Since we got started, we have had to live with the occassional no shows from HW and HB bookings. I believe this is a norm and most of you hostel managers would have to face every now and then.
The standard policy I believe is that for no shows / cancellations without prior notification, the hostel holds the right to charge the guests for their first night. However, this is not possible as HW and HB do not provide the credit card CVV / CVC code (apparently due to data privacy etc laws).
I suppose this is all fair but I do wonder then how do the other hostels handle these No Shows. While most bookings from HW and HB do translate into actual guests staying with us, how do we recover i.e. charge those who did not show up? During peak periods, this is a loss of potential revenue to us as we had to reject other bookings from other stream. :(
Do you guys do anything differently or do you also just write these bookings off?
:) Cheers
12 years
I'm only learning about this business - so i understand that the booking engines can have high cancellation rates because there are no penalties - but if there hasnt been a cancellation - its called a "no-show" -what happens then - do you still get the same amount as if they had turned up and stayed with you? do you still pay the same, or more or less commission? thanks Liam
12 years
Hi Liam,
Most of the booking sites will collect a 10% payment at the time the booking is made. They keep that money as their commission, and the hostel never touches it. The booking site is no longer involved after they send you the information about the reservation, and they have no responsibility for any charges beyond that point.
If the guest cancels the reservation or simple does not show up at the hostel, then the hostel gets nothing. Technically the hostel has the right to charge the guest for the first night if they don’t cancel in time (usually within 24 hours of the arrival date). This doesn’t mean that we are actually able to charge them though. The problem is that you have to have a credit card machine (Point Of Sale machine, or POS) in order to charge the guest. Some hostels don’t have this. HW and HB don’t provide you with the cvv number from the guest’s card, so your bank may not allow you to charge anything even if you have a POS machine. If this is the case, then the hostel still gets nothing.
Some banks will allow you to charge a card without a cvv number. It depends on the hostel’s relationship with them. Your bank has to pay commissions to the credit card companies on the transactions that they approve. A transaction without a cvv number is considered “high risk” since the guest can contest the charge. As a result, your bank will have to pay higher commissions to Visa/MasterCard/Whoever. Essentially, they have to decide if your business is a good enough customer to justify taking that risk or paying those extra commissions. If your bank doesn’t allow you to charge without the cvv number, then try explaining how your reservations work and ask them to change that policy for you. You might get lucky.
11 years
We also email the guests requesting the cvv number. Also mentioned on guests confirmation from both HW and HB.
11 years
We also email the guests requesting the cvv number. Also mentioned on guests confirmation from both HW and HB.
Does that work for you? Do they normally send it?
11 years
Does that work for you? Do they normally send it?
At first some guests were a bit apprehensive, but as I said it does state in their confirmation that to complete the booking they must provide the cvv number. We also give the guest the option to call us to make it more safe.
11 years
We use an online banking account, like Paypal, that has a virtual terminal. No CVV needed for transactions.
11 years
Be advised that even if you can charge without the CVV number you only have a limited time frame to do so.
Last season I was very busy and got distracted and did not process my no shows for a while and when I finally tried to make the claim on the Credit Card some would not go through when I tried. After emailing my Buddy in H/W I was told that I left it to long to process the charge. I now do it on a weekly basis if it needs to be done. No problems since.
11 years
Hi, I'm just trying to get a better understanding of this. So what happens when there is a no-show? Does HostelWorld or HostelBookers send you the guests credit card info by email? Or does the property owner have to log into HW/HB website?
Sorry if this has been answered before.
11 years
Hostelworld doesn't send the credit card info and no-show encourages some hostel owners to do overbooking to avoid potential loss of revenue.
My hostel is in china and in these days no show rarely happens among my Chinese guests because they are required to make the full payment on the booking engine. For Hostelworld, guests must check in before 6pm or they should send us an email to notify us. But in my experience, only a few % people would do it. Most other would not let us know they will come late.
For no show issue, we also learn to be very careful with a booking made by "friends". It's so easy for them to book at no cost, and they may also cancel booking casualy without realizing there is a cost for us.
11 years
Hi, I'm just trying to get a better understanding of this. So what happens when there is a no-show? Does HostelWorld or HostelBookers send you the guests credit card info by email? Or does the property owner have to log into HW/HB website?
Rufus, you have to log into the back office with a specific account that is authorized to view credit card numbers. The CVV code will not be provided to you. I think the card number will only be accessible for 7 days after the scheduled departure date, but I'm not positive about that. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.
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