Lay My Hat

Hello... we take a 30% deposit which is non-refundable unless we can re-book...we also state on our invoice that they are responsible for entire balance if they cancel less than 3 weeks before arrival date unless we can re-book - (Most of our rooms are booked months ahead). So we strongly advise guests to have travel insurance.

A guest who booked a week starting yesterday back in January, and was very inquisitive with at least one email per week since then about activities etc, canceled day before scheduled arrival. Excuse: husband tore a ligament in knee. I replied, expressing my regrets for his injury, and that hopefully they have travel insurance because they are responsible for the balance.
She replied that she realizes that they will forfeit the deposit. No mention of the balance owning. And she has ignored my second reminder. Legally there is not much we can do, since we are in Portugal and they are in the USA.

So we are wondering if we should raise our deposit to 50%. Or is that too much??? We have been lucky that this is only the second cancelation where guests refuse to pay balance. Other few cancelations have paid without a problem.

We take 30% to confirm the booking, then the balance 6 weeks before holiday commences.

This at least gives us time to market a 'cancellation as the result of non-payment of the balance'.

Cancellation more than 6 weeks from commencement forfeits the deposit. Cancellation less than 6 weeks from commencement forfeits the full amount unless we are able to re-book, whereupon we will refund the amount we achieve for the new booking minus an admin charge, booking fees, etc.

We haven't had a cancellation in 8 or 9 years.

The above poster is not a B&B.
Maybe have a look around your area at what the competition is doing.
Personally never encountered a B&B or Hotel which asks for the whole stay to be paid weeks before paid before arrival. The account is usually settled when the guests leave.

aasta wrote:
A guest who booked a week starting yesterday back in January

Sorry, I misinterpreted that. Thought it was an FHL.

russellt wrote:

aasta wrote:
A guest who booked a week starting yesterday back in January

Sorry, I misinterpreted that. Thought it was an FHL.

It is under the B&B section hence our comment. on your post and out comment about not paying until leaving.
We wait for Aasta to confirm.

We ask for the first night's stay, or 30% of the total stay, whichever is higher, on the basis that if they don't turn up for the first night, there is a good chance that while that first night will remain vacant in the event of a no-show, we have a good chance of filling the subsequent nights with late bookers.

Occasionally, if it's one of our more expensive rooms, I only charge a one-nighter a 50% deposit, because it's usually sufficient for the guest to think twice about not turning up... and I don't want to put guests off booking.

We've had the odd person complain, but the vast majority are happy with our terms and conditions. I suspect the ones who complain would have been awkward guests anyway

Yes, we are a B&B but many of our guests stay 7 nights or longer...and we do not get many last minute bookings...so a cancelation in our High Seson the night before is a big cut to our budget if the canceling guests do not cover the balance. We have it written in our T&C that if they cancel last minute and we can not rebook that they are responsible for balance. but as stated, there is not much we can do if they choose to ignore this.....therefore the question of about raising deposit minimum...we do not wish to be outrageous....
Most of the other B&Bs in our area are on Bookings.com or AirBNB, and they have different or no deposit policies.....we are not on these sites or any other of the large booking sites, since we have a niche market.....

Have you considered going on Bookingdotcom? We resisted for a long time and quite frankly, I wish we hadn't as we're currently as busy in the low season as we were in July last year. You don't have to have your rooms open all the time, but if you get a last minute cancellation, you could open up those dates on BC and you may well fill it with a last minuter.

Being niche means you cannot do anything to claim your money back if you keep to those T&Cs.
Hopefully this will be the only time it happens.