Your Reservations
I would like to do a test booking on Houfy to see what it looks like for a guest and for the owner.
- Set a 5$ price for 1 night in the future at Edit listing - Calendar (Set 1 night min stay as well)
- Remove Fees/Taxes at Edit listing > Pricing
- Check your payment settings. Edit Listing > Payment Settings (Full payment due at Booking)
- Sign out of Houfy as Owner. (Or use another browser)
Create a "Guest" account with another e-mail.
- Book & Pay the night as a guest - Check the price is indeed 5$.
- Sign out as Guest.
Check your e-mail as Owner. Log in as owner and Accept the booking request.
Check e-mails sent to Guest and Owner.
Once all is fine: Cancel & Refund Booking
- Set price back to what is was before at Calendar. (Min Nights as well)
- Set fees and taxes back
- Adjust Payment settings again.
Requesting an ID from guests is actually quite easy, and one of the benefits of booking direct. Remember, this is your business and you have every right to know who is renting your property. First, let's clear up a common misconception hosts have in regards to verifying IDs.
I Will Scare Away the Traveler
This is a marketing tactic (an ingenious one at that) used by listing sites as a means for you to pay a commission. Until recent years, travelers and hosts were transacting directly all the time, without needing a 3rd party's protection. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:
- Keep your reviews up to date on Houfy. If you haven't done so, import your reviews from Airbnb and VRBO/Homeaway, and show them to travelers. Directing travelers to other sites to read your reviews is making those brands even stronger. It only perpetuates an endless cycle of trying to gain direct bookings, while simultaneously advertising the very brands that strive to keep you from booking direct.
- Sometimes travelers just need a gentle reminder that their credit card already provides fraud protection. If they have any questions, point out you have been verified by Houfy and remind them of their bank's protection policies.
- Finally, some loyal Airbnb followers will only book through Airbnb. Do not take this personally! If you've already mentioned the above, just accept the booking and be a great host as usual. Then thank the guest for staying, and remind them of saving through Houfy for their next vacation.
Personally, I have never had an issue of a guest not sending me a copy of their ID. Remember, there is no sensitive information on there anyway, as social security numbers no longer appear on driver's licenses.
Asking for ID Helps to Prevent Fraud
One of the best ways to prevent scammers and the use of stolen credit cards, is to ask for ID of the credit card holder. It's especially important for new hosts to do this, as scammers often view them as easy prey.
Hosts with little to no reviews, and properties priced below market, are common targets for scammers. It's assumed new hosts are inexperienced and more likely to accept a booking with no questions asked. Fraudsters realize new hosts are eager to get those initial reviews under their belt.
Another scenario to be alert of is last minute bookings, and especially those from the same city as your rental. People using a stolen credit card tend to book very last minute, as the real card holder may not immediately notice the fraudulent activity. By the time the card is reported stolen, the scammer has already fulfilled their stay and left the property.
One caveat: Do not assume all last minute bookings are a red flag, as I often receive bookings just one day before arrival. This is why it's important to ask for a signed rental agreement: you need to match the agreement signature against the one on the ID.
How Do I Ask for ID?
Ask for the ID of the credit card holder and don't assume it is the person who made the reservation. In my case, it's usually the same person anyway. The reason you want to ask for the credit card holder's ID, is in case of a chargeback dispute. The credit card company is going to ask you to produce a signed rental agreement with the card holder's signature.
Feel free to use any parts of this:
"Hi Guest,
I've attached the rental agreement, departure checklist, and house notes. Please read through all docs and print, manually sign, and scan back the rental agreement.
- Initial anywhere on the 1st page
- On the 2nd page be sure to sign both the cancellation policy, and the bottom right side of the agreement. Please fill out only the right side of the agreement.
- Along with the agreement, I will need a scanned govt ID of the credit card holder
Let me know if you have any questions. I am sending you all the local information and house details from Houfy shortly.
Thanks."
But What If I Don't Want to Ask for ID?
You don't have to of course. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable. Maybe you are an onsite host who accepts mostly one night bookings. You're more than welcome to never request an ID from anyone.
If you currently rely on Airbnb for verification, they don't share the guest's ID with you anyway. Even if you need to press charges with the police, Airbnb will not provide you with "real" ID information. In essence, by not asking for ID–it's the same as accepting an Airbnb reservation and not really knowing who your guest is anyway.
If a chargeback on a one night stay, or stolen credit cards is not a concern, then by all means don't feel guilty if you don't ask for ID. Just be sure it's not required in your area. In some areas, hosts are required to keep guest IDs on file for a certain period of time.
Be Aware of Friendly Fraud
Keep in mind "friendly fraud" has been on the rise. This is where someone in the group makes the reservation but uses another group member's credit card. After the stay, the card holder claims to not "recognize" or have "authorized" the transaction. Technically, this group just received a free stay at your property. As long as you understand the pros and cons of asking for ID, then you are good to go.
Overall, most scammers don't have the time nor interest to produce fake IDs. It's easier to target those who do not require the information. I'm not saying scammer "over achievers" don't exist, as some may go through the trouble of producing these documents–it's just that the chances are small. Just decide what feels right and makes the most sense for both you, and your vacation rental business.
I have a January 25 booking on my 4 bedroom unit and the first payment was made via Stripe but when I look at the booking it doesn't show any payment. Can you help me find it?
Go to MENU > Messages > Message History
Here you can see what payment has been done and what is remaining..
Scroll down to see the same information.
"I am about to sign up with Stripe or Square and I am wondering who decides if a guest can get a refund. What if a guest files a chargeback because they want to leave early and the host stands firm on their cancellation policy? Does Stripe or Square decide if the guest will get their money back even if the guest agreed to my cancellation policy?"
The issuing bank determines the outcome of credit card disputes (chargebacks).
What is an issuing bank?
An issuing bank is the financial institution that issues a credit card to the cardholder (your guest's bank).
What is a credit card network (association)?
The most popular networks are: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. American Express and Discover are both issuing banks (issue their own credit cards) as well.
What is a payment facilitator?
Stripe, Square, and PayPal are just a few examples of payment facilitators.
What is a merchant?
The vendor who sells services/goods (you). If you use a payment facilitator, it may technically be a shared merchant instead of a "traditional" merchant account with your bank. For simplicity, consider yourself the merchant even if your payment facilitator is the "merchant of record."
Whether you are a restaurant owner or sell jewelry at art festivals, when you accept credit cards, the cardholder can file a credit card dispute (chargeback) with their bank.
Have you ever noticed hosts say an Airbnb rep. told them they cannot charge a guests credit card without their permission? What about owners who said their Vrbo guest agreed to their cancellation policy but still won in a chargeback dispute?
The credit card networks (VISA, Mastercard, Discover, American Express) set certain policies that merchants must abide by when accepting their cards. And these policies can vary between industries. One of these policies is how a cancellation policy should be presented to the credit card holder.
Some owners have lost chargeback disputes because they did not follow the credit card network policies. But who reads through all that fine print?
The card network may have required the merchant to obtain the card holder's signature within so many inches of the cancellation policy. This information could have been buried on page 50. And the host was told a signature at the very bottom of the rental agreement was not sufficient to meet the card network's requirements.
Always require Id of the credit card holder so the guest does not claim the transaction was not authorized. Include a signature line within less than an inch of your cancellation policy. Bold some of the text so the font is conspicuous as well. It's much more difficult for a guest to dispute they overlooked a policy like this:
The above will wipe out 95% of issues. Guests will still often ask what their cancellation options are, even after agreeing to your policies. And you are always free to override your policy and make an exception.
Both Stripe and Square have their own best practices for fraud and chargebacks. I will highlight those in another post.
Note: if you have payment connected to Houfy, you always have the option to send a payment request in reply to an inquiry.
If a traveler sends an inquiry (not a pending direct booking) and you would like to move forward with the reservation, you can click Mark as confirmed. This will do four things:
- Block the the reservation dates while you handle payment outside of Houfy.
- Export the blocked dates to your synced calendars.
- Send an email reservation confirmation to both guest and host.
- Lets Houfy know you received a booking.
Select Confirmed from the drop down.
Unlike most platforms where you don't get paid till guest check-in, Houfy does not interfere in your payment transactions. All transactions pass between you and your guest only. As such, hosts choose their own forms of payment acceptance: check, Square, Stripe, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, bank transfer, etc. It's entirely up to you.
For those who would like travelers to book and pay on Houfy with credit card (just like they would book and pay on other sites), you need to connect one of Houfy's integrated processors (Square and Stripe). You'll still have the option to accept/decline the booking request, as "instant book" is not available.
Even though Stripe and Square are integrated with Houfy, the payments only pass between you and your guest. They never pass through Houfy's bank account.
If you prefer not to connect Stripe or Square, just fill out your listing's payment policies section and check off the payment methods accepted.
Can travelers just send me an inquiry if they are not ready to book?
Of course! Travelers can send hosts an inquiry, send a question via the contact host button, or use the email/phone info (if made public) shown on a host's profile. A text and email notification will be sent from Houfy.
Set up online payments
- Create your free Square or Stripe account directly on Houfy. Here is a brief comparison guide of Square and Stripe.
- Be sure to connect your Stripe or Square account to Houfy.
Once you have a Square or Stripe account connected to Houfy, travelers can enter dates and pay with credit card.
The host receives a "pending booking request" via text and email, with option to accept/decline. After accepting the pending booking request, the dates will automatically be blocked on your Houfy calendar.
Accepting payment outside of Houfy
Travelers can send an inquiry and you will arrange payment however you wish. Once you have decided to proceed with the booking, you can click "mark as confirmed" on the inquiry. This does two things:
- Blocks the dates on your Houfy calendar.
- Lets Houfy know you received a booking even though payment is being made outside of the platform.
Guests look forward to their trips, but we understand when hosts may need to cancel. Please make sure to send the guest a message as soon as possible for them to find other places to stay.
- Log in and select reservations
- Select details of the reservation you want to cancel.
- Select cancel reservation
4. After the cancellation go to the completed payments section on the message or details page.
Refund the amount as discussed with your guest.
If you'd like to make a change to a received inquiry on Houfy, you can submit as a host a change request to your guest. Only the host can submit a change request to a guest on Houfy.
To send a change request:
- Go to your messages and select the reservation
- Click on message history
- Scroll down and click on change reservation
Once you are on the change reservation page, you can edit the dates or the number of guests for the reservation. Here in this example: I am going to add 1 more night to the reservation and change guests from 1 to 2.
You can edit the rates, fees, or security deposit.
A new quote will be calculated as per your listing pricing. You can check it and click on send request. Send request will once again ask you for confirmation on the changes.
Once confirmed it will send the request to the guest. Your guest will receive an email to accept or decline the changes.
Guest can see the reservation changes requested by the host and Accept or Decline the changes.
Once the guest accepts your changes, reservation details are altered.
If the guest declines the changes to the reservation, your reservation will stay the same.
You have two options:
1. Pull up the Houfy reservation details and click the refund button. Then you will be asked to enter the amount you wish to refund.
2. Log into your Stripe/Square dashboard and refund directly from the transaction.
Fees for the refund:
Stripe
https://support.stripe.com/questions/understanding-fees-for-refunded-payments
https://stripe.com/docs/refunds#:~:text=After you initiate a refund,later, depending upon the bank.
Square
https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5060-refund-overview
There are no fees to refund a charge, but the fees from the original charge aren’t returned.
Please make sure to verify this information directly with Stripe and Square.
For more information: please visit Stripe's help center or Square's help center directly.
After refunding the customer through Houfy, Square will send you a notification confirming they received your request to refund. At this stage, no money is being withdrawn from your account.
Monday, July 27th (11:09 a.m.)
The next notification is to inform you the funds will be withdrawn from your account within 1-2 business days.
Tuesday, July 28th (12:27 a.m.)
The final notice says Square has refunded your customer. Note: from this point on, it's out of Square's hands, as the money has been sent to the customer's card issuing bank. After receiving the notice below, your customer should have the funds in their bank account within 7 business days, typically much sooner.
Thursday, July 30th (11:32 p.m.)
Important: If seven business days has passed (since receipt of the final notice) and your customer has not received a credit to their statement, call Square to request the transaction number for the refund. Provide this number to your guest so their bank can track the refund.
Refund timeline from Square's website
It takes 2-7 business days to process a refund with Square. Once the refund is processed and sent to your customer’s card issuing bank, it can take another 2-7 business days (depending on the bank’s processing speeds) for the refund to post to your customer’s account. In total it can take 4-14 business days for your customer to receive their refund.
You must have payment connected and using the charge through Houfy option in order for Houfy to automatically send payment request to your guests.
If you opted for the deposit to be collected "At Booking" then the guest already paid it with the initial payment. For all other options an automatic payment request is sent. The host will receive a copy that it is sent as well.
How soon before the due date is the payment request sent?
Will I be notified when my guest pays the payment request?
The payment request date time stamp and status are shown on the reservation page.
- Login
- Click Menu and select reservations
- Pull up the guest reservation
- Click on the details link
Scroll to the Reminder section of the Reservation details. This is where you can find the time and date when Houfy will send the automated payment reminder.
What does the second payment request reminder look like?
This is what the guest receives in their email:
The host will receive this copy in their email:
This is what appears in your Houfy messaging inbox between you and your guest.
How do I know what time and date me and my guest will receive the payment reminder?
You will receive this pop up to confirm.
Yes. Use the "Mark as fully paid" to remove payment reminders.
- Login > Reservations > Pull up the guest reservation > Click on details.
- Scroll down to the section where you can click on Mark as fully paid.
Once you click Confirm, it stops the automatic payment request from being sent to your guest.
