Bookings lost when Beds24.com account is out of credit?

Topics related to bookings and guest managment
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amberbb
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:12 pm
Location: Centre of New Zealand - sunny Nelson!
Contact:

Due to an unplanned incident today we were unable to top up our account credit before we received this email message (bowdlerised):

"A new booking has just been made for AMBER HOUSE - at the centre! ™

Security code = CFHT
Total Price NZ$157.26

Unfortunately your Beds24.com account has run out of credit.
Please login to http://www.beds24.com and make a payment.
The full details of this booking can then be viewed on the BOOKINGS page once you log-in.


This is an automated notification email from http://www.beds24.com
"

What's wrong with that you say?

At least three things.

1) It gives no clue as to the date of arrival.
Panic stations and severe embarrassment and possible reputation damage if the guest is arriving unexpectedly today!

2) It gives no clue as to the room booked or date - leading to a possible double booking situation.

3) Even now - more than five hours after bringing our account back into credit by making a 12 month payment - we still can not find or view this booking and have not received the usual two emails we would expect.
Amber House Limited trading as AMBER HOUSE - at the centre!™
Mobile: +64 21 202 4961
Phone: +64 3 539 0605
Fax: +44 70 05 96 34 37
http://www.AmberHouse.co.nz
Amber House, 46 Weka Street, Nelson 7010, New Zealand
markkinchin
Site Admin
Posts: 935
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:43 pm

Please see the email I have sent you identifying the booking.

This raises a number of issues that I would like to clarify and perhaps improve upon.

1st) Beds24 requires a positive account balance to be maintained. If the balance falls below zero we reduce the functionality of your account. This reduces load on our server from expired accounts and prevents free-loaders using the service. The Beds24 account functions in a similar manner to a pre-paid mobile phone in this regard.

2nd) I have added the booking id number to the email sent to the host when they have no credit. This allows easy identification of the booking when account access is restored. The guest always receives the normal emailed booking confirmation and is not aware the host account is restricted. For this reason please completely remove beds24 widgets and links from your sites if you no longer wish to use beds24.

3rd) I will look into adding the option of a subscription payment or auto top up payment system for those who don't want the inconvenience of running out of credit at an unfortunate time.
amberbb
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:12 pm
Location: Centre of New Zealand - sunny Nelson!
Contact:

markkinchin wrote: 1st) Beds24 requires a positive account balance to be maintained. If the balance falls below zero we reduce the functionality of your account. This reduces load on our server from expired accounts and prevents free-loaders using the service. The Beds24 account functions in a similar manner to a pre-paid mobile phone in this regard.
Nothing wrong with applying a little "stick", Mark.

We definitely want you to make money, 'cos as the best PMS on the market we would be devastated if you folded due to lack of cash flow.

However, perhaps you could make things a little less drastic for those of us who are not "free-loaders" and have a track record with you?

(A bit like the way some pay-as-you-go pre-paid mobile phone networks in the UK offer an "emergency £1 or £5 credit" - which is paid back at the next top-up)

My suggestion would be a warning e-mail message and then two days grace for each year an establishment has beenpaying subscriptions before the consequent reduction of functionality actually kicks in....

markkinchin wrote: 2nd) I have added the booking id number to the email sent to the host when they have no credit.
That's a useful enhancement.

If you were to add the arrival date, that would be even more helpful (and perhaps add to the urgency)?

markkinchin wrote: 3rd) I will look into adding the option of a subscription payment or auto top up payment system for those who don't want the inconvenience of running out of credit at an unfortunate time.
Terrific!
Amber House Limited trading as AMBER HOUSE - at the centre!™
Mobile: +64 21 202 4961
Phone: +64 3 539 0605
Fax: +44 70 05 96 34 37
http://www.AmberHouse.co.nz
Amber House, 46 Weka Street, Nelson 7010, New Zealand
amberbb
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:12 pm
Location: Centre of New Zealand - sunny Nelson!
Contact:

May I give you a gentle reminder about this, Mark:
amberbb wrote: However, perhaps you could make things a little less drastic for those of us who are not "free-loaders" and have a track record with you?

(A bit like the way some pay-as-you-go pre-paid mobile phone networks in the UK offer an "emergency £1 or £5 credit" - which is paid back at the next top-up)

My suggestion would be a warning e-mail message and then two days grace for each year an establishment has been paying subscriptions before the consequent reduction of functionality actually kicks in....

markkinchin wrote: 2nd) I have added the booking id number to the email sent to the host when they have no credit.
That's a useful enhancement.

If you were to add the arrival date, that would be even more helpful (and perhaps add to the urgency)?

markkinchin wrote: 3rd) I will look into adding the option of a subscription payment or auto top up payment system for those who don't want the inconvenience of running out of credit at an unfortunate time.
Terrific!
Amber House Limited trading as AMBER HOUSE - at the centre!™
Mobile: +64 21 202 4961
Phone: +64 3 539 0605
Fax: +44 70 05 96 34 37
http://www.AmberHouse.co.nz
Amber House, 46 Weka Street, Nelson 7010, New Zealand
jnasevich
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2014 9:57 pm
Location: Ocean City, NJ
Contact:

Hello. I'm looking for the automatic payment option. Where do I find it on the Beds24 dashboard? I see options to pre-pay for credit (Account | Billing | Make a Payment), but I don't see an option for a recurring payment where I can enter my credit card information one time and then have it charge me automatically each month. I don't want to have to remember to pre-pay for credit each month. And what if I use run up more charges than I have pre-paid credit (e.g because of more SMS text messages than I had anticipated)? Just charge my account each month automatically and send me an email receipt to let me know how much you charged.

Even PayPal now has subscriptions and recurring payments. Can it be set up using PayPal?
------
Joe Nasevich
Webmaster, Homestead Heach Hotel, Ocean City, NJ
[email protected]
http://homesteadbeachhotel.net
annettemorgenroth
Posts: 1335
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:44 am

We can currently not offer an automated payment option.
administration
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2018 11:05 am

Dear Annette;

After our mailing I tryed to get billing for my payment. But on the video you sended I did exactly what I see and on the account I dont have billing option.
How to pay now if I cant go to the billing option.
BONJOUR APARTMENTS
annettemorgenroth
Posts: 1335
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:44 am

administration wrote:
Mon Dec 03, 2018 11:09 am
I dont have billing option.
Only master accounts have have the billing page. You will need to log into your master account and make the payment there.
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