Solved: Re: Reservations Deposits

casapuentebnb · ‎04-05-2018

How do I take a reservation deposit for my guests with out actually charging their card until check out?

We lose a lot of business beacuse some people do not want to pay in advance.

VanKalkerFarms · ‎04-05-2018

you can do a separate charge for a deposit and then subtract the deposit from the final bill. currently, there isn't a way to automatically do it but you can do it with 2 transactions. also, there is not a way to pre-authorize a card, like they do at a gas stations, you have to run the card for the amount you want to charge at that time.

Bob Van Kalker
My Van Kalker Farms Garden Center website
My Rise'n Roll Bakery Schererville Indiana Facebook Page
My Rise'n Roll Bakery Cedar Lake Facebook Page

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Frida · ‎10-02-2021

Hello @ProMovers,

We see its your first post in the seller community...welcome! 😁

Currently with Square there is not an ability to pre-authorize transactions. I'm going to move your thread to this forum where similar questions are asked regarding this matter.

I can provide you a few helpful pointers moving forward though.....

Have you tried using invoices? You are able to use Square contracts , which are free to use in conjunction with an invoice as an attachment. This method also provides an extra layer of security and sets proper expectations between you and your customers/clients when doing business to help avoid fraud or chargebacks.

Its also important to note that the fee for transacting an invoice with a one-time credit card payment is only 2.9% + .30, per transaction or 3.5% + .15 if you choose to keep the card on file for future use.

You are also able to do estimates or partial payments with Invoices. Perhaps you can ask that your customers pay 1/2 initially then request payment for the rest when the job is complete? (you can even schedule when payments are due) Just a thought....

I look forward to reading your thoughts and reply. 😊

Frida
Community Moderator, Square
Sign in and click Mark as Best Answer if my reply answers your question.

View Best Answer >

VanKalkerFarms · ‎04-05-2018

you can do a separate charge for a deposit and then subtract the deposit from the final bill. currently, there isn't a way to automatically do it but you can do it with 2 transactions. also, there is not a way to pre-authorize a card, like they do at a gas stations, you have to run the card for the amount you want to charge at that time.

Bob Van Kalker
My Van Kalker Farms Garden Center website
My Rise'n Roll Bakery Schererville Indiana Facebook Page
My Rise'n Roll Bakery Cedar Lake Facebook Page

casapuentebnb · ‎04-05-2018

Thanks for that answer. If they cancel and I want to refund their entire amount of deposit, will that cost me or the guest??

Martin

VanKalkerFarms · ‎04-05-2018

there is no charge for refunds. the customer will get back all of their deposit and you will get back the fees from the original transaction too so no money lost.

Bob Van Kalker
My Van Kalker Farms Garden Center website
My Rise'n Roll Bakery Schererville Indiana Facebook Page
My Rise'n Roll Bakery Cedar Lake Facebook Page

casapuentebnb · ‎04-05-2018

Sorry to bother you once again, however, just noticed that it is not possible to select payment for events in Cash as well as Credit Card. It seems to only allow one or the other???

MBBandB · ‎05-11-2018

That is only true if the refund is within 120 days of the purchase. If it is over 120 days, you will be charged the process fee and you are responsible to repay the whole purchase price to the customer since square will not do the refund.

katieand · ‎05-11-2018

Hi @MBBandB - Just want to clarify your statement here.

Square doesn't process refunds over 120 days so we don't charge a process fee. It's at the business' discretion if they want to issue a refund to their customer or not at that point.

GLWS · ‎05-14-2018

If the reservation is taken over the phone and is manually entered will I get the 3.5% plus .15 refunded if they actually show up? Thanks

Tom · ‎05-15-2018

Hey @GLWS, thanks for checking in. When you accept a payment, the fees are based on the entry method at the time of the transaction. We do not currently offer a way to modify the payment details after the transaction is completed. For more information, have a look at this article: What are Square's Fees? Hope this helps clear things up!

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center

ProMovers · ‎10-04-2019

Not finding info or option to be able to "pre-verify" if a customers credit card will accept a certain dollar amount charge
Example ..... check to know if clients card has an available balance to cover a $2,000.00 charge to it

.

After we did a clients move yesterday ... client provided us his credit card for payment of almost $2,000 due to us. The Charge/Payment was declined when we tried to process 😞

I believe other merchant systems DO have a means of pre-verifying a cards validity prior to actually processing a charge to the card.

Kind of like when a hotel kind of puts a hold on a certain dollar amount as a deposit until check out....

Any help or ideas?

cpisiewski · ‎09-30-2021

did you get an answer to this? I would also like to know if this can be done in our restaurant?

Frida · ‎10-02-2021

Hello @ProMovers,

We see its your first post in the seller community...welcome! 😁

Currently with Square there is not an ability to pre-authorize transactions. I'm going to move your thread to this forum where similar questions are asked regarding this matter.

I can provide you a few helpful pointers moving forward though.....

Have you tried using invoices? You are able to use Square contracts , which are free to use in conjunction with an invoice as an attachment. This method also provides an extra layer of security and sets proper expectations between you and your customers/clients when doing business to help avoid fraud or chargebacks.

Its also important to note that the fee for transacting an invoice with a one-time credit card payment is only 2.9% + .30, per transaction or 3.5% + .15 if you choose to keep the card on file for future use.

You are also able to do estimates or partial payments with Invoices. Perhaps you can ask that your customers pay 1/2 initially then request payment for the rest when the job is complete? (you can even schedule when payments are due) Just a thought....

I look forward to reading your thoughts and reply. 😊

Frida
Community Moderator, Square
Sign in and click Mark as Best Answer if my reply answers your question.