How soon before final payment is due do you remind your guests?
I was just prompted to check my PIMS task setting for the final payment which is due eight weeks before arrival. I currently remind guests ten weeks before but a guest payment was due yesterday and she emailed to say her husband would do the transfer this morning. She's a returning guest and I recalled having to send them reminders last time with their payment finally paid three weeks late.
I'm now wondering if I should remind guests twelve weeks/one month before it is due? (And state it is due ON or BEFORE the due date).
I paid our August UK holiday balance a couple of weeks ago, had to set up my own reminder as they state they don't send one. I'm now concerned I've had no confirmation ... Any one here in Bude mid August ?
TA lurkers walk among us; the LMH Walking Dead
dont mess in the affairs of cats for they are subtle and will p on your computer.
I give guests a receipt on transfer of their deposit which states that their balance must be paid by : a month before their holidays. Often people pay up long before that, occasionally I have to give a reminder email or text, but probably because my prices are quite low, compared to your lovely big villas abroad, people quite often pay the whole rental cost on booking.
I suppose it depends how long in advance your guests book- I rarely get bookings more than six months in advance, though I have some repeat bookings , and I'm quite relaxed about receiving their deposits and balances. I recall when we did a lot of caravan hols when our children were wee, it was always three months before your holiday. I always send out confirmation ,map, details on the cottage/ flat within a few days, so I'd be a bit worried about your Cornwall hol ,myself!
I send one just a few days (3 or 4 maybe - I'd have to check my setting in PIMS, but not a week) before the 8 week period starts saying it's now due and it generally gets paid within a day or two either side of the due date.
I have no evidence to support the notion apart from my own inertia, but I have a feeling that sending a reminder say two weeks before the due date puts it on the "To Do Sometime" list and likely forgotten, whereas with a couple of days to deadline it goes on the "To Do Now" list.
I'd probably send it earlier if cheque payment was still the norm but I don't encourage that and provide better alternatives.
I don't send out reminders at all, until after a few days of the due date. I rarely have to chase for payment. I find that when a payment is for something that people are looking forward to, they generally remember to pay on time.
greenbarn wrote:I have no evidence to support the notion apart from my own inertia, but I have a feeling that sending a reminder say two weeks before the due date puts it on the "To Do Sometime" list and likely forgotten, whereas with a couple of days to deadline it goes on the "To Do Now" list..
I changed my reminder from "10 days before" to "2 days before" the deadline, and anecdotal evidence (i.e. my memory) suggests that the payments are made instantly that they receive my email.
By the way, the deadline is 8 weeks before holiday. Seems to be quite acceptable and gives us enough time to "chase".
It's now just 6-weeks to your holiday in Bournemouth and we promised to remind you that the rental balance and security deposit is now due for payment. Shown below are:-
- Your booked party members.
- Your payments already made.
Bla Bla Bla..."
Same as e-R I send out reminder 3-days before due payment date; I also find that guests pay usually straight away or on the due date.
"Write something, even if it's just a suicide note"
"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 send a reminder with a week or less to go. I would never expect my guests to have to remember to pay it at a given time or by requesting it too far in advance. We are all busy people and it's my job to help make their holiday booking easy. I rarely have an issue, and the only time I do is usually because the email reminder didn't get through.
I don't send a reminder but put the date the balance has to be received in bold on the letter following receipt of the deposit.
I don't usually have a problem receiving balance payments on time, but as balance is due 8 weeks before the stay it is possible to send a gentle reminder email and receive payment on the very few occasions the balance date has been overlooked.
About once a year someone misses the date and I send the reminder.
I send a reminder for the balance and security deposit one week before it's due which generally works OK. We get a mixture though - some people pay early with no reminder, others pay instantly as soon as they get the reminder. Most pay on the dot and a rare few are late and need chasing.
I don't send a reminder unless they have specifically asked for it. In fact, just this morning I checked and found that a payment due on July 17th had not arrived (so 11 days over) so I did send a gentle email. Of course, they were extremely apologetic - they had totally forgotten. As I ask for payment 2 calendar months in advance I feel I have plenty of time for 'mistakes' like this. I hate to hassle people (I feel the same about the review request thing) but I know it is just 'business' so I shouldn't be reticent about asking for what is due and it could be tricky if they then cancel and I haven't yet been paid. On the rare occasions that people forget, I usually remind once it is a week overdue.
I don't see sending a payment reminder as "hassling", but by way of balance I agree that asking for reviews can be, so I understand the point.
I think of sending a payment reminder as a simple courtesy; as a guest I wouldn't remember several months after my original booking when the balance was due, and I don't expect my guests to remember either. If I hadn't paid a balance and received an email a couple of weeks after it was due, my immediate thought would be "why the @!@* didn't they send me a reminder three weeks ago????" In other words, I'd automatically expect a reminder as part of the booking process.
When I take the booking deposit I acknowledge it, explain when the balance is due and how much, and tell them I'll send a reminder nearer the time ("We hope you're looking forward to your holiday etc etc which is now just 8 weeks away and the balance of £xxx is due.........")
I've always done it that way, but now there's another reason which is if guests want to pay by card they can't do it without the secure payment link I include in the reminder - so I'm pretty much stuck with the system!
... Any one here in Bude mid August ? 
I have to send them an online payment link. They can't pay of their own accord.