them a bill and and email. What would happen now, if I switch? Or, for now, do these in the usual way, Paypal? How would I record it on your system, without the credit card? Cash?

Claudia

You might have answered this in a previous letter, but does the money go into your account? I think you mentioned that it would take 2-3 business days. However, the money goes into your account and then at the end of the month the charges are deducted?

Claudia

I was thinking of that. I have to first find out about the charges and what kind of record I would have, using your program. You were going to check to see how I would be able to see, realtime, the charges for the amount received, so I could record it realtime. Whether it is signing in to their system, or them sending a confirmation with the charges on it.

Claudia

Hi Claudia,

Will do. Just as an FYI: when you enter your existing bookings, you can always enter what they paid as a manual payment and then schedule the second payment for "the remaining balance". So if you have someone that already paid $500, just enter that amount as the first payment and the second payment will automatically collect what's left.

-Michelle

Very good, Michelle. Your all doing such a great job!!

Claudia

OK, sounds great. Would you let us know when it is completed?

In the meantime, I will have to wait until the flat amount comes in for the deposit, to use your system fully. If I was to use it now, I would have to change everything with what I currently have. I have several bookings for the Spring and Summer and it would get VERY confusing as to who paid $500 deposit and who paid 30%. I will look forward to the deposit change.

Claudia

Hi Claudia,

Thanks for the extra details. We have a partnership with TravelGuard already for Travel Insurance, and we've signed off on their Damage Protection product too. So the process should be the same for you except that most of the details on the claim form will be filled in for you already by our system (since we know the guest name, dates of stay, etc).

-Michelle

No, we engineer our releases to only take a few seconds of downtime. You shouldn't even see a blip. This release involves some low-level stuff that affects a LOT of areas in the software so we're doing a lot of testing and staging beforehand.

One of the listing sites offers the Damage Insurance, via TravelGuard. When I purchase one, at the end of the month, they send me a check. I receive $5 per Insurance purchased.

I fill out the information for the guest and enter my email address. So, the insurance comes to me. I believe I could enter the email for them, as well.

At the moment, they do not offer this insurance for PA and WA residents. So, you would have to find a way to exclude those residents from purchasing it.

I recently had to file a claim and I took care of everything, without the guest having to get involved. They paid me back within 2 weeks. Very quick.

Claudia

As a gauge, I am currently receiving $5 for each damage insurance purchased.

Claudia

Yes, and Paul explained why. (Beat me to this one!)

Claudia, I'm curious... Who do you sell your insurance through now? I take it you're a registered insurance agent and sell it through one of the big vendors? Or do you just provide your own program?

Sounds good.

Can't wait to see the new changes, today or tomorrow? Will we have to stay off the system during the time of implementation?

Claudia

Yes - and that's one of the reasons we haven't released it yet.

Selling Damage Protection is more complicated than selling Travel Insurance. With Travel Insurance, it's very straightforward. The guest interacts with the insurance provider if there's a problem and there's no real work needed to be performed by either the owner or us. With Damage Protection, there's a lot more to do. The owner's property has to be paid for, which means that the owner has to fill out a form - which we'll provide in the software - so that the insurance provider can reimburse him directly.

That, and we plan on crediting your account (ie. giving commission) anytime one of your guest's buys DI. We're unsure what that credit should be so we've held off on releasing it fully.

OK. Would you offer a commission for every Damage Insurance purchased through you, as other listing sites do?

Claudia

We're right in the middle of pushing out a major release today and tomorrow. The next development sprint is already underway and will range from 3 to 4 weeks. I can't make you a 100% promise on that but that's the current estimate.

Hi Claudia,

There is no way to do this BUILT IN to the software, but you could always offer them this manually. If they told you that they wanted to buy your damage insurance, you could charge them for that and then turn off the security deposit for their quote.

I should mention that we have a Damage Protection option that will be coming in the future, very similar to our current Travel Insurance option, but it's managed by us directly through Travel Guard. If selected by the guest, that would automatically turn off the security deposit.

-Michelle

Do you know when the next sprint would possibly be?

Claudia

GREAT!

Thanks,
Claudia

Hi Claudia,

We don't allow the first payment to be specified as a flat dollar amount right now, but that feature is on the dev roadmap and has been for some time. We're considering promoting that to the next sprint since we've had several people mention this. I'll keep you updated.

-Michelle

Hi Claudia,

We do not provide ANY information to HomeAwayConnect when syncing with their calendar. The dates are set as reserved and that is all.

-Michelle

Hi,

When you sync the calendar onto HomeAway and VRBO, do you provide the names and emails of the guests? If so, is there an option to just RESERVE the dates, without all the details? I don't want HomeAway having all those details, so they can use it for their studies. I do not fill in the info now, for HA.

Thanks,
Claudia

With all the emails going back and forth the last few days, I don't seem to find the one about the deposit. At the moment, you only allow % for the deposit. Are you planning to allow $$$ amounts, as an option? If so, when do you think that will go into effect? I won't be able to use this system, as is, with the % amount. I think you mentioned that it might be in the works, since others have asked for it.

Thanks!
Claudia

Hi,

I offer two options for a Security Deposit. Either a HOLD for $400 or $47 Non-Refundable Damage Insurance (not valid for PA and WA residents). How would I put that as an option with OwnerRez?

Thanks!
Claudia

Great question. The credit card fees are not charged by us. They're charged by the merchant account provider. If you use the merchant account provider that we are partnered with (Cornerstone on the Sage Payments gateway) you will be charged by Sage at the end of the month. There is a separate virtual terminal and reporting website, that Sage provides for you, that shows you payment reports for all your credit card transactions (including holds, captures and voids for security deposits). I do not know if there is a report in that site that shows the fees; I'd have to ask our merchant services people about that and get back to you. But there is definitely a lot of transactional information there that is available in real time.

Hi Michelle,

You mentioned that we are billed at the end of the month for the credit card charges, if we use your credit card service. Presently, I have a LOG with everything on it, giving me a GLANCE of everything I need to know about the renter and payments, amounts due, etc. It is my BIBLE, basically. In this log, I have the credit card fee for that rental, which affects the price received and base price. I use this for my monthly filings of State taxes.

My question is, can I see the actual charges accrued, throughout the month, for each transaction, so that I could plug those amounts into my LOG and get the real tally? Or would I have to wait for the month to end to get these charge amounts?

For example, with Paypal, it is instanly on the website. I just plug it in, once they pay.

Also, if someone pays August 1st, when would I get this charge on my account? August 31? September 1? Is there a report that is generated and sent to my email with all the details? Can I go online and look at the charges?

Thanks,
Claudia