Just a note on some warning signals if clients repeatedly make changes to their bookings and request a payout or ‘credit’ for the difference.
One of our clients reported a booking made for 8 days, where after the guest started to make changes to it and requesting cash payouts for the difference. He would, for instance, change the original amount of days and ask for credit for the extra ones to be paid out.
It turns out the credit card used initially to secure the booking and ‘settle the whole bill’ never went through so he was just trying to get any amount of cash from the property before disappearing – leaving the property out-of-pocket.
It is also worthwhile to once again mention the age-old scam where the guest ‘accidentally’ added one extra zero to the amount he/she put through on a (fraudulent) credit card and want to be refunded for the difference by EFT or cash.
Some clever fraudsters request you to do them a favour and add commission onto the booking before you invoice them for the larger amount. The larger amount will then be paid with a credit card and they will request you to please pay their commission into a bank account for them. You can, of course, keep a part of it for your trouble. Should you then do so you will find that the credit card never goes through and you just made a bad guy a bit richer.
The Golden Rule:
* Never refund with cash or via EFT for money you initially received by cheque or credit card!
Please read through our Scam Spotting tutorial to protect yourself and your hard-earned cash!
Click here — Scam Spotting Tips
