Should I return some of the deposit?
Should I return some of the deposit?
I would like some opinions on what I should do in this situation. I took a 4 night booking with a deposit of €132 (30%) for dates in early May . The guests had to cancel due to health issues a few weeks ago. I advised guests that I would re-advertise and refund deposit minus any discount I would give to a late booker. I have now received a booking for 7 nights (€530) that includes 3 of the 4 nights in question. It leaves me with one empty night at the end. I had reduced my rates in order to get bookings as late April - early May was still available. So for the 4 nights that were cancelled I am now receiving €228 (3 nights) If I add this to the withheld deposit of €132 it gives me €360 which is less than the €440 that I would have originally got.
I know it is complicated as the booking I have got is not for the exact dates that were cancelled. I would be interested knowing how my LMH friends would deal with this both on a business and moral basis, Thanks Declan
I know it is complicated as the booking I have got is not for the exact dates that were cancelled. I would be interested knowing how my LMH friends would deal with this both on a business and moral basis, Thanks Declan
I am someone who tends to give all back when someone is ill and then I regret it because I should have had my business head on but being perfectly rational and fair and looking from the outside at your situation, I would say that you have lost 80 Euros and you should be able to keep that and refund the difference, without feeling bad about it, as you have had the extra hassle of cancelling, rebooking and now refunding. On the basis that the deposit is theoretically non-refundable, I think they will be pleased to get anything back.
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Thanks for the replies, I will have lost €80 even if I don't refund anything on the four night booking. However I now have a 7 night booking that is paying me €530 which I would not have been able to take if the original didn't cancel. My thinking is to email them and explain that I am still at a loss as my daily rate is lower and I now have an empty night. Am I being reasonable?
I wouldn't have offered a refund of a deposit; as they are non-refundable.
If they have insurance I would offer to provide them any documentation they need to help make a claim.
If you do decide to refund because you have a new booking that covers the dates; only look at the days that converge and not the overall week/period that replaces the original cancellation dates.
So, if they had booked 3-nights paying a £100 per night and for the same three nights you only received £60 per night; I'd refund them £180 (3 x £60) less an admin fee of £45 to cover your time.
If they have insurance I would offer to provide them any documentation they need to help make a claim.
If you do decide to refund because you have a new booking that covers the dates; only look at the days that converge and not the overall week/period that replaces the original cancellation dates.
So, if they had booked 3-nights paying a £100 per night and for the same three nights you only received £60 per night; I'd refund them £180 (3 x £60) less an admin fee of £45 to cover your time.
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"There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise"
"As for my amnesia, I've had it as long as I can remember"
Real name: Steve
Gender: Male
I agree. Regardless of the reason for cancellation, they cannot expect any refund even if you have managed to relet, as it still puts you at a loss compared to what you would have received for those nights if they had gone ahead.declanja wrote:My thinking is to email them and explain that I am still at a loss as my daily rate is lower and I now have an empty night. Am I being reasonable?
Before you do - one thought. It's very rare that a self-catering let is calculated on a nightly basis as I'm sure you know; your expenses are loaded up front and are virtually the same for one night as for seven. In that situation, dividing the total by the number of nights and using that value as the base for further calculations simply doesn't work - as we constantly try to explain to guests who think they should pay 3/7 of the weekly rate for a short break.declanja wrote:Thank you all. The maths are very clear. I was concerned that it might look mean. I will go ahead and explain the maths to them.
Yes, you're still losing, but unless you genuinely work on a multiple of a nightly rate the guests are quite likely to see the detail of the argument as something to challenge, particularly as it probably inflates the amount.declanja wrote:I agree Greenbarn but is there a better way to do it? Even allowing for your valid point it looks like I am still losing on this cancellation.
If you offer full week as well as short breaks, presumably you can calculate the incremental charge for additional nights, or have a standard formula for doing so which may be as simple as additional night = 10% of full week rate (which works if you reckon a 4 night break is 70% of a 7 night break, which is typical).
If there hadn't been a discount involved, you'd have missed out on one night, ie 10% of the full week rate. Because you had to discount, you've lost quite a lot more than that at which point my head starts to hurt and I'll pass back over to those who enjoy this sort of thing! The admin charge for sorting it all out is currently running at about £500 I'd say......
Oh, and they should have had travel insurance.........