Cancellation, Deposit, and Prepayment Policies

Cancellations are not always a controllable issue in the hospitality industry. Irrespective of the perfection in the planning and efforts put in by the guest on the trip, unexpected events are beyond human control, which ends up affecting the booking. When such an event occurs, we must know what to expect and how to handle it, we try to ease the transaction and make the booking experience as easy as possible for both the partner and the customer, the only point is we don't stay on loss in such a transaction.

For the guests/users to be aware of the charges they'll be supposed to pay in the event of cancellation, we need to have a set of cancellation, deposit, and prepayment policies, which benefit everybody. This will ensure that the guests, do not get astonished replies, but also ensures that we don't miss out on revenue, without being at the faulty end.scenarios are covered, and all you have to do is answer key questions to

Cancellation policies

It is important for our guests to know that they can cancel, their bookings free of charge, but will reasonable restrictions and limitations which are purely time-bound.

That is:

1. If the customer cancels the booking three days prior, there will be no cancellation charges, except the deductions, which are charged by the payment gateway or payment portal partners.
2. If the customer chose a refundable booking policy and has paid an extra amount, levied by us, the booking cancelled 10 hours before, will levy no charges, and the complete amount will be refunded into the source account.
3. If the customer has not selected the refundable policy, it makes the booking non-refundable, charges levied will be as follows:

Booking cancelled 3 days	100% amount will be refunded (except transaction charges)
Booking cancelled 2 days	70% of the booking amount will be refunded
Booking cancelled 24 hours before	40% of the booking amount will be refunded
Booking cancelled 12 hours before	30% of the booking amount will be refunded
Booking cancelled between 1-12 hours	No amount will be refunded unless a refundable clause has been selected
In case of A show on the part of the customer	No Amount will be refunded.

4. If the booking falls under the non-refundable policy, no amount will be refunded to the guests, if they cancel.
5. As all the bookings are facilitated by a partner company, the property may be overbooked. If that's the case, the partner notifies us. Next, we refund you and cancel your booking.
6. We try to make the refund as easy and friendly as possible but it entirely depends on the customer’s bank, therefore, it may take 7 to 10 days and depends on your bank. If you have questions, contact your bank directly.
7. After the booking is cancelled, customer will receive an email to confirm the cancellation. Check your inbox and spam/junk mail folders.
8. If you’ve received an email from BookByOwn cancelling your booking, your booking has been cancelled and we’ve refunded you. The processing time depends on your bank. If you have questions, contact your bank directly please note, if cancelled as per the schedule above, modified, or in case of a no-show, the total price of the reservation will be charged.

Deposit and prepayment policies

Along with the cancellation policy, it is also important to inform you about:

A deposit

Guests pay a certain amount up front, usually via bank transfer, which they’ll get back if they cancel within the free (flexible) cancellation period. However, if they cancel after that point, they won’t get the deposit back – meaning that you’re covered if they cancel.

Prepayment

During the booking process, guests use their card to pay for part of the reservation, often just the first night. Prepayment is usually for partially refundable or non-refundable bookings, so if the guest cancels, they won’t get that amount back.

Pre-authorization

You hold a certain amount to check that the guest's card is valid, and to charge it fully at a later date. You can hold this amount as a guarantee in case the guest doesn't show up, or simply choose to return it to the guest immediately.